I was born in the province of Omi, not far from Nagahama, in the twenty-first year of the Tembun Period. That was 1552, the Year of the Rat — so how old does that make me? About sixty-five?. . . Yes, they tell me I lost my sight when I was three. At first I could still see things dimly, enough to know what I was looking at: even now I remember how the blue water of Lake Biwa shone in my eyes on a fine day. But within a few months I was blind as a bat — none of our prayers and offerings did any good. My parents were farmers; but my father died when I was nine years old, and my mother when I was twelve. After that I had to depend on the kindness of our neighbors. I learned how to massage people, and managed to make a living at it. Later on, when I was seventeen or eighteen, I was lucky enough to perform my services at Odani Castle, and eventually, thanks to the kind gentleman who recommended me, I went there to join its regular staff. I'm sure you know that Odani Castle belonged to Lord Asai Nagamasa, a fine young man who had already made a name for himself as a general. His father, old Lord Hisamasa, was still alive, but there were rumors that they didn't get along very well. People said that his father was to blame. Most of the samurai, even the chief retainers, seemed to take sides with Nagamasa.