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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:16:40 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1210-0.txt b/1210-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2df2915 --- /dev/null +++ b/1210-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4314 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1210 *** + +KWAIDAN: +Stories and Studies of Strange Things + +By Lafcadio Hearn + + + + +A Note from the Digitizer + + +On Japanese Pronunciation + +Although simplified, the following general rules will help the reader +unfamiliar with Japanese to come close enough to Japanese +pronunciation. + +There are five vowels: a (as in fAther), i (as in machIne), u (as in +fOOl), e (as in fEllow), and o (as in mOle). Although certain vowels +become nearly “silent” in some environments, this phenomenon can be +safely ignored for the purpose at hand. + +Consonants roughly approximate their corresponding sounds in English, +except for r, which is actually somewhere between r and l (this is why +the Japanese have trouble distinguishing between English r and l), and +f, which is much closer to h. + +The spelling “KWAIDAN” is based on premodern Japanese pronunciation; +when Hearn came to Japan, the orthography reflecting this pronunciation +was still in use. In modern Japanese the word is pronounced KAIDAN. + +There are many ellipses in the text. Hearn often used them in this +book; they do not represent omissions by the digitizer. + +Author’s original notes are in brackets, those by the digitizer are in +parentheses. + + + + +Contents + + + INTRODUCTION + + KWAIDAN + THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI + OSHIDORI + THE STORY OF O-TEI + UBAZAKURA + DIPLOMACY + OF A MIRROR AND A BELL + JIKININKI + MUJINA + ROKURO-KUBI + A DEAD SECRET + YUKI-ONNA + THE STORY OF AOYAGI + JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA + THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKÉ + RIKI-BAKA + HI-MAWARI + HŌRAI + + INSECT STUDIES + BUTTERFLIES + MOSQUITOES + ANTS + + Notes + + + + +Illustrations + + BLOWING HER BREATH UPON HIM + BUTTERFLY DANCE + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The publication of a new volume of Lafcadio Hearn’s exquisite studies +of Japan happens, by a delicate irony, to fall in the very month when +the world is waiting with tense expectation for news of the latest +exploits of Japanese battleships. Whatever the outcome of the present +struggle between Russia and Japan, its significance lies in the fact +that a nation of the East, equipped with Western weapons and girding +itself with Western energy of will, is deliberately measuring strength +against one of the great powers of the Occident. No one is wise enough +to forecast the results of such a conflict upon the civilization of the +world. The best one can do is to estimate, as intelligently as +possible, the national characteristics of the peoples engaged, basing +one’s hopes and fears upon the psychology of the two races rather than +upon purely political and statistical studies of the complicated +questions involved in the present war. The Russian people have had +literary spokesmen who for more than a generation have fascinated the +European audience. The Japanese, on the other hand, have possessed no +such national and universally recognized figures as Turgenieff or +Tolstoy. They need an interpreter. + +It may be doubted whether any oriental race has ever had an interpreter +gifted with more perfect insight and sympathy than Lafcadio Hearn has +brought to the translation of Japan into our occidental speech. His +long residence in that country, his flexibility of mind, poetic +imagination, and wonderfully pellucid style have fitted him for the +most delicate of literary tasks. He has seen marvels, and he has told +of them in a marvelous way. There is scarcely an aspect of contemporary +Japanese life, scarcely an element in the social, political, and +military questions involved in the present conflict with Russia which +is not made clear in one or another of the books with which he has +charmed American readers. + +He characterizes Kwaidan as “stories and studies of strange things.” A +hundred thoughts suggested by the book might be written down, but most +of them would begin and end with this fact of strangeness. To read the +very names in the table of contents is like listening to a Buddhist +bell, struck somewhere far away. Some of his tales are of the long ago, +and yet they seem to illumine the very souls and minds of the little +men who are at this hour crowding the decks of Japan’s armored +cruisers. But many of the stories are about women and children,—the +lovely materials from which the best fairy tales of the world have been +woven. They too are strange, these Japanese maidens and wives and +keen-eyed, dark-haired girls and boys; they are like us and yet not +like us; and the sky and the hills and the flowers are all different +from ours. Yet by a magic of which Mr. Hearn, almost alone among +contemporary writers, is the master, in these delicate, transparent, +ghostly sketches of a world unreal to us, there is a haunting sense of +spiritual reality. + +In a penetrating and beautiful essay contributed to the “Atlantic +Monthly” in February, 1903, by Paul Elmer More, the secret of Mr. +Hearn’s magic is said to lie in the fact that in his art is found “the +meeting of three ways.” “To the religious instinct of India—Buddhism in +particular,—which history has engrafted on the aæsthetic sense of +Japan, Mr. Hearn brings the interpreting spirit of occidental science; +and these three traditions are fused by the peculiar sympathies of his +mind into one rich and novel compound,—a compound so rare as to have +introduced into literature a psychological sensation unknown before.” +Mr. More’s essay received the high praise of Mr. Hearn’s recognition +and gratitude, and if it were possible to reprint it here, it would +provide a most suggestive introduction to these new stories of old +Japan, whose substance is, as Mr. More has said, “so strangely mingled +together out of the austere dreams of India and the subtle beauty of +Japan and the relentless science of Europe.” + +_March_, 1904. + + + + +Most of the following _Kwaidan_, or Weird Tales, have been taken from +old Japanese books,—such as the _Yasō-Kidan_, _Bukkyō-Hyakkwa-Zenshō_, +_Kokon-Chomonshū_, _Tama-Sudaré_, and _Hyaku-Monogatari_. Some of the +stories may have had a Chinese origin: the very remarkable “Dream of +Akinosuké,” for example, is certainly from a Chinese source. But the +story-teller, in every case, has so recolored and reshaped his +borrowing as to naturalize it... One queer tale, “Yuki-Onna,” was told +me by a farmer of Chōfu, Nishitama-gōri, in Musashi province, as a +legend of his native village. Whether it has ever been written in +Japanese I do not know; but the extraordinary belief which it records +used certainly to exist in most parts of Japan, and in many curious +forms... The incident of “Riki-Baka” was a personal experience; and I +wrote it down almost exactly as it happened, changing only a +family-name mentioned by the Japanese narrator. + +L. H. + +TŌKYŌ, JAPAN, January 20th, 1904. + + + + +KWAIDAN + + + + +THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI + + +More than seven hundred years ago, at Dan-no-ura, in the Straits of +Shimonoséki, was fought the last battle of the long contest between the +Heiké, or Taira clan, and the Genji, or Minamoto clan. There the Heiké +perished utterly, with their women and children, and their infant +emperor likewise—now remembered as Antoku Tennō. And that sea and shore +have been haunted for seven hundred years... Elsewhere I told you about +the strange crabs found there, called Heiké crabs, which have human +faces on their backs, and are said to be the spirits of the Heiké +warriors[1]. But there are many strange things to be seen and heard +along that coast. On dark nights thousands of ghostly fires hover about +the beach, or flit above the waves,—pale lights which the fishermen +call _Oni-bi_, or demon-fires; and, whenever the winds are up, a sound +of great shouting comes from that sea, like a clamor of battle. + +In former years the Heiké were much more restless than they now are. +They would rise about ships passing in the night, and try to sink them; +and at all times they would watch for swimmers, to pull them down. It +was in order to appease those dead that the Buddhist temple, Amidaji, +was built at Akamagaséki[2]. A cemetery also was made close by, near +the beach; and within it were set up monuments inscribed with the names +of the drowned emperor and of his great vassals; and Buddhist services +were regularly performed there, on behalf of the spirits of them. After +the temple had been built, and the tombs erected, the Heiké gave less +trouble than before; but they continued to do queer things at +intervals,—proving that they had not found the perfect peace. + +Some centuries ago there lived at Akamagaséki a blind man named Hōïchi, +who was famed for his skill in recitation and in playing upon the +_biwa_[3]. From childhood he had been trained to recite and to play; +and while yet a lad he had surpassed his teachers. As a professional +_biwa-hōshi_ he became famous chiefly by his recitations of the history +of the Heiké and the Genji; and it is said that when he sang the song +of the battle of Dan-no-ura “even the goblins [_kijin_] could not +refrain from tears.” + +At the outset of his career, Hōïchi was very poor; but he found a good +friend to help him. The priest of the Amidaji was fond of poetry and +music; and he often invited Hōïchi to the temple, to play and recite. +Afterwards, being much impressed by the wonderful skill of the lad, the +priest proposed that Hōïchi should make the temple his home; and this +offer was gratefully accepted. Hōïchi was given a room in the +temple-building; and, in return for food and lodging, he was required +only to gratify the priest with a musical performance on certain +evenings, when otherwise disengaged. + +One summer night the priest was called away, to perform a Buddhist +service at the house of a dead parishioner; and he went there with his +acolyte, leaving Hōïchi alone in the temple. It was a hot night; and +the blind man sought to cool himself on the verandah before his +sleeping-room. The verandah overlooked a small garden in the rear of +the Amidaji. There Hōïchi waited for the priest’s return, and tried to +relieve his solitude by practicing upon his biwa. Midnight passed; and +the priest did not appear. But the atmosphere was still too warm for +comfort within doors; and Hōïchi remained outside. At last he heard +steps approaching from the back gate. Somebody crossed the garden, +advanced to the verandah, and halted directly in front of him—but it +was not the priest. A deep voice called the blind man’s name—abruptly +and unceremoniously, in the manner of a samurai summoning an inferior:— + +“Hōïchi!” + +Hōïchi was too much startled, for the moment, to respond; and the voice +called again, in a tone of harsh command,— + +“Hōïchi!” + +“_Hai!_”(1) answered the blind man, frightened by the menace in the +voice,—“I am blind!—I cannot know who calls!” + +“There is nothing to fear,” the stranger exclaimed, speaking more +gently. “I am stopping near this temple, and have been sent to you with +a message. My present lord, a person of exceedingly high rank, is now +staying in Akamagaséki, with many noble attendants. He wished to view +the scene of the battle of Dan-no-ura; and to-day he visited that +place. Having heard of your skill in reciting the story of the battle, +he now desires to hear your performance: so you will take your biwa and +come with me at once to the house where the august assembly is +waiting.” + +In those times, the order of a samurai was not to be lightly disobeyed. +Hōïchi donned his sandals, took his biwa, and went away with the +stranger, who guided him deftly, but obliged him to walk very fast. The +hand that guided was iron; and the clank of the warrior’s stride proved +him fully armed,—probably some palace-guard on duty. Hōïchi’s first +alarm was over: he began to imagine himself in good luck;—for, +remembering the retainer’s assurance about a “person of exceedingly +high rank,” he thought that the lord who wished to hear the recitation +could not be less than a daimyō of the first class. Presently the +samurai halted; and Hōïchi became aware that they had arrived at a +large gateway;—and he wondered, for he could not remember any large +gate in that part of the town, except the main gate of the Amidaji. +“_Kaimon!_”[4] the samurai called,—and there was a sound of unbarring; +and the twain passed on. They traversed a space of garden, and halted +again before some entrance; and the retainer cried in a loud voice, +“Within there! I have brought Hōïchi.” Then came sounds of feet +hurrying, and screens sliding, and rain-doors opening, and voices of +women in converse. By the language of the women Hōïchi knew them to be +domestics in some noble household; but he could not imagine to what +place he had been conducted. Little time was allowed him for +conjecture. After he had been helped to mount several stone steps, upon +the last of which he was told to leave his sandals, a woman’s hand +guided him along interminable reaches of polished planking, and round +pillared angles too many to remember, and over widths amazing of matted +floor,—into the middle of some vast apartment. There he thought that +many great people were assembled: the sound of the rustling of silk was +like the sound of leaves in a forest. He heard also a great humming of +voices,—talking in undertones; and the speech was the speech of courts. + +Hōïchi was told to put himself at ease, and he found a kneeling-cushion +ready for him. After having taken his place upon it, and tuned his +instrument, the voice of a woman—whom he divined to be the _Rōjo_, or +matron in charge of the female service—addressed him, saying,— + +“It is now required that the history of the Heiké be recited, to the +accompaniment of the biwa.” + +Now the entire recital would have required a time of many nights: +therefore Hōïchi ventured a question:— + +“As the whole of the story is not soon told, what portion is it +augustly desired that I now recite?” + +The woman’s voice made answer:— + +“Recite the story of the battle at Dan-no-ura,—for the pity of it is +the most deep.”[5] + +Then Hōïchi lifted up his voice, and chanted the chant of the fight on +the bitter sea,—wonderfully making his biwa to sound like the straining +of oars and the rushing of ships, the whirr and the hissing of arrows, +the shouting and trampling of men, the crashing of steel upon helmets, +the plunging of slain in the flood. And to left and right of him, in +the pauses of his playing, he could hear voices murmuring praise: “How +marvelous an artist!”—“Never in our own province was playing heard like +this!”—“Not in all the empire is there another singer like Hōïchi!” +Then fresh courage came to him, and he played and sang yet better than +before; and a hush of wonder deepened about him. But when at last he +came to tell the fate of the fair and helpless,—the piteous perishing +of the women and children,—and the death-leap of Nii-no-Ama, with the +imperial infant in her arms,—then all the listeners uttered together +one long, long shuddering cry of anguish; and thereafter they wept and +wailed so loudly and so wildly that the blind man was frightened by the +violence and grief that he had made. For much time the sobbing and the +wailing continued. But gradually the sounds of lamentation died away; +and again, in the great stillness that followed, Hōïchi heard the voice +of the woman whom he supposed to be the Rōjo. + +She said:— + +“Although we had been assured that you were a very skillful player upon +the biwa, and without an equal in recitative, we did not know that any +one could be so skillful as you have proved yourself to-night. Our lord +has been pleased to say that he intends to bestow upon you a fitting +reward. But he desires that you shall perform before him once every +night for the next six nights—after which time he will probably make +his august return-journey. To-morrow night, therefore, you are to come +here at the same hour. The retainer who to-night conducted you will be +sent for you... There is another matter about which I have been ordered +to inform you. It is required that you shall speak to no one of your +visits here, during the time of our lord’s august sojourn at +Akamagaséki. As he is traveling incognito,[6] he commands that no +mention of these things be made... You are now free to go back to your +temple.” + +After Hōïchi had duly expressed his thanks, a woman’s hand conducted +him to the entrance of the house, where the same retainer, who had +before guided him, was waiting to take him home. The retainer led him +to the verandah at the rear of the temple, and there bade him farewell. + +It was almost dawn when Hōïchi returned; but his absence from the +temple had not been observed,—as the priest, coming back at a very late +hour, had supposed him asleep. During the day Hōïchi was able to take +some rest; and he said nothing about his strange adventure. In the +middle of the following night the samurai again came for him, and led +him to the august assembly, where he gave another recitation with the +same success that had attended his previous performance. But during +this second visit his absence from the temple was accidentally +discovered; and after his return in the morning he was summoned to the +presence of the priest, who said to him, in a tone of kindly reproach:— + +“We have been very anxious about you, friend Hōïchi. To go out, blind +and alone, at so late an hour, is dangerous. Why did you go without +telling us? I could have ordered a servant to accompany you. And where +have you been?” + +Hōïchi answered, evasively,— + +“Pardon me kind friend! I had to attend to some private business; and I +could not arrange the matter at any other hour.” + +The priest was surprised, rather than pained, by Hōïchi’s reticence: he +felt it to be unnatural, and suspected something wrong. He feared that +the blind lad had been bewitched or deluded by some evil spirits. He +did not ask any more questions; but he privately instructed the +men-servants of the temple to keep watch upon Hōïchi’s movements, and +to follow him in case that he should again leave the temple after dark. + +On the very next night, Hōïchi was seen to leave the temple; and the +servants immediately lighted their lanterns, and followed after him. +But it was a rainy night, and very dark; and before the temple-folks +could get to the roadway, Hōïchi had disappeared. Evidently he had +walked very fast,—a strange thing, considering his blindness; for the +road was in a bad condition. The men hurried through the streets, +making inquiries at every house which Hōïchi was accustomed to visit; +but nobody could give them any news of him. At last, as they were +returning to the temple by way of the shore, they were startled by the +sound of a biwa, furiously played, in the cemetery of the Amidaji. +Except for some ghostly fires—such as usually flitted there on dark +nights—all was blackness in that direction. But the men at once +hastened to the cemetery; and there, by the help of their lanterns, +they discovered Hōïchi,—sitting alone in the rain before the memorial +tomb of Antoku Tennō, making his biwa resound, and loudly chanting the +chant of the battle of Dan-no-ura. And behind him, and about him, and +everywhere above the tombs, the fires of the dead were burning, like +candles. Never before had so great a host of _Oni-bi_ appeared in the +sight of mortal man... + +“Hōïchi San!—Hōïchi San!” the servants cried,—“you are bewitched!... +Hōïchi San!” + +But the blind man did not seem to hear. Strenuously he made his biwa to +rattle and ring and clang;—more and more wildly he chanted the chant of +the battle of Dan-no-ura. They caught hold of him;—they shouted into +his ear,— + +“Hōïchi San!—Hōïchi San!—come home with us at once!” + +Reprovingly he spoke to them:— + +“To interrupt me in such a manner, before this august assembly, will +not be tolerated.” + +Whereat, in spite of the weirdness of the thing, the servants could not +help laughing. Sure that he had been bewitched, they now seized him, +and pulled him up on his feet, and by main force hurried him back to +the temple,—where he was immediately relieved of his wet clothes, by +order of the priest. Then the priest insisted upon a full explanation +of his friend’s astonishing behavior. + +Hōïchi long hesitated to speak. But at last, finding that his conduct +had really alarmed and angered the good priest, he decided to abandon +his reserve; and he related everything that had happened from the time +of first visit of the samurai. + +The priest said:— + +“Hōïchi, my poor friend, you are now in great danger! How unfortunate +that you did not tell me all this before! Your wonderful skill in music +has indeed brought you into strange trouble. By this time you must be +aware that you have not been visiting any house whatever, but have been +passing your nights in the cemetery, among the tombs of the Heiké;—and +it was before the memorial-tomb of Antoku Tennō that our people +to-night found you, sitting in the rain. All that you have been +imagining was illusion—except the calling of the dead. By once obeying +them, you have put yourself in their power. If you obey them again, +after what has already occurred, they will tear you in pieces. But they +would have destroyed you, sooner or later, in any event... Now I shall +not be able to remain with you to-night: I am called away to perform +another service. But, before I go, it will be necessary to protect your +body by writing holy texts upon it.” + +Before sundown the priest and his acolyte stripped Hōïchi: then, with +their writing-brushes, they traced upon his breast and back, head and +face and neck, limbs and hands and feet,—even upon the soles of his +feet, and upon all parts of his body,—the text of the holy sûtra called +_Hannya-Shin-Kyō_.[7] When this had been done, the priest instructed +Hōïchi, saying:— + +“To-night, as soon as I go away, you must seat yourself on the +verandah, and wait. You will be called. But, whatever may happen, do +not answer, and do not move. Say nothing and sit still—as if +meditating. If you stir, or make any noise, you will be torn asunder. +Do not get frightened; and do not think of calling for help—because no +help could save you. If you do exactly as I tell you, the danger will +pass, and you will have nothing more to fear.” + +After dark the priest and the acolyte went away; and Hōïchi seated +himself on the verandah, according to the instructions given him. He +laid his biwa on the planking beside him, and, assuming the attitude of +meditation, remained quite still,—taking care not to cough, or to +breathe audibly. For hours he stayed thus. + +Then, from the roadway, he heard the steps coming. They passed the +gate, crossed the garden, approached the verandah, stopped—directly in +front of him. + +“Hōïchi!” the deep voice called. But the blind man held his breath, and +sat motionless. + +“Hōïchi!” grimly called the voice a second time. Then a third +time—savagely:— + +“Hōïchi!” + +Hōïchi remained as still as a stone,—and the voice grumbled:— + +“No answer!—that won’t do!... Must see where the fellow is.”... + +There was a noise of heavy feet mounting upon the verandah. The feet +approached deliberately,—halted beside him. Then, for long +minutes,—during which Hōïchi felt his whole body shake to the beating +of his heart,—there was dead silence. + +At last the gruff voice muttered close to him:— + +“Here is the biwa; but of the biwa-player I see—only two ears!... So +that explains why he did not answer: he had no mouth to answer +with—there is nothing left of him but his ears... Now to my lord those +ears I will take—in proof that the august commands have been obeyed, so +far as was possible”... + +At that instant Hōïchi felt his ears gripped by fingers of iron, and +torn off! Great as the pain was, he gave no cry. The heavy footfalls +receded along the verandah,—descended into the garden,—passed out to +the roadway,—ceased. From either side of his head, the blind man felt a +thick warm trickling; but he dared not lift his hands... + +Before sunrise the priest came back. He hastened at once to the +verandah in the rear, stepped and slipped upon something clammy, and +uttered a cry of horror;—for he saw, by the light of his lantern, that +the clamminess was blood. But he perceived Hōïchi sitting there, in the +attitude of meditation—with the blood still oozing from his wounds. + +“My poor Hōïchi!” cried the startled priest,—“what is this?... You have +been hurt?” + +At the sound of his friend’s voice, the blind man felt safe. He burst +out sobbing, and tearfully told his adventure of the night. + +“Poor, poor Hōïchi!” the priest exclaimed,—“all my fault!—my very +grievous fault!... Everywhere upon your body the holy texts had been +written—except upon your ears! I trusted my acolyte to do that part of +the work; and it was very, very wrong of me not to have made sure that +he had done it!... Well, the matter cannot now be helped;—we can only +try to heal your hurts as soon as possible... Cheer up, friend!—the +danger is now well over. You will never again be troubled by those +visitors.” + +With the aid of a good doctor, Hōïchi soon recovered from his injuries. +The story of his strange adventure spread far and wide, and soon made +him famous. Many noble persons went to Akamagaséki to hear him recite; +and large presents of money were given to him,—so that he became a +wealthy man... But from the time of his adventure, he was known only by +the appellation of _Mimi-nashi-Hōïchi:_ “Hōïchi-the-Earless.” + + + + +OSHIDORI + + +There was a falconer and hunter, named Sonjō, who lived in the district +called Tamura-no-Gō, of the province of Mutsu. One day he went out +hunting, and could not find any game. But on his way home, at a place +called Akanuma, he perceived a pair of _oshidori_[1] (mandarin-ducks), +swimming together in a river that he was about to cross. To kill +_oshidori_ is not good; but Sonjō happened to be very hungry, and he +shot at the pair. His arrow pierced the male: the female escaped into +the rushes of the further shore, and disappeared. Sonjō took the dead +bird home, and cooked it. + +That night he dreamed a dreary dream. It seemed to him that a beautiful +woman came into his room, and stood by his pillow, and began to weep. +So bitterly did she weep that Sonjō felt as if his heart were being +torn out while he listened. And the woman cried to him: “Why,—oh! why +did you kill him?—of what wrong was he guilty?... At Akanuma we were so +happy together,—and you killed him!... What harm did he ever do you? Do +you even know what you have done?—oh! do you know what a cruel, what a +wicked thing you have done?... Me too you have killed,—for I will not +live without my husband!... Only to tell you this I came.”... Then +again she wept aloud,—so bitterly that the voice of her crying pierced +into the marrow of the listener’s bones;—and she sobbed out the words +of this poem:— + + Hi kururéba +Sasoëshi mono wo— + Akanuma no +Makomo no kuré no +Hitori-né zo uki! + + +[_“At the coming of twilight I invited him to return with me—! Now to +sleep alone in the shadow of the rushes of Akanuma—ah! what misery +unspeakable!”_][2] + +And after having uttered these verses she exclaimed:—“Ah, you do not +know—you cannot know what you have done! But to-morrow, when you go to +Akanuma, you will see,—you will see...” So saying, and weeping very +piteously, she went away. + +When Sonjō awoke in the morning, this dream remained so vivid in his +mind that he was greatly troubled. He remembered the words:—“But +to-morrow, when you go to Akanuma, you will see,—you will see.” And he +resolved to go there at once, that he might learn whether his dream was +anything more than a dream. + +So he went to Akanuma; and there, when he came to the river-bank, he +saw the female _oshidori_ swimming alone. In the same moment the bird +perceived Sonjō; but, instead of trying to escape, she swam straight +towards him, looking at him the while in a strange fixed way. Then, +with her beak, she suddenly tore open her own body, and died before the +hunter’s eyes... + +Sonjō shaved his head, and became a priest. + + + + +THE STORY OF O-TEI + + +A long time ago, in the town of Niigata, in the province of Echizen, +there lived a man called Nagao Chōsei. + +Nagao was the son of a physician, and was educated for his father’s +profession. At an early age he had been betrothed to a girl called +O-Tei, the daughter of one of his father’s friends; and both families +had agreed that the wedding should take place as soon as Nagao had +finished his studies. But the health of O-Tei proved to be weak; and in +her fifteenth year she was attacked by a fatal consumption. When she +became aware that she must die, she sent for Nagao to bid him farewell. + +As he knelt at her bedside, she said to him:— + +“Nagao-Sama, (1) my betrothed, we were promised to each other from the +time of our childhood; and we were to have been married at the end of +this year. But now I am going to die;—the gods know what is best for +us. If I were able to live for some years longer, I could only continue +to be a cause of trouble and grief for others. With this frail body, I +could not be a good wife; and therefore even to wish to live, for your +sake, would be a very selfish wish. I am quite resigned to die; and I +want you to promise that you will not grieve... Besides, I want to tell +you that I think we shall meet again.”... + +“Indeed we shall meet again,” Nagao answered earnestly. “And in that +Pure Land (2) there will be no pain of separation.” + +“Nay, nay!” she responded softly, “I meant not the Pure Land. I believe +that we are destined to meet again in this world,—although I shall be +buried to-morrow.” + +Nagao looked at her wonderingly, and saw her smile at his wonder. She +continued, in her gentle, dreamy voice,— + +“Yes, I mean in this world,—in your own present life, Nagao-Sama... +Providing, indeed, that you wish it. Only, for this thing to happen, I +must again be born a girl, and grow up to womanhood. So you would have +to wait. Fifteen—sixteen years: that is a long time... But, my promised +husband, you are now only nineteen years old.”... + +Eager to soothe her dying moments, he answered tenderly:— + +“To wait for you, my betrothed, were no less a joy than a duty. We are +pledged to each other for the time of seven existences.” + +“But you doubt?” she questioned, watching his face. + +“My dear one,” he answered, “I doubt whether I should be able to know +you in another body, under another name,—unless you can tell me of a +sign or token.” + +“That I cannot do,” she said. “Only the Gods and the Buddhas know how +and where we shall meet. But I am sure—very, very sure—that, if you be +not unwilling to receive me, I shall be able to come back to you... +Remember these words of mine.”... + +She ceased to speak; and her eyes closed. She was dead. + + +Nagao had been sincerely attached to O-Tei; and his grief was deep. He +had a mortuary tablet made, inscribed with her _zokumyō;_[1] and he +placed the tablet in his _butsudan_,[2] and every day set offerings +before it. He thought a great deal about the strange things that O-Tei +had said to him just before her death; and, in the hope of pleasing her +spirit, he wrote a solemn promise to wed her if she could ever return +to him in another body. This written promise he sealed with his seal, +and placed in the _butsudan_ beside the mortuary tablet of O-Tei. + +Nevertheless, as Nagao was an only son, it was necessary that he should +marry. He soon found himself obliged to yield to the wishes of his +family, and to accept a wife of his father’s choosing. After his +marriage he continued to set offerings before the tablet of O-Tei; and +he never failed to remember her with affection. But by degrees her +image became dim in his memory,—like a dream that is hard to recall. +And the years went by. + +During those years many misfortunes came upon him. He lost his parents +by death,—then his wife and his only child. So that he found himself +alone in the world. He abandoned his desolate home, and set out upon a +long journey in the hope of forgetting his sorrows. + +One day, in the course of his travels, he arrived at Ikao,—a +mountain-village still famed for its thermal springs, and for the +beautiful scenery of its neighborhood. In the village-inn at which he +stopped, a young girl came to wait upon him; and, at the first sight of +her face, he felt his heart leap as it had never leaped before. So +strangely did she resemble O-Tei that he pinched himself to make sure +that he was not dreaming. As she went and came,—bringing fire and food, +or arranging the chamber of the guest,—her every attitude and motion +revived in him some gracious memory of the girl to whom he had been +pledged in his youth. He spoke to her; and she responded in a soft, +clear voice of which the sweetness saddened him with a sadness of other +days. + +Then, in great wonder, he questioned her, saying:— + +“Elder Sister (3), so much do you look like a person whom I knew long +ago, that I was startled when you first entered this room. Pardon me, +therefore, for asking what is your native place, and what is your +name?” + +Immediately,—and in the unforgotten voice of the dead,—she thus made +answer:— + +“My name is O-Tei; and you are Nagao Chōsei of Echigo, my promised +husband. Seventeen years ago, I died in Niigata: then you made in +writing a promise to marry me if ever I could come back to this world +in the body of a woman;—and you sealed that written promise with your +seal, and put it in the _butsudan_, beside the tablet inscribed with my +name. And therefore I came back.”... + +As she uttered these last words, she fell unconscious. + +Nagao married her; and the marriage was a happy one. But at no time +afterwards could she remember what she had told him in answer to his +question at Ikao: neither could she remember anything of her previous +existence. The recollection of the former birth,—mysteriously kindled +in the moment of that meeting,—had again become obscured, and so +thereafter remained. + + + + +UBAZAKURA + + +Three hundred years ago, in the village called Asamimura, in the +district called Onsengōri, in the province of Iyō, there lived a good +man named Tokubei. This Tokubei was the richest person in the district, +and the _muraosa_, or headman, of the village. In most matters he was +fortunate; but he reached the age of forty without knowing the +happiness of becoming a father. Therefore he and his wife, in the +affliction of their childlessness, addressed many prayers to the +divinity Fudō Myō Ō, who had a famous temple, called Saihōji, in +Asamimura. + +At last their prayers were heard: the wife of Tokubei gave birth to a +daughter. The child was very pretty; and she received the name of +Tsuyu. As the mother’s milk was deficient, a milk-nurse, called O-Sodé, +was hired for the little one. + +O-Tsuyu grew up to be a very beautiful girl; but at the age of fifteen +she fell sick, and the doctors thought that she was going to die. In +that time the nurse O-Sodé, who loved O-Tsuyu with a real mother’s +love, went to the temple Saihōji, and fervently prayed to Fudō-Sama on +behalf of the girl. Every day, for twenty-one days, she went to the +temple and prayed; and at the end of that time, O-Tsuyu suddenly and +completely recovered. + +Then there was great rejoicing in the house of Tokubei; and he gave a +feast to all his friends in celebration of the happy event. But on the +night of the feast the nurse O-Sodé was suddenly taken ill; and on the +following morning, the doctor, who had been summoned to attend her, +announced that she was dying. + +Then the family, in great sorrow, gathered about her bed, to bid her +farewell. But she said to them:— + +“It is time that I should tell you something which you do not know. My +prayer has been heard. I besought Fudō-Sama that I might be permitted +to die in the place of O-Tsuyu; and this great favor has been granted +me. Therefore you must not grieve about my death... But I have one +request to make. I promised Fudō-Sama that I would have a cherry-tree +planted in the garden of Saihōji, for a thank-offering and a +commemoration. Now I shall not be able myself to plant the tree there: +so I must beg that you will fulfill that vow for me... Good-bye, dear +friends; and remember that I was happy to die for O-Tsuyu’s sake.” + +After the funeral of O-Sodé, a young cherry-tree,—the finest that could +be found,—was planted in the garden of Saihōji by the parents of +O-Tsuyu. The tree grew and flourished; and on the sixteenth day of the +second month of the following year,—the anniversary of O-Sodé’s +death,—it blossomed in a wonderful way. So it continued to blossom for +two hundred and fifty-four years,—always upon the sixteenth day of the +second month;—and its flowers, pink and white, were like the nipples of +a woman’s breasts, bedewed with milk. And the people called it +_Ubazakura_, the Cherry-tree of the Milk-Nurse. + + + + +DIPLOMACY + + +It had been ordered that the execution should take place in the garden +of the _yashiki_ (1). So the man was taken there, and made to kneel +down in a wide sanded space crossed by a line of _tobi-ishi_, or +stepping-stones, such as you may still see in Japanese +landscape-gardens. His arms were bound behind him. Retainers brought +water in buckets, and rice-bags filled with pebbles; and they packed +the rice-bags round the kneeling man,—so wedging him in that he could +not move. The master came, and observed the arrangements. He found them +satisfactory, and made no remarks. + +Suddenly the condemned man cried out to him:— + +“Honored Sir, the fault for which I have been doomed I did not +wittingly commit. It was only my very great stupidity which caused the +fault. Having been born stupid, by reason of my Karma, I could not +always help making mistakes. But to kill a man for being stupid is +wrong,—and that wrong will be repaid. So surely as you kill me, so +surely shall I be avenged;—out of the resentment that you provoke will +come the vengeance; and evil will be rendered for evil.”... + +If any person be killed while feeling strong resentment, the ghost of +that person will be able to take vengeance upon the killer. This the +samurai knew. He replied very gently,—almost caressingly:— + +“We shall allow you to frighten us as much as you please—after you are +dead. But it is difficult to believe that you mean what you say. Will +you try to give us some sign of your great resentment—after your head +has been cut off?” + +“Assuredly I will,” answered the man. + +“Very well,” said the samurai, drawing his long sword;—“I am now going +to cut off your head. Directly in front of you there is a +stepping-stone. After your head has been cut off, try to bite the +stepping-stone. If your angry ghost can help you to do that, some of us +may be frightened... Will you try to bite the stone?” + +“I will bite it!” cried the man, in great anger,—“I will bite it!—I +will bite”— + +There was a flash, a swish, a crunching thud: the bound body bowed over +the rice sacks,—two long blood-jets pumping from the shorn neck;—and +the head rolled upon the sand. Heavily toward the stepping-stone it +rolled: then, suddenly bounding, it caught the upper edge of the stone +between its teeth, clung desperately for a moment, and dropped inert. + +None spoke; but the retainers stared in horror at their master. He +seemed to be quite unconcerned. He merely held out his sword to the +nearest attendant, who, with a wooden dipper, poured water over the +blade from haft to point, and then carefully wiped the steel several +times with sheets of soft paper... And thus ended the ceremonial part +of the incident. + +For months thereafter, the retainers and the domestics lived in +ceaseless fear of ghostly visitation. None of them doubted that the +promised vengeance would come; and their constant terror caused them to +hear and to see much that did not exist. They became afraid of the +sound of the wind in the bamboos,—afraid even of the stirring of +shadows in the garden. At last, after taking counsel together, they +decided to petition their master to have a _Ségaki_-service (2) +performed on behalf of the vengeful spirit. + +“Quite unnecessary,” the samurai said, when his chief retainer had +uttered the general wish... “I understand that the desire of a dying +man for revenge may be a cause for fear. But in this case there is +nothing to fear.” + +The retainer looked at his master beseechingly, but hesitated to ask +the reason of the alarming confidence. + +“Oh, the reason is simple enough,” declared the samurai, divining the +unspoken doubt. “Only the very last intention of the fellow could have +been dangerous; and when I challenged him to give me the sign, I +diverted his mind from the desire of revenge. He died with the set +purpose of biting the stepping-stone; and that purpose he was able to +accomplish, but nothing else. All the rest he must have forgotten... So +you need not feel any further anxiety about the matter.” + +—And indeed the dead man gave no more trouble. Nothing at all happened. + + + + +OF A MIRROR AND A BELL + + +Eight centuries ago, the priests of Mugenyama, in the province of +Tōtōmi (1), wanted a big bell for their temple; and they asked the +women of their parish to help them by contributing old bronze mirrors +for bell-metal. + +[Even to-day, in the courts of certain Japanese temples, you may see +heaps of old bronze mirrors contributed for such a purpose. The largest +collection of this kind that I ever saw was in the court of a temple of +the Jōdo sect, at Hakata, in Kyūshū: the mirrors had been given for the +making of a bronze statue of Amida, thirty-three feet high.] + +There was at that time a young woman, a farmer’s wife, living at +Mugenyama, who presented her mirror to the temple, to be used for +bell-metal. But afterwards she much regretted her mirror. She +remembered things that her mother had told her about it; and she +remembered that it had belonged, not only to her mother but to her +mother’s mother and grandmother; and she remembered some happy smiles +which it had reflected. Of course, if she could have offered the +priests a certain sum of money in place of the mirror, she could have +asked them to give back her heirloom. But she had not the money +necessary. Whenever she went to the temple, she saw her mirror lying in +the court-yard, behind a railing, among hundreds of other mirrors +heaped there together. She knew it by the _Shō-Chiku-Bai_ in relief on +the back of it,—those three fortunate emblems of Pine, Bamboo, and +Plumflower, which delighted her baby-eyes when her mother first showed +her the mirror. She longed for some chance to steal the mirror, and +hide it,—that she might thereafter treasure it always. But the chance +did not come; and she became very unhappy,—felt as if she had foolishly +given away a part of her life. She thought about the old saying that a +mirror is the Soul of a Woman—(a saying mystically expressed, by the +Chinese character for Soul, upon the backs of many bronze mirrors),—and +she feared that it was true in weirder ways than she had before +imagined. But she could not dare to speak of her pain to anybody. + +Now, when all the mirrors contributed for the Mugenyama bell had been +sent to the foundry, the bell-founders discovered that there was one +mirror among them which would not melt. Again and again they tried to +melt it; but it resisted all their efforts. Evidently the woman who had +given that mirror to the temple must have regretted the giving. She had +not presented her offering with all her heart; and therefore her +selfish soul, remaining attached to the mirror, kept it hard and cold +in the midst of the furnace. + +Of course everybody heard of the matter, and everybody soon knew whose +mirror it was that would not melt. And because of this public exposure +of her secret fault, the poor woman became very much ashamed and very +angry. And as she could not bear the shame, she drowned herself, after +having written a farewell letter containing these words:— + +“When I am dead, it will not be difficult to melt the mirror and to +cast the bell. But, to the person who breaks that bell by ringing it, +great wealth will be given by the ghost of me.” + + +—You must know that the last wish or promise of anybody who dies in +anger, or performs suicide in anger, is generally supposed to possess a +supernatural force. After the dead woman’s mirror had been melted, and +the bell had been successfully cast, people remembered the words of +that letter. They felt sure that the spirit of the writer would give +wealth to the breaker of the bell; and, as soon as the bell had been +suspended in the court of the temple, they went in multitude to ring +it. With all their might and main they swung the ringing-beam; but the +bell proved to be a good bell, and it bravely withstood their assaults. +Nevertheless, the people were not easily discouraged. Day after day, at +all hours, they continued to ring the bell furiously,—caring nothing +whatever for the protests of the priests. So the ringing became an +affliction; and the priests could not endure it; and they got rid of +the bell by rolling it down the hill into a swamp. The swamp was deep, +and swallowed it up,—and that was the end of the bell. Only its legend +remains; and in that legend it is called the _Mugen-Kané_, or Bell of +Mugen. + + +Now there are queer old Japanese beliefs in the magical efficacy of a +certain mental operation implied, though not described, by the verb +_nazoraëru_. The word itself cannot be adequately rendered by any +English word; for it is used in relation to many kinds of mimetic +magic, as well as in relation to the performance of many religious acts +of faith. Common meanings of _nazoraëru_, according to dictionaries, +are “to imitate,” “to compare,” “to liken;” but the esoteric meaning is +_to substitute, in imagination, one object or action for another, so as +to bring about some magical or miraculous result_. + +For example:—you cannot afford to build a Buddhist temple; but you can +easily lay a pebble before the image of the Buddha, with the same pious +feeling that would prompt you to build a temple if you were rich enough +to build one. The merit of so offering the pebble becomes equal, or +almost equal, to the merit of erecting a temple... You cannot read the +six thousand seven hundred and seventy-one volumes of the Buddhist +texts; but you can make a revolving library, containing them, turn +round, by pushing it like a windlass. And if you push with an earnest +wish that you could read the six thousand seven hundred and seventy-one +volumes, you will acquire the same merit as the reading of them would +enable you to gain... So much will perhaps suffice to explain the +religious meanings of _nazoraëru_. + +The magical meanings could not all be explained without a great variety +of examples; but, for present purposes, the following will serve. If +you should make a little man of straw, for the same reason that Sister +Helen made a little man of wax,—and nail it, with nails not less than +five inches long, to some tree in a temple-grove at the Hour of the Ox +(2),—and if the person, imaginatively represented by that little straw +man, should die thereafter in atrocious agony,—that would illustrate +one signification of _nazoraëru_... Or, let us suppose that a robber +has entered your house during the night, and carried away your +valuables. If you can discover the footprints of that robber in your +garden, and then promptly burn a very large moxa on each of them, the +soles of the feet of the robber will become inflamed, and will allow +him no rest until he returns, of his own accord, to put himself at your +mercy. That is another kind of mimetic magic expressed by the term +_nazoraëru_. And a third kind is illustrated by various legends of the +Mugen-Kané. + +After the bell had been rolled into the swamp, there was, of course, no +more chance of ringing it in such wise as to break it. But persons who +regretted this loss of opportunity would strike and break objects +imaginatively substituted for the bell,—thus hoping to please the +spirit of the owner of the mirror that had made so much trouble. One of +these persons was a woman called Umégaë,—famed in Japanese legend +because of her relation to Kajiwara Kagesue, a warrior of the Heiké +clan. While the pair were traveling together, Kajiwara one day found +himself in great straits for want of money; and Umégaë, remembering the +tradition of the Bell of Mugen, took a basin of bronze, and, mentally +representing it to be the bell, beat upon it until she broke it,—crying +out, at the same time, for three hundred pieces of gold. A guest of the +inn where the pair were stopping made inquiry as to the cause of the +banging and the crying, and, on learning the story of the trouble, +actually presented Umégaë with three hundred _ryō_ (3) in gold. +Afterwards a song was made about Umégaë’s basin of bronze; and that +song is sung by dancing girls even to this day:— + +Umégaë no chōzubachi tataïté +O-kané ga déru naraba +Mina San mi-uké wo +Sōré tanomimasu + + +[“_If, by striking upon the wash-basin of Umégaë, I could make +honorable money come to me, then would I negotiate for the freedom of +all my girl-comrades._”] + + +After this happening, the fame of the Mugen-Kané became great; and many +people followed the example of Umégaë,—thereby hoping to emulate her +luck. Among these folk was a dissolute farmer who lived near Mugenyama, +on the bank of the Ōïgawa. Having wasted his substance in riotous +living, this farmer made for himself, out of the mud in his garden, a +clay-model of the Mugen-Kané; and he beat the clay-bell, and broke +it,—crying out the while for great wealth. + +Then, out of the ground before him, rose up the figure of a white-robed +woman, with long loose-flowing hair, holding a covered jar. And the +woman said: “I have come to answer your fervent prayer as it deserves +to be answered. Take, therefore, this jar.” So saying, she put the jar +into his hands, and disappeared. + +Into his house the happy man rushed, to tell his wife the good news. He +set down in front of her the covered jar,—which was heavy,—and they +opened it together. And they found that it was filled, up to the very +brim, with... + +But no!—I really cannot tell you with what it was filled. + + + + +JIKININKI + + +Once, when Musō Kokushi, a priest of the Zen sect, was journeying alone +through the province of Mino (1), he lost his way in a +mountain-district where there was nobody to direct him. For a long time +he wandered about helplessly; and he was beginning to despair of +finding shelter for the night, when he perceived, on the top of a hill +lighted by the last rays of the sun, one of those little hermitages, +called _anjitsu_, which are built for solitary priests. It seemed to be +in ruinous condition; but he hastened to it eagerly, and found that it +was inhabited by an aged priest, from whom he begged the favor of a +night’s lodging. This the old man harshly refused; but he directed Musō +to a certain hamlet, in the valley adjoining where lodging and food +could be obtained. + +Musō found his way to the hamlet, which consisted of less than a dozen +farm-cottages; and he was kindly received at the dwelling of the +headman. Forty or fifty persons were assembled in the principal +apartment, at the moment of Musō’s arrival; but he was shown into a +small separate room, where he was promptly supplied with food and +bedding. Being very tired, he lay down to rest at an early hour; but a +little before midnight he was roused from sleep by a sound of loud +weeping in the next apartment. Presently the sliding-screens were +gently pushed apart; and a young man, carrying a lighted lantern, +entered the room, respectfully saluted him, and said:— + +“Reverend Sir, it is my painful duty to tell you that I am now the +responsible head of this house. Yesterday I was only the eldest son. +But when you came here, tired as you were, we did not wish that you +should feel embarrassed in any way: therefore we did not tell you that +father had died only a few hours before. The people whom you saw in the +next room are the inhabitants of this village: they all assembled here +to pay their last respects to the dead; and now they are going to +another village, about three miles off,—for by our custom, no one of us +may remain in this village during the night after a death has taken +place. We make the proper offerings and prayers;—then we go away, +leaving the corpse alone. Strange things always happen in the house +where a corpse has thus been left: so we think that it will be better +for you to come away with us. We can find you good lodging in the other +village. But perhaps, as you are a priest, you have no fear of demons +or evil spirits; and, if you are not afraid of being left alone with +the body, you will be very welcome to the use of this poor house. +However, I must tell you that nobody, except a priest, would dare to +remain here tonight.” + +Musō made answer:— + +“For your kind intention and your generous hospitality, I am deeply +grateful. But I am sorry that you did not tell me of your father’s +death when I came;—for, though I was a little tired, I certainly was +not so tired that I should have found difficulty in doing my duty as a +priest. Had you told me, I could have performed the service before your +departure. As it is, I shall perform the service after you have gone +away; and I shall stay by the body until morning. I do not know what +you mean by your words about the danger of staying here alone; but I am +not afraid of ghosts or demons: therefore please to feel no anxiety on +my account.” + +The young man appeared to be rejoiced by these assurances, and +expressed his gratitude in fitting words. Then the other members of the +family, and the folk assembled in the adjoining room, having been told +of the priest’s kind promises, came to thank him,—after which the +master of the house said:— + +“Now, reverend Sir, much as we regret to leave you alone, we must bid +you farewell. By the rule of our village, none of us can stay here +after midnight. We beg, kind Sir, that you will take every care of your +honorable body, while we are unable to attend upon you. And if you +happen to hear or see anything strange during our absence, please tell +us of the matter when we return in the morning.” + +All then left the house, except the priest, who went to the room where +the dead body was lying. The usual offerings had been set before the +corpse; and a small Buddhist lamp—_tōmyō_—was burning. The priest +recited the service, and performed the funeral ceremonies,—after which +he entered into meditation. So meditating he remained through several +silent hours; and there was no sound in the deserted village. But, when +the hush of the night was at its deepest, there noiselessly entered a +Shape, vague and vast; and in the same moment Musō found himself +without power to move or speak. He saw that Shape lift the corpse, as +with hands, devour it, more quickly than a cat devours a rat,—beginning +at the head, and eating everything: the hair and the bones and even the +shroud. And the monstrous Thing, having thus consumed the body, turned +to the offerings, and ate them also. Then it went away, as mysteriously +as it had come. + +When the villagers returned next morning, they found the priest +awaiting them at the door of the headman’s dwelling. All in turn +saluted him; and when they had entered, and looked about the room, no +one expressed any surprise at the disappearance of the dead body and +the offerings. But the master of the house said to Musō:— + +“Reverent Sir, you have probably seen unpleasant things during the +night: all of us were anxious about you. But now we are very happy to +find you alive and unharmed. Gladly we would have stayed with you, if +it had been possible. But the law of our village, as I told you last +evening, obliges us to quit our houses after a death has taken place, +and to leave the corpse alone. Whenever this law has been broken, +heretofore, some great misfortune has followed. Whenever it is obeyed, +we find that the corpse and the offerings disappear during our absence. +Perhaps you have seen the cause.” + +Then Musō told of the dim and awful Shape that had entered the +death-chamber to devour the body and the offerings. No person seemed to +be surprised by his narration; and the master of the house observed:— + +“What you have told us, reverend Sir, agrees with what has been said +about this matter from ancient time.” + +Musō then inquired:— + +“Does not the priest on the hill sometimes perform the funeral service +for your dead?” + +“What priest?” the young man asked. + +“The priest who yesterday evening directed me to this village,” +answered Musō. “I called at his _anjitsu_ on the hill yonder. He +refused me lodging, but told me the way here.” + +The listeners looked at each other, as in astonishment; and, after a +moment of silence, the master of the house said:— + +“Reverend Sir, there is no priest and there is no _anjitsu_ on the +hill. For the time of many generations there has not been any +resident-priest in this neighborhood.” + +Musō said nothing more on the subject; for it was evident that his kind +hosts supposed him to have been deluded by some goblin. But after +having bidden them farewell, and obtained all necessary information as +to his road, he determined to look again for the hermitage on the hill, +and so to ascertain whether he had really been deceived. He found the +_anjitsu_ without any difficulty; and, this time, its aged occupant +invited him to enter. When he had done so, the hermit humbly bowed down +before him, exclaiming:—“Ah! I am ashamed!—I am very much ashamed!—I am +exceedingly ashamed!” + +“You need not be ashamed for having refused me shelter,” said Musō. +“You directed me to the village yonder, where I was very kindly +treated; and I thank you for that favor.” + +“I can give no man shelter,” the recluse made answer;—“and it is not +for the refusal that I am ashamed. I am ashamed only that you should +have seen me in my real shape,—for it was I who devoured the corpse and +the offerings last night before your eyes... Know, reverend Sir, that I +am a _jikininki_,[1]—an eater of human flesh. Have pity upon me, and +suffer me to confess the secret fault by which I became reduced to this +condition. + +“A long, long time ago, I was a priest in this desolate region. There +was no other priest for many leagues around. So, in that time, the +bodies of the mountain-folk who died used to be brought here,—sometimes +from great distances,—in order that I might repeat over them the holy +service. But I repeated the service and performed the rites only as a +matter of business;—I thought only of the food and the clothes that my +sacred profession enabled me to gain. And because of this selfish +impiety I was reborn, immediately after my death, into the state of a +_jikininki_. Since then I have been obliged to feed upon the corpses of +the people who die in this district: every one of them I must devour in +the way that you saw last night... Now, reverend Sir, let me beseech +you to perform a Ségaki-service[2] for me: help me by your prayers, I +entreat you, so that I may be soon able to escape from this horrible +state of existence”... + +No sooner had the hermit uttered this petition than he disappeared; and +the hermitage also disappeared at the same instant. And Musō Kokushi +found himself kneeling alone in the high grass, beside an ancient and +moss-grown tomb of the form called _go-rin-ishi_,[3] which seemed to be +the tomb of a priest. + + + + +MUJINA + + +On the Akasaka Road, in Tōkyō, there is a slope called +Kii-no-kuni-zaka,—which means the Slope of the Province of Kii. I do +not know why it is called the Slope of the Province of Kii. On one side +of this slope you see an ancient moat, deep and very wide, with high +green banks rising up to some place of gardens;—and on the other side +of the road extend the long and lofty walls of an imperial palace. +Before the era of street-lamps and jinrikishas, this neighborhood was +very lonesome after dark; and belated pedestrians would go miles out of +their way rather than mount the Kii-no-kuni-zaka, alone, after sunset. + +All because of a Mujina that used to walk there. (1) + +The last man who saw the Mujina was an old merchant of the Kyōbashi +quarter, who died about thirty years ago. This is the story, as he told +it:— + +One night, at a late hour, he was hurrying up the Kii-no-kuni-zaka, +when he perceived a woman crouching by the moat, all alone, and weeping +bitterly. Fearing that she intended to drown herself, he stopped to +offer her any assistance or consolation in his power. She appeared to +be a slight and graceful person, handsomely dressed; and her hair was +arranged like that of a young girl of good family. “O-jochū,”[1] he +exclaimed, approaching her,—“O-jochū, do not cry like that!... Tell me +what the trouble is; and if there be any way to help you, I shall be +glad to help you.” (He really meant what he said; for he was a very +kind man.) But she continued to weep,—hiding her face from him with one +of her long sleeves. “O-jochū,” he said again, as gently as he +could,—“please, please listen to me!... This is no place for a young +lady at night! Do not cry, I implore you!—only tell me how I may be of +some help to you!” Slowly she rose up, but turned her back to him, and +continued to moan and sob behind her sleeve. He laid his hand lightly +upon her shoulder, and pleaded:—“O-jochū!—O-jochū!—O-jochū!... Listen +to me, just for one little moment!... O-jochū!—O-jochū!”... Then that +O-jochū turned around, and dropped her sleeve, and stroked her face +with her hand;—and the man saw that she had no eyes or nose or +mouth,—and he screamed and ran away. (2) + +Up Kii-no-kuni-zaka he ran and ran; and all was black and empty before +him. On and on he ran, never daring to look back; and at last he saw a +lantern, so far away that it looked like the gleam of a firefly; and he +made for it. It proved to be only the lantern of an itinerant +_soba_-seller,[2] who had set down his stand by the road-side; but any +light and any human companionship was good after that experience; and +he flung himself down at the feet of the _soba_-seller, crying out, +“Ah!—aa!!—_aa!!!_”... + +“_Koré! koré!_” (3) roughly exclaimed the soba-man. “Here! what is the +matter with you? Anybody hurt you?” + +“No—nobody hurt me,” panted the other,—“only... _Ah!—aa!_” + +“—Only scared you?” queried the peddler, unsympathetically. “Robbers?” + +“Not robbers,—not robbers,” gasped the terrified man... “I saw... I saw +a woman—by the moat;—and she showed me... _Ah!_ I cannot tell you what +she showed me!”... + +“_Hé!_ (4) Was it anything like THIS that she showed you?” cried the +soba-man, stroking his own face—which therewith became like unto an +Egg... And, simultaneously, the light went out. + + + + +ROKURO-KUBI + + +Nearly five hundred years ago there was a samurai, named Isogai +Héïdazaëmon Takétsura, in the service of the Lord Kikuji, of Kyūshū. +This Isogai had inherited, from many warlike ancestors, a natural +aptitude for military exercises, and extraordinary strength. While yet +a boy he had surpassed his teachers in the art of swordsmanship, in +archery, and in the use of the spear, and had displayed all the +capacities of a daring and skillful soldier. Afterwards, in the time of +the Eikyō[1] war, he so distinguished himself that high honors were +bestowed upon him. But when the house of Kikuji came to ruin, Isogai +found himself without a master. He might then easily have obtained +service under another daimyō; but as he had never sought distinction +for his own sake alone, and as his heart remained true to his former +lord, he preferred to give up the world. So he cut off his hair, and +became a traveling priest,—taking the Buddhist name of Kwairyō. + +But always, under the _koromo_[2] of the priest, Kwairyō kept warm +within him the heart of the samurai. As in other years he had laughed +at peril, so now also he scorned danger; and in all weathers and all +seasons he journeyed to preach the good Law in places where no other +priest would have dared to go. For that age was an age of violence and +disorder; and upon the highways there was no security for the solitary +traveler, even if he happened to be a priest. + +In the course of his first long journey, Kwairyō had occasion to visit +the province of Kai. (1) One evening, as he was traveling through the +mountains of that province, darkness overcame him in a very lonesome +district, leagues away from any village. So he resigned himself to pass +the night under the stars; and having found a suitable grassy spot, by +the roadside, he lay down there, and prepared to sleep. He had always +welcomed discomfort; and even a bare rock was for him a good bed, when +nothing better could be found, and the root of a pine-tree an excellent +pillow. His body was iron; and he never troubled himself about dews or +rain or frost or snow. + +Scarcely had he lain down when a man came along the road, carrying an +axe and a great bundle of chopped wood. This woodcutter halted on +seeing Kwairyō lying down, and, after a moment of silent observation, +said to him in a tone of great surprise:— + +“What kind of a man can you be, good Sir, that you dare to lie down +alone in such a place as this?... There are haunters about here,—many +of them. Are you not afraid of Hairy Things?” + +“My friend,” cheerfully answered Kwairyō, “I am only a wandering +priest,—a ‘Cloud-and-Water-Guest,’ as folks call it: +_Unsui-no-ryokaku_. (2) And I am not in the least afraid of Hairy +Things,—if you mean goblin-foxes, or goblin-badgers, or any creatures +of that kind. As for lonesome places, I like them: they are suitable +for meditation. I am accustomed to sleeping in the open air: and I have +learned never to be anxious about my life.” + +“You must be indeed a brave man, Sir Priest,” the peasant responded, +“to lie down here! This place has a bad name,—a very bad name. But, as +the proverb has it, _Kunshi ayayuki ni chikayorazu_ [‘The superior man +does not needlessly expose himself to peril’]; and I must assure you, +Sir, that it is very dangerous to sleep here. Therefore, although my +house is only a wretched thatched hut, let me beg of you to come home +with me at once. In the way of food, I have nothing to offer you; but +there is a roof at least, and you can sleep under it without risk.” + +He spoke earnestly; and Kwairyō, liking the kindly tone of the man, +accepted this modest offer. The woodcutter guided him along a narrow +path, leading up from the main road through mountain-forest. It was a +rough and dangerous path,—sometimes skirting precipices,—sometimes +offering nothing but a network of slippery roots for the foot to rest +upon,—sometimes winding over or between masses of jagged rock. But at +last Kwairyō found himself upon a cleared space at the top of a hill, +with a full moon shining overhead; and he saw before him a small +thatched cottage, cheerfully lighted from within. The woodcutter led +him to a shed at the back of the house, whither water had been +conducted, through bamboo-pipes, from some neighboring stream; and the +two men washed their feet. Beyond the shed was a vegetable garden, and +a grove of cedars and bamboos; and beyond the trees appeared the +glimmer of a cascade, pouring from some loftier height, and swaying in +the moonshine like a long white robe. + +As Kwairyō entered the cottage with his guide, he perceived four +persons—men and women—warming their hands at a little fire kindled in +the _ro_[3] of the principle apartment. They bowed low to the priest, +and greeted him in the most respectful manner. Kwairyō wondered that +persons so poor, and dwelling in such a solitude, should be aware of +the polite forms of greeting. “These are good people,” he thought to +himself; “and they must have been taught by some one well acquainted +with the rules of propriety.” Then turning to his host,—the _aruji_, or +house-master, as the others called him,—Kwairyō said:— + +“From the kindness of your speech, and from the very polite welcome +given me by your household, I imagine that you have not always been a +woodcutter. Perhaps you formerly belonged to one of the upper classes?” + +Smiling, the woodcutter answered:— + +“Sir, you are not mistaken. Though now living as you find me, I was +once a person of some distinction. My story is the story of a ruined +life—ruined by my own fault. I used to be in the service of a daimyō; +and my rank in that service was not inconsiderable. But I loved women +and wine too well; and under the influence of passion I acted wickedly. +My selfishness brought about the ruin of our house, and caused the +death of many persons. Retribution followed me; and I long remained a +fugitive in the land. Now I often pray that I may be able to make some +atonement for the evil which I did, and to reestablish the ancestral +home. But I fear that I shall never find any way of so doing. +Nevertheless, I try to overcome the karma of my errors by sincere +repentance, and by helping, as far as I can, those who are +unfortunate.” + +Kwairyō was pleased by this announcement of good resolve; and he said +to the _aruji:_— + +“My friend, I have had occasion to observe that men, prone to folly in +their youth, may in after years become very earnest in right living. In +the holy sûtras it is written that those strongest in wrong-doing can +become, by power of good resolve, the strongest in right-doing. I do +not doubt that you have a good heart; and I hope that better fortune +will come to you. To-night I shall recite the sûtras for your sake, and +pray that you may obtain the force to overcome the karma of any past +errors.” + +With these assurances, Kwairyō bade the _aruji_ good-night; and his +host showed him to a very small side-room, where a bed had been made +ready. Then all went to sleep except the priest, who began to read the +sûtras by the light of a paper lantern. Until a late hour he continued +to read and pray: then he opened a little window in his little +sleeping-room, to take a last look at the landscape before lying down. +The night was beautiful: there was no cloud in the sky: there was no +wind; and the strong moonlight threw down sharp black shadows of +foliage, and glittered on the dews of the garden. Shrillings of +crickets and bell-insects (3) made a musical tumult; and the sound of +the neighboring cascade deepened with the night. Kwairyō felt thirsty +as he listened to the noise of the water; and, remembering the bamboo +aqueduct at the rear of the house, he thought that he could go there +and get a drink without disturbing the sleeping household. Very gently +he pushed apart the sliding-screens that separated his room from the +main apartment; and he saw, by the light of the lantern, five recumbent +bodies—without heads! + +For one instant he stood bewildered,—imagining a crime. But in another +moment he perceived that there was no blood, and that the headless +necks did not look as if they had been cut. Then he thought to +himself:—“Either this is an illusion made by goblins, or I have been +lured into the dwelling of a Rokuro-Kubi... (4) In the book _Sōshinki_ +(5) it is written that if one find the body of a Rokuro-Kubi without +its head, and remove the body to another place, the head will never be +able to join itself again to the neck. And the book further says that +when the head comes back and finds that its body has been moved, it +will strike itself upon the floor three times,—bounding like a +ball,—and will pant as in great fear, and presently die. Now, if these +be Rokuro-Kubi, they mean me no good;—so I shall be justified in +following the instructions of the book.”... + +He seized the body of the aruji by the feet, pulled it to the window, +and pushed it out. Then he went to the back-door, which he found +barred; and he surmised that the heads had made their exit through the +smoke-hole in the roof, which had been left open. Gently unbarring the +door, he made his way to the garden, and proceeded with all possible +caution to the grove beyond it. He heard voices talking in the grove; +and he went in the direction of the voices,—stealing from shadow to +shadow, until he reached a good hiding-place. Then, from behind a +trunk, he caught sight of the heads,—all five of them,—flitting about, +and chatting as they flitted. They were eating worms and insects which +they found on the ground or among the trees. Presently the head of the +aruji stopped eating and said:— + +“Ah, that traveling priest who came to-night!—how fat all his body is! +When we shall have eaten him, our bellies will be well filled... I was +foolish to talk to him as I did;—it only set him to reciting the sûtras +on behalf of my soul! To go near him while he is reciting would be +difficult; and we cannot touch him so long as he is praying. But as it +is now nearly morning, perhaps he has gone to sleep... Some one of you +go to the house and see what the fellow is doing.” + +Another head—the head of a young woman—immediately rose up and flitted +to the house, lightly as a bat. After a few minutes it came back, and +cried out huskily, in a tone of great alarm:— + +“That traveling priest is not in the house;—he is gone! But that is not +the worst of the matter. He has taken the body of our aruji; and I do +not know where he has put it.” + +At this announcement the head of the aruji—distinctly visible in the +moonlight—assumed a frightful aspect: its eyes opened monstrously; its +hair stood up bristling; and its teeth gnashed. Then a cry burst from +its lips; and—weeping tears of rage—it exclaimed:— + +“Since my body has been moved, to rejoin it is not possible! Then I +must die!... And all through the work of that priest! Before I die I +will get at that priest!—I will tear him!—I will devour him!... _And +there he is_—behind that tree!—hiding behind that tree! See him!—the +fat coward!”... + +In the same moment the head of the aruji, followed by the other four +heads, sprang at Kwairyō. But the strong priest had already armed +himself by plucking up a young tree; and with that tree he struck the +heads as they came,—knocking them from him with tremendous blows. Four +of them fled away. But the head of the aruji, though battered again and +again, desperately continued to bound at the priest, and at last caught +him by the left sleeve of his robe. Kwairyō, however, as quickly +gripped the head by its topknot, and repeatedly struck it. It did not +release its hold; but it uttered a long moan, and thereafter ceased to +struggle. It was dead. But its teeth still held the sleeve; and, for +all his great strength, Kwairyō could not force open the jaws. + +With the head still hanging to his sleeve he went back to the house, +and there caught sight of the other four Rokuro-Kubi squatting +together, with their bruised and bleeding heads reunited to their +bodies. But when they perceived him at the back-door all screamed, “The +priest! the priest!”—and fled, through the other doorway, out into the +woods. + +Eastward the sky was brightening; day was about to dawn; and Kwairyō +knew that the power of the goblins was limited to the hours of +darkness. He looked at the head clinging to his sleeve,—its face all +fouled with blood and foam and clay; and he laughed aloud as he thought +to himself: “What a _miyagé!_[4]—the head of a goblin!” After which he +gathered together his few belongings, and leisurely descended the +mountain to continue his journey. + +Right on he journeyed, until he came to Suwa in Shinano; (6) and into +the main street of Suwa he solemnly strode, with the head dangling at +his elbow. Then woman fainted, and children screamed and ran away; and +there was a great crowding and clamoring until the _torité_ (as the +police in those days were called) seized the priest, and took him to +jail. For they supposed the head to be the head of a murdered man who, +in the moment of being killed, had caught the murderer’s sleeve in his +teeth. As for Kwairyō, he only smiled and said nothing when they +questioned him. So, after having passed a night in prison, he was +brought before the magistrates of the district. Then he was ordered to +explain how he, a priest, had been found with the head of a man +fastened to his sleeve, and why he had dared thus shamelessly to parade +his crime in the sight of people. + +Kwairyō laughed long and loudly at these questions; and then he said:— + +“Sirs, I did not fasten the head to my sleeve: it fastened itself +there—much against my will. And I have not committed any crime. For +this is not the head of a man; it is the head of a goblin;—and, if I +caused the death of the goblin, I did not do so by any shedding of +blood, but simply by taking the precautions necessary to assure my own +safety.”... And he proceeded to relate the whole of the +adventure,—bursting into another hearty laugh as he told of his +encounter with the five heads. + +But the magistrates did not laugh. They judged him to be a hardened +criminal, and his story an insult to their intelligence. Therefore, +without further questioning, they decided to order his immediate +execution,—all of them except one, a very old man. This aged officer +had made no remark during the trial; but, after having heard the +opinion of his colleagues, he rose up, and said:— + +“Let us first examine the head carefully; for this, I think, has not +yet been done. If the priest has spoken truth, the head itself should +bear witness for him... Bring the head here!” + +So the head, still holding in its teeth the _koromo_ that had been +stripped from Kwairyō’s shoulders, was put before the judges. The old +man turned it round and round, carefully examined it, and discovered, +on the nape of its neck, several strange red characters. He called the +attention of his colleagues to these, and also bade them observe that +the edges of the neck nowhere presented the appearance of having been +cut by any weapon. On the contrary, the line of leverance was smooth as +the line at which a falling leaf detaches itself from the stem... Then +said the elder:— + +“I am quite sure that the priest told us nothing but the truth. This is +the head of a Rokuro-Kubi. In the book _Nan-hō-ï-butsu-shi_ it is +written that certain red characters can always be found upon the nape +of the neck of a real Rokuro-Kubi. There are the characters: you can +see for yourselves that they have not been painted. Moreover, it is +well known that such goblins have been dwelling in the mountains of the +province of Kai from very ancient time... But you, Sir,” he exclaimed, +turning to Kwairyō,—“what sort of sturdy priest may you be? Certainly +you have given proof of a courage that few priests possess; and you +have the air of a soldier rather than a priest. Perhaps you once +belonged to the samurai-class?” + +“You have guessed rightly, Sir,” Kwairyō responded. “Before becoming a +priest, I long followed the profession of arms; and in those days I +never feared man or devil. My name then was Isogai Héïdazaëmon +Takétsura of Kyūshū: there may be some among you who remember it.” + +At the mention of that name, a murmur of admiration filled the +court-room; for there were many present who remembered it. And Kwairyō +immediately found himself among friends instead of judges,—friends +anxious to prove their admiration by fraternal kindness. With honor +they escorted him to the residence of the daimyō, who welcomed him, and +feasted him, and made him a handsome present before allowing him to +depart. When Kwairyō left Suwa, he was as happy as any priest is +permitted to be in this transitory world. As for the head, he took it +with him,—jocosely insisting that he intended it for a _miyagé_. + +And now it only remains to tell what became of the head. + +A day or two after leaving Suwa, Kwairyō met with a robber, who stopped +him in a lonesome place, and bade him strip. Kwairyō at once removed +his _koromo_, and offered it to the robber, who then first perceived +what was hanging to the sleeve. Though brave, the highwayman was +startled: he dropped the garment, and sprang back. Then he cried +out:—“You!—what kind of a priest are you? Why, you are a worse man than +I am! It is true that I have killed people; but I never walked about +with anybody’s head fastened to my sleeve... Well, Sir priest, I +suppose we are of the same calling; and I must say that I admire +you!... Now that head would be of use to me: I could frighten people +with it. Will you sell it? You can have my robe in exchange for your +_koromo;_ and I will give you five _ryō_ for the head.” + +Kwairyō answered:— + +“I shall let you have the head and the robe if you insist; but I must +tell you that this is not the head of a man. It is a goblin’s head. So, +if you buy it, and have any trouble in consequence, please to remember +that you were not deceived by me.” + +“What a nice priest you are!” exclaimed the robber. “You kill men, and +jest about it!... But I am really in earnest. Here is my robe; and here +is the money;—and let me have the head... What is the use of joking?” + +“Take the thing,” said Kwairyō. “I was not joking. The only joke—if +there be any joke at all—is that you are fool enough to pay good money +for a goblin’s head.” And Kwairyō, loudly laughing, went upon his way. + +Thus the robber got the head and the _koromo;_ and for some time he +played goblin-priest upon the highways. But, reaching the neighborhood +of Suwa, he there leaned the true story of the head; and he then became +afraid that the spirit of the Rokuro-Kubi might give him trouble. So he +made up his mind to take back the head to the place from which it had +come, and to bury it with its body. He found his way to the lonely +cottage in the mountains of Kai; but nobody was there, and he could not +discover the body. Therefore he buried the head by itself, in the grove +behind the cottage; and he had a tombstone set up over the grave; and +he caused a Ségaki-service to be performed on behalf of the spirit of +the Rokuro-Kubi. And that tombstone—known as the Tombstone of the +Rokuro-Kubi—may be seen (at least so the Japanese story-teller +declares) even unto this day. + + + + +A DEAD SECRET + + +A long time ago, in the province of Tamba (1), there lived a rich +merchant named Inamuraya Gensuké. He had a daughter called O-Sono. As +she was very clever and pretty, he thought it would be a pity to let +her grow up with only such teaching as the country-teachers could give +her: so he sent her, in care of some trusty attendants, to Kyōto, that +she might be trained in the polite accomplishments taught to the ladies +of the capital. After she had thus been educated, she was married to a +friend of her father’s family—a merchant named Nagaraya;—and she lived +happily with him for nearly four years. They had one child,—a boy. But +O-Sono fell ill and died, in the fourth year after her marriage. + +On the night after the funeral of O-Sono, her little son said that his +mamma had come back, and was in the room upstairs. She had smiled at +him, but would not talk to him: so he became afraid, and ran away. Then +some of the family went upstairs to the room which had been O-Sono’s; +and they were startled to see, by the light of a small lamp which had +been kindled before a shrine in that room, the figure of the dead +mother. She appeared as if standing in front of a _tansu_, or chest of +drawers, that still contained her ornaments and her wearing-apparel. +Her head and shoulders could be very distinctly seen; but from the +waist downwards the figure thinned into invisibility;—it was like an +imperfect reflection of her, and transparent as a shadow on water. + +Then the folk were afraid, and left the room. Below they consulted +together; and the mother of O-Sono’s husband said: “A woman is fond of +her small things; and O-Sono was much attached to her belongings. +Perhaps she has come back to look at them. Many dead persons will do +that,—unless the things be given to the parish-temple. If we present +O-Sono’s robes and girdles to the temple, her spirit will probably find +rest.” + +It was agreed that this should be done as soon as possible. So on the +following morning the drawers were emptied; and all of O-Sono’s +ornaments and dresses were taken to the temple. But she came back the +next night, and looked at the _tansu_ as before. And she came back also +on the night following, and the night after that, and every night;—and +the house became a house of fear. + +The mother of O-Sono’s husband then went to the parish-temple, and told +the chief priest all that had happened, and asked for ghostly counsel. +The temple was a Zen temple; and the head-priest was a learned old man, +known as Daigen Oshō. He said: “There must be something about which she +is anxious, in or near that _tansu_.”—“But we emptied all the drawers,” +replied the woman;—“there is nothing in the _tansu_.”—“Well,” said +Daigen Oshō, “to-night I shall go to your house, and keep watch in that +room, and see what can be done. You must give orders that no person +shall enter the room while I am watching, unless I call.” + +After sundown, Daigen Oshō went to the house, and found the room made +ready for him. He remained there alone, reading the sûtras; and nothing +appeared until after the Hour of the Rat.[1] Then the figure of O-Sono +suddenly outlined itself in front of the _tansu_. Her face had a +wistful look; and she kept her eyes fixed upon the _tansu_. + +The priest uttered the holy formula prescribed in such cases, and then, +addressing the figure by the _kaimyō_[2] of O-Sono, said:—“I have come +here in order to help you. Perhaps in that _tansu_ there is something +about which you have reason to feel anxious. Shall I try to find it for +you?” The shadow appeared to give assent by a slight motion of the +head; and the priest, rising, opened the top drawer. It was empty. +Successively he opened the second, the third, and the fourth drawer;—he +searched carefully behind them and beneath them;—he carefully examined +the interior of the chest. He found nothing. But the figure remained +gazing as wistfully as before. “What can she want?” thought the priest. +Suddenly it occurred to him that there might be something hidden under +the paper with which the drawers were lined. He removed the lining of +the first drawer:—nothing! He removed the lining of the second and +third drawers:—still nothing. But under the lining of the lowermost +drawer he found—a letter. “Is this the thing about which you have been +troubled?” he asked. The shadow of the woman turned toward him,—her +faint gaze fixed upon the letter. “Shall I burn it for you?” he asked. +She bowed before him. “It shall be burned in the temple this very +morning,” he promised;—“and no one shall read it, except myself.” The +figure smiled and vanished. + +Dawn was breaking as the priest descended the stairs, to find the +family waiting anxiously below. “Do not be anxious,” he said to them: +“She will not appear again.” And she never did. + +The letter was burned. It was a love-letter written to O-Sono in the +time of her studies at Kyōto. But the priest alone knew what was in it; +and the secret died with him. + + + + +YUKI-ONNA + + +In a village of Musashi Province (1), there lived two woodcutters: +Mosaku and Minokichi. At the time of which I am speaking, Mosaku was an +old man; and Minokichi, his apprentice, was a lad of eighteen years. +Every day they went together to a forest situated about five miles from +their village. On the way to that forest there is a wide river to +cross; and there is a ferry-boat. Several times a bridge was built +where the ferry is; but the bridge was each time carried away by a +flood. No common bridge can resist the current there when the river +rises. + +Mosaku and Minokichi were on their way home, one very cold evening, +when a great snowstorm overtook them. They reached the ferry; and they +found that the boatman had gone away, leaving his boat on the other +side of the river. It was no day for swimming; and the woodcutters took +shelter in the ferryman’s hut,—thinking themselves lucky to find any +shelter at all. There was no brazier in the hut, nor any place in which +to make a fire: it was only a two-mat[1] hut, with a single door, but +no window. Mosaku and Minokichi fastened the door, and lay down to +rest, with their straw rain-coats over them. At first they did not feel +very cold; and they thought that the storm would soon be over. + +The old man almost immediately fell asleep; but the boy, Minokichi, lay +awake a long time, listening to the awful wind, and the continual +slashing of the snow against the door. The river was roaring; and the +hut swayed and creaked like a junk at sea. It was a terrible storm; and +the air was every moment becoming colder; and Minokichi shivered under +his rain-coat. But at last, in spite of the cold, he too fell asleep. + +He was awakened by a showering of snow in his face. The door of the hut +had been forced open; and, by the snow-light (_yuki-akari_), he saw a +woman in the room,—a woman all in white. She was bending above Mosaku, +and blowing her breath upon him;—and her breath was like a bright white +smoke. Almost in the same moment she turned to Minokichi, and stooped +over him. He tried to cry out, but found that he could not utter any +sound. The white woman bent down over him, lower and lower, until her +face almost touched him; and he saw that she was very beautiful,—though +her eyes made him afraid. For a little time she continued to look at +him;—then she smiled, and she whispered:—“I intended to treat you like +the other man. But I cannot help feeling some pity for you,—because you +are so young... You are a pretty boy, Minokichi; and I will not hurt +you now. But, if you ever tell anybody—even your own mother—about what +you have seen this night, I shall know it; and then I will kill you... +Remember what I say!” + + +[Illustration] BLOWING HER BREATH UPON HIM + + +With these words, she turned from him, and passed through the doorway. +Then he found himself able to move; and he sprang up, and looked out. +But the woman was nowhere to be seen; and the snow was driving +furiously into the hut. Minokichi closed the door, and secured it by +fixing several billets of wood against it. He wondered if the wind had +blown it open;—he thought that he might have been only dreaming, and +might have mistaken the gleam of the snow-light in the doorway for the +figure of a white woman: but he could not be sure. He called to Mosaku, +and was frightened because the old man did not answer. He put out his +hand in the dark, and touched Mosaku’s face, and found that it was ice! +Mosaku was stark and dead... + +By dawn the storm was over; and when the ferryman returned to his +station, a little after sunrise, he found Minokichi lying senseless +beside the frozen body of Mosaku. Minokichi was promptly cared for, and +soon came to himself; but he remained a long time ill from the effects +of the cold of that terrible night. He had been greatly frightened also +by the old man’s death; but he said nothing about the vision of the +woman in white. As soon as he got well again, he returned to his +calling,—going alone every morning to the forest, and coming back at +nightfall with his bundles of wood, which his mother helped him to +sell. + +One evening, in the winter of the following year, as he was on his way +home, he overtook a girl who happened to be traveling by the same road. +She was a tall, slim girl, very good-looking; and she answered +Minokichi’s greeting in a voice as pleasant to the ear as the voice of +a song-bird. Then he walked beside her; and they began to talk. The +girl said that her name was O-Yuki;[2] that she had lately lost both of +her parents; and that she was going to Yedo (2), where she happened to +have some poor relations, who might help her to find a situation as a +servant. Minokichi soon felt charmed by this strange girl; and the more +that he looked at her, the handsomer she appeared to be. He asked her +whether she was yet betrothed; and she answered, laughingly, that she +was free. Then, in her turn, she asked Minokichi whether he was +married, or pledged to marry; and he told her that, although he had +only a widowed mother to support, the question of an “honorable +daughter-in-law” had not yet been considered, as he was very young... +After these confidences, they walked on for a long while without +speaking; but, as the proverb declares, _Ki ga aréba, mé mo kuchi hodo +ni mono wo iu:_ “When the wish is there, the eyes can say as much as +the mouth.” By the time they reached the village, they had become very +much pleased with each other; and then Minokichi asked O-Yuki to rest +awhile at his house. After some shy hesitation, she went there with +him; and his mother made her welcome, and prepared a warm meal for her. +O-Yuki behaved so nicely that Minokichi’s mother took a sudden fancy to +her, and persuaded her to delay her journey to Yedo. And the natural +end of the matter was that Yuki never went to Yedo at all. She remained +in the house, as an “honorable daughter-in-law.” + +O-Yuki proved a very good daughter-in-law. When Minokichi’s mother came +to die,—some five years later,—her last words were words of affection +and praise for the wife of her son. And O-Yuki bore Minokichi ten +children, boys and girls,—handsome children all of them, and very fair +of skin. + +The country-folk thought O-Yuki a wonderful person, by nature different +from themselves. Most of the peasant-women age early; but O-Yuki, even +after having become the mother of ten children, looked as young and +fresh as on the day when she had first come to the village. + +One night, after the children had gone to sleep, O-Yuki was sewing by +the light of a paper lamp; and Minokichi, watching her, said:— + +“To see you sewing there, with the light on your face, makes me think +of a strange thing that happened when I was a lad of eighteen. I then +saw somebody as beautiful and white as you are now—indeed, she was very +like you.”... + +Without lifting her eyes from her work, O-Yuki responded:— + +“Tell me about her... Where did you see her?” + +Then Minokichi told her about the terrible night in the ferryman’s +hut,—and about the White Woman that had stooped above him, smiling and +whispering,—and about the silent death of old Mosaku. And he said:— + +“Asleep or awake, that was the only time that I saw a being as +beautiful as you. Of course, she was not a human being; and I was +afraid of her,—very much afraid,—but she was so white!... Indeed, I +have never been sure whether it was a dream that I saw, or the Woman of +the Snow.”... + +O-Yuki flung down her sewing, and arose, and bowed above Minokichi +where he sat, and shrieked into his face:— + +“It was I—I—I! Yuki it was! And I told you then that I would kill you +if you ever said one word about it!... But for those children asleep +there, I would kill you this moment! And now you had better take very, +very good care of them; for if ever they have reason to complain of +you, I will treat you as you deserve!”... + +Even as she screamed, her voice became thin, like a crying of +wind;—then she melted into a bright white mist that spired to the +roof-beams, and shuddered away through the smoke-hole.... Never again +was she seen. + + + + +THE STORY OF AOYAGI + + +In the era of Bummei [1469-1486] there was a young samurai called +Tomotada in the service of Hatakéyama Yoshimuné, the Lord of Noto (1). +Tomotada was a native of Echizen (2); but at an early age he had been +taken, as page, into the palace of the daimyō of Noto, and had been +educated, under the supervision of that prince, for the profession of +arms. As he grew up, he proved himself both a good scholar and a good +soldier, and continued to enjoy the favor of his prince. Being gifted +with an amiable character, a winning address, and a very handsome +person, he was admired and much liked by his samurai-comrades. + +When Tomotada was about twenty years old, he was sent upon a private +mission to Hosokawa Masamoto, the great daimyō of Kyōto, a kinsman of +Hatakéyama Yoshimuné. Having been ordered to journey through Echizen, +the youth requested and obtained permission to pay a visit, on the way, +to his widowed mother. + +It was the coldest period of the year when he started; and, though +mounted upon a powerful horse, he found himself obliged to proceed +slowly. The road which he followed passed through a mountain-district +where the settlements were few and far between; and on the second day +of his journey, after a weary ride of hours, he was dismayed to find +that he could not reach his intended halting-place until late in the +night. He had reason to be anxious;—for a heavy snowstorm came on, with +an intensely cold wind; and the horse showed signs of exhaustion. But +in that trying moment, Tomotada unexpectedly perceived the thatched +room of a cottage on the summit of a near hill, where willow-trees were +growing. With difficulty he urged his tired animal to the dwelling; and +he loudly knocked upon the storm-doors, which had been closed against +the wind. An old woman opened them, and cried out compassionately at +the sight of the handsome stranger: “Ah, how pitiful!—a young gentleman +traveling alone in such weather!... Deign, young master, to enter.” + +Tomotada dismounted, and after leading his horse to a shed in the rear, +entered the cottage, where he saw an old man and a girl warming +themselves by a fire of bamboo splints. They respectfully invited him +to approach the fire; and the old folks then proceeded to warm some +rice-wine, and to prepare food for the traveler, whom they ventured to +question in regard to his journey. Meanwhile the young girl disappeared +behind a screen. Tomotada had observed, with astonishment, that she was +extremely beautiful,—though her attire was of the most wretched kind, +and her long, loose hair in disorder. He wondered that so handsome a +girl should be living in such a miserable and lonesome place. + +The old man said to him:— + +“Honored Sir, the next village is far; and the snow is falling thickly. +The wind is piercing; and the road is very bad. Therefore, to proceed +further this night would probably be dangerous. Although this hovel is +unworthy of your presence, and although we have not any comfort to +offer, perhaps it were safer to remain to-night under this miserable +roof... We would take good care of your horse.” + +Tomotada accepted this humble proposal,—secretly glad of the chance +thus afforded him to see more of the young girl. Presently a coarse but +ample meal was set before him; and the girl came from behind the +screen, to serve the wine. She was now reclad, in a rough but cleanly +robe of homespun; and her long, loose hair had been neatly combed and +smoothed. As she bent forward to fill his cup, Tomotada was amazed to +perceive that she was incomparably more beautiful than any woman whom +he had ever before seen; and there was a grace about her every motion +that astonished him. But the elders began to apologize for her, saying: +“Sir, our daughter, Aoyagi,[1] has been brought up here in the +mountains, almost alone; and she knows nothing of gentle service. We +pray that you will pardon her stupidity and her ignorance.” Tomotada +protested that he deemed himself lucky to be waited upon by so comely a +maiden. He could not turn his eyes away from her—though he saw that his +admiring gaze made her blush;—and he left the wine and food untasted +before him. The mother said: “Kind Sir, we very much hope that you will +try to eat and to drink a little,—though our peasant-fare is of the +worst,—as you must have been chilled by that piercing wind.” Then, to +please the old folks, Tomotada ate and drank as he could; but the charm +of the blushing girl still grew upon him. He talked with her, and found +that her speech was sweet as her face. Brought up in the mountains as +she might have been;—but, in that case, her parents must at some time +been persons of high degree; for she spoke and moved like a damsel of +rank. Suddenly he addressed her with a poem—which was also a +question—inspired by the delight in his heart:— + + “Tadzunétsuru, +Hana ka toté koso, + Hi wo kurasé, +Akénu ni otoru +Akané sasuran?” + + +[“_Being on my way to pay a visit, I found that which I took to be a +flower: therefore here I spend the day... Why, in the time before dawn, +the dawn-blush tint should glow—that, indeed, I know not._”][2] + + +Without a moment’s hesitation, she answered him in these verses:— + + “Izuru hi no +Honoméku iro wo + Waga sodé ni +Tsutsumaba asu mo +Kimiya tomaran.” + + +[“_If with my sleeve I hid the faint fair color of the dawning +sun,—then, perhaps, in the morning my lord will remain._”][3] + + +Then Tomotada knew that she accepted his admiration; and he was +scarcely less surprised by the art with which she had uttered her +feelings in verse, than delighted by the assurance which the verses +conveyed. He was now certain that in all this world he could not hope +to meet, much less to win, a girl more beautiful and witty than this +rustic maid before him; and a voice in his heart seemed to cry out +urgently, “Take the luck that the gods have put in your way!” In short +he was bewitched—bewitched to such a degree that, without further +preliminary, he asked the old people to give him their daughter in +marriage,—telling them, at the same time, his name and lineage, and his +rank in the train of the Lord of Noto. + +They bowed down before him, with many exclamations of grateful +astonishment. But, after some moments of apparent hesitation, the +father replied:— + +“Honored master, you are a person of high position, and likely to rise +to still higher things. Too great is the favor that you deign to offer +us;—indeed, the depth of our gratitude therefor is not to be spoken or +measured. But this girl of ours, being a stupid country-girl of vulgar +birth, with no training or teaching of any sort, it would be improper +to let her become the wife of a noble samurai. Even to speak of such a +matter is not right... But, since you find the girl to your liking, and +have condescended to pardon her peasant-manners and to overlook her +great rudeness, we do gladly present her to you, for an humble +handmaid. Deign, therefore, to act hereafter in her regard according to +your august pleasure.” + +Ere morning the storm had passed; and day broke through a cloudless +east. Even if the sleeve of Aoyagi hid from her lover’s eyes the +rose-blush of that dawn, he could no longer tarry. But neither could he +resign himself to part with the girl; and, when everything had been +prepared for his journey, he thus addressed her parents:— + +“Though it may seem thankless to ask for more than I have already +received, I must again beg you to give me your daughter for wife. It +would be difficult for me to separate from her now; and as she is +willing to accompany me, if you permit, I can take her with me as she +is. If you will give her to me, I shall ever cherish you as parents... +And, in the meantime, please to accept this poor acknowledgment of your +kindest hospitality.” + +So saying, he placed before his humble host a purse of gold _ryō_. But +the old man, after many prostrations, gently pushed back the gift, and +said:— + +“Kind master, the gold would be of no use to us; and you will probably +have need of it during your long, cold journey. Here we buy nothing; +and we could not spend so much money upon ourselves, even if we +wished... As for the girl, we have already bestowed her as a free +gift;—she belongs to you: therefore it is not necessary to ask our +leave to take her away. Already she has told us that she hopes to +accompany you, and to remain your servant for as long as you may be +willing to endure her presence. We are only too happy to know that you +deign to accept her; and we pray that you will not trouble yourself on +our account. In this place we could not provide her with proper +clothing,—much less with a dowry. Moreover, being old, we should in any +event have to separate from her before long. Therefore it is very +fortunate that you should be willing to take her with you now.” + +It was in vain that Tomotada tried to persuade the old people to accept +a present: he found that they cared nothing for money. But he saw that +they were really anxious to trust their daughter’s fate to his hands; +and he therefore decided to take her with him. So he placed her upon +his horse, and bade the old folks farewell for the time being, with +many sincere expressions of gratitude. + +“Honored Sir,” the father made answer, “it is we, and not you, who have +reason for gratitude. We are sure that you will be kind to our girl; +and we have no fears for her sake.”... + +[_Here, in the Japanese original, there is a queer break in the natural +course of the narration, which therefrom remains curiously +inconsistent. Nothing further is said about the mother of Tomotada, or +about the parents of Aoyagi, or about the daimyō of Noto. Evidently the +writer wearied of his work at this point, and hurried the story, very +carelessly, to its startling end. I am not able to supply his +omissions, or to repair his faults of construction; but I must venture +to put in a few explanatory details, without which the rest of the tale +would not hold together... It appears that Tomotada rashly took Aoyagi +with him to Kyōto, and so got into trouble; but we are not informed as +to where the couple lived afterwards._] + +...Now a samurai was not allowed to marry without the consent of his +lord; and Tomotada could not expect to obtain this sanction before his +mission had been accomplished. He had reason, under such circumstances, +to fear that the beauty of Aoyagi might attract dangerous attention, +and that means might be devised of taking her away from him. In Kyōto +he therefore tried to keep her hidden from curious eyes. But a retainer +of Lord Hosokawa one day caught sight of Aoyagi, discovered her +relation to Tomotada, and reported the matter to the daimyō. Thereupon +the daimyō—a young prince, and fond of pretty faces—gave orders that +the girl should be brought to the place; and she was taken thither at +once, without ceremony. + +Tomotada sorrowed unspeakably; but he knew himself powerless. He was +only an humble messenger in the service of a far-off daimyō; and for +the time being he was at the mercy of a much more powerful daimyō, +whose wishes were not to be questioned. Moreover Tomotada knew that he +had acted foolishly,—that he had brought about his own misfortune, by +entering into a clandestine relation which the code of the military +class condemned. There was now but one hope for him,—a desperate hope: +that Aoyagi might be able and willing to escape and to flee with him. +After long reflection, he resolved to try to send her a letter. The +attempt would be dangerous, of course: any writing sent to her might +find its way to the hands of the daimyō; and to send a love-letter to +any inmate of the place was an unpardonable offense. But he resolved to +dare the risk; and, in the form of a Chinese poem, he composed a letter +which he endeavored to have conveyed to her. The poem was written with +only twenty-eight characters. But with those twenty-eight characters he +was about to express all the depth of his passion, and to suggest all +the pain of his loss:—[4] + + +Kōshi ō-son gojin wo ou; +Ryokuju namida wo tarété rakin wo hitataru; +Komon hitotabi irité fukaki koto umi no gotoshi; +Koré yori shorō koré rojin + +[_Closely, closely the youthful prince now follows after the gem-bright +maid;— +The tears of the fair one, falling, have moistened all her robes. +But the august lord, having once become enamored of her—the depth of +his longing is like the depth of the sea. +Therefore it is only I that am left forlorn,—only I that am left to +wander along._] + +On the evening of the day after this poem had been sent, Tomotada was +summoned to appear before the Lord Hosokawa. The youth at once +suspected that his confidence had been betrayed; and he could not hope, +if his letter had been seen by the daimyō, to escape the severest +penalty. “Now he will order my death,” thought Tomotada;—“but I do not +care to live unless Aoyagi be restored to me. Besides, if the +death-sentence be passed, I can at least try to kill Hosokawa.” He +slipped his swords into his girdle, and hastened to the palace. + +On entering the presence-room he saw the Lord Hosokawa seated upon the +dais, surrounded by samurai of high rank, in caps and robes of +ceremony. All were silent as statues; and while Tomotada advanced to +make obeisance, the hush seemed to him sinister and heavy, like the +stillness before a storm. But Hosokawa suddenly descended from the +dais, and, while taking the youth by the arm, began to repeat the words +of the poem:—“_Kōshi ō-son gojin wo ou_.”... And Tomotada, looking up, +saw kindly tears in the prince’s eyes. + +Then said Hosokawa:— + +“Because you love each other so much, I have taken it upon myself to +authorize your marriage, in lieu of my kinsman, the Lord of Noto; and +your wedding shall now be celebrated before me. The guests are +assembled;—the gifts are ready.” + +At a signal from the lord, the sliding-screens concealing a further +apartment were pushed open; and Tomotada saw there many dignitaries of +the court, assembled for the ceremony, and Aoyagi awaiting him in +brides’ apparel... Thus was she given back to him;—and the wedding was +joyous and splendid;—and precious gifts were made to the young couple +by the prince, and by the members of his household. + + +For five happy years, after that wedding, Tomotada and Aoyagi dwelt +together. But one morning Aoyagi, while talking with her husband about +some household matter, suddenly uttered a great cry of pain, and then +became very white and still. After a few moments she said, in a feeble +voice: “Pardon me for thus rudely crying out—but the pain was so +sudden!... My dear husband, our union must have been brought about +through some Karma-relation in a former state of existence; and that +happy relation, I think, will bring us again together in more than one +life to come. But for this present existence of ours, the relation is +now ended;—we are about to be separated. Repeat for me, I beseech you, +the _Nembutsu_-prayer,—because I am dying.” + +“Oh! what strange wild fancies!” cried the startled husband,—“you are +only a little unwell, my dear one!... lie down for a while, and rest; +and the sickness will pass.”... + +“No, no!” she responded—“I am dying!—I do not imagine it;—I know!... +And it were needless now, my dear husband, to hide the truth from you +any longer:—I am not a human being. The soul of a tree is my soul;—the +heart of a tree is my heart;—the sap of the willow is my life. And some +one, at this cruel moment, is cutting down my tree;—that is why I must +die!... Even to weep were now beyond my strength!—quickly, quickly +repeat the _Nembutsu_ for me... quickly!... Ah!...” + +With another cry of pain she turned aside her beautiful head, and tried +to hide her face behind her sleeve. But almost in the same moment her +whole form appeared to collapse in the strangest way, and to sink down, +down, down—level with the floor. Tomotada had sprung to support +her;—but there was nothing to support! There lay on the matting only +the empty robes of the fair creature and the ornaments that she had +worn in her hair: the body had ceased to exist... + +Tomotada shaved his head, took the Buddhist vows, and became an +itinerant priest. He traveled through all the provinces of the empire; +and, at holy places which he visited, he offered up prayers for the +soul of Aoyagi. Reaching Echizen, in the course of his pilgrimage, he +sought the home of the parents of his beloved. But when he arrived at +the lonely place among the hills, where their dwelling had been, he +found that the cottage had disappeared. There was nothing to mark even +the spot where it had stood, except the stumps of three willows—two old +trees and one young tree—that had been cut down long before his +arrival. + +Beside the stumps of those willow-trees he erected a memorial tomb, +inscribed with divers holy texts; and he there performed many Buddhist +services on behalf of the spirits of Aoyagi and of her parents. + + + + +JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA + + +Uso no yona,— +Jiu-roku-zakura +Saki ni keri! + + +In Wakégōri, a district of the province of Iyo (1), there is a very +ancient and famous cherry-tree, called _Jiu-roku-zakura_, or “the +Cherry-tree of the Sixteenth Day,” because it blooms every year upon +the sixteenth day of the first month (by the old lunar calendar),—and +only upon that day. Thus the time of its flowering is the Period of +Great Cold,—though the natural habit of a cherry-tree is to wait for +the spring season before venturing to blossom. But the +_Jiu-roku-zakura_ blossoms with a life that is not—or, at least, that +was not originally—its own. There is the ghost of a man in that tree. + +He was a samurai of Iyo; and the tree grew in his garden; and it used +to flower at the usual time,—that is to say, about the end of March or +the beginning of April. He had played under that tree when he was a +child; and his parents and grandparents and ancestors had hung to its +blossoming branches, season after season for more than a hundred years, +bright strips of colored paper inscribed with poems of praise. He +himself became very old,—outliving all his children; and there was +nothing in the world left for him to love except that tree. And lo! in +the summer of a certain year, the tree withered and died! + +Exceedingly the old man sorrowed for his tree. Then kind neighbors +found for him a young and beautiful cherry-tree, and planted it in his +garden,—hoping thus to comfort him. And he thanked them, and pretended +to be glad. But really his heart was full of pain; for he had loved the +old tree so well that nothing could have consoled him for the loss of +it. + +At last there came to him a happy thought: he remembered a way by which +the perishing tree might be saved. (It was the sixteenth day of the +first month.) Along he went into his garden, and bowed down before the +withered tree, and spoke to it, saying: “Now deign, I beseech you, once +more to bloom,—because I am going to die in your stead.” (For it is +believed that one can really give away one’s life to another person, or +to a creature or even to a tree, by the favor of the gods;—and thus to +transfer one’s life is expressed by the term _migawari ni tatsu_, “to +act as a substitute.”) Then under that tree he spread a white cloth, +and divers coverings, and sat down upon the coverings, and performed +_hara-kiri_ after the fashion of a samurai. And the ghost of him went +into the tree, and made it blossom in that same hour. + +And every year it still blooms on the sixteenth day of the first month, +in the season of snow. + + + + +THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKÉ + + +In the district called Toïchi of Yamato Province, (1) there used to +live a gōshi named Miyata Akinosuké... [Here I must tell you that in +Japanese feudal times there was a privileged class of +soldier-farmers,—free-holders,—corresponding to the class of yeomen in +England; and these were called gōshi.] + +In Akinosuké’s garden there was a great and ancient cedar-tree, under +which he was wont to rest on sultry days. One very warm afternoon he +was sitting under this tree with two of his friends, fellow-gōshi, +chatting and drinking wine, when he felt all of a sudden very +drowsy,—so drowsy that he begged his friends to excuse him for taking a +nap in their presence. Then he lay down at the foot of the tree, and +dreamed this dream:— + +He thought that as he was lying there in his garden, he saw a +procession, like the train of some great daimyō descending a hill near +by, and that he got up to look at it. A very grand procession it proved +to be,—more imposing than anything of the kind which he had ever seen +before; and it was advancing toward his dwelling. He observed in the +van of it a number of young men richly appareled, who were drawing a +great lacquered palace-carriage, or _gosho-guruma_, hung with bright +blue silk. When the procession arrived within a short distance of the +house it halted; and a richly dressed man—evidently a person of +rank—advanced from it, approached Akinosuké, bowed to him profoundly, +and then said:— + +“Honored Sir, you see before you a _kérai_ [vassal] of the Kokuō of +Tokoyo.[1] My master, the King, commands me to greet you in his august +name, and to place myself wholly at your disposal. He also bids me +inform you that he augustly desires your presence at the palace. Be +therefore pleased immediately to enter this honorable carriage, which +he has sent for your conveyance.” + +Upon hearing these words Akinosuké wanted to make some fitting reply; +but he was too much astonished and embarrassed for speech;—and in the +same moment his will seemed to melt away from him, so that he could +only do as the _kérai_ bade him. He entered the carriage; the _kérai_ +took a place beside him, and made a signal; the drawers, seizing the +silken ropes, turned the great vehicle southward;—and the journey +began. + +In a very short time, to Akinosuké’s amazement, the carriage stopped in +front of a huge two-storied gateway (_rōmon_), of a Chinese style, +which he had never before seen. Here the _kérai_ dismounted, saying, “I +go to announce the honorable arrival,”—and he disappeared. After some +little waiting, Akinosuké saw two noble-looking men, wearing robes of +purple silk and high caps of the form indicating lofty rank, come from +the gateway. These, after having respectfully saluted him, helped him +to descend from the carriage, and led him through the great gate and +across a vast garden, to the entrance of a palace whose front appeared +to extend, west and east, to a distance of miles. Akinosuké was then +shown into a reception-room of wonderful size and splendor. His guides +conducted him to the place of honor, and respectfully seated themselves +apart; while serving-maids, in costume of ceremony, brought +refreshments. When Akinosuké had partaken of the refreshments, the two +purple-robed attendants bowed low before him, and addressed him in the +following words,—each speaking alternately, according to the etiquette +of courts:— + +“It is now our honorable duty to inform you... as to the reason of your +having been summoned hither... Our master, the King, augustly desires +that you become his son-in-law;... and it is his wish and command that +you shall wed this very day... the August Princess, his +maiden-daughter... We shall soon conduct you to the presence-chamber... +where His Augustness even now is waiting to receive you... But it will +be necessary that we first invest you... with the appropriate garments +of ceremony.”[2] + +Having thus spoken, the attendants rose together, and proceeded to an +alcove containing a great chest of gold lacquer. They opened the chest, +and took from it various robes and girdles of rich material, and a +_kamuri_, or regal headdress. With these they attired Akinosuké as +befitted a princely bridegroom; and he was then conducted to the +presence-room, where he saw the Kokuō of Tokoyo seated upon the +_daiza_,[3] wearing a high black cap of state, and robed in robes of +yellow silk. Before the _daiza_, to left and right, a multitude of +dignitaries sat in rank, motionless and splendid as images in a temple; +and Akinosuké, advancing into their midst, saluted the king with the +triple prostration of usage. The king greeted him with gracious words, +and then said:— + +“You have already been informed as to the reason of your having been +summoned to Our presence. We have decided that you shall become the +adopted husband of Our only daughter;—and the wedding ceremony shall +now be performed.” + +As the king finished speaking, a sound of joyful music was heard; and a +long train of beautiful court ladies advanced from behind a curtain to +conduct Akinosuké to the room in which his bride awaited him. + +The room was immense; but it could scarcely contain the multitude of +guests assembled to witness the wedding ceremony. All bowed down before +Akinosuké as he took his place, facing the King’s daughter, on the +kneeling-cushion prepared for him. As a maiden of heaven the bride +appeared to be; and her robes were beautiful as a summer sky. And the +marriage was performed amid great rejoicing. + +Afterwards the pair were conducted to a suite of apartments that had +been prepared for them in another portion of the palace; and there they +received the congratulations of many noble persons, and wedding gifts +beyond counting. + +Some days later Akinosuké was again summoned to the throne-room. On +this occasion he was received even more graciously than before; and the +King said to him:— + +“In the southwestern part of Our dominion there is an island called +Raishū. We have now appointed you Governor of that island. You will +find the people loyal and docile; but their laws have not yet been +brought into proper accord with the laws of Tokoyo; and their customs +have not been properly regulated. We entrust you with the duty of +improving their social condition as far as may be possible; and We +desire that you shall rule them with kindness and wisdom. All +preparations necessary for your journey to Raishū have already been +made.” + +So Akinosuké and his bride departed from the palace of Tokoyo, +accompanied to the shore by a great escort of nobles and officials; and +they embarked upon a ship of state provided by the king. And with +favoring winds they safety sailed to Raishū, and found the good people +of that island assembled upon the beach to welcome them. + +Akinosuké entered at once upon his new duties; and they did not prove +to be hard. During the first three years of his governorship he was +occupied chiefly with the framing and the enactment of laws; but he had +wise counselors to help him, and he never found the work unpleasant. +When it was all finished, he had no active duties to perform, beyond +attending the rites and ceremonies ordained by ancient custom. The +country was so healthy and so fertile that sickness and want were +unknown; and the people were so good that no laws were ever broken. And +Akinosuké dwelt and ruled in Raishū for twenty years more,—making in +all twenty-three years of sojourn, during which no shadow of sorrow +traversed his life. + +But in the twenty-fourth year of his governorship, a great misfortune +came upon him; for his wife, who had borne him seven children,—five +boys and two girls,—fell sick and died. She was buried, with high pomp, +on the summit of a beautiful hill in the district of Hanryōkō; and a +monument, exceedingly splendid, was placed upon her grave. But +Akinosuké felt such grief at her death that he no longer cared to live. + +Now when the legal period of mourning was over, there came to Raishū, +from the Tokoyo palace, a _shisha_, or royal messenger. The _shisha_ +delivered to Akinosuké a message of condolence, and then said to him:— + +“These are the words which our august master, the King of Tokoyo, +commands that I repeat to you: ‘We will now send you back to your own +people and country. As for the seven children, they are the grandsons +and granddaughters of the King, and shall be fitly cared for. Do not, +therefore, allow your mind to be troubled concerning them.’” + +On receiving this mandate, Akinosuké submissively prepared for his +departure. When all his affairs had been settled, and the ceremony of +bidding farewell to his counselors and trusted officials had been +concluded, he was escorted with much honor to the port. There he +embarked upon the ship sent for him; and the ship sailed out into the +blue sea, under the blue sky; and the shape of the island of Raishū +itself turned blue, and then turned grey, and then vanished forever... +And Akinosuké suddenly awoke—under the cedar-tree in his own garden! + +For a moment he was stupefied and dazed. But he perceived his two +friends still seated near him,—drinking and chatting merrily. He stared +at them in a bewildered way, and cried aloud,— + +“How strange!” + +“Akinosuké must have been dreaming,” one of them exclaimed, with a +laugh. “What did you see, Akinosuké, that was strange?” + +Then Akinosuké told his dream,—that dream of three-and-twenty years’ +sojourn in the realm of Tokoyo, in the island of Raishū;—and they were +astonished, because he had really slept for no more than a few minutes. + +One gōshi said:— + +“Indeed, you saw strange things. We also saw something strange while +you were napping. A little yellow butterfly was fluttering over your +face for a moment or two; and we watched it. Then it alighted on the +ground beside you, close to the tree; and almost as soon as it alighted +there, a big, big ant came out of a hole and seized it and pulled it +down into the hole. Just before you woke up, we saw that very butterfly +come out of the hole again, and flutter over your face as before. And +then it suddenly disappeared: we do not know where it went.” + +“Perhaps it was Akinosuké’s soul,” the other gōshi said;—“certainly I +thought I saw it fly into his mouth... But, even if that butterfly +_was_ Akinosuké’s soul, the fact would not explain his dream.” + +“The ants might explain it,” returned the first speaker. “Ants are +queer beings—possibly goblins... Anyhow, there is a big ant’s nest +under that cedar-tree.”