text: A lone monk paused on the road going north out of Miyako. To his right, Hiei-san topped by Enryakuji temple guarded the sleeping city from the supernatural perils of the Northeast. To the south the city lights twinkled dimly. The monk looked back at the city of dreams for one last look. He intoned a last prayer for the soul of the boddhisatva saint he had met in life, then turned resolutely away. His head was newly shaven and his robes, hastily acquired, did not yet show the dust of the road. He was not yet ready, not yet set firmly on the path. It would come in time. Then he would return to glorify the saint, the only one who had been his equal, yet had turned away and shown him the path.
  
  The lonely monk who had once been Sugiyama Tamasaburo followed his road to the deep north. Behind him a female pilgrim stared thoughtfully at his stride, then followed with a peculiar smile on her face.