（解説文要約）
木口小平という日清戦争で戦死した日本陸軍兵士は、

ラッパ手として、死しても口からラッパを離さなかったと言い伝えられています。

この作品は、その逸話を描いたものです。
なお、白神源次郎というラッパ手も、木口小平と同様の戦死をしたと伝えられていますが、

両者が同一人物かどうかが、作兵衛翁の子どものころからの疑問だったそうです。

 

 

 

A famous Japanese Army soldier Kohei Kiguchi died in battle during the First Sino-Japanese war.
Legend has it that he never took his bugle from his mouth even after he was slain on the field.
This painting illustrates the bugler in the middle of fighting soldiers according to this legend.
Meanwhile, another bugler named Genjiro Shiragami is also known to have lost his life during a battle of similar circumstances.
Sakubei always wondered from his childhood if these two buglers were the same person.