... + +“Let us look!” cried Akinosuké, greatly moved by this suggestion. And +he went for a spade. + +The ground about and beneath the cedar-tree proved to have been +excavated, in a most surprising way, by a prodigious colony of ants. +The ants had furthermore built inside their excavations; and their tiny +constructions of straw, clay, and stems bore an odd resemblance to +miniature towns. In the middle of a structure considerably larger than +the rest there was a marvelous swarming of small ants around the body +of one very big ant, which had yellowish wings and a long black head. + +“Why, there is the King of my dream!” cried Akinosuké; “and there is +the palace of Tokoyo!... How extraordinary!... Raishū ought to lie +somewhere southwest of it—to the left of that big root... Yes!—here it +is!... How very strange! Now I am sure that I can find the mountain of +Hanryōkō, and the grave of the princess.”... + +In the wreck of the nest he searched and searched, and at last +discovered a tiny mound, on the top of which was fixed a water-worn +pebble, in shape resembling a Buddhist monument. Underneath it he +found—embedded in clay—the dead body of a female ant. + + + + +RIKI-BAKA + + +His name was Riki, signifying Strength; but the people called him +Riki-the-Simple, or Riki-the-Fool,—“Riki-Baka,”—because he had been +born into perpetual childhood. For the same reason they were kind to +him,—even when he set a house on fire by putting a lighted match to a +mosquito-curtain, and clapped his hands for joy to see the blaze. At +sixteen years he was a tall, strong lad; but in mind he remained always +at the happy age of two, and therefore continued to play with very +small children. The bigger children of the neighborhood, from four to +seven years old, did not care to play with him, because he could not +learn their songs and games. His favorite toy was a broomstick, which +he used as a hobby-horse; and for hours at a time he would ride on that +broomstick, up and down the slope in front of my house, with amazing +peals of laughter. But at last he became troublesome by reason of his +noise; and I had to tell him that he must find another playground. He +bowed submissively, and then went off,—sorrowfully trailing his +broomstick behind him. Gentle at all times, and perfectly harmless if +allowed no chance to play with fire, he seldom gave anybody cause for +complaint. His relation to the life of our street was scarcely more +than that of a dog or a chicken; and when he finally disappeared, I did +not miss him. Months and months passed by before anything happened to +remind me of Riki. + +“What has become of Riki?” I then asked the old woodcutter who supplies +our neighborhood with fuel. I remembered that Riki had often helped him +to carry his bundles. + +“Riki-Baka?” answered the old man. “Ah, Riki is dead—poor fellow!... +Yes, he died nearly a year ago, very suddenly; the doctors said that he +had some disease of the brain. And there is a strange story now about +that poor Riki. + +“When Riki died, his mother wrote his name, ‘Riki-Baka,’ in the palm of +his left hand,—putting ‘Riki’ in the Chinese character, and ‘Baka’ in +_kana_ (1). And she repeated many prayers for him,—prayers that he +might be reborn into some more happy condition. + +“Now, about three months ago, in the honorable residence of +Nanigashi-Sama (2), in Kojimachi (3), a boy was born with characters on +the palm of his left hand; and the characters were quite plain to +read,—‘_RIKI-BAKA_’! + +“So the people of that house knew that the birth must have happened in +answer to somebody’s prayer; and they caused inquiry to be made +everywhere. At last a vegetable-seller brought word to them that there +used to be a simple lad, called Riki-Baka, living in the Ushigomé +quarter, and that he had died during the last autumn; and they sent two +men-servants to look for the mother of Riki. + +“Those servants found the mother of Riki, and told her what had +happened; and she was glad exceedingly—for that Nanigashi house is a +very rich and famous house. But the servants said that the family of +Nanigashi-Sama were very angry about the word ‘Baka’ on the child’s +hand. ‘And where is your Riki buried?’ the servants asked. ‘He is +buried in the cemetery of Zendōji,’ she told them. ‘Please to give us +some of the clay of his grave,’ they requested. + +“So she went with them to the temple Zendōji, and showed them Riki’s +grave; and they took some of the grave-clay away with them, wrapped up +in a _furoshiki_[1]].... They gave Riki’s mother some money,—ten +yen.”... (4) + +“But what did they want with that clay?” I inquired. + +“Well,” the old man answered, “you know that it would not do to let the +child grow up with that name on his hand. And there is no other means +of removing characters that come in that way upon the body of a child: +_you must rub the skin with clay taken from the grave of the body of +the former birth_.”... + + + + +HI-MAWARI + + +On the wooded hill behind the house Robert and I are looking for +fairy-rings. Robert is eight years old, comely, and very wise;—I am a +little more than seven,—and I reverence Robert. It is a glowing +glorious August day; and the warm air is filled with sharp sweet scents +of resin. + +We do not find any fairy-rings; but we find a great many pine-cones in +the high grass... I tell Robert the old Welsh story of the man who went +to sleep, unawares, inside a fairy-ring, and so disappeared for seven +years, and would never eat or speak after his friends had delivered him +from the enchantment. + +“They eat nothing but the points of needles, you know,” says Robert. + +“Who?” I ask. + +“Goblins,” Robert answers. + +This revelation leaves me dumb with astonishment and awe... But Robert +suddenly cries out:— + +“There is a Harper!—he is coming to the house!” + +And down the hill we run to hear the harper... But what a harper! Not +like the hoary minstrels of the picture-books. A swarthy, sturdy, +unkempt vagabond, with black bold eyes under scowling black brows. More +like a bricklayer than a bard,—and his garments are corduroy! + +“Wonder if he is going to sing in Welsh?” murmurs Robert. + +I feel too much disappointed to make any remarks. The harper poses his +harp—a huge instrument—upon our doorstep, sets all the strong ringing +with a sweep of his grimy fingers, clears his throat with a sort of +angry growl, and begins,— + +Believe me, if all those endearing young charms, + Which I gaze on so fondly to-day... + + +The accent, the attitude, the voice, all fill me with repulsion +unutterable,—shock me with a new sensation of formidable vulgarity. I +want to cry out loud, “You have no right to sing that song!” For I have +heard it sung by the lips of the dearest and fairest being in my little +world;—and that this rude, coarse man should dare to sing it vexes me +like a mockery,—angers me like an insolence. But only for a moment!... +With the utterance of the syllables “to-day,” that deep, grim voice +suddenly breaks into a quivering tenderness indescribable;—then, +marvelously changing, it mellows into tones sonorous and rich as the +bass of a great organ,—while a sensation unlike anything ever felt +before takes me by the throat... What witchcraft has he learned? what +secret has he found—this scowling man of the road?... Oh! is there +anybody else in the whole world who can sing like that?... And the form +of the singer flickers and dims;—and the house, and the lawn, and all +visible shapes of things tremble and swim before me. Yet instinctively +I fear that man;—I almost hate him; and I feel myself flushing with +anger and shame because of his power to move me thus... + +“He made you cry,” Robert compassionately observes, to my further +confusion,—as the harper strides away, richer by a gift of sixpence +taken without thanks... “But I think he must be a gipsy. Gipsies are +bad people—and they are wizards... Let us go back to the wood.” + +We climb again to the pines, and there squat down upon the sun-flecked +grass, and look over town and sea. But we do not play as before: the +spell of the wizard is strong upon us both... “Perhaps he is a goblin,” +I venture at last, “or a fairy?” “No,” says Robert,—“only a gipsy. But +that is nearly as bad. They steal children, you know.”... + +“What shall we do if he comes up here?” I gasp, in sudden terror at the +lonesomeness of our situation. + +“Oh, he wouldn’t dare,” answers Robert—“not by daylight, you know.”... + +[Only yesterday, near the village of Takata, I noticed a flower which +the Japanese call by nearly the same name as we do: _Himawari_, “The +Sunward-turning;”—and over the space of forty years there thrilled back +to me the voice of that wandering harper,— + +As the Sunflower turns on her god, when he sets, +The same look that she turned when he rose. + + +Again I saw the sun-flecked shadows on that far Welsh hill; and Robert +for a moment again stood beside me, with his girl’s face and his curls +of gold. We were looking for fairy-rings... But all that existed of the +real Robert must long ago have suffered a sea-change into something +rich and strange... _Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay +down his life for his friend_....] + + + + +HŌRAI + + +Blue vision of depth lost in height,—sea and sky interblending through +luminous haze. The day is of spring, and the hour morning. + +Only sky and sea,—one azure enormity... In the fore, ripples are +catching a silvery light, and threads of foam are swirling. But a +little further off no motion is visible, nor anything save color: dim +warm blue of water widening away to melt into blue of air. Horizon +there is none: only distance soaring into space,—infinite concavity +hollowing before you, and hugely arching above you,—the color deepening +with the height. But far in the midway-blue there hangs a faint, faint +vision of palace towers, with high roofs horned and curved like +moons,—some shadowing of splendor strange and old, illumined by a +sunshine soft as memory. + +...What I have thus been trying to describe is a kakémono,—that is to +say, a Japanese painting on silk, suspended to the wall of my +alcove;—and the name of it is SHINKIRŌ, which signifies “Mirage.” But +the shapes of the mirage are unmistakable. Those are the glimmering +portals of Hōrai the blest; and those are the moony roofs of the Palace +of the Dragon-King;—and the fashion of them (though limned by a +Japanese brush of to-day) is the fashion of things Chinese, twenty-one +hundred years ago... + +Thus much is told of the place in the Chinese books of that time:— + +In Hōrai there is neither death nor pain; and there is no winter. The +flowers in that place never fade, and the fruits never fail; and if a +man taste of those fruits even but once, he can never again feel thirst +or hunger. In Hōrai grow the enchanted plants _So-rin-shi_, and +_Riku-gō-aoi_, and _Ban-kon-tō_, which heal all manner of sickness;—and +there grows also the magical grass _Yō-shin-shi_, that quickens the +dead; and the magical grass is watered by a fairy water of which a +single drink confers perpetual youth. The people of Hōrai eat their +rice out of very, very small bowls; but the rice never diminishes +within those bowls,—however much of it be eaten,—until the eater +desires no more. And the people of Hōrai drink their wine out of very, +very small cups; but no man can empty one of those cups,—however +stoutly he may drink,—until there comes upon him the pleasant +drowsiness of intoxication. + +All this and more is told in the legends of the time of the Shin +dynasty. But that the people who wrote down those legends ever saw +Hōrai, even in a mirage, is not believable. For really there are no +enchanted fruits which leave the eater forever satisfied,—nor any +magical grass which revives the dead,—nor any fountain of fairy +water,—nor any bowls which never lack rice,—nor any cups which never +lack wine. It is not true that sorrow and death never enter +Hōrai;—neither is it true that there is not any winter. The winter in +Hōrai is cold;—and winds then bite to the bone; and the heaping of snow +is monstrous on the roofs of the Dragon-King. + +Nevertheless there are wonderful things in Hōrai; and the most +wonderful of all has not been mentioned by any Chinese writer. I mean +the atmosphere of Hōrai. It is an atmosphere peculiar to the place; +and, because of it, the sunshine in Hōrai is _whiter_ than any other +sunshine,—a milky light that never dazzles,—astonishingly clear, but +very soft. This atmosphere is not of our human period: it is enormously +old,—so old that I feel afraid when I try to think how old it is;—and +it is not a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen. It is not made of air at +all, but of ghost,—the substance of quintillions of quintillions of +generations of souls blended into one immense translucency,—souls of +people who thought in ways never resembling our ways. Whatever mortal +man inhales that atmosphere, he takes into his blood the thrilling of +these spirits; and they change the sense within him,—reshaping his +notions of Space and Time,—so that he can see only as they used to see, +and feel only as they used to feel, and think only as they used to +think. Soft as sleep are these changes of sense; and Hōrai, discerned +across them, might thus be described:— + +_—Because in Hōrai there is no knowledge of great evil, the hearts of +the people never grow old. And, by reason of being always young in +heart, the people of Hōrai smile from birth until death—except when the +Gods send sorrow among them; and faces then are veiled until the sorrow +goes away. All folk in Hōrai love and trust each other, as if all were +members of a single household;—and the speech of the women is like +birdsong, because the hearts of them are light as the souls of +birds;—and the swaying of the sleeves of the maidens at play seems a +flutter of wide, soft wings. In Hōrai nothing is hidden but grief, +because there is no reason for shame;—and nothing is locked away, +because there could not be any theft;—and by night as well as by day +all doors remain unbarred, because there is no reason for fear. And +because the people are fairies—though mortal—all things in Hōrai, +except the Palace of the Dragon-King, are small and quaint and +queer;—and these fairy-folk do really eat their rice out of very, very +small bowls, and drink their wine out of very, very small cups...._ + +—Much of this seeming would be due to the inhalation of that ghostly +atmosphere—but not all. For the spell wrought by the dead is only the +charm of an Ideal, the glamour of an ancient hope;—and something of +that hope has found fulfillment in many hearts,—in the simple beauty of +unselfish lives,—in the sweetness of Woman... + +—Evil winds from the West are blowing over Hōrai; and the magical +atmosphere, alas! is shrinking away before them. It lingers now in +patches only, and bands,—like those long bright bands of cloud that +train across the landscapes of Japanese painters. Under these shreds of +the elfish vapor you still can find Hōrai—but not everywhere... +Remember that Hōrai is also called Shinkirō, which signifies +Mirage,—the Vision of the Intangible. And the Vision is fading,—never +again to appear save in pictures and poems and dreams... + + + + +INSECT STUDIES + + + + +BUTTERFLIES + + +I + +Would that I could hope for the luck of that Chinese scholar known to +Japanese literature as “Rōsan”! For he was beloved by two +spirit-maidens, celestial sisters, who every ten days came to visit him +and to tell him stories about butterflies. Now there are marvelous +Chinese stories about butterflies—ghostly stories; and I want to know +them. But never shall I be able to read Chinese, nor even Japanese; and +the little Japanese poetry that I manage, with exceeding difficulty, to +translate, contains so many allusions to Chinese stories of butterflies +that I am tormented with the torment of Tantalus... And, of course, no +spirit-maidens will even deign to visit so skeptical a person as +myself. + +I want to know, for example, the whole story of that Chinese maiden +whom the butterflies took to be a flower, and followed in multitude,—so +fragrant and so fair was she. Also I should like to know something more +concerning the butterflies of the Emperor Gensō, or Ming Hwang, who +made them choose his loves for him... He used to hold wine-parties in +his amazing garden; and ladies of exceeding beauty were in attendance; +and caged butterflies, set free among them, would fly to the fairest; +and then, upon that fairest the Imperial favor was bestowed. But after +Gensō Kōtei had seen Yōkihi (whom the Chinese call Yang-Kwei-Fei), he +would not suffer the butterflies to choose for him,—which was unlucky, +as Yokihi got him into serious trouble... Again, I should like to know +more about the experience of that Chinese scholar, celebrated in Japan +under the name Sōshū, who dreamed that he was a butterfly, and had all +the sensations of a butterfly in that dream. For his spirit had really +been wandering about in the shape of a butterfly; and, when he awoke, +the memories and the feelings of butterfly existence remained so vivid +in his mind that he could not act like a human being... Finally I +should like to know the text of a certain Chinese official recognition +of sundry butterflies as the spirits of an Emperor and of his +attendants... + +Most of the Japanese literature about butterflies, excepting some +poetry, appears to be of Chinese origin; and even that old national +aæsthetic feeling on the subject, which found such delightful +expression in Japanese art and song and custom, may have been first +developed under Chinese teaching. Chinese precedent doubtless explains +why Japanese poets and painters chose so often for their _geimyō_, or +professional appellations, such names as _Chōmu_ (“Butterfly-Dream),” +_Ichō_ (“Solitary Butterfly),” etc. And even to this day such _geimyō_ +as _Chōhana_ (“Butterfly-Blossom”), _Chōkichi_ (“Butterfly-Luck”), or +_Chōnosuké_ (“Butterfly-Help”), are affected by dancing-girls. Besides +artistic names having reference to butterflies, there are still in use +real personal names (_yobina_) of this kind,—such as Kochō, or Chō, +meaning “Butterfly.” They are borne by women only, as a rule,—though +there are some strange exceptions... And here I may mention that, in +the province of Mutsu, there still exists the curious old custom of +calling the youngest daughter in a family _Tekona_,—which quaint word, +obsolete elsewhere, signifies in Mutsu dialect a butterfly. In classic +time this word signified also a beautiful woman... + +It is possible also that some weird Japanese beliefs about butterflies +are of Chinese derivation; but these beliefs might be older than China +herself. The most interesting one, I think, is that the soul of a +_living_ person may wander about in the form of a butterfly. Some +pretty fancies have been evolved out of this belief,—such as the notion +that if a butterfly enters your guest-room and perches behind the +bamboo screen, the person whom you most love is coming to see you. That +a butterfly may be the spirit of somebody is not a reason for being +afraid of it. Nevertheless there are times when even butterflies can +inspire fear by appearing in prodigious numbers; and Japanese history +records such an event. When Taïra-no-Masakado was secretly preparing +for his famous revolt, there appeared in Kyōto so vast a swarm of +butterflies that the people were frightened,—thinking the apparition to +be a portent of coming evil... Perhaps those butterflies were supposed +to be the spirits of the thousands doomed to perish in battle, and +agitated on the eve of war by some mysterious premonition of death. + +However, in Japanese belief, a butterfly may be the soul of a dead +person as well as of a living person. Indeed it is a custom of souls to +take butterfly-shape in order to announce the fact of their final +departure from the body; and for this reason any butterfly which enters +a house ought to be kindly treated. + +To this belief, and to queer fancies connected with it, there are many +allusions in popular drama. For example, there is a well-known play +called _Tondé-déru-Kochō-no-Kanzashi;_ or, “The Flying Hairpin of +Kochō.” Kochō is a beautiful person who kills herself because of false +accusations and cruel treatment. Her would-be avenger long seeks in +vain for the author of the wrong. But at last the dead woman’s hairpin +turns into a butterfly, and serves as a guide to vengeance by hovering +above the place where the villain is hiding. + +—Of course those big paper butterflies (_o-chō_ and _mé-chō_) which +figure at weddings must not be thought of as having any ghostly +signification. As emblems they only express the joy of living union, +and the hope that the newly married couple may pass through life +together as a pair of butterflies flit lightly through some pleasant +garden,—now hovering upward, now downward, but never widely separating. + +II + +A small selection of _hokku_ (1) on butterflies will help to illustrate +Japanese interest in the aæsthetic side of the subject. Some are +pictures only,—tiny color-sketches made with seventeen syllables; some +are nothing more than pretty fancies, or graceful suggestions;—but the +reader will find variety. Probably he will not care much for the verses +in themselves. The taste for Japanese poetry of the epigrammatic sort +is a taste that must be slowly acquired; and it is only by degrees, +after patient study, that the possibilities of such composition can be +fairly estimated. Hasty criticism has declared that to put forward any +serious claim on behalf of seventeen-syllable poems “would be absurd.” +But what, then, of Crashaw’s famous line upon the miracle at the +marriage feast in Cana?— + +Nympha pudica Deum vidit, et erubuit.[1] + + +Only fourteen syllables—and immortality. Now with seventeen Japanese +syllables things quite as wonderful—indeed, much more wonderful—have +been done, not once or twice, but probably a thousand times... However, +there is nothing wonderful in the following _hokku_, which have been +selected for more than literary reasons:— + + Nugi-kakuru[2] +Haori sugata no + Kochō kana! + + +[_Like a_ haori _being taken off—that is the shape of a butterfly!_] + + + Torisashi no +Sao no jama suru + Kochō kana! + + +[_Ah, the butterfly keeps getting in the way of the bird-catcher’s +pole!_[3]] + + + Tsurigané ni +Tomarité nemuru + Kochō kana! + + +[_Perched upon the temple-bell, the butterfly sleeps:_] + + + Néru-uchi mo +Asobu-yumé wo ya— + Kusa no chō! + + +[_Even while sleeping, its dream is of play—ah, the butterfly of the +grass!_[4] + + + Oki, oki yo! +Waga tomo ni sen, + Néru-kochō! + + +[_Wake up! wake up!—I will make thee my comrade, thou sleeping +butterfly._[5]] + + + Kago no tori +Chō wo urayamu + Metsuki kana! + + +[_Ah, the sad expression in the eyes of that caged bird!—envying the +butterfly!_] + + + Chō tondé— +Kazé naki hi to mo + Miëzari ki! + + +[_Even though it did not appear to be a windy day_,[6] _the fluttering +of the butterflies—!_] + + + Rakkwa éda ni +Kaëru to miréba— + Kochō kana! + + +[_When I saw the fallen flower return to the branch—lo! it was only a +butterfly!_[7]] + + + Chiru-hana ni— +Karusa arasoü + Kochō kana! + + +[_How the butterfly strives to compete in lightness with the falling +flowers!_[8]] + + + Chōchō ya! +Onna no michi no + Ato ya saki! + + +[_See that butterfly on the woman’s path,—now fluttering behind her, +now before!_] + + + Chōchō ya! +Hana-nusubito wo + Tsukété-yuku! + + +[_Ha! the butterfly!—it is following the person who stole the +flowers!_] + + + Aki no chō +Tomo nakéréba ya; + Hito ni tsuku + + +[_Poor autumn butterfly!—when left without a comrade_ (of its own +race), _it follows after man_ (or “a person”)!] + + + Owarété mo, +Isoganu furi no + Chōcho kana! + + +[_Ah, the butterfly! Even when chased, it never has the air of being in +a hurry._] + + + Chō wa mina +Jiu-shichi-hachi no + Sugata kana! + + +[_As for butterflies, they all have the appearance of being about +seventeen or eighteen years old._[9]] + + + Chō tobu ya— +Kono yo no urami + Naki yō ni! + + +[_How the butterfly sports,—just as if there were no enmity_ (or +“envy”) _in this world!_] + + + Chō tobu ya, +Kono yo ni nozomi + Nai yō ni! + + +[_Ah, the butterfly!—it sports about as if it had nothing more to +desire in this present state of existence._] + + + Nami no hana ni +Tomari kanétaru, + Kochō kana! + + +[_Having found it difficult indeed to perch upon the_ (_foam_-) +_blossoms of the waves,—alas for the butterfly!_] + + + Mutsumashi ya!— +Umaré-kawareba + Nobé no chō.[10] + + +[_If_ (in our next existence) _we be born into the state of butterflies +upon the moor, then perchance we may be happy together!_] + + + Nadéshiko ni +Chōchō shiroshi— + Taré no kon?[11] + + +[_On the pink-flower there is a white butterfly: whose spirit, I +wonder?_] + + + Ichi-nichi no +Tsuma to miëkéri— + Chō futatsu. + + +[_The one-day wife has at last appeared—a pair of butterflies!_] + + + Kité wa maü, +Futari shidzuka no + Kochō kana! + + +[_Approaching they dance; but when the two meet at last they are very +quiet, the butterflies!_] + + + Chō wo oü +Kokoro-mochitashi + Itsumadémo! + + +[_Would that I might always have the heart_ (desire) _of chasing +butterflies!_[12]] + + +Besides these specimens of poetry about butterflies, I have one queer +example to offer of Japanese prose literature on the same topic. The +original, of which I have attempted only a free translation, can be +found in the curious old book _Mushi-Isamé_ (“Insect-Admonitions”); and +it assumes the form of a discourse to a butterfly. But it is really a +didactic allegory,—suggesting the moral significance of a social rise +and fall:— + +“Now, under the sun of spring, the winds are gentle, and flowers pinkly +bloom, and grasses are soft, and the hearts of people are glad. +Butterflies everywhere flutter joyously: so many persons now compose +Chinese verses and Japanese verses about butterflies. + +“And this season, O Butterfly, is indeed the season of your bright +prosperity: so comely you now are that in the whole world there is +nothing more comely. For that reason all other insects admire and envy +you;—there is not among them even one that does not envy you. Nor do +insects alone regard you with envy: men also both envy and admire you. +Sōshū of China, in a dream, assumed your shape;—Sakoku of Japan, after +dying, took your form, and therein made ghostly apparition. Nor is the +envy that you inspire shared only by insects and mankind: even things +without soul change their form into yours;—witness the barley-grass, +which turns into a butterfly.[13] + +“And therefore you are lifted up with pride, and think to yourself: ‘In +all this world there is nothing superior to me!’ Ah! I can very well +guess what is in your heart: you are too much satisfied with your own +person. That is why you let yourself be blown thus lightly about by +every wind;—that is why you never remain still,—always, always +thinking, ‘In the whole world there is no one so fortunate as I.’ + +“But now try to think a little about your own personal history. It is +worth recalling; for there is a vulgar side to it. How a vulgar side? +Well, for a considerable time after you were born, you had no such +reason for rejoicing in your form. You were then a mere cabbage-insect, +a hairy worm; and you were so poor that you could not afford even one +robe to cover your nakedness; and your appearance was altogether +disgusting. Everybody in those days hated the sight of you. Indeed you +had good reason to be ashamed of yourself; and so ashamed you were that +you collected old twigs and rubbish to hide in, and you made a +hiding-nest, and hung it to a branch,—and then everybody cried out to +you, ‘Raincoat Insect!’ (_Mino-mushi_.)[14] And during that period of +your life, your sins were grievous. Among the tender green leaves of +beautiful cherry-trees you and your fellows assembled, and there made +ugliness extraordinary; and the expectant eyes of the people, who came +from far away to admire the beauty of those cherry-trees, were hurt by +the sight of you. And of things even more hateful than this you were +guilty. You knew that poor, poor men and women had been cultivating +_daikon_ (2) in their fields,—toiling under the hot sun till their +hearts were filled with bitterness by reason of having to care for that +_daikon;_ and you persuaded your companions to go with you, and to +gather upon the leaves of that _daikon_, and on the leaves of other +vegetables planted by those poor people. Out of your greediness you +ravaged those leaves, and gnawed them into all shapes of +ugliness,—caring nothing for the trouble of those poor folk... Yes, +such a creature you were, and such were your doings. + +“And now that you have a comely form, you despise your old comrades, +the insects; and, whenever you happen to meet any of them, you pretend +not to know them [literally, ‘You make an I-don’t-know face’]. Now you +want to have none but wealthy and exalted people for friends... Ah! You +have forgotten the old times, have you? + +“It is true that many people have forgotten your past, and are charmed +by the sight of your present graceful shape and white wings, and write +Chinese verses and Japanese verses about you. The high-born damsel, who +could not bear even to look at you in your former shape, now gazes at +you with delight, and wants you to perch upon her hairpin, and holds +out her dainty fan in the hope that you will light upon it. But this +reminds me that there is an ancient Chinese story about you, which is +not pretty. + +“In the time of the Emperor Gensō, the Imperial Palace contained +hundreds and thousands of beautiful ladies,—so many, indeed, that it +would have been difficult for any man to decide which among them was +the loveliest. So all of those beautiful persons were assembled +together in one place; and you were set free to fly among them; and it +was decreed that the damsel upon whose hairpin you perched should be +augustly summoned to the Imperial Chamber. In that time there could not +be more than one Empress—which was a good law; but, because of you, the +Emperor Gensō did great mischief in the land. For your mind is light +and frivolous; and although among so many beautiful women there must +have been some persons of pure heart, you would look for nothing but +beauty, and so betook yourself to the person most beautiful in outward +appearance. Therefore many of the female attendants ceased altogether +to think about the right way of women, and began to study how to make +themselves appear splendid in the eyes of men. And the end of it was +that the Emperor Gensō died a pitiful and painful death—all because of +your light and trifling mind. Indeed, your real character can easily be +seen from your conduct in other matters. There are trees, for +example,—such as the evergreen-oak and the pine,—whose leaves do not +fade and fall, but remain always green;—these are trees of firm heart, +trees of solid character. But you say that they are stiff and formal; +and you hate the sight of them, and never pay them a visit. Only to the +cherry-tree, and the _kaido_[15], and the peony, and the yellow rose +you go: those you like because they have showy flowers, and you try +only to please them. Such conduct, let me assure you, is very +unbecoming. Those trees certainly have handsome flowers; but +hunger-satisfying fruits they have not; and they are grateful to those +only who are fond of luxury and show. And that is just the reason why +they are pleased by your fluttering wings and delicate shape;—that is +why they are kind to you. + +“Now, in this spring season, while you sportively dance through the +gardens of the wealthy, or hover among the beautiful alleys of +cherry-trees in blossom, you say to yourself: ‘Nobody in the world has +such pleasure as I, or such excellent friends. And, in spite of all +that people may say, I most love the peony,—and the golden yellow rose +is my own darling, and I will obey her every least behest; for that is +my pride and my delight.’... So you say. But the opulent and elegant +season of flowers is very short: soon they will fade and fall. Then, in +the time of summer heat, there will be green leaves only; and presently +the winds of autumn will blow, when even the leaves themselves will +shower down like rain, _parari-parari_. And your fate will then be as +the fate of the unlucky in the proverb, _Tanomi ki no shita ni amé +furu_ [Even through the tree upon which I relied for shelter the rain +leaks down]. For you will seek out your old friend, the root-cutting +insect, the grub, and beg him to let you return into your old-time +hole;—but now having wings, you will not be able to enter the hole +because of them, and you will not be able to shelter your body anywhere +between heaven and earth, and all the moor-grass will then have +withered, and you will not have even one drop of dew with which to +moisten your tongue,—and there will be nothing left for you to do but +to lie down and die. All because of your light and frivolous heart—but, +ah! how lamentable an end!”... + +III + +Most of the Japanese stories about butterflies appear, as I have said, +to be of Chinese origin. But I have one which is probably indigenous; +and it seems to me worth telling for the benefit of persons who believe +there is no “romantic love” in the Far East. + +Behind the cemetery of the temple of Sōzanji, in the suburbs of the +capital, there long stood a solitary cottage, occupied by an old man +named Takahama. He was liked in the neighborhood, by reason of his +amiable ways; but almost everybody supposed him to be a little mad. +Unless a man take the Buddhist vows, he is expected to marry, and to +bring up a family. But Takahama did not belong to the religious life; +and he could not be persuaded to marry. Neither had he ever been known +to enter into a love-relation with any woman. For more than fifty years +he had lived entirely alone. + +One summer he fell sick, and knew that he had not long to live. He then +sent for his sister-in-law, a widow, and for her only son,—a lad of +about twenty years old, to whom he was much attached. Both promptly +came, and did whatever they could to soothe the old man’s last hours. + +One sultry afternoon, while the widow and her son were watching at his +bedside, Takahama fell asleep. At the same moment a very large white +butterfly entered the room, and perched upon the sick man’s pillow. The +nephew drove it away with a fan; but it returned immediately to the +pillow, and was again driven away, only to come back a third time. Then +the nephew chased it into the garden, and across the garden, through an +open gate, into the cemetery of the neighboring temple. But it +continued to flutter before him as if unwilling to be driven further, +and acted so queerly that he began to wonder whether it was really a +butterfly, or a _ma_[16]. He again chased it, and followed it far into +the cemetery, until he saw it fly against a tomb,—a woman’s tomb. There +it unaccountably disappeared; and he searched for it in vain. He then +examined the monument. It bore the personal name “Akiko,” (3) together +with an unfamiliar family name, and an inscription stating that Akiko +had died at the age of eighteen. Apparently the tomb had been erected +about fifty years previously: moss had begun to gather upon it. But it +had been well cared for: there were fresh flowers before it; and the +water-tank had recently been filled. + +On returning to the sick room, the young man was shocked by the +announcement that his uncle had ceased to breathe. Death had come to +the sleeper painlessly; and the dead face smiled. + +The young man told his mother of what he had seen in the cemetery. + +“Ah!” exclaimed the widow, “then it must have been Akiko!”... + +“But who was Akiko, mother?” the nephew asked. + +The widow answered:— + +“When your good uncle was young he was betrothed to a charming girl +called Akiko, the daughter of a neighbor. Akiko died of consumption, +only a little before the day appointed for the wedding; and her +promised husband sorrowed greatly. After Akiko had been buried, he made +a vow never to marry; and he built this little house beside the +cemetery, so that he might be always near her grave. All this happened +more than fifty years ago. And every day of those fifty years—winter +and summer alike—your uncle went to the cemetery, and prayed at the +grave, and swept the tomb, and set offerings before it. But he did not +like to have any mention made of the matter; and he never spoke of +it... So, at last, Akiko came for him: the white butterfly was her +soul.” + +IV + +I had almost forgotten to mention an ancient Japanese dance, called the +Butterfly Dance (_Kochō-Mai_), which used to be performed in the +Imperial Palace, by dancers costumed as butterflies. Whether it is +danced occasionally nowadays I do not know. It is said to be very +difficult to learn. Six dancers are required for the proper performance +of it; and they must move in particular figures,—obeying traditional +rules for every step, pose, or gesture,—and circling about each other +very slowly to the sound of hand-drums and great drums, small flutes +and great flutes, and pandean pipes of a form unknown to Western Pan. + + +[Illustration] BUTTERFLY DANCE + + + + +MOSQUITOES + + +With a view to self-protection I have been reading Dr. Howard’s book, +“Mosquitoes.” I am persecuted by mosquitoes. There are several species +in my neighborhood; but only one of them is a serious torment,—a tiny +needly thing, all silver-speckled and silver-streaked. The puncture of +it is sharp as an electric burn; and the mere hum of it has a +lancinating quality of tone which foretells the quality of the pain +about to come,—much in the same way that a particular smell suggests a +particular taste. I find that this mosquito much resembles the creature +which Dr. Howard calls _Stegomyia fasciata_, or _Culex fasciatus:_ and +that its habits are the same as those of the _Stegomyia_. For example, +it is diurnal rather than nocturnal and becomes most troublesome in the +afternoon. And I have discovered that it comes from the Buddhist +cemetery,—a very old cemetery,—in the rear of my garden. + +Dr. Howard’s book declares that, in order to rid a neighborhood of +mosquitoes, it is only necessary to pour a little petroleum, or +kerosene oil, into the stagnant water where they breed. Once a week the +oil should be used, “at the rate of once ounce for every fifteen square +feet of water-surface, and a proportionate quantity for any less +surface.” ...But please to consider the conditions in _my_ +neighborhood! + +I have said that my tormentors come from the Buddhist cemetery. Before +nearly every tomb in that old cemetery there is a water-receptacle, or +cistern, called _mizutamé_. In the majority of cases this _mizutamé_ is +simply an oblong cavity chiseled in the broad pedestal supporting the +monument; but before tombs of a costly kind, having no pedestal-tank, a +larger separate tank is placed, cut out of a single block of stone, and +decorated with a family crest, or with symbolic carvings. In front of a +tomb of the humblest class, having no _mizutamé_, water is placed in +cups or other vessels,—for the dead must have water. Flowers also must +be offered to them; and before every tomb you will find a pair of +bamboo cups, or other flower-vessels; and these, of course, contain +water. There is a well in the cemetery to supply water for the graves. +Whenever the tombs are visited by relatives and friends of the dead, +fresh water is poured into the tanks and cups. But as an old cemetery +of this kind contains thousands of _mizutamé_, and tens of thousands of +flower-vessels the water in all of these cannot be renewed every day. +It becomes stagnant and populous. The deeper tanks seldom get dry;—the +rainfall at Tōkyō being heavy enough to keep them partly filled during +nine months out of the twelve. + +Well, it is in these tanks and flower-vessels that mine enemies are +born: they rise by millions from the water of the dead;—and, according +to Buddhist doctrine, some of them may be reincarnations of those very +dead, condemned by the error of former lives to the condition of +_Jiki-ketsu-gaki_, or blood-drinking pretas.... Anyhow the malevolence +of the _Culex fasciatus_ would justify the suspicion that some wicked +human soul had been compressed into that wailing speck of a body.... + +Now, to return to the subject of kerosene-oil, you can exterminate the +mosquitoes of any locality by covering with a film of kerosene all +stagnant water surfaces therein. The larvae die on rising to breathe; +and the adult females perish when they approach the water to launch +their rafts of eggs. And I read, in Dr. Howard’s book, that the actual +cost of freeing from mosquitoes one American town of fifty thousand +inhabitants, does not exceed three hundred dollars!... + +I wonder what would be said if the city-government of Tōkyō—which is +aggressively scientific and progressive—were suddenly to command that +all water-surfaces in the Buddhist cemeteries should be covered, at +regular intervals, with a film of kerosene oil! How could the religion +which prohibits the taking of any life—even of invisible life—yield to +such a mandate? Would filial piety even dream of consenting to obey +such an order? And then to think of the cost, in labor and time, of +putting kerosene oil, every seven days, into the millions of +_mizutamé_, and the tens of millions of bamboo flower-cups, in the +Tōkyō graveyards!... Impossible! To free the city from mosquitoes it +would be necessary to demolish the ancient graveyards;—and that would +signify the ruin of the Buddhist temples attached to them;—and that +would mean the disparition of so many charming gardens, with their +lotus-ponds and Sanscrit-lettered monuments and humpy bridges and holy +groves and weirdly-smiling Buddhas! So the extermination of the _Culex +fasciatus_ would involve the destruction of the poetry of the ancestral +cult,—surely too great a price to pay!... + +Besides, I should like, when my time comes, to be laid away in some +Buddhist graveyard of the ancient kind,—so that my ghostly company +should be ancient, caring nothing for the fashions and the changes and +the disintegrations of Meiji (1). That old cemetery behind my garden +would be a suitable place. Everything there is beautiful with a beauty +of exceeding and startling queerness; each tree and stone has been +shaped by some old, old ideal which no longer exists in any living +brain; even the shadows are not of this time and sun, but of a world +forgotten, that never knew steam or electricity or magnetism +or—kerosene oil! Also in the boom of the big bell there is a quaintness +of tone which wakens feelings, so strangely far-away from all the +nineteenth-century part of me, that the faint blind stirrings of them +make me afraid,—deliciously afraid. Never do I hear that billowing peal +but I become aware of a striving and a fluttering in the abyssal part +of my ghost,—a sensation as of memories struggling to reach the light +beyond the obscurations of a million million deaths and births. I hope +to remain within hearing of that bell... And, considering the +possibility of being doomed to the state of a _Jiki-ketsu-gaki_, I want +to have my chance of being reborn in some bamboo flower-cup, or +_mizutamé_, whence I might issue softly, singing my thin and pungent +song, to bite some people that I know. + + + + +ANTS + + +I + +This morning sky, after the night’s tempest, is a pure and dazzling +blue. The air—the delicious air!—is full of sweet resinous odors, shed +from the countless pine-boughs broken and strewn by the gale. In the +neighboring bamboo-grove I hear the flute-call of the bird that praises +the Sûtra of the Lotos; and the land is very still by reason of the +south wind. Now the summer, long delayed, is truly with us: butterflies +of queer Japanese colors are flickering about; semi (1) are wheezing; +wasps are humming; gnats are dancing in the sun; and the ants are busy +repairing their damaged habitations... I bethink me of a Japanese +poem:— + + Yuku é naki: +Ari no sumai ya! + Go-getsu amé. + + +[_Now the poor creature has nowhere to go!... Alas for the dwellings of +the ants in this rain of the fifth month!_] + + +But those big black ants in my garden do not seem to need any sympathy. +They have weathered the storm in some unimaginable way, while great +trees were being uprooted, and houses blown to fragments, and roads +washed out of existence. Yet, before the typhoon, they took no other +visible precaution than to block up the gates of their subterranean +town. And the spectacle of their triumphant toil to-day impels me to +attempt an essay on Ants. + +I should have liked to preface my disquisitions with something from the +old Japanese literature,—something emotional or metaphysical. But all +that my Japanese friends were able to find for me on the +subject,—excepting some verses of little worth,—was Chinese. This +Chinese material consisted chiefly of strange stories; and one of them +seems to me worth quoting,—_faute de mieux_. + + +In the province of Taishū, in China, there was a pious man who, every +day, during many years, fervently worshiped a certain goddess. One +morning, while he was engaged in his devotions, a beautiful woman, +wearing a yellow robe, came into his chamber and stood before him. He, +greatly surprised, asked her what she wanted, and why she had entered +unannounced. She answered: “I am not a woman: I am the goddess whom you +have so long and so faithfully worshiped; and I have now come to prove +to you that your devotion has not been in vain... Are you acquainted +with the language of Ants?” The worshiper replied: “I am only a +low-born and ignorant person,—not a scholar; and even of the language +of superior men I know nothing.” At these words the goddess smiled, and +drew from her bosom a little box, shaped like an incense box. She +opened the box, dipped a finger into it, and took therefrom some kind +of ointment with which she anointed the ears of the man. “Now,” she +said to him, “try to find some Ants, and when you find any, stoop down, +and listen carefully to their talk. You will be able to understand it; +and you will hear of something to your advantage... Only remember that +you must not frighten or vex the Ants.” Then the goddess vanished away. + +The man immediately went out to look for some Ants. He had scarcely +crossed the threshold of his door when he perceived two Ants upon a +stone supporting one of the house-pillars. He stooped over them, and +listened; and he was astonished to find that he could hear them +talking, and could understand what they said. “Let us try to find a +warmer place,” proposed one of the Ants. “Why a warmer place?” asked +the other;—“what is the matter with this place?” “It is too damp and +cold below,” said the first Ant; “there is a big treasure buried here; +and the sunshine cannot warm the ground about it.” Then the two Ants +went away together, and the listener ran for a spade. + +By digging in the neighborhood of the pillar, he soon found a number of +large jars full of gold coin. The discovery of this treasure made him a +very rich man. + +Afterwards he often tried to listen to the conversation of Ants. But he +was never again able to hear them speak. The ointment of the goddess +had opened his ears to their mysterious language for only a single day. + + +Now I, like that Chinese devotee, must confess myself a very ignorant +person, and naturally unable to hear the conversation of Ants. But the +Fairy of Science sometimes touches my ears and eyes with her wand; and +then, for a little time, I am able to hear things inaudible, and to +perceive things imperceptible. + +II + +For the same reason that it is considered wicked, in sundry circles, to +speak of a non-Christian people having produced a civilization +ethically superior to our own, certain persons will not be pleased by +what I am going to say about ants. But there are men, incomparably +wiser than I can ever hope to be, who think about insects and +civilizations independently of the blessings of Christianity; and I +find encouragement in the new _Cambridge Natural History_, which +contains the following remarks by Professor David Sharp, concerning +ants:— + +“Observation has revealed the most remarkable phenomena in the lives of +these insects. Indeed we can scarcely avoid the conclusion that they +have acquired, in many respects, the art of living together in +societies more perfectly than our own species has; and that they have +anticipated us in the acquisition of some of the industries and arts +that greatly facilitate social life.” + +I suppose that a few well-informed persons will dispute this plain +statement by a trained specialist. The contemporary man of science is +not apt to become sentimental about ants or bees; but he will not +hesitate to acknowledge that, in regard to social evolution, these +insects appear to have advanced “beyond man.” Mr. Herbert Spencer, whom +nobody will charge with romantic tendencies, goes considerably further +than Professor Sharp; showing us that ants are, in a very real sense, +_ethically_ as well as economically in advance of humanity,—their lives +being entirely devoted to altruistic ends. Indeed, Professor Sharp +somewhat needlessly qualifies his praise of the ant with this cautious +observation:— + +“The competence of the ant is not like that of man. It is devoted to +the welfare of the species rather than to that of the individual, which +is, as it were, sacrificed or specialized for the benefit of the +community.” + +—The obvious implication,—that any social state, in which the +improvement of the individual is sacrificed to the common welfare, +leaves much to be desired,—is probably correct, from the actual human +standpoint. For man is yet imperfectly evolved; and human society has +much to gain from his further individualization. But in regard to +social insects the implied criticism is open to question. “The +improvement of the individual,” says Herbert Spencer, “consists in the +better fitting of him for social cooperation; and this, being conducive +to social prosperity, is conducive to the maintenance of the race.” In +other words, the value of the individual can be _only_ in relation to +the society; and this granted, whether the sacrifice of the individual +for the sake of that society be good or evil must depend upon what the +society might gain or lose through a further individualization of its +members... But as we shall presently see, the conditions of ant-society +that most deserve our attention are the ethical conditions; and these +are beyond human criticism, since they realize that ideal of moral +evolution described by Mr. Spencer as “a state in which egoism and +altruism are so conciliated that the one merges into the other.” That +is to say, a state in which the only possible pleasure is the pleasure +of unselfish action. Or, again to quote Mr. Spencer, the activities of +the insect-society are “activities which postpone individual well-being +so completely to the well-being of the community that individual life +appears to be attended to only just so far as is necessary to make +possible due attention to social life,... the individual taking only +just such food and just such rest as are needful to maintain its +vigor.” + +III + +I hope my reader is aware that ants practise horticulture and +agriculture; that they are skillful in the cultivation of mushrooms; +that they have domesticated (according to present knowledge) five +hundred and eighty-four different kinds of animals; that they make +tunnels through solid rock; that they know how to provide against +atmospheric changes which might endanger the health of their children; +and that, for insects, their longevity is exceptional,—members of the +more highly evolved species living for a considerable number of years. + +But it is not especially of these matters that I wish to speak. What I +want to talk about is the awful propriety, the terrible morality, of +the ant[1]. Our most appalling ideals of conduct fall short of the +ethics of the ant,—as progress is reckoned in time,—by nothing less +than millions of years!... When I say “the ant,” I mean the highest +type of ant,—not, of course, the entire ant-family. About two thousand +species of ants are already known; and these exhibit, in their social +organizations, widely varying degrees of evolution. Certain social +phenomena of the greatest biological importance, and of no less +importance in their strange relation to the subject of ethics, can be +studied to advantage only in the existence of the most highly evolved +societies of ants. + +After all that has been written of late years about the probable value +of relative experience in the long life of the ant, I suppose that few +persons would venture to deny individual character to the ant. The +intelligence of the little creature in meeting and overcoming +difficulties of a totally new kind, and in adapting itself to +conditions entirely foreign to its experience, proves a considerable +power of independent thinking. But this at least is certain: that the +ant has no individuality capable of being exercised in a purely selfish +direction;—I am using the word “selfish” in its ordinary acceptation. A +greedy ant, a sensual ant, an ant capable of any one of the seven +deadly sins, or even of a small venial sin, is unimaginable. Equally +unimaginable, of course, a romantic ant, an ideological ant, a poetical +ant, or an ant inclined to metaphysical speculations. No human mind +could attain to the absolute matter-of-fact quality of the ant-mind;—no +human being, as now constituted, could cultivate a mental habit so +impeccably practical as that of the ant. But this superlatively +practical mind is incapable of moral error. It would be difficult, +perhaps, to prove that the ant has no religious ideas. But it is +certain that such ideas could not be of any use to it. The being +incapable of moral weakness is beyond the need of “spiritual guidance.” + +Only in a vague way can we conceive the character of ant-society, and +the nature of ant-morality; and to do even this we must try to imagine +some yet impossible state of human society and human morals. Let us, +then, imagine a world full of people incessantly and furiously +working,—all of whom seem to be women. No one of these women could be +persuaded or deluded into taking a single atom of food more than is +needful to maintain her strength; and no one of them ever sleeps a +second longer than is necessary to keep her nervous system in good +working-order. And all of them are so peculiarly constituted that the +least unnecessary indulgence would result in some derangement of +function. + +The work daily performed by these female laborers comprises +road-making, bridge-building, timber-cutting, architectural +construction of numberless kinds, horticulture and agriculture, the +feeding and sheltering of a hundred varieties of domestic animals, the +manufacture of sundry chemical products, the storage and conservation +of countless food-stuffs, and the care of the children of the race. All +this labor is done for the commonwealth—no citizen of which is capable +even of thinking about “property,” except as a _res publica;_—and the +sole object of the commonwealth is the nurture and training of its +young,—nearly all of whom are girls. The period of infancy is long: the +children remain for a great while, not only helpless, but shapeless, +and withal so delicate that they must be very carefully guarded against +the least change of temperature. Fortunately their nurses understand +the laws of health: each thoroughly knows all that she ought to know in +regard to ventilation, disinfection, drainage, moisture, and the danger +of germs,—germs being as visible, perhaps, to her myopic sight as they +become to our own eyes under the microscope. Indeed, all matters of +hygiene are so well comprehended that no nurse ever makes a mistake +about the sanitary conditions of her neighborhood. + +In spite of this perpetual labor no worker remains unkempt: each is +scrupulously neat, making her toilet many times a day. But as every +worker is born with the most beautiful of combs and brushes attached to +her wrists, no time is wasted in the toilet-room. Besides keeping +themselves strictly clean, the workers must also keep their houses and +gardens in faultless order, for the sake of the children. Nothing less +than an earthquake, an eruption, an inundation, or a desperate war, is +allowed to interrupt the daily routine of dusting, sweeping, scrubbing, +and disinfecting. + +IV + +Now for stranger facts:— + +This world of incessant toil is a more than Vestal world. It is true +that males can sometimes be perceived in it; but they appear only at +particular seasons, and they have nothing whatever to do with the +workers or with the work. None of them would presume to address a +worker,—except, perhaps, under extraordinary circumstances of common +peril. And no worker would think of talking to a male;—for males, in +this queer world, are inferior beings, equally incapable of fighting or +working, and tolerated only as necessary evils. One special class of +females,—the Mothers-Elect of the race,—do condescend to consort with +males, during a very brief period, at particular seasons. But the +Mothers-Elect do not work; and they _must_ accept husbands. A worker +could not even dream of keeping company with a male,—not merely because +such association would signify the most frivolous waste of time, nor +yet because the worker necessarily regards all males with unspeakable +contempt; but because the worker is incapable of wedlock. Some workers, +indeed, are capable of parthenogenesis, and give birth to children who +never had fathers. As a general rule, however, the worker is truly +feminine by her moral instincts only: she has all the tenderness, the +patience, and the foresight that we call “maternal;” but her sex has +disappeared, like the sex of the Dragon-Maiden in the Buddhist legend. + +For defense against creatures of prey, or enemies of the state, the +workers are provided with weapons; and they are furthermore protected +by a large military force. The warriors are so much bigger than the +workers (in some communities, at least) that it is difficult, at first +sight, to believe them of the same race. Soldiers one hundred times +larger than the workers whom they guard are not uncommon. But all these +soldiers are Amazons,—or, more correctly speaking, semi-females. They +can work sturdily; but being built for fighting and for heavy pulling +chiefly, their usefulness is restricted to those directions in which +force, rather than skill, is required. + +[Why females, rather than males, should have been evolutionally +specialized into soldiery and laborers may not be nearly so simple a +question as it appears. I am very sure of not being able to answer it. +But natural economy may have decided the matter. In many forms of life, +the female greatly exceeds the male in bulk and in energy;—perhaps, in +this case, the larger reserve of life-force possessed originally by the +complete female could be more rapidly and effectively utilized for the +development of a special fighting-caste. All energies which, in the +fertile female, would be expended in the giving of life seem here to +have been diverted to the evolution of aggressive power, or +working-capacity.] + +Of the true females,—the Mothers-Elect,—there are very few indeed; and +these are treated like queens. So constantly and so reverentially are +they waited upon that they can seldom have any wishes to express. They +are relieved from every care of existence,—except the duty of bearing +offspring. Night and day they are cared for in every possible manner. +They alone are superabundantly and richly fed:—for the sake of the +offspring they must eat and drink and repose right royally; and their +physiological specialization allows of such indulgence _ad libitum_. +They seldom go out, and never unless attended by a powerful escort; as +they cannot be permitted to incur unnecessary fatigue or danger. +Probably they have no great desire to go out. Around them revolves the +whole activity of the race: all its intelligence and toil and thrift +are directed solely toward the well-being of these Mothers and of their +children. + +But last and least of the race rank the husbands of these Mothers,—the +necessary Evils,—the males. They appear only at a particular season, as +I have already observed; and their lives are very short. Some cannot +even boast of noble descent, though destined to royal wedlock; for they +are not royal offspring, but virgin-born,—parthenogenetic +children,—and, for that reason especially, inferior beings, the chance +results of some mysterious atavism. But of any sort of males the +commonwealth tolerates but few,—barely enough to serve as husbands for +the Mothers-Elect, and these few perish almost as soon as their duty +has been done. The meaning of Nature’s law, in this extraordinary +world, is identical with Ruskin’s teaching that life without effort is +crime; and since the males are useless as workers or fighters, their +existence is of only momentary importance. They are not, indeed, +sacrificed,—like the Aztec victim chosen for the festival of +Tezcatlipoca, and allowed a honeymoon of twenty days before his heart +was torn out. But they are scarcely less unfortunate in their high +fortune. Imagine youths brought up in the knowledge that they are +destined to become royal bridegrooms for a single night,—that after +their bridal they will have no moral right to live,—that marriage, for +each and all of them, will signify certain death,—and that they cannot +even hope to be lamented by their young widows, who will survive them +for a time of many generations...! + +V + +But all the foregoing is no more than a proem to the real “Romance of +the Insect-World.” + +—By far the most startling discovery in relation to this astonishing +civilization is that of the suppression of sex. In certain advanced +forms of ant-life sex totally disappears in the majority of +individuals;—in nearly all the higher ant-societies sex-life appears to +exist only to the extent absolutely needed for the continuance of the +species. But the biological fact in itself is much less startling than +the ethical suggestion which it offers;—_for this practical +suppression, or regulation, of sex-faculty appears to be voluntary!_ +Voluntary, at least, so far as the species is concerned. It is now +believed that these wonderful creatures have learned how to develop, or +to arrest the development, of sex in their young,—by some particular +mode of nutrition. They have succeeded in placing under perfect control +what is commonly supposed to be the most powerful and unmanageable of +instincts. And this rigid restraint of sex-life to within the limits +necessary to provide against extinction is but one (though the most +amazing) of many vital economies effected by the race. Every capacity +for egoistic pleasure—in the common meaning of the word “egoistic”—has +been equally repressed through physiological modification. No +indulgence of any natural appetite is possible except to that degree in +which such indulgence can directly or indirectly benefit the +species;—even the indispensable requirements of food and sleep being +satisfied only to the exact extent necessary for the maintenance of +healthy activity. The individual can exist, act, think, only for the +communal good; and the commune triumphantly refuses, in so far as +cosmic law permits, to let itself be ruled either by Love or Hunger. + +Most of us have been brought up in the belief that without some kind of +religious creed—some hope of future reward or fear of future +punishment—no civilization could exist. We have been taught to think +that in the absence of laws based upon moral ideas, and in the absence +of an effective police to enforce such laws, nearly everybody would +seek only his or her personal advantage, to the disadvantage of +everybody else. The strong would then destroy the weak; pity and +sympathy would disappear; and the whole social fabric would fall to +pieces... These teachings confess the existing imperfection of human +nature; and they contain obvious truth. But those who first proclaimed +that truth, thousands and thousands of years ago, never imagined a form +of social existence in which selfishness would be _naturally_ +impossible. It remained for irreligious Nature to furnish us with proof +positive that there can exist a society in which the pleasure of active +beneficence makes needless the idea of duty,—a society in which +instinctive morality can dispense with ethical codes of every sort,—a +society of which every member is born so absolutely unselfish, and so +energetically good, that moral training could signify, even for its +youngest, neither more nor less than waste of precious time. + +To the Evolutionist such facts necessarily suggest that the value of +our moral idealism is but temporary; and that something better than +virtue, better than kindness, better than self-denial,—in the present +human meaning of those terms,—might, under certain conditions, +eventually replace them. He finds himself obliged to face the question +whether a world without moral notions might not be morally better than +a world in which conduct is regulated by such notions. He must even ask +himself whether the existence of religious commandments, moral laws, +and ethical standards among ourselves does not prove us still in a very +primitive stage of social evolution. And these questions naturally lead +up to another: Will humanity ever be able, on this planet, to reach an +ethical condition beyond all its ideals,—a condition in which +everything that we now call evil will have been atrophied out of +existence, and everything that we call virtue have been transmuted into +instinct;—a state of altruism in which ethical concepts and codes will +have become as useless as they would be, even now, in the societies of +the higher ants. + +The giants of modern thought have given some attention to this +question; and the greatest among them has answered it—partly in the +affirmative. Herbert Spencer has expressed his belief that humanity +will arrive at some state of civilization ethically comparable with +that of the ant:— + +“If we have, in lower orders of creatures, cases in which the nature is +constitutionally so modified that altruistic activities have become one +with egoistic activities, there is an irresistible implication that a +parallel identification will, under parallel conditions, take place +among human beings. Social insects furnish us with instances completely +to the point,—and instances showing us, indeed, to what a marvelous +degree the life of the individual may be absorbed in subserving the +lives of other individuals... Neither the ant nor the bee can be +supposed to have a sense of duty, in the acceptation we give to that +word; nor can it be supposed that it is continually undergoing +self-sacrifice, in the ordinary acceptation of that word... [The facts] +show us that it is within the possibilities of organization to produce +a nature which shall be just as energetic in the pursuit of altruistic +ends, as is in other cases shown in the pursuit of egoistic ends;—and +they show that, in such cases, these altruistic ends are pursued in +pursuing ends which, on their other face, are egoistic. For the +satisfaction of the needs of the organization, these actions, conducive +to the welfare of others, _must_ be carried on... + + +“So far from its being true that there must go on, throughout all the +future, a condition in which self-regard is to be continually subjected +by the regard for others, it will, contrari-wise, be the case that a +regard for others will eventually become so large a source of pleasure +as to overgrow the pleasure which is derivable from direct egoistic +gratification... Eventually, then, there will come also a state in +which egoism and altruism are so conciliated that the one merges in the +other.” + +VI + +Of course the foregoing prediction does not imply that human nature +will ever undergo such physiological change as would be represented by +structural specializations comparable to those by which the various +castes of insect societies are differentiated. We are not bidden to +imagine a future state of humanity in which the active majority would +consist of semi-female workers and Amazons toiling for an inactive +minority of selected Mothers. Even in his chapter, “Human Population in +the Future,” Mr. Spencer has attempted no detailed statement of the +physical modifications inevitable to the production of higher moral +types,—though his general statement in regard to a perfected nervous +system, and a great diminution of human fertility, suggests that such +moral evolution would signify a very considerable amount of physical +change. If it be legitimate to believe in a future humanity to which +the pleasure of mutual beneficence will represent the whole joy of +life, would it not also be legitimate to imagine other transformations, +physical and moral, which the facts of insect-biology have proved to be +within the range of evolutional possibility?... I do not know. I most +worshipfully reverence Herbert Spencer as the greatest philosopher who +has yet appeared in this world; and I should be very sorry to write +down anything contrary to his teaching, in such wise that the reader +could imagine it to have been inspired by Synthetic Philosophy. For the +ensuing reflections, I alone am responsible; and if I err, let the sin +be upon my own head. + +I suppose that the moral transformations predicted by Mr. Spencer, +could be effected only with the aid of physiological change, and at a +terrible cost. Those ethical conditions manifested by insect-societies +can have been reached only through effort desperately sustained for +millions of years against the most atrocious necessities. Necessities +equally merciless may have to be met and mastered eventually by the +human race. Mr. Spencer has shown that the time of the greatest +possible human suffering is yet to come, and that it will be +concomitant with the period of the greatest possible pressure of +population. Among other results of that long stress, I understand that +there will be a vast increase in human intelligence and sympathy; and +that this increase of intelligence will be effected at the cost of +human fertility. But this decline in reproductive power will not, we +are told, be sufficient to assure the very highest of social +conditions: it will only relieve that pressure of population which has +been the main cause of human suffering. The state of perfect social +equilibrium will be approached, but never quite reached, by mankind— + +_Unless there be discovered some means of solving economic problems, +just as social insects have solved them, by the suppression of +sex-life_. + +Supposing that such a discovery were made, and that the human race +should decide to arrest the development of sex in the majority of its +young,—so as to effect a transferrence of those forces, now demanded by +sex-life to the development of higher activities,—might not the result +be an eventual state of polymorphism, like that of ants? And, in such +event, might not the Coming Race be indeed represented in its higher +types,—through feminine rather than masculine evolution,—by a majority +of beings of neither sex? + +Considering how many persons, even now, through merely unselfish (not +to speak of religious) motives, sentence themselves to celibacy, it +should not appear improbable that a more highly evolved humanity would +cheerfully sacrifice a large proportion of its sex-life for the common +weal, particularly in view of certain advantages to be gained. Not the +least of such advantages—always supposing that mankind were able to +control sex-life after the natural manner of the ants—would be a +prodigious increase of longevity. The higher types of a humanity +superior to sex might be able to realize the dream of life for a +thousand years. + +Already we find lives too short for the work we have to do; and with +the constantly accelerating progress of discovery, and the +never-ceasing expansion of knowledge, we shall certainly find more and +more reason to regret, as time goes on, the brevity of existence. That +Science will ever discover the Elixir of the Alchemists’ hope is +extremely unlikely. The Cosmic Powers will not allow us to cheat them. +For every advantage which they yield us the full price must be paid: +nothing for nothing is the everlasting law. Perhaps the price of long +life will prove to be the price that the ants have paid for it. +Perhaps, upon some elder planet, that price has already been paid, and +the power to produce offspring restricted to a caste morphologically +differentiated, in unimaginable ways, from the rest of the species... + +VII + +But while the facts of insect-biology suggest so much in regard to the +future course of human evolution, do they not also suggest something of +largest significance concerning the relation of ethics to cosmic law? +Apparently, the highest evolution will not be permitted to creatures +capable of what human moral experience has in all areas condemned. +Apparently, the highest possible strength is the strength of +unselfishness; and power supreme never will be accorded to cruelty or +to lust. There may be no gods; but the forces that shape and dissolve +all forms of being would seem to be much more exacting than gods. To +prove a “dramatic tendency” in the ways of the stars is not possible; +but the cosmic process seems nevertheless to affirm the worth of every +human system of ethics fundamentally opposed to human egoism. + + + + +Notes + + +THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI + + [1] See my _Kottō_, for a description of these curious crabs. + + + [2] Or, Shimonoséki. The town is also known by the name of Bakkan. + + + [3] The _biwa_, a kind of four-stringed lute, is chiefly used in + musical recitative. Formerly the professional minstrels who recited + the _Heiké-Monogatari_, and other tragical histories, were called + _biwa-hōshi_, or “lute-priests.” The origin of this appellation is not + clear; but it is possible that it may have been suggested by the fact + that “lute-priests” as well as blind shampooers, had their heads + shaven, like Buddhist priests. The _biwa_ is played with a kind of + plectrum, called _bachi_, usually made of horn. + + +(1) A response to show that one has heard and is listening attentively. + + + [4] A respectful term, signifying the opening of a gate. It was used + by samurai when calling to the guards on duty at a lord’s gate for + admission. + + + [5] Or the phrase might be rendered, “for the pity of that part is the + deepest.” The Japanese word for pity in the original text is + “_awaré_.” + + + [6] “Traveling incognito” is at least the meaning of the original + phrase,—“making a disguised august-journey” (_shinobi no go-ryokō_). + + + [7] The Smaller Pragña-Pâramitâ-Hridaya-Sûtra is thus called in + Japanese. Both the smaller and larger sûtras called Pragña-Pâramitâ + (“Transcendent Wisdom”) have been translated by the late Professor Max + Müller, and can be found in volume xlix. of the _Sacred Books of the + East_ (“Buddhist Mahayana Sûtras”).—Apropos of the magical use of the + text, as described in this story, it is worth remarking that the + subject of the sûtra is the Doctrine of the Emptiness of Forms,—that + is to say, of the unreal character of all phenomena or noumena... + “Form is emptiness; and emptiness is form. Emptiness is not different + from form; form is not different from emptiness. What is form—that is + emptiness. What is emptiness—that is form... Perception, name, + concept, and knowledge, are also emptiness... There is no eye, ear, + nose, tongue, body, and mind... But when the envelopment of + consciousness has been annihilated, then he [_the seeker_] becomes + free from all fear, and beyond the reach of change, enjoying final + Nirvana.” + +OSHIDORI + + [1] From ancient time, in the Far East, these birds have been regarded + as emblems of conjugal affection. + + + [2] There is a pathetic double meaning in the third verse; for the + syllables composing the proper name _Akanuma_ (“Red Marsh”) may also + be read as _akanu-ma_, signifying “the time of our inseparable (or + delightful) relation.” So the poem can also be thus rendered:—“When + the day began to fail, I had invited him to accompany me...! Now, + after the time of that happy relation, what misery for the one who + must slumber alone in the shadow of the rushes!”—The _makomo_ is a + short of large rush, used for making baskets. + +THE STORY OF O-TEI + +(1) “-sama” is a polite suffix attached to personal names. + + +(2) A Buddhist term commonly used to signify a kind of heaven. + + + [1] The Buddhist term _zokumyō_ (“profane name”) signifies the + personal name, borne during life, in contradistinction to the _kaimyō_ + (“sila-name”) or _homyō_ (“Law-name”) given after death,—religious + posthumous appellations inscribed upon the tomb, and upon the mortuary + tablet in the parish-temple.—For some account of these, see my paper + entitled, “The Literature of the Dead,” in _Exotics and + Retrospectives_. + + + [2] Buddhist household shrine. + + +(3) Direct translation of a Japanese form of address used toward young, +unmarried women. + +DIPLOMACY + +(1) The spacious house and grounds of a wealthy person is thus called. + + +(2) A Buddhist service for the dead. + +OF A MIRROR AND A BELL + +(1) Part of present-day Shizuoka Prefecture. + + +(2) The two-hour period between 1 AM and 3 AM. + + +(3) A monetary unit. + +JIKININKI + +(1) The southern part of present-day Gifu Prefecture. + + + [1] Literally, a man-eating goblin. The Japanese narrator gives also + the Sanscrit term, “Râkshasa;” but this word is quite as vague as + _jikininki_, since there are many kinds of Râkshasas. Apparently the + word _jikininki_ signifies here one of the + _Baramon-Rasetsu-Gaki_,—forming the twenty-sixth class of pretas + enumerated in the old Buddhist books. + + + [2] A _Ségaki_-service is a special Buddhist service performed on + behalf of beings supposed to have entered into the condition of _gaki_ + (pretas), or hungry spirits. For a brief account of such a service, + see my _Japanese Miscellany_. + + + [3] Literally, “five-circle [or five-zone] stone.” A funeral monument + consisting of five parts superimposed,—each of a different + form,—symbolizing the five mystic elements: Ether, Air, Fire, Water, + Earth. + +MUJINA + +(1) A kind of badger. Certain animals were thought to be able to +transform themselves and cause mischief for humans. + + + [1] O-jochū (“honorable damsel”), a polite form of address used in + speaking to a young lady whom one does not know. + + +(2) An apparition with a smooth, totally featureless face, called a +“nopperabo,” is a stock part of the Japanese pantheon of ghosts and +demons. + + + [2] Soba is a preparation of buckwheat, somewhat resembling + vermicelli. + + +(3) An exclamation of annoyed alarm. + + +(4) Well! + +ROKURO-KUBI + + [1] The period of Eikyō lasted from 1429 to 1441. + + + [2] The upper robe of a Buddhist priest is thus called. + + +(1) Present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. + + +(2) A term for itinerant priests. + + + [3] A sort of little fireplace, contrived in the floor of a room, is + thus described. The _ro_ is usually a square shallow cavity, lined + with metal and half-filled with ashes, in which charcoal is lighted. + + +(3) Direct translation of “suzumushi,” a kind of cricket with a +distinctive chirp like a tiny bell, whence the name. + + +(4) Now a rokuro-kubi is ordinarily conceived as a goblin whose neck +stretches out to great lengths, but which nevertheless always remains +attached to its body. + + +(5) A Chinese collection of stories on the supernatural. + + + [4] A present made to friends or to the household on returning from a + journey is thus called. Ordinarily, of course, the _miyagé_ consists + of something produced in the locality to which the journey has been + made: this is the point of Kwairyō’s jest. + + +(6) Present-day Nagano Prefecture. + +A DEAD SECRET + +(1) On the present-day map, Tamba corresponds roughly to the central +area of Kyōto Prefecture and part of Hyogo Prefecture. + + + [1] The Hour of the Rat (_Né-no-Koku_), according to the old Japanese + method of reckoning time, was the first hour. It corresponded to the + time between our midnight and two o’clock in the morning; for the + ancient Japanese hours were each equal to two modern hours. + + + [2] _Kaimyō_, the posthumous Buddhist name, or religious name, given + to the dead. Strictly speaking, the meaning of the word is sila-name. + (See my paper entitled, “The Literature of the Dead” in _Exotics and + Retrospectives_.) + +YUKI-ONNA + +(1) An ancient province whose boundaries took in most of present-day +Tōkyō, and parts of Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures. + + + [1] That is to say, with a floor-surface of about six feet square. + + + [2] This name, signifying “Snow,” is not uncommon. On the subject of + Japanese female names, see my paper in the volume entitled + _Shadowings_. + + +(2) Also spelled Edo, the former name of Tōkyō. + +THE STORY OF AOYAGI + +(1) An ancient province corresponding to the northern part of +present-day Ishikawa Prefecture. + + +(2) An ancient province corresponding to the eastern part of +present-day Fukui Prefecture. + + + [1] The name signifies “Green Willow;”—though rarely met with, it is + still in use. + + + [2] The poem may be read in two ways; several of the phrases having a + double meaning. But the art of its construction would need + considerable space to explain, and could scarcely interest the Western + reader. The meaning which Tomotada desired to convey might be thus + expressed:—“While journeying to visit my mother, I met with a being + lovely as a flower; and for the sake of that lovely person, I am + passing the day here... Fair one, wherefore that dawn-like blush + before the hour of dawn?—can it mean that you love me?” + + + [3] Another reading is possible; but this one gives the signification + of the _answer_ intended. + + + [4] So the Japanese story-teller would have us believe,—although the + verses seem commonplace in translation. I have tried to give only + their general meaning: an effective literal translation would require + some scholarship. + +JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA + +(1) Present-day Ehime Prefecture. + +THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKÉ + +(1) Present-day Nara Prefecture. + + + [1] This name “Tokoyo” is indefinite. According to circumstances it + may signify any unknown country,—or that undiscovered country from + whose bourn no traveler returns,—or that Fairyland of far-eastern + fable, the Realm of Hōrai. The term “Kokuō” means the ruler of a + country,—therefore a king. The original phrase, _Tokoyo no Kokuō_, + might be rendered here as “the Ruler of Hōrai,” or “the King of + Fairyland.” + + + [2] The last phrase, according to old custom, had to be uttered by + both attendants at the same time. All these ceremonial observances can + still be studied on the Japanese stage. + + + [3] This was the name given to the estrade, or dais, upon which a + feudal prince or ruler sat in state. The term literally signifies + “great seat.” + +RIKI-BAKA + +(1) Kana: the Japanese phonetic alphabet. + + +(2) “So-and-so”: appellation used by Hearn in place of the real name. + + +(3) A section of Tōkyō. + + + [1] A square piece of cotton-goods, or other woven material, used as a + wrapper in which to carry small packages. + + +(4) Ten yen is nothing now, but was a formidable sum then. + + INSECT STUDIES + +BUTTERFLIES + +(1) Haiku. + + + [1] “The modest nymph beheld her God, and blushed.” (Or, in a more + familiar rendering: “The modest water saw its God, and blushed.”) In + this line the double value of the word _nympha_—used by classical + poets both in the meaning of fountain and in that of the divinity of a + fountain, or spring—reminds one of that graceful playing with words + which Japanese poets practice. + + + [2] More usually written _nugi-kakéru_, which means either “to take + off and hang up,” or “to begin to take off,”—as in the above poem. + More loosely, but more effectively, the verses might thus be rendered: + “Like a woman slipping off her haori—that is the appearance of a + butterfly.” One must have seen the Japanese garment described, to + appreciate the comparison. The haori is a silk upper-dress,—a kind of + sleeved cloak,—worn by both sexes; but the poem suggests a woman’s + _haori_, which is usually of richer color or material. The sleeves are + wide; and the lining is usually of brightly-colored silk, often + beautifully variegated. In taking off the haori, the brilliant lining + is displayed,—and at such an instant the fluttering splendor might + well be likened to the appearance of a butterfly in motion. + + + [3] The bird-catcher’s pole is smeared with bird-lime; and the verses + suggest that the insect is preventing the man from using his pole, by + persistently getting in the way of it,—as the birds might take warning + from seeing the butterfly limed. _Jama suru_ means “to hinder” or + “prevent.” + + + [4] Even while it is resting, the wings of the butterfly may be seen + to quiver at moments,—as if the creature were dreaming of flight. + + + [5] A little poem by Bashō, greatest of all Japanese composers of + _hokku_. The verses are intended to suggest the joyous feeling of + spring-time. + + + [6] Literally, “a windless day;” but two negatives in Japanese poetry + do not necessarily imply an affirmative, as in English. The meaning + is, that although there is no wind, the fluttering motion of the + butterflies suggests, to the eyes at least, that a strong breeze is + playing. + + + [7] Alluding to the Buddhist proverb: _Rakkwa éda ni kaërazu; ha-kyō + futatabi terasazu_ (“The fallen flower returns not to the branch; the + broken mirror never again reflects.”) So says the proverb—yet it + seemed to me that I saw a fallen flower return to the branch... No: it + was only a butterfly. + + + [8] Alluding probably to the light fluttering motion of falling + cherry-petals. + + + [9] That is to say, the grace of their motion makes one think of the + grace of young girls, daintily costumed, in robes with long fluttering + sleeves... And old Japanese proverb declares that even a devil is + pretty at eighteen: _Oni mo jiu-hachi azami no hana:_ “Even a devil at + eighteen, flower-of-the-thistle.” + + + [10] Or perhaps the verses might be more effectively rendered thus: + “Happy together, do you say? Yes—if we should be reborn as + field-butterflies in some future life: then we might accord!” This + poem was composed by the celebrated poet Issa, on the occasion of + divorcing his wife. + + + [11] Or, _Taré no tama?_ + + + [12] Literally, “Butterfly-pursuing heart I wish to have + always;”—_i.e._, I would that I might always be able to find pleasure + in simple things, like a happy child. + + + [13] An old popular error,—probably imported from China. + + + [14] A name suggested by the resemblance of the larva’s artificial + covering to the _mino_, or straw-raincoat, worn by Japanese peasants. + I am not sure whether the dictionary rendering, “basket-worm,” is + quite correct;—but the larva commonly called _minomushi_ does really + construct for itself something much like the covering of the + basket-worm. + + +(2) A very large, white radish. “Daikon” literally means “big root.” + + + [15] _Pyrus spectabilis_. + + + [16] An evil spirit. + + +(3) A common female name. + +MOSQUITOES + +(1) Meiji: The period in which Hearn wrote this book. It lasted from +1868 to 1912, and was a time when Japan plunged head-first into +Western-style modernization. By the “fashions and the changes and the +disintegrations of Meiji” Hearn is lamenting that this process of +modernization was destroying some of the good things in traditional +Japanese culture. + +ANTS + +(1) Cicadas. + + + [1] An interesting fact in this connection is that the Japanese word + for ant, _ari_, is represented by an ideograph formed of the character + for “insect” combined with the character signifying “moral rectitude,” + “propriety” (_giri_). So the Chinese character actually means “The + Propriety-Insect.” + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1210 *** diff --git a/1210-h/1210-h.htm b/1210-h/1210-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..919420f --- /dev/null +++ b/1210-h/1210-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5361 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, by Lafcadio Hearn</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: 90%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.footnote {font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +sup { vertical-align: top; font-size: 0.6em; } + +div.fig { display:block; + margin:0 auto; + text-align:center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +p.caption {font-weight: bold; + text-align: center; } + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1210 ***</div> + +<h1>KWAIDAN:<br/> +Stories and Studies of Strange Things</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">By Lafcadio Hearn</h2> + +<hr /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="center"> +A Note from the Digitizer +</p> + +<p class="center"> +On Japanese Pronunciation +</p> + +<p> +Although simplified, the following general rules will help the reader +unfamiliar with Japanese to come close enough to Japanese pronunciation. +</p> + +<p> +There are five vowels: a (as in fAther), i (as in machIne), u (as in fOOl), e +(as in fEllow), and o (as in mOle). Although certain vowels become nearly +“silent” in some environments, this phenomenon can be safely +ignored for the purpose at hand. +</p> + +<p> +Consonants roughly approximate their corresponding sounds in English, except +for r, which is actually somewhere between r and l (this is why the Japanese +have trouble distinguishing between English r and l), and f, which is much +closer to h. +</p> + +<p> +The spelling “KWAIDAN” is based on premodern Japanese +pronunciation; when Hearn came to Japan, the orthography reflecting this +pronunciation was still in use. In modern Japanese the word is pronounced +KAIDAN. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +There are many ellipses in the text. Hearn often used them in this book; they +do not represent omissions by the digitizer. +</p> + +<p> +Author’s original notes are in brackets, those by the digitizer are in +parentheses. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr><td> <a href="#pref01">INTRODUCTION</a><br/><br/></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap00"><b>KWAIDAN</b></a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap01">THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap02">OSHIDORI</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap03">THE STORY OF O-TEI</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap04">UBAZAKURA</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap05">DIPLOMACY</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap06">OF A MIRROR AND A BELL</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap07">JIKININKI</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap08">MUJINA</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap09">ROKURO-KUBI</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap10">A DEAD SECRET</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap11">YUKI-ONNA</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap12">THE STORY OF AOYAGI</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap13">JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap14">THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKÉ</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap15">RIKI-BAKA</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap16">HI-MAWARI</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap17">HŌRAI</a><br/><br/></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap18"><b>INSECT STUDIES</b></a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap19">BUTTERFLIES</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap20">MOSQUITOES</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap21">ANTS</a><br/><br/></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap22">Notes</a></td></tr> + +</table> + +<h2>Illustrations</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr><td> <a href="#illus01">BLOWING HER BREATH UPON HIM</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#illus02">BUTTERFLY DANCE</a></td></tr> + +</table> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref01"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2> + +<p> +The publication of a new volume of Lafcadio Hearn’s exquisite studies of +Japan happens, by a delicate irony, to fall in the very month when the world is +waiting with tense expectation for news of the latest exploits of Japanese +battleships. Whatever the outcome of the present struggle between Russia and +Japan, its significance lies in the fact that a nation of the East, equipped +with Western weapons and girding itself with Western energy of will, is +deliberately measuring strength against one of the great powers of the +Occident. No one is wise enough to forecast the results of such a conflict upon +the civilization of the world. The best one can do is to estimate, as +intelligently as possible, the national characteristics of the peoples engaged, +basing one’s hopes and fears upon the psychology of the two races rather +than upon purely political and statistical studies of the complicated questions +involved in the present war. The Russian people have had literary spokesmen who +for more than a generation have fascinated the European audience. The Japanese, +on the other hand, have possessed no such national and universally recognized +figures as Turgenieff or Tolstoy. They need an interpreter. +</p> + +<p> +It may be doubted whether any oriental race has ever had an interpreter gifted +with more perfect insight and sympathy than Lafcadio Hearn has brought to the +translation of Japan into our occidental speech. His long residence in that +country, his flexibility of mind, poetic imagination, and wonderfully pellucid +style have fitted him for the most delicate of literary tasks. He has seen +marvels, and he has told of them in a marvelous way. There is scarcely an +aspect of contemporary Japanese life, scarcely an element in the social, +political, and military questions involved in the present conflict with Russia +which is not made clear in one or another of the books with which he has +charmed American readers. +</p> + +<p> +He characterizes Kwaidan as “stories and studies of strange +things.” A hundred thoughts suggested by the book might be written down, +but most of them would begin and end with this fact of strangeness. To read the +very names in the table of contents is like listening to a Buddhist bell, +struck somewhere far away. Some of his tales are of the long ago, and yet they +seem to illumine the very souls and minds of the little men who are at this +hour crowding the decks of Japan’s armored cruisers. But many of the +stories are about women and children,—the lovely materials from which the +best fairy tales of the world have been woven. They too are strange, these +Japanese maidens and wives and keen-eyed, dark-haired girls and boys; they are +like us and yet not like us; and the sky and the hills and the flowers are all +different from ours. Yet by a magic of which Mr. Hearn, almost alone among +contemporary writers, is the master, in these delicate, transparent, ghostly +sketches of a world unreal to us, there is a haunting sense of spiritual +reality. +</p> + +<p> +In a penetrating and beautiful essay contributed to the “Atlantic +Monthly” in February, 1903, by Paul Elmer More, the secret of Mr. +Hearn’s magic is said to lie in the fact that in his art is found +“the meeting of three ways.” “To the religious instinct of +India—Buddhism in particular,—which history has engrafted on the +aæsthetic sense of Japan, Mr. Hearn brings the interpreting spirit of +occidental science; and these three traditions are fused by the peculiar +sympathies of his mind into one rich and novel compound,—a compound so +rare as to have introduced into literature a psychological sensation unknown +before.” Mr. More’s essay received the high praise of Mr. +Hearn’s recognition and gratitude, and if it were possible to reprint it +here, it would provide a most suggestive introduction to these new stories of +old Japan, whose substance is, as Mr. More has said, “so strangely +mingled together out of the austere dreams of India and the subtle beauty of +Japan and the relentless science of Europe.” +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +<i>March</i>, 1904. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p> +Most of the following <i>Kwaidan</i>, or Weird Tales, have been taken from old +Japanese books,—such as the <i>Yasō-Kidan</i>, +<i>Bukkyō-Hyakkwa-Zenshō</i>, <i>Kokon-Chomonshū</i>, <i>Tama-Sudaré</i>, and +<i>Hyaku-Monogatari</i>. Some of the stories may have had a Chinese origin: the +very remarkable “Dream of Akinosuké,” for example, is certainly +from a Chinese source. But the story-teller, in every case, has so recolored +and reshaped his borrowing as to naturalize it... One queer tale, +“Yuki-Onna,” was told me by a farmer of Chōfu, Nishitama-gōri, in +Musashi province, as a legend of his native village. Whether it has ever been +written in Japanese I do not know; but the extraordinary belief which it +records used certainly to exist in most parts of Japan, and in many curious +forms... The incident of “Riki-Baka” was a personal experience; and +I wrote it down almost exactly as it happened, changing only a family-name +mentioned by the Japanese narrator. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +L. H. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +T<small>ŌKYŌ</small>, J<small>APAN</small>, January 20th, 1904. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap00"></a>KWAIDAN</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI</h2> + +<p> +More than seven hundred years ago, at Dan-no-ura, in the Straits of +Shimonoséki, was fought the last battle of the long contest between the Heiké, +or Taira clan, and the Genji, or Minamoto clan. There the Heiké perished +utterly, with their women and children, and their infant emperor +likewise—now remembered as Antoku Tennō. And that sea and shore have been +haunted for seven hundred years... Elsewhere I told you about the strange crabs +found there, called Heiké crabs, which have human faces on their backs, and are +said to be the spirits of the Heiké warriors<a href="#fn1.1" name="fnref1.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>. +But there are many strange things to be seen and heard along that coast. On +dark nights thousands of ghostly fires hover about the beach, or flit above the +waves,—pale lights which the fishermen call <i>Oni-bi</i>, or +demon-fires; and, whenever the winds are up, a sound of great shouting comes +from that sea, like a clamor of battle. +</p> + +<p> +In former years the Heiké were much more restless than they now are. They would +rise about ships passing in the night, and try to sink them; and at all times +they would watch for swimmers, to pull them down. It was in order to appease +those dead that the Buddhist temple, Amidaji, was built at Akamagaséki<a +href="#fn1.2" name="fnref1.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a>. A cemetery also was made +close by, near the beach; and within it were set up monuments inscribed with +the names of the drowned emperor and of his great vassals; and Buddhist +services were regularly performed there, on behalf of the spirits of them. +After the temple had been built, and the tombs erected, the Heiké gave less +trouble than before; but they continued to do queer things at +intervals,—proving that they had not found the perfect peace. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Some centuries ago there lived at Akamagaséki a blind man named Hōïchi, who was +famed for his skill in recitation and in playing upon the <i>biwa</i><a +href="#fn1.3" name="fnref1.3"><sup>[3]</sup></a>. From childhood he had been +trained to recite and to play; and while yet a lad he had surpassed his +teachers. As a professional <i>biwa-hōshi</i> he became famous chiefly by his +recitations of the history of the Heiké and the Genji; and it is said that when +he sang the song of the battle of Dan-no-ura “even the goblins +[<i>kijin</i>] could not refrain from tears.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +At the outset of his career, Hōïchi was very poor; but he found a good friend +to help him. The priest of the Amidaji was fond of poetry and music; and he +often invited Hōïchi to the temple, to play and recite. Afterwards, being much +impressed by the wonderful skill of the lad, the priest proposed that Hōïchi +should make the temple his home; and this offer was gratefully accepted. Hōïchi +was given a room in the temple-building; and, in return for food and lodging, +he was required only to gratify the priest with a musical performance on +certain evenings, when otherwise disengaged. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +One summer night the priest was called away, to perform a Buddhist service at +the house of a dead parishioner; and he went there with his acolyte, leaving +Hōïchi alone in the temple. It was a hot night; and the blind man sought to +cool himself on the verandah before his sleeping-room. The verandah overlooked +a small garden in the rear of the Amidaji. There Hōïchi waited for the +priest’s return, and tried to relieve his solitude by practicing upon his +biwa. Midnight passed; and the priest did not appear. But the atmosphere was +still too warm for comfort within doors; and Hōïchi remained outside. At last +he heard steps approaching from the back gate. Somebody crossed the garden, +advanced to the verandah, and halted directly in front of him—but it was +not the priest. A deep voice called the blind man’s name—abruptly +and unceremoniously, in the manner of a samurai summoning an inferior:— +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi!” +</p> + +<p> +Hōïchi was too much startled, for the moment, to respond; and the voice called +again, in a tone of harsh command,— +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi!” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Hai!</i>”(1) answered the blind man, frightened by the menace +in the voice,—“I am blind!—I cannot know who calls!” +</p> + +<p> +“There is nothing to fear,” the stranger exclaimed, speaking more +gently. “I am stopping near this temple, and have been sent to you with a +message. My present lord, a person of exceedingly high rank, is now staying in +Akamagaséki, with many noble attendants. He wished to view the scene of the +battle of Dan-no-ura; and to-day he visited that place. Having heard of your +skill in reciting the story of the battle, he now desires to hear your +performance: so you will take your biwa and come with me at once to the house +where the august assembly is waiting.” +</p> + +<p> +In those times, the order of a samurai was not to be lightly disobeyed. Hōïchi +donned his sandals, took his biwa, and went away with the stranger, who guided +him deftly, but obliged him to walk very fast. The hand that guided was iron; +and the clank of the warrior’s stride proved him fully +armed,—probably some palace-guard on duty. Hōïchi’s first alarm was +over: he began to imagine himself in good luck;—for, remembering the +retainer’s assurance about a “person of exceedingly high +rank,” he thought that the lord who wished to hear the recitation could +not be less than a daimyō of the first class. Presently the samurai halted; and +Hōïchi became aware that they had arrived at a large gateway;—and he +wondered, for he could not remember any large gate in that part of the town, +except the main gate of the Amidaji. “<i>Kaimon!</i>”<a +href="#fn1.4" name="fnref1.4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> the samurai called,—and +there was a sound of unbarring; and the twain passed on. They traversed a space +of garden, and halted again before some entrance; and the retainer cried in a +loud voice, “Within there! I have brought Hōïchi.” Then came sounds +of feet hurrying, and screens sliding, and rain-doors opening, and voices of +women in converse. By the language of the women Hōïchi knew them to be +domestics in some noble household; but he could not imagine to what place he +had been conducted. Little time was allowed him for conjecture. After he had +been helped to mount several stone steps, upon the last of which he was told to +leave his sandals, a woman’s hand guided him along interminable reaches +of polished planking, and round pillared angles too many to remember, and over +widths amazing of matted floor,—into the middle of some vast apartment. +There he thought that many great people were assembled: the sound of the +rustling of silk was like the sound of leaves in a forest. He heard also a +great humming of voices,—talking in undertones; and the speech was the +speech of courts. +</p> + +<p> +Hōïchi was told to put himself at ease, and he found a kneeling-cushion ready +for him. After having taken his place upon it, and tuned his instrument, the +voice of a woman—whom he divined to be the <i>Rōjo</i>, or matron in +charge of the female service—addressed him, saying,— +</p> + +<p> +“It is now required that the history of the Heiké be recited, to the +accompaniment of the biwa.” +</p> + +<p> +Now the entire recital would have required a time of many nights: therefore +Hōïchi ventured a question:— +</p> + +<p> +“As the whole of the story is not soon told, what portion is it augustly +desired that I now recite?” +</p> + +<p> +The woman’s voice made answer:— +</p> + +<p> +“Recite the story of the battle at Dan-no-ura,—for the pity of it +is the most deep.”<a href="#fn1.5" name="fnref1.5"><sup>[5]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +Then Hōïchi lifted up his voice, and chanted the chant of the fight on the +bitter sea,—wonderfully making his biwa to sound like the straining of +oars and the rushing of ships, the whirr and the hissing of arrows, the +shouting and trampling of men, the crashing of steel upon helmets, the plunging +of slain in the flood. And to left and right of him, in the pauses of his +playing, he could hear voices murmuring praise: “How marvelous an +artist!”—“Never in our own province was playing heard like +this!”—“Not in all the empire is there another singer like +Hōïchi!” Then fresh courage came to him, and he played and sang yet +better than before; and a hush of wonder deepened about him. But when at last +he came to tell the fate of the fair and helpless,—the piteous perishing +of the women and children,—and the death-leap of Nii-no-Ama, with the +imperial infant in her arms,—then all the listeners uttered together one +long, long shuddering cry of anguish; and thereafter they wept and wailed so +loudly and so wildly that the blind man was frightened by the violence and +grief that he had made. For much time the sobbing and the wailing continued. +But gradually the sounds of lamentation died away; and again, in the great +stillness that followed, Hōïchi heard the voice of the woman whom he supposed +to be the Rōjo. +</p> + +<p> +She said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Although we had been assured that you were a very skillful player upon +the biwa, and without an equal in recitative, we did not know that any one +could be so skillful as you have proved yourself to-night. Our lord has been +pleased to say that he intends to bestow upon you a fitting reward. But he +desires that you shall perform before him once every night for the next six +nights—after which time he will probably make his august return-journey. +To-morrow night, therefore, you are to come here at the same hour. The retainer +who to-night conducted you will be sent for you... There is another matter +about which I have been ordered to inform you. It is required that you shall +speak to no one of your visits here, during the time of our lord’s august +sojourn at Akamagaséki. As he is traveling incognito,<a href="#fn1.6" +name="fnref1.6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> he commands that no mention of these things +be made... You are now free to go back to your temple.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After Hōïchi had duly expressed his thanks, a woman’s hand conducted him +to the entrance of the house, where the same retainer, who had before guided +him, was waiting to take him home. The retainer led him to the verandah at the +rear of the temple, and there bade him farewell. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +It was almost dawn when Hōïchi returned; but his absence from the temple had +not been observed,—as the priest, coming back at a very late hour, had +supposed him asleep. During the day Hōïchi was able to take some rest; and he +said nothing about his strange adventure. In the middle of the following night +the samurai again came for him, and led him to the august assembly, where he +gave another recitation with the same success that had attended his previous +performance. But during this second visit his absence from the temple was +accidentally discovered; and after his return in the morning he was summoned to +the presence of the priest, who said to him, in a tone of kindly +reproach:— +</p> + +<p> +“We have been very anxious about you, friend Hōïchi. To go out, blind and +alone, at so late an hour, is dangerous. Why did you go without telling us? I +could have ordered a servant to accompany you. And where have you been?” +</p> + +<p> +Hōïchi answered, evasively,— +</p> + +<p> +“Pardon me kind friend! I had to attend to some private business; and I +could not arrange the matter at any other hour.” +</p> + +<p> +The priest was surprised, rather than pained, by Hōïchi’s reticence: he +felt it to be unnatural, and suspected something wrong. He feared that the +blind lad had been bewitched or deluded by some evil spirits. He did not ask +any more questions; but he privately instructed the men-servants of the temple +to keep watch upon Hōïchi’s movements, and to follow him in case that he +should again leave the temple after dark. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +On the very next night, Hōïchi was seen to leave the temple; and the servants +immediately lighted their lanterns, and followed after him. But it was a rainy +night, and very dark; and before the temple-folks could get to the roadway, +Hōïchi had disappeared. Evidently he had walked very fast,—a strange +thing, considering his blindness; for the road was in a bad condition. The men +hurried through the streets, making inquiries at every house which Hōïchi was +accustomed to visit; but nobody could give them any news of him. At last, as +they were returning to the temple by way of the shore, they were startled by +the sound of a biwa, furiously played, in the cemetery of the Amidaji. Except +for some ghostly fires—such as usually flitted there on dark +nights—all was blackness in that direction. But the men at once hastened +to the cemetery; and there, by the help of their lanterns, they discovered +Hōïchi,—sitting alone in the rain before the memorial tomb of Antoku +Tennō, making his biwa resound, and loudly chanting the chant of the battle of +Dan-no-ura. And behind him, and about him, and everywhere above the tombs, the +fires of the dead were burning, like candles. Never before had so great a host +of <i>Oni-bi</i> appeared in the sight of mortal man... +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi San!—Hōïchi San!” the servants +cried,—“you are bewitched!... Hōïchi San!” +</p> + +<p> +But the blind man did not seem to hear. Strenuously he made his biwa to rattle +and ring and clang;—more and more wildly he chanted the chant of the +battle of Dan-no-ura. They caught hold of him;—they shouted into his +ear,— +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi San!—Hōïchi San!—come home with us at once!” +</p> + +<p> +Reprovingly he spoke to them:— +</p> + +<p> +“To interrupt me in such a manner, before this august assembly, will not +be tolerated.” +</p> + +<p> +Whereat, in spite of the weirdness of the thing, the servants could not help +laughing. Sure that he had been bewitched, they now seized him, and pulled him +up on his feet, and by main force hurried him back to the temple,—where +he was immediately relieved of his wet clothes, by order of the priest. Then +the priest insisted upon a full explanation of his friend’s astonishing +behavior. +</p> + +<p> +Hōïchi long hesitated to speak. But at last, finding that his conduct had +really alarmed and angered the good priest, he decided to abandon his reserve; +and he related everything that had happened from the time of first visit of the +samurai. +</p> + +<p> +The priest said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi, my poor friend, you are now in great danger! How unfortunate +that you did not tell me all this before! Your wonderful skill in music has +indeed brought you into strange trouble. By this time you must be aware that +you have not been visiting any house whatever, but have been passing your +nights in the cemetery, among the tombs of the Heiké;—and it was before +the memorial-tomb of Antoku Tennō that our people to-night found you, sitting +in the rain. All that you have been imagining was illusion—except the +calling of the dead. By once obeying them, you have put yourself in their +power. If you obey them again, after what has already occurred, they will tear +you in pieces. But they would have destroyed you, sooner or later, in any +event... Now I shall not be able to remain with you to-night: I am called away +to perform another service. But, before I go, it will be necessary to protect +your body by writing holy texts upon it.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Before sundown the priest and his acolyte stripped Hōïchi: then, with their +writing-brushes, they traced upon his breast and back, head and face and neck, +limbs and hands and feet,—even upon the soles of his feet, and upon all +parts of his body,—the text of the holy sûtra called +<i>Hannya-Shin-Kyō</i>.<a href="#fn1.7" name="fnref1.7"><sup>[7]</sup></a> When +this had been done, the priest instructed Hōïchi, saying:— +</p> + +<p> +“To-night, as soon as I go away, you must seat yourself on the verandah, +and wait. You will be called. But, whatever may happen, do not answer, and do +not move. Say nothing and sit still—as if meditating. If you stir, or +make any noise, you will be torn asunder. Do not get frightened; and do not +think of calling for help—because no help could save you. If you do +exactly as I tell you, the danger will pass, and you will have nothing more to +fear.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After dark the priest and the acolyte went away; and Hōïchi seated himself on +the verandah, according to the instructions given him. He laid his biwa on the +planking beside him, and, assuming the attitude of meditation, remained quite +still,—taking care not to cough, or to breathe audibly. For hours he +stayed thus. +</p> + +<p> +Then, from the roadway, he heard the steps coming. They passed the gate, +crossed the garden, approached the verandah, stopped—directly in front of +him. +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi!” the deep voice called. But the blind man held his breath, +and sat motionless. +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi!” grimly called the voice a second time. Then a third +time—savagely:— +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi!” +</p> + +<p> +Hōïchi remained as still as a stone,—and the voice grumbled:— +</p> + +<p> +“No answer!—that won’t do!... Must see where the fellow +is.”... +</p> + +<p> +There was a noise of heavy feet mounting upon the verandah. The feet approached +deliberately,—halted beside him. Then, for long minutes,—during +which Hōïchi felt his whole body shake to the beating of his heart,—there +was dead silence. +</p> + +<p> +At last the gruff voice muttered close to him:— +</p> + +<p> +“Here is the biwa; but of the biwa-player I see—only two ears!... +So that explains why he did not answer: he had no mouth to answer +with—there is nothing left of him but his ears... Now to my lord those +ears I will take—in proof that the august commands have been obeyed, so +far as was possible”... +</p> + +<p> +At that instant Hōïchi felt his ears gripped by fingers of iron, and torn off! +Great as the pain was, he gave no cry. The heavy footfalls receded along the +verandah,—descended into the garden,—passed out to the +roadway,—ceased. From either side of his head, the blind man felt a thick +warm trickling; but he dared not lift his hands... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Before sunrise the priest came back. He hastened at once to the verandah in the +rear, stepped and slipped upon something clammy, and uttered a cry of +horror;—for he saw, by the light of his lantern, that the clamminess was +blood. But he perceived Hōïchi sitting there, in the attitude of +meditation—with the blood still oozing from his wounds. +</p> + +<p> +“My poor Hōïchi!” cried the startled priest,—“what is +this?... You have been hurt?” +</p> + +<p> +At the sound of his friend’s voice, the blind man felt safe. He burst out +sobbing, and tearfully told his adventure of the night. +</p> + +<p> +“Poor, poor Hōïchi!” the priest exclaimed,—“all my +fault!—my very grievous fault!... Everywhere upon your body the holy +texts had been written—except upon your ears! I trusted my acolyte to do +that part of the work; and it was very, very wrong of me not to have made sure +that he had done it!... Well, the matter cannot now be helped;—we can +only try to heal your hurts as soon as possible... Cheer up, friend!—the +danger is now well over. You will never again be troubled by those +visitors.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +With the aid of a good doctor, Hōïchi soon recovered from his injuries. The +story of his strange adventure spread far and wide, and soon made him famous. +Many noble persons went to Akamagaséki to hear him recite; and large presents +of money were given to him,—so that he became a wealthy man... But from +the time of his adventure, he was known only by the appellation of +<i>Mimi-nashi-Hōïchi:</i> “Hōïchi-the-Earless.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>OSHIDORI</h2> + +<p> +There was a falconer and hunter, named Sonjō, who lived in the district called +Tamura-no-Gō, of the province of Mutsu. One day he went out hunting, and could +not find any game. But on his way home, at a place called Akanuma, he perceived +a pair of <i>oshidori</i><a href="#fn2.1" name="fnref2.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +(mandarin-ducks), swimming together in a river that he was about to cross. To +kill <i>oshidori</i> is not good; but Sonjō happened to be very hungry, and he +shot at the pair. His arrow pierced the male: the female escaped into the +rushes of the further shore, and disappeared. Sonjō took the dead bird home, +and cooked it. +</p> + +<p> +That night he dreamed a dreary dream. It seemed to him that a beautiful woman +came into his room, and stood by his pillow, and began to weep. So bitterly did +she weep that Sonjō felt as if his heart were being torn out while he listened. +And the woman cried to him: “Why,—oh! why did you kill +him?—of what wrong was he guilty?... At Akanuma we were so happy +together,—and you killed him!... What harm did he ever do you? Do you +even know what you have done?—oh! do you know what a cruel, what a wicked +thing you have done?... Me too you have killed,—for I will not live +without my husband!... Only to tell you this I came.”... Then again she +wept aloud,—so bitterly that the voice of her crying pierced into the +marrow of the listener’s bones;—and she sobbed out the words of +this poem:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Hi kururéba<br/> +Sasoëshi mono wo—<br/> + Akanuma no<br/> +Makomo no kuré no<br/> +Hitori-né zo uki! +</p> + +<p> +[<i>“At the coming of twilight I invited him to return with me—! +Now to sleep alone in the shadow of the rushes of Akanuma—ah! what misery +unspeakable!”</i>]<a href="#fn2.2" name="fnref2.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +And after having uttered these verses she exclaimed:—“Ah, you do +not know—you cannot know what you have done! But to-morrow, when you go +to Akanuma, you will see,—you will see...” So saying, and weeping +very piteously, she went away. +</p> + +<p> +When Sonjō awoke in the morning, this dream remained so vivid in his mind that +he was greatly troubled. He remembered the words:—“But to-morrow, +when you go to Akanuma, you will see,—you will see.” And he +resolved to go there at once, that he might learn whether his dream was +anything more than a dream. +</p> + +<p> +So he went to Akanuma; and there, when he came to the river-bank, he saw the +female <i>oshidori</i> swimming alone. In the same moment the bird perceived +Sonjō; but, instead of trying to escape, she swam straight towards him, looking +at him the while in a strange fixed way. Then, with her beak, she suddenly tore +open her own body, and died before the hunter’s eyes... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Sonjō shaved his head, and became a priest. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>THE STORY OF O-TEI</h2> + +<p> +A long time ago, in the town of Niigata, in the province of Echizen, there +lived a man called Nagao Chōsei. +</p> + +<p> +Nagao was the son of a physician, and was educated for his father’s +profession. At an early age he had been betrothed to a girl called O-Tei, the +daughter of one of his father’s friends; and both families had agreed +that the wedding should take place as soon as Nagao had finished his studies. +But the health of O-Tei proved to be weak; and in her fifteenth year she was +attacked by a fatal consumption. When she became aware that she must die, she +sent for Nagao to bid him farewell. +</p> + +<p> +As he knelt at her bedside, she said to him:— +</p> + +<p> +“Nagao-Sama, (1) my betrothed, we were promised to each other from the +time of our childhood; and we were to have been married at the end of this +year. But now I am going to die;—the gods know what is best for us. If I +were able to live for some years longer, I could only continue to be a cause of +trouble and grief for others. With this frail body, I could not be a good wife; +and therefore even to wish to live, for your sake, would be a very selfish +wish. I am quite resigned to die; and I want you to promise that you will not +grieve... Besides, I want to tell you that I think we shall meet +again.”... +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed we shall meet again,” Nagao answered earnestly. “And +in that Pure Land (2) there will be no pain of separation.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, nay!” she responded softly, “I meant not the Pure Land. +I believe that we are destined to meet again in this world,—although I +shall be buried to-morrow.” +</p> + +<p> +Nagao looked at her wonderingly, and saw her smile at his wonder. She +continued, in her gentle, dreamy voice,— +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I mean in this world,—in your own present life, Nagao-Sama... +Providing, indeed, that you wish it. Only, for this thing to happen, I must +again be born a girl, and grow up to womanhood. So you would have to wait. +Fifteen—sixteen years: that is a long time... But, my promised husband, +you are now only nineteen years old.”... +</p> + +<p> +Eager to soothe her dying moments, he answered tenderly:— +</p> + +<p> +“To wait for you, my betrothed, were no less a joy than a duty. We are +pledged to each other for the time of seven existences.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you doubt?” she questioned, watching his face. +</p> + +<p> +“My dear one,” he answered, “I doubt whether I should be able +to know you in another body, under another name,—unless you can tell me +of a sign or token.” +</p> + +<p> +“That I cannot do,” she said. “Only the Gods and the Buddhas +know how and where we shall meet. But I am sure—very, very +sure—that, if you be not unwilling to receive me, I shall be able to come +back to you... Remember these words of mine.”... +</p> + +<p> +She ceased to speak; and her eyes closed. She was dead. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Nagao had been sincerely attached to O-Tei; and his grief was deep. He had a +mortuary tablet made, inscribed with her <i>zokumyō;</i><a href="#fn3.1" +name="fnref3.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> and he placed the tablet in his +<i>butsudan</i>,<a href="#fn3.2" name="fnref3.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> and every +day set offerings before it. He thought a great deal about the strange things +that O-Tei had said to him just before her death; and, in the hope of pleasing +her spirit, he wrote a solemn promise to wed her if she could ever return to +him in another body. This written promise he sealed with his seal, and placed +in the <i>butsudan</i> beside the mortuary tablet of O-Tei. