One day, the two brothers were bringing home food from the marketplace. As they were crossing a bridge over the Tama river, they overheard two courtley ladies speaking to a fisherman, who had wrecked his boat on a rock in the middle of the stream. The ladies were telling the fisherman about an interesting note from the sage on the mountain that was posted in the market square. The ladies said that the sage was dying, and that anyone who wanted his advice could see him during the year leading up to hid death. The two brothers raced home to drop off the food and then back to the market to see the note for themselves.