Note 151 — K (continued 5)
Reading edition
The Kōmati that suits the stake. This has reference to a story in which a Kōmati’s stoutness, brought on by want of exercise and sedentary habits, is said to have shown that he was the proper person to be impaled on a stake. According to the Rev. H. Jensen,151 the proverb refers to an incident that took place in ‘the city of injustice.’ A certain man was to be impaled for a crime, but, at the last moment he pointed out that a certain fat merchant (Kōmati) would be better suited for the instrument of punishment, and so escaped. The proverb is now used of a person who is forced to suffer for the faults of others.