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Nevertheless, as Nagao was an only son, it was necessary that he should marry. +He soon found himself obliged to yield to the wishes of his family, and to +accept a wife of his father’s choosing. After his marriage he continued +to set offerings before the tablet of O-Tei; and he never failed to remember +her with affection. But by degrees her image became dim in his +memory,—like a dream that is hard to recall. And the years went by. +</p> + +<p> +During those years many misfortunes came upon him. He lost his parents by +death,—then his wife and his only child. So that he found himself alone +in the world. He abandoned his desolate home, and set out upon a long journey +in the hope of forgetting his sorrows. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +One day, in the course of his travels, he arrived at Ikao,—a +mountain-village still famed for its thermal springs, and for the beautiful +scenery of its neighborhood. In the village-inn at which he stopped, a young +girl came to wait upon him; and, at the first sight of her face, he felt his +heart leap as it had never leaped before. So strangely did she resemble O-Tei +that he pinched himself to make sure that he was not dreaming. As she went and +came,—bringing fire and food, or arranging the chamber of the +guest,—her every attitude and motion revived in him some gracious memory +of the girl to whom he had been pledged in his youth. He spoke to her; and she +responded in a soft, clear voice of which the sweetness saddened him with a +sadness of other days. +</p> + +<p> +Then, in great wonder, he questioned her, saying:— +</p> + +<p> +“Elder Sister (3), so much do you look like a person whom I knew long +ago, that I was startled when you first entered this room. Pardon me, +therefore, for asking what is your native place, and what is your name?” +</p> + +<p> +Immediately,—and in the unforgotten voice of the dead,—she thus +made answer:— +</p> + +<p> +“My name is O-Tei; and you are Nagao Chōsei of Echigo, my promised +husband. Seventeen years ago, I died in Niigata: then you made in writing a +promise to marry me if ever I could come back to this world in the body of a +woman;—and you sealed that written promise with your seal, and put it in +the <i>butsudan</i>, beside the tablet inscribed with my name. And therefore I +came back.”... +</p> + +<p> +As she uttered these last words, she fell unconscious. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Nagao married her; and the marriage was a happy one. But at no time afterwards +could she remember what she had told him in answer to his question at Ikao: +neither could she remember anything of her previous existence. The recollection +of the former birth,—mysteriously kindled in the moment of that +meeting,—had again become obscured, and so thereafter remained. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>UBAZAKURA</h2> + +<p> +Three hundred years ago, in the village called Asamimura, in the district +called Onsengōri, in the province of Iyō, there lived a good man named Tokubei. +This Tokubei was the richest person in the district, and the <i>muraosa</i>, or +headman, of the village. In most matters he was fortunate; but he reached the +age of forty without knowing the happiness of becoming a father. Therefore he +and his wife, in the affliction of their childlessness, addressed many prayers +to the divinity Fudō Myō Ō, who had a famous temple, called Saihōji, in +Asamimura. +</p> + +<p> +At last their prayers were heard: the wife of Tokubei gave birth to a daughter. +The child was very pretty; and she received the name of Tsuyu. As the +mother’s milk was deficient, a milk-nurse, called O-Sodé, was hired for +the little one. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +O-Tsuyu grew up to be a very beautiful girl; but at the age of fifteen she fell +sick, and the doctors thought that she was going to die. In that time the nurse +O-Sodé, who loved O-Tsuyu with a real mother’s love, went to the temple +Saihōji, and fervently prayed to Fudō-Sama on behalf of the girl. Every day, +for twenty-one days, she went to the temple and prayed; and at the end of that +time, O-Tsuyu suddenly and completely recovered. +</p> + +<p> +Then there was great rejoicing in the house of Tokubei; and he gave a feast to +all his friends in celebration of the happy event. But on the night of the +feast the nurse O-Sodé was suddenly taken ill; and on the following morning, +the doctor, who had been summoned to attend her, announced that she was dying. +</p> + +<p> +Then the family, in great sorrow, gathered about her bed, to bid her farewell. +But she said to them:— +</p> + +<p> +“It is time that I should tell you something which you do not know. My +prayer has been heard. I besought Fudō-Sama that I might be permitted to die in +the place of O-Tsuyu; and this great favor has been granted me. Therefore you +must not grieve about my death... But I have one request to make. I promised +Fudō-Sama that I would have a cherry-tree planted in the garden of Saihōji, for +a thank-offering and a commemoration. Now I shall not be able myself to plant +the tree there: so I must beg that you will fulfill that vow for me... +Good-bye, dear friends; and remember that I was happy to die for +O-Tsuyu’s sake.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After the funeral of O-Sodé, a young cherry-tree,—the finest that could +be found,—was planted in the garden of Saihōji by the parents of O-Tsuyu. +The tree grew and flourished; and on the sixteenth day of the second month of +the following year,—the anniversary of O-Sodé’s death,—it +blossomed in a wonderful way. So it continued to blossom for two hundred and +fifty-four years,—always upon the sixteenth day of the second +month;—and its flowers, pink and white, were like the nipples of a +woman’s breasts, bedewed with milk. And the people called it +<i>Ubazakura</i>, the Cherry-tree of the Milk-Nurse. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>DIPLOMACY</h2> + +<p> +It had been ordered that the execution should take place in the garden of the +<i>yashiki</i> (1). So the man was taken there, and made to kneel down in a +wide sanded space crossed by a line of <i>tobi-ishi</i>, or stepping-stones, +such as you may still see in Japanese landscape-gardens. His arms were bound +behind him. Retainers brought water in buckets, and rice-bags filled with +pebbles; and they packed the rice-bags round the kneeling man,—so wedging +him in that he could not move. The master came, and observed the arrangements. +He found them satisfactory, and made no remarks. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly the condemned man cried out to him:— +</p> + +<p> +“Honored Sir, the fault for which I have been doomed I did not wittingly +commit. It was only my very great stupidity which caused the fault. Having been +born stupid, by reason of my Karma, I could not always help making mistakes. +But to kill a man for being stupid is wrong,—and that wrong will be +repaid. So surely as you kill me, so surely shall I be avenged;—out of +the resentment that you provoke will come the vengeance; and evil will be +rendered for evil.”... +</p> + +<p> +If any person be killed while feeling strong resentment, the ghost of that +person will be able to take vengeance upon the killer. This the samurai knew. +He replied very gently,—almost caressingly:— +</p> + +<p> +“We shall allow you to frighten us as much as you please—after you +are dead. But it is difficult to believe that you mean what you say. Will you +try to give us some sign of your great resentment—after your head has +been cut off?” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly I will,” answered the man. +</p> + +<p> +“Very well,” said the samurai, drawing his long +sword;—“I am now going to cut off your head. Directly in front of +you there is a stepping-stone. After your head has been cut off, try to bite +the stepping-stone. If your angry ghost can help you to do that, some of us may +be frightened... Will you try to bite the stone?” +</p> + +<p> +“I will bite it!” cried the man, in great anger,—“I +will bite it!—I will bite”— +</p> + +<p> +There was a flash, a swish, a crunching thud: the bound body bowed over the +rice sacks,—two long blood-jets pumping from the shorn neck;—and +the head rolled upon the sand. Heavily toward the stepping-stone it rolled: +then, suddenly bounding, it caught the upper edge of the stone between its +teeth, clung desperately for a moment, and dropped inert. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +None spoke; but the retainers stared in horror at their master. He seemed to be +quite unconcerned. He merely held out his sword to the nearest attendant, who, +with a wooden dipper, poured water over the blade from haft to point, and then +carefully wiped the steel several times with sheets of soft paper... And thus +ended the ceremonial part of the incident. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +For months thereafter, the retainers and the domestics lived in ceaseless fear +of ghostly visitation. None of them doubted that the promised vengeance would +come; and their constant terror caused them to hear and to see much that did +not exist. They became afraid of the sound of the wind in the +bamboos,—afraid even of the stirring of shadows in the garden. At last, +after taking counsel together, they decided to petition their master to have a +<i>Ségaki</i>-service (2) performed on behalf of the vengeful spirit. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite unnecessary,” the samurai said, when his chief retainer had +uttered the general wish... “I understand that the desire of a dying man +for revenge may be a cause for fear. But in this case there is nothing to +fear.” +</p> + +<p> +The retainer looked at his master beseechingly, but hesitated to ask the reason +of the alarming confidence. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, the reason is simple enough,” declared the samurai, divining +the unspoken doubt. “Only the very last intention of the fellow could +have been dangerous; and when I challenged him to give me the sign, I diverted +his mind from the desire of revenge. He died with the set purpose of biting the +stepping-stone; and that purpose he was able to accomplish, but nothing else. +All the rest he must have forgotten... So you need not feel any further anxiety +about the matter.” +</p> + +<p> +—And indeed the dead man gave no more trouble. Nothing at all happened. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>OF A MIRROR AND A BELL</h2> + +<p> +Eight centuries ago, the priests of Mugenyama, in the province of Tōtōmi (1), +wanted a big bell for their temple; and they asked the women of their parish to +help them by contributing old bronze mirrors for bell-metal. +</p> + +<p> +[Even to-day, in the courts of certain Japanese temples, you may see heaps of +old bronze mirrors contributed for such a purpose. The largest collection of +this kind that I ever saw was in the court of a temple of the Jōdo sect, at +Hakata, in Kyūshū: the mirrors had been given for the making of a bronze statue +of Amida, thirty-three feet high.] +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +There was at that time a young woman, a farmer’s wife, living at +Mugenyama, who presented her mirror to the temple, to be used for bell-metal. +But afterwards she much regretted her mirror. She remembered things that her +mother had told her about it; and she remembered that it had belonged, not only +to her mother but to her mother’s mother and grandmother; and she +remembered some happy smiles which it had reflected. Of course, if she could +have offered the priests a certain sum of money in place of the mirror, she +could have asked them to give back her heirloom. But she had not the money +necessary. Whenever she went to the temple, she saw her mirror lying in the +court-yard, behind a railing, among hundreds of other mirrors heaped there +together. She knew it by the <i>Shō-Chiku-Bai</i> in relief on the back of +it,—those three fortunate emblems of Pine, Bamboo, and Plumflower, which +delighted her baby-eyes when her mother first showed her the mirror. She longed +for some chance to steal the mirror, and hide it,—that she might +thereafter treasure it always. But the chance did not come; and she became very +unhappy,—felt as if she had foolishly given away a part of her life. She +thought about the old saying that a mirror is the Soul of a Woman—(a +saying mystically expressed, by the Chinese character for Soul, upon the backs +of many bronze mirrors),—and she feared that it was true in weirder ways +than she had before imagined. But she could not dare to speak of her pain to +anybody. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Now, when all the mirrors contributed for the Mugenyama bell had been sent to +the foundry, the bell-founders discovered that there was one mirror among them +which would not melt. Again and again they tried to melt it; but it resisted +all their efforts. Evidently the woman who had given that mirror to the temple +must have regretted the giving. She had not presented her offering with all her +heart; and therefore her selfish soul, remaining attached to the mirror, kept +it hard and cold in the midst of the furnace. +</p> + +<p> +Of course everybody heard of the matter, and everybody soon knew whose mirror +it was that would not melt. And because of this public exposure of her secret +fault, the poor woman became very much ashamed and very angry. And as she could +not bear the shame, she drowned herself, after having written a farewell letter +containing these words:— +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“When I am dead, it will not be difficult to melt the mirror and to cast +the bell. But, to the person who breaks that bell by ringing it, great wealth +will be given by the ghost of me.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +—You must know that the last wish or promise of anybody who dies in +anger, or performs suicide in anger, is generally supposed to possess a +supernatural force. After the dead woman’s mirror had been melted, and +the bell had been successfully cast, people remembered the words of that +letter. They felt sure that the spirit of the writer would give wealth to the +breaker of the bell; and, as soon as the bell had been suspended in the court +of the temple, they went in multitude to ring it. With all their might and main +they swung the ringing-beam; but the bell proved to be a good bell, and it +bravely withstood their assaults. Nevertheless, the people were not easily +discouraged. Day after day, at all hours, they continued to ring the bell +furiously,—caring nothing whatever for the protests of the priests. So +the ringing became an affliction; and the priests could not endure it; and they +got rid of the bell by rolling it down the hill into a swamp. The swamp was +deep, and swallowed it up,—and that was the end of the bell. Only its +legend remains; and in that legend it is called the <i>Mugen-Kané</i>, or Bell +of Mugen. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Now there are queer old Japanese beliefs in the magical efficacy of a certain +mental operation implied, though not described, by the verb <i>nazoraëru</i>. +The word itself cannot be adequately rendered by any English word; for it is +used in relation to many kinds of mimetic magic, as well as in relation to the +performance of many religious acts of faith. Common meanings of +<i>nazoraëru</i>, according to dictionaries, are “to imitate,” +“to compare,” “to liken;” but the esoteric meaning is +<i>to substitute, in imagination, one object or action for another, so as to +bring about some magical or miraculous result</i>. +</p> + +<p> +For example:—you cannot afford to build a Buddhist temple; but you can +easily lay a pebble before the image of the Buddha, with the same pious feeling +that would prompt you to build a temple if you were rich enough to build one. +The merit of so offering the pebble becomes equal, or almost equal, to the +merit of erecting a temple... You cannot read the six thousand seven hundred +and seventy-one volumes of the Buddhist texts; but you can make a revolving +library, containing them, turn round, by pushing it like a windlass. And if you +push with an earnest wish that you could read the six thousand seven hundred +and seventy-one volumes, you will acquire the same merit as the reading of them +would enable you to gain... So much will perhaps suffice to explain the +religious meanings of <i>nazoraëru</i>. +</p> + +<p> +The magical meanings could not all be explained without a great variety of +examples; but, for present purposes, the following will serve. If you should +make a little man of straw, for the same reason that Sister Helen made a little +man of wax,—and nail it, with nails not less than five inches long, to +some tree in a temple-grove at the Hour of the Ox (2),—and if the person, +imaginatively represented by that little straw man, should die thereafter in +atrocious agony,—that would illustrate one signification of +<i>nazoraëru</i>... Or, let us suppose that a robber has entered your house +during the night, and carried away your valuables. If you can discover the +footprints of that robber in your garden, and then promptly burn a very large +moxa on each of them, the soles of the feet of the robber will become inflamed, +and will allow him no rest until he returns, of his own accord, to put himself +at your mercy. That is another kind of mimetic magic expressed by the term +<i>nazoraëru</i>. And a third kind is illustrated by various legends of the +Mugen-Kané. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After the bell had been rolled into the swamp, there was, of course, no more +chance of ringing it in such wise as to break it. But persons who regretted +this loss of opportunity would strike and break objects imaginatively +substituted for the bell,—thus hoping to please the spirit of the owner +of the mirror that had made so much trouble. One of these persons was a woman +called Umégaë,—famed in Japanese legend because of her relation to +Kajiwara Kagesue, a warrior of the Heiké clan. While the pair were traveling +together, Kajiwara one day found himself in great straits for want of money; +and Umégaë, remembering the tradition of the Bell of Mugen, took a basin of +bronze, and, mentally representing it to be the bell, beat upon it until she +broke it,—crying out, at the same time, for three hundred pieces of gold. +A guest of the inn where the pair were stopping made inquiry as to the cause of +the banging and the crying, and, on learning the story of the trouble, actually +presented Umégaë with three hundred <i>ryō</i> (3) in gold. Afterwards a song +was made about Umégaë’s basin of bronze; and that song is sung by dancing +girls even to this day:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Umégaë no chōzubachi tataïté<br/> +O-kané ga déru naraba<br/> +Mina San mi-uké wo<br/> +Sōré tanomimasu +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[“<i>If, by striking upon the wash-basin of Umégaë, I could make +honorable money come to me, then would I negotiate for the freedom of all my +girl-comrades.</i>”] +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After this happening, the fame of the Mugen-Kané became great; and many people +followed the example of Umégaë,—thereby hoping to emulate her luck. Among +these folk was a dissolute farmer who lived near Mugenyama, on the bank of the +Ōïgawa. Having wasted his substance in riotous living, this farmer made for +himself, out of the mud in his garden, a clay-model of the Mugen-Kané; and he +beat the clay-bell, and broke it,—crying out the while for great wealth. +</p> + +<p> +Then, out of the ground before him, rose up the figure of a white-robed woman, +with long loose-flowing hair, holding a covered jar. And the woman said: +“I have come to answer your fervent prayer as it deserves to be answered. +Take, therefore, this jar.” So saying, she put the jar into his hands, +and disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +Into his house the happy man rushed, to tell his wife the good news. He set +down in front of her the covered jar,—which was heavy,—and they +opened it together. And they found that it was filled, up to the very brim, +with... +</p> + +<p> +But no!—I really cannot tell you with what it was filled. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>JIKININKI</h2> + +<p> +Once, when Musō Kokushi, a priest of the Zen sect, was journeying alone through +the province of Mino (1), he lost his way in a mountain-district where there +was nobody to direct him. For a long time he wandered about helplessly; and he +was beginning to despair of finding shelter for the night, when he perceived, +on the top of a hill lighted by the last rays of the sun, one of those little +hermitages, called <i>anjitsu</i>, which are built for solitary priests. It +seemed to be in ruinous condition; but he hastened to it eagerly, and found +that it was inhabited by an aged priest, from whom he begged the favor of a +night’s lodging. This the old man harshly refused; but he directed Musō +to a certain hamlet, in the valley adjoining where lodging and food could be +obtained. +</p> + +<p> +Musō found his way to the hamlet, which consisted of less than a dozen +farm-cottages; and he was kindly received at the dwelling of the headman. Forty +or fifty persons were assembled in the principal apartment, at the moment of +Musō’s arrival; but he was shown into a small separate room, where he was +promptly supplied with food and bedding. Being very tired, he lay down to rest +at an early hour; but a little before midnight he was roused from sleep by a +sound of loud weeping in the next apartment. Presently the sliding-screens were +gently pushed apart; and a young man, carrying a lighted lantern, entered the +room, respectfully saluted him, and said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Reverend Sir, it is my painful duty to tell you that I am now the +responsible head of this house. Yesterday I was only the eldest son. But when +you came here, tired as you were, we did not wish that you should feel +embarrassed in any way: therefore we did not tell you that father had died only +a few hours before. The people whom you saw in the next room are the +inhabitants of this village: they all assembled here to pay their last respects +to the dead; and now they are going to another village, about three miles +off,—for by our custom, no one of us may remain in this village during +the night after a death has taken place. We make the proper offerings and +prayers;—then we go away, leaving the corpse alone. Strange things always +happen in the house where a corpse has thus been left: so we think that it will +be better for you to come away with us. We can find you good lodging in the +other village. But perhaps, as you are a priest, you have no fear of demons or +evil spirits; and, if you are not afraid of being left alone with the body, you +will be very welcome to the use of this poor house. However, I must tell you +that nobody, except a priest, would dare to remain here tonight.” +</p> + +<p> +Musō made answer:— +</p> + +<p> +“For your kind intention and your generous hospitality, I am deeply +grateful. But I am sorry that you did not tell me of your father’s death +when I came;—for, though I was a little tired, I certainly was not so +tired that I should have found difficulty in doing my duty as a priest. Had you +told me, I could have performed the service before your departure. As it is, I +shall perform the service after you have gone away; and I shall stay by the +body until morning. I do not know what you mean by your words about the danger +of staying here alone; but I am not afraid of ghosts or demons: therefore +please to feel no anxiety on my account.” +</p> + +<p> +The young man appeared to be rejoiced by these assurances, and expressed his +gratitude in fitting words. Then the other members of the family, and the folk +assembled in the adjoining room, having been told of the priest’s kind +promises, came to thank him,—after which the master of the house +said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Now, reverend Sir, much as we regret to leave you alone, we must bid you +farewell. By the rule of our village, none of us can stay here after midnight. +We beg, kind Sir, that you will take every care of your honorable body, while +we are unable to attend upon you. And if you happen to hear or see anything +strange during our absence, please tell us of the matter when we return in the +morning.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +All then left the house, except the priest, who went to the room where the dead +body was lying. The usual offerings had been set before the corpse; and a small +Buddhist lamp—<i>tōmyō</i>—was burning. The priest recited the +service, and performed the funeral ceremonies,—after which he entered +into meditation. So meditating he remained through several silent hours; and +there was no sound in the deserted village. But, when the hush of the night was +at its deepest, there noiselessly entered a Shape, vague and vast; and in the +same moment Musō found himself without power to move or speak. He saw that +Shape lift the corpse, as with hands, devour it, more quickly than a cat +devours a rat,—beginning at the head, and eating everything: the hair and +the bones and even the shroud. And the monstrous Thing, having thus consumed +the body, turned to the offerings, and ate them also. Then it went away, as +mysteriously as it had come. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +When the villagers returned next morning, they found the priest awaiting them +at the door of the headman’s dwelling. All in turn saluted him; and when +they had entered, and looked about the room, no one expressed any surprise at +the disappearance of the dead body and the offerings. But the master of the +house said to Musō:— +</p> + +<p> +“Reverent Sir, you have probably seen unpleasant things during the night: +all of us were anxious about you. But now we are very happy to find you alive +and unharmed. Gladly we would have stayed with you, if it had been possible. +But the law of our village, as I told you last evening, obliges us to quit our +houses after a death has taken place, and to leave the corpse alone. Whenever +this law has been broken, heretofore, some great misfortune has followed. +Whenever it is obeyed, we find that the corpse and the offerings disappear +during our absence. Perhaps you have seen the cause.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Musō told of the dim and awful Shape that had entered the death-chamber to +devour the body and the offerings. No person seemed to be surprised by his +narration; and the master of the house observed:— +</p> + +<p> +“What you have told us, reverend Sir, agrees with what has been said +about this matter from ancient time.” +</p> + +<p> +Musō then inquired:— +</p> + +<p> +“Does not the priest on the hill sometimes perform the funeral service +for your dead?” +</p> + +<p> +“What priest?” the young man asked. +</p> + +<p> +“The priest who yesterday evening directed me to this village,” +answered Musō. “I called at his <i>anjitsu</i> on the hill yonder. He +refused me lodging, but told me the way here.” +</p> + +<p> +The listeners looked at each other, as in astonishment; and, after a moment of +silence, the master of the house said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Reverend Sir, there is no priest and there is no <i>anjitsu</i> on the +hill. For the time of many generations there has not been any resident-priest +in this neighborhood.” +</p> + +<p> +Musō said nothing more on the subject; for it was evident that his kind hosts +supposed him to have been deluded by some goblin. But after having bidden them +farewell, and obtained all necessary information as to his road, he determined +to look again for the hermitage on the hill, and so to ascertain whether he had +really been deceived. He found the <i>anjitsu</i> without any difficulty; and, +this time, its aged occupant invited him to enter. When he had done so, the +hermit humbly bowed down before him, exclaiming:—“Ah! I am +ashamed!—I am very much ashamed!—I am exceedingly ashamed!” +</p> + +<p> +“You need not be ashamed for having refused me shelter,” said Musō. +“You directed me to the village yonder, where I was very kindly treated; +and I thank you for that favor.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can give no man shelter,” the recluse made +answer;—“and it is not for the refusal that I am ashamed. I am +ashamed only that you should have seen me in my real shape,—for it was I +who devoured the corpse and the offerings last night before your eyes... Know, +reverend Sir, that I am a <i>jikininki</i>,<a href="#fn7.1" +name="fnref7.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>—an eater of human flesh. Have pity +upon me, and suffer me to confess the secret fault by which I became reduced to +this condition. +</p> + +<p> +“A long, long time ago, I was a priest in this desolate region. There was +no other priest for many leagues around. So, in that time, the bodies of the +mountain-folk who died used to be brought here,—sometimes from great +distances,—in order that I might repeat over them the holy service. But I +repeated the service and performed the rites only as a matter of +business;—I thought only of the food and the clothes that my sacred +profession enabled me to gain. And because of this selfish impiety I was +reborn, immediately after my death, into the state of a <i>jikininki</i>. Since +then I have been obliged to feed upon the corpses of the people who die in this +district: every one of them I must devour in the way that you saw last night... +Now, reverend Sir, let me beseech you to perform a Ségaki-service<a href="#fn7.2" name="fnref7.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +for me: help me by your prayers, I entreat you, so that I may be soon able to +escape from this horrible state of existence”... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +No sooner had the hermit uttered this petition than he disappeared; and the +hermitage also disappeared at the same instant. And Musō Kokushi found himself +kneeling alone in the high grass, beside an ancient and moss-grown tomb of the +form called <i>go-rin-ishi</i>,<a href="#fn7.3" name="fnref7.3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> +which seemed to be the tomb of a priest. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>MUJINA</h2> + +<p> +On the Akasaka Road, in Tōkyō, there is a slope called +Kii-no-kuni-zaka,—which means the Slope of the Province of Kii. I do not +know why it is called the Slope of the Province of Kii. On one side of this +slope you see an ancient moat, deep and very wide, with high green banks rising +up to some place of gardens;—and on the other side of the road extend the +long and lofty walls of an imperial palace. Before the era of street-lamps and +jinrikishas, this neighborhood was very lonesome after dark; and belated +pedestrians would go miles out of their way rather than mount the +Kii-no-kuni-zaka, alone, after sunset. +</p> + +<p> +All because of a Mujina that used to walk there. (1) +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +The last man who saw the Mujina was an old merchant of the Kyōbashi quarter, +who died about thirty years ago. This is the story, as he told it:— +</p> + +<p> +One night, at a late hour, he was hurrying up the Kii-no-kuni-zaka, when he +perceived a woman crouching by the moat, all alone, and weeping bitterly. +Fearing that she intended to drown herself, he stopped to offer her any +assistance or consolation in his power. She appeared to be a slight and +graceful person, handsomely dressed; and her hair was arranged like that of a +young girl of good family. “O-jochū,”<a href="#fn8.1" name="fnref8.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +he exclaimed, approaching her,—“O-jochū, do not cry like that!... +Tell me what the trouble is; and if there be any way to help you, I shall be +glad to help you.” (He really meant what he said; for he was a very kind +man.) But she continued to weep,—hiding her face from him with one of her +long sleeves. “O-jochū,” he said again, as gently as he +could,—“please, please listen to me!... This is no place for a +young lady at night! Do not cry, I implore you!—only tell me how I may be +of some help to you!” Slowly she rose up, but turned her back to him, and +continued to moan and sob behind her sleeve. He laid his hand lightly upon her +shoulder, and pleaded:—“O-jochū!—O-jochū!—O-jochū!... +Listen to me, just for one little moment!... O-jochū!—O-jochū!”... +Then that O-jochū turned around, and dropped her sleeve, and stroked her face +with her hand;—and the man saw that she had no eyes or nose or +mouth,—and he screamed and ran away. (2) +</p> + +<p> +Up Kii-no-kuni-zaka he ran and ran; and all was black and empty before him. On +and on he ran, never daring to look back; and at last he saw a lantern, so far +away that it looked like the gleam of a firefly; and he made for it. It proved +to be only the lantern of an itinerant <i>soba</i>-seller,<a href="#fn8.2" name="fnref8.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +who had set down his stand by the road-side; but any light and any human +companionship was good after that experience; and he flung himself down at the +feet of the <i>soba</i>-seller, crying out, +“Ah!—aa!!—<i>aa!!!</i>”... +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Koré! koré!</i>” (3) roughly exclaimed the soba-man. +“Here! what is the matter with you? Anybody hurt you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No—nobody hurt me,” panted the other,—“only... +<i>Ah!—aa!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +“—Only scared you?” queried the peddler, unsympathetically. +“Robbers?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not robbers,—not robbers,” gasped the terrified man... +“I saw... I saw a woman—by the moat;—and she showed me... +<i>Ah!</i> I cannot tell you what she showed me!”... +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Hé!</i> (4) Was it anything like <small>THIS</small> that she showed +you?” cried the soba-man, stroking his own face—which therewith +became like unto an Egg... And, simultaneously, the light went out. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>ROKURO-KUBI</h2> + +<p> +Nearly five hundred years ago there was a samurai, named Isogai Héïdazaëmon +Takétsura, in the service of the Lord Kikuji, of Kyūshū. This Isogai had +inherited, from many warlike ancestors, a natural aptitude for military +exercises, and extraordinary strength. While yet a boy he had surpassed his +teachers in the art of swordsmanship, in archery, and in the use of the spear, +and had displayed all the capacities of a daring and skillful soldier. +Afterwards, in the time of the Eikyō<a href="#fn9.1" name="fnref9.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +war, he so distinguished himself that high honors were bestowed upon him. But +when the house of Kikuji came to ruin, Isogai found himself without a master. +He might then easily have obtained service under another daimyō; but as he had +never sought distinction for his own sake alone, and as his heart remained true +to his former lord, he preferred to give up the world. So he cut off his hair, +and became a traveling priest,—taking the Buddhist name of Kwairyō. +</p> + +<p> +But always, under the <i>koromo</i><a href="#fn9.2" name="fnref9.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +of the priest, Kwairyō kept warm within him the heart of the samurai. As in +other years he had laughed at peril, so now also he scorned danger; and in all +weathers and all seasons he journeyed to preach the good Law in places where no +other priest would have dared to go. For that age was an age of violence and +disorder; and upon the highways there was no security for the solitary +traveler, even if he happened to be a priest. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +In the course of his first long journey, Kwairyō had occasion to visit the +province of Kai. (1) One evening, as he was traveling through the mountains of +that province, darkness overcame him in a very lonesome district, leagues away +from any village. So he resigned himself to pass the night under the stars; and +having found a suitable grassy spot, by the roadside, he lay down there, and +prepared to sleep. He had always welcomed discomfort; and even a bare rock was +for him a good bed, when nothing better could be found, and the root of a +pine-tree an excellent pillow. His body was iron; and he never troubled himself +about dews or rain or frost or snow. +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely had he lain down when a man came along the road, carrying an axe and a +great bundle of chopped wood. This woodcutter halted on seeing Kwairyō lying +down, and, after a moment of silent observation, said to him in a tone of great +surprise:— +</p> + +<p> +“What kind of a man can you be, good Sir, that you dare to lie down alone +in such a place as this?... There are haunters about here,—many of them. +Are you not afraid of Hairy Things?” +</p> + +<p> +“My friend,” cheerfully answered Kwairyō, “I am only a +wandering priest,—a ‘Cloud-and-Water-Guest,’ as folks call +it: <i>Unsui-no-ryokaku</i>. (2) And I am not in the least afraid of Hairy +Things,—if you mean goblin-foxes, or goblin-badgers, or any creatures of +that kind. As for lonesome places, I like them: they are suitable for +meditation. I am accustomed to sleeping in the open air: and I have learned +never to be anxious about my life.” +</p> + +<p> +“You must be indeed a brave man, Sir Priest,” the peasant +responded, “to lie down here! This place has a bad name,—a very bad +name. But, as the proverb has it, <i>Kunshi ayayuki ni chikayorazu</i> +[‘The superior man does not needlessly expose himself to peril’]; +and I must assure you, Sir, that it is very dangerous to sleep here. Therefore, +although my house is only a wretched thatched hut, let me beg of you to come +home with me at once. In the way of food, I have nothing to offer you; but +there is a roof at least, and you can sleep under it without risk.” +</p> + +<p> +He spoke earnestly; and Kwairyō, liking the kindly tone of the man, accepted +this modest offer. The woodcutter guided him along a narrow path, leading up +from the main road through mountain-forest. It was a rough and dangerous +path,—sometimes skirting precipices,—sometimes offering nothing but +a network of slippery roots for the foot to rest upon,—sometimes winding +over or between masses of jagged rock. But at last Kwairyō found himself upon a +cleared space at the top of a hill, with a full moon shining overhead; and he +saw before him a small thatched cottage, cheerfully lighted from within. The +woodcutter led him to a shed at the back of the house, whither water had been +conducted, through bamboo-pipes, from some neighboring stream; and the two men +washed their feet. Beyond the shed was a vegetable garden, and a grove of +cedars and bamboos; and beyond the trees appeared the glimmer of a cascade, +pouring from some loftier height, and swaying in the moonshine like a long +white robe. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +As Kwairyō entered the cottage with his guide, he perceived four +persons—men and women—warming their hands at a little fire kindled +in the <i>ro</i><a href="#fn9.3" name="fnref9.3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> of the +principle apartment. They bowed low to the priest, and greeted him in the most +respectful manner. Kwairyō wondered that persons so poor, and dwelling in such +a solitude, should be aware of the polite forms of greeting. “These are +good people,” he thought to himself; “and they must have been +taught by some one well acquainted with the rules of propriety.” Then +turning to his host,—the <i>aruji</i>, or house-master, as the others +called him,—Kwairyō said:— +</p> + +<p> +“From the kindness of your speech, and from the very polite welcome given +me by your household, I imagine that you have not always been a woodcutter. +Perhaps you formerly belonged to one of the upper classes?” +</p> + +<p> +Smiling, the woodcutter answered:— +</p> + +<p> +“Sir, you are not mistaken. Though now living as you find me, I was once +a person of some distinction. My story is the story of a ruined +life—ruined by my own fault. I used to be in the service of a daimyō; and +my rank in that service was not inconsiderable. But I loved women and wine too +well; and under the influence of passion I acted wickedly. My selfishness +brought about the ruin of our house, and caused the death of many persons. +Retribution followed me; and I long remained a fugitive in the land. Now I +often pray that I may be able to make some atonement for the evil which I did, +and to reestablish the ancestral home. But I fear that I shall never find any +way of so doing. Nevertheless, I try to overcome the karma of my errors by +sincere repentance, and by helping, as far as I can, those who are +unfortunate.” +</p> + +<p> +Kwairyō was pleased by this announcement of good resolve; and he said to the +<i>aruji:</i>— +</p> + +<p> +“My friend, I have had occasion to observe that men, prone to folly in +their youth, may in after years become very earnest in right living. In the +holy sûtras it is written that those strongest in wrong-doing can become, by +power of good resolve, the strongest in right-doing. I do not doubt that you +have a good heart; and I hope that better fortune will come to you. To-night I +shall recite the sûtras for your sake, and pray that you may obtain the force +to overcome the karma of any past errors.” +</p> + +<p> +With these assurances, Kwairyō bade the <i>aruji</i> good-night; and his host +showed him to a very small side-room, where a bed had been made ready. Then all +went to sleep except the priest, who began to read the sûtras by the light of a +paper lantern. Until a late hour he continued to read and pray: then he opened +a little window in his little sleeping-room, to take a last look at the +landscape before lying down. The night was beautiful: there was no cloud in the +sky: there was no wind; and the strong moonlight threw down sharp black shadows +of foliage, and glittered on the dews of the garden. Shrillings of crickets and +bell-insects (3) made a musical tumult; and the sound of the neighboring +cascade deepened with the night. Kwairyō felt thirsty as he listened to the +noise of the water; and, remembering the bamboo aqueduct at the rear of the +house, he thought that he could go there and get a drink without disturbing the +sleeping household. Very gently he pushed apart the sliding-screens that +separated his room from the main apartment; and he saw, by the light of the +lantern, five recumbent bodies—without heads! +</p> + +<p> +For one instant he stood bewildered,—imagining a crime. But in another +moment he perceived that there was no blood, and that the headless necks did +not look as if they had been cut. Then he thought to +himself:—“Either this is an illusion made by goblins, or I have +been lured into the dwelling of a Rokuro-Kubi... (4) In the book +<i>Sōshinki</i> (5) it is written that if one find the body of a Rokuro-Kubi +without its head, and remove the body to another place, the head will never be +able to join itself again to the neck. And the book further says that when the +head comes back and finds that its body has been moved, it will strike itself +upon the floor three times,—bounding like a ball,—and will pant as +in great fear, and presently die. Now, if these be Rokuro-Kubi, they mean me no +good;—so I shall be justified in following the instructions of the +book.”... +</p> + +<p> +He seized the body of the aruji by the feet, pulled it to the window, and +pushed it out. Then he went to the back-door, which he found barred; and he +surmised that the heads had made their exit through the smoke-hole in the roof, +which had been left open. Gently unbarring the door, he made his way to the +garden, and proceeded with all possible caution to the grove beyond it. He +heard voices talking in the grove; and he went in the direction of the +voices,—stealing from shadow to shadow, until he reached a good +hiding-place. Then, from behind a trunk, he caught sight of the +heads,—all five of them,—flitting about, and chatting as they +flitted. They were eating worms and insects which they found on the ground or +among the trees. Presently the head of the aruji stopped eating and +said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, that traveling priest who came to-night!—how fat all his body +is! When we shall have eaten him, our bellies will be well filled... I was +foolish to talk to him as I did;—it only set him to reciting the sûtras +on behalf of my soul! To go near him while he is reciting would be difficult; +and we cannot touch him so long as he is praying. But as it is now nearly +morning, perhaps he has gone to sleep... Some one of you go to the house and +see what the fellow is doing.” +</p> + +<p> +Another head—the head of a young woman—immediately rose up and +flitted to the house, lightly as a bat. After a few minutes it came back, and +cried out huskily, in a tone of great alarm:— +</p> + +<p> +“That traveling priest is not in the house;—he is gone! But that is +not the worst of the matter. He has taken the body of our aruji; and I do not +know where he has put it.” +</p> + +<p> +At this announcement the head of the aruji—distinctly visible in the +moonlight—assumed a frightful aspect: its eyes opened monstrously; its +hair stood up bristling; and its teeth gnashed. Then a cry burst from its lips; +and—weeping tears of rage—it exclaimed:— +</p> + +<p> +“Since my body has been moved, to rejoin it is not possible! Then I must +die!... And all through the work of that priest! Before I die I will get at +that priest!—I will tear him!—I will devour him!... <i>And there he +is</i>—behind that tree!—hiding behind that tree! See +him!—the fat coward!”... +</p> + +<p> +In the same moment the head of the aruji, followed by the other four heads, +sprang at Kwairyō. But the strong priest had already armed himself by plucking +up a young tree; and with that tree he struck the heads as they +came,—knocking them from him with tremendous blows. Four of them fled +away. But the head of the aruji, though battered again and again, desperately +continued to bound at the priest, and at last caught him by the left sleeve of +his robe. Kwairyō, however, as quickly gripped the head by its topknot, and +repeatedly struck it. It did not release its hold; but it uttered a long moan, +and thereafter ceased to struggle. It was dead. But its teeth still held the +sleeve; and, for all his great strength, Kwairyō could not force open the jaws. +</p> + +<p> +With the head still hanging to his sleeve he went back to the house, and there +caught sight of the other four Rokuro-Kubi squatting together, with their +bruised and bleeding heads reunited to their bodies. But when they perceived +him at the back-door all screamed, “The priest! the +priest!”—and fled, through the other doorway, out into the woods. +</p> + +<p> +Eastward the sky was brightening; day was about to dawn; and Kwairyō knew that +the power of the goblins was limited to the hours of darkness. He looked at the +head clinging to his sleeve,—its face all fouled with blood and foam and +clay; and he laughed aloud as he thought to himself: “What a +<i>miyagé!</i><a href="#fn9.4" name="fnref9.4"><sup>[4]</sup></a>—the +head of a goblin!” After which he gathered together his few belongings, +and leisurely descended the mountain to continue his journey. +</p> + +<p> +Right on he journeyed, until he came to Suwa in Shinano; (6) and into the main +street of Suwa he solemnly strode, with the head dangling at his elbow. Then +woman fainted, and children screamed and ran away; and there was a great +crowding and clamoring until the <i>torité</i> (as the police in those days +were called) seized the priest, and took him to jail. For they supposed the +head to be the head of a murdered man who, in the moment of being killed, had +caught the murderer’s sleeve in his teeth. As for Kwairyō, he only smiled +and said nothing when they questioned him. So, after having passed a night in +prison, he was brought before the magistrates of the district. Then he was +ordered to explain how he, a priest, had been found with the head of a man +fastened to his sleeve, and why he had dared thus shamelessly to parade his +crime in the sight of people. +</p> + +<p> +Kwairyō laughed long and loudly at these questions; and then he said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Sirs, I did not fasten the head to my sleeve: it fastened itself +there—much against my will. And I have not committed any crime. For this +is not the head of a man; it is the head of a goblin;—and, if I caused +the death of the goblin, I did not do so by any shedding of blood, but simply +by taking the precautions necessary to assure my own safety.”... And he +proceeded to relate the whole of the adventure,—bursting into another +hearty laugh as he told of his encounter with the five heads. +</p> + +<p> +But the magistrates did not laugh. They judged him to be a hardened criminal, +and his story an insult to their intelligence. Therefore, without further +questioning, they decided to order his immediate execution,—all of them +except one, a very old man. This aged officer had made no remark during the +trial; but, after having heard the opinion of his colleagues, he rose up, and +said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Let us first examine the head carefully; for this, I think, has not yet +been done. If the priest has spoken truth, the head itself should bear witness +for him... Bring the head here!” +</p> + +<p> +So the head, still holding in its teeth the <i>koromo</i> that had been +stripped from Kwairyō’s shoulders, was put before the judges. The old man +turned it round and round, carefully examined it, and discovered, on the nape +of its neck, several strange red characters. He called the attention of his +colleagues to these, and also bade them observe that the edges of the neck +nowhere presented the appearance of having been cut by any weapon. On the +contrary, the line of leverance was smooth as the line at which a falling leaf +detaches itself from the stem... Then said the elder:— +</p> + +<p> +“I am quite sure that the priest told us nothing but the truth. This is +the head of a Rokuro-Kubi. In the book <i>Nan-hō-ï-butsu-shi</i> it is written +that certain red characters can always be found upon the nape of the neck of a +real Rokuro-Kubi. There are the characters: you can see for yourselves that +they have not been painted. Moreover, it is well known that such goblins have +been dwelling in the mountains of the province of Kai from very ancient time... +But you, Sir,” he exclaimed, turning to Kwairyō,—“what sort +of sturdy priest may you be? Certainly you have given proof of a courage that +few priests possess; and you have the air of a soldier rather than a priest. +Perhaps you once belonged to the samurai-class?” +</p> + +<p> +“You have guessed rightly, Sir,” Kwairyō responded. “Before +becoming a priest, I long followed the profession of arms; and in those days I +never feared man or devil. My name then was Isogai Héïdazaëmon Takétsura of +Kyūshū: there may be some among you who remember it.” +</p> + +<p> +At the mention of that name, a murmur of admiration filled the court-room; for +there were many present who remembered it. And Kwairyō immediately found +himself among friends instead of judges,—friends anxious to prove their +admiration by fraternal kindness. With honor they escorted him to the residence +of the daimyō, who welcomed him, and feasted him, and made him a handsome +present before allowing him to depart. When Kwairyō left Suwa, he was as happy +as any priest is permitted to be in this transitory world. As for the head, he +took it with him,—jocosely insisting that he intended it for a +<i>miyagé</i>. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +And now it only remains to tell what became of the head. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +A day or two after leaving Suwa, Kwairyō met with a robber, who stopped him in +a lonesome place, and bade him strip. Kwairyō at once removed his +<i>koromo</i>, and offered it to the robber, who then first perceived what was +hanging to the sleeve. Though brave, the highwayman was startled: he dropped +the garment, and sprang back. Then he cried out:—“You!—what +kind of a priest are you? Why, you are a worse man than I am! It is true that I +have killed people; but I never walked about with anybody’s head fastened +to my sleeve... Well, Sir priest, I suppose we are of the same calling; and I +must say that I admire you!... Now that head would be of use to me: I could +frighten people with it. Will you sell it? You can have my robe in exchange for +your <i>koromo;</i> and I will give you five <i>ryō</i> for the head.” +</p> + +<p> +Kwairyō answered:— +</p> + +<p> +“I shall let you have the head and the robe if you insist; but I must +tell you that this is not the head of a man. It is a goblin’s head. So, +if you buy it, and have any trouble in consequence, please to remember that you +were not deceived by me.” +</p> + +<p> +“What a nice priest you are!” exclaimed the robber. “You kill +men, and jest about it!... But I am really in earnest. Here is my robe; and +here is the money;—and let me have the head... What is the use of +joking?” +</p> + +<p> +“Take the thing,” said Kwairyō. “I was not joking. The only +joke—if there be any joke at all—is that you are fool enough to pay +good money for a goblin’s head.” And Kwairyō, loudly laughing, went +upon his way. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Thus the robber got the head and the <i>koromo;</i> and for some time he played +goblin-priest upon the highways. But, reaching the neighborhood of Suwa, he +there leaned the true story of the head; and he then became afraid that the +spirit of the Rokuro-Kubi might give him trouble. So he made up his mind to +take back the head to the place from which it had come, and to bury it with its +body. He found his way to the lonely cottage in the mountains of Kai; but +nobody was there, and he could not discover the body. Therefore he buried the +head by itself, in the grove behind the cottage; and he had a tombstone set up +over the grave; and he caused a Ségaki-service to be performed on behalf of the +spirit of the Rokuro-Kubi. And that tombstone—known as the Tombstone of +the Rokuro-Kubi—may be seen (at least so the Japanese story-teller +declares) even unto this day. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>A DEAD SECRET</h2> + +<p> +A long time ago, in the province of Tamba (1), there lived a rich merchant +named Inamuraya Gensuké. He had a daughter called O-Sono. As she was very +clever and pretty, he thought it would be a pity to let her grow up with only +such teaching as the country-teachers could give her: so he sent her, in care +of some trusty attendants, to Kyōto, that she might be trained in the polite +accomplishments taught to the ladies of the capital. After she had thus been +educated, she was married to a friend of her father’s family—a +merchant named Nagaraya;—and she lived happily with him for nearly four +years. They had one child,—a boy. But O-Sono fell ill and died, in the +fourth year after her marriage. +</p> + +<p> +On the night after the funeral of O-Sono, her little son said that his mamma +had come back, and was in the room upstairs. She had smiled at him, but would +not talk to him: so he became afraid, and ran away. Then some of the family +went upstairs to the room which had been O-Sono’s; and they were startled +to see, by the light of a small lamp which had been kindled before a shrine in +that room, the figure of the dead mother. She appeared as if standing in front +of a <i>tansu</i>, or chest of drawers, that still contained her ornaments and +her wearing-apparel. Her head and shoulders could be very distinctly seen; but +from the waist downwards the figure thinned into invisibility;—it was +like an imperfect reflection of her, and transparent as a shadow on water. +</p> + +<p> +Then the folk were afraid, and left the room. Below they consulted together; +and the mother of O-Sono’s husband said: “A woman is fond of her +small things; and O-Sono was much attached to her belongings. Perhaps she has +come back to look at them. Many dead persons will do that,—unless the +things be given to the parish-temple. If we present O-Sono’s robes and +girdles to the temple, her spirit will probably find rest.” +</p> + +<p> +It was agreed that this should be done as soon as possible. So on the following +morning the drawers were emptied; and all of O-Sono’s ornaments and +dresses were taken to the temple. But she came back the next night, and looked +at the <i>tansu</i> as before. And she came back also on the night following, +and the night after that, and every night;—and the house became a house +of fear. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +The mother of O-Sono’s husband then went to the parish-temple, and told +the chief priest all that had happened, and asked for ghostly counsel. The +temple was a Zen temple; and the head-priest was a learned old man, known as +Daigen Oshō. He said: “There must be something about which she is +anxious, in or near that <i>tansu</i>.”—“But we emptied all +the drawers,” replied the woman;—“there is nothing in the +<i>tansu</i>.”—“Well,” said Daigen Oshō, +“to-night I shall go to your house, and keep watch in that room, and see +what can be done. You must give orders that no person shall enter the room +while I am watching, unless I call.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After sundown, Daigen Oshō went to the house, and found the room made ready for +him. He remained there alone, reading the sûtras; and nothing appeared until +after the Hour of the Rat.<a href="#fn10.1" name="fnref10.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +Then the figure of O-Sono suddenly outlined itself in front of the +<i>tansu</i>. Her face had a wistful look; and she kept her eyes fixed upon the +<i>tansu</i>. +</p> + +<p> +The priest uttered the holy formula prescribed in such cases, and then, +addressing the figure by the <i>kaimyō</i><a href="#fn10.2" name="fnref10.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +of O-Sono, said:—“I have come here in order to help you. Perhaps in +that <i>tansu</i> there is something about which you have reason to feel +anxious. Shall I try to find it for you?” The shadow appeared to give +assent by a slight motion of the head; and the priest, rising, opened the top +drawer. It was empty. Successively he opened the second, the third, and the +fourth drawer;—he searched carefully behind them and beneath +them;—he carefully examined the interior of the chest. He found nothing. +But the figure remained gazing as wistfully as before. “What can she +want?” thought the priest. Suddenly it occurred to him that there might +be something hidden under the paper with which the drawers were lined. He +removed the lining of the first drawer:—nothing! He removed the lining of +the second and third drawers:—still nothing. But under the lining of the +lowermost drawer he found—a letter. “Is this the thing about which +you have been troubled?” he asked. The shadow of the woman turned toward +him,—her faint gaze fixed upon the letter. “Shall I burn it for +you?” he asked. She bowed before him. “It shall be burned in the +temple this very morning,” he promised;—“and no one shall +read it, except myself.” The figure smiled and vanished. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Dawn was breaking as the priest descended the stairs, to find the family +waiting anxiously below. “Do not be anxious,” he said to them: +“She will not appear again.” And she never did. +</p> + +<p> +The letter was burned. It was a love-letter written to O-Sono in the time of +her studies at Kyōto. But the priest alone knew what was in it; and the secret +died with him. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>YUKI-ONNA</h2> + +<p> +In a village of Musashi Province (1), there lived two woodcutters: Mosaku and +Minokichi. At the time of which I am speaking, Mosaku was an old man; and +Minokichi, his apprentice, was a lad of eighteen years. Every day they went +together to a forest situated about five miles from their village. On the way +to that forest there is a wide river to cross; and there is a ferry-boat. +Several times a bridge was built where the ferry is; but the bridge was each +time carried away by a flood. No common bridge can resist the current there +when the river rises. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Mosaku and Minokichi were on their way home, one very cold evening, when a +great snowstorm overtook them. They reached the ferry; and they found that the +boatman had gone away, leaving his boat on the other side of the river. It was +no day for swimming; and the woodcutters took shelter in the ferryman’s +hut,—thinking themselves lucky to find any shelter at all. There was no +brazier in the hut, nor any place in which to make a fire: it was only a +two-mat<a href="#fn11.1" name="fnref11.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> hut, with a single +door, but no window. Mosaku and Minokichi fastened the door, and lay down to +rest, with their straw rain-coats over them. At first they did not feel very +cold; and they thought that the storm would soon be over. +</p> + +<p> +The old man almost immediately fell asleep; but the boy, Minokichi, lay awake a +long time, listening to the awful wind, and the continual slashing of the snow +against the door. The river was roaring; and the hut swayed and creaked like a +junk at sea. It was a terrible storm; and the air was every moment becoming +colder; and Minokichi shivered under his rain-coat. But at last, in spite of +the cold, he too fell asleep. +</p> + +<p> +He was awakened by a showering of snow in his face. The door of the hut had +been forced open; and, by the snow-light (<i>yuki-akari</i>), he saw a woman in +the room,—a woman all in white. She was bending above Mosaku, and blowing +her breath upon him;—and her breath was like a bright white smoke. Almost +in the same moment she turned to Minokichi, and stooped over him. He tried to +cry out, but found that he could not utter any sound. The white woman bent down +over him, lower and lower, until her face almost touched him; and he saw that +she was very beautiful,—though her eyes made him afraid. For a little +time she continued to look at him;—then she smiled, and she +whispered:—“I intended to treat you like the other man. But I +cannot help feeling some pity for you,—because you are so young... You +are a pretty boy, Minokichi; and I will not hurt you now. But, if you ever tell +anybody—even your own mother—about what you have seen this night, I +shall know it; and then I will kill you... Remember what I say!” +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus01"></a> +<img src="images/img01.jpg" width="515" height="600" alt="[Illustration]" /> +<p class="caption"><small>BLOWING HER BREATH UPON HIM</small></p> +</div> + +<p> +With these words, she turned from him, and passed through the doorway. Then he +found himself able to move; and he sprang up, and looked out. But the woman was +nowhere to be seen; and the snow was driving furiously into the hut. Minokichi +closed the door, and secured it by fixing several billets of wood against it. +He wondered if the wind had blown it open;—he thought that he might have +been only dreaming, and might have mistaken the gleam of the snow-light in the +doorway for the figure of a white woman: but he could not be sure. He called to +Mosaku, and was frightened because the old man did not answer. He put out his +hand in the dark, and touched Mosaku’s face, and found that it was ice! +Mosaku was stark and dead... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +By dawn the storm was over; and when the ferryman returned to his station, a +little after sunrise, he found Minokichi lying senseless beside the frozen body +of Mosaku. Minokichi was promptly cared for, and soon came to himself; but he +remained a long time ill from the effects of the cold of that terrible night. +He had been greatly frightened also by the old man’s death; but he said +nothing about the vision of the woman in white. As soon as he got well again, +he returned to his calling,—going alone every morning to the forest, and +coming back at nightfall with his bundles of wood, which his mother helped him +to sell. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +One evening, in the winter of the following year, as he was on his way home, he +overtook a girl who happened to be traveling by the same road. She was a tall, +slim girl, very good-looking; and she answered Minokichi’s greeting in a +voice as pleasant to the ear as the voice of a song-bird. Then he walked beside +her; and they began to talk. The girl said that her name was O-Yuki;<a href="#fn11.2" name="fnref11.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +that she had lately lost both of her parents; and that she was going to Yedo +(2), where she happened to have some poor relations, who might help her to find +a situation as a servant. Minokichi soon felt charmed by this strange girl; and +the more that he looked at her, the handsomer she appeared to be. He asked her +whether she was yet betrothed; and she answered, laughingly, that she was free. +Then, in her turn, she asked Minokichi whether he was married, or pledged to +marry; and he told her that, although he had only a widowed mother to support, +the question of an “honorable daughter-in-law” had not yet been +considered, as he was very young... After these confidences, they walked on for +a long while without speaking; but, as the proverb declares, <i>Ki ga aréba, mé +mo kuchi hodo ni mono wo iu:</i> “When the wish is there, the eyes can +say as much as the mouth.” By the time they reached the village, they had +become very much pleased with each other; and then Minokichi asked O-Yuki to +rest awhile at his house. After some shy hesitation, she went there with him; +and his mother made her welcome, and prepared a warm meal for her. O-Yuki +behaved so nicely that Minokichi’s mother took a sudden fancy to her, and +persuaded her to delay her journey to Yedo. And the natural end of the matter +was that Yuki never went to Yedo at all. She remained in the house, as an +“honorable daughter-in-law.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +O-Yuki proved a very good daughter-in-law. When Minokichi’s mother came +to die,—some five years later,—her last words were words of +affection and praise for the wife of her son. And O-Yuki bore Minokichi ten +children, boys and girls,—handsome children all of them, and very fair of +skin. +</p> + +<p> +The country-folk thought O-Yuki a wonderful person, by nature different from +themselves. Most of the peasant-women age early; but O-Yuki, even after having +become the mother of ten children, looked as young and fresh as on the day when +she had first come to the village. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +One night, after the children had gone to sleep, O-Yuki was sewing by the light +of a paper lamp; and Minokichi, watching her, said:— +</p> + +<p> +“To see you sewing there, with the light on your face, makes me think of +a strange thing that happened when I was a lad of eighteen. I then saw somebody +as beautiful and white as you are now—indeed, she was very like +you.”... +</p> + +<p> +Without lifting her eyes from her work, O-Yuki responded:— +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me about her... Where did you see her?” +</p> + +<p> +Then Minokichi told her about the terrible night in the ferryman’s +hut,—and about the White Woman that had stooped above him, smiling and +whispering,—and about the silent death of old Mosaku. And he said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Asleep or awake, that was the only time that I saw a being as beautiful +as you. Of course, she was not a human being; and I was afraid of +her,—very much afraid,—but she was so white!... Indeed, I have +never been sure whether it was a dream that I saw, or the Woman of the +Snow.”... +</p> + +<p> +O-Yuki flung down her sewing, and arose, and bowed above Minokichi where he +sat, and shrieked into his face:— +</p> + +<p> +“It was I—I—I! Yuki it was! And I told you then that I would +kill you if you ever said one word about it!... But for those children asleep +there, I would kill you this moment! And now you had better take very, very +good care of them; for if ever they have reason to complain of you, I will +treat you as you deserve!”... +</p> + +<p> +Even as she screamed, her voice became thin, like a crying of wind;—then +she melted into a bright white mist that spired to the roof-beams, and +shuddered away through the smoke-hole.... Never again was she seen. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>THE STORY OF AOYAGI</h2> + +<p> +In the era of Bummei [1469-1486] there was a young samurai called Tomotada in +the service of Hatakéyama Yoshimuné, the Lord of Noto (1). Tomotada was a +native of Echizen (2); but at an early age he had been taken, as page, into the +palace of the daimyō of Noto, and had been educated, under the supervision of +that prince, for the profession of arms. As he grew up, he proved himself both +a good scholar and a good soldier, and continued to enjoy the favor of his +prince. Being gifted with an amiable character, a winning address, and a very +handsome person, he was admired and much liked by his samurai-comrades. +</p> + +<p> +When Tomotada was about twenty years old, he was sent upon a private mission to +Hosokawa Masamoto, the great daimyō of Kyōto, a kinsman of Hatakéyama +Yoshimuné. Having been ordered to journey through Echizen, the youth requested +and obtained permission to pay a visit, on the way, to his widowed mother. +</p> + +<p> +It was the coldest period of the year when he started; and, though mounted upon +a powerful horse, he found himself obliged to proceed slowly. The road which he +followed passed through a mountain-district where the settlements were few and +far between; and on the second day of his journey, after a weary ride of hours, +he was dismayed to find that he could not reach his intended halting-place +until late in the night. He had reason to be anxious;—for a heavy +snowstorm came on, with an intensely cold wind; and the horse showed signs of +exhaustion. But in that trying moment, Tomotada unexpectedly perceived the +thatched room of a cottage on the summit of a near hill, where willow-trees +were growing. With difficulty he urged his tired animal to the dwelling; and he +loudly knocked upon the storm-doors, which had been closed against the wind. An +old woman opened them, and cried out compassionately at the sight of the +handsome stranger: “Ah, how pitiful!—a young gentleman traveling +alone in such weather!... Deign, young master, to enter.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Tomotada dismounted, and after leading his horse to a shed in the rear, entered +the cottage, where he saw an old man and a girl warming themselves by a fire of +bamboo splints. They respectfully invited him to approach the fire; and the old +folks then proceeded to warm some rice-wine, and to prepare food for the +traveler, whom they ventured to question in regard to his journey. Meanwhile +the young girl disappeared behind a screen. Tomotada had observed, with +astonishment, that she was extremely beautiful,—though her attire was of +the most wretched kind, and her long, loose hair in disorder. He wondered that +so handsome a girl should be living in such a miserable and lonesome place. +</p> + +<p> +The old man said to him:— +</p> + +<p> +“Honored Sir, the next village is far; and the snow is falling thickly. +The wind is piercing; and the road is very bad. Therefore, to proceed further +this night would probably be dangerous. Although this hovel is unworthy of your +presence, and although we have not any comfort to offer, perhaps it were safer +to remain to-night under this miserable roof... We would take good care of your +horse.” +</p> + +<p> +Tomotada accepted this humble proposal,—secretly glad of the chance thus +afforded him to see more of the young girl. Presently a coarse but ample meal +was set before him; and the girl came from behind the screen, to serve the +wine. She was now reclad, in a rough but cleanly robe of homespun; and her +long, loose hair had been neatly combed and smoothed. As she bent forward to +fill his cup, Tomotada was amazed to perceive that she was incomparably more +beautiful than any woman whom he had ever before seen; and there was a grace +about her every motion that astonished him. But the elders began to apologize +for her, saying: “Sir, our daughter, Aoyagi,<a href="#fn12.1" name="fnref12.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +has been brought up here in the mountains, almost alone; and she knows nothing +of gentle service. We pray that you will pardon her stupidity and her +ignorance.” Tomotada protested that he deemed himself lucky to be waited +upon by so comely a maiden. He could not turn his eyes away from +her—though he saw that his admiring gaze made her blush;—and he +left the wine and food untasted before him. The mother said: “Kind Sir, +we very much hope that you will try to eat and to drink a little,—though +our peasant-fare is of the worst,—as you must have been chilled by that +piercing wind.” Then, to please the old folks, Tomotada ate and drank as +he could; but the charm of the blushing girl still grew upon him. He talked +with her, and found that her speech was sweet as her face. Brought up in the +mountains as she might have been;—but, in that case, her parents must at +some time been persons of high degree; for she spoke and moved like a damsel of +rank. Suddenly he addressed her with a poem—which was also a +question—inspired by the delight in his heart:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + “Tadzunétsuru,<br/> +Hana ka toté koso,<br/> + Hi wo kurasé,<br/> +Akénu ni otoru<br/> +Akané sasuran?” +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[“<i>Being on my way to pay a visit, I found that which I took to be a +flower: therefore here I spend the day... Why, in the time before dawn, the +dawn-blush tint should glow—that, indeed, I know not.</i>”]<a href="#fn12.2" name="fnref12.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +Without a moment’s hesitation, she answered him in these verses:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + “Izuru hi no<br/> +Honoméku iro wo<br/> + Waga sodé ni<br/> +Tsutsumaba asu mo<br/> +Kimiya tomaran.” +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[“<i>If with my sleeve I hid the faint fair color of the dawning +sun,—then, perhaps, in the morning my lord will remain.</i>”]<a href="#fn12.3" name="fnref12.3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +Then Tomotada knew that she accepted his admiration; and he was scarcely less +surprised by the art with which she had uttered her feelings in verse, than +delighted by the assurance which the verses conveyed. He was now certain that +in all this world he could not hope to meet, much less to win, a girl more +beautiful and witty than this rustic maid before him; and a voice in his heart +seemed to cry out urgently, “Take the luck that the gods have put in your +way!” In short he was bewitched—bewitched to such a degree that, +without further preliminary, he asked the old people to give him their daughter +in marriage,—telling them, at the same time, his name and lineage, and +his rank in the train of the Lord of Noto. +</p> + +<p> +They bowed down before him, with many exclamations of grateful astonishment. +But, after some moments of apparent hesitation, the father replied:— +</p> + +<p> +“Honored master, you are a person of high position, and likely to rise to +still higher things. Too great is the favor that you deign to offer +us;—indeed, the depth of our gratitude therefor is not to be spoken or +measured. But this girl of ours, being a stupid country-girl of vulgar birth, +with no training or teaching of any sort, it would be improper to let her +become the wife of a noble samurai. Even to speak of such a matter is not +right... But, since you find the girl to your liking, and have condescended to +pardon her peasant-manners and to overlook her great rudeness, we do gladly +present her to you, for an humble handmaid. Deign, therefore, to act hereafter +in her regard according to your august pleasure.” +</p> + +<p> +Ere morning the storm had passed; and day broke through a cloudless east. Even +if the sleeve of Aoyagi hid from her lover’s eyes the rose-blush of that +dawn, he could no longer tarry. But neither could he resign himself to part +with the girl; and, when everything had been prepared for his journey, he thus +addressed her parents:— +</p> + +<p> +“Though it may seem thankless to ask for more than I have already +received, I must again beg you to give me your daughter for wife. It would be +difficult for me to separate from her now; and as she is willing to accompany +me, if you permit, I can take her with me as she is. If you will give her to +me, I shall ever cherish you as parents... And, in the meantime, please to +accept this poor acknowledgment of your kindest hospitality.” +</p> + +<p> +So saying, he placed before his humble host a purse of gold <i>ryō</i>. But the +old man, after many prostrations, gently pushed back the gift, and said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Kind master, the gold would be of no use to us; and you will probably +have need of it during your long, cold journey. Here we buy nothing; and we +could not spend so much money upon ourselves, even if we wished... As for the +girl, we have already bestowed her as a free gift;—she belongs to you: +therefore it is not necessary to ask our leave to take her away. Already she +has told us that she hopes to accompany you, and to remain your servant for as +long as you may be willing to endure her presence. We are only too happy to +know that you deign to accept her; and we pray that you will not trouble +yourself on our account. In this place we could not provide her with proper +clothing,—much less with a dowry. Moreover, being old, we should in any +event have to separate from her before long. Therefore it is very fortunate +that you should be willing to take her with you now.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +It was in vain that Tomotada tried to persuade the old people to accept a +present: he found that they cared nothing for money. But he saw that they were +really anxious to trust their daughter’s fate to his hands; and he +therefore decided to take her with him. So he placed her upon his horse, and +bade the old folks farewell for the time being, with many sincere expressions +of gratitude. +</p> + +<p> +“Honored Sir,” the father made answer, “it is we, and not +you, who have reason for gratitude. We are sure that you will be kind to our +girl; and we have no fears for her sake.”... +</p> + +<p> +[<i>Here, in the Japanese original, there is a queer break in the natural +course of the narration, which therefrom remains curiously inconsistent. +Nothing further is said about the mother of Tomotada, or about the parents of +Aoyagi, or about the daimyō of Noto. Evidently the writer wearied of his work +at this point, and hurried the story, very carelessly, to its startling end. I +am not able to supply his omissions, or to repair his faults of construction; +but I must venture to put in a few explanatory details, without which the rest +of the tale would not hold together... It appears that Tomotada rashly took +Aoyagi with him to Kyōto, and so got into trouble; but we are not informed as +to where the couple lived afterwards.</i>] +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +...Now a samurai was not allowed to marry without the consent of his lord; and +Tomotada could not expect to obtain this sanction before his mission had been +accomplished. He had reason, under such circumstances, to fear that the beauty +of Aoyagi might attract dangerous attention, and that means might be devised of +taking her away from him. In Kyōto he therefore tried to keep her hidden from +curious eyes. But a retainer of Lord Hosokawa one day caught sight of Aoyagi, +discovered her relation to Tomotada, and reported the matter to the daimyō. +Thereupon the daimyō—a young prince, and fond of pretty faces—gave +orders that the girl should be brought to the place; and she was taken thither +at once, without ceremony. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Tomotada sorrowed unspeakably; but he knew himself powerless. He was only an +humble messenger in the service of a far-off daimyō; and for the time being he +was at the mercy of a much more powerful daimyō, whose wishes were not to be +questioned. Moreover Tomotada knew that he had acted foolishly,—that he +had brought about his own misfortune, by entering into a clandestine relation +which the code of the military class condemned. There was now but one hope for +him,—a desperate hope: that Aoyagi might be able and willing to escape +and to flee with him. After long reflection, he resolved to try to send her a +letter. The attempt would be dangerous, of course: any writing sent to her +might find its way to the hands of the daimyō; and to send a love-letter to any +inmate of the place was an unpardonable offense. But he resolved to dare the +risk; and, in the form of a Chinese poem, he composed a letter which he +endeavored to have conveyed to her. The poem was written with only twenty-eight +characters. But with those twenty-eight characters he was about to express all +the depth of his passion, and to suggest all the pain of his +loss:—<a href="#fn12.4" name="fnref12.4"><sup>[4]</sup></a><br/> +<br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Kōshi ō-son gojin wo ou;<br/> +Ryokuju namida wo tarété rakin wo hitataru;<br/> +Komon hitotabi irité fukaki koto umi no gotoshi;<br/> +Koré yori shorō koré rojin +</p> + +<p> +[<i>Closely, closely the youthful prince now follows after the gem-bright +maid;—<br/> +The tears of the fair one, falling, have moistened all her robes.<br/> +But the august lord, having once become enamored of her—the depth of his +longing is like the depth of the sea.<br/> +Therefore it is only I that am left forlorn,—only I that am left to +wander along.</i>] +</p> + +<p> +On the evening of the day after this poem had been sent, Tomotada was summoned +to appear before the Lord Hosokawa. The youth at once suspected that his +confidence had been betrayed; and he could not hope, if his letter had been +seen by the daimyō, to escape the severest penalty. “Now he will order my +death,” thought Tomotada;—“but I do not care to live unless +Aoyagi be restored to me. Besides, if the death-sentence be passed, I can at +least try to kill Hosokawa.” He slipped his swords into his girdle, and +hastened to the palace. +</p> + +<p> +On entering the presence-room he saw the Lord Hosokawa seated upon the dais, +surrounded by samurai of high rank, in caps and robes of ceremony. All were +silent as statues; and while Tomotada advanced to make obeisance, the hush +seemed to him sinister and heavy, like the stillness before a storm. But +Hosokawa suddenly descended from the dais, and, while taking the youth by the +arm, began to repeat the words of the poem:—“<i>Kōshi ō-son gojin +wo ou</i>.”... And Tomotada, looking up, saw kindly tears in the +prince’s eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Then said Hosokawa:— +</p> + +<p> +“Because you love each other so much, I have taken it upon myself to +authorize your marriage, in lieu of my kinsman, the Lord of Noto; and your +wedding shall now be celebrated before me. The guests are assembled;—the +gifts are ready.” +</p> + +<p> +At a signal from the lord, the sliding-screens concealing a further apartment +were pushed open; and Tomotada saw there many dignitaries of the court, +assembled for the ceremony, and Aoyagi awaiting him in brides’ apparel... +Thus was she given back to him;—and the wedding was joyous and +splendid;—and precious gifts were made to the young couple by the prince, +and by the members of his household. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +For five happy years, after that wedding, Tomotada and Aoyagi dwelt together. +But one morning Aoyagi, while talking with her husband about some household +matter, suddenly uttered a great cry of pain, and then became very white and +still. After a few moments she said, in a feeble voice: “Pardon me for +thus rudely crying out—but the pain was so sudden!... My dear husband, +our union must have been brought about through some Karma-relation in a former +state of existence; and that happy relation, I think, will bring us again +together in more than one life to come. But for this present existence of ours, +the relation is now ended;—we are about to be separated. Repeat for me, I +beseech you, the <i>Nembutsu</i>-prayer,—because I am dying.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! what strange wild fancies!” cried the startled +husband,—“you are only a little unwell, my dear one!... lie down +for a while, and rest; and the sickness will pass.”... +</p> + +<p> +“No, no!” she responded—“I am dying!—I do not +imagine it;—I know!... And it were needless now, my dear husband, to hide +the truth from you any longer:—I am not a human being. The soul of a tree +is my soul;—the heart of a tree is my heart;—the sap of the willow +is my life. And some one, at this cruel moment, is cutting down my +tree;—that is why I must die!... Even to weep were now beyond my +strength!—quickly, quickly repeat the <i>Nembutsu</i> for me... +quickly!... Ah!...” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +With another cry of pain she turned aside her beautiful head, and tried to hide +her face behind her sleeve. But almost in the same moment her whole form +appeared to collapse in the strangest way, and to sink down, down, +down—level with the floor. Tomotada had sprung to support her;—but +there was nothing to support! There lay on the matting only the empty robes of +the fair creature and the ornaments that she had worn in her hair: the body had +ceased to exist... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Tomotada shaved his head, took the Buddhist vows, and became an itinerant +priest. He traveled through all the provinces of the empire; and, at holy +places which he visited, he offered up prayers for the soul of Aoyagi. Reaching +Echizen, in the course of his pilgrimage, he sought the home of the parents of +his beloved. But when he arrived at the lonely place among the hills, where +their dwelling had been, he found that the cottage had disappeared. There was +nothing to mark even the spot where it had stood, except the stumps of three +willows—two old trees and one young tree—that had been cut down +long before his arrival. +</p> + +<p> +Beside the stumps of those willow-trees he erected a memorial tomb, inscribed +with divers holy texts; and he there performed many Buddhist services on behalf +of the spirits of Aoyagi and of her parents. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA</h2> + +<p class="poem"> +Uso no yona,—<br/> +Jiu-roku-zakura<br/> +Saki ni keri! +</p> + +<p> +In Wakégōri, a district of the province of Iyo (1), there is a very ancient and +famous cherry-tree, called <i>Jiu-roku-zakura</i>, or “the Cherry-tree of +the Sixteenth Day,” because it blooms every year upon the sixteenth day +of the first month (by the old lunar calendar),—and only upon that day. +Thus the time of its flowering is the Period of Great Cold,—though the +natural habit of a cherry-tree is to wait for the spring season before +venturing to blossom. But the <i>Jiu-roku-zakura</i> blossoms with a life that +is not—or, at least, that was not originally—its own. There is the +ghost of a man in that tree. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +He was a samurai of Iyo; and the tree grew in his garden; and it used to flower +at the usual time,—that is to say, about the end of March or the +beginning of April. He had played under that tree when he was a child; and his +parents and grandparents and ancestors had hung to its blossoming branches, +season after season for more than a hundred years, bright strips of colored +paper inscribed with poems of praise. He himself became very +old,—outliving all his children; and there was nothing in the world left +for him to love except that tree. And lo! in the summer of a certain year, the +tree withered and died! +</p> + +<p> +Exceedingly the old man sorrowed for his tree. Then kind neighbors found for +him a young and beautiful cherry-tree, and planted it in his +garden,—hoping thus to comfort him. And he thanked them, and pretended to +be glad. But really his heart was full of pain; for he had loved the old tree +so well that nothing could have consoled him for the loss of it. +</p> + +<p> +At last there came to him a happy thought: he remembered a way by which the +perishing tree might be saved. (It was the sixteenth day of the first month.) +Along he went into his garden, and bowed down before the withered tree, and +spoke to it, saying: “Now deign, I beseech you, once more to +bloom,—because I am going to die in your stead.” (For it is +believed that one can really give away one’s life to another person, or +to a creature or even to a tree, by the favor of the gods;—and thus to +transfer one’s life is expressed by the term <i>migawari ni tatsu</i>, +“to act as a substitute.”) Then under that tree he spread a white +cloth, and divers coverings, and sat down upon the coverings, and performed +<i>hara-kiri</i> after the fashion of a samurai. And the ghost of him went into +the tree, and made it blossom in that same hour. +</p> + +<p> +And every year it still blooms on the sixteenth day of the first month, in the +season of snow. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKÉ</h2> + +<p> +In the district called Toïchi of Yamato Province, (1) there used to live a +gōshi named Miyata Akinosuké... [Here I must tell you that in Japanese feudal +times there was a privileged class of +soldier-farmers,—free-holders,—corresponding to the class of yeomen +in England; and these were called gōshi.] +</p> + +<p> +In Akinosuké’s garden there was a great and ancient cedar-tree, under +which he was wont to rest on sultry days. One very warm afternoon he was +sitting under this tree with two of his friends, fellow-gōshi, chatting and +drinking wine, when he felt all of a sudden very drowsy,—so drowsy that +he begged his friends to excuse him for taking a nap in their presence. Then he +lay down at the foot of the tree, and dreamed this dream:— +</p> + +<p> +He thought that as he was lying there in his garden, he saw a procession, like +the train of some great daimyō descending a hill near by, and that he got up to +look at it. A very grand procession it proved to be,—more imposing than +anything of the kind which he had ever seen before; and it was advancing toward +his dwelling. He observed in the van of it a number of young men richly +appareled, who were drawing a great lacquered palace-carriage, or +<i>gosho-guruma</i>, hung with bright blue silk. When the procession arrived +within a short distance of the house it halted; and a richly dressed +man—evidently a person of rank—advanced from it, approached +Akinosuké, bowed to him profoundly, and then said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Honored Sir, you see before you a <i>kérai</i> [vassal] of the Kokuō of +Tokoyo.<a href="#fn14.1" name="fnref14.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> My master, the +King, commands me to greet you in his august name, and to place myself wholly +at your disposal. He also bids me inform you that he augustly desires your +presence at the palace. Be therefore pleased immediately to enter this +honorable carriage, which he has sent for your conveyance.” +</p> + +<p> +Upon hearing these words Akinosuké wanted to make some fitting reply; but he +was too much astonished and embarrassed for speech;—and in the same +moment his will seemed to melt away from him, so that he could only do as the +<i>kérai</i> bade him. He entered the carriage; the <i>kérai</i> took a place +beside him, and made a signal; the drawers, seizing the silken ropes, turned +the great vehicle southward;—and the journey began. +</p> + +<p> +In a very short time, to Akinosuké’s amazement, the carriage stopped in +front of a huge two-storied gateway (<i>rōmon</i>), of a Chinese style, which +he had never before seen. Here the <i>kérai</i> dismounted, saying, “I go +to announce the honorable arrival,”—and he disappeared. After some +little waiting, Akinosuké saw two noble-looking men, wearing robes of purple +silk and high caps of the form indicating lofty rank, come from the gateway. +These, after having respectfully saluted him, helped him to descend from the +carriage, and led him through the great gate and across a vast garden, to the +entrance of a palace whose front appeared to extend, west and east, to a +distance of miles. Akinosuké was then shown into a reception-room of wonderful +size and splendor. His guides conducted him to the place of honor, and +respectfully seated themselves apart; while serving-maids, in costume of +ceremony, brought refreshments. When Akinosuké had partaken of the +refreshments, the two purple-robed attendants bowed low before him, and +addressed him in the following words,—each speaking alternately, +according to the etiquette of courts:— +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“It is now our honorable duty to inform you... as to the reason of your +having been summoned hither... Our master, the King, augustly desires that you +become his son-in-law;... and it is his wish and command that you shall wed +this very day... the August Princess, his maiden-daughter... We shall soon +conduct you to the presence-chamber... where His Augustness even now is waiting +to receive you... But it will be necessary that we first invest you... with the +appropriate garments of ceremony.”<a href="#fn14.2" name="fnref14.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +Having thus spoken, the attendants rose together, and proceeded to an alcove +containing a great chest of gold lacquer. They opened the chest, and took from +it various robes and girdles of rich material, and a <i>kamuri</i>, or regal +headdress. With these they attired Akinosuké as befitted a princely bridegroom; +and he was then conducted to the presence-room, where he saw the Kokuō of +Tokoyo seated upon the <i>daiza</i>,<a href="#fn14.3" name="fnref14.3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> +wearing a high black cap of state, and robed in robes of yellow silk. Before +the <i>daiza</i>, to left and right, a multitude of dignitaries sat in rank, +motionless and splendid as images in a temple; and Akinosuké, advancing into +their midst, saluted the king with the triple prostration of usage. The king +greeted him with gracious words, and then said:— +</p> + +<p> +“You have already been informed as to the reason of your having been +summoned to Our presence. We have decided that you shall become the adopted +husband of Our only daughter;—and the wedding ceremony shall now be +performed.” +</p> + +<p> +As the king finished speaking, a sound of joyful music was heard; and a long +train of beautiful court ladies advanced from behind a curtain to conduct +Akinosuké to the room in which his bride awaited him. +</p> + +<p> +The room was immense; but it could scarcely contain the multitude of guests +assembled to witness the wedding ceremony. All bowed down before Akinosuké as +he took his place, facing the King’s daughter, on the kneeling-cushion +prepared for him. As a maiden of heaven the bride appeared to be; and her robes +were beautiful as a summer sky. And the marriage was performed amid great +rejoicing. +</p> + +<p> +Afterwards the pair were conducted to a suite of apartments that had been +prepared for them in another portion of the palace; and there they received the +congratulations of many noble persons, and wedding gifts beyond counting. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Some days later Akinosuké was again summoned to the throne-room. On this +occasion he was received even more graciously than before; and the King said to +him:— +</p> + +<p> +“In the southwestern part of Our dominion there is an island called +Raishū. We have now appointed you Governor of that island. You will find the +people loyal and docile; but their laws have not yet been brought into proper +accord with the laws of Tokoyo; and their customs have not been properly +regulated. We entrust you with the duty of improving their social condition as +far as may be possible; and We desire that you shall rule them with kindness +and wisdom. All preparations necessary for your journey to Raishū have already +been made.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +So Akinosuké and his bride departed from the palace of Tokoyo, accompanied to +the shore by a great escort of nobles and officials; and they embarked upon a +ship of state provided by the king. And with favoring winds they safety sailed +to Raishū, and found the good people of that island assembled upon the beach to +welcome them. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Akinosuké entered at once upon his new duties; and they did not prove to be +hard. During the first three years of his governorship he was occupied chiefly +with the framing and the enactment of laws; but he had wise counselors to help +him, and he never found the work unpleasant. When it was all finished, he had +no active duties to perform, beyond attending the rites and ceremonies ordained +by ancient custom. The country was so healthy and so fertile that sickness and +want were unknown; and the people were so good that no laws were ever broken. +And Akinosuké dwelt and ruled in Raishū for twenty years more,—making in +all twenty-three years of sojourn, during which no shadow of sorrow traversed +his life. +</p> + +<p> +But in the twenty-fourth year of his governorship, a great misfortune came upon +him; for his wife, who had borne him seven children,—five boys and two +girls,—fell sick and died. She was buried, with high pomp, on the summit +of a beautiful hill in the district of Hanryōkō; and a monument, exceedingly +splendid, was placed upon her grave. But Akinosuké felt such grief at her death +that he no longer cared to live. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Now when the legal period of mourning was over, there came to Raishū, from the +Tokoyo palace, a <i>shisha</i>, or royal messenger. The <i>shisha</i> delivered +to Akinosuké a message of condolence, and then said to him:— +</p> + +<p> +“These are the words which our august master, the King of Tokoyo, +commands that I repeat to you: ‘We will now send you back to your own +people and country. As for the seven children, they are the grandsons and +granddaughters of the King, and shall be fitly cared for. Do not, therefore, +allow your mind to be troubled concerning them.’” +</p> + +<p> +On receiving this mandate, Akinosuké submissively prepared for his departure. +When all his affairs had been settled, and the ceremony of bidding farewell to +his counselors and trusted officials had been concluded, he was escorted with +much honor to the port. There he embarked upon the ship sent for him; and the +ship sailed out into the blue sea, under the blue sky; and the shape of the +island of Raishū itself turned blue, and then turned grey, and then vanished +forever... And Akinosuké suddenly awoke—under the cedar-tree in his own +garden! +</p> + +<p> +For a moment he was stupefied and dazed. But he perceived his two friends still +seated near him,—drinking and chatting merrily. He stared at them in a +bewildered way, and cried aloud,— +</p> + +<p> +“How strange!” +</p> + +<p> +“Akinosuké must have been dreaming,” one of them exclaimed, with a +laugh. “What did you see, Akinosuké, that was strange?” +</p> + +<p> +Then Akinosuké told his dream,—that dream of three-and-twenty +years’ sojourn in the realm of Tokoyo, in the island of Raishū;—and +they were astonished, because he had really slept for no more than a few +minutes. +</p> + +<p> +One gōshi said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed, you saw strange things. We also saw something strange while you +were napping. A little yellow butterfly was fluttering over your face for a +moment or two; and we watched it. Then it alighted on the ground beside you, +close to the tree; and almost as soon as it alighted there, a big, big ant came +out of a hole and seized it and pulled it down into the hole. Just before you +woke up, we saw that very butterfly come out of the hole again, and flutter +over your face as before. And then it suddenly disappeared: we do not know +where it went.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps it was Akinosuké’s soul,” the other gōshi +said;—“certainly I thought I saw it fly into his mouth... But, even +if that butterfly <i>was</i> Akinosuké’s soul, the fact would not explain +his dream.” +</p> + +<p> +“The ants might explain it,” returned the first speaker. +“Ants are queer beings—possibly goblins... Anyhow, there is a big +ant’s nest under that cedar-tree.”... +</p> + +<p> +“Let us look!” cried Akinosuké, greatly moved by this suggestion. +And he went for a spade. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +The ground about and beneath the cedar-tree proved to have been excavated, in a +most surprising way, by a prodigious colony of ants. The ants had furthermore +built inside their excavations; and their tiny constructions of straw, clay, +and stems bore an odd resemblance to miniature towns. In the middle of a +structure considerably larger than the rest there was a marvelous swarming of +small ants around the body of one very big ant, which had yellowish wings and a +long black head. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, there is the King of my dream!” cried Akinosuké; “and +there is the palace of Tokoyo!... How extraordinary!... Raishū ought to lie +somewhere southwest of it—to the left of that big root... Yes!—here +it is!... How very strange! Now I am sure that I can find the mountain of +Hanryōkō, and the grave of the princess.”... +</p> + +<p> +In the wreck of the nest he searched and searched, and at last discovered a +tiny mound, on the top of which was fixed a water-worn pebble, in shape +resembling a Buddhist monument. Underneath it he found—embedded in +clay—the dead body of a female ant. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>RIKI-BAKA</h2> + +<p> +His name was Riki, signifying Strength; but the people called him +Riki-the-Simple, or Riki-the-Fool,—“Riki-Baka,”—because +he had been born into perpetual childhood. For the same reason they were kind +to him,—even when he set a house on fire by putting a lighted match to a +mosquito-curtain, and clapped his hands for joy to see the blaze. At sixteen +years he was a tall, strong lad; but in mind he remained always at the happy +age of two, and therefore continued to play with very small children. The +bigger children of the neighborhood, from four to seven years old, did not care +to play with him, because he could not learn their songs and games. His +favorite toy was a broomstick, which he used as a hobby-horse; and for hours at +a time he would ride on that broomstick, up and down the slope in front of my +house, with amazing peals of laughter. But at last he became troublesome by +reason of his noise; and I had to tell him that he must find another +playground. He bowed submissively, and then went off,—sorrowfully +trailing his broomstick behind him. Gentle at all times, and perfectly harmless +if allowed no chance to play with fire, he seldom gave anybody cause for +complaint. His relation to the life of our street was scarcely more than that +of a dog or a chicken; and when he finally disappeared, I did not miss him. +Months and months passed by before anything happened to remind me of Riki. +</p> + +<p> +“What has become of Riki?” I then asked the old woodcutter who +supplies our neighborhood with fuel. I remembered that Riki had often helped +him to carry his bundles. +</p> + +<p> +“Riki-Baka?” answered the old man. “Ah, Riki is +dead—poor fellow!... Yes, he died nearly a year ago, very suddenly; the +doctors said that he had some disease of the brain. And there is a strange +story now about that poor Riki. +</p> + +<p> +“When Riki died, his mother wrote his name, ‘Riki-Baka,’ in +the palm of his left hand,—putting ‘Riki’ in the Chinese +character, and ‘Baka’ in <i>kana</i> (1). And she repeated many +prayers for him,—prayers that he might be reborn into some more happy +condition. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, about three months ago, in the honorable residence of +Nanigashi-Sama (2), in Kojimachi (3), a boy was born with characters on the +palm of his left hand; and the characters were quite plain to +read,—‘<i>R<small>IKI</small>-B<small>AKA</small></i>’! +</p> + +<p> +“So the people of that house knew that the birth must have happened in +answer to somebody’s prayer; and they caused inquiry to be made +everywhere. At last a vegetable-seller brought word to them that there used to +be a simple lad, called Riki-Baka, living in the Ushigomé quarter, and that he +had died during the last autumn; and they sent two men-servants to look for the +mother of Riki. +</p> + +<p> +“Those servants found the mother of Riki, and told her what had happened; +and she was glad exceedingly—for that Nanigashi house is a very rich and +famous house. But the servants said that the family of Nanigashi-Sama were very +angry about the word ‘Baka’ on the child’s hand. ‘And +where is your Riki buried?’ the servants asked. ‘He is buried in +the cemetery of Zendōji,’ she told them. ‘Please to give us some of +the clay of his grave,’ they requested. +</p> + +<p> +“So she went with them to the temple Zendōji, and showed them +Riki’s grave; and they took some of the grave-clay away with them, +wrapped up in a <i>furoshiki</i><a href="#fn15.1" name="fnref15.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>].... +They gave Riki’s mother some money,—ten yen.”... (4) +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“But what did they want with that clay?” I inquired. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” the old man answered, “you know that it would not do +to let the child grow up with that name on his hand. And there is no other +means of removing characters that come in that way upon the body of a child: +<i>you must rub the skin with clay taken from the grave of the body of the +former birth</i>.”... +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a>HI-MAWARI</h2> + +<p> +On the wooded hill behind the house Robert and I are looking for fairy-rings. +Robert is eight years old, comely, and very wise;—I am a little more than +seven,—and I reverence Robert. It is a glowing glorious August day; and +the warm air is filled with sharp sweet scents of resin. +</p> + +<p> +We do not find any fairy-rings; but we find a great many pine-cones in the high +grass... I tell Robert the old Welsh story of the man who went to sleep, +unawares, inside a fairy-ring, and so disappeared for seven years, and would +never eat or speak after his friends had delivered him from the enchantment. +</p> + +<p> +“They eat nothing but the points of needles, you know,” says +Robert. +</p> + +<p> +“Who?” I ask. +</p> + +<p> +“Goblins,” Robert answers. +</p> + +<p> +This revelation leaves me dumb with astonishment and awe... But Robert suddenly +cries out:— +</p> + +<p> +“There is a Harper!—he is coming to the house!” +</p> + +<p> +And down the hill we run to hear the harper... But what a harper! Not like the +hoary minstrels of the picture-books. A swarthy, sturdy, unkempt vagabond, with +black bold eyes under scowling black brows. More like a bricklayer than a +bard,—and his garments are corduroy! +</p> + +<p> +“Wonder if he is going to sing in Welsh?” murmurs Robert. +</p> + +<p> +I feel too much disappointed to make any remarks. The harper poses his +harp—a huge instrument—upon our doorstep, sets all the strong +ringing with a sweep of his grimy fingers, clears his throat with a sort of +angry growl, and begins,— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,<br/> + Which I gaze on so fondly to-day... +</p> + +<p> +The accent, the attitude, the voice, all fill me with repulsion +unutterable,—shock me with a new sensation of formidable vulgarity. I +want to cry out loud, “You have no right to sing that song!” For I +have heard it sung by the lips of the dearest and fairest being in my little +world;—and that this rude, coarse man should dare to sing it vexes me +like a mockery,—angers me like an insolence. But only for a moment!... +With the utterance of the syllables “to-day,” that deep, grim voice +suddenly breaks into a quivering tenderness indescribable;—then, +marvelously changing, it mellows into tones sonorous and rich as the bass of a +great organ,—while a sensation unlike anything ever felt before takes me +by the throat... What witchcraft has he learned? what secret has he +found—this scowling man of the road?... Oh! is there anybody else in the +whole world who can sing like that?... And the form of the singer flickers and +dims;—and the house, and the lawn, and all visible shapes of things +tremble and swim before me. Yet instinctively I fear that man;—I almost +hate him; and I feel myself flushing with anger and shame because of his power +to move me thus... +</p> + +<p> +“He made you cry,” Robert compassionately observes, to my further +confusion,—as the harper strides away, richer by a gift of sixpence taken +without thanks... “But I think he must be a gipsy. Gipsies are bad +people—and they are wizards... Let us go back to the wood.” +</p> + +<p> +We climb again to the pines, and there squat down upon the sun-flecked grass, +and look over town and sea. But we do not play as before: the spell of the +wizard is strong upon us both... “Perhaps he is a goblin,” I +venture at last, “or a fairy?” “No,” says +Robert,—“only a gipsy. But that is nearly as bad. They steal +children, you know.”... +</p> + +<p> +“What shall we do if he comes up here?” I gasp, in sudden terror at +the lonesomeness of our situation. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, he wouldn’t dare,” answers Robert—“not by +daylight, you know.”... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +[Only yesterday, near the village of Takata, I noticed a flower which the +Japanese call by nearly the same name as we do: <i>Himawari</i>, “The +Sunward-turning;”—and over the space of forty years there thrilled +back to me the voice of that wandering harper,— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +As the Sunflower turns on her god, when he sets,<br/> +The same look that she turned when he rose. +</p> + +<p> +Again I saw the sun-flecked shadows on that far Welsh hill; and Robert for a +moment again stood beside me, with his girl’s face and his curls of gold. +We were looking for fairy-rings... But all that existed of the real Robert must +long ago have suffered a sea-change into something rich and strange... +<i>Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his +friend</i>....] +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a>HŌRAI</h2> + +<p> +Blue vision of depth lost in height,—sea and sky interblending through +luminous haze. The day is of spring, and the hour morning. +</p> + +<p> +Only sky and sea,—one azure enormity... In the fore, ripples are catching +a silvery light, and threads of foam are swirling. But a little further off no +motion is visible, nor anything save color: dim warm blue of water widening +away to melt into blue of air. Horizon there is none: only distance soaring +into space,—infinite concavity hollowing before you, and hugely arching +above you,—the color deepening with the height. But far in the +midway-blue there hangs a faint, faint vision of palace towers, with high roofs +horned and curved like moons,—some shadowing of splendor strange and old, +illumined by a sunshine soft as memory. +</p> + +<p> +...What I have thus been trying to describe is a kakémono,—that is to +say, a Japanese painting on silk, suspended to the wall of my alcove;—and +the name of it is S<small>HINKIRŌ</small>, which signifies +“Mirage.” But the shapes of the mirage are unmistakable. Those are +the glimmering portals of Hōrai the blest; and those are the moony roofs of the +Palace of the Dragon-King;—and the fashion of them (though limned by a +Japanese brush of to-day) is the fashion of things Chinese, twenty-one hundred +years ago... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Thus much is told of the place in the Chinese books of that time:— +</p> + +<p> +In Hōrai there is neither death nor pain; and there is no winter. The flowers +in that place never fade, and the fruits never fail; and if a man taste of +those fruits even but once, he can never again feel thirst or hunger. In Hōrai +grow the enchanted plants <i>So-rin-shi</i>, and <i>Riku-gō-aoi</i>, and +<i>Ban-kon-tō</i>, which heal all manner of sickness;—and there grows +also the magical grass <i>Yō-shin-shi</i>, that quickens the dead; and the +magical grass is watered by a fairy water of which a single drink confers +perpetual youth. The people of Hōrai eat their rice out of very, very small +bowls; but the rice never diminishes within those bowls,—however much of +it be eaten,—until the eater desires no more. And the people of Hōrai +drink their wine out of very, very small cups; but no man can empty one of +those cups,—however stoutly he may drink,—until there comes upon +him the pleasant drowsiness of intoxication. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +All this and more is told in the legends of the time of the Shin dynasty. But +that the people who wrote down those legends ever saw Hōrai, even in a mirage, +is not believable. For really there are no enchanted fruits which leave the +eater forever satisfied,—nor any magical grass which revives the +dead,—nor any fountain of fairy water,—nor any bowls which never +lack rice,—nor any cups which never lack wine. It is not true that sorrow +and death never enter Hōrai;—neither is it true that there is not any +winter. The winter in Hōrai is cold;—and winds then bite to the bone; and +the heaping of snow is monstrous on the roofs of the Dragon-King. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless there are wonderful things in Hōrai; and the most wonderful of all +has not been mentioned by any Chinese writer. I mean the atmosphere of Hōrai. +It is an atmosphere peculiar to the place; and, because of it, the sunshine in +Hōrai is <i>whiter</i> than any other sunshine,—a milky light that never +dazzles,—astonishingly clear, but very soft. This atmosphere is not of +our human period: it is enormously old,—so old that I feel afraid when I +try to think how old it is;—and it is not a mixture of nitrogen and +oxygen. It is not made of air at all, but of ghost,—the substance of +quintillions of quintillions of generations of souls blended into one immense +translucency,—souls of people who thought in ways never resembling our +ways. Whatever mortal man inhales that atmosphere, he takes into his blood the +thrilling of these spirits; and they change the sense within +him,—reshaping his notions of Space and Time,—so that he can see +only as they used to see, and feel only as they used to feel, and think only as +they used to think. Soft as sleep are these changes of sense; and Hōrai, +discerned across them, might thus be described:— +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +<i>—Because in Hōrai there is no knowledge of great evil, the hearts of +the people never grow old. And, by reason of being always young in heart, the +people of Hōrai smile from birth until death—except when the Gods send +sorrow among them; and faces then are veiled until the sorrow goes away. All +folk in Hōrai love and trust each other, as if all were members of a single +household;—and the speech of the women is like birdsong, because the +hearts of them are light as the souls of birds;—and the swaying of the +sleeves of the maidens at play seems a flutter of wide, soft wings. In Hōrai +nothing is hidden but grief, because there is no reason for shame;—and +nothing is locked away, because there could not be any theft;—and by +night as well as by day all doors remain unbarred, because there is no reason +for fear. And because the people are fairies—though mortal—all +things in Hōrai, except the Palace of the Dragon-King, are small and quaint and +queer;—and these fairy-folk do really eat their rice out of very, very +small bowls, and drink their wine out of very, very small cups....</i> +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +—Much of this seeming would be due to the inhalation of that ghostly +atmosphere—but not all. For the spell wrought by the dead is only the +charm of an Ideal, the glamour of an ancient hope;—and something of that +hope has found fulfillment in many hearts,—in the simple beauty of +unselfish lives,—in the sweetness of Woman... +</p> + +<p> +—Evil winds from the West are blowing over Hōrai; and the magical +atmosphere, alas! is shrinking away before them. It lingers now in patches +only, and bands,—like those long bright bands of cloud that train across +the landscapes of Japanese painters. Under these shreds of the elfish vapor you +still can find Hōrai—but not everywhere... Remember that Hōrai is also +called Shinkirō, which signifies Mirage,—the Vision of the Intangible. +And the Vision is fading,—never again to appear save in pictures and +poems and dreams... +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap18"></a>INSECT STUDIES</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap19"></a>BUTTERFLIES</h2> + +<h3>I</h3> + +<p> +Would that I could hope for the luck of that Chinese scholar known to Japanese +literature as “Rōsan”! For he was beloved by two spirit-maidens, +celestial sisters, who every ten days came to visit him and to tell him stories +about butterflies. Now there are marvelous Chinese stories about +butterflies—ghostly stories; and I want to know them. But never shall I +be able to read Chinese, nor even Japanese; and the little Japanese poetry that +I manage, with exceeding difficulty, to translate, contains so many allusions +to Chinese stories of butterflies that I am tormented with the torment of +Tantalus... And, of course, no spirit-maidens will even deign to visit so +skeptical a person as myself. +</p> + +<p> +I want to know, for example, the whole story of that Chinese maiden whom the +butterflies took to be a flower, and followed in multitude,—so fragrant +and so fair was she. Also I should like to know something more concerning the +butterflies of the Emperor Gensō, or Ming Hwang, who made them choose his loves +for him... He used to hold wine-parties in his amazing garden; and ladies of +exceeding beauty were in attendance; and caged butterflies, set free among +them, would fly to the fairest; and then, upon that fairest the Imperial favor +was bestowed. But after Gensō Kōtei had seen Yōkihi (whom the Chinese call +Yang-Kwei-Fei), he would not suffer the butterflies to choose for +him,—which was unlucky, as Yokihi got him into serious trouble... Again, +I should like to know more about the experience of that Chinese scholar, +celebrated in Japan under the name Sōshū, who dreamed that he was a butterfly, +and had all the sensations of a butterfly in that dream. For his spirit had +really been wandering about in the shape of a butterfly; and, when he awoke, +the memories and the feelings of butterfly existence remained so vivid in his +mind that he could not act like a human being... Finally I should like to know +the text of a certain Chinese official recognition of sundry butterflies as the +spirits of an Emperor and of his attendants... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Most of the Japanese literature about butterflies, excepting some poetry, +appears to be of Chinese origin; and even that old national aæsthetic feeling +on the subject, which found such delightful expression in Japanese art and song +and custom, may have been first developed under Chinese teaching. Chinese +precedent doubtless explains why Japanese poets and painters chose so often for +their <i>geimyō</i>, or professional appellations, such names as <i>Chōmu</i> +(“Butterfly-Dream),” <i>Ichō</i> (“Solitary +Butterfly),” etc. And even to this day such <i>geimyō</i> as +<i>Chōhana</i> (“Butterfly-Blossom”), <i>Chōkichi</i> +(“Butterfly-Luck”), or <i>Chōnosuké</i> +(“Butterfly-Help”), are affected by dancing-girls. Besides artistic +names having reference to butterflies, there are still in use real personal +names (<i>yobina</i>) of this kind,—such as Kochō, or Chō, meaning +“Butterfly.” They are borne by women only, as a rule,—though +there are some strange exceptions... And here I may mention that, in the +province of Mutsu, there still exists the curious old custom of calling the +youngest daughter in a family <i>Tekona</i>,—which quaint word, obsolete +elsewhere, signifies in Mutsu dialect a butterfly. In classic time this word +signified also a beautiful woman... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +It is possible also that some weird Japanese beliefs about butterflies are of +Chinese derivation; but these beliefs might be older than China herself. The +most interesting one, I think, is that the soul of a <i>living</i> person may +wander about in the form of a butterfly. Some pretty fancies have been evolved +out of this belief,—such as the notion that if a butterfly enters your +guest-room and perches behind the bamboo screen, the person whom you most love +is coming to see you. That a butterfly may be the spirit of somebody is not a +reason for being afraid of it. Nevertheless there are times when even +butterflies can inspire fear by appearing in prodigious numbers; and Japanese +history records such an event. When Taïra-no-Masakado was secretly preparing +for his famous revolt, there appeared in Kyōto so vast a swarm of butterflies +that the people were frightened,—thinking the apparition to be a portent +of coming evil... Perhaps those butterflies were supposed to be the spirits of +the thousands doomed to perish in battle, and agitated on the eve of war by +some mysterious premonition of death. +</p> + +<p> +However, in Japanese belief, a butterfly may be the soul of a dead person as +well as of a living person. Indeed it is a custom of souls to take +butterfly-shape in order to announce the fact of their final departure from the +body; and for this reason any butterfly which enters a house ought to be kindly +treated. +</p> + +<p> +To this belief, and to queer fancies connected with it, there are many +allusions in popular drama. For example, there is a well-known play called +<i>Tondé-déru-Kochō-no-Kanzashi;</i> or, “The Flying Hairpin of +Kochō.” Kochō is a beautiful person who kills herself because of false +accusations and cruel treatment. Her would-be avenger long seeks in vain for +the author of the wrong. But at last the dead woman’s hairpin turns into +a butterfly, and serves as a guide to vengeance by hovering above the place +where the villain is hiding. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +—Of course those big paper butterflies (<i>o-chō</i> and <i>mé-chō</i>) +which figure at weddings must not be thought of as having any ghostly +signification. As emblems they only express the joy of living union, and the +hope that the newly married couple may pass through life together as a pair of +butterflies flit lightly through some pleasant garden,—now hovering +upward, now downward, but never widely separating. +</p> + +<h3>II</h3> + +<p> +A small selection of <i>hokku</i> (1) on butterflies will help to illustrate +Japanese interest in the aæsthetic side of the subject. Some are pictures +only,—tiny color-sketches made with seventeen syllables; some are nothing +more than pretty fancies, or graceful suggestions;—but the reader will +find variety. Probably he will not care much for the verses in themselves. The +taste for Japanese poetry of the epigrammatic sort is a taste that must be +slowly acquired; and it is only by degrees, after patient study, that the +possibilities of such composition can be fairly estimated. Hasty criticism has +declared that to put forward any serious claim on behalf of seventeen-syllable +poems “would be absurd.” But what, then, of Crashaw’s famous +line upon the miracle at the marriage feast in Cana?— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Nympha pudica Deum vidit, et erubuit.<a href="#fn19.1" name="fnref19.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +Only fourteen syllables—and immortality. Now with seventeen Japanese +syllables things quite as wonderful—indeed, much more +wonderful—have been done, not once or twice, but probably a thousand +times... However, there is nothing wonderful in the following <i>hokku</i>, +which have been selected for more than literary reasons:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Nugi-kakuru<a href="#fn19.2" name="fnref19.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a><br/> +Haori sugata no<br/> + Kochō kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Like a</i> haori <i>being taken off—that is the shape of a +butterfly!