Rodrigues Arrested

The capture of Sebastian Rodrigues marks the decisive end of his secret missionary work in Japan and the beginning of his long confrontation with the state's machinery of persecution. After weeks of hiding in the mountains and ministering to hidden Christians on the Goto Islands, Rodrigues is betrayed by the weak and apostate Kichijiro, who leads the guards directly to him. The arrest is swift and ignominious, and it sets in motion the psychological and physical trials that will ultimately lead to Rodrigues' apostasy.

Betrayal and Arrest

After his return from Goto, Rodrigues had been hiding in the mountains, exhausted and alone. Kichijiro, who had previously trampled on the fumie and disappeared, reappeared and followed him like a wild dog. Despite Rodrigues' deep distrust—he remembered the dried fish Kichijiro had given him that caused a terrible thirst, and suspected the man might sell him for the three hundred pieces of silver offered for a priest—he allowed Kichijiro to stay. The betrayal came when Kichijiro, after fetching water for the parched Rodrigues, signaled to the waiting guards. The men seized Rodrigues and dragged him to his feet, while one of them threw a handful of tiny silver coins into the face of the still-kneeling Kichijiro. Rodrigues was pushed and driven along the dry road, and when he looked back, he saw Kichijiro's face, fearful and spider-like, already far in the distance.

The First Interrogation and the Encounter with the Interpreter

Rodrigues was brought to a village where he was held with other captured Christians, including a woman named Monica and a one-eyed man named Juan. The initial interrogation was conducted by an old samurai who had previously investigated Tomogi. The samurai tried to persuade Rodrigues to apostatize, arguing that the peasants were suffering because of him. Rodrigues refused, and the samurai grew angry. Later, an interpreter—a former Christian who had studied in the Jesuit seminaries of Arima and Amakusa—engaged Rodrigues in a theological debate. The interpreter, filled with resentment toward the missionaries, argued that Christianity was a foreign imposition and that the Japanese had their own religion. He also revealed that Christovao Ferreira, Rodrigues' former teacher, had apostatized and was now living in Nagasaki under a Japanese name with a wife. This news struck Rodrigues with a terrible anguish, and he struggled to maintain his faith.

The Journey to Nagasaki and the Prison

Rodrigues was transported by boat and then on horseback through the streets of Omura and Nagasaki, where crowds of onlookers jeered and threw stones. He was eventually confined in a newly built prison on the outskirts of Nagasaki. There, he was allowed to visit the other Christian prisoners, hear their confessions, and pray with them. The prison life was strangely peaceful, and Rodrigues began to feel a sense of tranquility, even as he awaited his fate. He spent his days in prayer and meditation, often imagining the face of Christ, which had been his comfort since childhood.

The Confrontation with Inoue and the Climax

Rodrigues was brought before Inoue, the Lord of Chikugo, for a second meeting. Inoue, a former Christian himself, engaged Rodrigues in a seemingly friendly conversation, using the metaphor of a persistent ugly woman to describe the unwanted affection of Christianity for Japan. He argued that Japan was a swamp that could not absorb Christianity, and that the missionaries' efforts were futile. Rodrigues defended his faith, but the encounter left him shaken. Later, he was forced to witness the execution of the one-eyed man, Chokichi, who was beheaded in the courtyard for refusing to trample on the fumie. The sight of the blood and the indifference of the natural world—the cicadas singing, the flies buzzing—filled Rodrigues with a profound sense of despair and the silence of God.

The Final Night and the Apostasy

The climax of Rodrigues' capture came on a night when he was confined in a dark, urine-soaked cell. He heard what he thought was the snoring of a guard, but Ferreira, who had been brought to the prison, told him it was the groaning of Christians hanging in the pit. Ferreira, now a broken man, urged Rodrigues to apostatize, arguing that Christ himself would have done so to save the suffering peasants. Rodrigues struggled with his faith, but ultimately, when the fumie was placed before him, he heard the voice of Christ telling him to trample. He placed his foot on the image, and the dawn broke. The capture of Rodrigues thus led not to a glorious martyrdom, but to a painful act of apostasy, which he came to understand as a form of love and solidarity with the weak.