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previously rumoured that, when absorbed in this pastime, his lordship was prone to fits of temper more terrible than the tantrums of King Chou of the Yin dynasty, but of such behaviour there has been no sign. When, on one occasion, the priest Rōnō of the Jokon Temple, a person with whom his lordship has established a particularly cordial relationship, ventured to remark that “Any man who had a fief of 670,000 koku would have been tempted to model his behaviour on the tyrant Chou—it was no fault of your lordship’s,” Lord Tadanao merely laughed and was not in the least angry. Of late his lordship has called into his presence even lowborn peasants and townspeople, and he appears to take great pleasure in listening to their rough and unaffected talk. When people observe his respectful bearing on all occasions, the consideration with which he treats his attendants, and his constant solicitude for the welfare of the ordinary people on his estate, they never cease to wonder that this was the lawless monster who lost his family a province of 670,000 koku. …