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Torisashi no<br/> +Sao no jama suru<br/> + Kochō kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Ah, the butterfly keeps getting in the way of the bird-catcher’s +pole!</i><a href="#fn19.3" name="fnref19.3"><sup>[3]</sup></a>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Tsurigané ni<br/> +Tomarité nemuru<br/> + Kochō kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Perched upon the temple-bell, the butterfly sleeps:</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Néru-uchi mo<br/> +Asobu-yumé wo ya—<br/> + Kusa no chō! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Even while sleeping, its dream is of play—ah, the butterfly of the +grass!</i><a href="#fn19.4" name="fnref19.4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Oki, oki yo!<br/> +Waga tomo ni sen,<br/> + Néru-kochō! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Wake up! wake up!—I will make thee my comrade, thou sleeping +butterfly.</i><a href="#fn19.5" name="fnref19.5"><sup>[5]</sup></a>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Kago no tori<br/> +Chō wo urayamu<br/> + Metsuki kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Ah, the sad expression in the eyes of that caged bird!—envying the +butterfly!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chō tondé—<br/> +Kazé naki hi to mo<br/> + Miëzari ki! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Even though it did not appear to be a windy day</i>,<a href="#fn19.6" name="fnref19.6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> +<i>the fluttering of the butterflies—!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Rakkwa éda ni<br/> +Kaëru to miréba—<br/> + Kochō kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>When I saw the fallen flower return to the branch—lo! it was only a +butterfly!</i><a href="#fn19.7" name="fnref19.7"><sup>[7]</sup></a>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chiru-hana ni—<br/> +Karusa arasoü<br/> + Kochō kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>How the butterfly strives to compete in lightness with the falling +flowers!</i><a href="#fn19.8" name="fnref19.8"><sup>[8]</sup></a>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chōchō ya!<br/> +Onna no michi no<br/> + Ato ya saki! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>See that butterfly on the woman’s path,—now fluttering behind +her, now before!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chōchō ya!<br/> +Hana-nusubito wo<br/> + Tsukété-yuku! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Ha! the butterfly!—it is following the person who stole the +flowers!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Aki no chō<br/> +Tomo nakéréba ya;<br/> + Hito ni tsuku +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Poor autumn butterfly!—when left without a comrade</i> (of its own +race), <i>it follows after man</i> (or “a person”)!] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Owarété mo,<br/> +Isoganu furi no<br/> + Chōcho kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Ah, the butterfly! Even when chased, it never has the air of being in a +hurry.</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chō wa mina<br/> +Jiu-shichi-hachi no<br/> + Sugata kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>As for butterflies, they all have the appearance of being about seventeen +or eighteen years old.</i><a href="#fn19.9" name="fnref19.9"><sup>[9]</sup></a>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chō tobu ya—<br/> +Kono yo no urami<br/> + Naki yō ni! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>How the butterfly sports,—just as if there were no enmity</i> (or +“envy”) <i>in this world!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chō tobu ya,<br/> +Kono yo ni nozomi<br/> + Nai yō ni! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Ah, the butterfly!—it sports about as if it had nothing more to +desire in this present state of existence.</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Nami no hana ni<br/> +Tomari kanétaru,<br/> + Kochō kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Having found it difficult indeed to perch upon the</i> (<i>foam</i>-) +<i>blossoms of the waves,—alas for the butterfly!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Mutsumashi ya!—<br/> +Umaré-kawareba<br/> + Nobé no chō.<a href="#fn19.10" name="fnref19.10"><sup>[10]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>If</i> (in our next existence) <i>we be born into the state of butterflies +upon the moor, then perchance we may be happy together!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Nadéshiko ni<br/> +Chōchō shiroshi—<br/> + Taré no kon?<a href="#fn19.11" name="fnref19.11"><sup>[11]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>On the pink-flower there is a white butterfly: whose spirit, I wonder?</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Ichi-nichi no<br/> +Tsuma to miëkéri—<br/> + Chō futatsu. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>The one-day wife has at last appeared—a pair of butterflies!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Kité wa maü,<br/> +Futari shidzuka no<br/> + Kochō kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Approaching they dance; but when the two meet at last they are very quiet, +the butterflies!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chō wo oü<br/> +Kokoro-mochitashi<br/> + Itsumadémo! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Would that I might always have the heart</i> (desire) <i>of chasing +butterflies!</i><a href="#fn19.12" name="fnref19.12"><sup>[12]</sup></a>] +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Besides these specimens of poetry about butterflies, I have one queer example +to offer of Japanese prose literature on the same topic. The original, of which +I have attempted only a free translation, can be found in the curious old book +<i>Mushi-Isamé</i> (“Insect-Admonitions”); and it assumes the form +of a discourse to a butterfly. But it is really a didactic +allegory,—suggesting the moral significance of a social rise and +fall:— +</p> + +<p> +“Now, under the sun of spring, the winds are gentle, and flowers pinkly +bloom, and grasses are soft, and the hearts of people are glad. Butterflies +everywhere flutter joyously: so many persons now compose Chinese verses and +Japanese verses about butterflies. +</p> + +<p> +“And this season, O Butterfly, is indeed the season of your bright +prosperity: so comely you now are that in the whole world there is nothing more +comely. For that reason all other insects admire and envy you;—there is +not among them even one that does not envy you. Nor do insects alone regard you +with envy: men also both envy and admire you. Sōshū of China, in a dream, +assumed your shape;—Sakoku of Japan, after dying, took your form, and +therein made ghostly apparition. Nor is the envy that you inspire shared only +by insects and mankind: even things without soul change their form into +yours;—witness the barley-grass, which turns into a butterfly.<a href="#fn19.13" name="fnref19.13"><sup>[13]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +“And therefore you are lifted up with pride, and think to yourself: +‘In all this world there is nothing superior to me!’ Ah! I can very +well guess what is in your heart: you are too much satisfied with your own +person. That is why you let yourself be blown thus lightly about by every +wind;—that is why you never remain still,—always, always thinking, +‘In the whole world there is no one so fortunate as I.’ +</p> + +<p> +“But now try to think a little about your own personal history. It is +worth recalling; for there is a vulgar side to it. How a vulgar side? Well, for +a considerable time after you were born, you had no such reason for rejoicing +in your form. You were then a mere cabbage-insect, a hairy worm; and you were +so poor that you could not afford even one robe to cover your nakedness; and +your appearance was altogether disgusting. Everybody in those days hated the +sight of you. Indeed you had good reason to be ashamed of yourself; and so +ashamed you were that you collected old twigs and rubbish to hide in, and you +made a hiding-nest, and hung it to a branch,—and then everybody cried out +to you, ‘Raincoat Insect!’ (<i>Mino-mushi</i>.)<a href="#fn19.14" name="fnref19.14"><sup>[14]</sup></a> +And during that period of your life, your sins were grievous. Among the tender +green leaves of beautiful cherry-trees you and your fellows assembled, and +there made ugliness extraordinary; and the expectant eyes of the people, who +came from far away to admire the beauty of those cherry-trees, were hurt by the +sight of you. And of things even more hateful than this you were guilty. You +knew that poor, poor men and women had been cultivating <i>daikon</i> (2) in +their fields,—toiling under the hot sun till their hearts were filled +with bitterness by reason of having to care for that <i>daikon;</i> and you +persuaded your companions to go with you, and to gather upon the leaves of that +<i>daikon</i>, and on the leaves of other vegetables planted by those poor +people. Out of your greediness you ravaged those leaves, and gnawed them into +all shapes of ugliness,—caring nothing for the trouble of those poor +folk... Yes, such a creature you were, and such were your doings. +</p> + +<p> +“And now that you have a comely form, you despise your old comrades, the +insects; and, whenever you happen to meet any of them, you pretend not to know +them [literally, ‘You make an I-don’t-know face’]. Now you +want to have none but wealthy and exalted people for friends... Ah! You have +forgotten the old times, have you? +</p> + +<p> +“It is true that many people have forgotten your past, and are charmed by +the sight of your present graceful shape and white wings, and write Chinese +verses and Japanese verses about you. The high-born damsel, who could not bear +even to look at you in your former shape, now gazes at you with delight, and +wants you to perch upon her hairpin, and holds out her dainty fan in the hope +that you will light upon it. But this reminds me that there is an ancient +Chinese story about you, which is not pretty. +</p> + +<p> +“In the time of the Emperor Gensō, the Imperial Palace contained hundreds +and thousands of beautiful ladies,—so many, indeed, that it would have +been difficult for any man to decide which among them was the loveliest. So all +of those beautiful persons were assembled together in one place; and you were +set free to fly among them; and it was decreed that the damsel upon whose +hairpin you perched should be augustly summoned to the Imperial Chamber. In +that time there could not be more than one Empress—which was a good law; +but, because of you, the Emperor Gensō did great mischief in the land. For your +mind is light and frivolous; and although among so many beautiful women there +must have been some persons of pure heart, you would look for nothing but +beauty, and so betook yourself to the person most beautiful in outward +appearance. Therefore many of the female attendants ceased altogether to think +about the right way of women, and began to study how to make themselves appear +splendid in the eyes of men. And the end of it was that the Emperor Gensō died +a pitiful and painful death—all because of your light and trifling mind. +Indeed, your real character can easily be seen from your conduct in other +matters. There are trees, for example,—such as the evergreen-oak and the +pine,—whose leaves do not fade and fall, but remain always +green;—these are trees of firm heart, trees of solid character. But you +say that they are stiff and formal; and you hate the sight of them, and never +pay them a visit. Only to the cherry-tree, and the <i>kaido</i><a href="#fn19.15" name="fnref19.15"><sup>[15]</sup></a>, +and the peony, and the yellow rose you go: those you like because they have +showy flowers, and you try only to please them. Such conduct, let me assure +you, is very unbecoming. Those trees certainly have handsome flowers; but +hunger-satisfying fruits they have not; and they are grateful to those only who +are fond of luxury and show. And that is just the reason why they are pleased +by your fluttering wings and delicate shape;—that is why they are kind to +you. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, in this spring season, while you sportively dance through the +gardens of the wealthy, or hover among the beautiful alleys of cherry-trees in +blossom, you say to yourself: ‘Nobody in the world has such pleasure as +I, or such excellent friends. And, in spite of all that people may say, I most +love the peony,—and the golden yellow rose is my own darling, and I will +obey her every least behest; for that is my pride and my delight.’... So +you say. But the opulent and elegant season of flowers is very short: soon they +will fade and fall. Then, in the time of summer heat, there will be green +leaves only; and presently the winds of autumn will blow, when even the leaves +themselves will shower down like rain, <i>parari-parari</i>. And your fate will +then be as the fate of the unlucky in the proverb, <i>Tanomi ki no shita ni amé +furu</i> [Even through the tree upon which I relied for shelter the rain leaks +down]. For you will seek out your old friend, the root-cutting insect, the +grub, and beg him to let you return into your old-time hole;—but now +having wings, you will not be able to enter the hole because of them, and you +will not be able to shelter your body anywhere between heaven and earth, and +all the moor-grass will then have withered, and you will not have even one drop +of dew with which to moisten your tongue,—and there will be nothing left +for you to do but to lie down and die. All because of your light and frivolous +heart—but, ah! how lamentable an end!”... +</p> + +<h3>III</h3> + +<p> +Most of the Japanese stories about butterflies appear, as I have said, to be of +Chinese origin. But I have one which is probably indigenous; and it seems to me +worth telling for the benefit of persons who believe there is no +“romantic love” in the Far East. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Behind the cemetery of the temple of Sōzanji, in the suburbs of the capital, +there long stood a solitary cottage, occupied by an old man named Takahama. He +was liked in the neighborhood, by reason of his amiable ways; but almost +everybody supposed him to be a little mad. Unless a man take the Buddhist vows, +he is expected to marry, and to bring up a family. But Takahama did not belong +to the religious life; and he could not be persuaded to marry. Neither had he +ever been known to enter into a love-relation with any woman. For more than +fifty years he had lived entirely alone. +</p> + +<p> +One summer he fell sick, and knew that he had not long to live. He then sent +for his sister-in-law, a widow, and for her only son,—a lad of about +twenty years old, to whom he was much attached. Both promptly came, and did +whatever they could to soothe the old man’s last hours. +</p> + +<p> +One sultry afternoon, while the widow and her son were watching at his bedside, +Takahama fell asleep. At the same moment a very large white butterfly entered +the room, and perched upon the sick man’s pillow. The nephew drove it +away with a fan; but it returned immediately to the pillow, and was again +driven away, only to come back a third time. Then the nephew chased it into the +garden, and across the garden, through an open gate, into the cemetery of the +neighboring temple. But it continued to flutter before him as if unwilling to +be driven further, and acted so queerly that he began to wonder whether it was +really a butterfly, or a <i>ma</i><a href="#fn19.16" name="fnref19.16"><sup>[16]</sup></a>. +He again chased it, and followed it far into the cemetery, until he saw it fly +against a tomb,—a woman’s tomb. There it unaccountably disappeared; +and he searched for it in vain. He then examined the monument. It bore the +personal name “Akiko,” (3) together with an unfamiliar family name, +and an inscription stating that Akiko had died at the age of eighteen. +Apparently the tomb had been erected about fifty years previously: moss had +begun to gather upon it. But it had been well cared for: there were fresh +flowers before it; and the water-tank had recently been filled. +</p> + +<p> +On returning to the sick room, the young man was shocked by the announcement +that his uncle had ceased to breathe. Death had come to the sleeper painlessly; +and the dead face smiled. +</p> + +<p> +The young man told his mother of what he had seen in the cemetery. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” exclaimed the widow, “then it must have been +Akiko!”... +</p> + +<p> +“But who was Akiko, mother?” the nephew asked. +</p> + +<p> +The widow answered:— +</p> + +<p> +“When your good uncle was young he was betrothed to a charming girl +called Akiko, the daughter of a neighbor. Akiko died of consumption, only a +little before the day appointed for the wedding; and her promised husband +sorrowed greatly. After Akiko had been buried, he made a vow never to marry; +and he built this little house beside the cemetery, so that he might be always +near her grave. All this happened more than fifty years ago. And every day of +those fifty years—winter and summer alike—your uncle went to the +cemetery, and prayed at the grave, and swept the tomb, and set offerings before +it. But he did not like to have any mention made of the matter; and he never +spoke of it... So, at last, Akiko came for him: the white butterfly was her +soul.” +</p> + +<h3>IV</h3> + +<p> +I had almost forgotten to mention an ancient Japanese dance, called the +Butterfly Dance (<i>Kochō-Mai</i>), which used to be performed in the Imperial +Palace, by dancers costumed as butterflies. Whether it is danced occasionally +nowadays I do not know. It is said to be very difficult to learn. Six dancers +are required for the proper performance of it; and they must move in particular +figures,—obeying traditional rules for every step, pose, or +gesture,—and circling about each other very slowly to the sound of +hand-drums and great drums, small flutes and great flutes, and pandean pipes of +a form unknown to Western Pan. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus02"></a> +<img src="images/img02.jpg" width="545" height="600" alt="[Illustration]" /> +<p class="caption"><small>BUTTERFLY DANCE</small></p> +</div> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap20"></a>MOSQUITOES</h2> + +<p> +With a view to self-protection I have been reading Dr. Howard’s book, +“Mosquitoes.” I am persecuted by mosquitoes. There are several +species in my neighborhood; but only one of them is a serious torment,—a +tiny needly thing, all silver-speckled and silver-streaked. The puncture of it +is sharp as an electric burn; and the mere hum of it has a lancinating quality +of tone which foretells the quality of the pain about to come,—much in +the same way that a particular smell suggests a particular taste. I find that +this mosquito much resembles the creature which Dr. Howard calls <i>Stegomyia +fasciata</i>, or <i>Culex fasciatus:</i> and that its habits are the same as +those of the <i>Stegomyia</i>. For example, it is diurnal rather than nocturnal +and becomes most troublesome in the afternoon. And I have discovered that it +comes from the Buddhist cemetery,—a very old cemetery,—in the rear +of my garden. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Dr. Howard’s book declares that, in order to rid a neighborhood of +mosquitoes, it is only necessary to pour a little petroleum, or kerosene oil, +into the stagnant water where they breed. Once a week the oil should be used, +“at the rate of once ounce for every fifteen square feet of +water-surface, and a proportionate quantity for any less surface.” ...But +please to consider the conditions in <i>my</i> neighborhood! +</p> + +<p> +I have said that my tormentors come from the Buddhist cemetery. Before nearly +every tomb in that old cemetery there is a water-receptacle, or cistern, called +<i>mizutamé</i>. In the majority of cases this <i>mizutamé</i> is simply an +oblong cavity chiseled in the broad pedestal supporting the monument; but +before tombs of a costly kind, having no pedestal-tank, a larger separate tank +is placed, cut out of a single block of stone, and decorated with a family +crest, or with symbolic carvings. In front of a tomb of the humblest class, +having no <i>mizutamé</i>, water is placed in cups or other vessels,—for +the dead must have water. Flowers also must be offered to them; and before +every tomb you will find a pair of bamboo cups, or other flower-vessels; and +these, of course, contain water. There is a well in the cemetery to supply +water for the graves. Whenever the tombs are visited by relatives and friends +of the dead, fresh water is poured into the tanks and cups. But as an old +cemetery of this kind contains thousands of <i>mizutamé</i>, and tens of +thousands of flower-vessels the water in all of these cannot be renewed every +day. It becomes stagnant and populous. The deeper tanks seldom get +dry;—the rainfall at Tōkyō being heavy enough to keep them partly filled +during nine months out of the twelve. +</p> + +<p> +Well, it is in these tanks and flower-vessels that mine enemies are born: they +rise by millions from the water of the dead;—and, according to Buddhist +doctrine, some of them may be reincarnations of those very dead, condemned by +the error of former lives to the condition of <i>Jiki-ketsu-gaki</i>, or +blood-drinking pretas.... Anyhow the malevolence of the <i>Culex fasciatus</i> +would justify the suspicion that some wicked human soul had been compressed +into that wailing speck of a body.... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Now, to return to the subject of kerosene-oil, you can exterminate the +mosquitoes of any locality by covering with a film of kerosene all stagnant +water surfaces therein. The larvae die on rising to breathe; and the adult +females perish when they approach the water to launch their rafts of eggs. And +I read, in Dr. Howard’s book, that the actual cost of freeing from +mosquitoes one American town of fifty thousand inhabitants, does not exceed +three hundred dollars!... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +I wonder what would be said if the city-government of Tōkyō—which is +aggressively scientific and progressive—were suddenly to command that all +water-surfaces in the Buddhist cemeteries should be covered, at regular +intervals, with a film of kerosene oil! How could the religion which prohibits +the taking of any life—even of invisible life—yield to such a +mandate? Would filial piety even dream of consenting to obey such an order? And +then to think of the cost, in labor and time, of putting kerosene oil, every +seven days, into the millions of <i>mizutamé</i>, and the tens of millions of +bamboo flower-cups, in the Tōkyō graveyards!... Impossible! To free the city +from mosquitoes it would be necessary to demolish the ancient +graveyards;—and that would signify the ruin of the Buddhist temples +attached to them;—and that would mean the disparition of so many charming +gardens, with their lotus-ponds and Sanscrit-lettered monuments and humpy +bridges and holy groves and weirdly-smiling Buddhas! So the extermination of +the <i>Culex fasciatus</i> would involve the destruction of the poetry of the +ancestral cult,—surely too great a price to pay!... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Besides, I should like, when my time comes, to be laid away in some Buddhist +graveyard of the ancient kind,—so that my ghostly company should be +ancient, caring nothing for the fashions and the changes and the +disintegrations of Meiji (1). That old cemetery behind my garden would be a +suitable place. Everything there is beautiful with a beauty of exceeding and +startling queerness; each tree and stone has been shaped by some old, old ideal +which no longer exists in any living brain; even the shadows are not of this +time and sun, but of a world forgotten, that never knew steam or electricity or +magnetism or—kerosene oil! Also in the boom of the big bell there is a +quaintness of tone which wakens feelings, so strangely far-away from all the +nineteenth-century part of me, that the faint blind stirrings of them make me +afraid,—deliciously afraid. Never do I hear that billowing peal but I +become aware of a striving and a fluttering in the abyssal part of my +ghost,—a sensation as of memories struggling to reach the light beyond +the obscurations of a million million deaths and births. I hope to remain +within hearing of that bell... And, considering the possibility of being doomed +to the state of a <i>Jiki-ketsu-gaki</i>, I want to have my chance of being +reborn in some bamboo flower-cup, or <i>mizutamé</i>, whence I might issue +softly, singing my thin and pungent song, to bite some people that I know. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap21"></a>ANTS</h2> + +<h3>I</h3> + +<p> +This morning sky, after the night’s tempest, is a pure and dazzling blue. +The air—the delicious air!—is full of sweet resinous odors, shed +from the countless pine-boughs broken and strewn by the gale. In the +neighboring bamboo-grove I hear the flute-call of the bird that praises the +Sûtra of the Lotos; and the land is very still by reason of the south wind. Now +the summer, long delayed, is truly with us: butterflies of queer Japanese +colors are flickering about; semi (1) are wheezing; wasps are humming; gnats +are dancing in the sun; and the ants are busy repairing their damaged +habitations... I bethink me of a Japanese poem:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Yuku é naki:<br/> +Ari no sumai ya!<br/> + Go-getsu amé. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Now the poor creature has nowhere to go!... Alas for the dwellings of the +ants in this rain of the fifth month!</i>] +</p> + +<p> +But those big black ants in my garden do not seem to need any sympathy. They +have weathered the storm in some unimaginable way, while great trees were being +uprooted, and houses blown to fragments, and roads washed out of existence. +Yet, before the typhoon, they took no other visible precaution than to block up +the gates of their subterranean town. And the spectacle of their triumphant +toil to-day impels me to attempt an essay on Ants. +</p> + +<p> +I should have liked to preface my disquisitions with something from the old +Japanese literature,—something emotional or metaphysical. But all that my +Japanese friends were able to find for me on the subject,—excepting some +verses of little worth,—was Chinese. This Chinese material consisted +chiefly of strange stories; and one of them seems to me worth +quoting,—<i>faute de mieux</i>. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +In the province of Taishū, in China, there was a pious man who, every day, +during many years, fervently worshiped a certain goddess. One morning, while he +was engaged in his devotions, a beautiful woman, wearing a yellow robe, came +into his chamber and stood before him. He, greatly surprised, asked her what +she wanted, and why she had entered unannounced. She answered: “I am not +a woman: I am the goddess whom you have so long and so faithfully worshiped; +and I have now come to prove to you that your devotion has not been in vain... +Are you acquainted with the language of Ants?” The worshiper replied: +“I am only a low-born and ignorant person,—not a scholar; and even +of the language of superior men I know nothing.” At these words the +goddess smiled, and drew from her bosom a little box, shaped like an incense +box. She opened the box, dipped a finger into it, and took therefrom some kind +of ointment with which she anointed the ears of the man. “Now,” she +said to him, “try to find some Ants, and when you find any, stoop down, +and listen carefully to their talk. You will be able to understand it; and you +will hear of something to your advantage... Only remember that you must not +frighten or vex the Ants.” Then the goddess vanished away. +</p> + +<p> +The man immediately went out to look for some Ants. He had scarcely crossed the +threshold of his door when he perceived two Ants upon a stone supporting one of +the house-pillars. He stooped over them, and listened; and he was astonished to +find that he could hear them talking, and could understand what they said. +“Let us try to find a warmer place,” proposed one of the Ants. +“Why a warmer place?” asked the other;—“what is the +matter with this place?” “It is too damp and cold below,” +said the first Ant; “there is a big treasure buried here; and the +sunshine cannot warm the ground about it.” Then the two Ants went away +together, and the listener ran for a spade. +</p> + +<p> +By digging in the neighborhood of the pillar, he soon found a number of large +jars full of gold coin. The discovery of this treasure made him a very rich +man. +</p> + +<p> +Afterwards he often tried to listen to the conversation of Ants. But he was +never again able to hear them speak. The ointment of the goddess had opened his +ears to their mysterious language for only a single day. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Now I, like that Chinese devotee, must confess myself a very ignorant person, +and naturally unable to hear the conversation of Ants. But the Fairy of Science +sometimes touches my ears and eyes with her wand; and then, for a little time, +I am able to hear things inaudible, and to perceive things imperceptible. +</p> + +<h3>II</h3> + +<p> +For the same reason that it is considered wicked, in sundry circles, to speak +of a non-Christian people having produced a civilization ethically superior to +our own, certain persons will not be pleased by what I am going to say about +ants. But there are men, incomparably wiser than I can ever hope to be, who +think about insects and civilizations independently of the blessings of +Christianity; and I find encouragement in the new <i>Cambridge Natural +History</i>, which contains the following remarks by Professor David Sharp, +concerning ants:— +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“Observation has revealed the most remarkable phenomena in the lives of +these insects. Indeed we can scarcely avoid the conclusion that they have +acquired, in many respects, the art of living together in societies more +perfectly than our own species has; and that they have anticipated us in the +acquisition of some of the industries and arts that greatly facilitate social +life.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +I suppose that a few well-informed persons will dispute this plain statement by +a trained specialist. The contemporary man of science is not apt to become +sentimental about ants or bees; but he will not hesitate to acknowledge that, +in regard to social evolution, these insects appear to have advanced +“beyond man.” Mr. Herbert Spencer, whom nobody will charge with +romantic tendencies, goes considerably further than Professor Sharp; showing us +that ants are, in a very real sense, <i>ethically</i> as well as economically +in advance of humanity,—their lives being entirely devoted to altruistic +ends. Indeed, Professor Sharp somewhat needlessly qualifies his praise of the +ant with this cautious observation:— +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“The competence of the ant is not like that of man. It is devoted to the +welfare of the species rather than to that of the individual, which is, as it +were, sacrificed or specialized for the benefit of the community.” +</p> + +<p> +—The obvious implication,—that any social state, in which the +improvement of the individual is sacrificed to the common welfare, leaves much +to be desired,—is probably correct, from the actual human standpoint. For +man is yet imperfectly evolved; and human society has much to gain from his +further individualization. But in regard to social insects the implied +criticism is open to question. “The improvement of the individual,” +says Herbert Spencer, “consists in the better fitting of him for social +cooperation; and this, being conducive to social prosperity, is conducive to +the maintenance of the race.” In other words, the value of the individual +can be <i>only</i> in relation to the society; and this granted, whether the +sacrifice of the individual for the sake of that society be good or evil must +depend upon what the society might gain or lose through a further +individualization of its members... But as we shall presently see, the +conditions of ant-society that most deserve our attention are the ethical +conditions; and these are beyond human criticism, since they realize that ideal +of moral evolution described by Mr. Spencer as “a state in which egoism +and altruism are so conciliated that the one merges into the other.” That +is to say, a state in which the only possible pleasure is the pleasure of +unselfish action. Or, again to quote Mr. Spencer, the activities of the +insect-society are “activities which postpone individual well-being so +completely to the well-being of the community that individual life appears to +be attended to only just so far as is necessary to make possible due attention +to social life,... the individual taking only just such food and just such rest +as are needful to maintain its vigor.” +</p> + +<h3>III</h3> + +<p> +I hope my reader is aware that ants practise horticulture and agriculture; that +they are skillful in the cultivation of mushrooms; that they have domesticated +(according to present knowledge) five hundred and eighty-four different kinds +of animals; that they make tunnels through solid rock; that they know how to +provide against atmospheric changes which might endanger the health of their +children; and that, for insects, their longevity is exceptional,—members +of the more highly evolved species living for a considerable number of years. +</p> + +<p> +But it is not especially of these matters that I wish to speak. What I want to +talk about is the awful propriety, the terrible morality, of the ant<a href="#fn21.1" name="fnref21.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>. +Our most appalling ideals of conduct fall short of the ethics of the +ant,—as progress is reckoned in time,—by nothing less than millions +of years!... When I say “the ant,” I mean the highest type of +ant,—not, of course, the entire ant-family. About two thousand species of +ants are already known; and these exhibit, in their social organizations, +widely varying degrees of evolution. Certain social phenomena of the greatest +biological importance, and of no less importance in their strange relation to +the subject of ethics, can be studied to advantage only in the existence of the +most highly evolved societies of ants. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After all that has been written of late years about the probable value of +relative experience in the long life of the ant, I suppose that few persons +would venture to deny individual character to the ant. The intelligence of the +little creature in meeting and overcoming difficulties of a totally new kind, +and in adapting itself to conditions entirely foreign to its experience, proves +a considerable power of independent thinking. But this at least is certain: +that the ant has no individuality capable of being exercised in a purely +selfish direction;—I am using the word “selfish” in its +ordinary acceptation. A greedy ant, a sensual ant, an ant capable of any one of +the seven deadly sins, or even of a small venial sin, is unimaginable. Equally +unimaginable, of course, a romantic ant, an ideological ant, a poetical ant, or +an ant inclined to metaphysical speculations. No human mind could attain to the +absolute matter-of-fact quality of the ant-mind;—no human being, as now +constituted, could cultivate a mental habit so impeccably practical as that of +the ant. But this superlatively practical mind is incapable of moral error. It +would be difficult, perhaps, to prove that the ant has no religious ideas. But +it is certain that such ideas could not be of any use to it. The being +incapable of moral weakness is beyond the need of “spiritual +guidance.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Only in a vague way can we conceive the character of ant-society, and the +nature of ant-morality; and to do even this we must try to imagine some yet +impossible state of human society and human morals. Let us, then, imagine a +world full of people incessantly and furiously working,—all of whom seem +to be women. No one of these women could be persuaded or deluded into taking a +single atom of food more than is needful to maintain her strength; and no one +of them ever sleeps a second longer than is necessary to keep her nervous +system in good working-order. And all of them are so peculiarly constituted +that the least unnecessary indulgence would result in some derangement of +function. +</p> + +<p> +The work daily performed by these female laborers comprises road-making, +bridge-building, timber-cutting, architectural construction of numberless +kinds, horticulture and agriculture, the feeding and sheltering of a hundred +varieties of domestic animals, the manufacture of sundry chemical products, the +storage and conservation of countless food-stuffs, and the care of the children +of the race. All this labor is done for the commonwealth—no citizen of +which is capable even of thinking about “property,” except as a +<i>res publica;</i>—and the sole object of the commonwealth is the +nurture and training of its young,—nearly all of whom are girls. The +period of infancy is long: the children remain for a great while, not only +helpless, but shapeless, and withal so delicate that they must be very +carefully guarded against the least change of temperature. Fortunately their +nurses understand the laws of health: each thoroughly knows all that she ought +to know in regard to ventilation, disinfection, drainage, moisture, and the +danger of germs,—germs being as visible, perhaps, to her myopic sight as +they become to our own eyes under the microscope. Indeed, all matters of +hygiene are so well comprehended that no nurse ever makes a mistake about the +sanitary conditions of her neighborhood. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of this perpetual labor no worker remains unkempt: each is +scrupulously neat, making her toilet many times a day. But as every worker is +born with the most beautiful of combs and brushes attached to her wrists, no +time is wasted in the toilet-room. Besides keeping themselves strictly clean, +the workers must also keep their houses and gardens in faultless order, for the +sake of the children. Nothing less than an earthquake, an eruption, an +inundation, or a desperate war, is allowed to interrupt the daily routine of +dusting, sweeping, scrubbing, and disinfecting. +</p> + +<h3>IV</h3> + +<p> +Now for stranger facts:— +</p> + +<p> +This world of incessant toil is a more than Vestal world. It is true that males +can sometimes be perceived in it; but they appear only at particular seasons, +and they have nothing whatever to do with the workers or with the work. None of +them would presume to address a worker,—except, perhaps, under +extraordinary circumstances of common peril. And no worker would think of +talking to a male;—for males, in this queer world, are inferior beings, +equally incapable of fighting or working, and tolerated only as necessary +evils. One special class of females,—the Mothers-Elect of the +race,—do condescend to consort with males, during a very brief period, at +particular seasons. But the Mothers-Elect do not work; and they <i>must</i> +accept husbands. A worker could not even dream of keeping company with a +male,—not merely because such association would signify the most +frivolous waste of time, nor yet because the worker necessarily regards all +males with unspeakable contempt; but because the worker is incapable of +wedlock. Some workers, indeed, are capable of parthenogenesis, and give birth +to children who never had fathers. As a general rule, however, the worker is +truly feminine by her moral instincts only: she has all the tenderness, the +patience, and the foresight that we call “maternal;” but her sex +has disappeared, like the sex of the Dragon-Maiden in the Buddhist legend. +</p> + +<p> +For defense against creatures of prey, or enemies of the state, the workers are +provided with weapons; and they are furthermore protected by a large military +force. The warriors are so much bigger than the workers (in some communities, +at least) that it is difficult, at first sight, to believe them of the same +race. Soldiers one hundred times larger than the workers whom they guard are +not uncommon. But all these soldiers are Amazons,—or, more correctly +speaking, semi-females. They can work sturdily; but being built for fighting +and for heavy pulling chiefly, their usefulness is restricted to those +directions in which force, rather than skill, is required. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +[Why females, rather than males, should have been evolutionally specialized +into soldiery and laborers may not be nearly so simple a question as it +appears. I am very sure of not being able to answer it. But natural economy may +have decided the matter. In many forms of life, the female greatly exceeds the +male in bulk and in energy;—perhaps, in this case, the larger reserve of +life-force possessed originally by the complete female could be more rapidly +and effectively utilized for the development of a special fighting-caste. All +energies which, in the fertile female, would be expended in the giving of life +seem here to have been diverted to the evolution of aggressive power, or +working-capacity.] +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Of the true females,—the Mothers-Elect,—there are very few indeed; +and these are treated like queens. So constantly and so reverentially are they +waited upon that they can seldom have any wishes to express. They are relieved +from every care of existence,—except the duty of bearing offspring. Night +and day they are cared for in every possible manner. They alone are +superabundantly and richly fed:—for the sake of the offspring they must +eat and drink and repose right royally; and their physiological specialization +allows of such indulgence <i>ad libitum</i>. They seldom go out, and never +unless attended by a powerful escort; as they cannot be permitted to incur +unnecessary fatigue or danger. Probably they have no great desire to go out. +Around them revolves the whole activity of the race: all its intelligence and +toil and thrift are directed solely toward the well-being of these Mothers and +of their children. +</p> + +<p> +But last and least of the race rank the husbands of these Mothers,—the +necessary Evils,—the males. They appear only at a particular season, as I +have already observed; and their lives are very short. Some cannot even boast +of noble descent, though destined to royal wedlock; for they are not royal +offspring, but virgin-born,—parthenogenetic children,—and, for that +reason especially, inferior beings, the chance results of some mysterious +atavism. But of any sort of males the commonwealth tolerates but +few,—barely enough to serve as husbands for the Mothers-Elect, and these +few perish almost as soon as their duty has been done. The meaning of +Nature’s law, in this extraordinary world, is identical with +Ruskin’s teaching that life without effort is crime; and since the males +are useless as workers or fighters, their existence is of only momentary +importance. They are not, indeed, sacrificed,—like the Aztec victim +chosen for the festival of Tezcatlipoca, and allowed a honeymoon of twenty days +before his heart was torn out. But they are scarcely less unfortunate in their +high fortune. Imagine youths brought up in the knowledge that they are destined +to become royal bridegrooms for a single night,—that after their bridal +they will have no moral right to live,—that marriage, for each and all of +them, will signify certain death,—and that they cannot even hope to be +lamented by their young widows, who will survive them for a time of many +generations...! +</p> + +<h3>V</h3> + +<p> +But all the foregoing is no more than a proem to the real “Romance of the +Insect-World.” +</p> + +<p> +—By far the most startling discovery in relation to this astonishing +civilization is that of the suppression of sex. In certain advanced forms of +ant-life sex totally disappears in the majority of individuals;—in nearly +all the higher ant-societies sex-life appears to exist only to the extent +absolutely needed for the continuance of the species. But the biological fact +in itself is much less startling than the ethical suggestion which it +offers;—<i>for this practical suppression, or regulation, of sex-faculty +appears to be voluntary!</i> Voluntary, at least, so far as the species is +concerned. It is now believed that these wonderful creatures have learned how +to develop, or to arrest the development, of sex in their young,—by some +particular mode of nutrition. They have succeeded in placing under perfect +control what is commonly supposed to be the most powerful and unmanageable of +instincts. And this rigid restraint of sex-life to within the limits necessary +to provide against extinction is but one (though the most amazing) of many +vital economies effected by the race. Every capacity for egoistic +pleasure—in the common meaning of the word +“egoistic”—has been equally repressed through physiological +modification. No indulgence of any natural appetite is possible except to that +degree in which such indulgence can directly or indirectly benefit the +species;—even the indispensable requirements of food and sleep being +satisfied only to the exact extent necessary for the maintenance of healthy +activity. The individual can exist, act, think, only for the communal good; and +the commune triumphantly refuses, in so far as cosmic law permits, to let +itself be ruled either by Love or Hunger. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Most of us have been brought up in the belief that without some kind of +religious creed—some hope of future reward or fear of future +punishment—no civilization could exist. We have been taught to think that +in the absence of laws based upon moral ideas, and in the absence of an +effective police to enforce such laws, nearly everybody would seek only his or +her personal advantage, to the disadvantage of everybody else. The strong would +then destroy the weak; pity and sympathy would disappear; and the whole social +fabric would fall to pieces... These teachings confess the existing +imperfection of human nature; and they contain obvious truth. But those who +first proclaimed that truth, thousands and thousands of years ago, never +imagined a form of social existence in which selfishness would be +<i>naturally</i> impossible. It remained for irreligious Nature to furnish us +with proof positive that there can exist a society in which the pleasure of +active beneficence makes needless the idea of duty,—a society in which +instinctive morality can dispense with ethical codes of every sort,—a +society of which every member is born so absolutely unselfish, and so +energetically good, that moral training could signify, even for its youngest, +neither more nor less than waste of precious time. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +To the Evolutionist such facts necessarily suggest that the value of our moral +idealism is but temporary; and that something better than virtue, better than +kindness, better than self-denial,—in the present human meaning of those +terms,—might, under certain conditions, eventually replace them. He finds +himself obliged to face the question whether a world without moral notions +might not be morally better than a world in which conduct is regulated by such +notions. He must even ask himself whether the existence of religious +commandments, moral laws, and ethical standards among ourselves does not prove +us still in a very primitive stage of social evolution. And these questions +naturally lead up to another: Will humanity ever be able, on this planet, to +reach an ethical condition beyond all its ideals,—a condition in which +everything that we now call evil will have been atrophied out of existence, and +everything that we call virtue have been transmuted into instinct;—a +state of altruism in which ethical concepts and codes will have become as +useless as they would be, even now, in the societies of the higher ants. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +The giants of modern thought have given some attention to this question; and +the greatest among them has answered it—partly in the affirmative. +Herbert Spencer has expressed his belief that humanity will arrive at some +state of civilization ethically comparable with that of the ant:— +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“If we have, in lower orders of creatures, cases in which the nature is +constitutionally so modified that altruistic activities have become one with +egoistic activities, there is an irresistible implication that a parallel +identification will, under parallel conditions, take place among human beings. +Social insects furnish us with instances completely to the point,—and +instances showing us, indeed, to what a marvelous degree the life of the +individual may be absorbed in subserving the lives of other individuals... +Neither the ant nor the bee can be supposed to have a sense of duty, in the +acceptation we give to that word; nor can it be supposed that it is continually +undergoing self-sacrifice, in the ordinary acceptation of that word... [The +facts] show us that it is within the possibilities of organization to produce a +nature which shall be just as energetic in the pursuit of altruistic ends, as +is in other cases shown in the pursuit of egoistic ends;—and they show +that, in such cases, these altruistic ends are pursued in pursuing ends which, +on their other face, are egoistic. For the satisfaction of the needs of the +organization, these actions, conducive to the welfare of others, <i>must</i> be +carried on... +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +“So far from its being true that there must go on, throughout all the +future, a condition in which self-regard is to be continually subjected by the +regard for others, it will, contrari-wise, be the case that a regard for others +will eventually become so large a source of pleasure as to overgrow the +pleasure which is derivable from direct egoistic gratification... Eventually, +then, there will come also a state in which egoism and altruism are so +conciliated that the one merges in the other.” +</p> + +<h3>VI</h3> + +<p> +Of course the foregoing prediction does not imply that human nature will ever +undergo such physiological change as would be represented by structural +specializations comparable to those by which the various castes of insect +societies are differentiated. We are not bidden to imagine a future state of +humanity in which the active majority would consist of semi-female workers and +Amazons toiling for an inactive minority of selected Mothers. Even in his +chapter, “Human Population in the Future,” Mr. Spencer has +attempted no detailed statement of the physical modifications inevitable to the +production of higher moral types,—though his general statement in regard +to a perfected nervous system, and a great diminution of human fertility, +suggests that such moral evolution would signify a very considerable amount of +physical change. If it be legitimate to believe in a future humanity to which +the pleasure of mutual beneficence will represent the whole joy of life, would +it not also be legitimate to imagine other transformations, physical and moral, +which the facts of insect-biology have proved to be within the range of +evolutional possibility?... I do not know. I most worshipfully reverence +Herbert Spencer as the greatest philosopher who has yet appeared in this world; +and I should be very sorry to write down anything contrary to his teaching, in +such wise that the reader could imagine it to have been inspired by Synthetic +Philosophy. For the ensuing reflections, I alone am responsible; and if I err, +let the sin be upon my own head. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +I suppose that the moral transformations predicted by Mr. Spencer, could be +effected only with the aid of physiological change, and at a terrible cost. +Those ethical conditions manifested by insect-societies can have been reached +only through effort desperately sustained for millions of years against the +most atrocious necessities. Necessities equally merciless may have to be met +and mastered eventually by the human race. Mr. Spencer has shown that the time +of the greatest possible human suffering is yet to come, and that it will be +concomitant with the period of the greatest possible pressure of population. +Among other results of that long stress, I understand that there will be a vast +increase in human intelligence and sympathy; and that this increase of +intelligence will be effected at the cost of human fertility. But this decline +in reproductive power will not, we are told, be sufficient to assure the very +highest of social conditions: it will only relieve that pressure of population +which has been the main cause of human suffering. The state of perfect social +equilibrium will be approached, but never quite reached, by mankind— +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +<i>Unless there be discovered some means of solving economic problems, just as +social insects have solved them, by the suppression of sex-life</i>. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Supposing that such a discovery were made, and that the human race should +decide to arrest the development of sex in the majority of its young,—so +as to effect a transferrence of those forces, now demanded by sex-life to the +development of higher activities,—might not the result be an eventual +state of polymorphism, like that of ants? And, in such event, might not the +Coming Race be indeed represented in its higher types,—through feminine +rather than masculine evolution,—by a majority of beings of neither sex? +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Considering how many persons, even now, through merely unselfish (not to speak +of religious) motives, sentence themselves to celibacy, it should not appear +improbable that a more highly evolved humanity would cheerfully sacrifice a +large proportion of its sex-life for the common weal, particularly in view of +certain advantages to be gained. Not the least of such advantages—always +supposing that mankind were able to control sex-life after the natural manner +of the ants—would be a prodigious increase of longevity. The higher types +of a humanity superior to sex might be able to realize the dream of life for a +thousand years. +</p> + +<p> +Already we find lives too short for the work we have to do; and with the +constantly accelerating progress of discovery, and the never-ceasing expansion +of knowledge, we shall certainly find more and more reason to regret, as time +goes on, the brevity of existence. That Science will ever discover the Elixir +of the Alchemists’ hope is extremely unlikely. The Cosmic Powers will not +allow us to cheat them. For every advantage which they yield us the full price +must be paid: nothing for nothing is the everlasting law. Perhaps the price of +long life will prove to be the price that the ants have paid for it. Perhaps, +upon some elder planet, that price has already been paid, and the power to +produce offspring restricted to a caste morphologically differentiated, in +unimaginable ways, from the rest of the species... +</p> + +<h3>VII</h3> + +<p> +But while the facts of insect-biology suggest so much in regard to the future +course of human evolution, do they not also suggest something of largest +significance concerning the relation of ethics to cosmic law? Apparently, the +highest evolution will not be permitted to creatures capable of what human +moral experience has in all areas condemned. Apparently, the highest possible +strength is the strength of unselfishness; and power supreme never will be +accorded to cruelty or to lust. There may be no gods; but the forces that shape +and dissolve all forms of being would seem to be much more exacting than gods. +To prove a “dramatic tendency” in the ways of the stars is not +possible; but the cosmic process seems nevertheless to affirm the worth of +every human system of ethics fundamentally opposed to human egoism. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap22"></a>Notes</h2> + +<h3>THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1.1"></a> <a href="#fnref1.1">[1]</a> +See my <i>Kottō</i>, for a description of these curious crabs. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1.2"></a> <a href="#fnref1.2">[2]</a> +Or, Shimonoséki. The town is also known by the name of Bakkan. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1.3"></a> <a href="#fnref1.3">[3]</a> +The <i>biwa</i>, a kind of four-stringed lute, is chiefly used in musical +recitative. Formerly the professional minstrels who recited the +<i>Heiké-Monogatari</i>, and other tragical histories, were called +<i>biwa-hōshi</i>, or “lute-priests.” The origin of this +appellation is not clear; but it is possible that it may have been suggested by +the fact that “lute-priests” as well as blind shampooers, had their +heads shaven, like Buddhist priests. The <i>biwa</i> is played with a kind of +plectrum, called <i>bachi</i>, usually made of horn. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) A response to show that one has heard and is listening attentively. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1.4"></a> <a href="#fnref1.4">[4]</a> +A respectful term, signifying the opening of a gate. It was used by samurai +when calling to the guards on duty at a lord’s gate for admission. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1.5"></a> <a href="#fnref1.5">[5]</a> +Or the phrase might be rendered, “for the pity of that part is the +deepest.” The Japanese word for pity in the original text is +“<i>awaré</i>.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1.6"></a> <a href="#fnref1.6">[6]</a> +“Traveling incognito” is at least the meaning of the original +phrase,—“making a disguised august-journey” (<i>shinobi no +go-ryokō</i>). +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1.7"></a> <a href="#fnref1.7">[7]</a> +The Smaller Pragña-Pâramitâ-Hridaya-Sûtra is thus called in Japanese. Both the +smaller and larger sûtras called Pragña-Pâramitâ (“Transcendent +Wisdom”) have been translated by the late Professor Max Müller, and can +be found in volume xlix. of the <i>Sacred Books of the East</i> +(“Buddhist Mahayana Sûtras”).—Apropos of the magical use of +the text, as described in this story, it is worth remarking that the subject of +the sûtra is the Doctrine of the Emptiness of Forms,—that is to say, of +the unreal character of all phenomena or noumena... “Form is emptiness; +and emptiness is form. Emptiness is not different from form; form is not +different from emptiness. What is form—that is emptiness. What is +emptiness—that is form... Perception, name, concept, and knowledge, are +also emptiness... There is no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind... But +when the envelopment of consciousness has been annihilated, then he [<i>the +seeker</i>] becomes free from all fear, and beyond the reach of change, +enjoying final Nirvana.” +</p> + +<h3>OSHIDORI</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn2.1"></a> <a href="#fnref2.1">[1]</a> +From ancient time, in the Far East, these birds have been regarded as +emblems of conjugal affection. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn2.2"></a> <a href="#fnref2.2">[2]</a> +There is a pathetic double meaning in the third verse; for the syllables +composing the proper name <i>Akanuma</i> (“Red Marsh”) may also be +read as <i>akanu-ma</i>, signifying “the time of our inseparable (or +delightful) relation.” So the poem can also be thus +rendered:—“When the day began to fail, I had invited him to +accompany me...! Now, after the time of that happy relation, what misery for +the one who must slumber alone in the shadow of the rushes!”—The +<i>makomo</i> is a short of large rush, used for making baskets. +</p> + +<h3>THE STORY OF O-TEI</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) “-sama” is a polite suffix attached to personal names. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) A Buddhist term commonly used to signify a kind of heaven. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn3.1"></a> <a href="#fnref3.1">[1]</a> +The Buddhist term <i>zokumyō</i> (“profane name”) signifies the +personal name, borne during life, in contradistinction to the <i>kaimyō</i> +(“sila-name”) or <i>homyō</i> (“Law-name”) given after +death,—religious posthumous appellations inscribed upon the tomb, and +upon the mortuary tablet in the parish-temple.—For some account of these, +see my paper entitled, “The Literature of the Dead,” in <i>Exotics +and Retrospectives</i>. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn3.2"></a> <a href="#fnref3.2">[2]</a> +Buddhist household shrine. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(3) Direct translation of a Japanese form of address used toward young, +unmarried women. +</p> + +<h3>DIPLOMACY</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) The spacious house and grounds of a wealthy person is thus called. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) A Buddhist service for the dead. +</p> + +<h3>OF A MIRROR AND A BELL</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Part of present-day Shizuoka Prefecture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) The two-hour period between 1 AM and 3 AM. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(3) A monetary unit. +</p> + +<h3>JIKININKI</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) The southern part of present-day Gifu Prefecture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn7.1"></a> <a href="#fnref7.1">[1]</a> +Literally, a man-eating goblin. The Japanese narrator gives also the +Sanscrit term, “Râkshasa;” but this word is quite as vague as +<i>jikininki</i>, since there are many kinds of Râkshasas. Apparently the word +<i>jikininki</i> signifies here one of the +<i>Baramon-Rasetsu-Gaki</i>,—forming the twenty-sixth class of pretas +enumerated in the old Buddhist books. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn7.2"></a> <a href="#fnref7.2">[2]</a> +A <i>Ségaki</i>-service is a special Buddhist service performed on behalf of +beings supposed to have entered into the condition of <i>gaki</i> (pretas), or +hungry spirits. For a brief account of such a service, see my <i>Japanese +Miscellany</i>. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn7.3"></a> <a href="#fnref7.3">[3]</a> +Literally, “five-circle [or five-zone] stone.” A funeral monument +consisting of five parts superimposed,—each of a different +form,—symbolizing the five mystic elements: Ether, Air, Fire, Water, +Earth. +</p> + +<h3>MUJINA</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) A kind of badger. Certain animals were thought to be able to transform +themselves and cause mischief for humans. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn8.1"></a> <a href="#fnref8.1">[1]</a> +O-jochū (“honorable damsel”), a polite form of address used in +speaking to a young lady whom one does not know. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) An apparition with a smooth, totally featureless face, called a +“nopperabo,” is a stock part of the Japanese pantheon of ghosts and +demons. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn8.2"></a> <a href="#fnref8.2">[2]</a> +Soba is a preparation of buckwheat, somewhat resembling vermicelli. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(3) An exclamation of annoyed alarm. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(4) Well! +</p> + +<h3>ROKURO-KUBI</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn9.1"></a> <a href="#fnref9.1">[1]</a> +The period of Eikyō lasted from 1429 to 1441. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn9.2"></a> <a href="#fnref9.2">[2]</a> +The upper robe of a Buddhist priest is thus called. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) A term for itinerant priests. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn9.3"></a> <a href="#fnref9.3">[3]</a> +A sort of little fireplace, contrived in the floor of a room, is thus +described. The <i>ro</i> is usually a square shallow cavity, lined with metal +and half-filled with ashes, in which charcoal is lighted. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(3) Direct translation of “suzumushi,” a kind of cricket with a +distinctive chirp like a tiny bell, whence the name. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(4) Now a rokuro-kubi is ordinarily conceived as a goblin whose neck stretches +out to great lengths, but which nevertheless always remains attached to its +body. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(5) A Chinese collection of stories on the supernatural. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn9.4"></a> <a href="#fnref9.4">[4]</a> +A present made to friends or to the household on returning from a journey is +thus called. Ordinarily, of course, the <i>miyagé</i> consists of something +produced in the locality to which the journey has been made: this is the point +of Kwairyō’s jest. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(6) Present-day Nagano Prefecture. +</p> + +<h3>A DEAD SECRET</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) On the present-day map, Tamba corresponds roughly to the central area of +Kyōto Prefecture and part of Hyogo Prefecture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn10.1"></a> <a href="#fnref10.1">[1]</a> +The Hour of the Rat (<i>Né-no-Koku</i>), according to the old Japanese method +of reckoning time, was the first hour. It corresponded to the time between our +midnight and two o’clock in the morning; for the ancient Japanese hours +were each equal to two modern hours. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn10.2"></a> <a href="#fnref10.2">[2]</a> +<i>Kaimyō</i>, the posthumous Buddhist name, or religious name, given to the +dead. Strictly speaking, the meaning of the word is sila-name. (See my paper +entitled, “The Literature of the Dead” in <i>Exotics and +Retrospectives</i>.) +</p> + +<h3>YUKI-ONNA</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) An ancient province whose boundaries took in most of present-day Tōkyō, and +parts of Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn11.1"></a> <a href="#fnref11.1">[1]</a> +That is to say, with a floor-surface of about six feet square. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn11.2"></a> <a href="#fnref11.2">[2]</a> +This name, signifying “Snow,” is not uncommon. On the subject of +Japanese female names, see my paper in the volume entitled <i>Shadowings</i>. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) Also spelled Edo, the former name of Tōkyō. +</p> + +<h3>THE STORY OF AOYAGI</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) An ancient province corresponding to the northern part of present-day +Ishikawa Prefecture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) An ancient province corresponding to the eastern part of present-day Fukui +Prefecture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn12.1"></a> <a href="#fnref12.1">[1]</a> +The name signifies “Green Willow;”—though rarely met with, it +is still in use. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn12.2"></a> <a href="#fnref12.2">[2]</a> +The poem may be read in two ways; several of the phrases having a double +meaning. But the art of its construction would need considerable space to +explain, and could scarcely interest the Western reader. The meaning which +Tomotada desired to convey might be thus expressed:—“While +journeying to visit my mother, I met with a being lovely as a flower; and for +the sake of that lovely person, I am passing the day here... Fair one, +wherefore that dawn-like blush before the hour of dawn?—can it mean that +you love me?” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn12.3"></a> <a href="#fnref12.3">[3]</a> +Another reading is possible; but this one gives the signification of the +<i>answer</i> intended. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn12.4"></a> <a href="#fnref12.4">[4]</a> +So the Japanese story-teller would have us believe,—although the verses +seem commonplace in translation. I have tried to give only their general +meaning: an effective literal translation would require some scholarship. +</p> + +<h3>JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Present-day Ehime Prefecture. +</p> + +<h3>THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKÉ</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Present-day Nara Prefecture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn14.1"></a> <a href="#fnref14.1">[1]</a> +This name “Tokoyo” is indefinite. According to circumstances it may +signify any unknown country,—or that undiscovered country from whose +bourn no traveler returns,—or that Fairyland of far-eastern fable, the +Realm of Hōrai. The term “Kokuō” means the ruler of a +country,—therefore a king. The original phrase, <i>Tokoyo no Kokuō</i>, +might be rendered here as “the Ruler of Hōrai,” or “the King +of Fairyland.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn14.2"></a> <a href="#fnref14.2">[2]</a> +The last phrase, according to old custom, had to be uttered by both attendants +at the same time. All these ceremonial observances can still be studied on the +Japanese stage. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn14.3"></a> <a href="#fnref14.3">[3]</a> +This was the name given to the estrade, or dais, upon which a feudal prince +or ruler sat in state. The term literally signifies “great seat.” +</p> + +<h3>RIKI-BAKA</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Kana: the Japanese phonetic alphabet. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) “So-and-so”: appellation used by Hearn in place of the real +name. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(3) A section of Tōkyō. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn15.1"></a> <a href="#fnref15.1">[1]</a> +A square piece of cotton-goods, or other woven material, used as a wrapper in +which to carry small packages. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(4) Ten yen is nothing now, but was a formidable sum then. +</p> + +<h3> INSECT STUDIES </h3> + +<h3>BUTTERFLIES</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Haiku. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.1"></a> <a href="#fnref19.1">[1]</a> +“The modest nymph beheld her God, and blushed.” (Or, in a more +familiar rendering: “The modest water saw its God, and blushed.”) +In this line the double value of the word <i>nympha</i>—used by classical +poets both in the meaning of fountain and in that of the divinity of a +fountain, or spring—reminds one of that graceful playing with words which +Japanese poets practice. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.2"></a> <a href="#fnref19.2">[2]</a> +More usually written <i>nugi-kakéru</i>, which means either “to take off +and hang up,” or “to begin to take off,”—as in the +above poem. More loosely, but more effectively, the verses might thus be +rendered: “Like a woman slipping off her haori—that is the +appearance of a butterfly.” One must have seen the Japanese garment +described, to appreciate the comparison. The haori is a silk +upper-dress,—a kind of sleeved cloak,—worn by both sexes; but the +poem suggests a woman’s <i>haori</i>, which is usually of richer color or +material. The sleeves are wide; and the lining is usually of brightly-colored +silk, often beautifully variegated. In taking off the haori, the brilliant +lining is displayed,—and at such an instant the fluttering splendor might +well be likened to the appearance of a butterfly in motion. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.3"></a> <a href="#fnref19.3">[3]</a> +The bird-catcher’s pole is smeared with bird-lime; and the verses suggest +that the insect is preventing the man from using his pole, by persistently +getting in the way of it,—as the birds might take warning from seeing the +butterfly limed. <i>Jama suru</i> means “to hinder” or +“prevent.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.4"></a> <a href="#fnref19.4">[4]</a> +Even while it is resting, the wings of the butterfly may be seen to quiver at +moments,—as if the creature were dreaming of flight. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.5"></a> <a href="#fnref19.5">[5]</a> +A little poem by Bashō, greatest of all Japanese composers of <i>hokku</i>. The +verses are intended to suggest the joyous feeling of spring-time. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.6"></a> <a href="#fnref19.6">[6]</a> +Literally, “a windless day;” but two negatives in Japanese poetry +do not necessarily imply an affirmative, as in English. The meaning is, that +although there is no wind, the fluttering motion of the butterflies suggests, +to the eyes at least, that a strong breeze is playing. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.7"></a> <a href="#fnref19.7">[7]</a> +Alluding to the Buddhist proverb: <i>Rakkwa éda ni kaërazu; ha-kyō futatabi +terasazu</i> (“The fallen flower returns not to the branch; the broken +mirror never again reflects.”) So says the proverb—yet it seemed to +me that I saw a fallen flower return to the branch... No: it was only a +butterfly. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.8"></a> <a href="#fnref19.8">[8]</a> +Alluding probably to the light fluttering motion of falling cherry-petals. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.9"></a> <a href="#fnref19.9">[9]</a> +That is to say, the grace of their motion makes one think of the grace of young +girls, daintily costumed, in robes with long fluttering sleeves... And old +Japanese proverb declares that even a devil is pretty at eighteen: <i>Oni mo +jiu-hachi azami no hana:</i> “Even a devil at eighteen, +flower-of-the-thistle.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.10"></a> <a href="#fnref19.10">[10]</a> +Or perhaps the verses might be more effectively rendered thus: “Happy +together, do you say? Yes—if we should be reborn as field-butterflies in +some future life: then we might accord!” This poem was composed by the +celebrated poet Issa, on the occasion of divorcing his wife. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.11"></a> <a href="#fnref19.11">[11]</a> +Or, <i>Taré no tama?</i> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.12"></a> <a href="#fnref19.12">[12]</a> +Literally, “Butterfly-pursuing heart I wish to have +always;”—<i>i.e.</i>, I would that I might always be able to find +pleasure in simple things, like a happy child. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.13"></a> <a href="#fnref19.13">[13]</a> +An old popular error,—probably imported from China. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.14"></a> <a href="#fnref19.14">[14]</a> +A name suggested by the resemblance of the larva’s artificial covering to +the <i>mino</i>, or straw-raincoat, worn by Japanese peasants. I am not sure +whether the dictionary rendering, “basket-worm,” is quite +correct;—but the larva commonly called <i>minomushi</i> does really +construct for itself something much like the covering of the basket-worm. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) A very large, white radish. “Daikon” literally means “big +root.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.15"></a> <a href="#fnref19.15">[15]</a> +<i>Pyrus spectabilis</i>. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.16"></a> <a href="#fnref19.16">[16]</a> +An evil spirit. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(3) A common female name. +</p> + +<h3>MOSQUITOES</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Meiji: The period in which Hearn wrote this book. It lasted from 1868 to +1912, and was a time when Japan plunged head-first into Western-style +modernization. By the “fashions and the changes and the disintegrations +of Meiji” Hearn is lamenting that this process of modernization was +destroying some of the good things in traditional Japanese culture. +</p> + +<h3>ANTS</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Cicadas. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn21.1"></a> <a href="#fnref21.1">[1]</a> +An interesting fact in this connection is that the Japanese word for ant, +<i>ari</i>, is represented by an ideograph formed of the character for +“insect” combined with the character signifying “moral +rectitude,” “propriety” (<i>giri</i>). So the Chinese +character actually means “The Propriety-Insect.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1210 ***</div> +</body> + +</html> + diff --git a/1210-h/images/img01.jpg b/1210-h/images/img01.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6a26133 --- /dev/null +++ b/1210-h/images/img01.jpg diff --git a/1210-h/images/img02.jpg b/1210-h/images/img02.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..942b407 --- /dev/null +++ b/1210-h/images/img02.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..259f6e8 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #1210 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1210) diff --git a/old/1210-0.txt b/old/1210-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..70e620e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1210-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4692 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, by Lafcadio Hearn + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things + +Author: Lafcadio Hearn + +Illustrator: Keishū Takénouchi + +Release Date: February, 1998 [eBook #1210] +[Most recently updated: January 30, 2022] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KWAIDAN: STORIES AND STUDIES OF STRANGE THINGS *** + + + + +KWAIDAN: +Stories and Studies of Strange Things + +By Lafcadio Hearn + + + + +A Note from the Digitizer + + +On Japanese Pronunciation + +Although simplified, the following general rules will help the reader +unfamiliar with Japanese to come close enough to Japanese +pronunciation. + +There are five vowels: a (as in fAther), i (as in machIne), u (as in +fOOl), e (as in fEllow), and o (as in mOle). Although certain vowels +become nearly “silent” in some environments, this phenomenon can be +safely ignored for the purpose at hand. + +Consonants roughly approximate their corresponding sounds in English, +except for r, which is actually somewhere between r and l (this is why +the Japanese have trouble distinguishing between English r and l), and +f, which is much closer to h. + +The spelling “KWAIDAN” is based on premodern Japanese pronunciation; +when Hearn came to Japan, the orthography reflecting this pronunciation +was still in use. In modern Japanese the word is pronounced KAIDAN. + +There are many ellipses in the text. Hearn often used them in this +book; they do not represent omissions by the digitizer. + +Author’s original notes are in brackets, those by the digitizer are in +parentheses. + + + + +Contents + + + INTRODUCTION + + KWAIDAN + THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI + OSHIDORI + THE STORY OF O-TEI + UBAZAKURA + DIPLOMACY + OF A MIRROR AND A BELL + JIKININKI + MUJINA + ROKURO-KUBI + A DEAD SECRET + YUKI-ONNA + THE STORY OF AOYAGI + JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA + THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKÉ + RIKI-BAKA + HI-MAWARI + HŌRAI + + INSECT STUDIES + BUTTERFLIES + MOSQUITOES + ANTS + + Notes + + + + +Illustrations + + BLOWING HER BREATH UPON HIM + BUTTERFLY DANCE + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The publication of a new volume of Lafcadio Hearn’s exquisite studies +of Japan happens, by a delicate irony, to fall in the very month when +the world is waiting with tense expectation for news of the latest +exploits of Japanese battleships. Whatever the outcome of the present +struggle between Russia and Japan, its significance lies in the fact +that a nation of the East, equipped with Western weapons and girding +itself with Western energy of will, is deliberately measuring strength +against one of the great powers of the Occident. No one is wise enough +to forecast the results of such a conflict upon the civilization of the +world. The best one can do is to estimate, as intelligently as +possible, the national characteristics of the peoples engaged, basing +one’s hopes and fears upon the psychology of the two races rather than +upon purely political and statistical studies of the complicated +questions involved in the present war. The Russian people have had +literary spokesmen who for more than a generation have fascinated the +European audience. The Japanese, on the other hand, have possessed no +such national and universally recognized figures as Turgenieff or +Tolstoy. They need an interpreter. + +It may be doubted whether any oriental race has ever had an interpreter +gifted with more perfect insight and sympathy than Lafcadio Hearn has +brought to the translation of Japan into our occidental speech. His +long residence in that country, his flexibility of mind, poetic +imagination, and wonderfully pellucid style have fitted him for the +most delicate of literary tasks. He has seen marvels, and he has told +of them in a marvelous way. There is scarcely an aspect of contemporary +Japanese life, scarcely an element in the social, political, and +military questions involved in the present conflict with Russia which +is not made clear in one or another of the books with which he has +charmed American readers. + +He characterizes Kwaidan as “stories and studies of strange things.” A +hundred thoughts suggested by the book might be written down, but most +of them would begin and end with this fact of strangeness. To read the +very names in the table of contents is like listening to a Buddhist +bell, struck somewhere far away. Some of his tales are of the long ago, +and yet they seem to illumine the very souls and minds of the little +men who are at this hour crowding the decks of Japan’s armored +cruisers. But many of the stories are about women and children,—the +lovely materials from which the best fairy tales of the world have been +woven. They too are strange, these Japanese maidens and wives and +keen-eyed, dark-haired girls and boys; they are like us and yet not +like us; and the sky and the hills and the flowers are all different +from ours. Yet by a magic of which Mr. Hearn, almost alone among +contemporary writers, is the master, in these delicate, transparent, +ghostly sketches of a world unreal to us, there is a haunting sense of +spiritual reality. + +In a penetrating and beautiful essay contributed to the “Atlantic +Monthly” in February, 1903, by Paul Elmer More, the secret of Mr. +Hearn’s magic is said to lie in the fact that in his art is found “the +meeting of three ways.” “To the religious instinct of India—Buddhism in +particular,—which history has engrafted on the aæsthetic sense of +Japan, Mr. Hearn brings the interpreting spirit of occidental science; +and these three traditions are fused by the peculiar sympathies of his +mind into one rich and novel compound,—a compound so rare as to have +introduced into literature a psychological sensation unknown before.” +Mr. More’s essay received the high praise of Mr. Hearn’s recognition +and gratitude, and if it were possible to reprint it here, it would +provide a most suggestive introduction to these new stories of old +Japan, whose substance is, as Mr. More has said, “so strangely mingled +together out of the austere dreams of India and the subtle beauty of +Japan and the relentless science of Europe.” + +_March_, 1904. + + + + +Most of the following _Kwaidan_, or Weird Tales, have been taken from +old Japanese books,—such as the _Yasō-Kidan_, _Bukkyō-Hyakkwa-Zenshō_, +_Kokon-Chomonshū_, _Tama-Sudaré_, and _Hyaku-Monogatari_. Some of the +stories may have had a Chinese origin: the very remarkable “Dream of +Akinosuké,” for example, is certainly from a Chinese source. But the +story-teller, in every case, has so recolored and reshaped his +borrowing as to naturalize it... One queer tale, “Yuki-Onna,” was told +me by a farmer of Chōfu, Nishitama-gōri, in Musashi province, as a +legend of his native village. Whether it has ever been written in +Japanese I do not know; but the extraordinary belief which it records +used certainly to exist in most parts of Japan, and in many curious +forms... The incident of “Riki-Baka” was a personal experience; and I +wrote it down almost exactly as it happened, changing only a +family-name mentioned by the Japanese narrator. + +L. H. + +TŌKYŌ, JAPAN, January 20th, 1904. + + + + +KWAIDAN + + + + +THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI + + +More than seven hundred years ago, at Dan-no-ura, in the Straits of +Shimonoséki, was fought the last battle of the long contest between the +Heiké, or Taira clan, and the Genji, or Minamoto clan. There the Heiké +perished utterly, with their women and children, and their infant +emperor likewise—now remembered as Antoku Tennō. And that sea and shore +have been haunted for seven hundred years... Elsewhere I told you about +the strange crabs found there, called Heiké crabs, which have human +faces on their backs, and are said to be the spirits of the Heiké +warriors[1]. But there are many strange things to be seen and heard +along that coast. On dark nights thousands of ghostly fires hover about +the beach, or flit above the waves,—pale lights which the fishermen +call _Oni-bi_, or demon-fires; and, whenever the winds are up, a sound +of great shouting comes from that sea, like a clamor of battle. + +In former years the Heiké were much more restless than they now are. +They would rise about ships passing in the night, and try to sink them; +and at all times they would watch for swimmers, to pull them down. It +was in order to appease those dead that the Buddhist temple, Amidaji, +was built at Akamagaséki[2]. A cemetery also was made close by, near +the beach; and within it were set up monuments inscribed with the names +of the drowned emperor and of his great vassals; and Buddhist services +were regularly performed there, on behalf of the spirits of them. After +the temple had been built, and the tombs erected, the Heiké gave less +trouble than before; but they continued to do queer things at +intervals,—proving that they had not found the perfect peace. + +Some centuries ago there lived at Akamagaséki a blind man named Hōïchi, +who was famed for his skill in recitation and in playing upon the +_biwa_[3]. From childhood he had been trained to recite and to play; +and while yet a lad he had surpassed his teachers. As a professional +_biwa-hōshi_ he became famous chiefly by his recitations of the history +of the Heiké and the Genji; and it is said that when he sang the song +of the battle of Dan-no-ura “even the goblins [_kijin_] could not +refrain from tears.” + +At the outset of his career, Hōïchi was very poor; but he found a good +friend to help him. The priest of the Amidaji was fond of poetry and +music; and he often invited Hōïchi to the temple, to play and recite. +Afterwards, being much impressed by the wonderful skill of the lad, the +priest proposed that Hōïchi should make the temple his home; and this +offer was gratefully accepted. Hōïchi was given a room in the +temple-building; and, in return for food and lodging, he was required +only to gratify the priest with a musical performance on certain +evenings, when otherwise disengaged. + +One summer night the priest was called away, to perform a Buddhist +service at the house of a dead parishioner; and he went there with his +acolyte, leaving Hōïchi alone in the temple. It was a hot night; and +the blind man sought to cool himself on the verandah before his +sleeping-room. The verandah overlooked a small garden in the rear of +the Amidaji. There Hōïchi waited for the priest’s return, and tried to +relieve his solitude by practicing upon his biwa. Midnight passed; and +the priest did not appear. But the atmosphere was still too warm for +comfort within doors; and Hōïchi remained outside. At last he heard +steps approaching from the back gate. Somebody crossed the garden, +advanced to the verandah, and halted directly in front of him—but it +was not the priest. A deep voice called the blind man’s name—abruptly +and unceremoniously, in the manner of a samurai summoning an inferior:— + +“Hōïchi!” + +Hōïchi was too much startled, for the moment, to respond; and the voice +called again, in a tone of harsh command,— + +“Hōïchi!” + +“_Hai!_”(1) answered the blind man, frightened by the menace in the +voice,—“I am blind!—I cannot know who calls!” + +“There is nothing to fear,” the stranger exclaimed, speaking more +gently. “I am stopping near this temple, and have been sent to you with +a message. My present lord, a person of exceedingly high rank, is now +staying in Akamagaséki, with many noble attendants. He wished to view +the scene of the battle of Dan-no-ura; and to-day he visited that +place. Having heard of your skill in reciting the story of the battle, +he now desires to hear your performance: so you will take your biwa and +come with me at once to the house where the august assembly is +waiting.” + +In those times, the order of a samurai was not to be lightly disobeyed. +Hōïchi donned his sandals, took his biwa, and went away with the +stranger, who guided him deftly, but obliged him to walk very fast. The +hand that guided was iron; and the clank of the warrior’s stride proved +him fully armed,—probably some palace-guard on duty. Hōïchi’s first +alarm was over: he began to imagine himself in good luck;—for, +remembering the retainer’s assurance about a “person of exceedingly +high rank,” he thought that the lord who wished to hear the recitation +could not be less than a daimyō of the first class. Presently the +samurai halted; and Hōïchi became aware that they had arrived at a +large gateway;—and he wondered, for he could not remember any large +gate in that part of the town, except the main gate of the Amidaji. +“_Kaimon!_”[4] the samurai called,—and there was a sound of unbarring; +and the twain passed on. They traversed a space of garden, and halted +again before some entrance; and the retainer cried in a loud voice, +“Within there! I have brought Hōïchi.” Then came sounds of feet +hurrying, and screens sliding, and rain-doors opening, and voices of +women in converse. By the language of the women Hōïchi knew them to be +domestics in some noble household; but he could not imagine to what +place he had been conducted. Little time was allowed him for +conjecture. After he had been helped to mount several stone steps, upon +the last of which he was told to leave his sandals, a woman’s hand +guided him along interminable reaches of polished planking, and round +pillared angles too many to remember, and over widths amazing of matted +floor,—into the middle of some vast apartment. There he thought that +many great people were assembled: the sound of the rustling of silk was +like the sound of leaves in a forest. He heard also a great humming of +voices,—talking in undertones; and the speech was the speech of courts. + +Hōïchi was told to put himself at ease, and he found a kneeling-cushion +ready for him. After having taken his place upon it, and tuned his +instrument, the voice of a woman—whom he divined to be the _Rōjo_, or +matron in charge of the female service—addressed him, saying,— + +“It is now required that the history of the Heiké be recited, to the +accompaniment of the biwa.” + +Now the entire recital would have required a time of many nights: +therefore Hōïchi ventured a question:— + +“As the whole of the story is not soon told, what portion is it +augustly desired that I now recite?” + +The woman’s voice made answer:— + +“Recite the story of the battle at Dan-no-ura,—for the pity of it is +the most deep.”[5] + +Then Hōïchi lifted up his voice, and chanted the chant of the fight on +the bitter sea,—wonderfully making his biwa to sound like the straining +of oars and the rushing of ships, the whirr and the hissing of arrows, +the shouting and trampling of men, the crashing of steel upon helmets, +the plunging of slain in the flood. And to left and right of him, in +the pauses of his playing, he could hear voices murmuring praise: “How +marvelous an artist!”—“Never in our own province was playing heard like +this!”—“Not in all the empire is there another singer like Hōïchi!” +Then fresh courage came to him, and he played and sang yet better than +before; and a hush of wonder deepened about him. But when at last he +came to tell the fate of the fair and helpless,—the piteous perishing +of the women and children,—and the death-leap of Nii-no-Ama, with the +imperial infant in her arms,—then all the listeners uttered together +one long, long shuddering cry of anguish; and thereafter they wept and +wailed so loudly and so wildly that the blind man was frightened by the +violence and grief that he had made. For much time the sobbing and the +wailing continued. But gradually the sounds of lamentation died away; +and again, in the great stillness that followed, Hōïchi heard the voice +of the woman whom he supposed to be the Rōjo. + +She said:— + +“Although we had been assured that you were a very skillful player upon +the biwa, and without an equal in recitative, we did not know that any +one could be so skillful as you have proved yourself to-night. Our lord +has been pleased to say that he intends to bestow upon you a fitting +reward. But he desires that you shall perform before him once every +night for the next six nights—after which time he will probably make +his august return-journey. To-morrow night, therefore, you are to come +here at the same hour. The retainer who to-night conducted you will be +sent for you... There is another matter about which I have been ordered +to inform you. It is required that you shall speak to no one of your +visits here, during the time of our lord’s august sojourn at +Akamagaséki. As he is traveling incognito,[6] he commands that no +mention of these things be made... You are now free to go back to your +temple.” + +After Hōïchi had duly expressed his thanks, a woman’s hand conducted +him to the entrance of the house, where the same retainer, who had +before guided him, was waiting to take him home. The retainer led him +to the verandah at the rear of the temple, and there bade him farewell. + +It was almost dawn when Hōïchi returned; but his absence from the +temple had not been observed,—as the priest, coming back at a very late +hour, had supposed him asleep. During the day Hōïchi was able to take +some rest; and he said nothing about his strange adventure. In the +middle of the following night the samurai again came for him, and led +him to the august assembly, where he gave another recitation with the +same success that had attended his previous performance. But during +this second visit his absence from the temple was accidentally +discovered; and after his return in the morning he was summoned to the +presence of the priest, who said to him, in a tone of kindly reproach:— + +“We have been very anxious about you, friend Hōïchi. To go out, blind +and alone, at so late an hour, is dangerous. Why did you go without +telling us? I could have ordered a servant to accompany you. And where +have you been?” + +Hōïchi answered, evasively,— + +“Pardon me kind friend! I had to attend to some private business; and I +could not arrange the matter at any other hour.” + +The priest was surprised, rather than pained, by Hōïchi’s reticence: he +felt it to be unnatural, and suspected something wrong. He feared that +the blind lad had been bewitched or deluded by some evil spirits. He +did not ask any more questions; but he privately instructed the +men-servants of the temple to keep watch upon Hōïchi’s movements, and +to follow him in case that he should again leave the temple after dark. + +On the very next night, Hōïchi was seen to leave the temple; and the +servants immediately lighted their lanterns, and followed after him. +But it was a rainy night, and very dark; and before the temple-folks +could get to the roadway, Hōïchi had disappeared. Evidently he had +walked very fast,—a strange thing, considering his blindness; for the +road was in a bad condition. The men hurried through the streets, +making inquiries at every house which Hōïchi was accustomed to visit; +but nobody could give them any news of him. At last, as they were +returning to the temple by way of the shore, they were startled by the +sound of a biwa, furiously played, in the cemetery of the Amidaji. +Except for some ghostly fires—such as usually flitted there on dark +nights—all was blackness in that direction. But the men at once +hastened to the cemetery; and there, by the help of their lanterns, +they discovered Hōïchi,—sitting alone in the rain before the memorial +tomb of Antoku Tennō, making his biwa resound, and loudly chanting the +chant of the battle of Dan-no-ura. And behind him, and about him, and +everywhere above the tombs, the fires of the dead were burning, like +candles. Never before had so great a host of _Oni-bi_ appeared in the +sight of mortal man... + +“Hōïchi San!—Hōïchi San!” the servants cried,—“you are bewitched!... +Hōïchi San!” + +But the blind man did not seem to hear. Strenuously he made his biwa to +rattle and ring and clang;—more and more wildly he chanted the chant of +the battle of Dan-no-ura. They caught hold of him;—they shouted into +his ear,— + +“Hōïchi San!—Hōïchi San!—come home with us at once!” + +Reprovingly he spoke to them:— + +“To interrupt me in such a manner, before this august assembly, will +not be tolerated.” + +Whereat, in spite of the weirdness of the thing, the servants could not +help laughing. Sure that he had been bewitched, they now seized him, +and pulled him up on his feet, and by main force hurried him back to +the temple,—where he was immediately relieved of his wet clothes, by +order of the priest. Then the priest insisted upon a full explanation +of his friend’s astonishing behavior. + +Hōïchi long hesitated to speak. But at last, finding that his conduct +had really alarmed and angered the good priest, he decided to abandon +his reserve; and he related everything that had happened from the time +of first visit of the samurai. + +The priest said:— + +“Hōïchi, my poor friend, you are now in great danger! How unfortunate +that you did not tell me all this before! Your wonderful skill in music +has indeed brought you into strange trouble. By this time you must be +aware that you have not been visiting any house whatever, but have been +passing your nights in the cemetery, among the tombs of the Heiké;—and +it was before the memorial-tomb of Antoku Tennō that our people +to-night found you, sitting in the rain. All that you have been +imagining was illusion—except the calling of the dead. By once obeying +them, you have put yourself in their power. If you obey them again, +after what has already occurred, they will tear you in pieces. But they +would have destroyed you, sooner or later, in any event... Now I shall +not be able to remain with you to-night: I am called away to perform +another service. But, before I go, it will be necessary to protect your +body by writing holy texts upon it.” + +Before sundown the priest and his acolyte stripped Hōïchi: then, with +their writing-brushes, they traced upon his breast and back, head and +face and neck, limbs and hands and feet,—even upon the soles of his +feet, and upon all parts of his body,—the text of the holy sûtra called +_Hannya-Shin-Kyō_.[7] When this had been done, the priest instructed +Hōïchi, saying:— + +“To-night, as soon as I go away, you must seat yourself on the +verandah, and wait. You will be called. But, whatever may happen, do +not answer, and do not move. Say nothing and sit still—as if +meditating. If you stir, or make any noise, you will be torn asunder. +Do not get frightened; and do not think of calling for help—because no +help could save you. If you do exactly as I tell you, the danger will +pass, and you will have nothing more to fear.” + +After dark the priest and the acolyte went away; and Hōïchi seated +himself on the verandah, according to the instructions given him. He +laid his biwa on the planking beside him, and, assuming the attitude of +meditation, remained quite still,—taking care not to cough, or to +breathe audibly. For hours he stayed thus. + +Then, from the roadway, he heard the steps coming. They passed the +gate, crossed the garden, approached the verandah, stopped—directly in +front of him. + +“Hōïchi!” the deep voice called. But the blind man held his breath, and +sat motionless. + +“Hōïchi!” grimly called the voice a second time. Then a third +time—savagely:— + +“Hōïchi!” + +Hōïchi remained as still as a stone,—and the voice grumbled:— + +“No answer!—that won’t do!... Must see where the fellow is.”... + +There was a noise of heavy feet mounting upon the verandah. The feet +approached deliberately,—halted beside him. Then, for long +minutes,—during which Hōïchi felt his whole body shake to the beating +of his heart,—there was dead silence. + +At last the gruff voice muttered close to him:— + +“Here is the biwa; but of the biwa-player I see—only two ears!... So +that explains why he did not answer: he had no mouth to answer +with—there is nothing left of him but his ears... Now to my lord those +ears I will take—in proof that the august commands have been obeyed, so +far as was possible”... + +At that instant Hōïchi felt his ears gripped by fingers of iron, and +torn off! Great as the pain was, he gave no cry. The heavy footfalls +receded along the verandah,—descended into the garden,—passed out to +the roadway,—ceased. From either side of his head, the blind man felt a +thick warm trickling; but he dared not lift his hands... + +Before sunrise the priest came back. He hastened at once to the +verandah in the rear, stepped and slipped upon something clammy, and +uttered a cry of horror;—for he saw, by the light of his lantern, that +the clamminess was blood. But he perceived Hōïchi sitting there, in the +attitude of meditation—with the blood still oozing from his wounds. + +“My poor Hōïchi!” cried the startled priest,—“what is this?... You have +been hurt?” + +At the sound of his friend’s voice, the blind man felt safe. He burst +out sobbing, and tearfully told his adventure of the night. + +“Poor, poor Hōïchi!” the priest exclaimed,—“all my fault!—my very +grievous fault!... Everywhere upon your body the holy texts had been +written—except upon your ears! I trusted my acolyte to do that part of +the work; and it was very, very wrong of me not to have made sure that +he had done it!... Well, the matter cannot now be helped;—we can only +try to heal your hurts as soon as possible... Cheer up, friend!—the +danger is now well over. You will never again be troubled by those +visitors.” + +With the aid of a good doctor, Hōïchi soon recovered from his injuries. +The story of his strange adventure spread far and wide, and soon made +him famous. Many noble persons went to Akamagaséki to hear him recite; +and large presents of money were given to him,—so that he became a +wealthy man... But from the time of his adventure, he was known only by +the appellation of _Mimi-nashi-Hōïchi:_ “Hōïchi-the-Earless.” + + + + +OSHIDORI + + +There was a falconer and hunter, named Sonjō, who lived in the district +called Tamura-no-Gō, of the province of Mutsu. One day he went out +hunting, and could not find any game. But on his way home, at a place +called Akanuma, he perceived a pair of _oshidori_[1] (mandarin-ducks), +swimming together in a river that he was about to cross. To kill +_oshidori_ is not good; but Sonjō happened to be very hungry, and he +shot at the pair. His arrow pierced the male: the female escaped into +the rushes of the further shore, and disappeared. Sonjō took the dead +bird home, and cooked it. + +That night he dreamed a dreary dream. It seemed to him that a beautiful +woman came into his room, and stood by his pillow, and began to weep. +So bitterly did she weep that Sonjō felt as if his heart were being +torn out while he listened. And the woman cried to him: “Why,—oh! why +did you kill him?—of what wrong was he guilty?... At Akanuma we were so +happy together,—and you killed him!... What harm did he ever do you? Do +you even know what you have done?—oh! do you know what a cruel, what a +wicked thing you have done?... Me too you have killed,—for I will not +live without my husband!... Only to tell you this I came.”... Then +again she wept aloud,—so bitterly that the voice of her crying pierced +into the marrow of the listener’s bones;—and she sobbed out the words +of this poem:— + + Hi kururéba +Sasoëshi mono wo— + Akanuma no +Makomo no kuré no +Hitori-né zo uki! + + +[_“At the coming of twilight I invited him to return with me—! Now to +sleep alone in the shadow of the rushes of Akanuma—ah! what misery +unspeakable!”_][2] + +And after having uttered these verses she exclaimed:—“Ah, you do not +know—you cannot know what you have done! But to-morrow, when you go to +Akanuma, you will see,—you will see...” So saying, and weeping very +piteously, she went away. + +When Sonjō awoke in the morning, this dream remained so vivid in his +mind that he was greatly troubled. He remembered the words:—“But +to-morrow, when you go to Akanuma, you will see,—you will see.” And he +resolved to go there at once, that he might learn whether his dream was +anything more than a dream. + +So he went to Akanuma; and there, when he came to the river-bank, he +saw the female _oshidori_ swimming alone. In the same moment the bird +perceived Sonjō; but, instead of trying to escape, she swam straight +towards him, looking at him the while in a strange fixed way. Then, +with her beak, she suddenly tore open her own body, and died before the +hunter’s eyes... + +Sonjō shaved his head, and became a priest. + + + + +THE STORY OF O-TEI + + +A long time ago, in the town of Niigata, in the province of Echizen, +there lived a man called Nagao Chōsei. + +Nagao was the son of a physician, and was educated for his father’s +profession. At an early age he had been betrothed to a girl called +O-Tei, the daughter of one of his father’s friends; and both families +had agreed that the wedding should take place as soon as Nagao had +finished his studies. But the health of O-Tei proved to be weak; and in +her fifteenth year she was attacked by a fatal consumption. When she +became aware that she must die, she sent for Nagao to bid him farewell. + +As he knelt at her bedside, she said to him:— + +“Nagao-Sama, (1) my betrothed, we were promised to each other from the +time of our childhood; and we were to have been married at the end of +this year. But now I am going to die;—the gods know what is best for +us. If I were able to live for some years longer, I could only continue +to be a cause of trouble and grief for others. With this frail body, I +could not be a good wife; and therefore even to wish to live, for your +sake, would be a very selfish wish. I am quite resigned to die; and I +want you to promise that you will not grieve... Besides, I want to tell +you that I think we shall meet again.”... + +“Indeed we shall meet again,” Nagao answered earnestly. “And in that +Pure Land (2) there will be no pain of separation.” + +“Nay, nay!” she responded softly, “I meant not the Pure Land. I believe +that we are destined to meet again in this world,—although I shall be +buried to-morrow.” + +Nagao looked at her wonderingly, and saw her smile at his wonder. She +continued, in her gentle, dreamy voice,— + +“Yes, I mean in this world,—in your own present life, Nagao-Sama... +Providing, indeed, that you wish it. Only, for this thing to happen, I +must again be born a girl, and grow up to womanhood. So you would have +to wait. Fifteen—sixteen years: that is a long time... But, my promised +husband, you are now only nineteen years old.”... + +Eager to soothe her dying moments, he answered tenderly:— + +“To wait for you, my betrothed, were no less a joy than a duty. We are +pledged to each other for the time of seven existences.” + +“But you doubt?” she questioned, watching his face. + +“My dear one,” he answered, “I doubt whether I should be able to know +you in another body, under another name,—unless you can tell me of a +sign or token.” + +“That I cannot do,” she said. “Only the Gods and the Buddhas know how +and where we shall meet. But I am sure—very, very sure—that, if you be +not unwilling to receive me, I shall be able to come back to you... +Remember these words of mine.”... + +She ceased to speak; and her eyes closed. She was dead. + + +Nagao had been sincerely attached to O-Tei; and his grief was deep. He +had a mortuary tablet made, inscribed with her _zokumyō;_[1] and he +placed the tablet in his _butsudan_,[2] and every day set offerings +before it. He thought a great deal about the strange things that O-Tei +had said to him just before her death; and, in the hope of pleasing her +spirit, he wrote a solemn promise to wed her if she could ever return +to him in another body. This written promise he sealed with his seal, +and placed in the _butsudan_ beside the mortuary tablet of O-Tei. + +Nevertheless, as Nagao was an only son, it was necessary that he should +marry. He soon found himself obliged to yield to the wishes of his +family, and to accept a wife of his father’s choosing. After his +marriage he continued to set offerings before the tablet of O-Tei; and +he never failed to remember her with affection. But by degrees her +image became dim in his memory,—like a dream that is hard to recall. +And the years went by. + +During those years many misfortunes came upon him. He lost his parents +by death,—then his wife and his only child. So that he found himself +alone in the world. He abandoned his desolate home, and set out upon a +long journey in the hope of forgetting his sorrows. + +One day, in the course of his travels, he arrived at Ikao,—a +mountain-village still famed for its thermal springs, and for the +beautiful scenery of its neighborhood. In the village-inn at which he +stopped, a young girl came to wait upon him; and, at the first sight of +her face, he felt his heart leap as it had never leaped before. So +strangely did she resemble O-Tei that he pinched himself to make sure +that he was not dreaming. As she went and came,—bringing fire and food, +or arranging the chamber of the guest,—her every attitude and motion +revived in him some gracious memory of the girl to whom he had been +pledged in his youth. He spoke to her; and she responded in a soft, +clear voice of which the sweetness saddened him with a sadness of other +days. + +Then, in great wonder, he questioned her, saying:— + +“Elder Sister (3), so much do you look like a person whom I knew long +ago, that I was startled when you first entered this room. Pardon me, +therefore, for asking what is your native place, and what is your +name?” + +Immediately,—and in the unforgotten voice of the dead,—she thus made +answer:— + +“My name is O-Tei; and you are Nagao Chōsei of Echigo, my promised +husband. Seventeen years ago, I died in Niigata: then you made in +writing a promise to marry me if ever I could come back to this world +in the body of a woman;—and you sealed that written promise with your +seal, and put it in the _butsudan_, beside the tablet inscribed with my +name. And therefore I came back.”... + +As she uttered these last words, she fell unconscious. + +Nagao married her; and the marriage was a happy one. But at no time +afterwards could she remember what she had told him in answer to his +question at Ikao: neither could she remember anything of her previous +existence. The recollection of the former birth,—mysteriously kindled +in the moment of that meeting,—had again become obscured, and so +thereafter remained. + + + + +UBAZAKURA + + +Three hundred years ago, in the village called Asamimura, in the +district called Onsengōri, in the province of Iyō, there lived a good +man named Tokubei. This Tokubei was the richest person in the district, +and the _muraosa_, or headman, of the village. In most matters he was +fortunate; but he reached the age of forty without knowing the +happiness of becoming a father. Therefore he and his wife, in the +affliction of their childlessness, addressed many prayers to the +divinity Fudō Myō Ō, who had a famous temple, called Saihōji, in +Asamimura. + +At last their prayers were heard: the wife of Tokubei gave birth to a +daughter. The child was very pretty; and she received the name of +Tsuyu. As the mother’s milk was deficient, a milk-nurse, called O-Sodé, +was hired for the little one. + +O-Tsuyu grew up to be a very beautiful girl; but at the age of fifteen +she fell sick, and the doctors thought that she was going to die. In +that time the nurse O-Sodé, who loved O-Tsuyu with a real mother’s +love, went to the temple Saihōji, and fervently prayed to Fudō-Sama on +behalf of the girl. Every day, for twenty-one days, she went to the +temple and prayed; and at the end of that time, O-Tsuyu suddenly and +completely recovered. + +Then there was great rejoicing in the house of Tokubei; and he gave a +feast to all his friends in celebration of the happy event. But on the +night of the feast the nurse O-Sodé was suddenly taken ill; and on the +following morning, the doctor, who had been summoned to attend her, +announced that she was dying. + +Then the family, in great sorrow, gathered about her bed, to bid her +farewell. But she said to them:— + +“It is time that I should tell you something which you do not know. My +prayer has been heard. I besought Fudō-Sama that I might be permitted +to die in the place of O-Tsuyu; and this great favor has been granted +me. Therefore you must not grieve about my death... But I have one +request to make. I promised Fudō-Sama that I would have a cherry-tree +planted in the garden of Saihōji, for a thank-offering and a +commemoration. Now I shall not be able myself to plant the tree there: +so I must beg that you will fulfill that vow for me... Good-bye, dear +friends; and remember that I was happy to die for O-Tsuyu’s sake.” + +After the funeral of O-Sodé, a young cherry-tree,—the finest that could +be found,—was planted in the garden of Saihōji by the parents of +O-Tsuyu. The tree grew and flourished; and on the sixteenth day of the +second month of the following year,—the anniversary of O-Sodé’s +death,—it blossomed in a wonderful way. So it continued to blossom for +two hundred and fifty-four years,—always upon the sixteenth day of the +second month;—and its flowers, pink and white, were like the nipples of +a woman’s breasts, bedewed with milk. And the people called it +_Ubazakura_, the Cherry-tree of the Milk-Nurse. + + + + +DIPLOMACY + + +It had been ordered that the execution should take place in the garden +of the _yashiki_ (1). So the man was taken there, and made to kneel +down in a wide sanded space crossed by a line of _tobi-ishi_, or +stepping-stones, such as you may still see in Japanese +landscape-gardens. His arms were bound behind him. Retainers brought +water in buckets, and rice-bags filled with pebbles; and they packed +the rice-bags round the kneeling man,—so wedging him in that he could +not move. The master came, and observed the arrangements. He found them +satisfactory, and made no remarks. + +Suddenly the condemned man cried out to him:— + +“Honored Sir, the fault for which I have been doomed I did not +wittingly commit. It was only my very great stupidity which caused the +fault. Having been born stupid, by reason of my Karma, I could not +always help making mistakes. But to kill a man for being stupid is +wrong,—and that wrong will be repaid. So surely as you kill me, so +surely shall I be avenged;—out of the resentment that you provoke will +come the vengeance; and evil will be rendered for evil.”... + +If any person be killed while feeling strong resentment, the ghost of +that person will be able to take vengeance upon the killer. This the +samurai knew. He replied very gently,—almost caressingly:— + +“We shall allow you to frighten us as much as you please—after you are +dead. But it is difficult to believe that you mean what you say. Will +you try to give us some sign of your great resentment—after your head +has been cut off?” + +“Assuredly I will,” answered the man. + +“Very well,” said the samurai, drawing his long sword;—“I am now going +to cut off your head. Directly in front of you there is a +stepping-stone. After your head has been cut off, try to bite the +stepping-stone. If your angry ghost can help you to do that, some of us +may be frightened... Will you try to bite the stone?” + +“I will bite it!” cried the man, in great anger,—“I will bite it!—I +will bite”— + +There was a flash, a swish, a crunching thud: the bound body bowed over +the rice sacks,—two long blood-jets pumping from the shorn neck;—and +the head rolled upon the sand. Heavily toward the stepping-stone it +rolled: then, suddenly bounding, it caught the upper edge of the stone +between its teeth, clung desperately for a moment, and dropped inert. + +None spoke; but the retainers stared in horror at their master. He +seemed to be quite unconcerned. He merely held out his sword to the +nearest attendant, who, with a wooden dipper, poured water over the +blade from haft to point, and then carefully wiped the steel several +times with sheets of soft paper... And thus ended the ceremonial part +of the incident. + +For months thereafter, the retainers and the domestics lived in +ceaseless fear of ghostly visitation. None of them doubted that the +promised vengeance would come; and their constant terror caused them to +hear and to see much that did not exist. They became afraid of the +sound of the wind in the bamboos,—afraid even of the stirring of +shadows in the garden. At last, after taking counsel together, they +decided to petition their master to have a _Ségaki_-service (2) +performed on behalf of the vengeful spirit. + +“Quite unnecessary,” the samurai said, when his chief retainer had +uttered the general wish... “I understand that the desire of a dying +man for revenge may be a cause for fear. But in this case there is +nothing to fear.” + +The retainer looked at his master beseechingly, but hesitated to ask +the reason of the alarming confidence. + +“Oh, the reason is simple enough,” declared the samurai, divining the +unspoken doubt. “Only the very last intention of the fellow could have +been dangerous; and when I challenged him to give me the sign, I +diverted his mind from the desire of revenge. He died with the set +purpose of biting the stepping-stone; and that purpose he was able to +accomplish, but nothing else. All the rest he must have forgotten... So +you need not feel any further anxiety about the matter.” + +—And indeed the dead man gave no more trouble. Nothing at all happened. + + + + +OF A MIRROR AND A BELL + + +Eight centuries ago, the priests of Mugenyama, in the province of +Tōtōmi (1), wanted a big bell for their temple; and they asked the +women of their parish to help them by contributing old bronze mirrors +for bell-metal. + +[Even to-day, in the courts of certain Japanese temples, you may see +heaps of old bronze mirrors contributed for such a purpose. The largest +collection of this kind that I ever saw was in the court of a temple of +the Jōdo sect, at Hakata, in Kyūshū: the mirrors had been given for the +making of a bronze statue of Amida, thirty-three feet high.] + +There was at that time a young woman, a farmer’s wife, living at +Mugenyama, who presented her mirror to the temple, to be used for +bell-metal. But afterwards she much regretted her mirror. She +remembered things that her mother had told her about it; and she +remembered that it had belonged, not only to her mother but to her +mother’s mother and grandmother; and she remembered some happy smiles +which it had reflected. Of course, if she could have offered the +priests a certain sum of money in place of the mirror, she could have +asked them to give back her heirloom. But she had not the money +necessary. Whenever she went to the temple, she saw her mirror lying in +the court-yard, behind a railing, among hundreds of other mirrors +heaped there together. She knew it by the _Shō-Chiku-Bai_ in relief on +the back of it,—those three fortunate emblems of Pine, Bamboo, and +Plumflower, which delighted her baby-eyes when her mother first showed +her the mirror. She longed for some chance to steal the mirror, and +hide it,—that she might thereafter treasure it always. But the chance +did not come; and she became very unhappy,—felt as if she had foolishly +given away a part of her life. She thought about the old saying that a +mirror is the Soul of a Woman—(a saying mystically expressed, by the +Chinese character for Soul, upon the backs of many bronze mirrors),—and +she feared that it was true in weirder ways than she had before +imagined. But she could not dare to speak of her pain to anybody. + +Now, when all the mirrors contributed for the Mugenyama bell had been +sent to the foundry, the bell-founders discovered that there was one +mirror among them which would not melt. Again and again they tried to +melt it; but it resisted all their efforts. Evidently the woman who had +given that mirror to the temple must have regretted the giving. She had +not presented her offering with all her heart; and therefore her +selfish soul, remaining attached to the mirror, kept it hard and cold +in the midst of the furnace. + +Of course everybody heard of the matter, and everybody soon knew whose +mirror it was that would not melt. And because of this public exposure +of her secret fault, the poor woman became very much ashamed and very +angry. And as she could not bear the shame, she drowned herself, after +having written a farewell letter containing these words:— + +“When I am dead, it will not be difficult to melt the mirror and to +cast the bell. But, to the person who breaks that bell by ringing it, +great wealth will be given by the ghost of me.” + + +—You must know that the last wish or promise of anybody who dies in +anger, or performs suicide in anger, is generally supposed to possess a +supernatural force. After the dead woman’s mirror had been melted, and +the bell had been successfully cast, people remembered the words of +that letter. They felt sure that the spirit of the writer would give +wealth to the breaker of the bell; and, as soon as the bell had been +suspended in the court of the temple, they went in multitude to ring +it. With all their might and main they swung the ringing-beam; but the +bell proved to be a good bell, and it bravely withstood their assaults. +Nevertheless, the people were not easily discouraged. Day after day, at +all hours, they continued to ring the bell furiously,—caring nothing +whatever for the protests of the priests. So the ringing became an +affliction; and the priests could not endure it; and they got rid of +the bell by rolling it down the hill into a swamp. The swamp was deep, +and swallowed it up,—and that was the end of the bell. Only its legend +remains; and in that legend it is called the _Mugen-Kané_, or Bell of +Mugen. + + +Now there are queer old Japanese beliefs in the magical efficacy of a +certain mental operation implied, though not described, by the verb +_nazoraëru_. The word itself cannot be adequately rendered by any +English word; for it is used in relation to many kinds of mimetic +magic, as well as in relation to the performance of many religious acts +of faith. Common meanings of _nazoraëru_, according to dictionaries, +are “to imitate,” “to compare,” “to liken;” but the esoteric meaning is +_to substitute, in imagination, one object or action for another, so as +to bring about some magical or miraculous result_. + +For example:—you cannot afford to build a Buddhist temple; but you can +easily lay a pebble before the image of the Buddha, with the same pious +feeling that would prompt you to build a temple if you were rich enough +to build one. The merit of so offering the pebble becomes equal, or +almost equal, to the merit of erecting a temple... You cannot read the +six thousand seven hundred and seventy-one volumes of the Buddhist +texts; but you can make a revolving library, containing them, turn +round, by pushing it like a windlass. And if you push with an earnest +wish that you could read the six thousand seven hundred and seventy-one +volumes, you will acquire the same merit as the reading of them would +enable you to gain... So much will perhaps suffice to explain the +religious meanings of _nazoraëru_. + +The magical meanings could not all be explained without a great variety +of examples; but, for present purposes, the following will serve. If +you should make a little man of straw, for the same reason that Sister +Helen made a little man of wax,—and nail it, with nails not less than +five inches long, to some tree in a temple-grove at the Hour of the Ox +(2),—and if the person, imaginatively represented by that little straw +man, should die thereafter in atrocious agony,—that would illustrate +one signification of _nazoraëru_... Or, let us suppose that a robber +has entered your house during the night, and carried away your +valuables. If you can discover the footprints of that robber in your +garden, and then promptly burn a very large moxa on each of them, the +soles of the feet of the robber will become inflamed, and will allow +him no rest until he returns, of his own accord, to put himself at your +mercy. That is another kind of mimetic magic expressed by the term +_nazoraëru_. And a third kind is illustrated by various legends of the +Mugen-Kané. + +After the bell had been rolled into the swamp, there was, of course, no +more chance of ringing it in such wise as to break it. But persons who +regretted this loss of opportunity would strike and break objects +imaginatively substituted for the bell,—thus hoping to please the +spirit of the owner of the mirror that had made so much trouble. One of +these persons was a woman called Umégaë,—famed in Japanese legend +because of her relation to Kajiwara Kagesue, a warrior of the Heiké +clan. While the pair were traveling together, Kajiwara one day found +himself in great straits for want of money; and Umégaë, remembering the +tradition of the Bell of Mugen, took a basin of bronze, and, mentally +representing it to be the bell, beat upon it until she broke it,—crying +out, at the same time, for three hundred pieces of gold. A guest of the +inn where the pair were stopping made inquiry as to the cause of the +banging and the crying, and, on learning the story of the trouble, +actually presented Umégaë with three hundred _ryō_ (3) in gold. +Afterwards a song was made about Umégaë’s basin of bronze; and that +song is sung by dancing girls even to this day:— + +Umégaë no chōzubachi tataïté +O-kané ga déru naraba +Mina San mi-uké wo +Sōré tanomimasu + + +[“_If, by striking upon the wash-basin of Umégaë, I could make +honorable money come to me, then would I negotiate for the freedom of +all my girl-comrades._”] + + +After this happening, the fame of the Mugen-Kané became great; and many +people followed the example of Umégaë,—thereby hoping to emulate her +luck. Among these folk was a dissolute farmer who lived near Mugenyama, +on the bank of the Ōïgawa. Having wasted his substance in riotous +living, this farmer made for himself, out of the mud in his garden, a +clay-model of the Mugen-Kané; and he beat the clay-bell, and broke +it,—crying out the while for great wealth. + +Then, out of the ground before him, rose up the figure of a white-robed +woman, with long loose-flowing hair, holding a covered jar. And the +woman said: “I have come to answer your fervent prayer as it deserves +to be answered. Take, therefore, this jar.” So saying, she put the jar +into his hands, and disappeared. + +Into his house the happy man rushed, to tell his wife the good news. He +set down in front of her the covered jar,—which was heavy,—and they +opened it together. And they found that it was filled, up to the very +brim, with... + +But no!