The story opens with a soliloquy by the protagonist, who tells the audience that he is the son of a "lousy son" and that he has been in prison for telling a story about a god of death in prison. He asks the protagonist to tell him the story in prison, and the protagonist does so, telling the story of his own imprisonment. He tells the protagonist that he loves rakugo music, but that he does not like the "foul snap mouth" and "bad good temper" of the creator of the music. The protagonist is glad to meet him, and he tells him that the music is so good that he would like to go watch a dance when no dances are being performed. He also tells the narrator that he wishes he had met him earlier in the day. He says that he came to the theater just to thank the creator for his kindness. The narrator says that there are people who claim that sukeroku is the real genius, but he says that roku is not the same as he was when he was a young man. He adds that he will pay 10,000 to save his husband just by looking at him.