The next is Shizuka-gozen, who is also a sacrifice of her lover's destiny. She was a shirabyoshi, a people who performed dances for gods. One day she fell in love with a samurai, Yoshitsune Minamoto. Japan's ruler in that era was Kiyomori Taira. Yoshitsune's older brother Yoritomo Minamoto collected soldiers and planned to fight against the Taira family to get the position of a ruler. He appointed Yoshitsune as a general and ordered him to destroy the Taira family. Yoshitsune did well and the Taira family all died in the battles in 1185. After the victory of these battles, Yoritomo began to be afraid of the probability that Yoshitsune was a man of so much ability that he might be going to a great threat to him. He ordered his soldiers to kill Yoshitsune. Yoshitsune left Kyoto for the Tohoku region where was out of the government's control. Shizuka followed him. Yoshitsune knew that he might be killed some day, he told Shizuka to be parted. She answered yes, because she knew that he still loved her so much that he wanted her to stay in a safer place. She was pregnant. She was caught by the Yoritomo's forces and taken in front of him. Yoritomo told her to show him a dance. She performed a dance with a lyric that gave praise to her lover Yoshitsune. He got angry and ordered to kill her. People around her told him to stop it. She was paroled, but her baby was killed and thrown into sea instead. She followed Yoshitsune again. But the news she heard was his death. He died on the battlefield when he fought with Yoritomo in 1189. She had her hair cut and became a nun in despair. Tree months later she died, calling her lover's name. |