—I really cannot tell you with what it was filled. + + + + +JIKININKI + + +Once, when Musō Kokushi, a priest of the Zen sect, was journeying alone +through the province of Mino (1), he lost his way in a +mountain-district where there was nobody to direct him. For a long time +he wandered about helplessly; and he was beginning to despair of +finding shelter for the night, when he perceived, on the top of a hill +lighted by the last rays of the sun, one of those little hermitages, +called _anjitsu_, which are built for solitary priests. It seemed to be +in ruinous condition; but he hastened to it eagerly, and found that it +was inhabited by an aged priest, from whom he begged the favor of a +night’s lodging. This the old man harshly refused; but he directed Musō +to a certain hamlet, in the valley adjoining where lodging and food +could be obtained. + +Musō found his way to the hamlet, which consisted of less than a dozen +farm-cottages; and he was kindly received at the dwelling of the +headman. Forty or fifty persons were assembled in the principal +apartment, at the moment of Musō’s arrival; but he was shown into a +small separate room, where he was promptly supplied with food and +bedding. Being very tired, he lay down to rest at an early hour; but a +little before midnight he was roused from sleep by a sound of loud +weeping in the next apartment. Presently the sliding-screens were +gently pushed apart; and a young man, carrying a lighted lantern, +entered the room, respectfully saluted him, and said:— + +“Reverend Sir, it is my painful duty to tell you that I am now the +responsible head of this house. Yesterday I was only the eldest son. +But when you came here, tired as you were, we did not wish that you +should feel embarrassed in any way: therefore we did not tell you that +father had died only a few hours before. The people whom you saw in the +next room are the inhabitants of this village: they all assembled here +to pay their last respects to the dead; and now they are going to +another village, about three miles off,—for by our custom, no one of us +may remain in this village during the night after a death has taken +place. We make the proper offerings and prayers;—then we go away, +leaving the corpse alone. Strange things always happen in the house +where a corpse has thus been left: so we think that it will be better +for you to come away with us. We can find you good lodging in the other +village. But perhaps, as you are a priest, you have no fear of demons +or evil spirits; and, if you are not afraid of being left alone with +the body, you will be very welcome to the use of this poor house. +However, I must tell you that nobody, except a priest, would dare to +remain here tonight.” + +Musō made answer:— + +“For your kind intention and your generous hospitality, I am deeply +grateful. But I am sorry that you did not tell me of your father’s +death when I came;—for, though I was a little tired, I certainly was +not so tired that I should have found difficulty in doing my duty as a +priest. Had you told me, I could have performed the service before your +departure. As it is, I shall perform the service after you have gone +away; and I shall stay by the body until morning. I do not know what +you mean by your words about the danger of staying here alone; but I am +not afraid of ghosts or demons: therefore please to feel no anxiety on +my account.” + +The young man appeared to be rejoiced by these assurances, and +expressed his gratitude in fitting words. Then the other members of the +family, and the folk assembled in the adjoining room, having been told +of the priest’s kind promises, came to thank him,—after which the +master of the house said:— + +“Now, reverend Sir, much as we regret to leave you alone, we must bid +you farewell. By the rule of our village, none of us can stay here +after midnight. We beg, kind Sir, that you will take every care of your +honorable body, while we are unable to attend upon you. And if you +happen to hear or see anything strange during our absence, please tell +us of the matter when we return in the morning.” + +All then left the house, except the priest, who went to the room where +the dead body was lying. The usual offerings had been set before the +corpse; and a small Buddhist lamp—_tōmyō_—was burning. The priest +recited the service, and performed the funeral ceremonies,—after which +he entered into meditation. So meditating he remained through several +silent hours; and there was no sound in the deserted village. But, when +the hush of the night was at its deepest, there noiselessly entered a +Shape, vague and vast; and in the same moment Musō found himself +without power to move or speak. He saw that Shape lift the corpse, as +with hands, devour it, more quickly than a cat devours a rat,—beginning +at the head, and eating everything: the hair and the bones and even the +shroud. And the monstrous Thing, having thus consumed the body, turned +to the offerings, and ate them also. Then it went away, as mysteriously +as it had come. + +When the villagers returned next morning, they found the priest +awaiting them at the door of the headman’s dwelling. All in turn +saluted him; and when they had entered, and looked about the room, no +one expressed any surprise at the disappearance of the dead body and +the offerings. But the master of the house said to Musō:— + +“Reverent Sir, you have probably seen unpleasant things during the +night: all of us were anxious about you. But now we are very happy to +find you alive and unharmed. Gladly we would have stayed with you, if +it had been possible. But the law of our village, as I told you last +evening, obliges us to quit our houses after a death has taken place, +and to leave the corpse alone. Whenever this law has been broken, +heretofore, some great misfortune has followed. Whenever it is obeyed, +we find that the corpse and the offerings disappear during our absence. +Perhaps you have seen the cause.” + +Then Musō told of the dim and awful Shape that had entered the +death-chamber to devour the body and the offerings. No person seemed to +be surprised by his narration; and the master of the house observed:— + +“What you have told us, reverend Sir, agrees with what has been said +about this matter from ancient time.” + +Musō then inquired:— + +“Does not the priest on the hill sometimes perform the funeral service +for your dead?” + +“What priest?” the young man asked. + +“The priest who yesterday evening directed me to this village,” +answered Musō. “I called at his _anjitsu_ on the hill yonder. He +refused me lodging, but told me the way here.” + +The listeners looked at each other, as in astonishment; and, after a +moment of silence, the master of the house said:— + +“Reverend Sir, there is no priest and there is no _anjitsu_ on the +hill. For the time of many generations there has not been any +resident-priest in this neighborhood.” + +Musō said nothing more on the subject; for it was evident that his kind +hosts supposed him to have been deluded by some goblin. But after +having bidden them farewell, and obtained all necessary information as +to his road, he determined to look again for the hermitage on the hill, +and so to ascertain whether he had really been deceived. He found the +_anjitsu_ without any difficulty; and, this time, its aged occupant +invited him to enter. When he had done so, the hermit humbly bowed down +before him, exclaiming:—“Ah! I am ashamed!—I am very much ashamed!—I am +exceedingly ashamed!” + +“You need not be ashamed for having refused me shelter,” said Musō. +“You directed me to the village yonder, where I was very kindly +treated; and I thank you for that favor.” + +“I can give no man shelter,” the recluse made answer;—“and it is not +for the refusal that I am ashamed. I am ashamed only that you should +have seen me in my real shape,—for it was I who devoured the corpse and +the offerings last night before your eyes... Know, reverend Sir, that I +am a _jikininki_,[1]—an eater of human flesh. Have pity upon me, and +suffer me to confess the secret fault by which I became reduced to this +condition. + +“A long, long time ago, I was a priest in this desolate region. There +was no other priest for many leagues around. So, in that time, the +bodies of the mountain-folk who died used to be brought here,—sometimes +from great distances,—in order that I might repeat over them the holy +service. But I repeated the service and performed the rites only as a +matter of business;—I thought only of the food and the clothes that my +sacred profession enabled me to gain. And because of this selfish +impiety I was reborn, immediately after my death, into the state of a +_jikininki_. Since then I have been obliged to feed upon the corpses of +the people who die in this district: every one of them I must devour in +the way that you saw last night... Now, reverend Sir, let me beseech +you to perform a Ségaki-service[2] for me: help me by your prayers, I +entreat you, so that I may be soon able to escape from this horrible +state of existence”... + +No sooner had the hermit uttered this petition than he disappeared; and +the hermitage also disappeared at the same instant. And Musō Kokushi +found himself kneeling alone in the high grass, beside an ancient and +moss-grown tomb of the form called _go-rin-ishi_,[3] which seemed to be +the tomb of a priest. + + + + +MUJINA + + +On the Akasaka Road, in Tōkyō, there is a slope called +Kii-no-kuni-zaka,—which means the Slope of the Province of Kii. I do +not know why it is called the Slope of the Province of Kii. On one side +of this slope you see an ancient moat, deep and very wide, with high +green banks rising up to some place of gardens;—and on the other side +of the road extend the long and lofty walls of an imperial palace. +Before the era of street-lamps and jinrikishas, this neighborhood was +very lonesome after dark; and belated pedestrians would go miles out of +their way rather than mount the Kii-no-kuni-zaka, alone, after sunset. + +All because of a Mujina that used to walk there. (1) + +The last man who saw the Mujina was an old merchant of the Kyōbashi +quarter, who died about thirty years ago. This is the story, as he told +it:— + +One night, at a late hour, he was hurrying up the Kii-no-kuni-zaka, +when he perceived a woman crouching by the moat, all alone, and weeping +bitterly. Fearing that she intended to drown herself, he stopped to +offer her any assistance or consolation in his power. She appeared to +be a slight and graceful person, handsomely dressed; and her hair was +arranged like that of a young girl of good family. “O-jochū,”[1] he +exclaimed, approaching her,—“O-jochū, do not cry like that!... Tell me +what the trouble is; and if there be any way to help you, I shall be +glad to help you.” (He really meant what he said; for he was a very +kind man.) But she continued to weep,—hiding her face from him with one +of her long sleeves. “O-jochū,” he said again, as gently as he +could,—“please, please listen to me!... This is no place for a young +lady at night! Do not cry, I implore you!—only tell me how I may be of +some help to you!” Slowly she rose up, but turned her back to him, and +continued to moan and sob behind her sleeve. He laid his hand lightly +upon her shoulder, and pleaded:—“O-jochū!—O-jochū!—O-jochū!... Listen +to me, just for one little moment!... O-jochū!—O-jochū!”... Then that +O-jochū turned around, and dropped her sleeve, and stroked her face +with her hand;—and the man saw that she had no eyes or nose or +mouth,—and he screamed and ran away. (2) + +Up Kii-no-kuni-zaka he ran and ran; and all was black and empty before +him. On and on he ran, never daring to look back; and at last he saw a +lantern, so far away that it looked like the gleam of a firefly; and he +made for it. It proved to be only the lantern of an itinerant +_soba_-seller,[2] who had set down his stand by the road-side; but any +light and any human companionship was good after that experience; and +he flung himself down at the feet of the _soba_-seller, crying out, +“Ah!—aa!!—_aa!!!_”... + +“_Koré! koré!_” (3) roughly exclaimed the soba-man. “Here! what is the +matter with you? Anybody hurt you?” + +“No—nobody hurt me,” panted the other,—“only... _Ah!—aa!_” + +“—Only scared you?” queried the peddler, unsympathetically. “Robbers?” + +“Not robbers,—not robbers,” gasped the terrified man... “I saw... I saw +a woman—by the moat;—and she showed me... _Ah!_ I cannot tell you what +she showed me!”... + +“_Hé!_ (4) Was it anything like THIS that she showed you?” cried the +soba-man, stroking his own face—which therewith became like unto an +Egg... And, simultaneously, the light went out. + + + + +ROKURO-KUBI + + +Nearly five hundred years ago there was a samurai, named Isogai +Héïdazaëmon Takétsura, in the service of the Lord Kikuji, of Kyūshū. +This Isogai had inherited, from many warlike ancestors, a natural +aptitude for military exercises, and extraordinary strength. While yet +a boy he had surpassed his teachers in the art of swordsmanship, in +archery, and in the use of the spear, and had displayed all the +capacities of a daring and skillful soldier. Afterwards, in the time of +the Eikyō[1] war, he so distinguished himself that high honors were +bestowed upon him. But when the house of Kikuji came to ruin, Isogai +found himself without a master. He might then easily have obtained +service under another daimyō; but as he had never sought distinction +for his own sake alone, and as his heart remained true to his former +lord, he preferred to give up the world. So he cut off his hair, and +became a traveling priest,—taking the Buddhist name of Kwairyō. + +But always, under the _koromo_[2] of the priest, Kwairyō kept warm +within him the heart of the samurai. As in other years he had laughed +at peril, so now also he scorned danger; and in all weathers and all +seasons he journeyed to preach the good Law in places where no other +priest would have dared to go. For that age was an age of violence and +disorder; and upon the highways there was no security for the solitary +traveler, even if he happened to be a priest. + +In the course of his first long journey, Kwairyō had occasion to visit +the province of Kai. (1) One evening, as he was traveling through the +mountains of that province, darkness overcame him in a very lonesome +district, leagues away from any village. So he resigned himself to pass +the night under the stars; and having found a suitable grassy spot, by +the roadside, he lay down there, and prepared to sleep. He had always +welcomed discomfort; and even a bare rock was for him a good bed, when +nothing better could be found, and the root of a pine-tree an excellent +pillow. His body was iron; and he never troubled himself about dews or +rain or frost or snow. + +Scarcely had he lain down when a man came along the road, carrying an +axe and a great bundle of chopped wood. This woodcutter halted on +seeing Kwairyō lying down, and, after a moment of silent observation, +said to him in a tone of great surprise:— + +“What kind of a man can you be, good Sir, that you dare to lie down +alone in such a place as this?... There are haunters about here,—many +of them. Are you not afraid of Hairy Things?” + +“My friend,” cheerfully answered Kwairyō, “I am only a wandering +priest,—a ‘Cloud-and-Water-Guest,’ as folks call it: +_Unsui-no-ryokaku_. (2) And I am not in the least afraid of Hairy +Things,—if you mean goblin-foxes, or goblin-badgers, or any creatures +of that kind. As for lonesome places, I like them: they are suitable +for meditation. I am accustomed to sleeping in the open air: and I have +learned never to be anxious about my life.” + +“You must be indeed a brave man, Sir Priest,” the peasant responded, +“to lie down here! This place has a bad name,—a very bad name. But, as +the proverb has it, _Kunshi ayayuki ni chikayorazu_ [‘The superior man +does not needlessly expose himself to peril’]; and I must assure you, +Sir, that it is very dangerous to sleep here. Therefore, although my +house is only a wretched thatched hut, let me beg of you to come home +with me at once. In the way of food, I have nothing to offer you; but +there is a roof at least, and you can sleep under it without risk.” + +He spoke earnestly; and Kwairyō, liking the kindly tone of the man, +accepted this modest offer. The woodcutter guided him along a narrow +path, leading up from the main road through mountain-forest. It was a +rough and dangerous path,—sometimes skirting precipices,—sometimes +offering nothing but a network of slippery roots for the foot to rest +upon,—sometimes winding over or between masses of jagged rock. But at +last Kwairyō found himself upon a cleared space at the top of a hill, +with a full moon shining overhead; and he saw before him a small +thatched cottage, cheerfully lighted from within. The woodcutter led +him to a shed at the back of the house, whither water had been +conducted, through bamboo-pipes, from some neighboring stream; and the +two men washed their feet. Beyond the shed was a vegetable garden, and +a grove of cedars and bamboos; and beyond the trees appeared the +glimmer of a cascade, pouring from some loftier height, and swaying in +the moonshine like a long white robe. + +As Kwairyō entered the cottage with his guide, he perceived four +persons—men and women—warming their hands at a little fire kindled in +the _ro_[3] of the principle apartment. They bowed low to the priest, +and greeted him in the most respectful manner. Kwairyō wondered that +persons so poor, and dwelling in such a solitude, should be aware of +the polite forms of greeting. “These are good people,” he thought to +himself; “and they must have been taught by some one well acquainted +with the rules of propriety.” Then turning to his host,—the _aruji_, or +house-master, as the others called him,—Kwairyō said:— + +“From the kindness of your speech, and from the very polite welcome +given me by your household, I imagine that you have not always been a +woodcutter. Perhaps you formerly belonged to one of the upper classes?” + +Smiling, the woodcutter answered:— + +“Sir, you are not mistaken. Though now living as you find me, I was +once a person of some distinction. My story is the story of a ruined +life—ruined by my own fault. I used to be in the service of a daimyō; +and my rank in that service was not inconsiderable. But I loved women +and wine too well; and under the influence of passion I acted wickedly. +My selfishness brought about the ruin of our house, and caused the +death of many persons. Retribution followed me; and I long remained a +fugitive in the land. Now I often pray that I may be able to make some +atonement for the evil which I did, and to reestablish the ancestral +home. But I fear that I shall never find any way of so doing. +Nevertheless, I try to overcome the karma of my errors by sincere +repentance, and by helping, as far as I can, those who are +unfortunate.” + +Kwairyō was pleased by this announcement of good resolve; and he said +to the _aruji:_— + +“My friend, I have had occasion to observe that men, prone to folly in +their youth, may in after years become very earnest in right living. In +the holy sûtras it is written that those strongest in wrong-doing can +become, by power of good resolve, the strongest in right-doing. I do +not doubt that you have a good heart; and I hope that better fortune +will come to you. To-night I shall recite the sûtras for your sake, and +pray that you may obtain the force to overcome the karma of any past +errors.” + +With these assurances, Kwairyō bade the _aruji_ good-night; and his +host showed him to a very small side-room, where a bed had been made +ready. Then all went to sleep except the priest, who began to read the +sûtras by the light of a paper lantern. Until a late hour he continued +to read and pray: then he opened a little window in his little +sleeping-room, to take a last look at the landscape before lying down. +The night was beautiful: there was no cloud in the sky: there was no +wind; and the strong moonlight threw down sharp black shadows of +foliage, and glittered on the dews of the garden. Shrillings of +crickets and bell-insects (3) made a musical tumult; and the sound of +the neighboring cascade deepened with the night. Kwairyō felt thirsty +as he listened to the noise of the water; and, remembering the bamboo +aqueduct at the rear of the house, he thought that he could go there +and get a drink without disturbing the sleeping household. Very gently +he pushed apart the sliding-screens that separated his room from the +main apartment; and he saw, by the light of the lantern, five recumbent +bodies—without heads! + +For one instant he stood bewildered,—imagining a crime. But in another +moment he perceived that there was no blood, and that the headless +necks did not look as if they had been cut. Then he thought to +himself:—“Either this is an illusion made by goblins, or I have been +lured into the dwelling of a Rokuro-Kubi... (4) In the book _Sōshinki_ +(5) it is written that if one find the body of a Rokuro-Kubi without +its head, and remove the body to another place, the head will never be +able to join itself again to the neck. And the book further says that +when the head comes back and finds that its body has been moved, it +will strike itself upon the floor three times,—bounding like a +ball,—and will pant as in great fear, and presently die. Now, if these +be Rokuro-Kubi, they mean me no good;—so I shall be justified in +following the instructions of the book.”... + +He seized the body of the aruji by the feet, pulled it to the window, +and pushed it out. Then he went to the back-door, which he found +barred; and he surmised that the heads had made their exit through the +smoke-hole in the roof, which had been left open. Gently unbarring the +door, he made his way to the garden, and proceeded with all possible +caution to the grove beyond it. He heard voices talking in the grove; +and he went in the direction of the voices,—stealing from shadow to +shadow, until he reached a good hiding-place. Then, from behind a +trunk, he caught sight of the heads,—all five of them,—flitting about, +and chatting as they flitted. They were eating worms and insects which +they found on the ground or among the trees. Presently the head of the +aruji stopped eating and said:— + +“Ah, that traveling priest who came to-night!—how fat all his body is! +When we shall have eaten him, our bellies will be well filled... I was +foolish to talk to him as I did;—it only set him to reciting the sûtras +on behalf of my soul! To go near him while he is reciting would be +difficult; and we cannot touch him so long as he is praying. But as it +is now nearly morning, perhaps he has gone to sleep... Some one of you +go to the house and see what the fellow is doing.” + +Another head—the head of a young woman—immediately rose up and flitted +to the house, lightly as a bat. After a few minutes it came back, and +cried out huskily, in a tone of great alarm:— + +“That traveling priest is not in the house;—he is gone! But that is not +the worst of the matter. He has taken the body of our aruji; and I do +not know where he has put it.” + +At this announcement the head of the aruji—distinctly visible in the +moonlight—assumed a frightful aspect: its eyes opened monstrously; its +hair stood up bristling; and its teeth gnashed. Then a cry burst from +its lips; and—weeping tears of rage—it exclaimed:— + +“Since my body has been moved, to rejoin it is not possible! Then I +must die!... And all through the work of that priest! Before I die I +will get at that priest!—I will tear him!—I will devour him!... _And +there he is_—behind that tree!—hiding behind that tree! See him!—the +fat coward!”... + +In the same moment the head of the aruji, followed by the other four +heads, sprang at Kwairyō. But the strong priest had already armed +himself by plucking up a young tree; and with that tree he struck the +heads as they came,—knocking them from him with tremendous blows. Four +of them fled away. But the head of the aruji, though battered again and +again, desperately continued to bound at the priest, and at last caught +him by the left sleeve of his robe. Kwairyō, however, as quickly +gripped the head by its topknot, and repeatedly struck it. It did not +release its hold; but it uttered a long moan, and thereafter ceased to +struggle. It was dead. But its teeth still held the sleeve; and, for +all his great strength, Kwairyō could not force open the jaws. + +With the head still hanging to his sleeve he went back to the house, +and there caught sight of the other four Rokuro-Kubi squatting +together, with their bruised and bleeding heads reunited to their +bodies. But when they perceived him at the back-door all screamed, “The +priest! the priest!”—and fled, through the other doorway, out into the +woods. + +Eastward the sky was brightening; day was about to dawn; and Kwairyō +knew that the power of the goblins was limited to the hours of +darkness. He looked at the head clinging to his sleeve,—its face all +fouled with blood and foam and clay; and he laughed aloud as he thought +to himself: “What a _miyagé!_[4]—the head of a goblin!” After which he +gathered together his few belongings, and leisurely descended the +mountain to continue his journey. + +Right on he journeyed, until he came to Suwa in Shinano; (6) and into +the main street of Suwa he solemnly strode, with the head dangling at +his elbow. Then woman fainted, and children screamed and ran away; and +there was a great crowding and clamoring until the _torité_ (as the +police in those days were called) seized the priest, and took him to +jail. For they supposed the head to be the head of a murdered man who, +in the moment of being killed, had caught the murderer’s sleeve in his +teeth. As for Kwairyō, he only smiled and said nothing when they +questioned him. So, after having passed a night in prison, he was +brought before the magistrates of the district. Then he was ordered to +explain how he, a priest, had been found with the head of a man +fastened to his sleeve, and why he had dared thus shamelessly to parade +his crime in the sight of people. + +Kwairyō laughed long and loudly at these questions; and then he said:— + +“Sirs, I did not fasten the head to my sleeve: it fastened itself +there—much against my will. And I have not committed any crime. For +this is not the head of a man; it is the head of a goblin;—and, if I +caused the death of the goblin, I did not do so by any shedding of +blood, but simply by taking the precautions necessary to assure my own +safety.”... And he proceeded to relate the whole of the +adventure,—bursting into another hearty laugh as he told of his +encounter with the five heads. + +But the magistrates did not laugh. They judged him to be a hardened +criminal, and his story an insult to their intelligence. Therefore, +without further questioning, they decided to order his immediate +execution,—all of them except one, a very old man. This aged officer +had made no remark during the trial; but, after having heard the +opinion of his colleagues, he rose up, and said:— + +“Let us first examine the head carefully; for this, I think, has not +yet been done. If the priest has spoken truth, the head itself should +bear witness for him... Bring the head here!” + +So the head, still holding in its teeth the _koromo_ that had been +stripped from Kwairyō’s shoulders, was put before the judges. The old +man turned it round and round, carefully examined it, and discovered, +on the nape of its neck, several strange red characters. He called the +attention of his colleagues to these, and also bade them observe that +the edges of the neck nowhere presented the appearance of having been +cut by any weapon. On the contrary, the line of leverance was smooth as +the line at which a falling leaf detaches itself from the stem... Then +said the elder:— + +“I am quite sure that the priest told us nothing but the truth. This is +the head of a Rokuro-Kubi. In the book _Nan-hō-ï-butsu-shi_ it is +written that certain red characters can always be found upon the nape +of the neck of a real Rokuro-Kubi. There are the characters: you can +see for yourselves that they have not been painted. Moreover, it is +well known that such goblins have been dwelling in the mountains of the +province of Kai from very ancient time... But you, Sir,” he exclaimed, +turning to Kwairyō,—“what sort of sturdy priest may you be? Certainly +you have given proof of a courage that few priests possess; and you +have the air of a soldier rather than a priest. Perhaps you once +belonged to the samurai-class?” + +“You have guessed rightly, Sir,” Kwairyō responded. “Before becoming a +priest, I long followed the profession of arms; and in those days I +never feared man or devil. My name then was Isogai Héïdazaëmon +Takétsura of Kyūshū: there may be some among you who remember it.” + +At the mention of that name, a murmur of admiration filled the +court-room; for there were many present who remembered it. And Kwairyō +immediately found himself among friends instead of judges,—friends +anxious to prove their admiration by fraternal kindness. With honor +they escorted him to the residence of the daimyō, who welcomed him, and +feasted him, and made him a handsome present before allowing him to +depart. When Kwairyō left Suwa, he was as happy as any priest is +permitted to be in this transitory world. As for the head, he took it +with him,—jocosely insisting that he intended it for a _miyagé_. + +And now it only remains to tell what became of the head. + +A day or two after leaving Suwa, Kwairyō met with a robber, who stopped +him in a lonesome place, and bade him strip. Kwairyō at once removed +his _koromo_, and offered it to the robber, who then first perceived +what was hanging to the sleeve. Though brave, the highwayman was +startled: he dropped the garment, and sprang back. Then he cried +out:—“You!—what kind of a priest are you? Why, you are a worse man than +I am! It is true that I have killed people; but I never walked about +with anybody’s head fastened to my sleeve... Well, Sir priest, I +suppose we are of the same calling; and I must say that I admire +you!... Now that head would be of use to me: I could frighten people +with it. Will you sell it? You can have my robe in exchange for your +_koromo;_ and I will give you five _ryō_ for the head.” + +Kwairyō answered:— + +“I shall let you have the head and the robe if you insist; but I must +tell you that this is not the head of a man. It is a goblin’s head. So, +if you buy it, and have any trouble in consequence, please to remember +that you were not deceived by me.” + +“What a nice priest you are!” exclaimed the robber. “You kill men, and +jest about it!... But I am really in earnest. Here is my robe; and here +is the money;—and let me have the head... What is the use of joking?” + +“Take the thing,” said Kwairyō. “I was not joking. The only joke—if +there be any joke at all—is that you are fool enough to pay good money +for a goblin’s head.” And Kwairyō, loudly laughing, went upon his way. + +Thus the robber got the head and the _koromo;_ and for some time he +played goblin-priest upon the highways. But, reaching the neighborhood +of Suwa, he there leaned the true story of the head; and he then became +afraid that the spirit of the Rokuro-Kubi might give him trouble. So he +made up his mind to take back the head to the place from which it had +come, and to bury it with its body. He found his way to the lonely +cottage in the mountains of Kai; but nobody was there, and he could not +discover the body. Therefore he buried the head by itself, in the grove +behind the cottage; and he had a tombstone set up over the grave; and +he caused a Ségaki-service to be performed on behalf of the spirit of +the Rokuro-Kubi. And that tombstone—known as the Tombstone of the +Rokuro-Kubi—may be seen (at least so the Japanese story-teller +declares) even unto this day. + + + + +A DEAD SECRET + + +A long time ago, in the province of Tamba (1), there lived a rich +merchant named Inamuraya Gensuké. He had a daughter called O-Sono. As +she was very clever and pretty, he thought it would be a pity to let +her grow up with only such teaching as the country-teachers could give +her: so he sent her, in care of some trusty attendants, to Kyōto, that +she might be trained in the polite accomplishments taught to the ladies +of the capital. After she had thus been educated, she was married to a +friend of her father’s family—a merchant named Nagaraya;—and she lived +happily with him for nearly four years. They had one child,—a boy. But +O-Sono fell ill and died, in the fourth year after her marriage. + +On the night after the funeral of O-Sono, her little son said that his +mamma had come back, and was in the room upstairs. She had smiled at +him, but would not talk to him: so he became afraid, and ran away. Then +some of the family went upstairs to the room which had been O-Sono’s; +and they were startled to see, by the light of a small lamp which had +been kindled before a shrine in that room, the figure of the dead +mother. She appeared as if standing in front of a _tansu_, or chest of +drawers, that still contained her ornaments and her wearing-apparel. +Her head and shoulders could be very distinctly seen; but from the +waist downwards the figure thinned into invisibility;—it was like an +imperfect reflection of her, and transparent as a shadow on water. + +Then the folk were afraid, and left the room. Below they consulted +together; and the mother of O-Sono’s husband said: “A woman is fond of +her small things; and O-Sono was much attached to her belongings. +Perhaps she has come back to look at them. Many dead persons will do +that,—unless the things be given to the parish-temple. If we present +O-Sono’s robes and girdles to the temple, her spirit will probably find +rest.” + +It was agreed that this should be done as soon as possible. So on the +following morning the drawers were emptied; and all of O-Sono’s +ornaments and dresses were taken to the temple. But she came back the +next night, and looked at the _tansu_ as before. And she came back also +on the night following, and the night after that, and every night;—and +the house became a house of fear. + +The mother of O-Sono’s husband then went to the parish-temple, and told +the chief priest all that had happened, and asked for ghostly counsel. +The temple was a Zen temple; and the head-priest was a learned old man, +known as Daigen Oshō. He said: “There must be something about which she +is anxious, in or near that _tansu_.”—“But we emptied all the drawers,” +replied the woman;—“there is nothing in the _tansu_.”—“Well,” said +Daigen Oshō, “to-night I shall go to your house, and keep watch in that +room, and see what can be done. You must give orders that no person +shall enter the room while I am watching, unless I call.” + +After sundown, Daigen Oshō went to the house, and found the room made +ready for him. He remained there alone, reading the sûtras; and nothing +appeared until after the Hour of the Rat.[1] Then the figure of O-Sono +suddenly outlined itself in front of the _tansu_. Her face had a +wistful look; and she kept her eyes fixed upon the _tansu_. + +The priest uttered the holy formula prescribed in such cases, and then, +addressing the figure by the _kaimyō_[2] of O-Sono, said:—“I have come +here in order to help you. Perhaps in that _tansu_ there is something +about which you have reason to feel anxious. Shall I try to find it for +you?” The shadow appeared to give assent by a slight motion of the +head; and the priest, rising, opened the top drawer. It was empty. +Successively he opened the second, the third, and the fourth drawer;—he +searched carefully behind them and beneath them;—he carefully examined +the interior of the chest. He found nothing. But the figure remained +gazing as wistfully as before. “What can she want?” thought the priest. +Suddenly it occurred to him that there might be something hidden under +the paper with which the drawers were lined. He removed the lining of +the first drawer:—nothing! He removed the lining of the second and +third drawers:—still nothing. But under the lining of the lowermost +drawer he found—a letter. “Is this the thing about which you have been +troubled?” he asked. The shadow of the woman turned toward him,—her +faint gaze fixed upon the letter. “Shall I burn it for you?” he asked. +She bowed before him. “It shall be burned in the temple this very +morning,” he promised;—“and no one shall read it, except myself.” The +figure smiled and vanished. + +Dawn was breaking as the priest descended the stairs, to find the +family waiting anxiously below. “Do not be anxious,” he said to them: +“She will not appear again.” And she never did. + +The letter was burned. It was a love-letter written to O-Sono in the +time of her studies at Kyōto. But the priest alone knew what was in it; +and the secret died with him. + + + + +YUKI-ONNA + + +In a village of Musashi Province (1), there lived two woodcutters: +Mosaku and Minokichi. At the time of which I am speaking, Mosaku was an +old man; and Minokichi, his apprentice, was a lad of eighteen years. +Every day they went together to a forest situated about five miles from +their village. On the way to that forest there is a wide river to +cross; and there is a ferry-boat. Several times a bridge was built +where the ferry is; but the bridge was each time carried away by a +flood. No common bridge can resist the current there when the river +rises. + +Mosaku and Minokichi were on their way home, one very cold evening, +when a great snowstorm overtook them. They reached the ferry; and they +found that the boatman had gone away, leaving his boat on the other +side of the river. It was no day for swimming; and the woodcutters took +shelter in the ferryman’s hut,—thinking themselves lucky to find any +shelter at all. There was no brazier in the hut, nor any place in which +to make a fire: it was only a two-mat[1] hut, with a single door, but +no window. Mosaku and Minokichi fastened the door, and lay down to +rest, with their straw rain-coats over them. At first they did not feel +very cold; and they thought that the storm would soon be over. + +The old man almost immediately fell asleep; but the boy, Minokichi, lay +awake a long time, listening to the awful wind, and the continual +slashing of the snow against the door. The river was roaring; and the +hut swayed and creaked like a junk at sea. It was a terrible storm; and +the air was every moment becoming colder; and Minokichi shivered under +his rain-coat. But at last, in spite of the cold, he too fell asleep. + +He was awakened by a showering of snow in his face. The door of the hut +had been forced open; and, by the snow-light (_yuki-akari_), he saw a +woman in the room,—a woman all in white. She was bending above Mosaku, +and blowing her breath upon him;—and her breath was like a bright white +smoke. Almost in the same moment she turned to Minokichi, and stooped +over him. He tried to cry out, but found that he could not utter any +sound. The white woman bent down over him, lower and lower, until her +face almost touched him; and he saw that she was very beautiful,—though +her eyes made him afraid. For a little time she continued to look at +him;—then she smiled, and she whispered:—“I intended to treat you like +the other man. But I cannot help feeling some pity for you,—because you +are so young... You are a pretty boy, Minokichi; and I will not hurt +you now. But, if you ever tell anybody—even your own mother—about what +you have seen this night, I shall know it; and then I will kill you... +Remember what I say!” + + +[Illustration] BLOWING HER BREATH UPON HIM + + +With these words, she turned from him, and passed through the doorway. +Then he found himself able to move; and he sprang up, and looked out. +But the woman was nowhere to be seen; and the snow was driving +furiously into the hut. Minokichi closed the door, and secured it by +fixing several billets of wood against it. He wondered if the wind had +blown it open;—he thought that he might have been only dreaming, and +might have mistaken the gleam of the snow-light in the doorway for the +figure of a white woman: but he could not be sure. He called to Mosaku, +and was frightened because the old man did not answer. He put out his +hand in the dark, and touched Mosaku’s face, and found that it was ice! +Mosaku was stark and dead... + +By dawn the storm was over; and when the ferryman returned to his +station, a little after sunrise, he found Minokichi lying senseless +beside the frozen body of Mosaku. Minokichi was promptly cared for, and +soon came to himself; but he remained a long time ill from the effects +of the cold of that terrible night. He had been greatly frightened also +by the old man’s death; but he said nothing about the vision of the +woman in white. As soon as he got well again, he returned to his +calling,—going alone every morning to the forest, and coming back at +nightfall with his bundles of wood, which his mother helped him to +sell. + +One evening, in the winter of the following year, as he was on his way +home, he overtook a girl who happened to be traveling by the same road. +She was a tall, slim girl, very good-looking; and she answered +Minokichi’s greeting in a voice as pleasant to the ear as the voice of +a song-bird. Then he walked beside her; and they began to talk. The +girl said that her name was O-Yuki;[2] that she had lately lost both of +her parents; and that she was going to Yedo (2), where she happened to +have some poor relations, who might help her to find a situation as a +servant. Minokichi soon felt charmed by this strange girl; and the more +that he looked at her, the handsomer she appeared to be. He asked her +whether she was yet betrothed; and she answered, laughingly, that she +was free. Then, in her turn, she asked Minokichi whether he was +married, or pledged to marry; and he told her that, although he had +only a widowed mother to support, the question of an “honorable +daughter-in-law” had not yet been considered, as he was very young... +After these confidences, they walked on for a long while without +speaking; but, as the proverb declares, _Ki ga aréba, mé mo kuchi hodo +ni mono wo iu:_ “When the wish is there, the eyes can say as much as +the mouth.” By the time they reached the village, they had become very +much pleased with each other; and then Minokichi asked O-Yuki to rest +awhile at his house. After some shy hesitation, she went there with +him; and his mother made her welcome, and prepared a warm meal for her. +O-Yuki behaved so nicely that Minokichi’s mother took a sudden fancy to +her, and persuaded her to delay her journey to Yedo. And the natural +end of the matter was that Yuki never went to Yedo at all. She remained +in the house, as an “honorable daughter-in-law.” + +O-Yuki proved a very good daughter-in-law. When Minokichi’s mother came +to die,—some five years later,—her last words were words of affection +and praise for the wife of her son. And O-Yuki bore Minokichi ten +children, boys and girls,—handsome children all of them, and very fair +of skin. + +The country-folk thought O-Yuki a wonderful person, by nature different +from themselves. Most of the peasant-women age early; but O-Yuki, even +after having become the mother of ten children, looked as young and +fresh as on the day when she had first come to the village. + +One night, after the children had gone to sleep, O-Yuki was sewing by +the light of a paper lamp; and Minokichi, watching her, said:— + +“To see you sewing there, with the light on your face, makes me think +of a strange thing that happened when I was a lad of eighteen. I then +saw somebody as beautiful and white as you are now—indeed, she was very +like you.”... + +Without lifting her eyes from her work, O-Yuki responded:— + +“Tell me about her... Where did you see her?” + +Then Minokichi told her about the terrible night in the ferryman’s +hut,—and about the White Woman that had stooped above him, smiling and +whispering,—and about the silent death of old Mosaku. And he said:— + +“Asleep or awake, that was the only time that I saw a being as +beautiful as you. Of course, she was not a human being; and I was +afraid of her,—very much afraid,—but she was so white!... Indeed, I +have never been sure whether it was a dream that I saw, or the Woman of +the Snow.”... + +O-Yuki flung down her sewing, and arose, and bowed above Minokichi +where he sat, and shrieked into his face:— + +“It was I—I—I! Yuki it was! And I told you then that I would kill you +if you ever said one word about it!... But for those children asleep +there, I would kill you this moment! And now you had better take very, +very good care of them; for if ever they have reason to complain of +you, I will treat you as you deserve!”... + +Even as she screamed, her voice became thin, like a crying of +wind;—then she melted into a bright white mist that spired to the +roof-beams, and shuddered away through the smoke-hole.... Never again +was she seen. + + + + +THE STORY OF AOYAGI + + +In the era of Bummei [1469-1486] there was a young samurai called +Tomotada in the service of Hatakéyama Yoshimuné, the Lord of Noto (1). +Tomotada was a native of Echizen (2); but at an early age he had been +taken, as page, into the palace of the daimyō of Noto, and had been +educated, under the supervision of that prince, for the profession of +arms. As he grew up, he proved himself both a good scholar and a good +soldier, and continued to enjoy the favor of his prince. Being gifted +with an amiable character, a winning address, and a very handsome +person, he was admired and much liked by his samurai-comrades. + +When Tomotada was about twenty years old, he was sent upon a private +mission to Hosokawa Masamoto, the great daimyō of Kyōto, a kinsman of +Hatakéyama Yoshimuné. Having been ordered to journey through Echizen, +the youth requested and obtained permission to pay a visit, on the way, +to his widowed mother. + +It was the coldest period of the year when he started; and, though +mounted upon a powerful horse, he found himself obliged to proceed +slowly. The road which he followed passed through a mountain-district +where the settlements were few and far between; and on the second day +of his journey, after a weary ride of hours, he was dismayed to find +that he could not reach his intended halting-place until late in the +night. He had reason to be anxious;—for a heavy snowstorm came on, with +an intensely cold wind; and the horse showed signs of exhaustion. But +in that trying moment, Tomotada unexpectedly perceived the thatched +room of a cottage on the summit of a near hill, where willow-trees were +growing. With difficulty he urged his tired animal to the dwelling; and +he loudly knocked upon the storm-doors, which had been closed against +the wind. An old woman opened them, and cried out compassionately at +the sight of the handsome stranger: “Ah, how pitiful!—a young gentleman +traveling alone in such weather!... Deign, young master, to enter.” + +Tomotada dismounted, and after leading his horse to a shed in the rear, +entered the cottage, where he saw an old man and a girl warming +themselves by a fire of bamboo splints. They respectfully invited him +to approach the fire; and the old folks then proceeded to warm some +rice-wine, and to prepare food for the traveler, whom they ventured to +question in regard to his journey. Meanwhile the young girl disappeared +behind a screen. Tomotada had observed, with astonishment, that she was +extremely beautiful,—though her attire was of the most wretched kind, +and her long, loose hair in disorder. He wondered that so handsome a +girl should be living in such a miserable and lonesome place. + +The old man said to him:— + +“Honored Sir, the next village is far; and the snow is falling thickly. +The wind is piercing; and the road is very bad. Therefore, to proceed +further this night would probably be dangerous. Although this hovel is +unworthy of your presence, and although we have not any comfort to +offer, perhaps it were safer to remain to-night under this miserable +roof... We would take good care of your horse.” + +Tomotada accepted this humble proposal,—secretly glad of the chance +thus afforded him to see more of the young girl. Presently a coarse but +ample meal was set before him; and the girl came from behind the +screen, to serve the wine. She was now reclad, in a rough but cleanly +robe of homespun; and her long, loose hair had been neatly combed and +smoothed. As she bent forward to fill his cup, Tomotada was amazed to +perceive that she was incomparably more beautiful than any woman whom +he had ever before seen; and there was a grace about her every motion +that astonished him. But the elders began to apologize for her, saying: +“Sir, our daughter, Aoyagi,[1] has been brought up here in the +mountains, almost alone; and she knows nothing of gentle service. We +pray that you will pardon her stupidity and her ignorance.” Tomotada +protested that he deemed himself lucky to be waited upon by so comely a +maiden. He could not turn his eyes away from her—though he saw that his +admiring gaze made her blush;—and he left the wine and food untasted +before him. The mother said: “Kind Sir, we very much hope that you will +try to eat and to drink a little,—though our peasant-fare is of the +worst,—as you must have been chilled by that piercing wind.” Then, to +please the old folks, Tomotada ate and drank as he could; but the charm +of the blushing girl still grew upon him. He talked with her, and found +that her speech was sweet as her face. Brought up in the mountains as +she might have been;—but, in that case, her parents must at some time +been persons of high degree; for she spoke and moved like a damsel of +rank. Suddenly he addressed her with a poem—which was also a +question—inspired by the delight in his heart:— + + “Tadzunétsuru, +Hana ka toté koso, + Hi wo kurasé, +Akénu ni otoru +Akané sasuran?” + + +[“_Being on my way to pay a visit, I found that which I took to be a +flower: therefore here I spend the day... Why, in the time before dawn, +the dawn-blush tint should glow—that, indeed, I know not._”][2] + + +Without a moment’s hesitation, she answered him in these verses:— + + “Izuru hi no +Honoméku iro wo + Waga sodé ni +Tsutsumaba asu mo +Kimiya tomaran.” + + +[“_If with my sleeve I hid the faint fair color of the dawning +sun,—then, perhaps, in the morning my lord will remain._”][3] + + +Then Tomotada knew that she accepted his admiration; and he was +scarcely less surprised by the art with which she had uttered her +feelings in verse, than delighted by the assurance which the verses +conveyed. He was now certain that in all this world he could not hope +to meet, much less to win, a girl more beautiful and witty than this +rustic maid before him; and a voice in his heart seemed to cry out +urgently, “Take the luck that the gods have put in your way!” In short +he was bewitched—bewitched to such a degree that, without further +preliminary, he asked the old people to give him their daughter in +marriage,—telling them, at the same time, his name and lineage, and his +rank in the train of the Lord of Noto. + +They bowed down before him, with many exclamations of grateful +astonishment. But, after some moments of apparent hesitation, the +father replied:— + +“Honored master, you are a person of high position, and likely to rise +to still higher things. Too great is the favor that you deign to offer +us;—indeed, the depth of our gratitude therefor is not to be spoken or +measured. But this girl of ours, being a stupid country-girl of vulgar +birth, with no training or teaching of any sort, it would be improper +to let her become the wife of a noble samurai. Even to speak of such a +matter is not right... But, since you find the girl to your liking, and +have condescended to pardon her peasant-manners and to overlook her +great rudeness, we do gladly present her to you, for an humble +handmaid. Deign, therefore, to act hereafter in her regard according to +your august pleasure.” + +Ere morning the storm had passed; and day broke through a cloudless +east. Even if the sleeve of Aoyagi hid from her lover’s eyes the +rose-blush of that dawn, he could no longer tarry. But neither could he +resign himself to part with the girl; and, when everything had been +prepared for his journey, he thus addressed her parents:— + +“Though it may seem thankless to ask for more than I have already +received, I must again beg you to give me your daughter for wife. It +would be difficult for me to separate from her now; and as she is +willing to accompany me, if you permit, I can take her with me as she +is. If you will give her to me, I shall ever cherish you as parents... +And, in the meantime, please to accept this poor acknowledgment of your +kindest hospitality.” + +So saying, he placed before his humble host a purse of gold _ryō_. But +the old man, after many prostrations, gently pushed back the gift, and +said:— + +“Kind master, the gold would be of no use to us; and you will probably +have need of it during your long, cold journey. Here we buy nothing; +and we could not spend so much money upon ourselves, even if we +wished... As for the girl, we have already bestowed her as a free +gift;—she belongs to you: therefore it is not necessary to ask our +leave to take her away. Already she has told us that she hopes to +accompany you, and to remain your servant for as long as you may be +willing to endure her presence. We are only too happy to know that you +deign to accept her; and we pray that you will not trouble yourself on +our account. In this place we could not provide her with proper +clothing,—much less with a dowry. Moreover, being old, we should in any +event have to separate from her before long. Therefore it is very +fortunate that you should be willing to take her with you now.” + +It was in vain that Tomotada tried to persuade the old people to accept +a present: he found that they cared nothing for money. But he saw that +they were really anxious to trust their daughter’s fate to his hands; +and he therefore decided to take her with him. So he placed her upon +his horse, and bade the old folks farewell for the time being, with +many sincere expressions of gratitude. + +“Honored Sir,” the father made answer, “it is we, and not you, who have +reason for gratitude. We are sure that you will be kind to our girl; +and we have no fears for her sake.”... + +[_Here, in the Japanese original, there is a queer break in the natural +course of the narration, which therefrom remains curiously +inconsistent. Nothing further is said about the mother of Tomotada, or +about the parents of Aoyagi, or about the daimyō of Noto. Evidently the +writer wearied of his work at this point, and hurried the story, very +carelessly, to its startling end. I am not able to supply his +omissions, or to repair his faults of construction; but I must venture +to put in a few explanatory details, without which the rest of the tale +would not hold together... It appears that Tomotada rashly took Aoyagi +with him to Kyōto, and so got into trouble; but we are not informed as +to where the couple lived afterwards._] + +...Now a samurai was not allowed to marry without the consent of his +lord; and Tomotada could not expect to obtain this sanction before his +mission had been accomplished. He had reason, under such circumstances, +to fear that the beauty of Aoyagi might attract dangerous attention, +and that means might be devised of taking her away from him. In Kyōto +he therefore tried to keep her hidden from curious eyes. But a retainer +of Lord Hosokawa one day caught sight of Aoyagi, discovered her +relation to Tomotada, and reported the matter to the daimyō. Thereupon +the daimyō—a young prince, and fond of pretty faces—gave orders that +the girl should be brought to the place; and she was taken thither at +once, without ceremony. + +Tomotada sorrowed unspeakably; but he knew himself powerless. He was +only an humble messenger in the service of a far-off daimyō; and for +the time being he was at the mercy of a much more powerful daimyō, +whose wishes were not to be questioned. Moreover Tomotada knew that he +had acted foolishly,—that he had brought about his own misfortune, by +entering into a clandestine relation which the code of the military +class condemned. There was now but one hope for him,—a desperate hope: +that Aoyagi might be able and willing to escape and to flee with him. +After long reflection, he resolved to try to send her a letter. The +attempt would be dangerous, of course: any writing sent to her might +find its way to the hands of the daimyō; and to send a love-letter to +any inmate of the place was an unpardonable offense. But he resolved to +dare the risk; and, in the form of a Chinese poem, he composed a letter +which he endeavored to have conveyed to her. The poem was written with +only twenty-eight characters. But with those twenty-eight characters he +was about to express all the depth of his passion, and to suggest all +the pain of his loss:—[4] + + +Kōshi ō-son gojin wo ou; +Ryokuju namida wo tarété rakin wo hitataru; +Komon hitotabi irité fukaki koto umi no gotoshi; +Koré yori shorō koré rojin + +[_Closely, closely the youthful prince now follows after the gem-bright +maid;— +The tears of the fair one, falling, have moistened all her robes. +But the august lord, having once become enamored of her—the depth of +his longing is like the depth of the sea. +Therefore it is only I that am left forlorn,—only I that am left to +wander along._] + +On the evening of the day after this poem had been sent, Tomotada was +summoned to appear before the Lord Hosokawa. The youth at once +suspected that his confidence had been betrayed; and he could not hope, +if his letter had been seen by the daimyō, to escape the severest +penalty. “Now he will order my death,” thought Tomotada;—“but I do not +care to live unless Aoyagi be restored to me. Besides, if the +death-sentence be passed, I can at least try to kill Hosokawa.” He +slipped his swords into his girdle, and hastened to the palace. + +On entering the presence-room he saw the Lord Hosokawa seated upon the +dais, surrounded by samurai of high rank, in caps and robes of +ceremony. All were silent as statues; and while Tomotada advanced to +make obeisance, the hush seemed to him sinister and heavy, like the +stillness before a storm. But Hosokawa suddenly descended from the +dais, and, while taking the youth by the arm, began to repeat the words +of the poem:—“_Kōshi ō-son gojin wo ou_.”... And Tomotada, looking up, +saw kindly tears in the prince’s eyes. + +Then said Hosokawa:— + +“Because you love each other so much, I have taken it upon myself to +authorize your marriage, in lieu of my kinsman, the Lord of Noto; and +your wedding shall now be celebrated before me. The guests are +assembled;—the gifts are ready.” + +At a signal from the lord, the sliding-screens concealing a further +apartment were pushed open; and Tomotada saw there many dignitaries of +the court, assembled for the ceremony, and Aoyagi awaiting him in +brides’ apparel... Thus was she given back to him;—and the wedding was +joyous and splendid;—and precious gifts were made to the young couple +by the prince, and by the members of his household. + + +For five happy years, after that wedding, Tomotada and Aoyagi dwelt +together. But one morning Aoyagi, while talking with her husband about +some household matter, suddenly uttered a great cry of pain, and then +became very white and still. After a few moments she said, in a feeble +voice: “Pardon me for thus rudely crying out—but the pain was so +sudden!... My dear husband, our union must have been brought about +through some Karma-relation in a former state of existence; and that +happy relation, I think, will bring us again together in more than one +life to come. But for this present existence of ours, the relation is +now ended;—we are about to be separated. Repeat for me, I beseech you, +the _Nembutsu_-prayer,—because I am dying.” + +“Oh! what strange wild fancies!” cried the startled husband,—“you are +only a little unwell, my dear one!... lie down for a while, and rest; +and the sickness will pass.”... + +“No, no!” she responded—“I am dying!—I do not imagine it;—I know!... +And it were needless now, my dear husband, to hide the truth from you +any longer:—I am not a human being. The soul of a tree is my soul;—the +heart of a tree is my heart;—the sap of the willow is my life. And some +one, at this cruel moment, is cutting down my tree;—that is why I must +die!... Even to weep were now beyond my strength!—quickly, quickly +repeat the _Nembutsu_ for me... quickly!... Ah!...” + +With another cry of pain she turned aside her beautiful head, and tried +to hide her face behind her sleeve. But almost in the same moment her +whole form appeared to collapse in the strangest way, and to sink down, +down, down—level with the floor. Tomotada had sprung to support +her;—but there was nothing to support! There lay on the matting only +the empty robes of the fair creature and the ornaments that she had +worn in her hair: the body had ceased to exist... + +Tomotada shaved his head, took the Buddhist vows, and became an +itinerant priest. He traveled through all the provinces of the empire; +and, at holy places which he visited, he offered up prayers for the +soul of Aoyagi. Reaching Echizen, in the course of his pilgrimage, he +sought the home of the parents of his beloved. But when he arrived at +the lonely place among the hills, where their dwelling had been, he +found that the cottage had disappeared. There was nothing to mark even +the spot where it had stood, except the stumps of three willows—two old +trees and one young tree—that had been cut down long before his +arrival. + +Beside the stumps of those willow-trees he erected a memorial tomb, +inscribed with divers holy texts; and he there performed many Buddhist +services on behalf of the spirits of Aoyagi and of her parents. + + + + +JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA + + +Uso no yona,— +Jiu-roku-zakura +Saki ni keri! + + +In Wakégōri, a district of the province of Iyo (1), there is a very +ancient and famous cherry-tree, called _Jiu-roku-zakura_, or “the +Cherry-tree of the Sixteenth Day,” because it blooms every year upon +the sixteenth day of the first month (by the old lunar calendar),—and +only upon that day. Thus the time of its flowering is the Period of +Great Cold,—though the natural habit of a cherry-tree is to wait for +the spring season before venturing to blossom. But the +_Jiu-roku-zakura_ blossoms with a life that is not—or, at least, that +was not originally—its own. There is the ghost of a man in that tree. + +He was a samurai of Iyo; and the tree grew in his garden; and it used +to flower at the usual time,—that is to say, about the end of March or +the beginning of April. He had played under that tree when he was a +child; and his parents and grandparents and ancestors had hung to its +blossoming branches, season after season for more than a hundred years, +bright strips of colored paper inscribed with poems of praise. He +himself became very old,—outliving all his children; and there was +nothing in the world left for him to love except that tree. And lo! in +the summer of a certain year, the tree withered and died! + +Exceedingly the old man sorrowed for his tree. Then kind neighbors +found for him a young and beautiful cherry-tree, and planted it in his +garden,—hoping thus to comfort him. And he thanked them, and pretended +to be glad. But really his heart was full of pain; for he had loved the +old tree so well that nothing could have consoled him for the loss of +it. + +At last there came to him a happy thought: he remembered a way by which +the perishing tree might be saved. (It was the sixteenth day of the +first month.) Along he went into his garden, and bowed down before the +withered tree, and spoke to it, saying: “Now deign, I beseech you, once +more to bloom,—because I am going to die in your stead.” (For it is +believed that one can really give away one’s life to another person, or +to a creature or even to a tree, by the favor of the gods;—and thus to +transfer one’s life is expressed by the term _migawari ni tatsu_, “to +act as a substitute.”) Then under that tree he spread a white cloth, +and divers coverings, and sat down upon the coverings, and performed +_hara-kiri_ after the fashion of a samurai. And the ghost of him went +into the tree, and made it blossom in that same hour. + +And every year it still blooms on the sixteenth day of the first month, +in the season of snow. + + + + +THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKÉ + + +In the district called Toïchi of Yamato Province, (1) there used to +live a gōshi named Miyata Akinosuké... [Here I must tell you that in +Japanese feudal times there was a privileged class of +soldier-farmers,—free-holders,—corresponding to the class of yeomen in +England; and these were called gōshi.] + +In Akinosuké’s garden there was a great and ancient cedar-tree, under +which he was wont to rest on sultry days. One very warm afternoon he +was sitting under this tree with two of his friends, fellow-gōshi, +chatting and drinking wine, when he felt all of a sudden very +drowsy,—so drowsy that he begged his friends to excuse him for taking a +nap in their presence. Then he lay down at the foot of the tree, and +dreamed this dream:— + +He thought that as he was lying there in his garden, he saw a +procession, like the train of some great daimyō descending a hill near +by, and that he got up to look at it. A very grand procession it proved +to be,—more imposing than anything of the kind which he had ever seen +before; and it was advancing toward his dwelling. He observed in the +van of it a number of young men richly appareled, who were drawing a +great lacquered palace-carriage, or _gosho-guruma_, hung with bright +blue silk. When the procession arrived within a short distance of the +house it halted; and a richly dressed man—evidently a person of +rank—advanced from it, approached Akinosuké, bowed to him profoundly, +and then said:— + +“Honored Sir, you see before you a _kérai_ [vassal] of the Kokuō of +Tokoyo.[1] My master, the King, commands me to greet you in his august +name, and to place myself wholly at your disposal. He also bids me +inform you that he augustly desires your presence at the palace. Be +therefore pleased immediately to enter this honorable carriage, which +he has sent for your conveyance.” + +Upon hearing these words Akinosuké wanted to make some fitting reply; +but he was too much astonished and embarrassed for speech;—and in the +same moment his will seemed to melt away from him, so that he could +only do as the _kérai_ bade him. He entered the carriage; the _kérai_ +took a place beside him, and made a signal; the drawers, seizing the +silken ropes, turned the great vehicle southward;—and the journey +began. + +In a very short time, to Akinosuké’s amazement, the carriage stopped in +front of a huge two-storied gateway (_rōmon_), of a Chinese style, +which he had never before seen. Here the _kérai_ dismounted, saying, “I +go to announce the honorable arrival,”—and he disappeared. After some +little waiting, Akinosuké saw two noble-looking men, wearing robes of +purple silk and high caps of the form indicating lofty rank, come from +the gateway. These, after having respectfully saluted him, helped him +to descend from the carriage, and led him through the great gate and +across a vast garden, to the entrance of a palace whose front appeared +to extend, west and east, to a distance of miles. Akinosuké was then +shown into a reception-room of wonderful size and splendor. His guides +conducted him to the place of honor, and respectfully seated themselves +apart; while serving-maids, in costume of ceremony, brought +refreshments. When Akinosuké had partaken of the refreshments, the two +purple-robed attendants bowed low before him, and addressed him in the +following words,—each speaking alternately, according to the etiquette +of courts:— + +“It is now our honorable duty to inform you... as to the reason of your +having been summoned hither... Our master, the King, augustly desires +that you become his son-in-law;... and it is his wish and command that +you shall wed this very day... the August Princess, his +maiden-daughter... We shall soon conduct you to the presence-chamber... +where His Augustness even now is waiting to receive you... But it will +be necessary that we first invest you... with the appropriate garments +of ceremony.”[2] + +Having thus spoken, the attendants rose together, and proceeded to an +alcove containing a great chest of gold lacquer. They opened the chest, +and took from it various robes and girdles of rich material, and a +_kamuri_, or regal headdress. With these they attired Akinosuké as +befitted a princely bridegroom; and he was then conducted to the +presence-room, where he saw the Kokuō of Tokoyo seated upon the +_daiza_,[3] wearing a high black cap of state, and robed in robes of +yellow silk. Before the _daiza_, to left and right, a multitude of +dignitaries sat in rank, motionless and splendid as images in a temple; +and Akinosuké, advancing into their midst, saluted the king with the +triple prostration of usage. The king greeted him with gracious words, +and then said:— + +“You have already been informed as to the reason of your having been +summoned to Our presence. We have decided that you shall become the +adopted husband of Our only daughter;—and the wedding ceremony shall +now be performed.” + +As the king finished speaking, a sound of joyful music was heard; and a +long train of beautiful court ladies advanced from behind a curtain to +conduct Akinosuké to the room in which his bride awaited him. + +The room was immense; but it could scarcely contain the multitude of +guests assembled to witness the wedding ceremony. All bowed down before +Akinosuké as he took his place, facing the King’s daughter, on the +kneeling-cushion prepared for him. As a maiden of heaven the bride +appeared to be; and her robes were beautiful as a summer sky. And the +marriage was performed amid great rejoicing. + +Afterwards the pair were conducted to a suite of apartments that had +been prepared for them in another portion of the palace; and there they +received the congratulations of many noble persons, and wedding gifts +beyond counting. + +Some days later Akinosuké was again summoned to the throne-room. On +this occasion he was received even more graciously than before; and the +King said to him:— + +“In the southwestern part of Our dominion there is an island called +Raishū. We have now appointed you Governor of that island. You will +find the people loyal and docile; but their laws have not yet been +brought into proper accord with the laws of Tokoyo; and their customs +have not been properly regulated. We entrust you with the duty of +improving their social condition as far as may be possible; and We +desire that you shall rule them with kindness and wisdom. All +preparations necessary for your journey to Raishū have already been +made.” + +So Akinosuké and his bride departed from the palace of Tokoyo, +accompanied to the shore by a great escort of nobles and officials; and +they embarked upon a ship of state provided by the king. And with +favoring winds they safety sailed to Raishū, and found the good people +of that island assembled upon the beach to welcome them. + +Akinosuké entered at once upon his new duties; and they did not prove +to be hard. During the first three years of his governorship he was +occupied chiefly with the framing and the enactment of laws; but he had +wise counselors to help him, and he never found the work unpleasant. +When it was all finished, he had no active duties to perform, beyond +attending the rites and ceremonies ordained by ancient custom. The +country was so healthy and so fertile that sickness and want were +unknown; and the people were so good that no laws were ever broken. And +Akinosuké dwelt and ruled in Raishū for twenty years more,—making in +all twenty-three years of sojourn, during which no shadow of sorrow +traversed his life. + +But in the twenty-fourth year of his governorship, a great misfortune +came upon him; for his wife, who had borne him seven children,—five +boys and two girls,—fell sick and died. She was buried, with high pomp, +on the summit of a beautiful hill in the district of Hanryōkō; and a +monument, exceedingly splendid, was placed upon her grave. But +Akinosuké felt such grief at her death that he no longer cared to live. + +Now when the legal period of mourning was over, there came to Raishū, +from the Tokoyo palace, a _shisha_, or royal messenger. The _shisha_ +delivered to Akinosuké a message of condolence, and then said to him:— + +“These are the words which our august master, the King of Tokoyo, +commands that I repeat to you: ‘We will now send you back to your own +people and country. As for the seven children, they are the grandsons +and granddaughters of the King, and shall be fitly cared for. Do not, +therefore, allow your mind to be troubled concerning them.’” + +On receiving this mandate, Akinosuké submissively prepared for his +departure. When all his affairs had been settled, and the ceremony of +bidding farewell to his counselors and trusted officials had been +concluded, he was escorted with much honor to the port. There he +embarked upon the ship sent for him; and the ship sailed out into the +blue sea, under the blue sky; and the shape of the island of Raishū +itself turned blue, and then turned grey, and then vanished forever... +And Akinosuké suddenly awoke—under the cedar-tree in his own garden! + +For a moment he was stupefied and dazed. But he perceived his two +friends still seated near him,—drinking and chatting merrily. He stared +at them in a bewildered way, and cried aloud,— + +“How strange!” + +“Akinosuké must have been dreaming,” one of them exclaimed, with a +laugh. “What did you see, Akinosuké, that was strange?” + +Then Akinosuké told his dream,—that dream of three-and-twenty years’ +sojourn in the realm of Tokoyo, in the island of Raishū;—and they were +astonished, because he had really slept for no more than a few minutes. + +One gōshi said:— + +“Indeed, you saw strange things. We also saw something strange while +you were napping. A little yellow butterfly was fluttering over your +face for a moment or two; and we watched it. Then it alighted on the +ground beside you, close to the tree; and almost as soon as it alighted +there, a big, big ant came out of a hole and seized it and pulled it +down into the hole. Just before you woke up, we saw that very butterfly +come out of the hole again, and flutter over your face as before. And +then it suddenly disappeared: we do not know where it went.” + +“Perhaps it was Akinosuké’s soul,” the other gōshi said;—“certainly I +thought I saw it fly into his mouth... But, even if that butterfly +_was_ Akinosuké’s soul, the fact would not explain his dream.” + +“The ants might explain it,” returned the first speaker. “Ants are +queer beings—possibly goblins... Anyhow, there is a big ant’s nest +under that cedar-tree.”... + +“Let us look!” cried Akinosuké, greatly moved by this suggestion. And +he went for a spade. + +The ground about and beneath the cedar-tree proved to have been +excavated, in a most surprising way, by a prodigious colony of ants. +The ants had furthermore built inside their excavations; and their tiny +constructions of straw, clay, and stems bore an odd resemblance to +miniature towns. In the middle of a structure considerably larger than +the rest there was a marvelous swarming of small ants around the body +of one very big ant, which had yellowish wings and a long black head. + +“Why, there is the King of my dream!” cried Akinosuké; “and there is +the palace of Tokoyo!... How extraordinary!... Raishū ought to lie +somewhere southwest of it—to the left of that big root... Yes!—here it +is!... How very strange! Now I am sure that I can find the mountain of +Hanryōkō, and the grave of the princess.”... + +In the wreck of the nest he searched and searched, and at last +discovered a tiny mound, on the top of which was fixed a water-worn +pebble, in shape resembling a Buddhist monument. Underneath it he +found—embedded in clay—the dead body of a female ant. + + + + +RIKI-BAKA + + +His name was Riki, signifying Strength; but the people called him +Riki-the-Simple, or Riki-the-Fool,—“Riki-Baka,”—because he had been +born into perpetual childhood. For the same reason they were kind to +him,—even when he set a house on fire by putting a lighted match to a +mosquito-curtain, and clapped his hands for joy to see the blaze. At +sixteen years he was a tall, strong lad; but in mind he remained always +at the happy age of two, and therefore continued to play with very +small children. The bigger children of the neighborhood, from four to +seven years old, did not care to play with him, because he could not +learn their songs and games. His favorite toy was a broomstick, which +he used as a hobby-horse; and for hours at a time he would ride on that +broomstick, up and down the slope in front of my house, with amazing +peals of laughter. But at last he became troublesome by reason of his +noise; and I had to tell him that he must find another playground. He +bowed submissively, and then went off,—sorrowfully trailing his +broomstick behind him. Gentle at all times, and perfectly harmless if +allowed no chance to play with fire, he seldom gave anybody cause for +complaint. His relation to the life of our street was scarcely more +than that of a dog or a chicken; and when he finally disappeared, I did +not miss him. Months and months passed by before anything happened to +remind me of Riki. + +“What has become of Riki?” I then asked the old woodcutter who supplies +our neighborhood with fuel. I remembered that Riki had often helped him +to carry his bundles. + +“Riki-Baka?” answered the old man. “Ah, Riki is dead—poor fellow!... +Yes, he died nearly a year ago, very suddenly; the doctors said that he +had some disease of the brain. And there is a strange story now about +that poor Riki. + +“When Riki died, his mother wrote his name, ‘Riki-Baka,’ in the palm of +his left hand,—putting ‘Riki’ in the Chinese character, and ‘Baka’ in +_kana_ (1). And she repeated many prayers for him,—prayers that he +might be reborn into some more happy condition. + +“Now, about three months ago, in the honorable residence of +Nanigashi-Sama (2), in Kojimachi (3), a boy was born with characters on +the palm of his left hand; and the characters were quite plain to +read,—‘_RIKI-BAKA_’! + +“So the people of that house knew that the birth must have happened in +answer to somebody’s prayer; and they caused inquiry to be made +everywhere. At last a vegetable-seller brought word to them that there +used to be a simple lad, called Riki-Baka, living in the Ushigomé +quarter, and that he had died during the last autumn; and they sent two +men-servants to look for the mother of Riki. + +“Those servants found the mother of Riki, and told her what had +happened; and she was glad exceedingly—for that Nanigashi house is a +very rich and famous house. But the servants said that the family of +Nanigashi-Sama were very angry about the word ‘Baka’ on the child’s +hand. ‘And where is your Riki buried?’ the servants asked. ‘He is +buried in the cemetery of Zendōji,’ she told them. ‘Please to give us +some of the clay of his grave,’ they requested. + +“So she went with them to the temple Zendōji, and showed them Riki’s +grave; and they took some of the grave-clay away with them, wrapped up +in a _furoshiki_[1]].... They gave Riki’s mother some money,—ten +yen.”... (4) + +“But what did they want with that clay?” I inquired. + +“Well,” the old man answered, “you know that it would not do to let the +child grow up with that name on his hand. And there is no other means +of removing characters that come in that way upon the body of a child: +_you must rub the skin with clay taken from the grave of the body of +the former birth_.”... + + + + +HI-MAWARI + + +On the wooded hill behind the house Robert and I are looking for +fairy-rings. Robert is eight years old, comely, and very wise;—I am a +little more than seven,—and I reverence Robert. It is a glowing +glorious August day; and the warm air is filled with sharp sweet scents +of resin. + +We do not find any fairy-rings; but we find a great many pine-cones in +the high grass... I tell Robert the old Welsh story of the man who went +to sleep, unawares, inside a fairy-ring, and so disappeared for seven +years, and would never eat or speak after his friends had delivered him +from the enchantment. + +“They eat nothing but the points of needles, you know,” says Robert. + +“Who?” I ask. + +“Goblins,” Robert answers. + +This revelation leaves me dumb with astonishment and awe... But Robert +suddenly cries out:— + +“There is a Harper!—he is coming to the house!” + +And down the hill we run to hear the harper... But what a harper! Not +like the hoary minstrels of the picture-books. A swarthy, sturdy, +unkempt vagabond, with black bold eyes under scowling black brows. More +like a bricklayer than a bard,—and his garments are corduroy! + +“Wonder if he is going to sing in Welsh?” murmurs Robert. + +I feel too much disappointed to make any remarks. The harper poses his +harp—a huge instrument—upon our doorstep, sets all the strong ringing +with a sweep of his grimy fingers, clears his throat with a sort of +angry growl, and begins,— + +Believe me, if all those endearing young charms, + Which I gaze on so fondly to-day... + + +The accent, the attitude, the voice, all fill me with repulsion +unutterable,—shock me with a new sensation of formidable vulgarity. I +want to cry out loud, “You have no right to sing that song!” For I have +heard it sung by the lips of the dearest and fairest being in my little +world;—and that this rude, coarse man should dare to sing it vexes me +like a mockery,—angers me like an insolence. But only for a moment!... +With the utterance of the syllables “to-day,” that deep, grim voice +suddenly breaks into a quivering tenderness indescribable;—then, +marvelously changing, it mellows into tones sonorous and rich as the +bass of a great organ,—while a sensation unlike anything ever felt +before takes me by the throat... What witchcraft has he learned? what +secret has he found—this scowling man of the road?... Oh! is there +anybody else in the whole world who can sing like that?... And the form +of the singer flickers and dims;—and the house, and the lawn, and all +visible shapes of things tremble and swim before me. Yet instinctively +I fear that man;—I almost hate him; and I feel myself flushing with +anger and shame because of his power to move me thus... + +“He made you cry,” Robert compassionately observes, to my further +confusion,—as the harper strides away, richer by a gift of sixpence +taken without thanks... “But I think he must be a gipsy. Gipsies are +bad people—and they are wizards... Let us go back to the wood.” + +We climb again to the pines, and there squat down upon the sun-flecked +grass, and look over town and sea. But we do not play as before: the +spell of the wizard is strong upon us both... “Perhaps he is a goblin,” +I venture at last, “or a fairy?” “No,” says Robert,—“only a gipsy. But +that is nearly as bad. They steal children, you know.”... + +“What shall we do if he comes up here?” I gasp, in sudden terror at the +lonesomeness of our situation. + +“Oh, he wouldn’t dare,” answers Robert—“not by daylight, you know.”... + +[Only yesterday, near the village of Takata, I noticed a flower which +the Japanese call by nearly the same name as we do: _Himawari_, “The +Sunward-turning;”—and over the space of forty years there thrilled back +to me the voice of that wandering harper,— + +As the Sunflower turns on her god, when he sets, +The same look that she turned when he rose. + + +Again I saw the sun-flecked shadows on that far Welsh hill; and Robert +for a moment again stood beside me, with his girl’s face and his curls +of gold. We were looking for fairy-rings... But all that existed of the +real Robert must long ago have suffered a sea-change into something +rich and strange... _Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay +down his life for his friend_....] + + + + +HŌRAI + + +Blue vision of depth lost in height,—sea and sky interblending through +luminous haze. The day is of spring, and the hour morning. + +Only sky and sea,—one azure enormity... In the fore, ripples are +catching a silvery light, and threads of foam are swirling. But a +little further off no motion is visible, nor anything save color: dim +warm blue of water widening away to melt into blue of air. Horizon +there is none: only distance soaring into space,—infinite concavity +hollowing before you, and hugely arching above you,—the color deepening +with the height. But far in the midway-blue there hangs a faint, faint +vision of palace towers, with high roofs horned and curved like +moons,—some shadowing of splendor strange and old, illumined by a +sunshine soft as memory. + +...What I have thus been trying to describe is a kakémono,—that is to +say, a Japanese painting on silk, suspended to the wall of my +alcove;—and the name of it is SHINKIRŌ, which signifies “Mirage.” But +the shapes of the mirage are unmistakable. Those are the glimmering +portals of Hōrai the blest; and those are the moony roofs of the Palace +of the Dragon-King;—and the fashion of them (though limned by a +Japanese brush of to-day) is the fashion of things Chinese, twenty-one +hundred years ago... + +Thus much is told of the place in the Chinese books of that time:— + +In Hōrai there is neither death nor pain; and there is no winter. The +flowers in that place never fade, and the fruits never fail; and if a +man taste of those fruits even but once, he can never again feel thirst +or hunger. In Hōrai grow the enchanted plants _So-rin-shi_, and +_Riku-gō-aoi_, and _Ban-kon-tō_, which heal all manner of sickness;—and +there grows also the magical grass _Yō-shin-shi_, that quickens the +dead; and the magical grass is watered by a fairy water of which a +single drink confers perpetual youth. The people of Hōrai eat their +rice out of very, very small bowls; but the rice never diminishes +within those bowls,—however much of it be eaten,—until the eater +desires no more. And the people of Hōrai drink their wine out of very, +very small cups; but no man can empty one of those cups,—however +stoutly he may drink,—until there comes upon him the pleasant +drowsiness of intoxication. + +All this and more is told in the legends of the time of the Shin +dynasty. But that the people who wrote down those legends ever saw +Hōrai, even in a mirage, is not believable. For really there are no +enchanted fruits which leave the eater forever satisfied,—nor any +magical grass which revives the dead,—nor any fountain of fairy +water,—nor any bowls which never lack rice,—nor any cups which never +lack wine. It is not true that sorrow and death never enter +Hōrai;—neither is it true that there is not any winter. The winter in +Hōrai is cold;—and winds then bite to the bone; and the heaping of snow +is monstrous on the roofs of the Dragon-King. + +Nevertheless there are wonderful things in Hōrai; and the most +wonderful of all has not been mentioned by any Chinese writer. I mean +the atmosphere of Hōrai. It is an atmosphere peculiar to the place; +and, because of it, the sunshine in Hōrai is _whiter_ than any other +sunshine,—a milky light that never dazzles,—astonishingly clear, but +very soft. This atmosphere is not of our human period: it is enormously +old,—so old that I feel afraid when I try to think how old it is;—and +it is not a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen. It is not made of air at +all, but of ghost,—the substance of quintillions of quintillions of +generations of souls blended into one immense translucency,—souls of +people who thought in ways never resembling our ways. Whatever mortal +man inhales that atmosphere, he takes into his blood the thrilling of +these spirits; and they change the sense within him,—reshaping his +notions of Space and Time,—so that he can see only as they used to see, +and feel only as they used to feel, and think only as they used to +think. Soft as sleep are these changes of sense; and Hōrai, discerned +across them, might thus be described:— + +_—Because in Hōrai there is no knowledge of great evil, the hearts of +the people never grow old. And, by reason of being always young in +heart, the people of Hōrai smile from birth until death—except when the +Gods send sorrow among them; and faces then are veiled until the sorrow +goes away. All folk in Hōrai love and trust each other, as if all were +members of a single household;—and the speech of the women is like +birdsong, because the hearts of them are light as the souls of +birds;—and the swaying of the sleeves of the maidens at play seems a +flutter of wide, soft wings. In Hōrai nothing is hidden but grief, +because there is no reason for shame;—and nothing is locked away, +because there could not be any theft;—and by night as well as by day +all doors remain unbarred, because there is no reason for fear. And +because the people are fairies—though mortal—all things in Hōrai, +except the Palace of the Dragon-King, are small and quaint and +queer;—and these fairy-folk do really eat their rice out of very, very +small bowls, and drink their wine out of very, very small cups...._ + +—Much of this seeming would be due to the inhalation of that ghostly +atmosphere—but not all. For the spell wrought by the dead is only the +charm of an Ideal, the glamour of an ancient hope;—and something of +that hope has found fulfillment in many hearts,—in the simple beauty of +unselfish lives,—in the sweetness of Woman... + +—Evil winds from the West are blowing over Hōrai; and the magical +atmosphere, alas! is shrinking away before them. It lingers now in +patches only, and bands,—like those long bright bands of cloud that +train across the landscapes of Japanese painters. Under these shreds of +the elfish vapor you still can find Hōrai—but not everywhere... +Remember that Hōrai is also called Shinkirō, which signifies +Mirage,—the Vision of the Intangible. And the Vision is fading,—never +again to appear save in pictures and poems and dreams... + + + + +INSECT STUDIES + + + + +BUTTERFLIES + + +I + +Would that I could hope for the luck of that Chinese scholar known to +Japanese literature as “Rōsan”! For he was beloved by two +spirit-maidens, celestial sisters, who every ten days came to visit him +and to tell him stories about butterflies. Now there are marvelous +Chinese stories about butterflies—ghostly stories; and I want to know +them. But never shall I be able to read Chinese, nor even Japanese; and +the little Japanese poetry that I manage, with exceeding difficulty, to +translate, contains so many allusions to Chinese stories of butterflies +that I am tormented with the torment of Tantalus... And, of course, no +spirit-maidens will even deign to visit so skeptical a person as +myself. + +I want to know, for example, the whole story of that Chinese maiden +whom the butterflies took to be a flower, and followed in multitude,—so +fragrant and so fair was she. Also I should like to know something more +concerning the butterflies of the Emperor Gensō, or Ming Hwang, who +made them choose his loves for him... He used to hold wine-parties in +his amazing garden; and ladies of exceeding beauty were in attendance; +and caged butterflies, set free among them, would fly to the fairest; +and then, upon that fairest the Imperial favor was bestowed. But after +Gensō Kōtei had seen Yōkihi (whom the Chinese call Yang-Kwei-Fei), he +would not suffer the butterflies to choose for him,—which was unlucky, +as Yokihi got him into serious trouble... Again, I should like to know +more about the experience of that Chinese scholar, celebrated in Japan +under the name Sōshū, who dreamed that he was a butterfly, and had all +the sensations of a butterfly in that dream. For his spirit had really +been wandering about in the shape of a butterfly; and, when he awoke, +the memories and the feelings of butterfly existence remained so vivid +in his mind that he could not act like a human being... Finally I +should like to know the text of a certain Chinese official recognition +of sundry butterflies as the spirits of an Emperor and of his +attendants... + +Most of the Japanese literature about butterflies, excepting some +poetry, appears to be of Chinese origin; and even that old national +aæsthetic feeling on the subject, which found such delightful +expression in Japanese art and song and custom, may have been first +developed under Chinese teaching. Chinese precedent doubtless explains +why Japanese poets and painters chose so often for their _geimyō_, or +professional appellations, such names as _Chōmu_ (“Butterfly-Dream),” +_Ichō_ (“Solitary Butterfly),” etc. And even to this day such _geimyō_ +as _Chōhana_ (“Butterfly-Blossom”), _Chōkichi_ (“Butterfly-Luck”), or +_Chōnosuké_ (“Butterfly-Help”), are affected by dancing-girls. Besides +artistic names having reference to butterflies, there are still in use +real personal names (_yobina_) of this kind,—such as Kochō, or Chō, +meaning “Butterfly.” They are borne by women only, as a rule,—though +there are some strange exceptions... And here I may mention that, in +the province of Mutsu, there still exists the curious old custom of +calling the youngest daughter in a family _Tekona_,—which quaint word, +obsolete elsewhere, signifies in Mutsu dialect a butterfly. In classic +time this word signified also a beautiful woman... + +It is possible also that some weird Japanese beliefs about butterflies +are of Chinese derivation; but these beliefs might be older than China +herself. The most interesting one, I think, is that the soul of a +_living_ person may wander about in the form of a butterfly. Some +pretty fancies have been evolved out of this belief,—such as the notion +that if a butterfly enters your guest-room and perches behind the +bamboo screen, the person whom you most love is coming to see you. That +a butterfly may be the spirit of somebody is not a reason for being +afraid of it. Nevertheless there are times when even butterflies can +inspire fear by appearing in prodigious numbers; and Japanese history +records such an event. When Taïra-no-Masakado was secretly preparing +for his famous revolt, there appeared in Kyōto so vast a swarm of +butterflies that the people were frightened,—thinking the apparition to +be a portent of coming evil... Perhaps those butterflies were supposed +to be the spirits of the thousands doomed to perish in battle, and +agitated on the eve of war by some mysterious premonition of death. + +However, in Japanese belief, a butterfly may be the soul of a dead +person as well as of a living person. Indeed it is a custom of souls to +take butterfly-shape in order to announce the fact of their final +departure from the body; and for this reason any butterfly which enters +a house ought to be kindly treated. + +To this belief, and to queer fancies connected with it, there are many +allusions in popular drama. For example, there is a well-known play +called _Tondé-déru-Kochō-no-Kanzashi;_ or, “The Flying Hairpin of +Kochō.” Kochō is a beautiful person who kills herself because of false +accusations and cruel treatment. Her would-be avenger long seeks in +vain for the author of the wrong. But at last the dead woman’s hairpin +turns into a butterfly, and serves as a guide to vengeance by hovering +above the place where the villain is hiding. + +—Of course those big paper butterflies (_o-chō_ and _mé-chō_) which +figure at weddings must not be thought of as having any ghostly +signification. As emblems they only express the joy of living union, +and the hope that the newly married couple may pass through life +together as a pair of butterflies flit lightly through some pleasant +garden,—now hovering upward, now downward, but never widely separating. + +II + +A small selection of _hokku_ (1) on butterflies will help to illustrate +Japanese interest in the aæsthetic side of the subject. Some are +pictures only,—tiny color-sketches made with seventeen syllables; some +are nothing more than pretty fancies, or graceful suggestions;—but the +reader will find variety. Probably he will not care much for the verses +in themselves. The taste for Japanese poetry of the epigrammatic sort +is a taste that must be slowly acquired; and it is only by degrees, +after patient study, that the possibilities of such composition can be +fairly estimated. Hasty criticism has declared that to put forward any +serious claim on behalf of seventeen-syllable poems “would be absurd.” +But what, then, of Crashaw’s famous line upon the miracle at the +marriage feast in Cana?— + +Nympha pudica Deum vidit, et erubuit.[1] + + +Only fourteen syllables—and immortality. Now with seventeen Japanese +syllables things quite as wonderful—indeed, much more wonderful—have +been done, not once or twice, but probably a thousand times... However, +there is nothing wonderful in the following _hokku_, which have been +selected for more than literary reasons:— + + Nugi-kakuru[2] +Haori sugata no + Kochō kana! + + +[_Like a_ haori _being taken off—that is the shape of a butterfly!_] + + + Torisashi no +Sao no jama suru + Kochō kana! + + +[_Ah, the butterfly keeps getting in the way of the bird-catcher’s +pole!_[3]] + + + Tsurigané ni +Tomarité nemuru + Kochō kana! + + +[_Perched upon the temple-bell, the butterfly sleeps:_] + + + Néru-uchi mo +Asobu-yumé wo ya— + Kusa no chō! + + +[_Even while sleeping, its dream is of play—ah, the butterfly of the +grass!_[4] + + + Oki, oki yo! +Waga tomo ni sen, + Néru-kochō! + + +[_Wake up! wake up!—I will make thee my comrade, thou sleeping +butterfly._[5]] + + + Kago no tori +Chō wo urayamu + Metsuki kana! + + +[_Ah, the sad expression in the eyes of that caged bird!—envying the +butterfly!_] + + + Chō tondé— +Kazé naki hi to mo + Miëzari ki! + + +[_Even though it did not appear to be a windy day_,[6] _the fluttering +of the butterflies—!_] + + + Rakkwa éda ni +Kaëru to miréba— + Kochō kana! + + +[_When I saw the fallen flower return to the branch—lo! it was only a +butterfly!_[7]] + + + Chiru-hana ni— +Karusa arasoü + Kochō kana! + + +[_How the butterfly strives to compete in lightness with the falling +flowers!_[8]] + + + Chōchō ya! +Onna no michi no + Ato ya saki! + + +[_See that butterfly on the woman’s path,—now fluttering behind her, +now before!_] + + + Chōchō ya! +Hana-nusubito wo + Tsukété-yuku! + + +[_Ha! the butterfly!—it is following the person who stole the +flowers!_] + + + Aki no chō +Tomo nakéréba ya; + Hito ni tsuku + + +[_Poor autumn butterfly!—when left without a comrade_ (of its own +race), _it follows after man_ (or “a person”)!] + + + Owarété mo, +Isoganu furi no + Chōcho kana! + + +[_Ah, the butterfly! Even when chased, it never has the air of being in +a hurry._] + + + Chō wa mina +Jiu-shichi-hachi no + Sugata kana! + + +[_As for butterflies, they all have the appearance of being about +seventeen or eighteen years old._[9]] + + + Chō tobu ya— +Kono yo no urami + Naki yō ni! + + +[_How the butterfly sports,—just as if there were no enmity_ (or +“envy”) _in this world!_] + + + Chō tobu ya, +Kono yo ni nozomi + Nai yō ni! + + +[_Ah, the butterfly!—it sports about as if it had nothing more to +desire in this present state of existence._] + + + Nami no hana ni +Tomari kanétaru, + Kochō kana! + + +[_Having found it difficult indeed to perch upon the_ (_foam_-) +_blossoms of the waves,—alas for the butterfly!_] + + + Mutsumashi ya!— +Umaré-kawareba + Nobé no chō.[10] + + +[_If_ (in our next existence) _we be born into the state of butterflies +upon the moor, then perchance we may be happy together!_] + + + Nadéshiko ni +Chōchō shiroshi— + Taré no kon?[11] + + +[_On the pink-flower there is a white butterfly: whose spirit, I +wonder?_] + + + Ichi-nichi no +Tsuma to miëkéri— + Chō futatsu. + + +[_The one-day wife has at last appeared—a pair of butterflies!_] + + + Kité wa maü, +Futari shidzuka no + Kochō kana! + + +[_Approaching they dance; but when the two meet at last they are very +quiet, the butterflies!_] + + + Chō wo oü +Kokoro-mochitashi + Itsumadémo! + + +[_Would that I might always have the heart_ (desire) _of chasing +butterflies!_[12]] + + +Besides these specimens of poetry about butterflies, I have one queer +example to offer of Japanese prose literature on the same topic. The +original, of which I have attempted only a free translation, can be +found in the curious old book _Mushi-Isamé_ (“Insect-Admonitions”); and +it assumes the form of a discourse to a butterfly. But it is really a +didactic allegory,—suggesting the moral significance of a social rise +and fall:— + +“Now, under the sun of spring, the winds are gentle, and flowers pinkly +bloom, and grasses are soft, and the hearts of people are glad. +Butterflies everywhere flutter joyously: so many persons now compose +Chinese verses and Japanese verses about butterflies. + +“And this season, O Butterfly, is indeed the season of your bright +prosperity: so comely you now are that in the whole world there is +nothing more comely. For that reason all other insects admire and envy +you;—there is not among them even one that does not envy you. Nor do +insects alone regard you with envy: men also both envy and admire you. +Sōshū of China, in a dream, assumed your shape;—Sakoku of Japan, after +dying, took your form, and therein made ghostly apparition. Nor is the +envy that you inspire shared only by insects and mankind: even things +without soul change their form into yours;—witness the barley-grass, +which turns into a butterfly.[13] + +“And therefore you are lifted up with pride, and think to yourself: ‘In +all this world there is nothing superior to me!’ Ah! I can very well +guess what is in your heart: you are too much satisfied with your own +person. That is why you let yourself be blown thus lightly about by +every wind;—that is why you never remain still,—always, always +thinking, ‘In the whole world there is no one so fortunate as I.’ + +“But now try to think a little about your own personal history. It is +worth recalling; for there is a vulgar side to it. How a vulgar side? +Well, for a considerable time after you were born, you had no such +reason for rejoicing in your form. You were then a mere cabbage-insect, +a hairy worm; and you were so poor that you could not afford even one +robe to cover your nakedness; and your appearance was altogether +disgusting. Everybody in those days hated the sight of you. Indeed you +had good reason to be ashamed of yourself; and so ashamed you were that +you collected old twigs and rubbish to hide in, and you made a +hiding-nest, and hung it to a branch,—and then everybody cried out to +you, ‘Raincoat Insect!’ (_Mino-mushi_.)[14] And during that period of +your life, your sins were grievous. Among the tender green leaves of +beautiful cherry-trees you and your fellows assembled, and there made +ugliness extraordinary; and the expectant eyes of the people, who came +from far away to admire the beauty of those cherry-trees, were hurt by +the sight of you. And of things even more hateful than this you were +guilty. You knew that poor, poor men and women had been cultivating +_daikon_ (2) in their fields,—toiling under the hot sun till their +hearts were filled with bitterness by reason of having to care for that +_daikon;_ and you persuaded your companions to go with you, and to +gather upon the leaves of that _daikon_, and on the leaves of other +vegetables planted by those poor people. Out of your greediness you +ravaged those leaves, and gnawed them into all shapes of +ugliness,—caring nothing for the trouble of those poor folk... Yes, +such a creature you were, and such were your doings. + +“And now that you have a comely form, you despise your old comrades, +the insects; and, whenever you happen to meet any of them, you pretend +not to know them [literally, ‘You make an I-don’t-know face’]. Now you +want to have none but wealthy and exalted people for friends... Ah! You +have forgotten the old times, have you? + +“It is true that many people have forgotten your past, and are charmed +by the sight of your present graceful shape and white wings, and write +Chinese verses and Japanese verses about you. The high-born damsel, who +could not bear even to look at you in your former shape, now gazes at +you with delight, and wants you to perch upon her hairpin, and holds +out her dainty fan in the hope that you will light upon it. But this +reminds me that there is an ancient Chinese story about you, which is +not pretty. + +“In the time of the Emperor Gensō, the Imperial Palace contained +hundreds and thousands of beautiful ladies,—so many, indeed, that it +would have been difficult for any man to decide which among them was +the loveliest. So all of those beautiful persons were assembled +together in one place; and you were set free to fly among them; and it +was decreed that the damsel upon whose hairpin you perched should be +augustly summoned to the Imperial Chamber. In that time there could not +be more than one Empress—which was a good law; but, because of you, the +Emperor Gensō did great mischief in the land. For your mind is light +and frivolous; and although among so many beautiful women there must +have been some persons of pure heart, you would look for nothing but +beauty, and so betook yourself to the person most beautiful in outward +appearance. Therefore many of the female attendants ceased altogether +to think about the right way of women, and began to study how to make +themselves appear splendid in the eyes of men. And the end of it was +that the Emperor Gensō died a pitiful and painful death—all because of +your light and trifling mind. Indeed, your real character can easily be +seen from your conduct in other matters. There are trees, for +example,—such as the evergreen-oak and the pine,—whose leaves do not +fade and fall, but remain always green;—these are trees of firm heart, +trees of solid character. But you say that they are stiff and formal; +and you hate the sight of them, and never pay them a visit. Only to the +cherry-tree, and the _kaido_[15], and the peony, and the yellow rose +you go: those you like because they have showy flowers, and you try +only to please them. Such conduct, let me assure you, is very +unbecoming. Those trees certainly have handsome flowers; but +hunger-satisfying fruits they have not; and they are grateful to those +only who are fond of luxury and show. And that is just the reason why +they are pleased by your fluttering wings and delicate shape;—that is +why they are kind to you. + +“Now, in this spring season, while you sportively dance through the +gardens of the wealthy, or hover among the beautiful alleys of +cherry-trees in blossom, you say to yourself: ‘Nobody in the world has +such pleasure as I, or such excellent friends. And, in spite of all +that people may say, I most love the peony,—and the golden yellow rose +is my own darling, and I will obey her every least behest; for that is +my pride and my delight.’... So you say. But the opulent and elegant +season of flowers is very short: soon they will fade and fall. Then, in +the time of summer heat, there will be green leaves only; and presently +the winds of autumn will blow, when even the leaves themselves will +shower down like rain, _parari-parari_. And your fate will then be as +the fate of the unlucky in the proverb, _Tanomi ki no shita ni amé +furu_ [Even through the tree upon which I relied for shelter the rain +leaks down]. For you will seek out your old friend, the root-cutting +insect, the grub, and beg him to let you return into your old-time +hole;—but now having wings, you will not be able to enter the hole +because of them, and you will not be able to shelter your body anywhere +between heaven and earth, and all the moor-grass will then have +withered, and you will not have even one drop of dew with which to +moisten your tongue,—and there will be nothing left for you to do but +to lie down and die. All because of your light and frivolous heart—but, +ah! how lamentable an end!”... + +III + +Most of the Japanese stories about butterflies appear, as I have said, +to be of Chinese origin. But I have one which is probably indigenous; +and it seems to me worth telling for the benefit of persons who believe +there is no “romantic love” in the Far East. + +Behind the cemetery of the temple of Sōzanji, in the suburbs of the +capital, there long stood a solitary cottage, occupied by an old man +named Takahama. He was liked in the neighborhood, by reason of his +amiable ways; but almost everybody supposed him to be a little mad. +Unless a man take the Buddhist vows, he is expected to marry, and to +bring up a family. But Takahama did not belong to the religious life; +and he could not be persuaded to marry. Neither had he ever been known +to enter into a love-relation with any woman. For more than fifty years +he had lived entirely alone. + +One summer he fell sick, and knew that he had not long to live. He then +sent for his sister-in-law, a widow, and for her only son,—a lad of +about twenty years old, to whom he was much attached. Both promptly +came, and did whatever they could to soothe the old man’s last hours. + +One sultry afternoon, while the widow and her son were watching at his +bedside, Takahama fell asleep. At the same moment a very large white +butterfly entered the room, and perched upon the sick man’s pillow. The +nephew drove it away with a fan; but it returned immediately to the +pillow, and was again driven away, only to come back a third time. Then +the nephew chased it into the garden, and across the garden, through an +open gate, into the cemetery of the neighboring temple. But it +continued to flutter before him as if unwilling to be driven further, +and acted so queerly that he began to wonder whether it was really a +butterfly, or a _ma_[16]. He again chased it, and followed it far into +the cemetery, until he saw it fly against a tomb,—a woman’s tomb. There +it unaccountably disappeared; and he searched for it in vain. He then +examined the monument. It bore the personal name “Akiko,” (3) together +with an unfamiliar family name, and an inscription stating that Akiko +had died at the age of eighteen. Apparently the tomb had been erected +about fifty years previously: moss had begun to gather upon it. But it +had been well cared for: there were fresh flowers before it; and the +water-tank had recently been filled. + +On returning to the sick room, the young man was shocked by the +announcement that his uncle had ceased to breathe. Death had come to +the sleeper painlessly; and the dead face smiled. + +The young man told his mother of what he had seen in the cemetery. + +“Ah!” exclaimed the widow, “then it must have been Akiko!”... + +“But who was Akiko, mother?” the nephew asked. + +The widow answered:— + +“When your good uncle was young he was betrothed to a charming girl +called Akiko, the daughter of a neighbor. Akiko died of consumption, +only a little before the day appointed for the wedding; and her +promised husband sorrowed greatly. After Akiko had been buried, he made +a vow never to marry; and he built this little house beside the +cemetery, so that he might be always near her grave. All this happened +more than fifty years ago. And every day of those fifty years—winter +and summer alike—your uncle went to the cemetery, and prayed at the +grave, and swept the tomb, and set offerings before it. But he did not +like to have any mention made of the matter; and he never spoke of +it... So, at last, Akiko came for him: the white butterfly was her +soul.” + +IV + +I had almost forgotten to mention an ancient Japanese dance, called the +Butterfly Dance (_Kochō-Mai_), which used to be performed in the +Imperial Palace, by dancers costumed as butterflies. Whether it is +danced occasionally nowadays I do not know. It is said to be very +difficult to learn. Six dancers are required for the proper performance +of it; and they must move in particular figures,—obeying traditional +rules for every step, pose, or gesture,—and circling about each other +very slowly to the sound of hand-drums and great drums, small flutes +and great flutes, and pandean pipes of a form unknown to Western Pan. + + +[Illustration] BUTTERFLY DANCE + + + + +MOSQUITOES + + +With a view to self-protection I have been reading Dr. Howard’s book, +“Mosquitoes.” I am persecuted by mosquitoes. There are several species +in my neighborhood; but only one of them is a serious torment,—a tiny +needly thing, all silver-speckled and silver-streaked. The puncture of +it is sharp as an electric burn; and the mere hum of it has a +lancinating quality of tone which foretells the quality of the pain +about to come,—much in the same way that a particular smell suggests a +particular taste. I find that this mosquito much resembles the creature +which Dr. Howard calls _Stegomyia fasciata_, or _Culex fasciatus:_ and +that its habits are the same as those of the _Stegomyia_. For example, +it is diurnal rather than nocturnal and becomes most troublesome in the +afternoon. And I have discovered that it comes from the Buddhist +cemetery,—a very old cemetery,—in the rear of my garden. + +Dr. Howard’s book declares that, in order to rid a neighborhood of +mosquitoes, it is only necessary to pour a little petroleum, or +kerosene oil, into the stagnant water where they breed. Once a week the +oil should be used, “at the rate of once ounce for every fifteen square +feet of water-surface, and a proportionate quantity for any less +surface.” ...But please to consider the conditions in _my_ +neighborhood! + +I have said that my tormentors come from the Buddhist cemetery. Before +nearly every tomb in that old cemetery there is a water-receptacle, or +cistern, called _mizutamé_. In the majority of cases this _mizutamé_ is +simply an oblong cavity chiseled in the broad pedestal supporting the +monument; but before tombs of a costly kind, having no pedestal-tank, a +larger separate tank is placed, cut out of a single block of stone, and +decorated with a family crest, or with symbolic carvings. In front of a +tomb of the humblest class, having no _mizutamé_, water is placed in +cups or other vessels,—for the dead must have water. Flowers also must +be offered to them; and before every tomb you will find a pair of +bamboo cups, or other flower-vessels; and these, of course, contain +water. There is a well in the cemetery to supply water for the graves. +Whenever the tombs are visited by relatives and friends of the dead, +fresh water is poured into the tanks and cups. But as an old cemetery +of this kind contains thousands of _mizutamé_, and tens of thousands of +flower-vessels the water in all of these cannot be renewed every day. +It becomes stagnant and populous. The deeper tanks seldom get dry;—the +rainfall at Tōkyō being heavy enough to keep them partly filled during +nine months out of the twelve. + +Well, it is in these tanks and flower-vessels that mine enemies are +born: they rise by millions from the water of the dead;—and, according +to Buddhist doctrine, some of them may be reincarnations of those very +dead, condemned by the error of former lives to the condition of +_Jiki-ketsu-gaki_, or blood-drinking pretas.... Anyhow the malevolence +of the _Culex fasciatus_ would justify the suspicion that some wicked +human soul had been compressed into that wailing speck of a body.... + +Now, to return to the subject of kerosene-oil, you can exterminate the +mosquitoes of any locality by covering with a film of kerosene all +stagnant water surfaces therein. The larvae die on rising to breathe; +and the adult females perish when they approach the water to launch +their rafts of eggs. And I read, in Dr. Howard’s book, that the actual +cost of freeing from mosquitoes one American town of fifty thousand +inhabitants, does not exceed three hundred dollars!... + +I wonder what would be said if the city-government of Tōkyō—which is +aggressively scientific and progressive—were suddenly to command that +all water-surfaces in the Buddhist cemeteries should be covered, at +regular intervals, with a film of kerosene oil! How could the religion +which prohibits the taking of any life—even of invisible life—yield to +such a mandate? Would filial piety even dream of consenting to obey +such an order? And then to think of the cost, in labor and time, of +putting kerosene oil, every seven days, into the millions of +_mizutamé_, and the tens of millions of bamboo flower-cups, in the +Tōkyō graveyards!... Impossible! To free the city from mosquitoes it +would be necessary to demolish the ancient graveyards;—and that would +signify the ruin of the Buddhist temples attached to them;—and that +would mean the disparition of so many charming gardens, with their +lotus-ponds and Sanscrit-lettered monuments and humpy bridges and holy +groves and weirdly-smiling Buddhas! So the extermination of the _Culex +fasciatus_ would involve the destruction of the poetry of the ancestral +cult,—surely too great a price to pay!... + +Besides, I should like, when my time comes, to be laid away in some +Buddhist graveyard of the ancient kind,—so that my ghostly company +should be ancient, caring nothing for the fashions and the changes and +the disintegrations of Meiji (1). That old cemetery behind my garden +would be a suitable place. Everything there is beautiful with a beauty +of exceeding and startling queerness; each tree and stone has been +shaped by some old, old ideal which no longer exists in any living +brain; even the shadows are not of this time and sun, but of a world +forgotten, that never knew steam or electricity or magnetism +or—kerosene oil! Also in the boom of the big bell there is a quaintness +of tone which wakens feelings, so strangely far-away from all the +nineteenth-century part of me, that the faint blind stirrings of them +make me afraid,—deliciously afraid. Never do I hear that billowing peal +but I become aware of a striving and a fluttering in the abyssal part +of my ghost,—a sensation as of memories struggling to reach the light +beyond the obscurations of a million million deaths and births. I hope +to remain within hearing of that bell... And, considering the +possibility of being doomed to the state of a _Jiki-ketsu-gaki_, I want +to have my chance of being reborn in some bamboo flower-cup, or +_mizutamé_, whence I might issue softly, singing my thin and pungent +song, to bite some people that I know. + + + + +ANTS + + +I + +This morning sky, after the night’s tempest, is a pure and dazzling +blue. The air—the delicious air!—is full of sweet resinous odors, shed +from the countless pine-boughs broken and strewn by the gale. In the +neighboring bamboo-grove I hear the flute-call of the bird that praises +the Sûtra of the Lotos; and the land is very still by reason of the +south wind. Now the summer, long delayed, is truly with us: butterflies +of queer Japanese colors are flickering about; semi (1) are wheezing; +wasps are humming; gnats are dancing in the sun; and the ants are busy +repairing their damaged habitations... I bethink me of a Japanese +poem:— + + Yuku é naki: +Ari no sumai ya! + Go-getsu amé. + + +[_Now the poor creature has nowhere to go!... Alas for the dwellings of +the ants in this rain of the fifth month!