Chinzaemon the Silent

Chinzaemon the Silent

A very long time ago, there lived an armorer named Chinzaemon. His swords were very beautiful and perfectly balanced. He was famous throughout the land for the quality of his work. Even more famous than his swords, however, were his scabbards. Swords slipped into them so easily and silently that other armorers began to call him Chinzaemon the Silent.

A very powerful prince heard about Chinzaemon. The prince summoned the armorer to his court. The prince admired the work of the famous silent armorer. He wanted Chinzaemon to make weapons for his soldiers and guards. Chinzaemon was not only a skillful armorer. He was also very funny and clever. He enjoyed playing practical jokes on people. He had been a very funny child in school. Even while serving his time as an apprentice armorer, he continued to tell jokes and play pranks on people.

Few people knew that Chinzaemon was such a funny man. He only shared his jokes with people he trusted. So when he made the prince laugh and laugh, for the whole three hours of his visit, Chinzaemon was hired as the prince's new armorer. And no one was more surprised than Chinzaemon. “ The prince must be a noble man, " he thought to himself. " I will trust him and be very loyal. "

One night Chinzaemon decided he would play a joke on the guards. He knew that some of them fell asleep while they were on duty. He thought it would be humorous to catch them sleeping on the job. They would be very embarrassed. So Chinzaemon waited until it was very late in the night and then quietly left his room. He moved silently through the hallways until he was out on the palace grounds.

Chinzaemon sneaked out to the gate where two guards were sleeping. Using very strong glue made from tree sap, he glued their sandals to the ground. He was very quiet so that he did not disturb them. He then did the same thing to four other guards who had fallen asleep.