_] + + +But those big black ants in my garden do not seem to need any sympathy. +They have weathered the storm in some unimaginable way, while great +trees were being uprooted, and houses blown to fragments, and roads +washed out of existence. Yet, before the typhoon, they took no other +visible precaution than to block up the gates of their subterranean +town. And the spectacle of their triumphant toil to-day impels me to +attempt an essay on Ants. + +I should have liked to preface my disquisitions with something from the +old Japanese literature,—something emotional or metaphysical. But all +that my Japanese friends were able to find for me on the +subject,—excepting some verses of little worth,—was Chinese. This +Chinese material consisted chiefly of strange stories; and one of them +seems to me worth quoting,—_faute de mieux_. + + +In the province of Taishū, in China, there was a pious man who, every +day, during many years, fervently worshiped a certain goddess. One +morning, while he was engaged in his devotions, a beautiful woman, +wearing a yellow robe, came into his chamber and stood before him. He, +greatly surprised, asked her what she wanted, and why she had entered +unannounced. She answered: “I am not a woman: I am the goddess whom you +have so long and so faithfully worshiped; and I have now come to prove +to you that your devotion has not been in vain... Are you acquainted +with the language of Ants?” The worshiper replied: “I am only a +low-born and ignorant person,—not a scholar; and even of the language +of superior men I know nothing.” At these words the goddess smiled, and +drew from her bosom a little box, shaped like an incense box. She +opened the box, dipped a finger into it, and took therefrom some kind +of ointment with which she anointed the ears of the man. “Now,” she +said to him, “try to find some Ants, and when you find any, stoop down, +and listen carefully to their talk. You will be able to understand it; +and you will hear of something to your advantage... Only remember that +you must not frighten or vex the Ants.” Then the goddess vanished away. + +The man immediately went out to look for some Ants. He had scarcely +crossed the threshold of his door when he perceived two Ants upon a +stone supporting one of the house-pillars. He stooped over them, and +listened; and he was astonished to find that he could hear them +talking, and could understand what they said. “Let us try to find a +warmer place,” proposed one of the Ants. “Why a warmer place?” asked +the other;—“what is the matter with this place?” “It is too damp and +cold below,” said the first Ant; “there is a big treasure buried here; +and the sunshine cannot warm the ground about it.” Then the two Ants +went away together, and the listener ran for a spade. + +By digging in the neighborhood of the pillar, he soon found a number of +large jars full of gold coin. The discovery of this treasure made him a +very rich man. + +Afterwards he often tried to listen to the conversation of Ants. But he +was never again able to hear them speak. The ointment of the goddess +had opened his ears to their mysterious language for only a single day. + + +Now I, like that Chinese devotee, must confess myself a very ignorant +person, and naturally unable to hear the conversation of Ants. But the +Fairy of Science sometimes touches my ears and eyes with her wand; and +then, for a little time, I am able to hear things inaudible, and to +perceive things imperceptible. + +II + +For the same reason that it is considered wicked, in sundry circles, to +speak of a non-Christian people having produced a civilization +ethically superior to our own, certain persons will not be pleased by +what I am going to say about ants. But there are men, incomparably +wiser than I can ever hope to be, who think about insects and +civilizations independently of the blessings of Christianity; and I +find encouragement in the new _Cambridge Natural History_, which +contains the following remarks by Professor David Sharp, concerning +ants:— + +“Observation has revealed the most remarkable phenomena in the lives of +these insects. Indeed we can scarcely avoid the conclusion that they +have acquired, in many respects, the art of living together in +societies more perfectly than our own species has; and that they have +anticipated us in the acquisition of some of the industries and arts +that greatly facilitate social life.” + +I suppose that a few well-informed persons will dispute this plain +statement by a trained specialist. The contemporary man of science is +not apt to become sentimental about ants or bees; but he will not +hesitate to acknowledge that, in regard to social evolution, these +insects appear to have advanced “beyond man.” Mr. Herbert Spencer, whom +nobody will charge with romantic tendencies, goes considerably further +than Professor Sharp; showing us that ants are, in a very real sense, +_ethically_ as well as economically in advance of humanity,—their lives +being entirely devoted to altruistic ends. Indeed, Professor Sharp +somewhat needlessly qualifies his praise of the ant with this cautious +observation:— + +“The competence of the ant is not like that of man. It is devoted to +the welfare of the species rather than to that of the individual, which +is, as it were, sacrificed or specialized for the benefit of the +community.” + +—The obvious implication,—that any social state, in which the +improvement of the individual is sacrificed to the common welfare, +leaves much to be desired,—is probably correct, from the actual human +standpoint. For man is yet imperfectly evolved; and human society has +much to gain from his further individualization. But in regard to +social insects the implied criticism is open to question. “The +improvement of the individual,” says Herbert Spencer, “consists in the +better fitting of him for social cooperation; and this, being conducive +to social prosperity, is conducive to the maintenance of the race.” In +other words, the value of the individual can be _only_ in relation to +the society; and this granted, whether the sacrifice of the individual +for the sake of that society be good or evil must depend upon what the +society might gain or lose through a further individualization of its +members... But as we shall presently see, the conditions of ant-society +that most deserve our attention are the ethical conditions; and these +are beyond human criticism, since they realize that ideal of moral +evolution described by Mr. Spencer as “a state in which egoism and +altruism are so conciliated that the one merges into the other.” That +is to say, a state in which the only possible pleasure is the pleasure +of unselfish action. Or, again to quote Mr. Spencer, the activities of +the insect-society are “activities which postpone individual well-being +so completely to the well-being of the community that individual life +appears to be attended to only just so far as is necessary to make +possible due attention to social life,... the individual taking only +just such food and just such rest as are needful to maintain its +vigor.” + +III + +I hope my reader is aware that ants practise horticulture and +agriculture; that they are skillful in the cultivation of mushrooms; +that they have domesticated (according to present knowledge) five +hundred and eighty-four different kinds of animals; that they make +tunnels through solid rock; that they know how to provide against +atmospheric changes which might endanger the health of their children; +and that, for insects, their longevity is exceptional,—members of the +more highly evolved species living for a considerable number of years. + +But it is not especially of these matters that I wish to speak. What I +want to talk about is the awful propriety, the terrible morality, of +the ant[1]. Our most appalling ideals of conduct fall short of the +ethics of the ant,—as progress is reckoned in time,—by nothing less +than millions of years!... When I say “the ant,” I mean the highest +type of ant,—not, of course, the entire ant-family. About two thousand +species of ants are already known; and these exhibit, in their social +organizations, widely varying degrees of evolution. Certain social +phenomena of the greatest biological importance, and of no less +importance in their strange relation to the subject of ethics, can be +studied to advantage only in the existence of the most highly evolved +societies of ants. + +After all that has been written of late years about the probable value +of relative experience in the long life of the ant, I suppose that few +persons would venture to deny individual character to the ant. The +intelligence of the little creature in meeting and overcoming +difficulties of a totally new kind, and in adapting itself to +conditions entirely foreign to its experience, proves a considerable +power of independent thinking. But this at least is certain: that the +ant has no individuality capable of being exercised in a purely selfish +direction;—I am using the word “selfish” in its ordinary acceptation. A +greedy ant, a sensual ant, an ant capable of any one of the seven +deadly sins, or even of a small venial sin, is unimaginable. Equally +unimaginable, of course, a romantic ant, an ideological ant, a poetical +ant, or an ant inclined to metaphysical speculations. No human mind +could attain to the absolute matter-of-fact quality of the ant-mind;—no +human being, as now constituted, could cultivate a mental habit so +impeccably practical as that of the ant. But this superlatively +practical mind is incapable of moral error. It would be difficult, +perhaps, to prove that the ant has no religious ideas. But it is +certain that such ideas could not be of any use to it. The being +incapable of moral weakness is beyond the need of “spiritual guidance.” + +Only in a vague way can we conceive the character of ant-society, and +the nature of ant-morality; and to do even this we must try to imagine +some yet impossible state of human society and human morals. Let us, +then, imagine a world full of people incessantly and furiously +working,—all of whom seem to be women. No one of these women could be +persuaded or deluded into taking a single atom of food more than is +needful to maintain her strength; and no one of them ever sleeps a +second longer than is necessary to keep her nervous system in good +working-order. And all of them are so peculiarly constituted that the +least unnecessary indulgence would result in some derangement of +function. + +The work daily performed by these female laborers comprises +road-making, bridge-building, timber-cutting, architectural +construction of numberless kinds, horticulture and agriculture, the +feeding and sheltering of a hundred varieties of domestic animals, the +manufacture of sundry chemical products, the storage and conservation +of countless food-stuffs, and the care of the children of the race. All +this labor is done for the commonwealth—no citizen of which is capable +even of thinking about “property,” except as a _res publica;_—and the +sole object of the commonwealth is the nurture and training of its +young,—nearly all of whom are girls. The period of infancy is long: the +children remain for a great while, not only helpless, but shapeless, +and withal so delicate that they must be very carefully guarded against +the least change of temperature. Fortunately their nurses understand +the laws of health: each thoroughly knows all that she ought to know in +regard to ventilation, disinfection, drainage, moisture, and the danger +of germs,—germs being as visible, perhaps, to her myopic sight as they +become to our own eyes under the microscope. Indeed, all matters of +hygiene are so well comprehended that no nurse ever makes a mistake +about the sanitary conditions of her neighborhood. + +In spite of this perpetual labor no worker remains unkempt: each is +scrupulously neat, making her toilet many times a day. But as every +worker is born with the most beautiful of combs and brushes attached to +her wrists, no time is wasted in the toilet-room. Besides keeping +themselves strictly clean, the workers must also keep their houses and +gardens in faultless order, for the sake of the children. Nothing less +than an earthquake, an eruption, an inundation, or a desperate war, is +allowed to interrupt the daily routine of dusting, sweeping, scrubbing, +and disinfecting. + +IV + +Now for stranger facts:— + +This world of incessant toil is a more than Vestal world. It is true +that males can sometimes be perceived in it; but they appear only at +particular seasons, and they have nothing whatever to do with the +workers or with the work. None of them would presume to address a +worker,—except, perhaps, under extraordinary circumstances of common +peril. And no worker would think of talking to a male;—for males, in +this queer world, are inferior beings, equally incapable of fighting or +working, and tolerated only as necessary evils. One special class of +females,—the Mothers-Elect of the race,—do condescend to consort with +males, during a very brief period, at particular seasons. But the +Mothers-Elect do not work; and they _must_ accept husbands. A worker +could not even dream of keeping company with a male,—not merely because +such association would signify the most frivolous waste of time, nor +yet because the worker necessarily regards all males with unspeakable +contempt; but because the worker is incapable of wedlock. Some workers, +indeed, are capable of parthenogenesis, and give birth to children who +never had fathers. As a general rule, however, the worker is truly +feminine by her moral instincts only: she has all the tenderness, the +patience, and the foresight that we call “maternal;” but her sex has +disappeared, like the sex of the Dragon-Maiden in the Buddhist legend. + +For defense against creatures of prey, or enemies of the state, the +workers are provided with weapons; and they are furthermore protected +by a large military force. The warriors are so much bigger than the +workers (in some communities, at least) that it is difficult, at first +sight, to believe them of the same race. Soldiers one hundred times +larger than the workers whom they guard are not uncommon. But all these +soldiers are Amazons,—or, more correctly speaking, semi-females. They +can work sturdily; but being built for fighting and for heavy pulling +chiefly, their usefulness is restricted to those directions in which +force, rather than skill, is required. + +[Why females, rather than males, should have been evolutionally +specialized into soldiery and laborers may not be nearly so simple a +question as it appears. I am very sure of not being able to answer it. +But natural economy may have decided the matter. In many forms of life, +the female greatly exceeds the male in bulk and in energy;—perhaps, in +this case, the larger reserve of life-force possessed originally by the +complete female could be more rapidly and effectively utilized for the +development of a special fighting-caste. All energies which, in the +fertile female, would be expended in the giving of life seem here to +have been diverted to the evolution of aggressive power, or +working-capacity.] + +Of the true females,—the Mothers-Elect,—there are very few indeed; and +these are treated like queens. So constantly and so reverentially are +they waited upon that they can seldom have any wishes to express. They +are relieved from every care of existence,—except the duty of bearing +offspring. Night and day they are cared for in every possible manner. +They alone are superabundantly and richly fed:—for the sake of the +offspring they must eat and drink and repose right royally; and their +physiological specialization allows of such indulgence _ad libitum_. +They seldom go out, and never unless attended by a powerful escort; as +they cannot be permitted to incur unnecessary fatigue or danger. +Probably they have no great desire to go out. Around them revolves the +whole activity of the race: all its intelligence and toil and thrift +are directed solely toward the well-being of these Mothers and of their +children. + +But last and least of the race rank the husbands of these Mothers,—the +necessary Evils,—the males. They appear only at a particular season, as +I have already observed; and their lives are very short. Some cannot +even boast of noble descent, though destined to royal wedlock; for they +are not royal offspring, but virgin-born,—parthenogenetic +children,—and, for that reason especially, inferior beings, the chance +results of some mysterious atavism. But of any sort of males the +commonwealth tolerates but few,—barely enough to serve as husbands for +the Mothers-Elect, and these few perish almost as soon as their duty +has been done. The meaning of Nature’s law, in this extraordinary +world, is identical with Ruskin’s teaching that life without effort is +crime; and since the males are useless as workers or fighters, their +existence is of only momentary importance. They are not, indeed, +sacrificed,—like the Aztec victim chosen for the festival of +Tezcatlipoca, and allowed a honeymoon of twenty days before his heart +was torn out. But they are scarcely less unfortunate in their high +fortune. Imagine youths brought up in the knowledge that they are +destined to become royal bridegrooms for a single night,—that after +their bridal they will have no moral right to live,—that marriage, for +each and all of them, will signify certain death,—and that they cannot +even hope to be lamented by their young widows, who will survive them +for a time of many generations...! + +V + +But all the foregoing is no more than a proem to the real “Romance of +the Insect-World.” + +—By far the most startling discovery in relation to this astonishing +civilization is that of the suppression of sex. In certain advanced +forms of ant-life sex totally disappears in the majority of +individuals;—in nearly all the higher ant-societies sex-life appears to +exist only to the extent absolutely needed for the continuance of the +species. But the biological fact in itself is much less startling than +the ethical suggestion which it offers;—_for this practical +suppression, or regulation, of sex-faculty appears to be voluntary!_ +Voluntary, at least, so far as the species is concerned. It is now +believed that these wonderful creatures have learned how to develop, or +to arrest the development, of sex in their young,—by some particular +mode of nutrition. They have succeeded in placing under perfect control +what is commonly supposed to be the most powerful and unmanageable of +instincts. And this rigid restraint of sex-life to within the limits +necessary to provide against extinction is but one (though the most +amazing) of many vital economies effected by the race. Every capacity +for egoistic pleasure—in the common meaning of the word “egoistic”—has +been equally repressed through physiological modification. No +indulgence of any natural appetite is possible except to that degree in +which such indulgence can directly or indirectly benefit the +species;—even the indispensable requirements of food and sleep being +satisfied only to the exact extent necessary for the maintenance of +healthy activity. The individual can exist, act, think, only for the +communal good; and the commune triumphantly refuses, in so far as +cosmic law permits, to let itself be ruled either by Love or Hunger. + +Most of us have been brought up in the belief that without some kind of +religious creed—some hope of future reward or fear of future +punishment—no civilization could exist. We have been taught to think +that in the absence of laws based upon moral ideas, and in the absence +of an effective police to enforce such laws, nearly everybody would +seek only his or her personal advantage, to the disadvantage of +everybody else. The strong would then destroy the weak; pity and +sympathy would disappear; and the whole social fabric would fall to +pieces... These teachings confess the existing imperfection of human +nature; and they contain obvious truth. But those who first proclaimed +that truth, thousands and thousands of years ago, never imagined a form +of social existence in which selfishness would be _naturally_ +impossible. It remained for irreligious Nature to furnish us with proof +positive that there can exist a society in which the pleasure of active +beneficence makes needless the idea of duty,—a society in which +instinctive morality can dispense with ethical codes of every sort,—a +society of which every member is born so absolutely unselfish, and so +energetically good, that moral training could signify, even for its +youngest, neither more nor less than waste of precious time. + +To the Evolutionist such facts necessarily suggest that the value of +our moral idealism is but temporary; and that something better than +virtue, better than kindness, better than self-denial,—in the present +human meaning of those terms,—might, under certain conditions, +eventually replace them. He finds himself obliged to face the question +whether a world without moral notions might not be morally better than +a world in which conduct is regulated by such notions. He must even ask +himself whether the existence of religious commandments, moral laws, +and ethical standards among ourselves does not prove us still in a very +primitive stage of social evolution. And these questions naturally lead +up to another: Will humanity ever be able, on this planet, to reach an +ethical condition beyond all its ideals,—a condition in which +everything that we now call evil will have been atrophied out of +existence, and everything that we call virtue have been transmuted into +instinct;—a state of altruism in which ethical concepts and codes will +have become as useless as they would be, even now, in the societies of +the higher ants. + +The giants of modern thought have given some attention to this +question; and the greatest among them has answered it—partly in the +affirmative. Herbert Spencer has expressed his belief that humanity +will arrive at some state of civilization ethically comparable with +that of the ant:— + +“If we have, in lower orders of creatures, cases in which the nature is +constitutionally so modified that altruistic activities have become one +with egoistic activities, there is an irresistible implication that a +parallel identification will, under parallel conditions, take place +among human beings. Social insects furnish us with instances completely +to the point,—and instances showing us, indeed, to what a marvelous +degree the life of the individual may be absorbed in subserving the +lives of other individuals... Neither the ant nor the bee can be +supposed to have a sense of duty, in the acceptation we give to that +word; nor can it be supposed that it is continually undergoing +self-sacrifice, in the ordinary acceptation of that word... [The facts] +show us that it is within the possibilities of organization to produce +a nature which shall be just as energetic in the pursuit of altruistic +ends, as is in other cases shown in the pursuit of egoistic ends;—and +they show that, in such cases, these altruistic ends are pursued in +pursuing ends which, on their other face, are egoistic. For the +satisfaction of the needs of the organization, these actions, conducive +to the welfare of others, _must_ be carried on... + + +“So far from its being true that there must go on, throughout all the +future, a condition in which self-regard is to be continually subjected +by the regard for others, it will, contrari-wise, be the case that a +regard for others will eventually become so large a source of pleasure +as to overgrow the pleasure which is derivable from direct egoistic +gratification... Eventually, then, there will come also a state in +which egoism and altruism are so conciliated that the one merges in the +other.” + +VI + +Of course the foregoing prediction does not imply that human nature +will ever undergo such physiological change as would be represented by +structural specializations comparable to those by which the various +castes of insect societies are differentiated. We are not bidden to +imagine a future state of humanity in which the active majority would +consist of semi-female workers and Amazons toiling for an inactive +minority of selected Mothers. Even in his chapter, “Human Population in +the Future,” Mr. Spencer has attempted no detailed statement of the +physical modifications inevitable to the production of higher moral +types,—though his general statement in regard to a perfected nervous +system, and a great diminution of human fertility, suggests that such +moral evolution would signify a very considerable amount of physical +change. If it be legitimate to believe in a future humanity to which +the pleasure of mutual beneficence will represent the whole joy of +life, would it not also be legitimate to imagine other transformations, +physical and moral, which the facts of insect-biology have proved to be +within the range of evolutional possibility?... I do not know. I most +worshipfully reverence Herbert Spencer as the greatest philosopher who +has yet appeared in this world; and I should be very sorry to write +down anything contrary to his teaching, in such wise that the reader +could imagine it to have been inspired by Synthetic Philosophy. For the +ensuing reflections, I alone am responsible; and if I err, let the sin +be upon my own head. + +I suppose that the moral transformations predicted by Mr. Spencer, +could be effected only with the aid of physiological change, and at a +terrible cost. Those ethical conditions manifested by insect-societies +can have been reached only through effort desperately sustained for +millions of years against the most atrocious necessities. Necessities +equally merciless may have to be met and mastered eventually by the +human race. Mr. Spencer has shown that the time of the greatest +possible human suffering is yet to come, and that it will be +concomitant with the period of the greatest possible pressure of +population. Among other results of that long stress, I understand that +there will be a vast increase in human intelligence and sympathy; and +that this increase of intelligence will be effected at the cost of +human fertility. But this decline in reproductive power will not, we +are told, be sufficient to assure the very highest of social +conditions: it will only relieve that pressure of population which has +been the main cause of human suffering. The state of perfect social +equilibrium will be approached, but never quite reached, by mankind— + +_Unless there be discovered some means of solving economic problems, +just as social insects have solved them, by the suppression of +sex-life_. + +Supposing that such a discovery were made, and that the human race +should decide to arrest the development of sex in the majority of its +young,—so as to effect a transferrence of those forces, now demanded by +sex-life to the development of higher activities,—might not the result +be an eventual state of polymorphism, like that of ants? And, in such +event, might not the Coming Race be indeed represented in its higher +types,—through feminine rather than masculine evolution,—by a majority +of beings of neither sex? + +Considering how many persons, even now, through merely unselfish (not +to speak of religious) motives, sentence themselves to celibacy, it +should not appear improbable that a more highly evolved humanity would +cheerfully sacrifice a large proportion of its sex-life for the common +weal, particularly in view of certain advantages to be gained. Not the +least of such advantages—always supposing that mankind were able to +control sex-life after the natural manner of the ants—would be a +prodigious increase of longevity. The higher types of a humanity +superior to sex might be able to realize the dream of life for a +thousand years. + +Already we find lives too short for the work we have to do; and with +the constantly accelerating progress of discovery, and the +never-ceasing expansion of knowledge, we shall certainly find more and +more reason to regret, as time goes on, the brevity of existence. That +Science will ever discover the Elixir of the Alchemists’ hope is +extremely unlikely. The Cosmic Powers will not allow us to cheat them. +For every advantage which they yield us the full price must be paid: +nothing for nothing is the everlasting law. Perhaps the price of long +life will prove to be the price that the ants have paid for it. +Perhaps, upon some elder planet, that price has already been paid, and +the power to produce offspring restricted to a caste morphologically +differentiated, in unimaginable ways, from the rest of the species... + +VII + +But while the facts of insect-biology suggest so much in regard to the +future course of human evolution, do they not also suggest something of +largest significance concerning the relation of ethics to cosmic law? +Apparently, the highest evolution will not be permitted to creatures +capable of what human moral experience has in all areas condemned. +Apparently, the highest possible strength is the strength of +unselfishness; and power supreme never will be accorded to cruelty or +to lust. There may be no gods; but the forces that shape and dissolve +all forms of being would seem to be much more exacting than gods. To +prove a “dramatic tendency” in the ways of the stars is not possible; +but the cosmic process seems nevertheless to affirm the worth of every +human system of ethics fundamentally opposed to human egoism. + + + + +Notes + + +THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI + + [1] See my _Kottō_, for a description of these curious crabs. + + + [2] Or, Shimonoséki. The town is also known by the name of Bakkan. + + + [3] The _biwa_, a kind of four-stringed lute, is chiefly used in + musical recitative. Formerly the professional minstrels who recited + the _Heiké-Monogatari_, and other tragical histories, were called + _biwa-hōshi_, or “lute-priests.” The origin of this appellation is not + clear; but it is possible that it may have been suggested by the fact + that “lute-priests” as well as blind shampooers, had their heads + shaven, like Buddhist priests. The _biwa_ is played with a kind of + plectrum, called _bachi_, usually made of horn. + + +(1) A response to show that one has heard and is listening attentively. + + + [4] A respectful term, signifying the opening of a gate. It was used + by samurai when calling to the guards on duty at a lord’s gate for + admission. + + + [5] Or the phrase might be rendered, “for the pity of that part is the + deepest.” The Japanese word for pity in the original text is + “_awaré_.” + + + [6] “Traveling incognito” is at least the meaning of the original + phrase,—“making a disguised august-journey” (_shinobi no go-ryokō_). + + + [7] The Smaller Pragña-Pâramitâ-Hridaya-Sûtra is thus called in + Japanese. Both the smaller and larger sûtras called Pragña-Pâramitâ + (“Transcendent Wisdom”) have been translated by the late Professor Max + Müller, and can be found in volume xlix. of the _Sacred Books of the + East_ (“Buddhist Mahayana Sûtras”).—Apropos of the magical use of the + text, as described in this story, it is worth remarking that the + subject of the sûtra is the Doctrine of the Emptiness of Forms,—that + is to say, of the unreal character of all phenomena or noumena... + “Form is emptiness; and emptiness is form. Emptiness is not different + from form; form is not different from emptiness. What is form—that is + emptiness. What is emptiness—that is form... Perception, name, + concept, and knowledge, are also emptiness... There is no eye, ear, + nose, tongue, body, and mind... But when the envelopment of + consciousness has been annihilated, then he [_the seeker_] becomes + free from all fear, and beyond the reach of change, enjoying final + Nirvana.” + +OSHIDORI + + [1] From ancient time, in the Far East, these birds have been regarded + as emblems of conjugal affection. + + + [2] There is a pathetic double meaning in the third verse; for the + syllables composing the proper name _Akanuma_ (“Red Marsh”) may also + be read as _akanu-ma_, signifying “the time of our inseparable (or + delightful) relation.” So the poem can also be thus rendered:—“When + the day began to fail, I had invited him to accompany me...! Now, + after the time of that happy relation, what misery for the one who + must slumber alone in the shadow of the rushes!”—The _makomo_ is a + short of large rush, used for making baskets. + +THE STORY OF O-TEI + +(1) “-sama” is a polite suffix attached to personal names. + + +(2) A Buddhist term commonly used to signify a kind of heaven. + + + [1] The Buddhist term _zokumyō_ (“profane name”) signifies the + personal name, borne during life, in contradistinction to the _kaimyō_ + (“sila-name”) or _homyō_ (“Law-name”) given after death,—religious + posthumous appellations inscribed upon the tomb, and upon the mortuary + tablet in the parish-temple.—For some account of these, see my paper + entitled, “The Literature of the Dead,” in _Exotics and + Retrospectives_. + + + [2] Buddhist household shrine. + + +(3) Direct translation of a Japanese form of address used toward young, +unmarried women. + +DIPLOMACY + +(1) The spacious house and grounds of a wealthy person is thus called. + + +(2) A Buddhist service for the dead. + +OF A MIRROR AND A BELL + +(1) Part of present-day Shizuoka Prefecture. + + +(2) The two-hour period between 1 AM and 3 AM. + + +(3) A monetary unit. + +JIKININKI + +(1) The southern part of present-day Gifu Prefecture. + + + [1] Literally, a man-eating goblin. The Japanese narrator gives also + the Sanscrit term, “Râkshasa;” but this word is quite as vague as + _jikininki_, since there are many kinds of Râkshasas. Apparently the + word _jikininki_ signifies here one of the + _Baramon-Rasetsu-Gaki_,—forming the twenty-sixth class of pretas + enumerated in the old Buddhist books. + + + [2] A _Ségaki_-service is a special Buddhist service performed on + behalf of beings supposed to have entered into the condition of _gaki_ + (pretas), or hungry spirits. For a brief account of such a service, + see my _Japanese Miscellany_. + + + [3] Literally, “five-circle [or five-zone] stone.” A funeral monument + consisting of five parts superimposed,—each of a different + form,—symbolizing the five mystic elements: Ether, Air, Fire, Water, + Earth. + +MUJINA + +(1) A kind of badger. Certain animals were thought to be able to +transform themselves and cause mischief for humans. + + + [1] O-jochū (“honorable damsel”), a polite form of address used in + speaking to a young lady whom one does not know. + + +(2) An apparition with a smooth, totally featureless face, called a +“nopperabo,” is a stock part of the Japanese pantheon of ghosts and +demons. + + + [2] Soba is a preparation of buckwheat, somewhat resembling + vermicelli. + + +(3) An exclamation of annoyed alarm. + + +(4) Well! + +ROKURO-KUBI + + [1] The period of Eikyō lasted from 1429 to 1441. + + + [2] The upper robe of a Buddhist priest is thus called. + + +(1) Present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. + + +(2) A term for itinerant priests. + + + [3] A sort of little fireplace, contrived in the floor of a room, is + thus described. The _ro_ is usually a square shallow cavity, lined + with metal and half-filled with ashes, in which charcoal is lighted. + + +(3) Direct translation of “suzumushi,” a kind of cricket with a +distinctive chirp like a tiny bell, whence the name. + + +(4) Now a rokuro-kubi is ordinarily conceived as a goblin whose neck +stretches out to great lengths, but which nevertheless always remains +attached to its body. + + +(5) A Chinese collection of stories on the supernatural. + + + [4] A present made to friends or to the household on returning from a + journey is thus called. Ordinarily, of course, the _miyagé_ consists + of something produced in the locality to which the journey has been + made: this is the point of Kwairyō’s jest. + + +(6) Present-day Nagano Prefecture. + +A DEAD SECRET + +(1) On the present-day map, Tamba corresponds roughly to the central +area of Kyōto Prefecture and part of Hyogo Prefecture. + + + [1] The Hour of the Rat (_Né-no-Koku_), according to the old Japanese + method of reckoning time, was the first hour. It corresponded to the + time between our midnight and two o’clock in the morning; for the + ancient Japanese hours were each equal to two modern hours. + + + [2] _Kaimyō_, the posthumous Buddhist name, or religious name, given + to the dead. Strictly speaking, the meaning of the word is sila-name. + (See my paper entitled, “The Literature of the Dead” in _Exotics and + Retrospectives_.) + +YUKI-ONNA + +(1) An ancient province whose boundaries took in most of present-day +Tōkyō, and parts of Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures. + + + [1] That is to say, with a floor-surface of about six feet square. + + + [2] This name, signifying “Snow,” is not uncommon. On the subject of + Japanese female names, see my paper in the volume entitled + _Shadowings_. + + +(2) Also spelled Edo, the former name of Tōkyō. + +THE STORY OF AOYAGI + +(1) An ancient province corresponding to the northern part of +present-day Ishikawa Prefecture. + + +(2) An ancient province corresponding to the eastern part of +present-day Fukui Prefecture. + + + [1] The name signifies “Green Willow;”—though rarely met with, it is + still in use. + + + [2] The poem may be read in two ways; several of the phrases having a + double meaning. But the art of its construction would need + considerable space to explain, and could scarcely interest the Western + reader. The meaning which Tomotada desired to convey might be thus + expressed:—“While journeying to visit my mother, I met with a being + lovely as a flower; and for the sake of that lovely person, I am + passing the day here... Fair one, wherefore that dawn-like blush + before the hour of dawn?—can it mean that you love me?” + + + [3] Another reading is possible; but this one gives the signification + of the _answer_ intended. + + + [4] So the Japanese story-teller would have us believe,—although the + verses seem commonplace in translation. I have tried to give only + their general meaning: an effective literal translation would require + some scholarship. + +JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA + +(1) Present-day Ehime Prefecture. + +THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKÉ + +(1) Present-day Nara Prefecture. + + + [1] This name “Tokoyo” is indefinite. According to circumstances it + may signify any unknown country,—or that undiscovered country from + whose bourn no traveler returns,—or that Fairyland of far-eastern + fable, the Realm of Hōrai. The term “Kokuō” means the ruler of a + country,—therefore a king. The original phrase, _Tokoyo no Kokuō_, + might be rendered here as “the Ruler of Hōrai,” or “the King of + Fairyland.” + + + [2] The last phrase, according to old custom, had to be uttered by + both attendants at the same time. All these ceremonial observances can + still be studied on the Japanese stage. + + + [3] This was the name given to the estrade, or dais, upon which a + feudal prince or ruler sat in state. The term literally signifies + “great seat.” + +RIKI-BAKA + +(1) Kana: the Japanese phonetic alphabet. + + +(2) “So-and-so”: appellation used by Hearn in place of the real name. + + +(3) A section of Tōkyō. + + + [1] A square piece of cotton-goods, or other woven material, used as a + wrapper in which to carry small packages. + + +(4) Ten yen is nothing now, but was a formidable sum then. + + INSECT STUDIES + +BUTTERFLIES + +(1) Haiku. + + + [1] “The modest nymph beheld her God, and blushed.” (Or, in a more + familiar rendering: “The modest water saw its God, and blushed.”) In + this line the double value of the word _nympha_—used by classical + poets both in the meaning of fountain and in that of the divinity of a + fountain, or spring—reminds one of that graceful playing with words + which Japanese poets practice. + + + [2] More usually written _nugi-kakéru_, which means either “to take + off and hang up,” or “to begin to take off,”—as in the above poem. + More loosely, but more effectively, the verses might thus be rendered: + “Like a woman slipping off her haori—that is the appearance of a + butterfly.” One must have seen the Japanese garment described, to + appreciate the comparison. The haori is a silk upper-dress,—a kind of + sleeved cloak,—worn by both sexes; but the poem suggests a woman’s + _haori_, which is usually of richer color or material. The sleeves are + wide; and the lining is usually of brightly-colored silk, often + beautifully variegated. In taking off the haori, the brilliant lining + is displayed,—and at such an instant the fluttering splendor might + well be likened to the appearance of a butterfly in motion. + + + [3] The bird-catcher’s pole is smeared with bird-lime; and the verses + suggest that the insect is preventing the man from using his pole, by + persistently getting in the way of it,—as the birds might take warning + from seeing the butterfly limed. _Jama suru_ means “to hinder” or + “prevent.” + + + [4] Even while it is resting, the wings of the butterfly may be seen + to quiver at moments,—as if the creature were dreaming of flight. + + + [5] A little poem by Bashō, greatest of all Japanese composers of + _hokku_. The verses are intended to suggest the joyous feeling of + spring-time. + + + [6] Literally, “a windless day;” but two negatives in Japanese poetry + do not necessarily imply an affirmative, as in English. The meaning + is, that although there is no wind, the fluttering motion of the + butterflies suggests, to the eyes at least, that a strong breeze is + playing. + + + [7] Alluding to the Buddhist proverb: _Rakkwa éda ni kaërazu; ha-kyō + futatabi terasazu_ (“The fallen flower returns not to the branch; the + broken mirror never again reflects.”) So says the proverb—yet it + seemed to me that I saw a fallen flower return to the branch... No: it + was only a butterfly. + + + [8] Alluding probably to the light fluttering motion of falling + cherry-petals. + + + [9] That is to say, the grace of their motion makes one think of the + grace of young girls, daintily costumed, in robes with long fluttering + sleeves... And old Japanese proverb declares that even a devil is + pretty at eighteen: _Oni mo jiu-hachi azami no hana:_ “Even a devil at + eighteen, flower-of-the-thistle.” + + + [10] Or perhaps the verses might be more effectively rendered thus: + “Happy together, do you say? Yes—if we should be reborn as + field-butterflies in some future life: then we might accord!” This + poem was composed by the celebrated poet Issa, on the occasion of + divorcing his wife. + + + [11] Or, _Taré no tama?_ + + + [12] Literally, “Butterfly-pursuing heart I wish to have + always;”—_i.e._, I would that I might always be able to find pleasure + in simple things, like a happy child. + + + [13] An old popular error,—probably imported from China. + + + [14] A name suggested by the resemblance of the larva’s artificial + covering to the _mino_, or straw-raincoat, worn by Japanese peasants. + I am not sure whether the dictionary rendering, “basket-worm,” is + quite correct;—but the larva commonly called _minomushi_ does really + construct for itself something much like the covering of the + basket-worm. + + +(2) A very large, white radish. “Daikon” literally means “big root.” + + + [15] _Pyrus spectabilis_. + + + [16] An evil spirit. + + +(3) A common female name. + +MOSQUITOES + +(1) Meiji: The period in which Hearn wrote this book. It lasted from +1868 to 1912, and was a time when Japan plunged head-first into +Western-style modernization. By the “fashions and the changes and the +disintegrations of Meiji” Hearn is lamenting that this process of +modernization was destroying some of the good things in traditional +Japanese culture. + +ANTS + +(1) Cicadas. + + + [1] An interesting fact in this connection is that the Japanese word + for ant, _ari_, is represented by an ideograph formed of the character + for “insect” combined with the character signifying “moral rectitude,” + “propriety” (_giri_). So the Chinese character actually means “The + Propriety-Insect.” + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KWAIDAN: STORIES AND STUDIES OF STRANGE THINGS *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Lafcadio Hearn</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: Keishū Takénouchi</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February, 1998 [eBook #1210]<br /> +[Most recently updated: January 30, 2022]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KWAIDAN: STORIES AND STUDIES OF STRANGE THINGS ***</div> + +<h1>KWAIDAN:<br/> +Stories and Studies of Strange Things</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">By Lafcadio Hearn</h2> + +<hr /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="center"> +A Note from the Digitizer +</p> + +<p class="center"> +On Japanese Pronunciation +</p> + +<p> +Although simplified, the following general rules will help the reader +unfamiliar with Japanese to come close enough to Japanese pronunciation. +</p> + +<p> +There are five vowels: a (as in fAther), i (as in machIne), u (as in fOOl), e +(as in fEllow), and o (as in mOle). Although certain vowels become nearly +“silent” in some environments, this phenomenon can be safely +ignored for the purpose at hand. +</p> + +<p> +Consonants roughly approximate their corresponding sounds in English, except +for r, which is actually somewhere between r and l (this is why the Japanese +have trouble distinguishing between English r and l), and f, which is much +closer to h. +</p> + +<p> +The spelling “KWAIDAN” is based on premodern Japanese +pronunciation; when Hearn came to Japan, the orthography reflecting this +pronunciation was still in use. In modern Japanese the word is pronounced +KAIDAN. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +There are many ellipses in the text. Hearn often used them in this book; they +do not represent omissions by the digitizer. +</p> + +<p> +Author’s original notes are in brackets, those by the digitizer are in +parentheses. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr><td> <a href="#pref01">INTRODUCTION</a><br/><br/></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap00"><b>KWAIDAN</b></a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap01">THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap02">OSHIDORI</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap03">THE STORY OF O-TEI</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap04">UBAZAKURA</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap05">DIPLOMACY</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap06">OF A MIRROR AND A BELL</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap07">JIKININKI</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap08">MUJINA</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap09">ROKURO-KUBI</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap10">A DEAD SECRET</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap11">YUKI-ONNA</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap12">THE STORY OF AOYAGI</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap13">JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap14">THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKÉ</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap15">RIKI-BAKA</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap16">HI-MAWARI</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap17">HŌRAI</a><br/><br/></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap18"><b>INSECT STUDIES</b></a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap19">BUTTERFLIES</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap20">MOSQUITOES</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap21">ANTS</a><br/><br/></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#chap22">Notes</a></td></tr> + +</table> + +<h2>Illustrations</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr><td> <a href="#illus01">BLOWING HER BREATH UPON HIM</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> <a href="#illus02">BUTTERFLY DANCE</a></td></tr> + +</table> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref01"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2> + +<p> +The publication of a new volume of Lafcadio Hearn’s exquisite studies of +Japan happens, by a delicate irony, to fall in the very month when the world is +waiting with tense expectation for news of the latest exploits of Japanese +battleships. Whatever the outcome of the present struggle between Russia and +Japan, its significance lies in the fact that a nation of the East, equipped +with Western weapons and girding itself with Western energy of will, is +deliberately measuring strength against one of the great powers of the +Occident. No one is wise enough to forecast the results of such a conflict upon +the civilization of the world. The best one can do is to estimate, as +intelligently as possible, the national characteristics of the peoples engaged, +basing one’s hopes and fears upon the psychology of the two races rather +than upon purely political and statistical studies of the complicated questions +involved in the present war. The Russian people have had literary spokesmen who +for more than a generation have fascinated the European audience. The Japanese, +on the other hand, have possessed no such national and universally recognized +figures as Turgenieff or Tolstoy. They need an interpreter. +</p> + +<p> +It may be doubted whether any oriental race has ever had an interpreter gifted +with more perfect insight and sympathy than Lafcadio Hearn has brought to the +translation of Japan into our occidental speech. His long residence in that +country, his flexibility of mind, poetic imagination, and wonderfully pellucid +style have fitted him for the most delicate of literary tasks. He has seen +marvels, and he has told of them in a marvelous way. There is scarcely an +aspect of contemporary Japanese life, scarcely an element in the social, +political, and military questions involved in the present conflict with Russia +which is not made clear in one or another of the books with which he has +charmed American readers. +</p> + +<p> +He characterizes Kwaidan as “stories and studies of strange +things.” A hundred thoughts suggested by the book might be written down, +but most of them would begin and end with this fact of strangeness. To read the +very names in the table of contents is like listening to a Buddhist bell, +struck somewhere far away. Some of his tales are of the long ago, and yet they +seem to illumine the very souls and minds of the little men who are at this +hour crowding the decks of Japan’s armored cruisers. But many of the +stories are about women and children,—the lovely materials from which the +best fairy tales of the world have been woven. They too are strange, these +Japanese maidens and wives and keen-eyed, dark-haired girls and boys; they are +like us and yet not like us; and the sky and the hills and the flowers are all +different from ours. Yet by a magic of which Mr. Hearn, almost alone among +contemporary writers, is the master, in these delicate, transparent, ghostly +sketches of a world unreal to us, there is a haunting sense of spiritual +reality. +</p> + +<p> +In a penetrating and beautiful essay contributed to the “Atlantic +Monthly” in February, 1903, by Paul Elmer More, the secret of Mr. +Hearn’s magic is said to lie in the fact that in his art is found +“the meeting of three ways.” “To the religious instinct of +India—Buddhism in particular,—which history has engrafted on the +aæsthetic sense of Japan, Mr. Hearn brings the interpreting spirit of +occidental science; and these three traditions are fused by the peculiar +sympathies of his mind into one rich and novel compound,—a compound so +rare as to have introduced into literature a psychological sensation unknown +before.” Mr. More’s essay received the high praise of Mr. +Hearn’s recognition and gratitude, and if it were possible to reprint it +here, it would provide a most suggestive introduction to these new stories of +old Japan, whose substance is, as Mr. More has said, “so strangely +mingled together out of the austere dreams of India and the subtle beauty of +Japan and the relentless science of Europe.” +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +<i>March</i>, 1904. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p> +Most of the following <i>Kwaidan</i>, or Weird Tales, have been taken from old +Japanese books,—such as the <i>Yasō-Kidan</i>, +<i>Bukkyō-Hyakkwa-Zenshō</i>, <i>Kokon-Chomonshū</i>, <i>Tama-Sudaré</i>, and +<i>Hyaku-Monogatari</i>. Some of the stories may have had a Chinese origin: the +very remarkable “Dream of Akinosuké,” for example, is certainly +from a Chinese source. But the story-teller, in every case, has so recolored +and reshaped his borrowing as to naturalize it... One queer tale, +“Yuki-Onna,” was told me by a farmer of Chōfu, Nishitama-gōri, in +Musashi province, as a legend of his native village. Whether it has ever been +written in Japanese I do not know; but the extraordinary belief which it +records used certainly to exist in most parts of Japan, and in many curious +forms... The incident of “Riki-Baka” was a personal experience; and +I wrote it down almost exactly as it happened, changing only a family-name +mentioned by the Japanese narrator. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +L. H. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +T<small>ŌKYŌ</small>, J<small>APAN</small>, January 20th, 1904. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap00"></a>KWAIDAN</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI</h2> + +<p> +More than seven hundred years ago, at Dan-no-ura, in the Straits of +Shimonoséki, was fought the last battle of the long contest between the Heiké, +or Taira clan, and the Genji, or Minamoto clan. There the Heiké perished +utterly, with their women and children, and their infant emperor +likewise—now remembered as Antoku Tennō. And that sea and shore have been +haunted for seven hundred years... Elsewhere I told you about the strange crabs +found there, called Heiké crabs, which have human faces on their backs, and are +said to be the spirits of the Heiké warriors<a href="#fn1.1" name="fnref1.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>. +But there are many strange things to be seen and heard along that coast. On +dark nights thousands of ghostly fires hover about the beach, or flit above the +waves,—pale lights which the fishermen call <i>Oni-bi</i>, or +demon-fires; and, whenever the winds are up, a sound of great shouting comes +from that sea, like a clamor of battle. +</p> + +<p> +In former years the Heiké were much more restless than they now are. They would +rise about ships passing in the night, and try to sink them; and at all times +they would watch for swimmers, to pull them down. It was in order to appease +those dead that the Buddhist temple, Amidaji, was built at Akamagaséki<a +href="#fn1.2" name="fnref1.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a>. A cemetery also was made +close by, near the beach; and within it were set up monuments inscribed with +the names of the drowned emperor and of his great vassals; and Buddhist +services were regularly performed there, on behalf of the spirits of them. +After the temple had been built, and the tombs erected, the Heiké gave less +trouble than before; but they continued to do queer things at +intervals,—proving that they had not found the perfect peace. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Some centuries ago there lived at Akamagaséki a blind man named Hōïchi, who was +famed for his skill in recitation and in playing upon the <i>biwa</i><a +href="#fn1.3" name="fnref1.3"><sup>[3]</sup></a>. From childhood he had been +trained to recite and to play; and while yet a lad he had surpassed his +teachers. As a professional <i>biwa-hōshi</i> he became famous chiefly by his +recitations of the history of the Heiké and the Genji; and it is said that when +he sang the song of the battle of Dan-no-ura “even the goblins +[<i>kijin</i>] could not refrain from tears.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +At the outset of his career, Hōïchi was very poor; but he found a good friend +to help him. The priest of the Amidaji was fond of poetry and music; and he +often invited Hōïchi to the temple, to play and recite. Afterwards, being much +impressed by the wonderful skill of the lad, the priest proposed that Hōïchi +should make the temple his home; and this offer was gratefully accepted. Hōïchi +was given a room in the temple-building; and, in return for food and lodging, +he was required only to gratify the priest with a musical performance on +certain evenings, when otherwise disengaged. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +One summer night the priest was called away, to perform a Buddhist service at +the house of a dead parishioner; and he went there with his acolyte, leaving +Hōïchi alone in the temple. It was a hot night; and the blind man sought to +cool himself on the verandah before his sleeping-room. The verandah overlooked +a small garden in the rear of the Amidaji. There Hōïchi waited for the +priest’s return, and tried to relieve his solitude by practicing upon his +biwa. Midnight passed; and the priest did not appear. But the atmosphere was +still too warm for comfort within doors; and Hōïchi remained outside. At last +he heard steps approaching from the back gate. Somebody crossed the garden, +advanced to the verandah, and halted directly in front of him—but it was +not the priest. A deep voice called the blind man’s name—abruptly +and unceremoniously, in the manner of a samurai summoning an inferior:— +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi!” +</p> + +<p> +Hōïchi was too much startled, for the moment, to respond; and the voice called +again, in a tone of harsh command,— +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi!” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Hai!</i>”(1) answered the blind man, frightened by the menace +in the voice,—“I am blind!—I cannot know who calls!” +</p> + +<p> +“There is nothing to fear,” the stranger exclaimed, speaking more +gently. “I am stopping near this temple, and have been sent to you with a +message. My present lord, a person of exceedingly high rank, is now staying in +Akamagaséki, with many noble attendants. He wished to view the scene of the +battle of Dan-no-ura; and to-day he visited that place. Having heard of your +skill in reciting the story of the battle, he now desires to hear your +performance: so you will take your biwa and come with me at once to the house +where the august assembly is waiting.” +</p> + +<p> +In those times, the order of a samurai was not to be lightly disobeyed. Hōïchi +donned his sandals, took his biwa, and went away with the stranger, who guided +him deftly, but obliged him to walk very fast. The hand that guided was iron; +and the clank of the warrior’s stride proved him fully +armed,—probably some palace-guard on duty. Hōïchi’s first alarm was +over: he began to imagine himself in good luck;—for, remembering the +retainer’s assurance about a “person of exceedingly high +rank,” he thought that the lord who wished to hear the recitation could +not be less than a daimyō of the first class. Presently the samurai halted; and +Hōïchi became aware that they had arrived at a large gateway;—and he +wondered, for he could not remember any large gate in that part of the town, +except the main gate of the Amidaji. “<i>Kaimon!</i>”<a +href="#fn1.4" name="fnref1.4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> the samurai called,—and +there was a sound of unbarring; and the twain passed on. They traversed a space +of garden, and halted again before some entrance; and the retainer cried in a +loud voice, “Within there! I have brought Hōïchi.” Then came sounds +of feet hurrying, and screens sliding, and rain-doors opening, and voices of +women in converse. By the language of the women Hōïchi knew them to be +domestics in some noble household; but he could not imagine to what place he +had been conducted. Little time was allowed him for conjecture. After he had +been helped to mount several stone steps, upon the last of which he was told to +leave his sandals, a woman’s hand guided him along interminable reaches +of polished planking, and round pillared angles too many to remember, and over +widths amazing of matted floor,—into the middle of some vast apartment. +There he thought that many great people were assembled: the sound of the +rustling of silk was like the sound of leaves in a forest. He heard also a +great humming of voices,—talking in undertones; and the speech was the +speech of courts. +</p> + +<p> +Hōïchi was told to put himself at ease, and he found a kneeling-cushion ready +for him. After having taken his place upon it, and tuned his instrument, the +voice of a woman—whom he divined to be the <i>Rōjo</i>, or matron in +charge of the female service—addressed him, saying,— +</p> + +<p> +“It is now required that the history of the Heiké be recited, to the +accompaniment of the biwa.” +</p> + +<p> +Now the entire recital would have required a time of many nights: therefore +Hōïchi ventured a question:— +</p> + +<p> +“As the whole of the story is not soon told, what portion is it augustly +desired that I now recite?” +</p> + +<p> +The woman’s voice made answer:— +</p> + +<p> +“Recite the story of the battle at Dan-no-ura,—for the pity of it +is the most deep.”<a href="#fn1.5" name="fnref1.5"><sup>[5]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +Then Hōïchi lifted up his voice, and chanted the chant of the fight on the +bitter sea,—wonderfully making his biwa to sound like the straining of +oars and the rushing of ships, the whirr and the hissing of arrows, the +shouting and trampling of men, the crashing of steel upon helmets, the plunging +of slain in the flood. And to left and right of him, in the pauses of his +playing, he could hear voices murmuring praise: “How marvelous an +artist!”—“Never in our own province was playing heard like +this!”—“Not in all the empire is there another singer like +Hōïchi!” Then fresh courage came to him, and he played and sang yet +better than before; and a hush of wonder deepened about him. But when at last +he came to tell the fate of the fair and helpless,—the piteous perishing +of the women and children,—and the death-leap of Nii-no-Ama, with the +imperial infant in her arms,—then all the listeners uttered together one +long, long shuddering cry of anguish; and thereafter they wept and wailed so +loudly and so wildly that the blind man was frightened by the violence and +grief that he had made. For much time the sobbing and the wailing continued. +But gradually the sounds of lamentation died away; and again, in the great +stillness that followed, Hōïchi heard the voice of the woman whom he supposed +to be the Rōjo. +</p> + +<p> +She said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Although we had been assured that you were a very skillful player upon +the biwa, and without an equal in recitative, we did not know that any one +could be so skillful as you have proved yourself to-night. Our lord has been +pleased to say that he intends to bestow upon you a fitting reward. But he +desires that you shall perform before him once every night for the next six +nights—after which time he will probably make his august return-journey. +To-morrow night, therefore, you are to come here at the same hour. The retainer +who to-night conducted you will be sent for you... There is another matter +about which I have been ordered to inform you. It is required that you shall +speak to no one of your visits here, during the time of our lord’s august +sojourn at Akamagaséki. As he is traveling incognito,<a href="#fn1.6" +name="fnref1.6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> he commands that no mention of these things +be made... You are now free to go back to your temple.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After Hōïchi had duly expressed his thanks, a woman’s hand conducted him +to the entrance of the house, where the same retainer, who had before guided +him, was waiting to take him home. The retainer led him to the verandah at the +rear of the temple, and there bade him farewell. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +It was almost dawn when Hōïchi returned; but his absence from the temple had +not been observed,—as the priest, coming back at a very late hour, had +supposed him asleep. During the day Hōïchi was able to take some rest; and he +said nothing about his strange adventure. In the middle of the following night +the samurai again came for him, and led him to the august assembly, where he +gave another recitation with the same success that had attended his previous +performance. But during this second visit his absence from the temple was +accidentally discovered; and after his return in the morning he was summoned to +the presence of the priest, who said to him, in a tone of kindly +reproach:— +</p> + +<p> +“We have been very anxious about you, friend Hōïchi. To go out, blind and +alone, at so late an hour, is dangerous. Why did you go without telling us? I +could have ordered a servant to accompany you. And where have you been?” +</p> + +<p> +Hōïchi answered, evasively,— +</p> + +<p> +“Pardon me kind friend! I had to attend to some private business; and I +could not arrange the matter at any other hour.” +</p> + +<p> +The priest was surprised, rather than pained, by Hōïchi’s reticence: he +felt it to be unnatural, and suspected something wrong. He feared that the +blind lad had been bewitched or deluded by some evil spirits. He did not ask +any more questions; but he privately instructed the men-servants of the temple +to keep watch upon Hōïchi’s movements, and to follow him in case that he +should again leave the temple after dark. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +On the very next night, Hōïchi was seen to leave the temple; and the servants +immediately lighted their lanterns, and followed after him. But it was a rainy +night, and very dark; and before the temple-folks could get to the roadway, +Hōïchi had disappeared. Evidently he had walked very fast,—a strange +thing, considering his blindness; for the road was in a bad condition. The men +hurried through the streets, making inquiries at every house which Hōïchi was +accustomed to visit; but nobody could give them any news of him. At last, as +they were returning to the temple by way of the shore, they were startled by +the sound of a biwa, furiously played, in the cemetery of the Amidaji. Except +for some ghostly fires—such as usually flitted there on dark +nights—all was blackness in that direction. But the men at once hastened +to the cemetery; and there, by the help of their lanterns, they discovered +Hōïchi,—sitting alone in the rain before the memorial tomb of Antoku +Tennō, making his biwa resound, and loudly chanting the chant of the battle of +Dan-no-ura. And behind him, and about him, and everywhere above the tombs, the +fires of the dead were burning, like candles. Never before had so great a host +of <i>Oni-bi</i> appeared in the sight of mortal man... +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi San!—Hōïchi San!” the servants +cried,—“you are bewitched!... Hōïchi San!” +</p> + +<p> +But the blind man did not seem to hear. Strenuously he made his biwa to rattle +and ring and clang;—more and more wildly he chanted the chant of the +battle of Dan-no-ura. They caught hold of him;—they shouted into his +ear,— +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi San!—Hōïchi San!—come home with us at once!” +</p> + +<p> +Reprovingly he spoke to them:— +</p> + +<p> +“To interrupt me in such a manner, before this august assembly, will not +be tolerated.” +</p> + +<p> +Whereat, in spite of the weirdness of the thing, the servants could not help +laughing. Sure that he had been bewitched, they now seized him, and pulled him +up on his feet, and by main force hurried him back to the temple,—where +he was immediately relieved of his wet clothes, by order of the priest. Then +the priest insisted upon a full explanation of his friend’s astonishing +behavior. +</p> + +<p> +Hōïchi long hesitated to speak. But at last, finding that his conduct had +really alarmed and angered the good priest, he decided to abandon his reserve; +and he related everything that had happened from the time of first visit of the +samurai. +</p> + +<p> +The priest said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi, my poor friend, you are now in great danger! How unfortunate +that you did not tell me all this before! Your wonderful skill in music has +indeed brought you into strange trouble. By this time you must be aware that +you have not been visiting any house whatever, but have been passing your +nights in the cemetery, among the tombs of the Heiké;—and it was before +the memorial-tomb of Antoku Tennō that our people to-night found you, sitting +in the rain. All that you have been imagining was illusion—except the +calling of the dead. By once obeying them, you have put yourself in their +power. If you obey them again, after what has already occurred, they will tear +you in pieces. But they would have destroyed you, sooner or later, in any +event... Now I shall not be able to remain with you to-night: I am called away +to perform another service. But, before I go, it will be necessary to protect +your body by writing holy texts upon it.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Before sundown the priest and his acolyte stripped Hōïchi: then, with their +writing-brushes, they traced upon his breast and back, head and face and neck, +limbs and hands and feet,—even upon the soles of his feet, and upon all +parts of his body,—the text of the holy sûtra called +<i>Hannya-Shin-Kyō</i>.<a href="#fn1.7" name="fnref1.7"><sup>[7]</sup></a> When +this had been done, the priest instructed Hōïchi, saying:— +</p> + +<p> +“To-night, as soon as I go away, you must seat yourself on the verandah, +and wait. You will be called. But, whatever may happen, do not answer, and do +not move. Say nothing and sit still—as if meditating. If you stir, or +make any noise, you will be torn asunder. Do not get frightened; and do not +think of calling for help—because no help could save you. If you do +exactly as I tell you, the danger will pass, and you will have nothing more to +fear.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After dark the priest and the acolyte went away; and Hōïchi seated himself on +the verandah, according to the instructions given him. He laid his biwa on the +planking beside him, and, assuming the attitude of meditation, remained quite +still,—taking care not to cough, or to breathe audibly. For hours he +stayed thus. +</p> + +<p> +Then, from the roadway, he heard the steps coming. They passed the gate, +crossed the garden, approached the verandah, stopped—directly in front of +him. +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi!” the deep voice called. But the blind man held his breath, +and sat motionless. +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi!” grimly called the voice a second time. Then a third +time—savagely:— +</p> + +<p> +“Hōïchi!” +</p> + +<p> +Hōïchi remained as still as a stone,—and the voice grumbled:— +</p> + +<p> +“No answer!—that won’t do!... Must see where the fellow +is.”... +</p> + +<p> +There was a noise of heavy feet mounting upon the verandah. The feet approached +deliberately,—halted beside him. Then, for long minutes,—during +which Hōïchi felt his whole body shake to the beating of his heart,—there +was dead silence. +</p> + +<p> +At last the gruff voice muttered close to him:— +</p> + +<p> +“Here is the biwa; but of the biwa-player I see—only two ears!... +So that explains why he did not answer: he had no mouth to answer +with—there is nothing left of him but his ears... Now to my lord those +ears I will take—in proof that the august commands have been obeyed, so +far as was possible”... +</p> + +<p> +At that instant Hōïchi felt his ears gripped by fingers of iron, and torn off! +Great as the pain was, he gave no cry. The heavy footfalls receded along the +verandah,—descended into the garden,—passed out to the +roadway,—ceased. From either side of his head, the blind man felt a thick +warm trickling; but he dared not lift his hands... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Before sunrise the priest came back. He hastened at once to the verandah in the +rear, stepped and slipped upon something clammy, and uttered a cry of +horror;—for he saw, by the light of his lantern, that the clamminess was +blood. But he perceived Hōïchi sitting there, in the attitude of +meditation—with the blood still oozing from his wounds. +</p> + +<p> +“My poor Hōïchi!” cried the startled priest,—“what is +this?... You have been hurt?” +</p> + +<p> +At the sound of his friend’s voice, the blind man felt safe. He burst out +sobbing, and tearfully told his adventure of the night. +</p> + +<p> +“Poor, poor Hōïchi!” the priest exclaimed,—“all my +fault!—my very grievous fault!... Everywhere upon your body the holy +texts had been written—except upon your ears! I trusted my acolyte to do +that part of the work; and it was very, very wrong of me not to have made sure +that he had done it!... Well, the matter cannot now be helped;—we can +only try to heal your hurts as soon as possible... Cheer up, friend!—the +danger is now well over. You will never again be troubled by those +visitors.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +With the aid of a good doctor, Hōïchi soon recovered from his injuries. The +story of his strange adventure spread far and wide, and soon made him famous. +Many noble persons went to Akamagaséki to hear him recite; and large presents +of money were given to him,—so that he became a wealthy man... But from +the time of his adventure, he was known only by the appellation of +<i>Mimi-nashi-Hōïchi:</i> “Hōïchi-the-Earless.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>OSHIDORI</h2> + +<p> +There was a falconer and hunter, named Sonjō, who lived in the district called +Tamura-no-Gō, of the province of Mutsu. One day he went out hunting, and could +not find any game. But on his way home, at a place called Akanuma, he perceived +a pair of <i>oshidori</i><a href="#fn2.1" name="fnref2.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +(mandarin-ducks), swimming together in a river that he was about to cross. To +kill <i>oshidori</i> is not good; but Sonjō happened to be very hungry, and he +shot at the pair. His arrow pierced the male: the female escaped into the +rushes of the further shore, and disappeared. Sonjō took the dead bird home, +and cooked it. +</p> + +<p> +That night he dreamed a dreary dream. It seemed to him that a beautiful woman +came into his room, and stood by his pillow, and began to weep. So bitterly did +she weep that Sonjō felt as if his heart were being torn out while he listened. +And the woman cried to him: “Why,—oh! why did you kill +him?—of what wrong was he guilty?... At Akanuma we were so happy +together,—and you killed him!... What harm did he ever do you? Do you +even know what you have done?—oh! do you know what a cruel, what a wicked +thing you have done?... Me too you have killed,—for I will not live +without my husband!... Only to tell you this I came.”... Then again she +wept aloud,—so bitterly that the voice of her crying pierced into the +marrow of the listener’s bones;—and she sobbed out the words of +this poem:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Hi kururéba<br/> +Sasoëshi mono wo—<br/> + Akanuma no<br/> +Makomo no kuré no<br/> +Hitori-né zo uki! +</p> + +<p> +[<i>“At the coming of twilight I invited him to return with me—! +Now to sleep alone in the shadow of the rushes of Akanuma—ah! what misery +unspeakable!”</i>]<a href="#fn2.2" name="fnref2.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +And after having uttered these verses she exclaimed:—“Ah, you do +not know—you cannot know what you have done! But to-morrow, when you go +to Akanuma, you will see,—you will see...” So saying, and weeping +very piteously, she went away. +</p> + +<p> +When Sonjō awoke in the morning, this dream remained so vivid in his mind that +he was greatly troubled. He remembered the words:—“But to-morrow, +when you go to Akanuma, you will see,—you will see.” And he +resolved to go there at once, that he might learn whether his dream was +anything more than a dream. +</p> + +<p> +So he went to Akanuma; and there, when he came to the river-bank, he saw the +female <i>oshidori</i> swimming alone. In the same moment the bird perceived +Sonjō; but, instead of trying to escape, she swam straight towards him, looking +at him the while in a strange fixed way. Then, with her beak, she suddenly tore +open her own body, and died before the hunter’s eyes... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Sonjō shaved his head, and became a priest. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>THE STORY OF O-TEI</h2> + +<p> +A long time ago, in the town of Niigata, in the province of Echizen, there +lived a man called Nagao Chōsei. +</p> + +<p> +Nagao was the son of a physician, and was educated for his father’s +profession. At an early age he had been betrothed to a girl called O-Tei, the +daughter of one of his father’s friends; and both families had agreed +that the wedding should take place as soon as Nagao had finished his studies. +But the health of O-Tei proved to be weak; and in her fifteenth year she was +attacked by a fatal consumption. When she became aware that she must die, she +sent for Nagao to bid him farewell. +</p> + +<p> +As he knelt at her bedside, she said to him:— +</p> + +<p> +“Nagao-Sama, (1) my betrothed, we were promised to each other from the +time of our childhood; and we were to have been married at the end of this +year. But now I am going to die;—the gods know what is best for us. If I +were able to live for some years longer, I could only continue to be a cause of +trouble and grief for others. With this frail body, I could not be a good wife; +and therefore even to wish to live, for your sake, would be a very selfish +wish. I am quite resigned to die; and I want you to promise that you will not +grieve... Besides, I want to tell you that I think we shall meet +again.”... +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed we shall meet again,” Nagao answered earnestly. “And +in that Pure Land (2) there will be no pain of separation.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, nay!” she responded softly, “I meant not the Pure Land. +I believe that we are destined to meet again in this world,—although I +shall be buried to-morrow.” +</p> + +<p> +Nagao looked at her wonderingly, and saw her smile at his wonder. She +continued, in her gentle, dreamy voice,— +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I mean in this world,—in your own present life, Nagao-Sama... +Providing, indeed, that you wish it. Only, for this thing to happen, I must +again be born a girl, and grow up to womanhood. So you would have to wait. +Fifteen—sixteen years: that is a long time... But, my promised husband, +you are now only nineteen years old.”... +</p> + +<p> +Eager to soothe her dying moments, he answered tenderly:— +</p> + +<p> +“To wait for you, my betrothed, were no less a joy than a duty. We are +pledged to each other for the time of seven existences.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you doubt?” she questioned, watching his face. +</p> + +<p> +“My dear one,” he answered, “I doubt whether I should be able +to know you in another body, under another name,—unless you can tell me +of a sign or token.” +</p> + +<p> +“That I cannot do,” she said. “Only the Gods and the Buddhas +know how and where we shall meet. But I am sure—very, very +sure—that, if you be not unwilling to receive me, I shall be able to come +back to you... Remember these words of mine.”... +</p> + +<p> +She ceased to speak; and her eyes closed. She was dead. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Nagao had been sincerely attached to O-Tei; and his grief was deep. He had a +mortuary tablet made, inscribed with her <i>zokumyō;</i><a href="#fn3.1" +name="fnref3.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> and he placed the tablet in his +<i>butsudan</i>,<a href="#fn3.2" name="fnref3.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> and every +day set offerings before it. He thought a great deal about the strange things +that O-Tei had said to him just before her death; and, in the hope of pleasing +her spirit, he wrote a solemn promise to wed her if she could ever return to +him in another body. This written promise he sealed with his seal, and placed +in the <i>butsudan</i> beside the mortuary tablet of O-Tei. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Nevertheless, as Nagao was an only son, it was necessary that he should marry. +He soon found himself obliged to yield to the wishes of his family, and to +accept a wife of his father’s choosing. After his marriage he continued +to set offerings before the tablet of O-Tei; and he never failed to remember +her with affection. But by degrees her image became dim in his +memory,—like a dream that is hard to recall. And the years went by. +</p> + +<p> +During those years many misfortunes came upon him. He lost his parents by +death,—then his wife and his only child. So that he found himself alone +in the world. He abandoned his desolate home, and set out upon a long journey +in the hope of forgetting his sorrows. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +One day, in the course of his travels, he arrived at Ikao,—a +mountain-village still famed for its thermal springs, and for the beautiful +scenery of its neighborhood. In the village-inn at which he stopped, a young +girl came to wait upon him; and, at the first sight of her face, he felt his +heart leap as it had never leaped before. So strangely did she resemble O-Tei +that he pinched himself to make sure that he was not dreaming. As she went and +came,—bringing fire and food, or arranging the chamber of the +guest,—her every attitude and motion revived in him some gracious memory +of the girl to whom he had been pledged in his youth. He spoke to her; and she +responded in a soft, clear voice of which the sweetness saddened him with a +sadness of other days. +</p> + +<p> +Then, in great wonder, he questioned her, saying:— +</p> + +<p> +“Elder Sister (3), so much do you look like a person whom I knew long +ago, that I was startled when you first entered this room. Pardon me, +therefore, for asking what is your native place, and what is your name?” +</p> + +<p> +Immediately,—and in the unforgotten voice of the dead,—she thus +made answer:— +</p> + +<p> +“My name is O-Tei; and you are Nagao Chōsei of Echigo, my promised +husband. Seventeen years ago, I died in Niigata: then you made in writing a +promise to marry me if ever I could come back to this world in the body of a +woman;—and you sealed that written promise with your seal, and put it in +the <i>butsudan</i>, beside the tablet inscribed with my name. And therefore I +came back.”... +</p> + +<p> +As she uttered these last words, she fell unconscious. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Nagao married her; and the marriage was a happy one. But at no time afterwards +could she remember what she had told him in answer to his question at Ikao: +neither could she remember anything of her previous existence. The recollection +of the former birth,—mysteriously kindled in the moment of that +meeting,—had again become obscured, and so thereafter remained. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>UBAZAKURA</h2> + +<p> +Three hundred years ago, in the village called Asamimura, in the district +called Onsengōri, in the province of Iyō, there lived a good man named Tokubei. +This Tokubei was the richest person in the district, and the <i>muraosa</i>, or +headman, of the village. In most matters he was fortunate; but he reached the +age of forty without knowing the happiness of becoming a father. Therefore he +and his wife, in the affliction of their childlessness, addressed many prayers +to the divinity Fudō Myō Ō, who had a famous temple, called Saihōji, in +Asamimura. +</p> + +<p> +At last their prayers were heard: the wife of Tokubei gave birth to a daughter. +The child was very pretty; and she received the name of Tsuyu. As the +mother’s milk was deficient, a milk-nurse, called O-Sodé, was hired for +the little one. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +O-Tsuyu grew up to be a very beautiful girl; but at the age of fifteen she fell +sick, and the doctors thought that she was going to die. In that time the nurse +O-Sodé, who loved O-Tsuyu with a real mother’s love, went to the temple +Saihōji, and fervently prayed to Fudō-Sama on behalf of the girl. Every day, +for twenty-one days, she went to the temple and prayed; and at the end of that +time, O-Tsuyu suddenly and completely recovered. +</p> + +<p> +Then there was great rejoicing in the house of Tokubei; and he gave a feast to +all his friends in celebration of the happy event. But on the night of the +feast the nurse O-Sodé was suddenly taken ill; and on the following morning, +the doctor, who had been summoned to attend her, announced that she was dying. +</p> + +<p> +Then the family, in great sorrow, gathered about her bed, to bid her farewell. +But she said to them:— +</p> + +<p> +“It is time that I should tell you something which you do not know. My +prayer has been heard. I besought Fudō-Sama that I might be permitted to die in +the place of O-Tsuyu; and this great favor has been granted me. Therefore you +must not grieve about my death... But I have one request to make. I promised +Fudō-Sama that I would have a cherry-tree planted in the garden of Saihōji, for +a thank-offering and a commemoration. Now I shall not be able myself to plant +the tree there: so I must beg that you will fulfill that vow for me... +Good-bye, dear friends; and remember that I was happy to die for +O-Tsuyu’s sake.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After the funeral of O-Sodé, a young cherry-tree,—the finest that could +be found,—was planted in the garden of Saihōji by the parents of O-Tsuyu. +The tree grew and flourished; and on the sixteenth day of the second month of +the following year,—the anniversary of O-Sodé’s death,—it +blossomed in a wonderful way. So it continued to blossom for two hundred and +fifty-four years,—always upon the sixteenth day of the second +month;—and its flowers, pink and white, were like the nipples of a +woman’s breasts, bedewed with milk. And the people called it +<i>Ubazakura</i>, the Cherry-tree of the Milk-Nurse. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>DIPLOMACY</h2> + +<p> +It had been ordered that the execution should take place in the garden of the +<i>yashiki</i> (1). So the man was taken there, and made to kneel down in a +wide sanded space crossed by a line of <i>tobi-ishi</i>, or stepping-stones, +such as you may still see in Japanese landscape-gardens. His arms were bound +behind him. Retainers brought water in buckets, and rice-bags filled with +pebbles; and they packed the rice-bags round the kneeling man,—so wedging +him in that he could not move. The master came, and observed the arrangements. +He found them satisfactory, and made no remarks. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly the condemned man cried out to him:— +</p> + +<p> +“Honored Sir, the fault for which I have been doomed I did not wittingly +commit. It was only my very great stupidity which caused the fault. Having been +born stupid, by reason of my Karma, I could not always help making mistakes. +But to kill a man for being stupid is wrong,—and that wrong will be +repaid. So surely as you kill me, so surely shall I be avenged;—out of +the resentment that you provoke will come the vengeance; and evil will be +rendered for evil.”... +</p> + +<p> +If any person be killed while feeling strong resentment, the ghost of that +person will be able to take vengeance upon the killer. This the samurai knew. +He replied very gently,—almost caressingly:— +</p> + +<p> +“We shall allow you to frighten us as much as you please—after you +are dead. But it is difficult to believe that you mean what you say. Will you +try to give us some sign of your great resentment—after your head has +been cut off?” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly I will,” answered the man. +</p> + +<p> +“Very well,” said the samurai, drawing his long +sword;—“I am now going to cut off your head. Directly in front of +you there is a stepping-stone. After your head has been cut off, try to bite +the stepping-stone. If your angry ghost can help you to do that, some of us may +be frightened... Will you try to bite the stone?” +</p> + +<p> +“I will bite it!” cried the man, in great anger,—“I +will bite it!—I will bite”— +</p> + +<p> +There was a flash, a swish, a crunching thud: the bound body bowed over the +rice sacks,—two long blood-jets pumping from the shorn neck;—and +the head rolled upon the sand. Heavily toward the stepping-stone it rolled: +then, suddenly bounding, it caught the upper edge of the stone between its +teeth, clung desperately for a moment, and dropped inert. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +None spoke; but the retainers stared in horror at their master. He seemed to be +quite unconcerned. He merely held out his sword to the nearest attendant, who, +with a wooden dipper, poured water over the blade from haft to point, and then +carefully wiped the steel several times with sheets of soft paper... And thus +ended the ceremonial part of the incident. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +For months thereafter, the retainers and the domestics lived in ceaseless fear +of ghostly visitation. None of them doubted that the promised vengeance would +come; and their constant terror caused them to hear and to see much that did +not exist. They became afraid of the sound of the wind in the +bamboos,—afraid even of the stirring of shadows in the garden. At last, +after taking counsel together, they decided to petition their master to have a +<i>Ségaki</i>-service (2) performed on behalf of the vengeful spirit. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite unnecessary,” the samurai said, when his chief retainer had +uttered the general wish... “I understand that the desire of a dying man +for revenge may be a cause for fear. But in this case there is nothing to +fear.” +</p> + +<p> +The retainer looked at his master beseechingly, but hesitated to ask the reason +of the alarming confidence. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, the reason is simple enough,” declared the samurai, divining +the unspoken doubt. “Only the very last intention of the fellow could +have been dangerous; and when I challenged him to give me the sign, I diverted +his mind from the desire of revenge. He died with the set purpose of biting the +stepping-stone; and that purpose he was able to accomplish, but nothing else. +All the rest he must have forgotten... So you need not feel any further anxiety +about the matter.” +</p> + +<p> +—And indeed the dead man gave no more trouble. Nothing at all happened. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>OF A MIRROR AND A BELL</h2> + +<p> +Eight centuries ago, the priests of Mugenyama, in the province of Tōtōmi (1), +wanted a big bell for their temple; and they asked the women of their parish to +help them by contributing old bronze mirrors for bell-metal. +</p> + +<p> +[Even to-day, in the courts of certain Japanese temples, you may see heaps of +old bronze mirrors contributed for such a purpose. The largest collection of +this kind that I ever saw was in the court of a temple of the Jōdo sect, at +Hakata, in Kyūshū: the mirrors had been given for the making of a bronze statue +of Amida, thirty-three feet high.] +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +There was at that time a young woman, a farmer’s wife, living at +Mugenyama, who presented her mirror to the temple, to be used for bell-metal. +But afterwards she much regretted her mirror. She remembered things that her +mother had told her about it; and she remembered that it had belonged, not only +to her mother but to her mother’s mother and grandmother; and she +remembered some happy smiles which it had reflected. Of course, if she could +have offered the priests a certain sum of money in place of the mirror, she +could have asked them to give back her heirloom. But she had not the money +necessary. Whenever she went to the temple, she saw her mirror lying in the +court-yard, behind a railing, among hundreds of other mirrors heaped there +together. She knew it by the <i>Shō-Chiku-Bai</i> in relief on the back of +it,—those three fortunate emblems of Pine, Bamboo, and Plumflower, which +delighted her baby-eyes when her mother first showed her the mirror. She longed +for some chance to steal the mirror, and hide it,—that she might +thereafter treasure it always. But the chance did not come; and she became very +unhappy,—felt as if she had foolishly given away a part of her life. She +thought about the old saying that a mirror is the Soul of a Woman—(a +saying mystically expressed, by the Chinese character for Soul, upon the backs +of many bronze mirrors),—and she feared that it was true in weirder ways +than she had before imagined. But she could not dare to speak of her pain to +anybody. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Now, when all the mirrors contributed for the Mugenyama bell had been sent to +the foundry, the bell-founders discovered that there was one mirror among them +which would not melt. Again and again they tried to melt it; but it resisted +all their efforts. Evidently the woman who had given that mirror to the temple +must have regretted the giving. She had not presented her offering with all her +heart; and therefore her selfish soul, remaining attached to the mirror, kept +it hard and cold in the midst of the furnace. +</p> + +<p> +Of course everybody heard of the matter, and everybody soon knew whose mirror +it was that would not melt. And because of this public exposure of her secret +fault, the poor woman became very much ashamed and very angry. And as she could +not bear the shame, she drowned herself, after having written a farewell letter +containing these words:— +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“When I am dead, it will not be difficult to melt the mirror and to cast +the bell. But, to the person who breaks that bell by ringing it, great wealth +will be given by the ghost of me.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +—You must know that the last wish or promise of anybody who dies in +anger, or performs suicide in anger, is generally supposed to possess a +supernatural force. After the dead woman’s mirror had been melted, and +the bell had been successfully cast, people remembered the words of that +letter. They felt sure that the spirit of the writer would give wealth to the +breaker of the bell; and, as soon as the bell had been suspended in the court +of the temple, they went in multitude to ring it. With all their might and main +they swung the ringing-beam; but the bell proved to be a good bell, and it +bravely withstood their assaults. Nevertheless, the people were not easily +discouraged. Day after day, at all hours, they continued to ring the bell +furiously,—caring nothing whatever for the protests of the priests. So +the ringing became an affliction; and the priests could not endure it; and they +got rid of the bell by rolling it down the hill into a swamp. The swamp was +deep, and swallowed it up,—and that was the end of the bell. Only its +legend remains; and in that legend it is called the <i>Mugen-Kané</i>, or Bell +of Mugen. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Now there are queer old Japanese beliefs in the magical efficacy of a certain +mental operation implied, though not described, by the verb <i>nazoraëru</i>. +The word itself cannot be adequately rendered by any English word; for it is +used in relation to many kinds of mimetic magic, as well as in relation to the +performance of many religious acts of faith. Common meanings of +<i>nazoraëru</i>, according to dictionaries, are “to imitate,” +“to compare,” “to liken;” but the esoteric meaning is +<i>to substitute, in imagination, one object or action for another, so as to +bring about some magical or miraculous result</i>. +</p> + +<p> +For example:—you cannot afford to build a Buddhist temple; but you can +easily lay a pebble before the image of the Buddha, with the same pious feeling +that would prompt you to build a temple if you were rich enough to build one. +The merit of so offering the pebble becomes equal, or almost equal, to the +merit of erecting a temple... You cannot read the six thousand seven hundred +and seventy-one volumes of the Buddhist texts; but you can make a revolving +library, containing them, turn round, by pushing it like a windlass. And if you +push with an earnest wish that you could read the six thousand seven hundred +and seventy-one volumes, you will acquire the same merit as the reading of them +would enable you to gain... So much will perhaps suffice to explain the +religious meanings of <i>nazoraëru</i>. +</p> + +<p> +The magical meanings could not all be explained without a great variety of +examples; but, for present purposes, the following will serve. If you should +make a little man of straw, for the same reason that Sister Helen made a little +man of wax,—and nail it, with nails not less than five inches long, to +some tree in a temple-grove at the Hour of the Ox (2),—and if the person, +imaginatively represented by that little straw man, should die thereafter in +atrocious agony,—that would illustrate one signification of +<i>nazoraëru</i>... Or, let us suppose that a robber has entered your house +during the night, and carried away your valuables. If you can discover the +footprints of that robber in your garden, and then promptly burn a very large +moxa on each of them, the soles of the feet of the robber will become inflamed, +and will allow him no rest until he returns, of his own accord, to put himself +at your mercy. That is another kind of mimetic magic expressed by the term +<i>nazoraëru</i>. And a third kind is illustrated by various legends of the +Mugen-Kané. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After the bell had been rolled into the swamp, there was, of course, no more +chance of ringing it in such wise as to break it. But persons who regretted +this loss of opportunity would strike and break objects imaginatively +substituted for the bell,—thus hoping to please the spirit of the owner +of the mirror that had made so much trouble. One of these persons was a woman +called Umégaë,—famed in Japanese legend because of her relation to +Kajiwara Kagesue, a warrior of the Heiké clan. While the pair were traveling +together, Kajiwara one day found himself in great straits for want of money; +and Umégaë, remembering the tradition of the Bell of Mugen, took a basin of +bronze, and, mentally representing it to be the bell, beat upon it until she +broke it,—crying out, at the same time, for three hundred pieces of gold. +A guest of the inn where the pair were stopping made inquiry as to the cause of +the banging and the crying, and, on learning the story of the trouble, actually +presented Umégaë with three hundred <i>ryō</i> (3) in gold. Afterwards a song +was made about Umégaë’s basin of bronze; and that song is sung by dancing +girls even to this day:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Umégaë no chōzubachi tataïté<br/> +O-kané ga déru naraba<br/> +Mina San mi-uké wo<br/> +Sōré tanomimasu +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[“<i>If, by striking upon the wash-basin of Umégaë, I could make +honorable money come to me, then would I negotiate for the freedom of all my +girl-comrades.</i>”] +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After this happening, the fame of the Mugen-Kané became great; and many people +followed the example of Umégaë,—thereby hoping to emulate her luck. Among +these folk was a dissolute farmer who lived near Mugenyama, on the bank of the +Ōïgawa. Having wasted his substance in riotous living, this farmer made for +himself, out of the mud in his garden, a clay-model of the Mugen-Kané; and he +beat the clay-bell, and broke it,—crying out the while for great wealth. +</p> + +<p> +Then, out of the ground before him, rose up the figure of a white-robed woman, +with long loose-flowing hair, holding a covered jar. And the woman said: +“I have come to answer your fervent prayer as it deserves to be answered. +Take, therefore, this jar.” So saying, she put the jar into his hands, +and disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +Into his house the happy man rushed, to tell his wife the good news. He set +down in front of her the covered jar,—which was heavy,—and they +opened it together. And they found that it was filled, up to the very brim, +with... +</p> + +<p> +But no!—I really cannot tell you with what it was filled. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>JIKININKI</h2> + +<p> +Once, when Musō Kokushi, a priest of the Zen sect, was journeying alone through +the province of Mino (1), he lost his way in a mountain-district where there +was nobody to direct him. For a long time he wandered about helplessly; and he +was beginning to despair of finding shelter for the night, when he perceived, +on the top of a hill lighted by the last rays of the sun, one of those little +hermitages, called <i>anjitsu</i>, which are built for solitary priests. It +seemed to be in ruinous condition; but he hastened to it eagerly, and found +that it was inhabited by an aged priest, from whom he begged the favor of a +night’s lodging. This the old man harshly refused; but he directed Musō +to a certain hamlet, in the valley adjoining where lodging and food could be +obtained. +</p> + +<p> +Musō found his way to the hamlet, which consisted of less than a dozen +farm-cottages; and he was kindly received at the dwelling of the headman. Forty +or fifty persons were assembled in the principal apartment, at the moment of +Musō’s arrival; but he was shown into a small separate room, where he was +promptly supplied with food and bedding. Being very tired, he lay down to rest +at an early hour; but a little before midnight he was roused from sleep by a +sound of loud weeping in the next apartment. Presently the sliding-screens were +gently pushed apart; and a young man, carrying a lighted lantern, entered the +room, respectfully saluted him, and said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Reverend Sir, it is my painful duty to tell you that I am now the +responsible head of this house. Yesterday I was only the eldest son. But when +you came here, tired as you were, we did not wish that you should feel +embarrassed in any way: therefore we did not tell you that father had died only +a few hours before. The people whom you saw in the next room are the +inhabitants of this village: they all assembled here to pay their last respects +to the dead; and now they are going to another village, about three miles +off,—for by our custom, no one of us may remain in this village during +the night after a death has taken place. We make the proper offerings and +prayers;—then we go away, leaving the corpse alone. Strange things always +happen in the house where a corpse has thus been left: so we think that it will +be better for you to come away with us. We can find you good lodging in the +other village. But perhaps, as you are a priest, you have no fear of demons or +evil spirits; and, if you are not afraid of being left alone with the body, you +will be very welcome to the use of this poor house. However, I must tell you +that nobody, except a priest, would dare to remain here tonight.” +</p> + +<p> +Musō made answer:— +</p> + +<p> +“For your kind intention and your generous hospitality, I am deeply +grateful. But I am sorry that you did not tell me of your father’s death +when I came;—for, though I was a little tired, I certainly was not so +tired that I should have found difficulty in doing my duty as a priest. Had you +told me, I could have performed the service before your departure. As it is, I +shall perform the service after you have gone away; and I shall stay by the +body until morning. I do not know what you mean by your words about the danger +of staying here alone; but I am not afraid of ghosts or demons: therefore +please to feel no anxiety on my account.” +</p> + +<p> +The young man appeared to be rejoiced by these assurances, and expressed his +gratitude in fitting words. Then the other members of the family, and the folk +assembled in the adjoining room, having been told of the priest’s kind +promises, came to thank him,—after which the master of the house +said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Now, reverend Sir, much as we regret to leave you alone, we must bid you +farewell. By the rule of our village, none of us can stay here after midnight. +We beg, kind Sir, that you will take every care of your honorable body, while +we are unable to attend upon you. And if you happen to hear or see anything +strange during our absence, please tell us of the matter when we return in the +morning.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +All then left the house, except the priest, who went to the room where the dead +body was lying. The usual offerings had been set before the corpse; and a small +Buddhist lamp—<i>tōmyō</i>—was burning. The priest recited the +service, and performed the funeral ceremonies,—after which he entered +into meditation. So meditating he remained through several silent hours; and +there was no sound in the deserted village. But, when the hush of the night was +at its deepest, there noiselessly entered a Shape, vague and vast; and in the +same moment Musō found himself without power to move or speak. He saw that +Shape lift the corpse, as with hands, devour it, more quickly than a cat +devours a rat,—beginning at the head, and eating everything: the hair and +the bones and even the shroud. And the monstrous Thing, having thus consumed +the body, turned to the offerings, and ate them also. Then it went away, as +mysteriously as it had come. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +When the villagers returned next morning, they found the priest awaiting them +at the door of the headman’s dwelling. All in turn saluted him; and when +they had entered, and looked about the room, no one expressed any surprise at +the disappearance of the dead body and the offerings. But the master of the +house said to Musō:— +</p> + +<p> +“Reverent Sir, you have probably seen unpleasant things during the night: +all of us were anxious about you. But now we are very happy to find you alive +and unharmed. Gladly we would have stayed with you, if it had been possible. +But the law of our village, as I told you last evening, obliges us to quit our +houses after a death has taken place, and to leave the corpse alone. Whenever +this law has been broken, heretofore, some great misfortune has followed. +Whenever it is obeyed, we find that the corpse and the offerings disappear +during our absence. Perhaps you have seen the cause.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Musō told of the dim and awful Shape that had entered the death-chamber to +devour the body and the offerings. No person seemed to be surprised by his +narration; and the master of the house observed:— +</p> + +<p> +“What you have told us, reverend Sir, agrees with what has been said +about this matter from ancient time.” +</p> + +<p> +Musō then inquired:— +</p> + +<p> +“Does not the priest on the hill sometimes perform the funeral service +for your dead?” +</p> + +<p> +“What priest?” the young man asked. +</p> + +<p> +“The priest who yesterday evening directed me to this village,” +answered Musō. “I called at his <i>anjitsu</i> on the hill yonder. He +refused me lodging, but told me the way here.” +</p> + +<p> +The listeners looked at each other, as in astonishment; and, after a moment of +silence, the master of the house said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Reverend Sir, there is no priest and there is no <i>anjitsu</i> on the +hill. For the time of many generations there has not been any resident-priest +in this neighborhood.” +</p> + +<p> +Musō said nothing more on the subject; for it was evident that his kind hosts +supposed him to have been deluded by some goblin. But after having bidden them +farewell, and obtained all necessary information as to his road, he determined +to look again for the hermitage on the hill, and so to ascertain whether he had +really been deceived. He found the <i>anjitsu</i> without any difficulty; and, +this time, its aged occupant invited him to enter. When he had done so, the +hermit humbly bowed down before him, exclaiming:—“Ah! I am +ashamed!—I am very much ashamed!—I am exceedingly ashamed!” +</p> + +<p> +“You need not be ashamed for having refused me shelter,” said Musō. +“You directed me to the village yonder, where I was very kindly treated; +and I thank you for that favor.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can give no man shelter,” the recluse made +answer;—“and it is not for the refusal that I am ashamed. I am +ashamed only that you should have seen me in my real shape,—for it was I +who devoured the corpse and the offerings last night before your eyes... Know, +reverend Sir, that I am a <i>jikininki</i>,<a href="#fn7.1" +name="fnref7.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>—an eater of human flesh. Have pity +upon me, and suffer me to confess the secret fault by which I became reduced to +this condition. +</p> + +<p> +“A long, long time ago, I was a priest in this desolate region. There was +no other priest for many leagues around. So, in that time, the bodies of the +mountain-folk who died used to be brought here,—sometimes from great +distances,—in order that I might repeat over them the holy service. But I +repeated the service and performed the rites only as a matter of +business;—I thought only of the food and the clothes that my sacred +profession enabled me to gain. And because of this selfish impiety I was +reborn, immediately after my death, into the state of a <i>jikininki</i>. Since +then I have been obliged to feed upon the corpses of the people who die in this +district: every one of them I must devour in the way that you saw last night... +Now, reverend Sir, let me beseech you to perform a Ségaki-service<a href="#fn7.2" name="fnref7.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +for me: help me by your prayers, I entreat you, so that I may be soon able to +escape from this horrible state of existence”... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +No sooner had the hermit uttered this petition than he disappeared; and the +hermitage also disappeared at the same instant. And Musō Kokushi found himself +kneeling alone in the high grass, beside an ancient and moss-grown tomb of the +form called <i>go-rin-ishi</i>,<a href="#fn7.3" name="fnref7.3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> +which seemed to be the tomb of a priest. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>MUJINA</h2> + +<p> +On the Akasaka Road, in Tōkyō, there is a slope called +Kii-no-kuni-zaka,—which means the Slope of the Province of Kii. I do not +know why it is called the Slope of the Province of Kii. On one side of this +slope you see an ancient moat, deep and very wide, with high green banks rising +up to some place of gardens;—and on the other side of the road extend the +long and lofty walls of an imperial palace. Before the era of street-lamps and +jinrikishas, this neighborhood was very lonesome after dark; and belated +pedestrians would go miles out of their way rather than mount the +Kii-no-kuni-zaka, alone, after sunset. +</p> + +<p> +All because of a Mujina that used to walk there. (1) +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +The last man who saw the Mujina was an old merchant of the Kyōbashi quarter, +who died about thirty years ago. This is the story, as he told it:— +</p> + +<p> +One night, at a late hour, he was hurrying up the Kii-no-kuni-zaka, when he +perceived a woman crouching by the moat, all alone, and weeping bitterly. +Fearing that she intended to drown herself, he stopped to offer her any +assistance or consolation in his power. She appeared to be a slight and +graceful person, handsomely dressed; and her hair was arranged like that of a +young girl of good family. “O-jochū,”<a href="#fn8.1" name="fnref8.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +he exclaimed, approaching her,—“O-jochū, do not cry like that!... +Tell me what the trouble is; and if there be any way to help you, I shall be +glad to help you.” (He really meant what he said; for he was a very kind +man.) But she continued to weep,—hiding her face from him with one of her +long sleeves. “O-jochū,” he said again, as gently as he +could,—“please, please listen to me!... This is no place for a +young lady at night! Do not cry, I implore you!—only tell me how I may be +of some help to you!” Slowly she rose up, but turned her back to him, and +continued to moan and sob behind her sleeve. He laid his hand lightly upon her +shoulder, and pleaded:—“O-jochū!—O-jochū!—O-jochū!... +Listen to me, just for one little moment!... O-jochū!—O-jochū!”... +Then that O-jochū turned around, and dropped her sleeve, and stroked her face +with her hand;—and the man saw that she had no eyes or nose or +mouth,—and he screamed and ran away. (2) +</p> + +<p> +Up Kii-no-kuni-zaka he ran and ran; and all was black and empty before him. On +and on he ran, never daring to look back; and at last he saw a lantern, so far +away that it looked like the gleam of a firefly; and he made for it. It proved +to be only the lantern of an itinerant <i>soba</i>-seller,<a href="#fn8.2" name="fnref8.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +who had set down his stand by the road-side; but any light and any human +companionship was good after that experience; and he flung himself down at the +feet of the <i>soba</i>-seller, crying out, +“Ah!—aa!!—<i>aa!!!</i>”... +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Koré! koré!</i>” (3) roughly exclaimed the soba-man. +“Here! what is the matter with you? Anybody hurt you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No—nobody hurt me,” panted the other,—“only... +<i>Ah!—aa!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +“—Only scared you?” queried the peddler, unsympathetically. +“Robbers?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not robbers,—not robbers,” gasped the terrified man... +“I saw... I saw a woman—by the moat;—and she showed me... +<i>Ah!</i> I cannot tell you what she showed me!”... +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Hé!</i> (4) Was it anything like <small>THIS</small> that she showed +you?” cried the soba-man, stroking his own face—which therewith +became like unto an Egg... And, simultaneously, the light went out. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>ROKURO-KUBI</h2> + +<p> +Nearly five hundred years ago there was a samurai, named Isogai Héïdazaëmon +Takétsura, in the service of the Lord Kikuji, of Kyūshū. This Isogai had +inherited, from many warlike ancestors, a natural aptitude for military +exercises, and extraordinary strength. While yet a boy he had surpassed his +teachers in the art of swordsmanship, in archery, and in the use of the spear, +and had displayed all the capacities of a daring and skillful soldier. +Afterwards, in the time of the Eikyō<a href="#fn9.1" name="fnref9.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +war, he so distinguished himself that high honors were bestowed upon him. But +when the house of Kikuji came to ruin, Isogai found himself without a master. +He might then easily have obtained service under another daimyō; but as he had +never sought distinction for his own sake alone, and as his heart remained true +to his former lord, he preferred to give up the world. So he cut off his hair, +and became a traveling priest,—taking the Buddhist name of Kwairyō. +</p> + +<p> +But always, under the <i>koromo</i><a href="#fn9.2" name="fnref9.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +of the priest, Kwairyō kept warm within him the heart of the samurai. As in +other years he had laughed at peril, so now also he scorned danger; and in all +weathers and all seasons he journeyed to preach the good Law in places where no +other priest would have dared to go. For that age was an age of violence and +disorder; and upon the highways there was no security for the solitary +traveler, even if he happened to be a priest. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +In the course of his first long journey, Kwairyō had occasion to visit the +province of Kai. (1) One evening, as he was traveling through the mountains of +that province, darkness overcame him in a very lonesome district, leagues away +from any village. So he resigned himself to pass the night under the stars; and +having found a suitable grassy spot, by the roadside, he lay down there, and +prepared to sleep. He had always welcomed discomfort; and even a bare rock was +for him a good bed, when nothing better could be found, and the root of a +pine-tree an excellent pillow. His body was iron; and he never troubled himself +about dews or rain or frost or snow. +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely had he lain down when a man came along the road, carrying an axe and a +great bundle of chopped wood. This woodcutter halted on seeing Kwairyō lying +down, and, after a moment of silent observation, said to him in a tone of great +surprise:— +</p> + +<p> +“What kind of a man can you be, good Sir, that you dare to lie down alone +in such a place as this?... There are haunters about here,—many of them. +Are you not afraid of Hairy Things?” +</p> + +<p> +“My friend,” cheerfully answered Kwairyō, “I am only a +wandering priest,—a ‘Cloud-and-Water-Guest,’ as folks call +it: <i>Unsui-no-ryokaku</i>. (2) And I am not in the least afraid of Hairy +Things,—if you mean goblin-foxes, or goblin-badgers, or any creatures of +that kind. As for lonesome places, I like them: they are suitable for +meditation. I am accustomed to sleeping in the open air: and I have learned +never to be anxious about my life.” +</p> + +<p> +“You must be indeed a brave man, Sir Priest,” the peasant +responded, “to lie down here! This place has a bad name,—a very bad +name. But, as the proverb has it, <i>Kunshi ayayuki ni chikayorazu</i> +[‘The superior man does not needlessly expose himself to peril’]; +and I must assure you, Sir, that it is very dangerous to sleep here. Therefore, +although my house is only a wretched thatched hut, let me beg of you to come +home with me at once. In the way of food, I have nothing to offer you; but +there is a roof at least, and you can sleep under it without risk.” +</p> + +<p> +He spoke earnestly; and Kwairyō, liking the kindly tone of the man, accepted +this modest offer. The woodcutter guided him along a narrow path, leading up +from the main road through mountain-forest. It was a rough and dangerous +path,—sometimes skirting precipices,—sometimes offering nothing but +a network of slippery roots for the foot to rest upon,—sometimes winding +over or between masses of jagged rock. But at last Kwairyō found himself upon a +cleared space at the top of a hill, with a full moon shining overhead; and he +saw before him a small thatched cottage, cheerfully lighted from within. The +woodcutter led him to a shed at the back of the house, whither water had been +conducted, through bamboo-pipes, from some neighboring stream; and the two men +washed their feet. Beyond the shed was a vegetable garden, and a grove of +cedars and bamboos; and beyond the trees appeared the glimmer of a cascade, +pouring from some loftier height, and swaying in the moonshine like a long +white robe. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +As Kwairyō entered the cottage with his guide, he perceived four +persons—men and women—warming their hands at a little fire kindled +in the <i>ro</i><a href="#fn9.3" name="fnref9.3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> of the +principle apartment. They bowed low to the priest, and greeted him in the most +respectful manner. Kwairyō wondered that persons so poor, and dwelling in such +a solitude, should be aware of the polite forms of greeting. “These are +good people,” he thought to himself; “and they must have been +taught by some one well acquainted with the rules of propriety.” Then +turning to his host,—the <i>aruji</i>, or house-master, as the others +called him,—Kwairyō said:— +</p> + +<p> +“From the kindness of your speech, and from the very polite welcome given +me by your household, I imagine that you have not always been a woodcutter. +Perhaps you formerly belonged to one of the upper classes?” +</p> + +<p> +Smiling, the woodcutter answered:— +</p> + +<p> +“Sir, you are not mistaken. Though now living as you find me, I was once +a person of some distinction. My story is the story of a ruined +life—ruined by my own fault. I used to be in the service of a daimyō; and +my rank in that service was not inconsiderable. But I loved women and wine too +well; and under the influence of passion I acted wickedly. My selfishness +brought about the ruin of our house, and caused the death of many persons. +Retribution followed me; and I long remained a fugitive in the land. Now I +often pray that I may be able to make some atonement for the evil which I did, +and to reestablish the ancestral home. But I fear that I shall never find any +way of so doing. Nevertheless, I try to overcome the karma of my errors by +sincere repentance, and by helping, as far as I can, those who are +unfortunate.” +</p> + +<p> +Kwairyō was pleased by this announcement of good resolve; and he said to the +<i>aruji:</i>— +</p> + +<p> +“My friend, I have had occasion to observe that men, prone to folly in +their youth, may in after years become very earnest in right living. In the +holy sûtras it is written that those strongest in wrong-doing can become, by +power of good resolve, the strongest in right-doing. I do not doubt that you +have a good heart; and I hope that better fortune will come to you. To-night I +shall recite the sûtras for your sake, and pray that you may obtain the force +to overcome the karma of any past errors.” +</p> + +<p> +With these assurances, Kwairyō bade the <i>aruji</i> good-night; and his host +showed him to a very small side-room, where a bed had been made ready. Then all +went to sleep except the priest, who began to read the sûtras by the light of a +paper lantern. Until a late hour he continued to read and pray: then he opened +a little window in his little sleeping-room, to take a last look at the +landscape before lying down. The night was beautiful: there was no cloud in the +sky: there was no wind; and the strong moonlight threw down sharp black shadows +of foliage, and glittered on the dews of the garden. Shrillings of crickets and +bell-insects (3) made a musical tumult; and the sound of the neighboring +cascade deepened with the night. Kwairyō felt thirsty as he listened to the +noise of the water; and, remembering the bamboo aqueduct at the rear of the +house, he thought that he could go there and get a drink without disturbing the +sleeping household. Very gently he pushed apart the sliding-screens that +separated his room from the main apartment; and he saw, by the light of the +lantern, five recumbent bodies—without heads! +</p> + +<p> +For one instant he stood bewildered,—imagining a crime. But in another +moment he perceived that there was no blood, and that the headless necks did +not look as if they had been cut. Then he thought to +himself:—“Either this is an illusion made by goblins, or I have +been lured into the dwelling of a Rokuro-Kubi... (4) In the book +<i>Sōshinki</i> (5) it is written that if one find the body of a Rokuro-Kubi +without its head, and remove the body to another place, the head will never be +able to join itself again to the neck. And the book further says that when the +head comes back and finds that its body has been moved, it will strike itself +upon the floor three times,—bounding like a ball,—and will pant as +in great fear, and presently die. Now, if these be Rokuro-Kubi, they mean me no +good;—so I shall be justified in following the instructions of the +book.”... +</p> + +<p> +He seized the body of the aruji by the feet, pulled it to the window, and +pushed it out. Then he went to the back-door, which he found barred; and he +surmised that the heads had made their exit through the smoke-hole in the roof, +which had been left open. Gently unbarring the door, he made his way to the +garden, and proceeded with all possible caution to the grove beyond it. He +heard voices talking in the grove; and he went in the direction of the +voices,—stealing from shadow to shadow, until he reached a good +hiding-place. Then, from behind a trunk, he caught sight of the +heads,—all five of them,—flitting about, and chatting as they +flitted. They were eating worms and insects which they found on the ground or +among the trees. Presently the head of the aruji stopped eating and +said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, that traveling priest who came to-night!—how fat all his body +is! When we shall have eaten him, our bellies will be well filled... I was +foolish to talk to him as I did;—it only set him to reciting the sûtras +on behalf of my soul! To go near him while he is reciting would be difficult; +and we cannot touch him so long as he is praying. But as it is now nearly +morning, perhaps he has gone to sleep... Some one of you go to the house and +see what the fellow is doing.” +</p> + +<p> +Another head—the head of a young woman—immediately rose up and +flitted to the house, lightly as a bat. After a few minutes it came back, and +cried out huskily, in a tone of great alarm:— +</p> + +<p> +“That traveling priest is not in the house;—he is gone! But that is +not the worst of the matter. He has taken the body of our aruji; and I do not +know where he has put it.” +</p> + +<p> +At this announcement the head of the aruji—distinctly visible in the +moonlight—assumed a frightful aspect: its eyes opened monstrously; its +hair stood up bristling; and its teeth gnashed. Then a cry burst from its lips; +and—weeping tears of rage—it exclaimed:— +</p> + +<p> +“Since my body has been moved, to rejoin it is not possible! Then I must +die!... And all through the work of that priest! Before I die I will get at +that priest!—I will tear him!—I will devour him!... <i>And there he +is</i>—behind that tree!—hiding behind that tree! See +him!—the fat coward!”... +</p> + +<p> +In the same moment the head of the aruji, followed by the other four heads, +sprang at Kwairyō. But the strong priest had already armed himself by plucking +up a young tree; and with that tree he struck the heads as they +came,—knocking them from him with tremendous blows. Four of them fled +away. But the head of the aruji, though battered again and again, desperately +continued to bound at the priest, and at last caught him by the left sleeve of +his robe. Kwairyō, however, as quickly gripped the head by its topknot, and +repeatedly struck it. It did not release its hold; but it uttered a long moan, +and thereafter ceased to struggle. It was dead. But its teeth still held the +sleeve; and, for all his great strength, Kwairyō could not force open the jaws. +</p> + +<p> +With the head still hanging to his sleeve he went back to the house, and there +caught sight of the other four Rokuro-Kubi squatting together, with their +bruised and bleeding heads reunited to their bodies. But when they perceived +him at the back-door all screamed, “The priest! the +priest!”—and fled, through the other doorway, out into the woods. +</p> + +<p> +Eastward the sky was brightening; day was about to dawn; and Kwairyō knew that +the power of the goblins was limited to the hours of darkness. He looked at the +head clinging to his sleeve,—its face all fouled with blood and foam and +clay; and he laughed aloud as he thought to himself: “What a +<i>miyagé!</i><a href="#fn9.4" name="fnref9.4"><sup>[4]</sup></a>—the +head of a goblin!” After which he gathered together his few belongings, +and leisurely descended the mountain to continue his journey. +</p> + +<p> +Right on he journeyed, until he came to Suwa in Shinano; (6) and into the main +street of Suwa he solemnly strode, with the head dangling at his elbow. Then +woman fainted, and children screamed and ran away; and there was a great +crowding and clamoring until the <i>torité</i> (as the police in those days +were called) seized the priest, and took him to jail. For they supposed the +head to be the head of a murdered man who, in the moment of being killed, had +caught the murderer’s sleeve in his teeth. As for Kwairyō, he only smiled +and said nothing when they questioned him. So, after having passed a night in +prison, he was brought before the magistrates of the district. Then he was +ordered to explain how he, a priest, had been found with the head of a man +fastened to his sleeve, and why he had dared thus shamelessly to parade his +crime in the sight of people. +</p> + +<p> +Kwairyō laughed long and loudly at these questions; and then he said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Sirs, I did not fasten the head to my sleeve: it fastened itself +there—much against my will. And I have not committed any crime. For this +is not the head of a man; it is the head of a goblin;—and, if I caused +the death of the goblin, I did not do so by any shedding of blood, but simply +by taking the precautions necessary to assure my own safety.”... And he +proceeded to relate the whole of the adventure,—bursting into another +hearty laugh as he told of his encounter with the five heads. +</p> + +<p> +But the magistrates did not laugh. They judged him to be a hardened criminal, +and his story an insult to their intelligence. Therefore, without further +questioning, they decided to order his immediate execution,—all of them +except one, a very old man. This aged officer had made no remark during the +trial; but, after having heard the opinion of his colleagues, he rose up, and +said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Let us first examine the head carefully; for this, I think, has not yet +been done. If the priest has spoken truth, the head itself should bear witness +for him... Bring the head here!” +</p> + +<p> +So the head, still holding in its teeth the <i>koromo</i> that had been +stripped from Kwairyō’s shoulders, was put before the judges. The old man +turned it round and round, carefully examined it, and discovered, on the nape +of its neck, several strange red characters. He called the attention of his +colleagues to these, and also bade them observe that the edges of the neck +nowhere presented the appearance of having been cut by any weapon. On the +contrary, the line of leverance was smooth as the line at which a falling leaf +detaches itself from the stem... Then said the elder:— +</p> + +<p> +“I am quite sure that the priest told us nothing but the truth. This is +the head of a Rokuro-Kubi. In the book <i>Nan-hō-ï-butsu-shi</i> it is written +that certain red characters can always be found upon the nape of the neck of a +real Rokuro-Kubi. There are the characters: you can see for yourselves that +they have not been painted. Moreover, it is well known that such goblins have +been dwelling in the mountains of the province of Kai from very ancient time... +But you, Sir,” he exclaimed, turning to Kwairyō,—“what sort +of sturdy priest may you be? Certainly you have given proof of a courage that +few priests possess; and you have the air of a soldier rather than a priest. +Perhaps you once belonged to the samurai-class?” +</p> + +<p> +“You have guessed rightly, Sir,” Kwairyō responded. “Before +becoming a priest, I long followed the profession of arms; and in those days I +never feared man or devil. My name then was Isogai Héïdazaëmon Takétsura of +Kyūshū: there may be some among you who remember it.” +</p> + +<p> +At the mention of that name, a murmur of admiration filled the court-room; for +there were many present who remembered it. And Kwairyō immediately found +himself among friends instead of judges,—friends anxious to prove their +admiration by fraternal kindness. With honor they escorted him to the residence +of the daimyō, who welcomed him, and feasted him, and made him a handsome +present before allowing him to depart. When Kwairyō left Suwa, he was as happy +as any priest is permitted to be in this transitory world. As for the head, he +took it with him,—jocosely insisting that he intended it for a +<i>miyagé</i>. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +And now it only remains to tell what became of the head. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +A day or two after leaving Suwa, Kwairyō met with a robber, who stopped him in +a lonesome place, and bade him strip. Kwairyō at once removed his +<i>koromo</i>, and offered it to the robber, who then first perceived what was +hanging to the sleeve. Though brave, the highwayman was startled: he dropped +the garment, and sprang back. Then he cried out:—“You!—what +kind of a priest are you? Why, you are a worse man than I am! It is true that I +have killed people; but I never walked about with anybody’s head fastened +to my sleeve... Well, Sir priest, I suppose we are of the same calling; and I +must say that I admire you!... Now that head would be of use to me: I could +frighten people with it. Will you sell it? You can have my robe in exchange for +your <i>koromo;</i> and I will give you five <i>ryō</i> for the head.” +</p> + +<p> +Kwairyō answered:— +</p> + +<p> +“I shall let you have the head and the robe if you insist; but I must +tell you that this is not the head of a man. It is a goblin’s head. So, +if you buy it, and have any trouble in consequence, please to remember that you +were not deceived by me.” +</p> + +<p> +“What a nice priest you are!” exclaimed the robber. “You kill +men, and jest about it!... But I am really in earnest. Here is my robe; and +here is the money;—and let me have the head... What is the use of +joking?” +</p> + +<p> +“Take the thing,” said Kwairyō. “I was not joking. The only +joke—if there be any joke at all—is that you are fool enough to pay +good money for a goblin’s head.” And Kwairyō, loudly laughing, went +upon his way. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Thus the robber got the head and the <i>koromo;</i> and for some time he played +goblin-priest upon the highways. But, reaching the neighborhood of Suwa, he +there leaned the true story of the head; and he then became afraid that the +spirit of the Rokuro-Kubi might give him trouble. So he made up his mind to +take back the head to the place from which it had come, and to bury it with its +body. He found his way to the lonely cottage in the mountains of Kai; but +nobody was there, and he could not discover the body. Therefore he buried the +head by itself, in the grove behind the cottage; and he had a tombstone set up +over the grave; and he caused a Ségaki-service to be performed on behalf of the +spirit of the Rokuro-Kubi. And that tombstone—known as the Tombstone of +the Rokuro-Kubi—may be seen (at least so the Japanese story-teller +declares) even unto this day. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>A DEAD SECRET</h2> + +<p> +A long time ago, in the province of Tamba (1), there lived a rich merchant +named Inamuraya Gensuké. He had a daughter called O-Sono. As she was very +clever and pretty, he thought it would be a pity to let her grow up with only +such teaching as the country-teachers could give her: so he sent her, in care +of some trusty attendants, to Kyōto, that she might be trained in the polite +accomplishments taught to the ladies of the capital. After she had thus been +educated, she was married to a friend of her father’s family—a +merchant named Nagaraya;—and she lived happily with him for nearly four +years. They had one child,—a boy. But O-Sono fell ill and died, in the +fourth year after her marriage. +</p> + +<p> +On the night after the funeral of O-Sono, her little son said that his mamma +had come back, and was in the room upstairs. She had smiled at him, but would +not talk to him: so he became afraid, and ran away. Then some of the family +went upstairs to the room which had been O-Sono’s; and they were startled +to see, by the light of a small lamp which had been kindled before a shrine in +that room, the figure of the dead mother. She appeared as if standing in front +of a <i>tansu</i>, or chest of drawers, that still contained her ornaments and +her wearing-apparel. Her head and shoulders could be very distinctly seen; but +from the waist downwards the figure thinned into invisibility;—it was +like an imperfect reflection of her, and transparent as a shadow on water. +</p> + +<p> +Then the folk were afraid, and left the room. Below they consulted together; +and the mother of O-Sono’s husband said: “A woman is fond of her +small things; and O-Sono was much attached to her belongings. Perhaps she has +come back to look at them. Many dead persons will do that,—unless the +things be given to the parish-temple. If we present O-Sono’s robes and +girdles to the temple, her spirit will probably find rest.” +</p> + +<p> +It was agreed that this should be done as soon as possible. So on the following +morning the drawers were emptied; and all of O-Sono’s ornaments and +dresses were taken to the temple. But she came back the next night, and looked +at the <i>tansu</i> as before. And she came back also on the night following, +and the night after that, and every night;—and the house became a house +of fear. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +The mother of O-Sono’s husband then went to the parish-temple, and told +the chief priest all that had happened, and asked for ghostly counsel. The +temple was a Zen temple; and the head-priest was a learned old man, known as +Daigen Oshō. He said: “There must be something about which she is +anxious, in or near that <i>tansu</i>.”—“But we emptied all +the drawers,” replied the woman;—“there is nothing in the +<i>tansu</i>.”—“Well,” said Daigen Oshō, +“to-night I shall go to your house, and keep watch in that room, and see +what can be done. You must give orders that no person shall enter the room +while I am watching, unless I call.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After sundown, Daigen Oshō went to the house, and found the room made ready for +him. He remained there alone, reading the sûtras; and nothing appeared until +after the Hour of the Rat.<a href="#fn10.1" name="fnref10.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +Then the figure of O-Sono suddenly outlined itself in front of the +<i>tansu</i>. Her face had a wistful look; and she kept her eyes fixed upon the +<i>tansu</i>. +</p> + +<p> +The priest uttered the holy formula prescribed in such cases, and then, +addressing the figure by the <i>kaimyō</i><a href="#fn10.2" name="fnref10.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +of O-Sono, said:—“I have come here in order to help you. Perhaps in +that <i>tansu</i> there is something about which you have reason to feel +anxious. Shall I try to find it for you?” The shadow appeared to give +assent by a slight motion of the head; and the priest, rising, opened the top +drawer. It was empty. Successively he opened the second, the third, and the +fourth drawer;—he searched carefully behind them and beneath +them;—he carefully examined the interior of the chest. He found nothing. +But the figure remained gazing as wistfully as before. “What can she +want?” thought the priest. Suddenly it occurred to him that there might +be something hidden under the paper with which the drawers were lined. He +removed the lining of the first drawer:—nothing! He removed the lining of +the second and third drawers:—still nothing. But under the lining of the +lowermost drawer he found—a letter. “Is this the thing about which +you have been troubled?” he asked. The shadow of the woman turned toward +him,—her faint gaze fixed upon the letter. “Shall I burn it for +you?” he asked. She bowed before him. “It shall be burned in the +temple this very morning,” he promised;—“and no one shall +read it, except myself.” The figure smiled and vanished. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Dawn was breaking as the priest descended the stairs, to find the family +waiting anxiously below. “Do not be anxious,” he said to them: +“She will not appear again.” And she never did. +</p> + +<p> +The letter was burned. It was a love-letter written to O-Sono in the time of +her studies at Kyōto. But the priest alone knew what was in it; and the secret +died with him. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>YUKI-ONNA</h2> + +<p> +In a village of Musashi Province (1), there lived two woodcutters: Mosaku and +Minokichi. At the time of which I am speaking, Mosaku was an old man; and +Minokichi, his apprentice, was a lad of eighteen years. Every day they went +together to a forest situated about five miles from their village. On the way +to that forest there is a wide river to cross; and there is a ferry-boat. +Several times a bridge was built where the ferry is; but the bridge was each +time carried away by a flood. No common bridge can resist the current there +when the river rises. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Mosaku and Minokichi were on their way home, one very cold evening, when a +great snowstorm overtook them. They reached the ferry; and they found that the +boatman had gone away, leaving his boat on the other side of the river. It was +no day for swimming; and the woodcutters took shelter in the ferryman’s +hut,—thinking themselves lucky to find any shelter at all. There was no +brazier in the hut, nor any place in which to make a fire: it was only a +two-mat<a href="#fn11.1" name="fnref11.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> hut, with a single +door, but no window. Mosaku and Minokichi fastened the door, and lay down to +rest, with their straw rain-coats over them. At first they did not feel very +cold; and they thought that the storm would soon be over. +</p> + +<p> +The old man almost immediately fell asleep; but the boy, Minokichi, lay awake a +long time, listening to the awful wind, and the continual slashing of the snow +against the door. The river was roaring; and the hut swayed and creaked like a +junk at sea. It was a terrible storm; and the air was every moment becoming +colder; and Minokichi shivered under his rain-coat. But at last, in spite of +the cold, he too fell asleep. +</p> + +<p> +He was awakened by a showering of snow in his face. The door of the hut had +been forced open; and, by the snow-light (<i>yuki-akari</i>), he saw a woman in +the room,—a woman all in white. She was bending above Mosaku, and blowing +her breath upon him;—and her breath was like a bright white smoke. Almost +in the same moment she turned to Minokichi, and stooped over him. He tried to +cry out, but found that he could not utter any sound. The white woman bent down +over him, lower and lower, until her face almost touched him; and he saw that +she was very beautiful,—though her eyes made him afraid. For a little +time she continued to look at him;—then she smiled, and she +whispered:—“I intended to treat you like the other man. But I +cannot help feeling some pity for you,—because you are so young... You +are a pretty boy, Minokichi; and I will not hurt you now. But, if you ever tell +anybody—even your own mother—about what you have seen this night, I +shall know it; and then I will kill you... Remember what I say!” +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus01"></a> +<img src="images/img01.jpg" width="515" height="600" alt="[Illustration]" /> +<p class="caption"><small>BLOWING HER BREATH UPON HIM</small></p> +</div> + +<p> +With these words, she turned from him, and passed through the doorway. Then he +found himself able to move; and he sprang up, and looked out. But the woman was +nowhere to be seen; and the snow was driving furiously into the hut. Minokichi +closed the door, and secured it by fixing several billets of wood against it. +He wondered if the wind had blown it open;—he thought that he might have +been only dreaming, and might have mistaken the gleam of the snow-light in the +doorway for the figure of a white woman: but he could not be sure. He called to +Mosaku, and was frightened because the old man did not answer. He put out his +hand in the dark, and touched Mosaku’s face, and found that it was ice! +Mosaku was stark and dead... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +By dawn the storm was over; and when the ferryman returned to his station, a +little after sunrise, he found Minokichi lying senseless beside the frozen body +of Mosaku. Minokichi was promptly cared for, and soon came to himself; but he +remained a long time ill from the effects of the cold of that terrible night. +He had been greatly frightened also by the old man’s death; but he said +nothing about the vision of the woman in white. As soon as he got well again, +he returned to his calling,—going alone every morning to the forest, and +coming back at nightfall with his bundles of wood, which his mother helped him +to sell. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +One evening, in the winter of the following year, as he was on his way home, he +overtook a girl who happened to be traveling by the same road. She was a tall, +slim girl, very good-looking; and she answered Minokichi’s greeting in a +voice as pleasant to the ear as the voice of a song-bird. Then he walked beside +her; and they began to talk. The girl said that her name was O-Yuki;<a href="#fn11.2" name="fnref11.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +that she had lately lost both of her parents; and that she was going to Yedo +(2), where she happened to have some poor relations, who might help her to find +a situation as a servant. Minokichi soon felt charmed by this strange girl; and +the more that he looked at her, the handsomer she appeared to be. He asked her +whether she was yet betrothed; and she answered, laughingly, that she was free. +Then, in her turn, she asked Minokichi whether he was married, or pledged to +marry; and he told her that, although he had only a widowed mother to support, +the question of an “honorable daughter-in-law” had not yet been +considered, as he was very young... After these confidences, they walked on for +a long while without speaking; but, as the proverb declares, <i>Ki ga aréba, mé +mo kuchi hodo ni mono wo iu:</i> “When the wish is there, the eyes can +say as much as the mouth.” By the time they reached the village, they had +become very much pleased with each other; and then Minokichi asked O-Yuki to +rest awhile at his house. After some shy hesitation, she went there with him; +and his mother made her welcome, and prepared a warm meal for her. O-Yuki +behaved so nicely that Minokichi’s mother took a sudden fancy to her, and +persuaded her to delay her journey to Yedo. And the natural end of the matter +was that Yuki never went to Yedo at all. She remained in the house, as an +“honorable daughter-in-law.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +O-Yuki proved a very good daughter-in-law. When Minokichi’s mother came +to die,—some five years later,—her last words were words of +affection and praise for the wife of her son. And O-Yuki bore Minokichi ten +children, boys and girls,—handsome children all of them, and very fair of +skin. +</p> + +<p> +The country-folk thought O-Yuki a wonderful person, by nature different from +themselves. Most of the peasant-women age early; but O-Yuki, even after having +become the mother of ten children, looked as young and fresh as on the day when +she had first come to the village. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +One night, after the children had gone to sleep, O-Yuki was sewing by the light +of a paper lamp; and Minokichi, watching her, said:— +</p> + +<p> +“To see you sewing there, with the light on your face, makes me think of +a strange thing that happened when I was a lad of eighteen. I then saw somebody +as beautiful and white as you are now—indeed, she was very like +you.”... +</p> + +<p> +Without lifting her eyes from her work, O-Yuki responded:— +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me about her... Where did you see her?” +</p> + +<p> +Then Minokichi told her about the terrible night in the ferryman’s +hut,—and about the White Woman that had stooped above him, smiling and +whispering,—and about the silent death of old Mosaku. And he said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Asleep or awake, that was the only time that I saw a being as beautiful +as you. Of course, she was not a human being; and I was afraid of +her,—very much afraid,—but she was so white!... Indeed, I have +never been sure whether it was a dream that I saw, or the Woman of the +Snow.”... +</p> + +<p> +O-Yuki flung down her sewing, and arose, and bowed above Minokichi where he +sat, and shrieked into his face:— +</p> + +<p> +“It was I—I—I! Yuki it was! And I told you then that I would +kill you if you ever said one word about it!... But for those children asleep +there, I would kill you this moment! And now you had better take very, very +good care of them; for if ever they have reason to complain of you, I will +treat you as you deserve!”... +</p> + +<p> +Even as she screamed, her voice became thin, like a crying of wind;—then +she melted into a bright white mist that spired to the roof-beams, and +shuddered away through the smoke-hole.... Never again was she seen. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>THE STORY OF AOYAGI</h2> + +<p> +In the era of Bummei [1469-1486] there was a young samurai called Tomotada in +the service of Hatakéyama Yoshimuné, the Lord of Noto (1). Tomotada was a +native of Echizen (2); but at an early age he had been taken, as page, into the +palace of the daimyō of Noto, and had been educated, under the supervision of +that prince, for the profession of arms. As he grew up, he proved himself both +a good scholar and a good soldier, and continued to enjoy the favor of his +prince. Being gifted with an amiable character, a winning address, and a very +handsome person, he was admired and much liked by his samurai-comrades. +</p> + +<p> +When Tomotada was about twenty years old, he was sent upon a private mission to +Hosokawa Masamoto, the great daimyō of Kyōto, a kinsman of Hatakéyama +Yoshimuné. Having been ordered to journey through Echizen, the youth requested +and obtained permission to pay a visit, on the way, to his widowed mother. +</p> + +<p> +It was the coldest period of the year when he started; and, though mounted upon +a powerful horse, he found himself obliged to proceed slowly. The road which he +followed passed through a mountain-district where the settlements were few and +far between; and on the second day of his journey, after a weary ride of hours, +he was dismayed to find that he could not reach his intended halting-place +until late in the night. He had reason to be anxious;—for a heavy +snowstorm came on, with an intensely cold wind; and the horse showed signs of +exhaustion. But in that trying moment, Tomotada unexpectedly perceived the +thatched room of a cottage on the summit of a near hill, where willow-trees +were growing. With difficulty he urged his tired animal to the dwelling; and he +loudly knocked upon the storm-doors, which had been closed against the wind. An +old woman opened them, and cried out compassionately at the sight of the +handsome stranger: “Ah, how pitiful!—a young gentleman traveling +alone in such weather!... Deign, young master, to enter.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Tomotada dismounted, and after leading his horse to a shed in the rear, entered +the cottage, where he saw an old man and a girl warming themselves by a fire of +bamboo splints. They respectfully invited him to approach the fire; and the old +folks then proceeded to warm some rice-wine, and to prepare food for the +traveler, whom they ventured to question in regard to his journey. Meanwhile +the young girl disappeared behind a screen. Tomotada had observed, with +astonishment, that she was extremely beautiful,—though her attire was of +the most wretched kind, and her long, loose hair in disorder. He wondered that +so handsome a girl should be living in such a miserable and lonesome place. +</p> + +<p> +The old man said to him:— +</p> + +<p> +“Honored Sir, the next village is far; and the snow is falling thickly. +The wind is piercing; and the road is very bad. Therefore, to proceed further +this night would probably be dangerous. Although this hovel is unworthy of your +presence, and although we have not any comfort to offer, perhaps it were safer +to remain to-night under this miserable roof... We would take good care of your +horse.” +</p> + +<p> +Tomotada accepted this humble proposal,—secretly glad of the chance thus +afforded him to see more of the young girl. Presently a coarse but ample meal +was set before him; and the girl came from behind the screen, to serve the +wine. She was now reclad, in a rough but cleanly robe of homespun; and her +long, loose hair had been neatly combed and smoothed. As she bent forward to +fill his cup, Tomotada was amazed to perceive that she was incomparably more +beautiful than any woman whom he had ever before seen; and there was a grace +about her every motion that astonished him. But the elders began to apologize +for her, saying: “Sir, our daughter, Aoyagi,<a href="#fn12.1" name="fnref12.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +has been brought up here in the mountains, almost alone; and she knows nothing +of gentle service. We pray that you will pardon her stupidity and her +ignorance.” Tomotada protested that he deemed himself lucky to be waited +upon by so comely a maiden. He could not turn his eyes away from +her—though he saw that his admiring gaze made her blush;—and he +left the wine and food untasted before him. The mother said: “Kind Sir, +we very much hope that you will try to eat and to drink a little,—though +our peasant-fare is of the worst,—as you must have been chilled by that +piercing wind.” Then, to please the old folks, Tomotada ate and drank as +he could; but the charm of the blushing girl still grew upon him. He talked +with her, and found that her speech was sweet as her face. Brought up in the +mountains as she might have been;—but, in that case, her parents must at +some time been persons of high degree; for she spoke and moved like a damsel of +rank. Suddenly he addressed her with a poem—which was also a +question—inspired by the delight in his heart:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + “Tadzunétsuru,<br/> +Hana ka toté koso,<br/> + Hi wo kurasé,<br/> +Akénu ni otoru<br/> +Akané sasuran?” +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[“<i>Being on my way to pay a visit, I found that which I took to be a +flower: therefore here I spend the day... Why, in the time before dawn, the +dawn-blush tint should glow—that, indeed, I know not.</i>”]<a href="#fn12.2" name="fnref12.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +Without a moment’s hesitation, she answered him in these verses:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + “Izuru hi no<br/> +Honoméku iro wo<br/> + Waga sodé ni<br/> +Tsutsumaba asu mo<br/> +Kimiya tomaran.” +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[“<i>If with my sleeve I hid the faint fair color of the dawning +sun,—then, perhaps, in the morning my lord will remain.</i>”]<a href="#fn12.3" name="fnref12.3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +Then Tomotada knew that she accepted his admiration; and he was scarcely less +surprised by the art with which she had uttered her feelings in verse, than +delighted by the assurance which the verses conveyed. He was now certain that +in all this world he could not hope to meet, much less to win, a girl more +beautiful and witty than this rustic maid before him; and a voice in his heart +seemed to cry out urgently, “Take the luck that the gods have put in your +way!” In short he was bewitched—bewitched to such a degree that, +without further preliminary, he asked the old people to give him their daughter +in marriage,—telling them, at the same time, his name and lineage, and +his rank in the train of the Lord of Noto. +</p> + +<p> +They bowed down before him, with many exclamations of grateful astonishment. +But, after some moments of apparent hesitation, the father replied:— +</p> + +<p> +“Honored master, you are a person of high position, and likely to rise to +still higher things. Too great is the favor that you deign to offer +us;—indeed, the depth of our gratitude therefor is not to be spoken or +measured. But this girl of ours, being a stupid country-girl of vulgar birth, +with no training or teaching of any sort, it would be improper to let her +become the wife of a noble samurai. Even to speak of such a matter is not +right... But, since you find the girl to your liking, and have condescended to +pardon her peasant-manners and to overlook her great rudeness, we do gladly +present her to you, for an humble handmaid. Deign, therefore, to act hereafter +in her regard according to your august pleasure.” +</p> + +<p> +Ere morning the storm had passed; and day broke through a cloudless east. Even +if the sleeve of Aoyagi hid from her lover’s eyes the rose-blush of that +dawn, he could no longer tarry. But neither could he resign himself to part +with the girl; and, when everything had been prepared for his journey, he thus +addressed her parents:— +</p> + +<p> +“Though it may seem thankless to ask for more than I have already +received, I must again beg you to give me your daughter for wife. It would be +difficult for me to separate from her now; and as she is willing to accompany +me, if you permit, I can take her with me as she is. If you will give her to +me, I shall ever cherish you as parents... And, in the meantime, please to +accept this poor acknowledgment of your kindest hospitality.” +</p> + +<p> +So saying, he placed before his humble host a purse of gold <i>ryō</i>. But the +old man, after many prostrations, gently pushed back the gift, and said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Kind master, the gold would be of no use to us; and you will probably +have need of it during your long, cold journey. Here we buy nothing; and we +could not spend so much money upon ourselves, even if we wished... As for the +girl, we have already bestowed her as a free gift;—she belongs to you: +therefore it is not necessary to ask our leave to take her away. Already she +has told us that she hopes to accompany you, and to remain your servant for as +long as you may be willing to endure her presence. We are only too happy to +know that you deign to accept her; and we pray that you will not trouble +yourself on our account. In this place we could not provide her with proper +clothing,—much less with a dowry. Moreover, being old, we should in any +event have to separate from her before long. Therefore it is very fortunate +that you should be willing to take her with you now.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +It was in vain that Tomotada tried to persuade the old people to accept a +present: he found that they cared nothing for money. But he saw that they were +really anxious to trust their daughter’s fate to his hands; and he +therefore decided to take her with him. So he placed her upon his horse, and +bade the old folks farewell for the time being, with many sincere expressions +of gratitude. +</p> + +<p> +“Honored Sir,” the father made answer, “it is we, and not +you, who have reason for gratitude. We are sure that you will be kind to our +girl; and we have no fears for her sake.”... +</p> + +<p> +[<i>Here, in the Japanese original, there is a queer break in the natural +course of the narration, which therefrom remains curiously inconsistent. +Nothing further is said about the mother of Tomotada, or about the parents of +Aoyagi, or about the daimyō of Noto. Evidently the writer wearied of his work +at this point, and hurried the story, very carelessly, to its startling end. I +am not able to supply his omissions, or to repair his faults of construction; +but I must venture to put in a few explanatory details, without which the rest +of the tale would not hold together... It appears that Tomotada rashly took +Aoyagi with him to Kyōto, and so got into trouble; but we are not informed as +to where the couple lived afterwards.</i>] +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +...Now a samurai was not allowed to marry without the consent of his lord; and +Tomotada could not expect to obtain this sanction before his mission had been +accomplished. He had reason, under such circumstances, to fear that the beauty +of Aoyagi might attract dangerous attention, and that means might be devised of +taking her away from him. In Kyōto he therefore tried to keep her hidden from +curious eyes. But a retainer of Lord Hosokawa one day caught sight of Aoyagi, +discovered her relation to Tomotada, and reported the matter to the daimyō. +Thereupon the daimyō—a young prince, and fond of pretty faces—gave +orders that the girl should be brought to the place; and she was taken thither +at once, without ceremony. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Tomotada sorrowed unspeakably; but he knew himself powerless. He was only an +humble messenger in the service of a far-off daimyō; and for the time being he +was at the mercy of a much more powerful daimyō, whose wishes were not to be +questioned. Moreover Tomotada knew that he had acted foolishly,—that he +had brought about his own misfortune, by entering into a clandestine relation +which the code of the military class condemned. There was now but one hope for +him,—a desperate hope: that Aoyagi might be able and willing to escape +and to flee with him. After long reflection, he resolved to try to send her a +letter. The attempt would be dangerous, of course: any writing sent to her +might find its way to the hands of the daimyō; and to send a love-letter to any +inmate of the place was an unpardonable offense. But he resolved to dare the +risk; and, in the form of a Chinese poem, he composed a letter which he +endeavored to have conveyed to her. The poem was written with only twenty-eight +characters. But with those twenty-eight characters he was about to express all +the depth of his passion, and to suggest all the pain of his +loss:—<a href="#fn12.4" name="fnref12.4"><sup>[4]</sup></a><br/> +<br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Kōshi ō-son gojin wo ou;<br/> +Ryokuju namida wo tarété rakin wo hitataru;<br/> +Komon hitotabi irité fukaki koto umi no gotoshi;<br/> +Koré yori shorō koré rojin +</p> + +<p> +[<i>Closely, closely the youthful prince now follows after the gem-bright +maid;—<br/> +The tears of the fair one, falling, have moistened all her robes.<br/> +But the august lord, having once become enamored of her—the depth of his +longing is like the depth of the sea.<br/> +Therefore it is only I that am left forlorn,—only I that am left to +wander along.</i>] +</p> + +<p> +On the evening of the day after this poem had been sent, Tomotada was summoned +to appear before the Lord Hosokawa. The youth at once suspected that his +confidence had been betrayed; and he could not hope, if his letter had been +seen by the daimyō, to escape the severest penalty. “Now he will order my +death,” thought Tomotada;—“but I do not care to live unless +Aoyagi be restored to me. Besides, if the death-sentence be passed, I can at +least try to kill Hosokawa.” He slipped his swords into his girdle, and +hastened to the palace. +</p> + +<p> +On entering the presence-room he saw the Lord Hosokawa seated upon the dais, +surrounded by samurai of high rank, in caps and robes of ceremony. All were +silent as statues; and while Tomotada advanced to make obeisance, the hush +seemed to him sinister and heavy, like the stillness before a storm. But +Hosokawa suddenly descended from the dais, and, while taking the youth by the +arm, began to repeat the words of the poem:—“<i>Kōshi ō-son gojin +wo ou</i>.”... And Tomotada, looking up, saw kindly tears in the +prince’s eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Then said Hosokawa:— +</p> + +<p> +“Because you love each other so much, I have taken it upon myself to +authorize your marriage, in lieu of my kinsman, the Lord of Noto; and your +wedding shall now be celebrated before me. The guests are assembled;—the +gifts are ready.” +</p> + +<p> +At a signal from the lord, the sliding-screens concealing a further apartment +were pushed open; and Tomotada saw there many dignitaries of the court, +assembled for the ceremony, and Aoyagi awaiting him in brides’ apparel... +Thus was she given back to him;—and the wedding was joyous and +splendid;—and precious gifts were made to the young couple by the prince, +and by the members of his household. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +For five happy years, after that wedding, Tomotada and Aoyagi dwelt together. +But one morning Aoyagi, while talking with her husband about some household +matter, suddenly uttered a great cry of pain, and then became very white and +still. After a few moments she said, in a feeble voice: “Pardon me for +thus rudely crying out—but the pain was so sudden!... My dear husband, +our union must have been brought about through some Karma-relation in a former +state of existence; and that happy relation, I think, will bring us again +together in more than one life to come. But for this present existence of ours, +the relation is now ended;—we are about to be separated. Repeat for me, I +beseech you, the <i>Nembutsu</i>-prayer,—because I am dying.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! what strange wild fancies!” cried the startled +husband,—“you are only a little unwell, my dear one!... lie down +for a while, and rest; and the sickness will pass.”... +</p> + +<p> +“No, no!” she responded—“I am dying!—I do not +imagine it;—I know!... And it were needless now, my dear husband, to hide +the truth from you any longer:—I am not a human being. The soul of a tree +is my soul;—the heart of a tree is my heart;—the sap of the willow +is my life. And some one, at this cruel moment, is cutting down my +tree;—that is why I must die!... Even to weep were now beyond my +strength!—quickly, quickly repeat the <i>Nembutsu</i> for me... +quickly!... Ah!...” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +With another cry of pain she turned aside her beautiful head, and tried to hide +her face behind her sleeve. But almost in the same moment her whole form +appeared to collapse in the strangest way, and to sink down, down, +down—level with the floor. Tomotada had sprung to support her;—but +there was nothing to support! There lay on the matting only the empty robes of +the fair creature and the ornaments that she had worn in her hair: the body had +ceased to exist... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Tomotada shaved his head, took the Buddhist vows, and became an itinerant +priest. He traveled through all the provinces of the empire; and, at holy +places which he visited, he offered up prayers for the soul of Aoyagi. Reaching +Echizen, in the course of his pilgrimage, he sought the home of the parents of +his beloved. But when he arrived at the lonely place among the hills, where +their dwelling had been, he found that the cottage had disappeared. There was +nothing to mark even the spot where it had stood, except the stumps of three +willows—two old trees and one young tree—that had been cut down +long before his arrival. +</p> + +<p> +Beside the stumps of those willow-trees he erected a memorial tomb, inscribed +with divers holy texts; and he there performed many Buddhist services on behalf +of the spirits of Aoyagi and of her parents. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA</h2> + +<p class="poem"> +Uso no yona,—<br/> +Jiu-roku-zakura<br/> +Saki ni keri! +</p> + +<p> +In Wakégōri, a district of the province of Iyo (1), there is a very ancient and +famous cherry-tree, called <i>Jiu-roku-zakura</i>, or “the Cherry-tree of +the Sixteenth Day,” because it blooms every year upon the sixteenth day +of the first month (by the old lunar calendar),—and only upon that day. +Thus the time of its flowering is the Period of Great Cold,—though the +natural habit of a cherry-tree is to wait for the spring season before +venturing to blossom. But the <i>Jiu-roku-zakura</i> blossoms with a life that +is not—or, at least, that was not originally—its own. There is the +ghost of a man in that tree. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +He was a samurai of Iyo; and the tree grew in his garden; and it used to flower +at the usual time,—that is to say, about the end of March or the +beginning of April. He had played under that tree when he was a child; and his +parents and grandparents and ancestors had hung to its blossoming branches, +season after season for more than a hundred years, bright strips of colored +paper inscribed with poems of praise. He himself became very +old,—outliving all his children; and there was nothing in the world left +for him to love except that tree. And lo! in the summer of a certain year, the +tree withered and died! +</p> + +<p> +Exceedingly the old man sorrowed for his tree. Then kind neighbors found for +him a young and beautiful cherry-tree, and planted it in his +garden,—hoping thus to comfort him. And he thanked them, and pretended to +be glad. But really his heart was full of pain; for he had loved the old tree +so well that nothing could have consoled him for the loss of it. +</p> + +<p> +At last there came to him a happy thought: he remembered a way by which the +perishing tree might be saved. (It was the sixteenth day of the first month.) +Along he went into his garden, and bowed down before the withered tree, and +spoke to it, saying: “Now deign, I beseech you, once more to +bloom,—because I am going to die in your stead.” (For it is +believed that one can really give away one’s life to another person, or +to a creature or even to a tree, by the favor of the gods;—and thus to +transfer one’s life is expressed by the term <i>migawari ni tatsu</i>, +“to act as a substitute.”) Then under that tree he spread a white +cloth, and divers coverings, and sat down upon the coverings, and performed +<i>hara-kiri</i> after the fashion of a samurai. And the ghost of him went into +the tree, and made it blossom in that same hour. +</p> + +<p> +And every year it still blooms on the sixteenth day of the first month, in the +season of snow. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKÉ</h2> + +<p> +In the district called Toïchi of Yamato Province, (1) there used to live a +gōshi named Miyata Akinosuké... [Here I must tell you that in Japanese feudal +times there was a privileged class of +soldier-farmers,—free-holders,—corresponding to the class of yeomen +in England; and these were called gōshi.] +</p> + +<p> +In Akinosuké’s garden there was a great and ancient cedar-tree, under +which he was wont to rest on sultry days. One very warm afternoon he was +sitting under this tree with two of his friends, fellow-gōshi, chatting and +drinking wine, when he felt all of a sudden very drowsy,—so drowsy that +he begged his friends to excuse him for taking a nap in their presence. Then he +lay down at the foot of the tree, and dreamed this dream:— +</p> + +<p> +He thought that as he was lying there in his garden, he saw a procession, like +the train of some great daimyō descending a hill near by, and that he got up to +look at it. A very grand procession it proved to be,—more imposing than +anything of the kind which he had ever seen before; and it was advancing toward +his dwelling. He observed in the van of it a number of young men richly +appareled, who were drawing a great lacquered palace-carriage, or +<i>gosho-guruma</i>, hung with bright blue silk. When the procession arrived +within a short distance of the house it halted; and a richly dressed +man—evidently a person of rank—advanced from it, approached +Akinosuké, bowed to him profoundly, and then said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Honored Sir, you see before you a <i>kérai</i> [vassal] of the Kokuō of +Tokoyo.<a href="#fn14.1" name="fnref14.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> My master, the +King, commands me to greet you in his august name, and to place myself wholly +at your disposal. He also bids me inform you that he augustly desires your +presence at the palace. Be therefore pleased immediately to enter this +honorable carriage, which he has sent for your conveyance.” +</p> + +<p> +Upon hearing these words Akinosuké wanted to make some fitting reply; but he +was too much astonished and embarrassed for speech;—and in the same +moment his will seemed to melt away from him, so that he could only do as the +<i>kérai</i> bade him. He entered the carriage; the <i>kérai</i> took a place +beside him, and made a signal; the drawers, seizing the silken ropes, turned +the great vehicle southward;—and the journey began. +</p> + +<p> +In a very short time, to Akinosuké’s amazement, the carriage stopped in +front of a huge two-storied gateway (<i>rōmon</i>), of a Chinese style, which +he had never before seen. Here the <i>kérai</i> dismounted, saying, “I go +to announce the honorable arrival,”—and he disappeared. After some +little waiting, Akinosuké saw two noble-looking men, wearing robes of purple +silk and high caps of the form indicating lofty rank, come from the gateway. +These, after having respectfully saluted him, helped him to descend from the +carriage, and led him through the great gate and across a vast garden, to the +entrance of a palace whose front appeared to extend, west and east, to a +distance of miles. Akinosuké was then shown into a reception-room of wonderful +size and splendor. His guides conducted him to the place of honor, and +respectfully seated themselves apart; while serving-maids, in costume of +ceremony, brought refreshments. When Akinosuké had partaken of the +refreshments, the two purple-robed attendants bowed low before him, and +addressed him in the following words,—each speaking alternately, +according to the etiquette of courts:— +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“It is now our honorable duty to inform you... as to the reason of your +having been summoned hither... Our master, the King, augustly desires that you +become his son-in-law;... and it is his wish and command that you shall wed +this very day... the August Princess, his maiden-daughter... We shall soon +conduct you to the presence-chamber... where His Augustness even now is waiting +to receive you... But it will be necessary that we first invest you... with the +appropriate garments of ceremony.”<a href="#fn14.2" name="fnref14.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +Having thus spoken, the attendants rose together, and proceeded to an alcove +containing a great chest of gold lacquer. They opened the chest, and took from +it various robes and girdles of rich material, and a <i>kamuri</i>, or regal +headdress. With these they attired Akinosuké as befitted a princely bridegroom; +and he was then conducted to the presence-room, where he saw the Kokuō of +Tokoyo seated upon the <i>daiza</i>,<a href="#fn14.3" name="fnref14.3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> +wearing a high black cap of state, and robed in robes of yellow silk. Before +the <i>daiza</i>, to left and right, a multitude of dignitaries sat in rank, +motionless and splendid as images in a temple; and Akinosuké, advancing into +their midst, saluted the king with the triple prostration of usage. The king +greeted him with gracious words, and then said:— +</p> + +<p> +“You have already been informed as to the reason of your having been +summoned to Our presence. We have decided that you shall become the adopted +husband of Our only daughter;—and the wedding ceremony shall now be +performed.” +</p> + +<p> +As the king finished speaking, a sound of joyful music was heard; and a long +train of beautiful court ladies advanced from behind a curtain to conduct +Akinosuké to the room in which his bride awaited him. +</p> + +<p> +The room was immense; but it could scarcely contain the multitude of guests +assembled to witness the wedding ceremony. All bowed down before Akinosuké as +he took his place, facing the King’s daughter, on the kneeling-cushion +prepared for him. As a maiden of heaven the bride appeared to be; and her robes +were beautiful as a summer sky. And the marriage was performed amid great +rejoicing. +</p> + +<p> +Afterwards the pair were conducted to a suite of apartments that had been +prepared for them in another portion of the palace; and there they received the +congratulations of many noble persons, and wedding gifts beyond counting. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Some days later Akinosuké was again summoned to the throne-room. On this +occasion he was received even more graciously than before; and the King said to +him:— +</p> + +<p> +“In the southwestern part of Our dominion there is an island called +Raishū. We have now appointed you Governor of that island. You will find the +people loyal and docile; but their laws have not yet been brought into proper +accord with the laws of Tokoyo; and their customs have not been properly +regulated. We entrust you with the duty of improving their social condition as +far as may be possible; and We desire that you shall rule them with kindness +and wisdom. All preparations necessary for your journey to Raishū have already +been made.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +So Akinosuké and his bride departed from the palace of Tokoyo, accompanied to +the shore by a great escort of nobles and officials; and they embarked upon a +ship of state provided by the king. And with favoring winds they safety sailed +to Raishū, and found the good people of that island assembled upon the beach to +welcome them. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Akinosuké entered at once upon his new duties; and they did not prove to be +hard. During the first three years of his governorship he was occupied chiefly +with the framing and the enactment of laws; but he had wise counselors to help +him, and he never found the work unpleasant. When it was all finished, he had +no active duties to perform, beyond attending the rites and ceremonies ordained +by ancient custom. The country was so healthy and so fertile that sickness and +want were unknown; and the people were so good that no laws were ever broken. +And Akinosuké dwelt and ruled in Raishū for twenty years more,—making in +all twenty-three years of sojourn, during which no shadow of sorrow traversed +his life. +</p> + +<p> +But in the twenty-fourth year of his governorship, a great misfortune came upon +him; for his wife, who had borne him seven children,—five boys and two +girls,—fell sick and died. She was buried, with high pomp, on the summit +of a beautiful hill in the district of Hanryōkō; and a monument, exceedingly +splendid, was placed upon her grave. But Akinosuké felt such grief at her death +that he no longer cared to live. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Now when the legal period of mourning was over, there came to Raishū, from the +Tokoyo palace, a <i>shisha</i>, or royal messenger. The <i>shisha</i> delivered +to Akinosuké a message of condolence, and then said to him:— +</p> + +<p> +“These are the words which our august master, the King of Tokoyo, +commands that I repeat to you: ‘We will now send you back to your own +people and country. As for the seven children, they are the grandsons and +granddaughters of the King, and shall be fitly cared for. Do not, therefore, +allow your mind to be troubled concerning them.’” +</p> + +<p> +On receiving this mandate, Akinosuké submissively prepared for his departure. +When all his affairs had been settled, and the ceremony of bidding farewell to +his counselors and trusted officials had been concluded, he was escorted with +much honor to the port. There he embarked upon the ship sent for him; and the +ship sailed out into the blue sea, under the blue sky; and the shape of the +island of Raishū itself turned blue, and then turned grey, and then vanished +forever... And Akinosuké suddenly awoke—under the cedar-tree in his own +garden! +</p> + +<p> +For a moment he was stupefied and dazed. But he perceived his two friends still +seated near him,—drinking and chatting merrily. He stared at them in a +bewildered way, and cried aloud,— +</p> + +<p> +“How strange!” +</p> + +<p> +“Akinosuké must have been dreaming,” one of them exclaimed, with a +laugh. “What did you see, Akinosuké, that was strange?” +</p> + +<p> +Then Akinosuké told his dream,—that dream of three-and-twenty +years’ sojourn in the realm of Tokoyo, in the island of Raishū;—and +they were astonished, because he had really slept for no more than a few +minutes. +</p> + +<p> +One gōshi said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed, you saw strange things. We also saw something strange while you +were napping. A little yellow butterfly was fluttering over your face for a +moment or two; and we watched it. Then it alighted on the ground beside you, +close to the tree; and almost as soon as it alighted there, a big, big ant came +out of a hole and seized it and pulled it down into the hole. Just before you +woke up, we saw that very butterfly come out of the hole again, and flutter +over your face as before. And then it suddenly disappeared: we do not know +where it went.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps it was Akinosuké’s soul,” the other gōshi +said;—“certainly I thought I saw it fly into his mouth... But, even +if that butterfly <i>was</i> Akinosuké’s soul, the fact would not explain +his dream.” +</p> + +<p> +“The ants might explain it,” returned the first speaker. +“Ants are queer beings—possibly goblins... Anyhow, there is a big +ant’s nest under that cedar-tree.”... +</p> + +<p> +“Let us look!” cried Akinosuké, greatly moved by this suggestion. +And he went for a spade. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +The ground about and beneath the cedar-tree proved to have been excavated, in a +most surprising way, by a prodigious colony of ants. The ants had furthermore +built inside their excavations; and their tiny constructions of straw, clay, +and stems bore an odd resemblance to miniature towns. In the middle of a +structure considerably larger than the rest there was a marvelous swarming of +small ants around the body of one very big ant, which had yellowish wings and a +long black head. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, there is the King of my dream!” cried Akinosuké; “and +there is the palace of Tokoyo!... How extraordinary!... Raishū ought to lie +somewhere southwest of it—to the left of that big root... Yes!—here +it is!... How very strange! Now I am sure that I can find the mountain of +Hanryōkō, and the grave of the princess.”... +</p> + +<p> +In the wreck of the nest he searched and searched, and at last discovered a +tiny mound, on the top of which was fixed a water-worn pebble, in shape +resembling a Buddhist monument. Underneath it he found—embedded in +clay—the dead body of a female ant. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>RIKI-BAKA</h2> + +<p> +His name was Riki, signifying Strength; but the people called him +Riki-the-Simple, or Riki-the-Fool,—“Riki-Baka,”—because +he had been born into perpetual childhood. For the same reason they were kind +to him,—even when he set a house on fire by putting a lighted match to a +mosquito-curtain, and clapped his hands for joy to see the blaze. At sixteen +years he was a tall, strong lad; but in mind he remained always at the happy +age of two, and therefore continued to play with very small children. The +bigger children of the neighborhood, from four to seven years old, did not care +to play with him, because he could not learn their songs and games. His +favorite toy was a broomstick, which he used as a hobby-horse; and for hours at +a time he would ride on that broomstick, up and down the slope in front of my +house, with amazing peals of laughter. But at last he became troublesome by +reason of his noise; and I had to tell him that he must find another +playground. He bowed submissively, and then went off,—sorrowfully +trailing his broomstick behind him. Gentle at all times, and perfectly harmless +if allowed no chance to play with fire, he seldom gave anybody cause for +complaint. His relation to the life of our street was scarcely more than that +of a dog or a chicken; and when he finally disappeared, I did not miss him. +Months and months passed by before anything happened to remind me of Riki. +</p> + +<p> +“What has become of Riki?” I then asked the old woodcutter who +supplies our neighborhood with fuel. I remembered that Riki had often helped +him to carry his bundles. +</p> + +<p> +“Riki-Baka?” answered the old man. “Ah, Riki is +dead—poor fellow!... Yes, he died nearly a year ago, very suddenly; the +doctors said that he had some disease of the brain. And there is a strange +story now about that poor Riki. +</p> + +<p> +“When Riki died, his mother wrote his name, ‘Riki-Baka,’ in +the palm of his left hand,—putting ‘Riki’ in the Chinese +character, and ‘Baka’ in <i>kana</i> (1). And she repeated many +prayers for him,—prayers that he might be reborn into some more happy +condition. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, about three months ago, in the honorable residence of +Nanigashi-Sama (2), in Kojimachi (3), a boy was born with characters on the +palm of his left hand; and the characters were quite plain to +read,—‘<i>R<small>IKI</small>-B<small>AKA</small></i>’! +</p> + +<p> +“So the people of that house knew that the birth must have happened in +answer to somebody’s prayer; and they caused inquiry to be made +everywhere. At last a vegetable-seller brought word to them that there used to +be a simple lad, called Riki-Baka, living in the Ushigomé quarter, and that he +had died during the last autumn; and they sent two men-servants to look for the +mother of Riki. +</p> + +<p> +“Those servants found the mother of Riki, and told her what had happened; +and she was glad exceedingly—for that Nanigashi house is a very rich and +famous house. But the servants said that the family of Nanigashi-Sama were very +angry about the word ‘Baka’ on the child’s hand. ‘And +where is your Riki buried?’ the servants asked. ‘He is buried in +the cemetery of Zendōji,’ she told them. ‘Please to give us some of +the clay of his grave,’ they requested. +</p> + +<p> +“So she went with them to the temple Zendōji, and showed them +Riki’s grave; and they took some of the grave-clay away with them, +wrapped up in a <i>furoshiki</i><a href="#fn15.1" name="fnref15.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>].... +They gave Riki’s mother some money,—ten yen.”... (4) +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“But what did they want with that clay?” I inquired. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” the old man answered, “you know that it would not do +to let the child grow up with that name on his hand. And there is no other +means of removing characters that come in that way upon the body of a child: +<i>you must rub the skin with clay taken from the grave of the body of the +former birth</i>.”... +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a>HI-MAWARI</h2> + +<p> +On the wooded hill behind the house Robert and I are looking for fairy-rings. +Robert is eight years old, comely, and very wise;—I am a little more than +seven,—and I reverence Robert. It is a glowing glorious August day; and +the warm air is filled with sharp sweet scents of resin. +</p> + +<p> +We do not find any fairy-rings; but we find a great many pine-cones in the high +grass... I tell Robert the old Welsh story of the man who went to sleep, +unawares, inside a fairy-ring, and so disappeared for seven years, and would +never eat or speak after his friends had delivered him from the enchantment. +</p> + +<p> +“They eat nothing but the points of needles, you know,” says +Robert. +</p> + +<p> +“Who?” I ask. +</p> + +<p> +“Goblins,” Robert answers. +</p> + +<p> +This revelation leaves me dumb with astonishment and awe... But Robert suddenly +cries out:— +</p> + +<p> +“There is a Harper!—he is coming to the house!” +</p> + +<p> +And down the hill we run to hear the harper... But what a harper! Not like the +hoary minstrels of the picture-books. A swarthy, sturdy, unkempt vagabond, with +black bold eyes under scowling black brows. More like a bricklayer than a +bard,—and his garments are corduroy! +</p> + +<p> +“Wonder if he is going to sing in Welsh?” murmurs Robert. +</p> + +<p> +I feel too much disappointed to make any remarks. The harper poses his +harp—a huge instrument—upon our doorstep, sets all the strong +ringing with a sweep of his grimy fingers, clears his throat with a sort of +angry growl, and begins,— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,<br/> + Which I gaze on so fondly to-day... +</p> + +<p> +The accent, the attitude, the voice, all fill me with repulsion +unutterable,—shock me with a new sensation of formidable vulgarity. I +want to cry out loud, “You have no right to sing that song!” For I +have heard it sung by the lips of the dearest and fairest being in my little +world;—and that this rude, coarse man should dare to sing it vexes me +like a mockery,—angers me like an insolence. But only for a moment!... +With the utterance of the syllables “to-day,” that deep, grim voice +suddenly breaks into a quivering tenderness indescribable;—then, +marvelously changing, it mellows into tones sonorous and rich as the bass of a +great organ,—while a sensation unlike anything ever felt before takes me +by the throat... What witchcraft has he learned? what secret has he +found—this scowling man of the road?... Oh! is there anybody else in the +whole world who can sing like that?... And the form of the singer flickers and +dims;—and the house, and the lawn, and all visible shapes of things +tremble and swim before me. Yet instinctively I fear that man;—I almost +hate him; and I feel myself flushing with anger and shame because of his power +to move me thus... +</p> + +<p> +“He made you cry,” Robert compassionately observes, to my further +confusion,—as the harper strides away, richer by a gift of sixpence taken +without thanks... “But I think he must be a gipsy. Gipsies are bad +people—and they are wizards... Let us go back to the wood.” +</p> + +<p> +We climb again to the pines, and there squat down upon the sun-flecked grass, +and look over town and sea. But we do not play as before: the spell of the +wizard is strong upon us both... “Perhaps he is a goblin,” I +venture at last, “or a fairy?” “No,” says +Robert,—“only a gipsy. But that is nearly as bad. They steal +children, you know.”... +</p> + +<p> +“What shall we do if he comes up here?” I gasp, in sudden terror at +the lonesomeness of our situation. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, he wouldn’t dare,” answers Robert—“not by +daylight, you know.”... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +[Only yesterday, near the village of Takata, I noticed a flower which the +Japanese call by nearly the same name as we do: <i>Himawari</i>, “The +Sunward-turning;”—and over the space of forty years there thrilled +back to me the voice of that wandering harper,— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +As the Sunflower turns on her god, when he sets,<br/> +The same look that she turned when he rose. +</p> + +<p> +Again I saw the sun-flecked shadows on that far Welsh hill; and Robert for a +moment again stood beside me, with his girl’s face and his curls of gold. +We were looking for fairy-rings... But all that existed of the real Robert must +long ago have suffered a sea-change into something rich and strange... +<i>Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his +friend</i>....] +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a>HŌRAI</h2> + +<p> +Blue vision of depth lost in height,—sea and sky interblending through +luminous haze. The day is of spring, and the hour morning. +</p> + +<p> +Only sky and sea,—one azure enormity... In the fore, ripples are catching +a silvery light, and threads of foam are swirling. But a little further off no +motion is visible, nor anything save color: dim warm blue of water widening +away to melt into blue of air. Horizon there is none: only distance soaring +into space,—infinite concavity hollowing before you, and hugely arching +above you,—the color deepening with the height. But far in the +midway-blue there hangs a faint, faint vision of palace towers, with high roofs +horned and curved like moons,—some shadowing of splendor strange and old, +illumined by a sunshine soft as memory. +</p> + +<p> +...What I have thus been trying to describe is a kakémono,—that is to +say, a Japanese painting on silk, suspended to the wall of my alcove;—and +the name of it is S<small>HINKIRŌ</small>, which signifies +“Mirage.” But the shapes of the mirage are unmistakable. Those are +the glimmering portals of Hōrai the blest; and those are the moony roofs of the +Palace of the Dragon-King;—and the fashion of them (though limned by a +Japanese brush of to-day) is the fashion of things Chinese, twenty-one hundred +years ago... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Thus much is told of the place in the Chinese books of that time:— +</p> + +<p> +In Hōrai there is neither death nor pain; and there is no winter. The flowers +in that place never fade, and the fruits never fail; and if a man taste of +those fruits even but once, he can never again feel thirst or hunger. In Hōrai +grow the enchanted plants <i>So-rin-shi</i>, and <i>Riku-gō-aoi</i>, and +<i>Ban-kon-tō</i>, which heal all manner of sickness;—and there grows +also the magical grass <i>Yō-shin-shi</i>, that quickens the dead; and the +magical grass is watered by a fairy water of which a single drink confers +perpetual youth. The people of Hōrai eat their rice out of very, very small +bowls; but the rice never diminishes within those bowls,—however much of +it be eaten,—until the eater desires no more. And the people of Hōrai +drink their wine out of very, very small cups; but no man can empty one of +those cups,—however stoutly he may drink,—until there comes upon +him the pleasant drowsiness of intoxication. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +All this and more is told in the legends of the time of the Shin dynasty. But +that the people who wrote down those legends ever saw Hōrai, even in a mirage, +is not believable. For really there are no enchanted fruits which leave the +eater forever satisfied,—nor any magical grass which revives the +dead,—nor any fountain of fairy water,—nor any bowls which never +lack rice,—nor any cups which never lack wine. It is not true that sorrow +and death never enter Hōrai;—neither is it true that there is not any +winter. The winter in Hōrai is cold;—and winds then bite to the bone; and +the heaping of snow is monstrous on the roofs of the Dragon-King. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless there are wonderful things in Hōrai; and the most wonderful of all +has not been mentioned by any Chinese writer. I mean the atmosphere of Hōrai. +It is an atmosphere peculiar to the place; and, because of it, the sunshine in +Hōrai is <i>whiter</i> than any other sunshine,—a milky light that never +dazzles,—astonishingly clear, but very soft. This atmosphere is not of +our human period: it is enormously old,—so old that I feel afraid when I +try to think how old it is;—and it is not a mixture of nitrogen and +oxygen. It is not made of air at all, but of ghost,—the substance of +quintillions of quintillions of generations of souls blended into one immense +translucency,—souls of people who thought in ways never resembling our +ways. Whatever mortal man inhales that atmosphere, he takes into his blood the +thrilling of these spirits; and they change the sense within +him,—reshaping his notions of Space and Time,—so that he can see +only as they used to see, and feel only as they used to feel, and think only as +they used to think. Soft as sleep are these changes of sense; and Hōrai, +discerned across them, might thus be described:— +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +<i>—Because in Hōrai there is no knowledge of great evil, the hearts of +the people never grow old. And, by reason of being always young in heart, the +people of Hōrai smile from birth until death—except when the Gods send +sorrow among them; and faces then are veiled until the sorrow goes away. All +folk in Hōrai love and trust each other, as if all were members of a single +household;—and the speech of the women is like birdsong, because the +hearts of them are light as the souls of birds;—and the swaying of the +sleeves of the maidens at play seems a flutter of wide, soft wings. In Hōrai +nothing is hidden but grief, because there is no reason for shame;—and +nothing is locked away, because there could not be any theft;—and by +night as well as by day all doors remain unbarred, because there is no reason +for fear. And because the people are fairies—though mortal—all +things in Hōrai, except the Palace of the Dragon-King, are small and quaint and +queer;—and these fairy-folk do really eat their rice out of very, very +small bowls, and drink their wine out of very, very small cups....</i> +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +—Much of this seeming would be due to the inhalation of that ghostly +atmosphere—but not all. For the spell wrought by the dead is only the +charm of an Ideal, the glamour of an ancient hope;—and something of that +hope has found fulfillment in many hearts,—in the simple beauty of +unselfish lives,—in the sweetness of Woman... +</p> + +<p> +—Evil winds from the West are blowing over Hōrai; and the magical +atmosphere, alas! is shrinking away before them. It lingers now in patches +only, and bands,—like those long bright bands of cloud that train across +the landscapes of Japanese painters. Under these shreds of the elfish vapor you +still can find Hōrai—but not everywhere... Remember that Hōrai is also +called Shinkirō, which signifies Mirage,—the Vision of the Intangible. +And the Vision is fading,—never again to appear save in pictures and +poems and dreams... +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap18"></a>INSECT STUDIES</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap19"></a>BUTTERFLIES</h2> + +<h3>I</h3> + +<p> +Would that I could hope for the luck of that Chinese scholar known to Japanese +literature as “Rōsan”! For he was beloved by two spirit-maidens, +celestial sisters, who every ten days came to visit him and to tell him stories +about butterflies. Now there are marvelous Chinese stories about +butterflies—ghostly stories; and I want to know them. But never shall I +be able to read Chinese, nor even Japanese; and the little Japanese poetry that +I manage, with exceeding difficulty, to translate, contains so many allusions +to Chinese stories of butterflies that I am tormented with the torment of +Tantalus... And, of course, no spirit-maidens will even deign to visit so +skeptical a person as myself. +</p> + +<p> +I want to know, for example, the whole story of that Chinese maiden whom the +butterflies took to be a flower, and followed in multitude,—so fragrant +and so fair was she. Also I should like to know something more concerning the +butterflies of the Emperor Gensō, or Ming Hwang, who made them choose his loves +for him... He used to hold wine-parties in his amazing garden; and ladies of +exceeding beauty were in attendance; and caged butterflies, set free among +them, would fly to the fairest; and then, upon that fairest the Imperial favor +was bestowed. But after Gensō Kōtei had seen Yōkihi (whom the Chinese call +Yang-Kwei-Fei), he would not suffer the butterflies to choose for +him,—which was unlucky, as Yokihi got him into serious trouble... Again, +I should like to know more about the experience of that Chinese scholar, +celebrated in Japan under the name Sōshū, who dreamed that he was a butterfly, +and had all the sensations of a butterfly in that dream. For his spirit had +really been wandering about in the shape of a butterfly; and, when he awoke, +the memories and the feelings of butterfly existence remained so vivid in his +mind that he could not act like a human being... Finally I should like to know +the text of a certain Chinese official recognition of sundry butterflies as the +spirits of an Emperor and of his attendants... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Most of the Japanese literature about butterflies, excepting some poetry, +appears to be of Chinese origin; and even that old national aæsthetic feeling +on the subject, which found such delightful expression in Japanese art and song +and custom, may have been first developed under Chinese teaching. Chinese +precedent doubtless explains why Japanese poets and painters chose so often for +their <i>geimyō</i>, or professional appellations, such names as <i>Chōmu</i> +(“Butterfly-Dream),” <i>Ichō</i> (“Solitary +Butterfly),” etc. And even to this day such <i>geimyō</i> as +<i>Chōhana</i> (“Butterfly-Blossom”), <i>Chōkichi</i> +(“Butterfly-Luck”), or <i>Chōnosuké</i> +(“Butterfly-Help”), are affected by dancing-girls. Besides artistic +names having reference to butterflies, there are still in use real personal +names (<i>yobina</i>) of this kind,—such as Kochō, or Chō, meaning +“Butterfly.” They are borne by women only, as a rule,—though +there are some strange exceptions... And here I may mention that, in the +province of Mutsu, there still exists the curious old custom of calling the +youngest daughter in a family <i>Tekona</i>,—which quaint word, obsolete +elsewhere, signifies in Mutsu dialect a butterfly. In classic time this word +signified also a beautiful woman... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +It is possible also that some weird Japanese beliefs about butterflies are of +Chinese derivation; but these beliefs might be older than China herself. The +most interesting one, I think, is that the soul of a <i>living</i> person may +wander about in the form of a butterfly. Some pretty fancies have been evolved +out of this belief,—such as the notion that if a butterfly enters your +guest-room and perches behind the bamboo screen, the person whom you most love +is coming to see you. That a butterfly may be the spirit of somebody is not a +reason for being afraid of it. Nevertheless there are times when even +butterflies can inspire fear by appearing in prodigious numbers; and Japanese +history records such an event. When Taïra-no-Masakado was secretly preparing +for his famous revolt, there appeared in Kyōto so vast a swarm of butterflies +that the people were frightened,—thinking the apparition to be a portent +of coming evil... Perhaps those butterflies were supposed to be the spirits of +the thousands doomed to perish in battle, and agitated on the eve of war by +some mysterious premonition of death. +</p> + +<p> +However, in Japanese belief, a butterfly may be the soul of a dead person as +well as of a living person. Indeed it is a custom of souls to take +butterfly-shape in order to announce the fact of their final departure from the +body; and for this reason any butterfly which enters a house ought to be kindly +treated. +</p> + +<p> +To this belief, and to queer fancies connected with it, there are many +allusions in popular drama. For example, there is a well-known play called +<i>Tondé-déru-Kochō-no-Kanzashi;</i> or, “The Flying Hairpin of +Kochō.” Kochō is a beautiful person who kills herself because of false +accusations and cruel treatment. Her would-be avenger long seeks in vain for +the author of the wrong. But at last the dead woman’s hairpin turns into +a butterfly, and serves as a guide to vengeance by hovering above the place +where the villain is hiding. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +—Of course those big paper butterflies (<i>o-chō</i> and <i>mé-chō</i>) +which figure at weddings must not be thought of as having any ghostly +signification. As emblems they only express the joy of living union, and the +hope that the newly married couple may pass through life together as a pair of +butterflies flit lightly through some pleasant garden,—now hovering +upward, now downward, but never widely separating. +</p> + +<h3>II</h3> + +<p> +A small selection of <i>hokku</i> (1) on butterflies will help to illustrate +Japanese interest in the aæsthetic side of the subject. Some are pictures +only,—tiny color-sketches made with seventeen syllables; some are nothing +more than pretty fancies, or graceful suggestions;—but the reader will +find variety. Probably he will not care much for the verses in themselves. The +taste for Japanese poetry of the epigrammatic sort is a taste that must be +slowly acquired; and it is only by degrees, after patient study, that the +possibilities of such composition can be fairly estimated. Hasty criticism has +declared that to put forward any serious claim on behalf of seventeen-syllable +poems “would be absurd.” But what, then, of Crashaw’s famous +line upon the miracle at the marriage feast in Cana?— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Nympha pudica Deum vidit, et erubuit.<a href="#fn19.1" name="fnref19.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +Only fourteen syllables—and immortality. Now with seventeen Japanese +syllables things quite as wonderful—indeed, much more +wonderful—have been done, not once or twice, but probably a thousand +times... However, there is nothing wonderful in the following <i>hokku</i>, +which have been selected for more than literary reasons:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Nugi-kakuru<a href="#fn19.2" name="fnref19.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a><br/> +Haori sugata no<br/> + Kochō kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Like a</i> haori <i>being taken off—that is the shape of a +butterfly!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Torisashi no<br/> +Sao no jama suru<br/> + Kochō kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Ah, the butterfly keeps getting in the way of the bird-catcher’s +pole!</i><a href="#fn19.3" name="fnref19.3"><sup>[3]</sup></a>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Tsurigané ni<br/> +Tomarité nemuru<br/> + Kochō kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Perched upon the temple-bell, the butterfly sleeps:</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Néru-uchi mo<br/> +Asobu-yumé wo ya—<br/> + Kusa no chō! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Even while sleeping, its dream is of play—ah, the butterfly of the +grass!</i><a href="#fn19.4" name="fnref19.4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Oki, oki yo!<br/> +Waga tomo ni sen,<br/> + Néru-kochō! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Wake up! wake up!—I will make thee my comrade, thou sleeping +butterfly.</i><a href="#fn19.5" name="fnref19.5"><sup>[5]</sup></a>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Kago no tori<br/> +Chō wo urayamu<br/> + Metsuki kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Ah, the sad expression in the eyes of that caged bird!—envying the +butterfly!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chō tondé—<br/> +Kazé naki hi to mo<br/> + Miëzari ki! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Even though it did not appear to be a windy day</i>,<a href="#fn19.6" name="fnref19.6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> +<i>the fluttering of the butterflies—!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Rakkwa éda ni<br/> +Kaëru to miréba—<br/> + Kochō kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>When I saw the fallen flower return to the branch—lo! it was only a +butterfly!</i><a href="#fn19.7" name="fnref19.7"><sup>[7]</sup></a>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chiru-hana ni—<br/> +Karusa arasoü<br/> + Kochō kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>How the butterfly strives to compete in lightness with the falling +flowers!</i><a href="#fn19.8" name="fnref19.8"><sup>[8]</sup></a>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chōchō ya!<br/> +Onna no michi no<br/> + Ato ya saki! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>See that butterfly on the woman’s path,—now fluttering behind +her, now before!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chōchō ya!<br/> +Hana-nusubito wo<br/> + Tsukété-yuku! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Ha! the butterfly!—it is following the person who stole the +flowers!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Aki no chō<br/> +Tomo nakéréba ya;<br/> + Hito ni tsuku +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Poor autumn butterfly!—when left without a comrade</i> (of its own +race), <i>it follows after man</i> (or “a person”)!] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Owarété mo,<br/> +Isoganu furi no<br/> + Chōcho kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Ah, the butterfly! Even when chased, it never has the air of being in a +hurry.</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chō wa mina<br/> +Jiu-shichi-hachi no<br/> + Sugata kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>As for butterflies, they all have the appearance of being about seventeen +or eighteen years old.</i><a href="#fn19.9" name="fnref19.9"><sup>[9]</sup></a>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chō tobu ya—<br/> +Kono yo no urami<br/> + Naki yō ni! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>How the butterfly sports,—just as if there were no enmity</i> (or +“envy”) <i>in this world!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chō tobu ya,<br/> +Kono yo ni nozomi<br/> + Nai yō ni! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Ah, the butterfly!—it sports about as if it had nothing more to +desire in this present state of existence.</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Nami no hana ni<br/> +Tomari kanétaru,<br/> + Kochō kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Having found it difficult indeed to perch upon the</i> (<i>foam</i>-) +<i>blossoms of the waves,—alas for the butterfly!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Mutsumashi ya!—<br/> +Umaré-kawareba<br/> + Nobé no chō.<a href="#fn19.10" name="fnref19.10"><sup>[10]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>If</i> (in our next existence) <i>we be born into the state of butterflies +upon the moor, then perchance we may be happy together!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Nadéshiko ni<br/> +Chōchō shiroshi—<br/> + Taré no kon?<a href="#fn19.11" name="fnref19.11"><sup>[11]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>On the pink-flower there is a white butterfly: whose spirit, I wonder?</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Ichi-nichi no<br/> +Tsuma to miëkéri—<br/> + Chō futatsu. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>The one-day wife has at last appeared—a pair of butterflies!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Kité wa maü,<br/> +Futari shidzuka no<br/> + Kochō kana! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Approaching they dance; but when the two meet at last they are very quiet, +the butterflies!</i>] +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Chō wo oü<br/> +Kokoro-mochitashi<br/> + Itsumadémo! +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Would that I might always have the heart</i> (desire) <i>of chasing +butterflies!</i><a href="#fn19.12" name="fnref19.12"><sup>[12]</sup></a>] +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Besides these specimens of poetry about butterflies, I have one queer example +to offer of Japanese prose literature on the same topic. The original, of which +I have attempted only a free translation, can be found in the curious old book +<i>Mushi-Isamé</i> (“Insect-Admonitions”); and it assumes the form +of a discourse to a butterfly. But it is really a didactic +allegory,—suggesting the moral significance of a social rise and +fall:— +</p> + +<p> +“Now, under the sun of spring, the winds are gentle, and flowers pinkly +bloom, and grasses are soft, and the hearts of people are glad. Butterflies +everywhere flutter joyously: so many persons now compose Chinese verses and +Japanese verses about butterflies. +</p> + +<p> +“And this season, O Butterfly, is indeed the season of your bright +prosperity: so comely you now are that in the whole world there is nothing more +comely. For that reason all other insects admire and envy you;—there is +not among them even one that does not envy you. Nor do insects alone regard you +with envy: men also both envy and admire you. Sōshū of China, in a dream, +assumed your shape;—Sakoku of Japan, after dying, took your form, and +therein made ghostly apparition. Nor is the envy that you inspire shared only +by insects and mankind: even things without soul change their form into +yours;—witness the barley-grass, which turns into a butterfly.<a href="#fn19.13" name="fnref19.13"><sup>[13]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +“And therefore you are lifted up with pride, and think to yourself: +‘In all this world there is nothing superior to me!’ Ah! I can very +well guess what is in your heart: you are too much satisfied with your own +person. That is why you let yourself be blown thus lightly about by every +wind;—that is why you never remain still,—always, always thinking, +‘In the whole world there is no one so fortunate as I.’ +</p> + +<p> +“But now try to think a little about your own personal history. It is +worth recalling; for there is a vulgar side to it. How a vulgar side? Well, for +a considerable time after you were born, you had no such reason for rejoicing +in your form. You were then a mere cabbage-insect, a hairy worm; and you were +so poor that you could not afford even one robe to cover your nakedness; and +your appearance was altogether disgusting. Everybody in those days hated the +sight of you. Indeed you had good reason to be ashamed of yourself; and so +ashamed you were that you collected old twigs and rubbish to hide in, and you +made a hiding-nest, and hung it to a branch,—and then everybody cried out +to you, ‘Raincoat Insect!’ (<i>Mino-mushi</i>.)<a href="#fn19.14" name="fnref19.14"><sup>[14]</sup></a> +And during that period of your life, your sins were grievous. Among the tender +green leaves of beautiful cherry-trees you and your fellows assembled, and +there made ugliness extraordinary; and the expectant eyes of the people, who +came from far away to admire the beauty of those cherry-trees, were hurt by the +sight of you. And of things even more hateful than this you were guilty. You +knew that poor, poor men and women had been cultivating <i>daikon</i> (2) in +their fields,—toiling under the hot sun till their hearts were filled +with bitterness by reason of having to care for that <i>daikon;</i> and you +persuaded your companions to go with you, and to gather upon the leaves of that +<i>daikon</i>, and on the leaves of other vegetables planted by those poor +people. Out of your greediness you ravaged those leaves, and gnawed them into +all shapes of ugliness,—caring nothing for the trouble of those poor +folk... Yes, such a creature you were, and such were your doings. +</p> + +<p> +“And now that you have a comely form, you despise your old comrades, the +insects; and, whenever you happen to meet any of them, you pretend not to know +them [literally, ‘You make an I-don’t-know face’]. Now you +want to have none but wealthy and exalted people for friends... Ah! You have +forgotten the old times, have you? +</p> + +<p> +“It is true that many people have forgotten your past, and are charmed by +the sight of your present graceful shape and white wings, and write Chinese +verses and Japanese verses about you. The high-born damsel, who could not bear +even to look at you in your former shape, now gazes at you with delight, and +wants you to perch upon her hairpin, and holds out her dainty fan in the hope +that you will light upon it. But this reminds me that there is an ancient +Chinese story about you, which is not pretty. +</p> + +<p> +“In the time of the Emperor Gensō, the Imperial Palace contained hundreds +and thousands of beautiful ladies,—so many, indeed, that it would have +been difficult for any man to decide which among them was the loveliest. So all +of those beautiful persons were assembled together in one place; and you were +set free to fly among them; and it was decreed that the damsel upon whose +hairpin you perched should be augustly summoned to the Imperial Chamber. In +that time there could not be more than one Empress—which was a good law; +but, because of you, the Emperor Gensō did great mischief in the land. For your +mind is light and frivolous; and although among so many beautiful women there +must have been some persons of pure heart, you would look for nothing but +beauty, and so betook yourself to the person most beautiful in outward +appearance. Therefore many of the female attendants ceased altogether to think +about the right way of women, and began to study how to make themselves appear +splendid in the eyes of men. And the end of it was that the Emperor Gensō died +a pitiful and painful death—all because of your light and trifling mind. +Indeed, your real character can easily be seen from your conduct in other +matters. There are trees, for example,—such as the evergreen-oak and the +pine,—whose leaves do not fade and fall, but remain always +green;—these are trees of firm heart, trees of solid character. But you +say that they are stiff and formal; and you hate the sight of them, and never +pay them a visit. Only to the cherry-tree, and the <i>kaido</i><a href="#fn19.15" name="fnref19.15"><sup>[15]</sup></a>, +and the peony, and the yellow rose you go: those you like because they have +showy flowers, and you try only to please them. Such conduct, let me assure +you, is very unbecoming. Those trees certainly have handsome flowers; but +hunger-satisfying fruits they have not; and they are grateful to those only who +are fond of luxury and show. And that is just the reason why they are pleased +by your fluttering wings and delicate shape;—that is why they are kind to +you. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, in this spring season, while you sportively dance through the +gardens of the wealthy, or hover among the beautiful alleys of cherry-trees in +blossom, you say to yourself: ‘Nobody in the world has such pleasure as +I, or such excellent friends. And, in spite of all that people may say, I most +love the peony,—and the golden yellow rose is my own darling, and I will +obey her every least behest; for that is my pride and my delight.’... So +you say. But the opulent and elegant season of flowers is very short: soon they +will fade and fall. Then, in the time of summer heat, there will be green +leaves only; and presently the winds of autumn will blow, when even the leaves +themselves will shower down like rain, <i>parari-parari</i>. And your fate will +then be as the fate of the unlucky in the proverb, <i>Tanomi ki no shita ni amé +furu</i> [Even through the tree upon which I relied for shelter the rain leaks +down]. For you will seek out your old friend, the root-cutting insect, the +grub, and beg him to let you return into your old-time hole;—but now +having wings, you will not be able to enter the hole because of them, and you +will not be able to shelter your body anywhere between heaven and earth, and +all the moor-grass will then have withered, and you will not have even one drop +of dew with which to moisten your tongue,—and there will be nothing left +for you to do but to lie down and die. All because of your light and frivolous +heart—but, ah! how lamentable an end!”... +</p> + +<h3>III</h3> + +<p> +Most of the Japanese stories about butterflies appear, as I have said, to be of +Chinese origin. But I have one which is probably indigenous; and it seems to me +worth telling for the benefit of persons who believe there is no +“romantic love” in the Far East. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Behind the cemetery of the temple of Sōzanji, in the suburbs of the capital, +there long stood a solitary cottage, occupied by an old man named Takahama. He +was liked in the neighborhood, by reason of his amiable ways; but almost +everybody supposed him to be a little mad. Unless a man take the Buddhist vows, +he is expected to marry, and to bring up a family. But Takahama did not belong +to the religious life; and he could not be persuaded to marry. Neither had he +ever been known to enter into a love-relation with any woman. For more than +fifty years he had lived entirely alone. +</p> + +<p> +One summer he fell sick, and knew that he had not long to live. He then sent +for his sister-in-law, a widow, and for her only son,—a lad of about +twenty years old, to whom he was much attached. Both promptly came, and did +whatever they could to soothe the old man’s last hours. +</p> + +<p> +One sultry afternoon, while the widow and her son were watching at his bedside, +Takahama fell asleep. At the same moment a very large white butterfly entered +the room, and perched upon the sick man’s pillow. The nephew drove it +away with a fan; but it returned immediately to the pillow, and was again +driven away, only to come back a third time. Then the nephew chased it into the +garden, and across the garden, through an open gate, into the cemetery of the +neighboring temple. But it continued to flutter before him as if unwilling to +be driven further, and acted so queerly that he began to wonder whether it was +really a butterfly, or a <i>ma</i><a href="#fn19.16" name="fnref19.16"><sup>[16]</sup></a>. +He again chased it, and followed it far into the cemetery, until he saw it fly +against a tomb,—a woman’s tomb. There it unaccountably disappeared; +and he searched for it in vain. He then examined the monument. It bore the +personal name “Akiko,” (3) together with an unfamiliar family name, +and an inscription stating that Akiko had died at the age of eighteen. +Apparently the tomb had been erected about fifty years previously: moss had +begun to gather upon it. But it had been well cared for: there were fresh +flowers before it; and the water-tank had recently been filled. +</p> + +<p> +On returning to the sick room, the young man was shocked by the announcement +that his uncle had ceased to breathe. Death had come to the sleeper painlessly; +and the dead face smiled. +</p> + +<p> +The young man told his mother of what he had seen in the cemetery. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” exclaimed the widow, “then it must have been +Akiko!”... +</p> + +<p> +“But who was Akiko, mother?” the nephew asked. +</p> + +<p> +The widow answered:— +</p> + +<p> +“When your good uncle was young he was betrothed to a charming girl +called Akiko, the daughter of a neighbor. Akiko died of consumption, only a +little before the day appointed for the wedding; and her promised husband +sorrowed greatly. After Akiko had been buried, he made a vow never to marry; +and he built this little house beside the cemetery, so that he might be always +near her grave. All this happened more than fifty years ago. And every day of +those fifty years—winter and summer alike—your uncle went to the +cemetery, and prayed at the grave, and swept the tomb, and set offerings before +it. But he did not like to have any mention made of the matter; and he never +spoke of it... So, at last, Akiko came for him: the white butterfly was her +soul.” +</p> + +<h3>IV</h3> + +<p> +I had almost forgotten to mention an ancient Japanese dance, called the +Butterfly Dance (<i>Kochō-Mai</i>), which used to be performed in the Imperial +Palace, by dancers costumed as butterflies. Whether it is danced occasionally +nowadays I do not know. It is said to be very difficult to learn. Six dancers +are required for the proper performance of it; and they must move in particular +figures,—obeying traditional rules for every step, pose, or +gesture,—and circling about each other very slowly to the sound of +hand-drums and great drums, small flutes and great flutes, and pandean pipes of +a form unknown to Western Pan. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus02"></a> +<img src="images/img02.jpg" width="545" height="600" alt="[Illustration]" /> +<p class="caption"><small>BUTTERFLY DANCE</small></p> +</div> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap20"></a>MOSQUITOES</h2> + +<p> +With a view to self-protection I have been reading Dr. Howard’s book, +“Mosquitoes.” I am persecuted by mosquitoes. There are several +species in my neighborhood; but only one of them is a serious torment,—a +tiny needly thing, all silver-speckled and silver-streaked. The puncture of it +is sharp as an electric burn; and the mere hum of it has a lancinating quality +of tone which foretells the quality of the pain about to come,—much in +the same way that a particular smell suggests a particular taste. I find that +this mosquito much resembles the creature which Dr. Howard calls <i>Stegomyia +fasciata</i>, or <i>Culex fasciatus:</i> and that its habits are the same as +those of the <i>Stegomyia</i>. For example, it is diurnal rather than nocturnal +and becomes most troublesome in the afternoon. And I have discovered that it +comes from the Buddhist cemetery,—a very old cemetery,—in the rear +of my garden. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Dr. Howard’s book declares that, in order to rid a neighborhood of +mosquitoes, it is only necessary to pour a little petroleum, or kerosene oil, +into the stagnant water where they breed. Once a week the oil should be used, +“at the rate of once ounce for every fifteen square feet of +water-surface, and a proportionate quantity for any less surface.” ...But +please to consider the conditions in <i>my</i> neighborhood! +</p> + +<p> +I have said that my tormentors come from the Buddhist cemetery. Before nearly +every tomb in that old cemetery there is a water-receptacle, or cistern, called +<i>mizutamé</i>. In the majority of cases this <i>mizutamé</i> is simply an +oblong cavity chiseled in the broad pedestal supporting the monument; but +before tombs of a costly kind, having no pedestal-tank, a larger separate tank +is placed, cut out of a single block of stone, and decorated with a family +crest, or with symbolic carvings. In front of a tomb of the humblest class, +having no <i>mizutamé</i>, water is placed in cups or other vessels,—for +the dead must have water. Flowers also must be offered to them; and before +every tomb you will find a pair of bamboo cups, or other flower-vessels; and +these, of course, contain water. There is a well in the cemetery to supply +water for the graves. Whenever the tombs are visited by relatives and friends +of the dead, fresh water is poured into the tanks and cups. But as an old +cemetery of this kind contains thousands of <i>mizutamé</i>, and tens of +thousands of flower-vessels the water in all of these cannot be renewed every +day. It becomes stagnant and populous. The deeper tanks seldom get +dry;—the rainfall at Tōkyō being heavy enough to keep them partly filled +during nine months out of the twelve. +</p> + +<p> +Well, it is in these tanks and flower-vessels that mine enemies are born: they +rise by millions from the water of the dead;—and, according to Buddhist +doctrine, some of them may be reincarnations of those very dead, condemned by +the error of former lives to the condition of <i>Jiki-ketsu-gaki</i>, or +blood-drinking pretas.... Anyhow the malevolence of the <i>Culex fasciatus</i> +would justify the suspicion that some wicked human soul had been compressed +into that wailing speck of a body.... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Now, to return to the subject of kerosene-oil, you can exterminate the +mosquitoes of any locality by covering with a film of kerosene all stagnant +water surfaces therein. The larvae die on rising to breathe; and the adult +females perish when they approach the water to launch their rafts of eggs. And +I read, in Dr. Howard’s book, that the actual cost of freeing from +mosquitoes one American town of fifty thousand inhabitants, does not exceed +three hundred dollars!... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +I wonder what would be said if the city-government of Tōkyō—which is +aggressively scientific and progressive—were suddenly to command that all +water-surfaces in the Buddhist cemeteries should be covered, at regular +intervals, with a film of kerosene oil! How could the religion which prohibits +the taking of any life—even of invisible life—yield to such a +mandate? Would filial piety even dream of consenting to obey such an order? And +then to think of the cost, in labor and time, of putting kerosene oil, every +seven days, into the millions of <i>mizutamé</i>, and the tens of millions of +bamboo flower-cups, in the Tōkyō graveyards!... Impossible! To free the city +from mosquitoes it would be necessary to demolish the ancient +graveyards;—and that would signify the ruin of the Buddhist temples +attached to them;—and that would mean the disparition of so many charming +gardens, with their lotus-ponds and Sanscrit-lettered monuments and humpy +bridges and holy groves and weirdly-smiling Buddhas! So the extermination of +the <i>Culex fasciatus</i> would involve the destruction of the poetry of the +ancestral cult,—surely too great a price to pay!... +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Besides, I should like, when my time comes, to be laid away in some Buddhist +graveyard of the ancient kind,—so that my ghostly company should be +ancient, caring nothing for the fashions and the changes and the +disintegrations of Meiji (1). That old cemetery behind my garden would be a +suitable place. Everything there is beautiful with a beauty of exceeding and +startling queerness; each tree and stone has been shaped by some old, old ideal +which no longer exists in any living brain; even the shadows are not of this +time and sun, but of a world forgotten, that never knew steam or electricity or +magnetism or—kerosene oil! Also in the boom of the big bell there is a +quaintness of tone which wakens feelings, so strangely far-away from all the +nineteenth-century part of me, that the faint blind stirrings of them make me +afraid,—deliciously afraid. Never do I hear that billowing peal but I +become aware of a striving and a fluttering in the abyssal part of my +ghost,—a sensation as of memories struggling to reach the light beyond +the obscurations of a million million deaths and births. I hope to remain +within hearing of that bell... And, considering the possibility of being doomed +to the state of a <i>Jiki-ketsu-gaki</i>, I want to have my chance of being +reborn in some bamboo flower-cup, or <i>mizutamé</i>, whence I might issue +softly, singing my thin and pungent song, to bite some people that I know. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap21"></a>ANTS</h2> + +<h3>I</h3> + +<p> +This morning sky, after the night’s tempest, is a pure and dazzling blue. +The air—the delicious air!—is full of sweet resinous odors, shed +from the countless pine-boughs broken and strewn by the gale. In the +neighboring bamboo-grove I hear the flute-call of the bird that praises the +Sûtra of the Lotos; and the land is very still by reason of the south wind. Now +the summer, long delayed, is truly with us: butterflies of queer Japanese +colors are flickering about; semi (1) are wheezing; wasps are humming; gnats +are dancing in the sun; and the ants are busy repairing their damaged +habitations... I bethink me of a Japanese poem:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Yuku é naki:<br/> +Ari no sumai ya!<br/> + Go-getsu amé. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +[<i>Now the poor creature has nowhere to go!... Alas for the dwellings of the +ants in this rain of the fifth month!</i>] +</p> + +<p> +But those big black ants in my garden do not seem to need any sympathy. They +have weathered the storm in some unimaginable way, while great trees were being +uprooted, and houses blown to fragments, and roads washed out of existence. +Yet, before the typhoon, they took no other visible precaution than to block up +the gates of their subterranean town. And the spectacle of their triumphant +toil to-day impels me to attempt an essay on Ants. +</p> + +<p> +I should have liked to preface my disquisitions with something from the old +Japanese literature,—something emotional or metaphysical. But all that my +Japanese friends were able to find for me on the subject,—excepting some +verses of little worth,—was Chinese. This Chinese material consisted +chiefly of strange stories; and one of them seems to me worth +quoting,—<i>faute de mieux</i>. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +In the province of Taishū, in China, there was a pious man who, every day, +during many years, fervently worshiped a certain goddess. One morning, while he +was engaged in his devotions, a beautiful woman, wearing a yellow robe, came +into his chamber and stood before him. He, greatly surprised, asked her what +she wanted, and why she had entered unannounced. She answered: “I am not +a woman: I am the goddess whom you have so long and so faithfully worshiped; +and I have now come to prove to you that your devotion has not been in vain... +Are you acquainted with the language of Ants?” The worshiper replied: +“I am only a low-born and ignorant person,—not a scholar; and even +of the language of superior men I know nothing.” At these words the +goddess smiled, and drew from her bosom a little box, shaped like an incense +box. She opened the box, dipped a finger into it, and took therefrom some kind +of ointment with which she anointed the ears of the man. “Now,” she +said to him, “try to find some Ants, and when you find any, stoop down, +and listen carefully to their talk. You will be able to understand it; and you +will hear of something to your advantage... Only remember that you must not +frighten or vex the Ants.” Then the goddess vanished away. +</p> + +<p> +The man immediately went out to look for some Ants. He had scarcely crossed the +threshold of his door when he perceived two Ants upon a stone supporting one of +the house-pillars. He stooped over them, and listened; and he was astonished to +find that he could hear them talking, and could understand what they said. +“Let us try to find a warmer place,” proposed one of the Ants. +“Why a warmer place?” asked the other;—“what is the +matter with this place?” “It is too damp and cold below,” +said the first Ant; “there is a big treasure buried here; and the +sunshine cannot warm the ground about it.” Then the two Ants went away +together, and the listener ran for a spade. +</p> + +<p> +By digging in the neighborhood of the pillar, he soon found a number of large +jars full of gold coin. The discovery of this treasure made him a very rich +man. +</p> + +<p> +Afterwards he often tried to listen to the conversation of Ants. But he was +never again able to hear them speak. The ointment of the goddess had opened his +ears to their mysterious language for only a single day. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Now I, like that Chinese devotee, must confess myself a very ignorant person, +and naturally unable to hear the conversation of Ants. But the Fairy of Science +sometimes touches my ears and eyes with her wand; and then, for a little time, +I am able to hear things inaudible, and to perceive things imperceptible. +</p> + +<h3>II</h3> + +<p> +For the same reason that it is considered wicked, in sundry circles, to speak +of a non-Christian people having produced a civilization ethically superior to +our own, certain persons will not be pleased by what I am going to say about +ants. But there are men, incomparably wiser than I can ever hope to be, who +think about insects and civilizations independently of the blessings of +Christianity; and I find encouragement in the new <i>Cambridge Natural +History</i>, which contains the following remarks by Professor David Sharp, +concerning ants:— +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“Observation has revealed the most remarkable phenomena in the lives of +these insects. Indeed we can scarcely avoid the conclusion that they have +acquired, in many respects, the art of living together in societies more +perfectly than our own species has; and that they have anticipated us in the +acquisition of some of the industries and arts that greatly facilitate social +life.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +I suppose that a few well-informed persons will dispute this plain statement by +a trained specialist. The contemporary man of science is not apt to become +sentimental about ants or bees; but he will not hesitate to acknowledge that, +in regard to social evolution, these insects appear to have advanced +“beyond man.” Mr. Herbert Spencer, whom nobody will charge with +romantic tendencies, goes considerably further than Professor Sharp; showing us +that ants are, in a very real sense, <i>ethically</i> as well as economically +in advance of humanity,—their lives being entirely devoted to altruistic +ends. Indeed, Professor Sharp somewhat needlessly qualifies his praise of the +ant with this cautious observation:— +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“The competence of the ant is not like that of man. It is devoted to the +welfare of the species rather than to that of the individual, which is, as it +were, sacrificed or specialized for the benefit of the community.” +</p> + +<p> +—The obvious implication,—that any social state, in which the +improvement of the individual is sacrificed to the common welfare, leaves much +to be desired,—is probably correct, from the actual human standpoint. For +man is yet imperfectly evolved; and human society has much to gain from his +further individualization. But in regard to social insects the implied +criticism is open to question. “The improvement of the individual,” +says Herbert Spencer, “consists in the better fitting of him for social +cooperation; and this, being conducive to social prosperity, is conducive to +the maintenance of the race.” In other words, the value of the individual +can be <i>only</i> in relation to the society; and this granted, whether the +sacrifice of the individual for the sake of that society be good or evil must +depend upon what the society might gain or lose through a further +individualization of its members... But as we shall presently see, the +conditions of ant-society that most deserve our attention are the ethical +conditions; and these are beyond human criticism, since they realize that ideal +of moral evolution described by Mr. Spencer as “a state in which egoism +and altruism are so conciliated that the one merges into the other.” That +is to say, a state in which the only possible pleasure is the pleasure of +unselfish action. Or, again to quote Mr. Spencer, the activities of the +insect-society are “activities which postpone individual well-being so +completely to the well-being of the community that individual life appears to +be attended to only just so far as is necessary to make possible due attention +to social life,... the individual taking only just such food and just such rest +as are needful to maintain its vigor.” +</p> + +<h3>III</h3> + +<p> +I hope my reader is aware that ants practise horticulture and agriculture; that +they are skillful in the cultivation of mushrooms; that they have domesticated +(according to present knowledge) five hundred and eighty-four different kinds +of animals; that they make tunnels through solid rock; that they know how to +provide against atmospheric changes which might endanger the health of their +children; and that, for insects, their longevity is exceptional,—members +of the more highly evolved species living for a considerable number of years. +</p> + +<p> +But it is not especially of these matters that I wish to speak. What I want to +talk about is the awful propriety, the terrible morality, of the ant<a href="#fn21.1" name="fnref21.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>. +Our most appalling ideals of conduct fall short of the ethics of the +ant,—as progress is reckoned in time,—by nothing less than millions +of years!... When I say “the ant,” I mean the highest type of +ant,—not, of course, the entire ant-family. About two thousand species of +ants are already known; and these exhibit, in their social organizations, +widely varying degrees of evolution. Certain social phenomena of the greatest +biological importance, and of no less importance in their strange relation to +the subject of ethics, can be studied to advantage only in the existence of the +most highly evolved societies of ants. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After all that has been written of late years about the probable value of +relative experience in the long life of the ant, I suppose that few persons +would venture to deny individual character to the ant. The intelligence of the +little creature in meeting and overcoming difficulties of a totally new kind, +and in adapting itself to conditions entirely foreign to its experience, proves +a considerable power of independent thinking. But this at least is certain: +that the ant has no individuality capable of being exercised in a purely +selfish direction;—I am using the word “selfish” in its +ordinary acceptation. A greedy ant, a sensual ant, an ant capable of any one of +the seven deadly sins, or even of a small venial sin, is unimaginable. Equally +unimaginable, of course, a romantic ant, an ideological ant, a poetical ant, or +an ant inclined to metaphysical speculations. No human mind could attain to the +absolute matter-of-fact quality of the ant-mind;—no human being, as now +constituted, could cultivate a mental habit so impeccably practical as that of +the ant. But this superlatively practical mind is incapable of moral error. It +would be difficult, perhaps, to prove that the ant has no religious ideas. But +it is certain that such ideas could not be of any use to it. The being +incapable of moral weakness is beyond the need of “spiritual +guidance.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Only in a vague way can we conceive the character of ant-society, and the +nature of ant-morality; and to do even this we must try to imagine some yet +impossible state of human society and human morals. Let us, then, imagine a +world full of people incessantly and furiously working,—all of whom seem +to be women. No one of these women could be persuaded or deluded into taking a +single atom of food more than is needful to maintain her strength; and no one +of them ever sleeps a second longer than is necessary to keep her nervous +system in good working-order. And all of them are so peculiarly constituted +that the least unnecessary indulgence would result in some derangement of +function. +</p> + +<p> +The work daily performed by these female laborers comprises road-making, +bridge-building, timber-cutting, architectural construction of numberless +kinds, horticulture and agriculture, the feeding and sheltering of a hundred +varieties of domestic animals, the manufacture of sundry chemical products, the +storage and conservation of countless food-stuffs, and the care of the children +of the race. All this labor is done for the commonwealth—no citizen of +which is capable even of thinking about “property,” except as a +<i>res publica;</i>—and the sole object of the commonwealth is the +nurture and training of its young,—nearly all of whom are girls. The +period of infancy is long: the children remain for a great while, not only +helpless, but shapeless, and withal so delicate that they must be very +carefully guarded against the least change of temperature. Fortunately their +nurses understand the laws of health: each thoroughly knows all that she ought +to know in regard to ventilation, disinfection, drainage, moisture, and the +danger of germs,—germs being as visible, perhaps, to her myopic sight as +they become to our own eyes under the microscope. Indeed, all matters of +hygiene are so well comprehended that no nurse ever makes a mistake about the +sanitary conditions of her neighborhood. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of this perpetual labor no worker remains unkempt: each is +scrupulously neat, making her toilet many times a day. But as every worker is +born with the most beautiful of combs and brushes attached to her wrists, no +time is wasted in the toilet-room. Besides keeping themselves strictly clean, +the workers must also keep their houses and gardens in faultless order, for the +sake of the children. Nothing less than an earthquake, an eruption, an +inundation, or a desperate war, is allowed to interrupt the daily routine of +dusting, sweeping, scrubbing, and disinfecting. +</p> + +<h3>IV</h3> + +<p> +Now for stranger facts:— +</p> + +<p> +This world of incessant toil is a more than Vestal world. It is true that males +can sometimes be perceived in it; but they appear only at particular seasons, +and they have nothing whatever to do with the workers or with the work. None of +them would presume to address a worker,—except, perhaps, under +extraordinary circumstances of common peril. And no worker would think of +talking to a male;—for males, in this queer world, are inferior beings, +equally incapable of fighting or working, and tolerated only as necessary +evils. One special class of females,—the Mothers-Elect of the +race,—do condescend to consort with males, during a very brief period, at +particular seasons. But the Mothers-Elect do not work; and they <i>must</i> +accept husbands. A worker could not even dream of keeping company with a +male,—not merely because such association would signify the most +frivolous waste of time, nor yet because the worker necessarily regards all +males with unspeakable contempt; but because the worker is incapable of +wedlock. Some workers, indeed, are capable of parthenogenesis, and give birth +to children who never had fathers. As a general rule, however, the worker is +truly feminine by her moral instincts only: she has all the tenderness, the +patience, and the foresight that we call “maternal;” but her sex +has disappeared, like the sex of the Dragon-Maiden in the Buddhist legend. +</p> + +<p> +For defense against creatures of prey, or enemies of the state, the workers are +provided with weapons; and they are furthermore protected by a large military +force. The warriors are so much bigger than the workers (in some communities, +at least) that it is difficult, at first sight, to believe them of the same +race. Soldiers one hundred times larger than the workers whom they guard are +not uncommon. But all these soldiers are Amazons,—or, more correctly +speaking, semi-females. They can work sturdily; but being built for fighting +and for heavy pulling chiefly, their usefulness is restricted to those +directions in which force, rather than skill, is required. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +[Why females, rather than males, should have been evolutionally specialized +into soldiery and laborers may not be nearly so simple a question as it +appears. I am very sure of not being able to answer it. But natural economy may +have decided the matter. In many forms of life, the female greatly exceeds the +male in bulk and in energy;—perhaps, in this case, the larger reserve of +life-force possessed originally by the complete female could be more rapidly +and effectively utilized for the development of a special fighting-caste. All +energies which, in the fertile female, would be expended in the giving of life +seem here to have been diverted to the evolution of aggressive power, or +working-capacity.] +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Of the true females,—the Mothers-Elect,—there are very few indeed; +and these are treated like queens. So constantly and so reverentially are they +waited upon that they can seldom have any wishes to express. They are relieved +from every care of existence,—except the duty of bearing offspring. Night +and day they are cared for in every possible manner. They alone are +superabundantly and richly fed:—for the sake of the offspring they must +eat and drink and repose right royally; and their physiological specialization +allows of such indulgence <i>ad libitum</i>. They seldom go out, and never +unless attended by a powerful escort; as they cannot be permitted to incur +unnecessary fatigue or danger. Probably they have no great desire to go out. +Around them revolves the whole activity of the race: all its intelligence and +toil and thrift are directed solely toward the well-being of these Mothers and +of their children. +</p> + +<p> +But last and least of the race rank the husbands of these Mothers,—the +necessary Evils,—the males. They appear only at a particular season, as I +have already observed; and their lives are very short. Some cannot even boast +of noble descent, though destined to royal wedlock; for they are not royal +offspring, but virgin-born,—parthenogenetic children,—and, for that +reason especially, inferior beings, the chance results of some mysterious +atavism. But of any sort of males the commonwealth tolerates but +few,—barely enough to serve as husbands for the Mothers-Elect, and these +few perish almost as soon as their duty has been done. The meaning of +Nature’s law, in this extraordinary world, is identical with +Ruskin’s teaching that life without effort is crime; and since the males +are useless as workers or fighters, their existence is of only momentary +importance. They are not, indeed, sacrificed,—like the Aztec victim +chosen for the festival of Tezcatlipoca, and allowed a honeymoon of twenty days +before his heart was torn out. But they are scarcely less unfortunate in their +high fortune. Imagine youths brought up in the knowledge that they are destined +to become royal bridegrooms for a single night,—that after their bridal +they will have no moral right to live,—that marriage, for each and all of +them, will signify certain death,—and that they cannot even hope to be +lamented by their young widows, who will survive them for a time of many +generations...! +</p> + +<h3>V</h3> + +<p> +But all the foregoing is no more than a proem to the real “Romance of the +Insect-World.” +</p> + +<p> +—By far the most startling discovery in relation to this astonishing +civilization is that of the suppression of sex. In certain advanced forms of +ant-life sex totally disappears in the majority of individuals;—in nearly +all the higher ant-societies sex-life appears to exist only to the extent +absolutely needed for the continuance of the species. But the biological fact +in itself is much less startling than the ethical suggestion which it +offers;—<i>for this practical suppression, or regulation, of sex-faculty +appears to be voluntary!</i> Voluntary, at least, so far as the species is +concerned. It is now believed that these wonderful creatures have learned how +to develop, or to arrest the development, of sex in their young,—by some +particular mode of nutrition. They have succeeded in placing under perfect +control what is commonly supposed to be the most powerful and unmanageable of +instincts. And this rigid restraint of sex-life to within the limits necessary +to provide against extinction is but one (though the most amazing) of many +vital economies effected by the race. Every capacity for egoistic +pleasure—in the common meaning of the word +“egoistic”—has been equally repressed through physiological +modification. No indulgence of any natural appetite is possible except to that +degree in which such indulgence can directly or indirectly benefit the +species;—even the indispensable requirements of food and sleep being +satisfied only to the exact extent necessary for the maintenance of healthy +activity. The individual can exist, act, think, only for the communal good; and +the commune triumphantly refuses, in so far as cosmic law permits, to let +itself be ruled either by Love or Hunger. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Most of us have been brought up in the belief that without some kind of +religious creed—some hope of future reward or fear of future +punishment—no civilization could exist. We have been taught to think that +in the absence of laws based upon moral ideas, and in the absence of an +effective police to enforce such laws, nearly everybody would seek only his or +her personal advantage, to the disadvantage of everybody else. The strong would +then destroy the weak; pity and sympathy would disappear; and the whole social +fabric would fall to pieces... These teachings confess the existing +imperfection of human nature; and they contain obvious truth. But those who +first proclaimed that truth, thousands and thousands of years ago, never +imagined a form of social existence in which selfishness would be +<i>naturally</i> impossible. It remained for irreligious Nature to furnish us +with proof positive that there can exist a society in which the pleasure of +active beneficence makes needless the idea of duty,—a society in which +instinctive morality can dispense with ethical codes of every sort,—a +society of which every member is born so absolutely unselfish, and so +energetically good, that moral training could signify, even for its youngest, +neither more nor less than waste of precious time. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +To the Evolutionist such facts necessarily suggest that the value of our moral +idealism is but temporary; and that something better than virtue, better than +kindness, better than self-denial,—in the present human meaning of those +terms,—might, under certain conditions, eventually replace them. He finds +himself obliged to face the question whether a world without moral notions +might not be morally better than a world in which conduct is regulated by such +notions. He must even ask himself whether the existence of religious +commandments, moral laws, and ethical standards among ourselves does not prove +us still in a very primitive stage of social evolution. And these questions +naturally lead up to another: Will humanity ever be able, on this planet, to +reach an ethical condition beyond all its ideals,—a condition in which +everything that we now call evil will have been atrophied out of existence, and +everything that we call virtue have been transmuted into instinct;—a +state of altruism in which ethical concepts and codes will have become as +useless as they would be, even now, in the societies of the higher ants. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +The giants of modern thought have given some attention to this question; and +the greatest among them has answered it—partly in the affirmative. +Herbert Spencer has expressed his belief that humanity will arrive at some +state of civilization ethically comparable with that of the ant:— +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“If we have, in lower orders of creatures, cases in which the nature is +constitutionally so modified that altruistic activities have become one with +egoistic activities, there is an irresistible implication that a parallel +identification will, under parallel conditions, take place among human beings. +Social insects furnish us with instances completely to the point,—and +instances showing us, indeed, to what a marvelous degree the life of the +individual may be absorbed in subserving the lives of other individuals... +Neither the ant nor the bee can be supposed to have a sense of duty, in the +acceptation we give to that word; nor can it be supposed that it is continually +undergoing self-sacrifice, in the ordinary acceptation of that word... [The +facts] show us that it is within the possibilities of organization to produce a +nature which shall be just as energetic in the pursuit of altruistic ends, as +is in other cases shown in the pursuit of egoistic ends;—and they show +that, in such cases, these altruistic ends are pursued in pursuing ends which, +on their other face, are egoistic. For the satisfaction of the needs of the +organization, these actions, conducive to the welfare of others, <i>must</i> be +carried on... +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +“So far from its being true that there must go on, throughout all the +future, a condition in which self-regard is to be continually subjected by the +regard for others, it will, contrari-wise, be the case that a regard for others +will eventually become so large a source of pleasure as to overgrow the +pleasure which is derivable from direct egoistic gratification... Eventually, +then, there will come also a state in which egoism and altruism are so +conciliated that the one merges in the other.” +</p> + +<h3>VI</h3> + +<p> +Of course the foregoing prediction does not imply that human nature will ever +undergo such physiological change as would be represented by structural +specializations comparable to those by which the various castes of insect +societies are differentiated. We are not bidden to imagine a future state of +humanity in which the active majority would consist of semi-female workers and +Amazons toiling for an inactive minority of selected Mothers. Even in his +chapter, “Human Population in the Future,” Mr. Spencer has +attempted no detailed statement of the physical modifications inevitable to the +production of higher moral types,—though his general statement in regard +to a perfected nervous system, and a great diminution of human fertility, +suggests that such moral evolution would signify a very considerable amount of +physical change. If it be legitimate to believe in a future humanity to which +the pleasure of mutual beneficence will represent the whole joy of life, would +it not also be legitimate to imagine other transformations, physical and moral, +which the facts of insect-biology have proved to be within the range of +evolutional possibility?... I do not know. I most worshipfully reverence +Herbert Spencer as the greatest philosopher who has yet appeared in this world; +and I should be very sorry to write down anything contrary to his teaching, in +such wise that the reader could imagine it to have been inspired by Synthetic +Philosophy. For the ensuing reflections, I alone am responsible; and if I err, +let the sin be upon my own head. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +I suppose that the moral transformations predicted by Mr. Spencer, could be +effected only with the aid of physiological change, and at a terrible cost. +Those ethical conditions manifested by insect-societies can have been reached +only through effort desperately sustained for millions of years against the +most atrocious necessities. Necessities equally merciless may have to be met +and mastered eventually by the human race. Mr. Spencer has shown that the time +of the greatest possible human suffering is yet to come, and that it will be +concomitant with the period of the greatest possible pressure of population. +Among other results of that long stress, I understand that there will be a vast +increase in human intelligence and sympathy; and that this increase of +intelligence will be effected at the cost of human fertility. But this decline +in reproductive power will not, we are told, be sufficient to assure the very +highest of social conditions: it will only relieve that pressure of population +which has been the main cause of human suffering. The state of perfect social +equilibrium will be approached, but never quite reached, by mankind— +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +<i>Unless there be discovered some means of solving economic problems, just as +social insects have solved them, by the suppression of sex-life</i>. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Supposing that such a discovery were made, and that the human race should +decide to arrest the development of sex in the majority of its young,—so +as to effect a transferrence of those forces, now demanded by sex-life to the +development of higher activities,—might not the result be an eventual +state of polymorphism, like that of ants? And, in such event, might not the +Coming Race be indeed represented in its higher types,—through feminine +rather than masculine evolution,—by a majority of beings of neither sex? +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Considering how many persons, even now, through merely unselfish (not to speak +of religious) motives, sentence themselves to celibacy, it should not appear +improbable that a more highly evolved humanity would cheerfully sacrifice a +large proportion of its sex-life for the common weal, particularly in view of +certain advantages to be gained. Not the least of such advantages—always +supposing that mankind were able to control sex-life after the natural manner +of the ants—would be a prodigious increase of longevity. The higher types +of a humanity superior to sex might be able to realize the dream of life for a +thousand years. +</p> + +<p> +Already we find lives too short for the work we have to do; and with the +constantly accelerating progress of discovery, and the never-ceasing expansion +of knowledge, we shall certainly find more and more reason to regret, as time +goes on, the brevity of existence. That Science will ever discover the Elixir +of the Alchemists’ hope is extremely unlikely. The Cosmic Powers will not +allow us to cheat them. For every advantage which they yield us the full price +must be paid: nothing for nothing is the everlasting law. Perhaps the price of +long life will prove to be the price that the ants have paid for it. Perhaps, +upon some elder planet, that price has already been paid, and the power to +produce offspring restricted to a caste morphologically differentiated, in +unimaginable ways, from the rest of the species... +</p> + +<h3>VII</h3> + +<p> +But while the facts of insect-biology suggest so much in regard to the future +course of human evolution, do they not also suggest something of largest +significance concerning the relation of ethics to cosmic law? Apparently, the +highest evolution will not be permitted to creatures capable of what human +moral experience has in all areas condemned. Apparently, the highest possible +strength is the strength of unselfishness; and power supreme never will be +accorded to cruelty or to lust. There may be no gods; but the forces that shape +and dissolve all forms of being would seem to be much more exacting than gods. +To prove a “dramatic tendency” in the ways of the stars is not +possible; but the cosmic process seems nevertheless to affirm the worth of +every human system of ethics fundamentally opposed to human egoism. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap22"></a>Notes</h2> + +<h3>THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1.1"></a> <a href="#fnref1.1">[1]</a> +See my <i>Kottō</i>, for a description of these curious crabs. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1.2"></a> <a href="#fnref1.2">[2]</a> +Or, Shimonoséki. The town is also known by the name of Bakkan. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1.3"></a> <a href="#fnref1.3">[3]</a> +The <i>biwa</i>, a kind of four-stringed lute, is chiefly used in musical +recitative. Formerly the professional minstrels who recited the +<i>Heiké-Monogatari</i>, and other tragical histories, were called +<i>biwa-hōshi</i>, or “lute-priests.” The origin of this +appellation is not clear; but it is possible that it may have been suggested by +the fact that “lute-priests” as well as blind shampooers, had their +heads shaven, like Buddhist priests. The <i>biwa</i> is played with a kind of +plectrum, called <i>bachi</i>, usually made of horn. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) A response to show that one has heard and is listening attentively. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1.4"></a> <a href="#fnref1.4">[4]</a> +A respectful term, signifying the opening of a gate. It was used by samurai +when calling to the guards on duty at a lord’s gate for admission. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1.5"></a> <a href="#fnref1.5">[5]</a> +Or the phrase might be rendered, “for the pity of that part is the +deepest.” The Japanese word for pity in the original text is +“<i>awaré</i>.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1.6"></a> <a href="#fnref1.6">[6]</a> +“Traveling incognito” is at least the meaning of the original +phrase,—“making a disguised august-journey” (<i>shinobi no +go-ryokō</i>). +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1.7"></a> <a href="#fnref1.7">[7]</a> +The Smaller Pragña-Pâramitâ-Hridaya-Sûtra is thus called in Japanese. Both the +smaller and larger sûtras called Pragña-Pâramitâ (“Transcendent +Wisdom”) have been translated by the late Professor Max Müller, and can +be found in volume xlix. of the <i>Sacred Books of the East</i> +(“Buddhist Mahayana Sûtras”).—Apropos of the magical use of +the text, as described in this story, it is worth remarking that the subject of +the sûtra is the Doctrine of the Emptiness of Forms,—that is to say, of +the unreal character of all phenomena or noumena... “Form is emptiness; +and emptiness is form. Emptiness is not different from form; form is not +different from emptiness. What is form—that is emptiness. What is +emptiness—that is form... Perception, name, concept, and knowledge, are +also emptiness... There is no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind... But +when the envelopment of consciousness has been annihilated, then he [<i>the +seeker</i>] becomes free from all fear, and beyond the reach of change, +enjoying final Nirvana.” +</p> + +<h3>OSHIDORI</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn2.1"></a> <a href="#fnref2.1">[1]</a> +From ancient time, in the Far East, these birds have been regarded as +emblems of conjugal affection. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn2.2"></a> <a href="#fnref2.2">[2]</a> +There is a pathetic double meaning in the third verse; for the syllables +composing the proper name <i>Akanuma</i> (“Red Marsh”) may also be +read as <i>akanu-ma</i>, signifying “the time of our inseparable (or +delightful) relation.” So the poem can also be thus +rendered:—“When the day began to fail, I had invited him to +accompany me...! Now, after the time of that happy relation, what misery for +the one who must slumber alone in the shadow of the rushes!”—The +<i>makomo</i> is a short of large rush, used for making baskets. +</p> + +<h3>THE STORY OF O-TEI</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) “-sama” is a polite suffix attached to personal names. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) A Buddhist term commonly used to signify a kind of heaven. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn3.1"></a> <a href="#fnref3.1">[1]</a> +The Buddhist term <i>zokumyō</i> (“profane name”) signifies the +personal name, borne during life, in contradistinction to the <i>kaimyō</i> +(“sila-name”) or <i>homyō</i> (“Law-name”) given after +death,—religious posthumous appellations inscribed upon the tomb, and +upon the mortuary tablet in the parish-temple.—For some account of these, +see my paper entitled, “The Literature of the Dead,” in <i>Exotics +and Retrospectives</i>. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn3.2"></a> <a href="#fnref3.2">[2]</a> +Buddhist household shrine. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(3) Direct translation of a Japanese form of address used toward young, +unmarried women. +</p> + +<h3>DIPLOMACY</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) The spacious house and grounds of a wealthy person is thus called. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) A Buddhist service for the dead. +</p> + +<h3>OF A MIRROR AND A BELL</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Part of present-day Shizuoka Prefecture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) The two-hour period between 1 AM and 3 AM. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(3) A monetary unit. +</p> + +<h3>JIKININKI</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) The southern part of present-day Gifu Prefecture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn7.1"></a> <a href="#fnref7.1">[1]</a> +Literally, a man-eating goblin. The Japanese narrator gives also the +Sanscrit term, “Râkshasa;” but this word is quite as vague as +<i>jikininki</i>, since there are many kinds of Râkshasas. Apparently the word +<i>jikininki</i> signifies here one of the +<i>Baramon-Rasetsu-Gaki</i>,—forming the twenty-sixth class of pretas +enumerated in the old Buddhist books. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn7.2"></a> <a href="#fnref7.2">[2]</a> +A <i>Ségaki</i>-service is a special Buddhist service performed on behalf of +beings supposed to have entered into the condition of <i>gaki</i> (pretas), or +hungry spirits. For a brief account of such a service, see my <i>Japanese +Miscellany</i>. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn7.3"></a> <a href="#fnref7.3">[3]</a> +Literally, “five-circle [or five-zone] stone.” A funeral monument +consisting of five parts superimposed,—each of a different +form,—symbolizing the five mystic elements: Ether, Air, Fire, Water, +Earth. +</p> + +<h3>MUJINA</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) A kind of badger. Certain animals were thought to be able to transform +themselves and cause mischief for humans. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn8.1"></a> <a href="#fnref8.1">[1]</a> +O-jochū (“honorable damsel”), a polite form of address used in +speaking to a young lady whom one does not know. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) An apparition with a smooth, totally featureless face, called a +“nopperabo,” is a stock part of the Japanese pantheon of ghosts and +demons. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn8.2"></a> <a href="#fnref8.2">[2]</a> +Soba is a preparation of buckwheat, somewhat resembling vermicelli. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(3) An exclamation of annoyed alarm. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(4) Well! +</p> + +<h3>ROKURO-KUBI</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn9.1"></a> <a href="#fnref9.1">[1]</a> +The period of Eikyō lasted from 1429 to 1441. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn9.2"></a> <a href="#fnref9.2">[2]</a> +The upper robe of a Buddhist priest is thus called. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) A term for itinerant priests. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn9.3"></a> <a href="#fnref9.3">[3]</a> +A sort of little fireplace, contrived in the floor of a room, is thus +described. The <i>ro</i> is usually a square shallow cavity, lined with metal +and half-filled with ashes, in which charcoal is lighted. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(3) Direct translation of “suzumushi,” a kind of cricket with a +distinctive chirp like a tiny bell, whence the name. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(4) Now a rokuro-kubi is ordinarily conceived as a goblin whose neck stretches +out to great lengths, but which nevertheless always remains attached to its +body. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(5) A Chinese collection of stories on the supernatural. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn9.4"></a> <a href="#fnref9.4">[4]</a> +A present made to friends or to the household on returning from a journey is +thus called. Ordinarily, of course, the <i>miyagé</i> consists of something +produced in the locality to which the journey has been made: this is the point +of Kwairyō’s jest. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(6) Present-day Nagano Prefecture. +</p> + +<h3>A DEAD SECRET</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) On the present-day map, Tamba corresponds roughly to the central area of +Kyōto Prefecture and part of Hyogo Prefecture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn10.1"></a> <a href="#fnref10.1">[1]</a> +The Hour of the Rat (<i>Né-no-Koku</i>), according to the old Japanese method +of reckoning time, was the first hour. It corresponded to the time between our +midnight and two o’clock in the morning; for the ancient Japanese hours +were each equal to two modern hours. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn10.2"></a> <a href="#fnref10.2">[2]</a> +<i>Kaimyō</i>, the posthumous Buddhist name, or religious name, given to the +dead. Strictly speaking, the meaning of the word is sila-name. (See my paper +entitled, “The Literature of the Dead” in <i>Exotics and +Retrospectives</i>.) +</p> + +<h3>YUKI-ONNA</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) An ancient province whose boundaries took in most of present-day Tōkyō, and +parts of Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn11.1"></a> <a href="#fnref11.1">[1]</a> +That is to say, with a floor-surface of about six feet square. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn11.2"></a> <a href="#fnref11.2">[2]</a> +This name, signifying “Snow,” is not uncommon. On the subject of +Japanese female names, see my paper in the volume entitled <i>Shadowings</i>. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) Also spelled Edo, the former name of Tōkyō. +</p> + +<h3>THE STORY OF AOYAGI</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) An ancient province corresponding to the northern part of present-day +Ishikawa Prefecture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) An ancient province corresponding to the eastern part of present-day Fukui +Prefecture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn12.1"></a> <a href="#fnref12.1">[1]</a> +The name signifies “Green Willow;”—though rarely met with, it +is still in use. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn12.2"></a> <a href="#fnref12.2">[2]</a> +The poem may be read in two ways; several of the phrases having a double +meaning. But the art of its construction would need considerable space to +explain, and could scarcely interest the Western reader. The meaning which +Tomotada desired to convey might be thus expressed:—“While +journeying to visit my mother, I met with a being lovely as a flower; and for +the sake of that lovely person, I am passing the day here... Fair one, +wherefore that dawn-like blush before the hour of dawn?—can it mean that +you love me?” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn12.3"></a> <a href="#fnref12.3">[3]</a> +Another reading is possible; but this one gives the signification of the +<i>answer</i> intended. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn12.4"></a> <a href="#fnref12.4">[4]</a> +So the Japanese story-teller would have us believe,—although the verses +seem commonplace in translation. I have tried to give only their general +meaning: an effective literal translation would require some scholarship. +</p> + +<h3>JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Present-day Ehime Prefecture. +</p> + +<h3>THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKÉ</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Present-day Nara Prefecture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn14.1"></a> <a href="#fnref14.1">[1]</a> +This name “Tokoyo” is indefinite. According to circumstances it may +signify any unknown country,—or that undiscovered country from whose +bourn no traveler returns,—or that Fairyland of far-eastern fable, the +Realm of Hōrai. The term “Kokuō” means the ruler of a +country,—therefore a king. The original phrase, <i>Tokoyo no Kokuō</i>, +might be rendered here as “the Ruler of Hōrai,” or “the King +of Fairyland.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn14.2"></a> <a href="#fnref14.2">[2]</a> +The last phrase, according to old custom, had to be uttered by both attendants +at the same time. All these ceremonial observances can still be studied on the +Japanese stage. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn14.3"></a> <a href="#fnref14.3">[3]</a> +This was the name given to the estrade, or dais, upon which a feudal prince +or ruler sat in state. The term literally signifies “great seat.” +</p> + +<h3>RIKI-BAKA</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Kana: the Japanese phonetic alphabet. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) “So-and-so”: appellation used by Hearn in place of the real +name. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(3) A section of Tōkyō. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn15.1"></a> <a href="#fnref15.1">[1]</a> +A square piece of cotton-goods, or other woven material, used as a wrapper in +which to carry small packages. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(4) Ten yen is nothing now, but was a formidable sum then. +</p> + +<h3> INSECT STUDIES </h3> + +<h3>BUTTERFLIES</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Haiku. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.1"></a> <a href="#fnref19.1">[1]</a> +“The modest nymph beheld her God, and blushed.” (Or, in a more +familiar rendering: “The modest water saw its God, and blushed.”) +In this line the double value of the word <i>nympha</i>—used by classical +poets both in the meaning of fountain and in that of the divinity of a +fountain, or spring—reminds one of that graceful playing with words which +Japanese poets practice. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.2"></a> <a href="#fnref19.2">[2]</a> +More usually written <i>nugi-kakéru</i>, which means either “to take off +and hang up,” or “to begin to take off,”—as in the +above poem. More loosely, but more effectively, the verses might thus be +rendered: “Like a woman slipping off her haori—that is the +appearance of a butterfly.” One must have seen the Japanese garment +described, to appreciate the comparison. The haori is a silk +upper-dress,—a kind of sleeved cloak,—worn by both sexes; but the +poem suggests a woman’s <i>haori</i>, which is usually of richer color or +material. The sleeves are wide; and the lining is usually of brightly-colored +silk, often beautifully variegated. In taking off the haori, the brilliant +lining is displayed,—and at such an instant the fluttering splendor might +well be likened to the appearance of a butterfly in motion. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.3"></a> <a href="#fnref19.3">[3]</a> +The bird-catcher’s pole is smeared with bird-lime; and the verses suggest +that the insect is preventing the man from using his pole, by persistently +getting in the way of it,—as the birds might take warning from seeing the +butterfly limed. <i>Jama suru</i> means “to hinder” or +“prevent.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.4"></a> <a href="#fnref19.4">[4]</a> +Even while it is resting, the wings of the butterfly may be seen to quiver at +moments,—as if the creature were dreaming of flight. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.5"></a> <a href="#fnref19.5">[5]</a> +A little poem by Bashō, greatest of all Japanese composers of <i>hokku</i>. The +verses are intended to suggest the joyous feeling of spring-time. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.6"></a> <a href="#fnref19.6">[6]</a> +Literally, “a windless day;” but two negatives in Japanese poetry +do not necessarily imply an affirmative, as in English. The meaning is, that +although there is no wind, the fluttering motion of the butterflies suggests, +to the eyes at least, that a strong breeze is playing. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.7"></a> <a href="#fnref19.7">[7]</a> +Alluding to the Buddhist proverb: <i>Rakkwa éda ni kaërazu; ha-kyō futatabi +terasazu</i> (“The fallen flower returns not to the branch; the broken +mirror never again reflects.”) So says the proverb—yet it seemed to +me that I saw a fallen flower return to the branch... No: it was only a +butterfly. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.8"></a> <a href="#fnref19.8">[8]</a> +Alluding probably to the light fluttering motion of falling cherry-petals. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.9"></a> <a href="#fnref19.9">[9]</a> +That is to say, the grace of their motion makes one think of the grace of young +girls, daintily costumed, in robes with long fluttering sleeves... And old +Japanese proverb declares that even a devil is pretty at eighteen: <i>Oni mo +jiu-hachi azami no hana:</i> “Even a devil at eighteen, +flower-of-the-thistle.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.10"></a> <a href="#fnref19.10">[10]</a> +Or perhaps the verses might be more effectively rendered thus: “Happy +together, do you say? Yes—if we should be reborn as field-butterflies in +some future life: then we might accord!” This poem was composed by the +celebrated poet Issa, on the occasion of divorcing his wife. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.11"></a> <a href="#fnref19.11">[11]</a> +Or, <i>Taré no tama?</i> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.12"></a> <a href="#fnref19.12">[12]</a> +Literally, “Butterfly-pursuing heart I wish to have +always;”—<i>i.e.</i>, I would that I might always be able to find +pleasure in simple things, like a happy child. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.13"></a> <a href="#fnref19.13">[13]</a> +An old popular error,—probably imported from China. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.14"></a> <a href="#fnref19.14">[14]</a> +A name suggested by the resemblance of the larva’s artificial covering to +the <i>mino</i>, or straw-raincoat, worn by Japanese peasants. I am not sure +whether the dictionary rendering, “basket-worm,” is quite +correct;—but the larva commonly called <i>minomushi</i> does really +construct for itself something much like the covering of the basket-worm. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(2) A very large, white radish. “Daikon” literally means “big +root.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.15"></a> <a href="#fnref19.15">[15]</a> +<i>Pyrus spectabilis</i>. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn19.16"></a> <a href="#fnref19.16">[16]</a> +An evil spirit. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(3) A common female name. +</p> + +<h3>MOSQUITOES</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Meiji: The period in which Hearn wrote this book. It lasted from 1868 to +1912, and was a time when Japan plunged head-first into Western-style +modernization. By the “fashions and the changes and the disintegrations +of Meiji” Hearn is lamenting that this process of modernization was +destroying some of the good things in traditional Japanese culture. +</p> + +<h3>ANTS</h3> + +<p class="footnote"> +(1) Cicadas. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn21.1"></a> <a href="#fnref21.1">[1]</a> +An interesting fact in this connection is that the Japanese word for ant, +<i>ari</i>, is represented by an ideograph formed of the character for +“insect” combined with the character signifying “moral +rectitude,” “propriety” (<i>giri</i>). So the Chinese +character actually means “The Propriety-Insect.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KWAIDAN: STORIES AND STUDIES OF STRANGE THINGS ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things + +Author: Lafcadio Hearn + +Posting Date: February 18, 2010 [EBook #1210] +Release Date: February, 1998 +[Last updated: December 19, 2011] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KWAIDAN: STORIES AND STUDIES *** + + + + +Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. + + + + + + + + +KWAIDAN: Stories and Studies of Strange Things + +By Lafcadio Hearn + + + +A Note from the Digitizer + +On Japanese Pronunciation + +Although simplified, the following general rules will help the reader +unfamiliar with Japanese to come close enough to Japanese pronunciation. + +There are five vowels: a (as in fAther), i (as in machIne), u (as in +fOOl), e (as in fEllow), and o (as in mOle). Although certain vowels +become nearly "silent" in some environments, this phenomenon can be +safely ignored for the purpose at hand. + +Consonants roughly approximate their corresponding sounds in English, +except for r, which is actually somewhere between r and l (this is why +the Japanese have trouble distinguishing between English r and l), and +f, which is much closer to h. + +The spelling "KWAIDAN" is based on premodern Japanese pronunciation; +when Hearn came to Japan, the orthography reflecting this pronunciation +was still in use. In modern Japanese the word is pronounced KAIDAN. + +There are many ellipses in the text. Hearn often used them in this +book; they do not represent omissions by the digitizer. + +Author's original notes are in brackets, those by the digitizer are in +parentheses. Diacritical marks in the original are absent from this +digitized version. + + + + +KWAIDAN: Stories and Studies of Strange Things + +By Lafcadio Hearn + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HOICHI + OSHIDORI + THE STORY OF O-TEI + UBAZAKURA + DIPLOMACY + OF A MIRROR AND A BELL + JIKININKI + MUJINA + ROKURO-KUBI + A DEAD SECRET + YUKI-ONNA + THE STORY OF AOYAGI + JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA + THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKE + RIKI-BAKA + HI-MAWARI + HORAI + + + INSECT STUDIES + + BUTTERFLIES + MOSQUITOES + ANTS + + + +INTRODUCTION + +The publication of a new volume of Lafcadio Hearn's exquisite studies +of Japan happens, by a delicate irony, to fall in the very month when +the world is waiting with tense expectation for news of the latest +exploits of Japanese battleships. Whatever the outcome of the present +struggle between Russia and Japan, its significance lies in the fact +that a nation of the East, equipped with Western weapons and girding +itself with Western energy of will, is deliberately measuring strength +against one of the great powers of the Occident. No one is wise enough +to forecast the results of such a conflict upon the civilization of the +world. The best one can do is to estimate, as intelligently as +possible, the national characteristics of the peoples engaged, basing +one's hopes and fears upon the psychology of the two races rather than +upon purely political and statistical studies of the complicated +questions involved in the present war. The Russian people have had +literary spokesmen who for more than a generation have fascinated the +European audience. The Japanese, on the other hand, have possessed no +such national and universally recognized figures as Turgenieff or +Tolstoy. They need an interpreter. + +It may be doubted whether any oriental race has ever had an interpreter +gifted with more perfect insight and sympathy than Lafcadio Hearn has +brought to the translation of Japan into our occidental speech. His +long residence in that country, his flexibility of mind, poetic +imagination, and wonderfully pellucid style have fitted him for the +most delicate of literary tasks. He has seen marvels, and he has told +of them in a marvelous way. There is scarcely an aspect of contemporary +Japanese life, scarcely an element in the social, political, and +military questions involved in the present conflict with Russia which +is not made clear in one or another of the books with which he has +charmed American readers. + +He characterizes Kwaidan as "stories and studies of strange things." A +hundred thoughts suggested by the book might be written down, but most +of them would begin and end with this fact of strangeness. To read the +very names in the table of contents is like listening to a Buddhist +bell, struck somewhere far away. Some of his tales are of the long ago, +and yet they seem to illumine the very souls and minds of the little +men who are at this hour crowding the decks of Japan's armored +cruisers. But many of the stories are about women and children,--the +lovely materials from which the best fairy tales of the world have been +woven. They too are strange, these Japanese maidens and wives and +keen-eyed, dark-haired girls and boys; they are like us and yet not +like us; and the sky and the hills and the flowers are all different +from ours. Yet by a magic of which Mr. Hearn, almost alone among +contemporary writers, is the master, in these delicate, transparent, +ghostly sketches of a world unreal to us, there is a haunting sense of +spiritual reality. + +In a penetrating and beautiful essay contributed to the "Atlantic +Monthly" in February, 1903, by Paul Elmer More, the secret of Mr. +Hearn's magic is said to lie in the fact that in his art is found "the +meeting of three ways." "To the religious instinct of India--Buddhism +in particular,--which history has engrafted on the aesthetic sense of +Japan, Mr. Hearn brings the interpreting spirit of occidental science; +and these three traditions are fused by the peculiar sympathies of his +mind into one rich and novel compound,--a compound so rare as to have +introduced into literature a psychological sensation unknown before." +Mr. More's essay received the high praise of Mr. Hearn's recognition +and gratitude, and if it were possible to reprint it here, it would +provide a most suggestive introduction to these new stories of old +Japan, whose substance is, as Mr. More has said, "so strangely mingled +together out of the austere dreams of India and the subtle beauty of +Japan and the relentless science of Europe." + +March, 1904. + + = = = = = = = *** = = = = = = = + +Most of the following Kwaidan, or Weird Tales, have been taken from old +Japanese books,--such as the Yaso-Kidan, Bukkyo-Hyakkwa-Zensho, +Kokon-Chomonshu, Tama-Sudare, and Hyaku-Monogatari. Some of the stories +may have had a Chinese origin: the very remarkable "Dream of +Akinosuke," for example, is certainly from a Chinese source. But the +story-teller, in every case, has so recolored and reshaped his +borrowing as to naturalize it... One queer tale, "Yuki-Onna," was told +me by a farmer of Chofu, Nishitama-gori, in Musashi province, as a +legend of his native village. Whether it has ever been written in +Japanese I do not know; but the extraordinary belief which it records +used certainly to exist in most parts of Japan, and in many curious +forms... The incident of "Riki-Baka" was a personal experience; and I +wrote it down almost exactly as it happened, changing only a +family-name mentioned by the Japanese narrator. + +L.H. + +Tokyo, Japan, January 20th, 1904. + + + +KWAIDAN + + +THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HOICHI + + +More than seven hundred years ago, at Dan-no-ura, in the Straits of +Shimonoseki, was fought the last battle of the long contest between the +Heike, or Taira clan, and the Genji, or Minamoto clan. There the Heike +perished utterly, with their women and children, and their infant +emperor likewise--now remembered as Antoku Tenno. And that sea and +shore have been haunted for seven hundred years... Elsewhere I told you +about the strange crabs found there, called Heike crabs, which have +human faces on their backs, and are said to be the spirits of the Heike +warriors [1]. But there are many strange things to be seen and heard +along that coast. On dark nights thousands of ghostly fires hover about +the beach, or flit above the waves,--pale lights which the fishermen +call Oni-bi, or demon-fires; and, whenever the winds are up, a sound of +great shouting comes from that sea, like a clamor of battle. + +In former years the Heike were much more restless than they now are. +They would rise about ships passing in the night, and try to sink them; +and at all times they would watch for swimmers, to pull them down. It +was in order to appease those dead that the Buddhist temple, Amidaji, +was built at Akamagaseki [2]. A cemetery also was made close by, near +the beach; and within it were set up monuments inscribed with the names +of the drowned emperor and of his great vassals; and Buddhist services +were regularly performed there, on behalf of the spirits of them. After +the temple had been built, and the tombs erected, the Heike gave less +trouble than before; but they continued to do queer things at +intervals,--proving that they had not found the perfect peace. + + +Some centuries ago there lived at Akamagaseki a blind man named Hoichi, +who was famed for his skill in recitation and in playing upon the biwa +[3]. From childhood he had been trained to recite and to play; and +while yet a lad he had surpassed his teachers. As a professional +biwa-hoshi he became famous chiefly by his recitations of the history +of the Heike and the Genji; and it is said that when he sang the song +of the battle of Dan-no-ura "even the goblins [kijin] could not refrain +from tears." + + +At the outset of his career, Hoichi was very poor; but he found a good +friend to help him. The priest of the Amidaji was fond of poetry and +music; and he often invited Hoichi to the temple, to play and recite. +Afterwards, being much impressed by the wonderful skill of the lad, the +priest proposed that Hoichi should make the temple his home; and this +offer was gratefully accepted. Hoichi was given a room in the +temple-building; and, in return for food and lodging, he was required +only to gratify the priest with a musical performance on certain +evenings, when otherwise disengaged. + + +One summer night the priest was called away, to perform a Buddhist +service at the house of a dead parishioner; and he went there with his +acolyte, leaving Hoichi alone in the temple. It was a hot night; and +the blind man sought to cool himself on the verandah before his +sleeping-room. The verandah overlooked a small garden in the rear of +the Amidaji. There Hoichi waited for the priest's return, and tried to +relieve his solitude by practicing upon his biwa. Midnight passed; and +the priest did not appear. But the atmosphere was still too warm for +comfort within doors; and Hoichi remained outside. At last he heard +steps approaching from the back gate. Somebody crossed the garden, +advanced to the verandah, and halted directly in front of him--but it +was not the priest. A deep voice called the blind man's name--abruptly +and unceremoniously, in the manner of a samurai summoning an inferior:-- + +"Hoichi!" + +"Hai!" (1) answered the blind man, frightened by the menace in the +voice,--"I am blind!--I cannot know who calls!" + +"There is nothing to fear," the stranger exclaimed, speaking more +gently. "I am stopping near this temple, and have been sent to you with +a message. My present lord, a person of exceedingly high rank, is now +staying in Akamagaseki, with many noble attendants. He wished to view +the scene of the battle of Dan-no-ura; and to-day he visited that +place. Having heard of your skill in reciting the story of the battle, +he now desires to hear your performance: so you will take your biwa and +come with me at once to the house where the august assembly is waiting." + +In those times, the order of a samurai was not to be lightly disobeyed. +Hoichi donned his sandals, took his biwa, and went away with the +stranger, who guided him deftly, but obliged him to walk very fast. The +hand that guided was iron; and the clank of the warrior's stride proved +him fully armed,--probably some palace-guard on duty. Hoichi's first +alarm was over: he began to imagine himself in good luck;--for, +remembering the retainer's assurance about a "person of exceedingly +high rank," he thought that the lord who wished to hear the recitation +could not be less than a daimyo of the first class. Presently the +samurai halted; and Hoichi became aware that they had arrived at a +large gateway;--and he wondered, for he could not remember any large +gate in that part of the town, except the main gate of the Amidaji. +"Kaimon!" [4] the samurai called,--and there was a sound of unbarring; +and the twain passed on. They traversed a space of garden, and halted +again before some entrance; and the retainer cried in a loud voice, +"Within there! I have brought Hoichi." Then came sounds of feet +hurrying, and screens sliding, and rain-doors opening, and voices of +women in converse. By the language of the women Hoichi knew them to be +domestics in some noble household; but he could not imagine to what +place he had been conducted. Little time was allowed him for +conjecture. After he had been helped to mount several stone steps, upon +the last of which he was told to leave his sandals, a woman's hand +guided him along interminable reaches of polished planking, and round +pillared angles too many to remember, and over widths amazing of matted +floor,--into the middle of some vast apartment. There he thought that +many great people were assembled: the sound of the rustling of silk was +like the sound of leaves in a forest. He heard also a great humming of +voices,--talking in undertones; and the speech was the speech of courts. + +Hoichi was told to put himself at ease, and he found a kneeling-cushion +ready for him. After having taken his place upon it, and tuned his +instrument, the voice of a woman--whom he divined to be the Rojo, or +matron in charge of the female service--addressed him, saying,-- + +"It is now required that the history of the Heike be recited, to the +accompaniment of the biwa." + +Now the entire recital would have required a time of many nights: +therefore Hoichi ventured a question:-- + +"As the whole of the story is not soon told, what portion is it +augustly desired that I now recite?" + +The woman's voice made answer:-- + +"Recite the story of the battle at Dan-no-ura,--for the pity of it is +the most deep." [5] + +Then Hoichi lifted up his voice, and chanted the chant of the fight on +the bitter sea,--wonderfully making his biwa to sound like the +straining of oars and the rushing of ships, the whirr and the hissing +of arrows, the shouting and trampling of men, the crashing of steel +upon helmets, the plunging of slain in the flood. And to left and right +of him, in the pauses of his playing, he could hear voices murmuring +praise: "How marvelous an artist!"--"Never in our own province was +playing heard like this!"--"Not in all the empire is there another +singer like Hoichi!" Then fresh courage came to him, and he played and +sang yet better than before; and a hush of wonder deepened about him. +But when at last he came to tell the fate of the fair and +helpless,--the piteous perishing of the women and children,--and the +death-leap of Nii-no-Ama, with the imperial infant in her arms,--then +all the listeners uttered together one long, long shuddering cry of +anguish; and thereafter they wept and wailed so loudly and so wildly +that the blind man was frightened by the violence and grief that he had +made. For much time the sobbing and the wailing continued. But +gradually the sounds of lamentation died away; and again, in the great +stillness that followed, Hoichi heard the voice of the woman whom he +supposed to be the Rojo. + +She said:-- + +"Although we had been assured that you were a very skillful player upon +the biwa, and without an equal in recitative, we did not know that any +one could be so skillful as you have proved yourself to-night. Our lord +has been pleased to say that he intends to bestow upon you a fitting +reward. But he desires that you shall perform before him once every +night for the next six nights--after which time he will probably make +his august return-journey. To-morrow night, therefore, you are to come +here at the same hour. The retainer who to-night conducted you will be +sent for you... There is another matter about which I have been ordered +to inform you. It is required that you shall speak to no one of your +visits here, during the time of our lord's august sojourn at +Akamagaseki. As he is traveling incognito, [6] he commands that no +mention of these things be made... You are now free to go back to your +temple." + + +After Hoichi had duly expressed his thanks, a woman's hand conducted +him to the entrance of the house, where the same retainer, who had +before guided him, was waiting to take him home. The retainer led him +to the verandah at the rear of the temple, and there bade him farewell. + + +It was almost dawn when Hoichi returned; but his absence from the +temple had not been observed,--as the priest, coming back at a very +late hour, had supposed him asleep. During the day Hoichi was able to +take some rest; and he said nothing about his strange adventure. In the +middle of the following night the samurai again came for him, and led +him to the august assembly, where he gave another recitation with the +same success that had attended his previous performance. But during +this second visit his absence from the temple was accidentally +discovered; and after his return in the morning he was summoned to the +presence of the priest, who said to him, in a tone of kindly reproach:-- + +"We have been very anxious about you, friend Hoichi. To go out, blind +and alone, at so late an hour, is dangerous. Why did you go without +telling us? I could have ordered a servant to accompany you. And where +have you been?" + +Hoichi answered, evasively,-- + +"Pardon me kind friend! I had to attend to some private business; and I +could not arrange the matter at any other hour." + +The priest was surprised, rather than pained, by Hoichi's reticence: he +felt it to be unnatural, and suspected something wrong. He feared that +the blind lad had been bewitched or deluded by some evil spirits. He +did not ask any more questions; but he privately instructed the +men-servants of the temple to keep watch upon Hoichi's movements, and +to follow him in case that he should again leave the temple after dark. + + +On the very next night, Hoichi was seen to leave the temple; and the +servants immediately lighted their lanterns, and followed after him. +But it was a rainy night, and very dark; and before the temple-folks +could get to the roadway, Hoichi had disappeared. Evidently he had +walked very fast,--a strange thing, considering his blindness; for the +road was in a bad condition. The men hurried through the streets, +making inquiries at every house which Hoichi was accustomed to visit; +but nobody could give them any news of him. At last, as they were +returning to the temple by way of the shore, they were startled by the +sound of a biwa, furiously played, in the cemetery of the Amidaji. +Except for some ghostly fires--such as usually flitted there on dark +nights--all was blackness in that direction. But the men at once +hastened to the cemetery; and there, by the help of their lanterns, +they discovered Hoichi,--sitting alone in the rain before the memorial +tomb of Antoku Tenno, making his biwa resound, and loudly chanting the +chant of the battle of Dan-no-ura. And behind him, and about him, and +everywhere above the tombs, the fires of the dead were burning, like +candles. Never before had so great a host of Oni-bi appeared in the +sight of mortal man... + +"Hoichi San!--Hoichi San!" the servants cried,--"you are bewitched!... +Hoichi San!" + +But the blind man did not seem to hear. Strenuously he made his biwa to +rattle and ring and clang;--more and more wildly he chanted the chant +of the battle of Dan-no-ura. They caught hold of him;--they shouted +into his ear,-- + +"Hoichi San!--Hoichi San!--come home with us at once!" + +Reprovingly he spoke to them:-- + +"To interrupt me in such a manner, before this august assembly, will +not be tolerated." + +Whereat, in spite of the weirdness of the thing, the servants could not +help laughing. Sure that he had been bewitched, they now seized him, +and pulled him up on his feet, and by main force hurried him back to +the temple,--where he was immediately relieved of his wet clothes, by +order of the priest. Then the priest insisted upon a full explanation +of his friend's astonishing behavior. + +Hoichi long hesitated to speak. But at last, finding that his conduct +had really alarmed and angered the good priest, he decided to abandon +his reserve; and he related everything that had happened from the time +of first visit of the samurai. + +The priest said:-- + +"Hoichi, my poor friend, you are now in great danger! How unfortunate +that you did not tell me all this before! Your wonderful skill in music +has indeed brought you into strange trouble. By this time you must be +aware that you have not been visiting any house whatever, but have been +passing your nights in the cemetery, among the tombs of the Heike;--and +it was before the memorial-tomb of Antoku Tenno that our people +to-night found you, sitting in the rain. All that you have been +imagining was illusion--except the calling of the dead. By once obeying +them, you have put yourself in their power. If you obey them again, +after what has already occurred, they will tear you in pieces. But they +would have destroyed you, sooner or later, in any event... Now I shall +not be able to remain with you to-night: I am called away to perform +another service. But, before I go, it will be necessary to protect your +body by writing holy texts upon it." + + +Before sundown the priest and his acolyte stripped Hoichi: then, with +their writing-brushes, they traced upon his breast and back, head and +face and neck, limbs and hands and feet,--even upon the soles of his +feet, and upon all parts of his body,--the text of the holy sutra +called Hannya-Shin-Kyo. [7] When this had been done, the priest +instructed Hoichi, saying:-- + +"To-night, as soon as I go away, you must seat yourself on the +verandah, and wait. You will be called. But, whatever may happen, do +not answer, and do not move. Say nothing and sit still--as if +meditating. If you stir, or make any noise, you will be torn asunder. +Do not get frightened; and do not think of calling for help--because no +help could save you. If you do exactly as I tell you, the danger will +pass, and you will have nothing more to fear." + + +After dark the priest and the acolyte went away; and Hoichi seated +himself on the verandah, according to the instructions given him. He +laid his biwa on the planking beside him, and, assuming the attitude of +meditation, remained quite still,--taking care not to cough, or to +breathe audibly. For hours he stayed thus. + +Then, from the roadway, he heard the steps coming. They passed the +gate, crossed the garden, approached the verandah, stopped--directly in +front of him. + +"Hoichi!" the deep voice called. But the blind man held his breath, and +sat motionless. + +"Hoichi!" grimly called the voice a second time. Then a third +time--savagely:-- + +"Hoichi!" + +Hoichi remained as still as a stone,--and the voice grumbled:-- + +"No answer!--that won't do!... Must see where the fellow is."... + +There was a noise of heavy feet mounting upon the verandah. The feet +approached deliberately,--halted beside him. Then, for long +minutes,--during which Hoichi felt his whole body shake to the beating +of his heart,--there was dead silence. + +At last the gruff voice muttered close to him:-- + +"Here is the biwa; but of the biwa-player I see--only two ears!... So +that explains why he did not answer: he had no mouth to answer +with--there is nothing left of him but his ears... Now to my lord those +ears I will take--in proof that the august commands have been obeyed, +so far as was possible"... + +At that instant Hoichi felt his ears gripped by fingers of iron, and +torn off! Great as the pain was, he gave no cry. The heavy footfalls +receded along the verandah,--descended into the garden,--passed out to +the roadway,--ceased. From either side of his head, the blind man felt +a thick warm trickling; but he dared not lift his hands... + + +Before sunrise the priest came back. He hastened at once to the +verandah in the rear, stepped and slipped upon something clammy, and +uttered a cry of horror;--for he saw, by the light of his lantern, that +the clamminess was blood. But he perceived Hoichi sitting there, in the +attitude of meditation--with the blood still oozing from his wounds. + +"My poor Hoichi!" cried the startled priest,--"what is this?... You +have been hurt?" + +At the sound of his friend's voice, the blind man felt safe. He burst +out sobbing, and tearfully told his adventure of the night. + +"Poor, poor Hoichi!" the priest exclaimed,--"all my fault!--my very +grievous fault!... Everywhere upon your body the holy texts had been +written--except upon your ears! I trusted my acolyte to do that part of +the work; and it was very, very wrong of me not to have made sure that +he had done it!... Well, the matter cannot now be helped;--we can only +try to heal your hurts as soon as possible... Cheer up, friend!--the +danger is now well over. You will never again be troubled by those +visitors." + + +With the aid of a good doctor, Hoichi soon recovered from his injuries. +The story of his strange adventure spread far and wide, and soon made +him famous. Many noble persons went to Akamagaseki to hear him recite; +and large presents of money were given to him,--so that he became a +wealthy man... But from the time of his adventure, he was known only by +the appellation of Mimi-nashi-Hoichi: "Hoichi-the-Earless." + + + + +OSHIDORI + +There was a falconer and hunter, named Sonjo, who lived in the district +called Tamura-no-Go, of the province of Mutsu. One day he went out +hunting, and could not find any game. But on his way home, at a place +called Akanuma, he perceived a pair of oshidori [1] (mandarin-ducks), +swimming together in a river that he was about to cross. To kill +oshidori is not good; but Sonjo happened to be very hungry, and he shot +at the pair. His arrow pierced the male: the female escaped into the +rushes of the further shore, and disappeared. Sonjo took the dead bird +home, and cooked it. + +That night he dreamed a dreary dream. It seemed to him that a beautiful +woman came into his room, and stood by his pillow, and began to weep. +So bitterly did she weep that Sonjo felt as if his heart were being +torn out while he listened. And the woman cried to him: "Why,--oh! why +did you kill him?--of what wrong was he guilty?... At Akanuma we were +so happy together,--and you killed him!... What harm did he ever do +you? Do you even know what you have done?--oh! do you know what a +cruel, what a wicked thing you have done?... Me too you have +killed,--for I will not live without my husband!... Only to tell you +this I came."... Then again she wept aloud,--so bitterly that the voice +of her crying pierced into the marrow of the listener's bones;--and she +sobbed out the words of this poem:-- + + Hi kurureba + Sasoeshi mono wo-- + Akanuma no + Makomo no kure no + Hitori-ne zo uki! + +("At the coming of twilight I invited him to return with me--! Now to +sleep alone in the shadow of the rushes of Akanuma--ah! what misery +unspeakable!") [2] + +And after having uttered these verses she exclaimed:--"Ah, you do not +know--you cannot know what you have done! But to-morrow, when you go to +Akanuma, you will see,--you will see..." So saying, and weeping very +piteously, she went away. + +When Sonjo awoke in the morning, this dream remained so vivid in his +mind that he was greatly troubled. He remembered the words:--"But +to-morrow, when you go to Akanuma, you will see,--you will see." And he +resolved to go there at once, that he might learn whether his dream was +anything more than a dream. + +So he went to Akanuma; and there, when he came to the river-bank, he +saw the female oshidori swimming alone. In the same moment the bird +perceived Sonjo; but, instead of trying to escape, she swam straight +towards him, looking at him the while in a strange fixed way. Then, +with her beak, she suddenly tore open her own body, and died before the +hunter's eyes... + + +Sonjo shaved his head, and became a priest. + + + + +THE STORY OF O-TEI + + +A long time ago, in the town of Niigata, in the province of Echizen, +there lived a man called Nagao Chosei. + +Nagao was the son of a physician, and was educated for his father's +profession. At an early age he had been betrothed to a girl called +O-Tei, the daughter of one of his father's friends; and both families +had agreed that the wedding should take place as soon as Nagao had +finished his studies. But the health of O-Tei proved to be weak; and in +her fifteenth year she was attacked by a fatal consumption. When she +became aware that she must die, she sent for Nagao to bid him farewell. + +As he knelt at her bedside, she said to him:-- + +"Nagao-Sama, (1) my betrothed, we were promised to each other from the +time of our childhood; and we were to have been married at the end of +this year. But now I am going to die;--the gods know what is best for +us. If I were able to live for some years longer, I could only continue +to be a cause of trouble and grief for others. With this frail body, I +could not be a good wife; and therefore even to wish to live, for your +sake, would be a very selfish wish. I am quite resigned to die; and I +want you to promise that you will not grieve... Besides, I want to tell +you that I think we shall meet again."... + +"Indeed we shall meet again," Nagao answered earnestly. "And in that +Pure Land (2) there will be no pain of separation." + +"Nay, nay!" she responded softly, "I meant not the Pure Land. I believe +that we are destined to meet again in this world,--although I shall be +buried to-morrow." + +Nagao looked at her wonderingly, and saw her smile at his wonder. She +continued, in her gentle, dreamy voice,-- + +"Yes, I mean in this world,--in your own present life, Nagao-Sama... +Providing, indeed, that you wish it. Only, for this thing to happen, I +must again be born a girl, and grow up to womanhood. So you would have +to wait. Fifteen--sixteen years: that is a long time... But, my +promised husband, you are now only nineteen years old."... + +Eager to soothe her dying moments, he answered tenderly:-- + +"To wait for you, my betrothed, were no less a joy than a duty. We are +pledged to each other for the time of seven existences." + +"But you doubt?" she questioned, watching his face. + +"My dear one," he answered, "I doubt whether I should be able to know +you in another body, under another name,--unless you can tell me of a +sign or token." + +"That I cannot do," she said. "Only the Gods and the Buddhas know how +and where we shall meet. But I am sure--very, very sure--that, if you +be not unwilling to receive me, I shall be able to come back to you... +Remember these words of mine."... + +She ceased to speak; and her eyes closed. She was dead. + +* * * + +Nagao had been sincerely attached to O-Tei; and his grief was deep. He +had a mortuary tablet made, inscribed with her zokumyo; [1] and he +placed the tablet in his butsudan, [2] and every day set offerings +before it. He thought a great deal about the strange things that O-Tei +had said to him just before her death; and, in the hope of pleasing her +spirit, he wrote a solemn promise to wed her if she could ever return +to him in another body. This written promise he sealed with his seal, +and placed in the butsudan beside the mortuary tablet of O-Tei. + + +Nevertheless, as Nagao was an only son, it was necessary that he should +marry. He soon found himself obliged to yield to the wishes of his +family, and to accept a wife of his father's choosing. After his +marriage he continued to set offerings before the tablet of O-Tei; and +he never failed to remember her with affection. But by degrees her +image became dim in his memory,--like a dream that is hard to recall. +And the years went by. + +During those years many misfortunes came upon him. He lost his parents +by death,--then his wife and his only child. So that he found himself +alone in the world. He abandoned his desolate home, and set out upon a +long journey in the hope of forgetting his sorrows. + + +One day, in the course of his travels, he arrived at Ikao,--a +mountain-village still famed for its thermal springs, and for the +beautiful scenery of its neighborhood. In the village-inn at which he +stopped, a young girl came to wait upon him; and, at the first sight of +her face, he felt his heart leap as it had never leaped before. So +strangely did she resemble O-Tei that he pinched himself to make sure +that he was not dreaming. As she went and came,--bringing fire and +food, or arranging the chamber of the guest,--her every attitude and +motion revived in him some gracious memory of the girl to whom he had +been pledged in his youth. He spoke to her; and she responded in a +soft, clear voice of which the sweetness saddened him with a sadness of +other days. + +Then, in great wonder, he questioned her, saying:-- + +"Elder Sister (3), so much do you look like a person whom I knew long +ago, that I was startled when you first entered this room. Pardon me, +therefore, for asking what is your native place, and what is your name?" + +Immediately,--and in the unforgotten voice of the dead,--she thus made +answer:-- + +"My name is O-Tei; and you are Nagao Chosei of Echigo, my promised +husband. Seventeen years ago, I died in Niigata: then you made in +writing a promise to marry me if ever I could come back to this world +in the body of a woman;--and you sealed that written promise with your +seal, and put it in the butsudan, beside the tablet inscribed with my +name. And therefore I came back."... + +As she uttered these last words, she fell unconscious. + + +Nagao married her; and the marriage was a happy one. But at no time +afterwards could she remember what she had told him in answer to his +question at Ikao: neither could she remember anything of her previous +existence. The recollection of the former birth,--mysteriously kindled +in the moment of that meeting,--had again become obscured, and so +thereafter remained. + + + +UBAZAKURA + + +Three hundred years ago, in the village called Asamimura, in the +district called Onsengori, in the province of Iyo, there lived a good +man named Tokubei. This Tokubei was the richest person in the district, +and the muraosa, or headman, of the village. In most matters he was +fortunate; but he reached the age of forty without knowing the +happiness of becoming a father. Therefore he and his wife, in the +affliction of their childlessness, addressed many prayers to the +divinity Fudo Myo O, who had a famous temple, called Saihoji, in +Asamimura. + +At last their prayers were heard: the wife of Tokubei gave birth to a +daughter. The child was very pretty; and she received the name of +Tsuyu. As the mother's milk was deficient, a milk-nurse, called O-Sode, +was hired for the little one. + + +O-Tsuyu grew up to be a very beautiful girl; but at the age of fifteen +she fell sick, and the doctors thought that she was going to die. In +that time the nurse O-Sode, who loved O-Tsuyu with a real mother's +love, went to the temple Saihoji, and fervently prayed to Fudo-Sama on +behalf of the girl. Every day, for twenty-one days, she went to the +temple and prayed; and at the end of that time, O-Tsuyu suddenly and +completely recovered. + +Then there was great rejoicing in the house of Tokubei; and he gave a +feast to all his friends in celebration of the happy event. But on the +night of the feast the nurse O-Sode was suddenly taken ill; and on the +following morning, the doctor, who had been summoned to attend her, +announced that she was dying. + +Then the family, in great sorrow, gathered about her bed, to bid her +farewell. But she said to them:-- + +"It is time that I should tell you something which you do not know. My +prayer has been heard. I besought Fudo-Sama that I might be permitted +to die in the place of O-Tsuyu; and this great favor has been granted +me. Therefore you must not grieve about my death... But I have one +request to make. I promised Fudo-Sama that I would have a cherry-tree +planted in the garden of Saihoji, for a thank-offering and a +commemoration. Now I shall not be able myself to plant the tree there: +so I must beg that you will fulfill that vow for me... Good-bye, dear +friends; and remember that I was happy to die for O-Tsuyu's sake." + + +After the funeral of O-Sode, a young cherry-tree,--the finest that +could be found,--was planted in the garden of Saihoji by the parents of +O-Tsuyu. The tree grew and flourished; and on the sixteenth day of the +second month of the following year,--the anniversary of O-Sode's +death,--it blossomed in a wonderful way. So it continued to blossom for +two hundred and fifty-four years,--always upon the sixteenth day of the +second month;--and its flowers, pink and white, were like the nipples +of a woman's breasts, bedewed with milk. And the people called it +Ubazakura, the Cherry-tree of the Milk-Nurse. + + + + +DIPLOMACY + + +It had been ordered that the execution should take place in the garden +of the yashiki (1). So the man was taken there, and made to kneel down +in a wide sanded space crossed by a line of tobi-ishi, or +stepping-stones, such as you may still see in Japanese +landscape-gardens. His arms were bound behind him. Retainers brought +water in buckets, and rice-bags filled with pebbles; and they packed +the rice-bags round the kneeling man,--so wedging him in that he could +not move. The master came, and observed the arrangements. He found them +satisfactory, and made no remarks. + +Suddenly the condemned man cried out to him:-- + +"Honored Sir, the fault for which I have been doomed I did not +wittingly commit. It was only my very great stupidity which caused the +fault. Having been born stupid, by reason of my Karma, I could not +always help making mistakes. But to kill a man for being stupid is +wrong,--and that wrong will be repaid. So surely as you kill me, so +surely shall I be avenged;--out of the resentment that you provoke will +come the vengeance; and evil will be rendered for evil."... + +If any person be killed while feeling strong resentment, the ghost of +that person will be able to take vengeance upon the killer. This the +samurai knew. He replied very gently,--almost caressingly:-- + +"We shall allow you to frighten us as much as you please--after you are +dead. But it is difficult to believe that you mean what you say. Will +you try to give us some sign of your great resentment--after your head +has been cut off?" + +"Assuredly I will," answered the man. + +"Very well," said the samurai, drawing his long sword;--"I am now going +to cut off your head. Directly in front of you there is a +stepping-stone. After your head has been cut off, try to bite the +stepping-stone. If your angry ghost can help you to do that, some of us +may be frightened... Will you try to bite the stone?" + +"I will bite it!" cried the man, in great anger,--"I will bite it!--I +will bite"-- + +There was a flash, a swish, a crunching thud: the bound body bowed over +the rice sacks,--two long blood-jets pumping from the shorn neck;--and +the head rolled upon the sand. Heavily toward the stepping-stone it +rolled: then, suddenly bounding, it caught the upper edge of the stone +between its teeth, clung desperately for a moment, and dropped inert. + + +None spoke; but the retainers stared in horror at their master. He +seemed to be quite unconcerned. He merely held out his sword to the +nearest attendant, who, with a wooden dipper, poured water over the +blade from haft to point, and then carefully wiped the steel several +times with sheets of soft paper... And thus ended the ceremonial part +of the incident. + + +For months thereafter, the retainers and the domestics lived in +ceaseless fear of ghostly visitation. None of them doubted that the +promised vengeance would come; and their constant terror caused them to +hear and to see much that did not exist. They became afraid of the +sound of the wind in the bamboos,--afraid even of the stirring of +shadows in the garden. At last, after taking counsel together, they +decided to petition their master to have a Segaki-service (2) performed +on behalf of the vengeful spirit. + +"Quite unnecessary," the samurai said, when his chief retainer had +uttered the general wish... "I understand that the desire of a dying +man for revenge may be a cause for fear. But in this case there is +nothing to fear." + +The retainer looked at his master beseechingly, but hesitated to ask +the reason of the alarming confidence. + +"Oh, the reason is simple enough," declared the samurai, divining the +unspoken doubt. "Only the very last intention of the fellow could have +been dangerous; and when I challenged him to give me the sign, I +diverted his mind from the desire of revenge. He died with the set +purpose of biting the stepping-stone; and that purpose he was able to +accomplish, but nothing else. All the rest he must have forgotten... So +you need not feel any further anxiety about the matter." + +--And indeed the dead man gave no more trouble. Nothing at all happened. + + + + +OF A MIRROR AND A BELL + + +Eight centuries ago, the priests of Mugenyama, in the province of +Totomi (1), wanted a big bell for their temple; and they asked the +women of their parish to help them by contributing old bronze mirrors +for bell-metal. + +[Even to-day, in the courts of certain Japanese temples, you may see +heaps of old bronze mirrors contributed for such a purpose. The largest +collection of this kind that I ever saw was in the court of a temple of +the Jodo sect, at Hakata, in Kyushu: the mirrors had been given for the +making of a bronze statue of Amida, thirty-three feet high.] + + +There was at that time a young woman, a farmer's wife, living at +Mugenyama, who presented her mirror to the temple, to be used for +bell-metal. But afterwards she much regretted her mirror. She +remembered things that her mother had told her about it; and she +remembered that it had belonged, not only to her mother but to her +mother's mother and grandmother; and she remembered some happy smiles +which it had reflected. Of course, if she could have offered the +priests a certain sum of money in place of the mirror, she could have +asked them to give back her heirloom. But she had not the money +necessary. Whenever she went to the temple, she saw her mirror lying in +the court-yard, behind a railing, among hundreds of other mirrors +heaped there together. She knew it by the Sho-Chiku-Bai in relief on +the back of it,--those three fortunate emblems of Pine, Bamboo, and +Plumflower, which delighted her baby-eyes when her mother first showed +her the mirror. She longed for some chance to steal the mirror, and +hide it,--that she might thereafter treasure it always. But the chance +did not come; and she became very unhappy,--felt as if she had +foolishly given away a part of her life. She thought about the old +saying that a mirror is the Soul of a Woman--(a saying mystically +expressed, by the Chinese character for Soul, upon the backs of many +bronze mirrors),--and she feared that it was true in weirder ways than +she had before imagined. But she could not dare to speak of her pain to +anybody. + + +Now, when all the mirrors contributed for the Mugenyama bell had been +sent to the foundry, the bell-founders discovered that there was one +mirror among them which would not melt. Again and again they tried to +melt it; but it resisted all their efforts. Evidently the woman who had +given that mirror to the temple must have regretted the giving. She had +not presented her offering with all her heart; and therefore her +selfish soul, remaining attached to the mirror, kept it hard and cold +in the midst of the furnace. + +Of course everybody heard of the matter, and everybody soon knew whose +mirror it was that would not melt. And because of this public exposure +of her secret fault, the poor woman became very much ashamed and very +angry. And as she could not bear the shame, she drowned herself, after +having written a farewell letter containing these words:-- + + +"When I am dead, it will not be difficult to melt the mirror and to +cast the bell. But, to the person who breaks that bell by ringing it, +great wealth will be given by the ghost of me." + + +--You must know that the last wish or promise of anybody who dies in +anger, or performs suicide in anger, is generally supposed to possess a +supernatural force. After the dead woman's mirror had been melted, and +the bell had been successfully cast, people remembered the words of +that letter. They felt sure that the spirit of the writer would give +wealth to the breaker of the bell; and, as soon as the bell had been +suspended in the court of the temple, they went in multitude to ring +it. With all their might and main they swung the ringing-beam; but the +bell proved to be a good bell, and it bravely withstood their assaults. +Nevertheless, the people were not easily discouraged. Day after day, at +all hours, they continued to ring the bell furiously,--caring nothing +whatever for the protests of the priests. So the ringing became an +affliction; and the priests could not endure it; and they got rid of +the bell by rolling it down the hill into a swamp. The swamp was deep, +and swallowed it up,--and that was the end of the bell. Only its legend +remains; and in that legend it is called the Mugen-Kane, or Bell of +Mugen. + +* * * + +Now there are queer old Japanese beliefs in the magical efficacy of a +certain mental operation implied, though not described, by the verb +nazoraeru. The word itself cannot be adequately rendered by any English +word; for it is used in relation to many kinds of mimetic magic, as +well as in relation to the performance of many religious acts of faith. +Common meanings of nazoraeru, according to dictionaries, are "to +imitate," "to compare," "to liken;" but the esoteric meaning is to +substitute, in imagination, one object or action for another, so as to +bring about some magical or miraculous result. + +For example:--you cannot afford to build a Buddhist temple; but you can +easily lay a pebble before the image of the Buddha, with the same pious +feeling that would prompt you to build a temple if you were rich enough +to build one. The merit of so offering the pebble becomes equal, or +almost equal, to the merit of erecting a temple... You cannot read the +six thousand seven hundred and seventy-one volumes of the Buddhist +texts; but you can make a revolving library, containing them, turn +round, by pushing it like a windlass. And if you push with an earnest +wish that you could read the six thousand seven hundred and seventy-one +volumes, you will acquire the same merit as the reading of them would +enable you to gain... So much will perhaps suffice to explain the +religious meanings of nazoraeru. + +The magical meanings could not all be explained without a great variety +of examples; but, for present purposes, the following will serve. If +you should make a little man of straw, for the same reason that Sister +Helen made a little man of wax,--and nail it, with nails not less than +five inches long, to some tree in a temple-grove at the Hour of the Ox +(2),--and if the person, imaginatively represented by that little straw +man, should die thereafter in atrocious agony,--that would illustrate +one signification of nazoraeru... Or, let us suppose that a robber has +entered your house during the night, and carried away your valuables. +If you can discover the footprints of that robber in your garden, and +then promptly burn a very large moxa on each of them, the soles of the +feet of the robber will become inflamed, and will allow him no rest +until he returns, of his own accord, to put himself at your mercy. That +is another kind of mimetic magic expressed by the term nazoraeru. And a +third kind is illustrated by various legends of the Mugen-Kane. + + +After the bell had been rolled into the swamp, there was, of course, no +more chance of ringing it in such wise as to break it. But persons who +regretted this loss of opportunity would strike and break objects +imaginatively substituted for the bell,--thus hoping to please the +spirit of the owner of the mirror that had made so much trouble. One of +these persons was a woman called Umegae,--famed in Japanese legend +because of her relation to Kajiwara Kagesue, a warrior of the Heike +clan. While the pair were traveling together, Kajiwara one day found +himself in great straits for want of money; and Umegae, remembering the +tradition of the Bell of Mugen, took a basin of bronze, and, mentally +representing it to be the bell, beat upon it until she broke +it,--crying out, at the same time, for three hundred pieces of gold. A +guest of the inn where the pair were stopping made inquiry as to the +cause of the banging and the crying, and, on learning the story of the +trouble, actually presented Umegae with three hundred ryo (3) in gold. +Afterwards a song was made about Umegae's basin of bronze; and that +song is sung by dancing girls even to this day:-- + + Umegae no chozubachi tataite + O-kane ga deru naraba + Mina San mi-uke wo + Sore tanomimasu + +["If, by striking upon the wash-basin of Umegae, I could make honorable +money come to me, then would I negotiate for the freedom of all my +girl-comrades."] + + +After this happening, the fame of the Mugen-Kane became great; and many +people followed the example of Umegae,--thereby hoping to emulate her +luck. Among these folk was a dissolute farmer who lived near Mugenyama, +on the bank of the Oigawa. Having wasted his substance in riotous +living, this farmer made for himself, out of the mud in his garden, a +clay-model of the Mugen-Kane; and he beat the clay-bell, and broke +it,--crying out the while for great wealth. + +Then, out of the ground before him, rose up the figure of a white-robed +woman, with long loose-flowing hair, holding a covered jar. And the +woman said: "I have come to answer your fervent prayer as it deserves +to be answered. Take, therefore, this jar." So saying, she put the jar +into his hands, and disappeared. + +Into his house the happy man rushed, to tell his wife the good news. He +set down in front of her the covered jar,--which was heavy,--and they +opened it together. And they found that it was filled, up to the very +brim, with... + +But no!--I really cannot tell you with what it was filled. + + + + +JIKININKI + + +Once, when Muso Kokushi, a priest of the Zen sect, was journeying alone +through the province of Mino (1), he lost his way in a +mountain-district where there was nobody to direct him. For a long time +he wandered about helplessly; and he was beginning to despair of +finding shelter for the night, when he perceived, on the top of a hill +lighted by the last rays of the sun, one of those little hermitages, +called anjitsu, which are built for solitary priests. It seemed to be +in ruinous condition; but he hastened to it eagerly, and found that it +was inhabited by an aged priest, from whom he begged the favor of a +night's lodging. This the old man harshly refused; but he directed Muso +to a certain hamlet, in the valley adjoining where lodging and food +could be obtained. + +Muso found his way to the hamlet, which consisted of less than a dozen +farm-cottages; and he was kindly received at the dwelling of the +headman. Forty or fifty persons were assembled in the principal +apartment, at the moment of Muso's arrival; but he was shown into a +small separate room, where he was promptly supplied with food and +bedding. Being very tired, he lay down to rest at an early hour; but a +little before midnight he was roused from sleep by a sound of loud +weeping in the next apartment. Presently the sliding-screens were +gently pushed apart; and a young man, carrying a lighted lantern, +entered the room, respectfully saluted him, and said:-- + +"Reverend Sir, it is my painful duty to tell you that I am now the +responsible head of this house. Yesterday I was only the eldest son. +But when you came here, tired as you were, we did not wish that you +should feel embarrassed in any way: therefore we did not tell you that +father had died only a few hours before. The people whom you saw in the +next room are the inhabitants of this village: they all assembled here +to pay their last respects to the dead; and now they are going to +another village, about three miles off,--for by our custom, no one of +us may remain in this village during the night after a death has taken +place. We make the proper offerings and prayers;--then we go away, +leaving the corpse alone. Strange things always happen in the house +where a corpse has thus been left: so we think that it will be better +for you to come away with us. We can find you good lodging in the other +village. But perhaps, as you are a priest, you have no fear of demons +or evil spirits; and, if you are not afraid of being left alone with +the body, you will be very welcome to the use of this poor house. +However, I must tell you that nobody, except a priest, would dare to +remain here tonight." + +Muso made answer:-- + +"For your kind intention and your generous hospitality, I and am deeply +grateful. But I am sorry that you did not tell me of your father's +death when I came;--for, though I was a little tired, I certainly was +not so tired that I should have found difficulty in doing my duty as a +priest. Had you told me, I could have performed the service before your +departure. As it is, I shall perform the service after you have gone +away; and I shall stay by the body until morning. I do not know what +you mean by your words about the danger of staying here alone; but I am +not afraid of ghosts or demons: therefore please to feel no anxiety on +my account." + +The young man appeared to be rejoiced by these assurances, and +expressed his gratitude in fitting words. Then the other members of the +family, and the folk assembled in the adjoining room, having been told +of the priest's kind promises, came to thank him,--after which the +master of the house said:-- + +"Now, reverend Sir, much as we regret to leave you alone, we must bid +you farewell. By the rule of our village, none of us can stay here +after midnight. We beg, kind Sir, that you will take every care of your +honorable body, while we are unable to attend upon you. And if you +happen to hear or see anything strange during our absence, please tell +us of the matter when we return in the morning." + + +All then left the house, except the priest, who went to the room where +the dead body was lying. The usual offerings had been set before the +corpse; and a small Buddhist lamp--tomyo--was burning. The priest +recited the service, and performed the funeral ceremonies,--after which +he entered into meditation. So meditating he remained through several +silent hours; and there was no sound in the deserted village. But, when +the hush of the night was at its deepest, there noiselessly entered a +Shape, vague and vast; and in the same moment Muso found himself +without power to move or speak. He saw that Shape lift the corpse, as +with hands, devour it, more quickly than a cat devours a +rat,--beginning at the head, and eating everything: the hair and the +bones and even the shroud. And the monstrous Thing, having thus +consumed the body, turned to the offerings, and ate them also. Then it +went away, as mysteriously as it had come. + + +When the villagers returned next morning, they found the priest +awaiting them at the door of the headman's dwelling. All in turn +saluted him; and when they had entered, and looked about the room, no +one expressed any surprise at the disappearance of the dead body and +the offerings. But the master of the house said to Muso:-- + +"Reverent Sir, you have probably seen unpleasant things during the +night: all of us were anxious about you. But now we are very happy to +find you alive and unharmed. Gladly we would have stayed with you, if +it had been possible. But the law of our village, as I told you last +evening, obliges us to quit our houses after a death has taken place, +and to leave the corpse alone. Whenever this law has been broken, +heretofore, some great misfortune has followed. Whenever it is obeyed, +we find that the corpse and the offerings disappear during our absence. +Perhaps you have seen the cause." + +Then Muso told of the dim and awful Shape that had entered the +death-chamber to devour the body and the offerings. No person seemed to +be surprised by his narration; and the master of the house observed:-- + +"What you have told us, reverend Sir, agrees with what has been said +about this matter from ancient time." + +Muso then inquired:-- + +"Does not the priest on the hill sometimes perform the funeral service +for your dead?" + +"What priest?" the young man asked. + +"The priest who yesterday evening directed me to this village," +answered Muso. "I called at his anjitsu on the hill yonder. He refused +me lodging, but told me the way here." + +The listeners looked at each other, as in astonishment; and, after a +moment of silence, the master of the house said:-- + +"Reverend Sir, there is no priest and there is no anjitsu on the hill. +For the time of many generations there has not been any resident-priest +in this neighborhood." + +Muso said nothing more on the subject; for it was evident that his kind +hosts supposed him to have been deluded by some goblin. But after +having bidden them farewell, and obtained all necessary information as +to his road, he determined to look again for the hermitage on the hill, +and so to ascertain whether he had really been deceived. He found the +anjitsu without any difficulty; and, this time, its aged occupant +invited him to enter. When he had done so, the hermit humbly bowed down +before him, exclaiming:--"Ah! I am ashamed!--I am very much ashamed!--I +am exceedingly ashamed!" + +"You need not be ashamed for having refused me shelter," said Muso. +"You directed me to the village yonder, where I was very kindly +treated; and I thank you for that favor. + +"I can give no man shelter," the recluse made answer;--and it is not +for the refusal that I am ashamed. I am ashamed only that you should +have seen me in my real shape,--for it was I who devoured the corpse +and the offerings last night before your eyes... Know, reverend Sir, +that I am a jikininki, [1]--an eater of human flesh. Have pity upon me, +and suffer me to confess the secret fault by which I became reduced to +this condition. + +"A long, long time ago, I was a priest in this desolate region. There +was no other priest for many leagues around. So, in that time, the +bodies of the mountain-folk who died used to be brought +here,--sometimes from great distances,--in order that I might repeat +over them the holy service. But I repeated the service and performed +the rites only as a matter of business;--I thought only of the food and +the clothes that my sacred profession enabled me to gain. And because +of this selfish impiety I was reborn, immediately after my death, into +the state of a jikininki. Since then I have been obliged to feed upon +the corpses of the people who die in this district: every one of them I +must devour in the way that you saw last night... Now, reverend Sir, +let me beseech you to perform a Segaki-service [2] for me: help me by +your prayers, I entreat you, so that I may be soon able to escape from +this horrible state of existence"... + + +No sooner had the hermit uttered this petition than he disappeared; and +the hermitage also disappeared at the same instant. And Muso Kokushi +found himself kneeling alone in the high grass, beside an ancient and +moss-grown tomb of the form called go-rin-ishi, [3] which seemed to be +the tomb of a priest. + + + + +MUJINA + + +On the Akasaka Road, in Tokyo, there is a slope called +Kii-no-kuni-zaka,--which means the Slope of the Province of Kii. I do +not know why it is called the Slope of the Province of Kii. On one side +of this slope you see an ancient moat, deep and very wide, with high +green banks rising up to some place of gardens;--and on the other side +of the road extend the long and lofty walls of an imperial palace. +Before the era of street-lamps and jinrikishas, this neighborhood was +very lonesome after dark; and belated pedestrians would go miles out of +their way rather than mount the Kii-no-kuni-zaka, alone, after sunset. + +All because of a Mujina that used to walk there. (1) + + +The last man who saw the Mujina was an old merchant of the Kyobashi +quarter, who died about thirty years ago. This is the story, as he told +it:-- + +One night, at a late hour, he was hurrying up the Kii-no-kuni-zaka, +when he perceived a woman crouching by the moat, all alone, and weeping +bitterly. Fearing that she intended to drown herself, he stopped to +offer her any assistance or consolation in his power. She appeared to +be a slight and graceful person, handsomely dressed; and her hair was +arranged like that of a young girl of good family. "O-jochu," [1] he +exclaimed, approaching her,--"O-jochu, do not cry like that!... Tell me +what the trouble is; and if there be any way to help you, I shall be +glad to help you." (He really meant what he said; for he was a very +kind man.) But she continued to weep,--hiding her face from him with +one of her long sleeves. "O-jochu," he said again, as gently as he +could,--"please, please listen to me!... This is no place for a young +lady at night! Do not cry, I implore you!--only tell me how I may be of +some help to you!" Slowly she rose up, but turned her back to him, and +continued to moan and sob behind her sleeve. He laid his hand lightly +upon her shoulder, and pleaded:--"O-jochu!--O-jochu!--O-jochu!... +Listen to me, just for one little moment!... O-jochu!--O-jochu!"... +Then that O-jochu turned around, and dropped her sleeve, and stroked +her face with her hand;--and the man saw that she had no eyes or nose +or mouth,--and he screamed and ran away. (2) + +Up Kii-no-kuni-zaka he ran and ran; and all was black and empty before +him. On and on he ran, never daring to look back; and at last he saw a +lantern, so far away that it looked like the gleam of a firefly; and he +made for it. It proved to be only the lantern of an itinerant +soba-seller, [2] who had set down his stand by the road-side; but any +light and any human companionship was good after that experience; and +he flung himself down at the feet of the soba-seller, crying out, +"Ah!--aa!!--aa!!!"... + +"Kore! kore!" (3) roughly exclaimed the soba-man. "Here! what is the +matter with you? Anybody hurt you?" + +"No--nobody hurt me," panted the other,--"only... Ah!--aa!" + +"--Only scared you?" queried the peddler, unsympathetically. "Robbers?" + +"Not robbers,--not robbers," gasped the terrified man... "I saw... I +saw a woman--by the moat;--and she showed me... Ah! I cannot tell you +what she showed me!"... + +"He! (4) Was it anything like THIS that she showed you?" cried the +soba-man, stroking his own face--which therewith became like unto an +Egg... And, simultaneously, the light went out. + + + + +ROKURO-KUBI + + +Nearly five hundred years ago there was a samurai, named Isogai +Heidazaemon Taketsura, in the service of the Lord Kikuji, of Kyushu. +This Isogai had inherited, from many warlike ancestors, a natural +aptitude for military exercises, and extraordinary strength. While yet +a boy he had surpassed his teachers in the art of swordsmanship, in +archery, and in the use of the spear, and had displayed all the +capacities of a daring and skillful soldier. Afterwards, in the time of +the Eikyo [1] war, he so distinguished himself that high honors were +bestowed upon him. But when the house of Kikuji came to ruin, Isogai +found himself without a master. He might then easily have obtained +service under another daimyo; but as he had never sought distinction +for his own sake alone, and as his heart remained true to his former +lord, he preferred to give up the world. So he cut off his hair, and +became a traveling priest,--taking the Buddhist name of Kwairyo. + +But always, under the koromo [2] of the priest, Kwairyo kept warm +within him the heart of the samurai. As in other years he had laughed +at peril, so now also he scorned danger; and in all weathers and all +seasons he journeyed to preach the good Law in places where no other +priest would have dared to go. For that age was an age of violence and +disorder; and upon the highways there was no security for the solitary +traveler, even if he happened to be a priest. + + +In the course of his first long journey, Kwairyo had occasion to visit +the province of Kai. (1) One evening, as he was traveling through the +mountains of that province, darkness overcame him in a very lonesome +district, leagues away from any village. So he resigned himself to pass +the night under the stars; and having found a suitable grassy spot, by +the roadside, he lay down there, and prepared to sleep. He had always +welcomed discomfort; and even a bare rock was for him a good bed, when +nothing better could be found, and the root of a pine-tree an excellent +pillow. His body was iron; and he never troubled himself about dews or +rain or frost or snow. + +Scarcely had he lain down when a man came along the road, carrying an +axe and a great bundle of chopped wood. This woodcutter halted on +seeing Kwairyo lying down, and, after a moment of silent observation, +said to him in a tone of great surprise:-- + +"What kind of a man can you be, good Sir, that you dare to lie down +alone in such a place as this?... There are haunters about here,--many +of them. Are you not afraid of Hairy Things?" + +"My friend," cheerfully answered Kwairyo, "I am only a wandering +priest,--a 'Cloud-and-Water-Guest,' as folks call it: Unsui-no-ryokaku. +(2) And I am not in the least afraid of Hairy Things,--if you mean +goblin-foxes, or goblin-badgers, or any creatures of that kind. As for +lonesome places, I like them: they are suitable for meditation. I am +accustomed to sleeping in the open air: and I have learned never to be +anxious about my life." + +"You must be indeed a brave man, Sir Priest," the peasant responded, +"to lie down here! This place has a bad name,--a very bad name. But, as +the proverb has it, Kunshi ayayuki ni chikayorazu ['The superior man +does not needlessly expose himself to peril']; and I must assure you, +Sir, that it is very dangerous to sleep here. Therefore, although my +house is only a wretched thatched hut, let me beg of you to come home +with me at once. In the way of food, I have nothing to offer you; but +there is a roof at least, and you can sleep under it without risk." + +He spoke earnestly; and Kwairyo, liking the kindly tone of the man, +accepted this modest offer. The woodcutter guided him along a narrow +path, leading up from the main road through mountain-forest. It was a +rough and dangerous path,--sometimes skirting precipices,--sometimes +offering nothing but a network of slippery roots for the foot to rest +upon,--sometimes winding over or between masses of jagged rock. But at +last Kwairyo found himself upon a cleared space at the top of a hill, +with a full moon shining overhead; and he saw before him a small +thatched cottage, cheerfully lighted from within. The woodcutter led +him to a shed at the back of the house, whither water had been +conducted, through bamboo-pipes, from some neighboring stream; and the +two men washed their feet. Beyond the shed was a vegetable garden, and +a grove of cedars and bamboos; and beyond the trees appeared the +glimmer of a cascade, pouring from some loftier height, and swaying in +the moonshine like a long white robe. + + +As Kwairyo entered the cottage with his guide, he perceived four +persons--men and women--warming their hands at a little fire kindled in +the ro [3] of the principle apartment. They bowed low to the priest, +and greeted him in the most respectful manner. Kwairyo wondered that +persons so poor, and dwelling in such a solitude, should be aware of +the polite forms of greeting. "These are good people," he thought to +himself; "and they must have been taught by some one well acquainted +with the rules of propriety." Then turning to his host,--the aruji, or +house-master, as the others called him,--Kwairyo said:-- + +"From the kindness of your speech, and from the very polite welcome +given me by your household, I imagine that you have not always been a +woodcutter. Perhaps you formerly belonged to one of the upper classes?" + +Smiling, the woodcutter answered:-- + +"Sir, you are not mistaken. Though now living as you find me, I was +once a person of some distinction. My story is the story of a ruined +life--ruined by my own fault. I used to be in the service of a daimyo; +and my rank in that service was not inconsiderable. But I loved women +and wine too well; and under the influence of passion I acted wickedly. +My selfishness brought about the ruin of our house, and caused the +death of many persons. Retribution followed me; and I long remained a +fugitive in the land. Now I often pray that I may be able to make some +atonement for the evil which I did, and to reestablish the ancestral +home. But I fear that I shall never find any way of so doing. +Nevertheless, I try to overcome the karma of my errors by sincere +repentance, and by helping as far as I can, those who are unfortunate." + +Kwairyo was pleased by this announcement of good resolve; and he said +to the aruji:-- + +"My friend, I have had occasion to observe that man, prone to folly in +their youth, may in after years become very earnest in right living. In +the holy sutras it is written that those strongest in wrong-doing can +become, by power of good resolve, the strongest in right-doing. I do +not doubt that you have a good heart; and I hope that better fortune +will come to you. To-night I shall recite the sutras for your sake, and +pray that you may obtain the force to overcome the karma of any past +errors." + +With these assurances, Kwairyo bade the aruji good-night; and his host +showed him to a very small side-room, where a bed had been made ready. +Then all went to sleep except the priest, who began to read the sutras +by the light of a paper lantern. Until a late hour he continued to read +and pray: then he opened a little window in his little sleeping-room, +to take a last look at the landscape before lying down. The night was +beautiful: there was no cloud in the sky: there was no wind; and the +strong moonlight threw down sharp black shadows of foliage, and +glittered on the dews of the garden. Shrillings of crickets and +bell-insects (3) made a musical tumult; and the sound of the +neighboring cascade deepened with the night. Kwairyo felt thirsty as he +listened to the noise of the water; and, remembering the bamboo +aqueduct at the rear of the house, he thought that he could go there +and get a drink without disturbing the sleeping household. Very gently +he pushed apart the sliding-screens that separated his room from the +main apartment; and he saw, by the light of the lantern, five recumbent +bodies--without heads! + +For one instant he stood bewildered,--imagining a crime. But in another +moment he perceived that there was no blood, and that the headless +necks did not look as if they had been cut. Then he thought to +himself:--"Either this is an illusion made by goblins, or I have been +lured into the dwelling of a Rokuro-Kubi... (4) In the book Soshinki +(5) it is written that if one find the body of a Rokuro-Kubi without +its head, and remove the body to another place, the head will never be +able to join itself again to the neck. And the book further says that +when the head comes back and finds that its body has been moved, it +will strike itself upon the floor three times,--bounding like a +ball,--and will pant as in great fear, and presently die. Now, if these +be Rokuro-Kubi, they mean me no good;--so I shall be justified in +following the instructions of the book."... + +He seized the body of the aruji by the feet, pulled it to the window, +and pushed it out. Then he went to the back-door, which he found +barred; and he surmised that the heads had made their exit through the +smoke-hole in the roof, which had been left open. Gently unbarring the +door, he made his way to the garden, and proceeded with all possible +caution to the grove beyond it. He heard voices talking in the grove; +and he went in the direction of the voices,--stealing from shadow to +shadow, until he reached a good hiding-place. Then, from behind a +trunk, he caught sight of the heads,--all five of them,--flitting +about, and chatting as they flitted. They were eating worms and insects +which they found on the ground or among the trees. Presently the head +of the aruji stopped eating and said:-- + +"Ah, that traveling priest who came to-night!--how fat all his body is! +When we shall have eaten him, our bellies will be well filled... I was +foolish to talk to him as I did;--it only set him to reciting the +sutras on behalf of my soul! To go near him while he is reciting would +be difficult; and we cannot touch him so long as he is praying. But as +it is now nearly morning, perhaps he has gone to sleep... Some one of +you go to the house and see what the fellow is doing." + +Another head--the head of a young woman--immediately rose up and +flitted to the house, lightly as a bat. After a few minutes it came +back, and cried out huskily, in a tone of great alarm:-- + +"That traveling priest is not in the house;--he is gone! But that is +not the worst of the matter. He has taken the body of our aruji; and I +do not know where he has put it." + +At this announcement the head of the aruji--distinctly visible in the +moonlight--assumed a frightful aspect: its eyes opened monstrously; its +hair stood up bristling; and its teeth gnashed. Then a cry burst from +its lips; and--weeping tears of rage--it exclaimed:-- + +"Since my body has been moved, to rejoin it is not possible! Then I +must die!... And all through the work of that priest! Before I die I +will get at that priest!--I will tear him!--I will devour him!... AND +THERE HE IS--behind that tree!--hiding behind that tree! See him!--the +fat coward!"... + +In the same moment the head of the aruji, followed by the other four +heads, sprang at Kwairyo. But the strong priest had already armed +himself by plucking up a young tree; and with that tree he struck the +heads as they came,--knocking them from him with tremendous blows. Four +of them fled away. But the head of the aruji, though battered again and +again, desperately continued to bound at the priest, and at last caught +him by the left sleeve of his robe. Kwairyo, however, as quickly +gripped the head by its topknot, and repeatedly struck it. It did not +release its hold; but it uttered a long moan, and thereafter ceased to +struggle. It was dead. But its teeth still held the sleeve; and, for +all his great strength, Kwairyo could not force open the jaws. + +With the head still hanging to his sleeve he went back to the house, +and there caught sight of the other four Rokuro-Kubi squatting +together, with their bruised and bleeding heads reunited to their +bodies. But when they perceived him at the back-door all screamed, "The +priest! the priest!"--and fled, through the other doorway, out into the +woods. + +Eastward the sky was brightening; day was about to dawn; and Kwairyo +knew that the power of the goblins was limited to the hours of +darkness. He looked at the head clinging to his sleeve,--its face all +fouled with blood and foam and clay; and he laughed aloud as he thought +to himself: "What a miyage! [4]--the head of a goblin!" After which he +gathered together his few belongings, and leisurely descended the +mountain to continue his journey. + +Right on he journeyed, until he came to Suwa in Shinano; (6) and into +the main street of Suwa he solemnly strode, with the head dangling at +his elbow. Then woman fainted, and children screamed and ran away; and +there was a great crowding and clamoring until the torite (as the +police in those days were called) seized the priest, and took him to +jail. For they supposed the head to be the head of a murdered man who, +in the moment of being killed, had caught the murderer's sleeve in his +teeth. As the Kwairyo, he only smiled and said nothing when they +questioned him. So, after having passed a night in prison, he was +brought before the magistrates of the district. Then he was ordered to +explain how he, a priest, had been found with the head of a man +fastened to his sleeve, and why he had dared thus shamelessly to parade +his crime in the sight of people. + +Kwairyo laughed long and loudly at these questions; and then he said:-- + +"Sirs, I did not fasten the head to my sleeve: it fastened itself +there--much against my will. And I have not committed any crime. For +this is not the head of a man; it is the head of a goblin;--and, if I +caused the death of the goblin, I did not do so by any shedding of +blood, but simply by taking the precautions necessary to assure my own +safety."... And he proceeded to relate the whole of the +adventure,--bursting into another hearty laugh as he told of his +encounter with the five heads. + +But the magistrates did not laugh. They judged him to be a hardened +criminal, and his story an insult to their intelligence. Therefore, +without further questioning, they decided to order his immediate +execution,--all of them except one, a very old man. This aged officer +had made no remark during the trial; but, after having heard the +opinion of his colleagues, he rose up, and said:-- + +"Let us first examine the head carefully; for this, I think, has not +yet been done. If the priest has spoken truth, the head itself should +bear witness for him... Bring the head here!" + +So the head, still holding in its teeth the koromo that had been +stripped from Kwairyo's shoulders, was put before the judges. The old +man turned it round and round, carefully examined it, and discovered, +on the nape of its neck, several strange red characters. He called the +attention of his colleagues to these, and also bade them observe that +the edges of the neck nowhere presented the appearance of having been +cut by any weapon. On the contrary, the line of leverance was smooth as +the line at which a falling leaf detaches itself from the stem... Then +said the elder:-- + +"I am quite sure that the priest told us nothing but the truth. This is +the head of a Rokuro-Kubi. In the book Nan-ho-i-butsu-shi it is written +that certain red characters can always be found upon the nape of the +neck of a real Rokuro-Kubi. There are the characters: you can see for +yourselves that they have not been painted. Moreover, it is well known +that such goblins have been dwelling in the mountains of the province +of Kai from very ancient time... But you, Sir," he exclaimed, turning +to Kwairyo,--"what sort of sturdy priest may you be? Certainly you have +given proof of a courage that few priests possess; and you have the air +of a soldier rather than a priest. Perhaps you once belonged to the +samurai-class?" + +"You have guessed rightly, Sir," Kwairyo responded. "Before becoming a +priest, I long followed the profession of arms; and in those days I +never feared man or devil. My name then was Isogai Heidazaemon +Taketsura of Kyushu: there may be some among you who remember it." + +At the mention of that name, a murmur of admiration filled the +court-room; for there were many present who remembered it. And Kwairyo +immediately found himself among friends instead of judges,--friends +anxious to prove their admiration by fraternal kindness. With honor +they escorted him to the residence of the daimyo, who welcomed him, and +feasted him, and made him a handsome present before allowing him to +depart. When Kwairyo left Suwa, he was as happy as any priest is +permitted to be in this transitory world. As for the head, he took it +with him,--jocosely insisting that he intended it for a miyage. + + +And now it only remains to tell what became of the head. + + +A day or two after leaving Suwa, Kwairyo met with a robber, who stopped +him in a lonesome place, and bade him strip. Kwairyo at once removed +his koromo, and offered it to the robber, who then first perceived what +was hanging to the sleeve. Though brave, the highwayman was startled: +he dropped the garment, and sprang back. Then he cried +out:--"You!--what kind of a priest are you? Why, you are a worse man +than I am! It is true that I have killed people; but I never walked +about with anybody's head fastened to my sleeve... Well, Sir priest, I +suppose we are of the same calling; and I must say that I admire +you!... Now that head would be of use to me: I could frighten people +with it. Will you sell it? You can have my robe in exchange for your +koromo; and I will give you five ryo for the head." + +Kwairyo answered:-- + +"I shall let you have the head and the robe if you insist; but I must +tell you that this is not the head of a man. It is a goblin's head. So, +if you buy it, and have any trouble in consequence, please to remember +that you were not deceived by me." + +"What a nice priest you are!" exclaimed the robber. "You kill men, and +jest about it!... But I am really in earnest. Here is my robe; and here +is the money;--and let me have the head... What is the use of joking?" + +"Take the thing," said Kwairyo. "I was not joking. The only joke--if +there be any joke at all--is that you are fool enough to pay good money +for a goblin's head." And Kwairyo, loudly laughing, went upon his way. + + +Thus the robber got the head and the koromo; and for some time he +played goblin-priest upon the highways. But, reaching the neighborhood +of Suwa, he there leaned the true story of the head; and he then became +afraid that the spirit of the Rokuro-Kubi might give him trouble. So he +made up his mind to take back the head to the place from which it had +come, and to bury it with its body. He found his way to the lonely +cottage in the mountains of Kai; but nobody was there, and he could not +discover the body. Therefore he buried the head by itself, in the grove +behind the cottage; and he had a tombstone set up over the grave; and +he caused a Segaki-service to be performed on behalf of the spirit of +the Rokuro-Kubi. And that tombstone--known as the Tombstone of the +Rokuro-Kubi--may be seen (at least so the Japanese story-teller +declares) even unto this day. + + + + +A DEAD SECRET + + +A long time ago, in the province of Tamba (1), there lived a rich +merchant named Inamuraya Gensuke. He had a daughter called O-Sono. As +she was very clever and pretty, he thought it would be a pity to let +her grow up with only such teaching as the country-teachers could give +her: so he sent her, in care of some trusty attendants, to Kyoto, that +she might be trained in the polite accomplishments taught to the ladies +of the capital. After she had thus been educated, she was married to a +friend of her father's family--a merchant named Nagaraya;--and she +lived happily with him for nearly four years. They had one child,--a boy. +But O-Sono fell ill and died, in the fourth year after her marriage. + +On the night after the funeral of O-Sono, her little son said that his +mamma had come back, and was in the room upstairs. She had smiled at +him, but would not talk to him: so he became afraid, and ran away. Then +some of the family went upstairs to the room which had been O-Sono's; +and they were startled to see, by the light of a small lamp which had +been kindled before a shrine in that room, the figure of the dead +mother. She appeared as if standing in front of a tansu, or chest of +drawers, that still contained her ornaments and her wearing-apparel. +Her head and shoulders could be very distinctly seen; but from the +waist downwards the figure thinned into invisibility;--it was like an +imperfect reflection of her, and transparent as a shadow on water. + +Then the folk were afraid, and left the room. Below they consulted +together; and the mother of O-Sono's husband said: "A woman is fond of +her small things; and O-Sono was much attached to her belongings. +Perhaps she has come back to look at them. Many dead persons will do +that,--unless the things be given to the parish-temple. If we present +O-Sono's robes and girdles to the temple, her spirit will probably find +rest." + +It was agreed that this should be done as soon as possible. So on the +following morning the drawers were emptied; and all of O-Sono's +ornaments and dresses were taken to the temple. But she came back the +next night, and looked at the tansu as before. And she came back also +on the night following, and the night after that, and every night;--and +the house became a house of fear. + + +The mother of O-Sono's husband then went to the parish-temple, and told +the chief priest all that had happened, and asked for ghostly counsel. +The temple was a Zen temple; and the head-priest was a learned old man, +known as Daigen Osho. He said: "There must be something about which she +is anxious, in or near that tansu."--"But we emptied all the drawers," +replied the woman;--"there is nothing in the tansu."--"Well," said +Daigen Osho, "to-night I shall go to your house, and keep watch in that +room, and see what can be done. You must give orders that no person +shall enter the room while I am watching, unless I call." + + +After sundown, Daigen Osho went to the house, and found the room made +ready for him. He remained there alone, reading the sutras; and nothing +appeared until after the Hour of the Rat. [1] Then the figure of +O-Sono suddenly outlined itself in front of the tansu. Her face had a +wistful look; and she kept her eyes fixed upon the tansu. + +The priest uttered the holy formula prescribed in such cases, and then, +addressing the figure by the kaimyo [2] of O-Sono, said:--"I have come +here in order to help you. Perhaps in that tansu there is something +about which you have reason to feel anxious. Shall I try to find it for +you?" The shadow appeared to give assent by a slight motion of the +head; and the priest, rising, opened the top drawer. It was empty. +Successively he opened the second, the third, and the fourth +drawer;--he searched carefully behind them and beneath them;--he +carefully examined the interior of the chest. He found nothing. But the +figure remained gazing as wistfully as before. "What can she want?" +thought the priest. Suddenly it occurred to him that there might be +something hidden under the paper with which the drawers were lined. He +removed the lining of the first drawer:--nothing! He removed the lining +of the second and third drawers:--still nothing. But under the lining +of the lowermost drawer he found--a letter. "Is this the thing about +which you have been troubled?" he asked. The shadow of the woman turned +toward him,--her faint gaze fixed upon the letter. "Shall I burn it for +you?" he asked. She bowed before him. "It shall be burned in the temple +this very morning," he promised;--"and no one shall read it, except +myself." The figure smiled and vanished. + + +Dawn was breaking as the priest descended the stairs, to find the +family waiting anxiously below. "Do not be anxious," he said to them: +"She will not appear again." And she never did. + +The letter was burned. It was a love-letter written to O-Sono in the +time of her studies at Kyoto. But the priest alone knew what was in it; +and the secret died with him. + + + + +YUKI-ONNA + + +In a village of Musashi Province (1), there lived two woodcutters: +Mosaku and Minokichi. At the time of which I am speaking, Mosaku was an +old man; and Minokichi, his apprentice, was a lad of eighteen years. +Every day they went together to a forest situated about five miles from +their village. On the way to that forest there is a wide river to +cross; and there is a ferry-boat. Several times a bridge was built +where the ferry is; but the bridge was each time carried away by a +flood. No common bridge can resist the current there when the river +rises. + + +Mosaku and Minokichi were on their way home, one very cold evening, +when a great snowstorm overtook them. They reached the ferry; and they +found that the boatman had gone away, leaving his boat on the other +side of the river. It was no day for swimming; and the woodcutters took +shelter in the ferryman's hut,--thinking themselves lucky to find any +shelter at all. There was no brazier in the hut, nor any place in which +to make a fire: it was only a two-mat [1] hut, with a single door, but +no window. Mosaku and Minokichi fastened the door, and lay down to +rest, with their straw rain-coats over them. At first they did not feel +very cold; and they thought that the storm would soon be over. + +The old man almost immediately fell asleep; but the boy, Minokichi, lay +awake a long time, listening to the awful wind, and the continual +slashing of the snow against the door. The river was roaring; and the +hut swayed and creaked like a junk at sea. It was a terrible storm; and +the air was every moment becoming colder; and Minokichi shivered under +his rain-coat. But at last, in spite of the cold, he too fell asleep. + +He was awakened by a showering of snow in his face. The door of the hut +had been forced open; and, by the snow-light (yuki-akari), he saw a +woman in the room,--a woman all in white. She was bending above Mosaku, +and blowing her breath upon him;--and her breath was like a bright +white smoke. Almost in the same moment she turned to Minokichi, and +stooped over him. He tried to cry out, but found that he could not +utter any sound. The white woman bent down over him, lower and lower, +until her face almost touched him; and he saw that she was very +beautiful,--though her eyes made him afraid. For a little time she +continued to look at him;--then she smiled, and she whispered:--"I +intended to treat you like the other man. But I cannot help feeling +some pity for you,--because you are so young... You are a pretty boy, +Minokichi; and I will not hurt you now. But, if you ever tell +anybody--even your own mother--about what you have seen this night, I +shall know it; and then I will kill you... Remember what I say!" + +With these words, she turned from him, and passed through the doorway. +Then he found himself able to move; and he sprang up, and looked out. +But the woman was nowhere to be seen; and the snow was driving +furiously into the hut. Minokichi closed the door, and secured it by +fixing several billets of wood against it. He wondered if the wind had +blown it open;--he thought that he might have been only dreaming, and +might have mistaken the gleam of the snow-light in the doorway for the +figure of a white woman: but he could not be sure. He called to Mosaku, +and was frightened because the old man did not answer. He put out his +hand in the dark, and touched Mosaku's face, and found that it was ice! +Mosaku was stark and dead... + + +By dawn the storm was over; and when the ferryman returned to his +station, a little after sunrise, he found Minokichi lying senseless +beside the frozen body of Mosaku. Minokichi was promptly cared for, and +soon came to himself; but he remained a long time ill from the effects +of the cold of that terrible night. He had been greatly frightened also +by the old man's death; but he said nothing about the vision of the +woman in white. As soon as he got well again, he returned to his +calling,--going alone every morning to the forest, and coming back at +nightfall with his bundles of wood, which his mother helped him to sell. + + +One evening, in the winter of the following year, as he was on his way +home, he overtook a girl who happened to be traveling by the same road. +She was a tall, slim girl, very good-looking; and she answered +Minokichi's greeting in a voice as pleasant to the ear as the voice of +a song-bird. Then he walked beside her; and they began to talk. The +girl said that her name was O-Yuki [2]; that she had lately lost both +of her parents; and that she was going to Yedo (2), where she happened +to have some poor relations, who might help her to find a situation as +a servant. Minokichi soon felt charmed by this strange girl; and the +more that he looked at her, the handsomer she appeared to be. He asked +her whether she was yet betrothed; and she answered, laughingly, that +she was free. Then, in her turn, she asked Minokichi whether he was +married, or pledged to marry; and he told her that, although he had only +a widowed mother to support, the question of an "honorable +daughter-in-law" had not yet been considered, as he was very young... +After these confidences, they walked on for a long while without +speaking; but, as the proverb declares, Ki ga areba, me mo kuchi hodo +ni mono wo iu: "When the wish is there, the eyes can say as much as the +mouth." By the time they reached the village, they had become very much +pleased with each other; and then Minokichi asked O-Yuki to rest awhile +at his house. After some shy hesitation, she went there with him; and +his mother made her welcome, and prepared a warm meal for her. O-Yuki +behaved so nicely that Minokichi's mother took a sudden fancy to her, +and persuaded her to delay her journey to Yedo. And the natural end of +the matter was that Yuki never went to Yedo at all. She remained in the +house, as an "honorable daughter-in-law." + + +O-Yuki proved a very good daughter-in-law. When Minokichi's mother came +to die,--some five years later,--her last words were words of affection +and praise for the wife of her son. And O-Yuki bore Minokichi ten +children, boys and girls,--handsome children all of them, and very fair +of skin. + +The country-folk thought O-Yuki a wonderful person, by nature different +from themselves. Most of the peasant-women age early; but O-Yuki, even +after having become the mother of ten children, looked as young and +fresh as on the day when she had first come to the village. + + +One night, after the children had gone to sleep, O-Yuki was sewing by +the light of a paper lamp; and Minokichi, watching her, said:-- + +"To see you sewing there, with the light on your face, makes me think +of a strange thing that happened when I was a lad of eighteen. I then +saw somebody as beautiful and white as you are now--indeed, she was +very like you."... + +Without lifting her eyes from her work, O-Yuki responded:-- + +"Tell me about her... Where did you see her?" + +Then Minokichi told her about the terrible night in the ferryman's +hut,--and about the White Woman that had stooped above him, smiling and +whispering,--and about the silent death of old Mosaku. And he said:-- + +"Asleep or awake, that was the only time that I saw a being as +beautiful as you. Of course, she was not a human being; and I was +afraid of her,--very much afraid,--but she was so white!... Indeed, I +have never been sure whether it was a dream that I saw, or the Woman of +the Snow."... + +O-Yuki flung down her sewing, and arose, and bowed above Minokichi +where he sat, and shrieked into his face:-- + +"It was I--I--I! Yuki it was! And I told you then that I would kill +you if you ever said one word about it!... But for those children +asleep there, I would kill you this moment! And now you had better take +very, very good care of them; for if ever they have reason to complain +of you, I will treat you as you deserve!"... + +Even as she screamed, her voice became thin, like a crying of +wind;--then she melted into a bright white mist that spired to the +roof-beams, and shuddered away through the smoke-hold... Never again +was she seen. + + + + +THE STORY OF AOYAGI + + +In the era of Bummei [1469-1486] there was a young samurai called +Tomotada in the service of Hatakeyama Yoshimune, the Lord of Noto (1). +Tomotada was a native of Echizen (2); but at an early age he had been +taken, as page, into the palace of the daimyo of Noto, and had been +educated, under the supervision of that prince, for the profession of +arms. As he grew up, he proved himself both a good scholar and a good +soldier, and continued to enjoy the favor of his prince. Being gifted +with an amiable character, a winning address, and a very handsome +person, he was admired and much liked by his samurai-comrades. + +When Tomotada was about twenty years old, he was sent upon a private +mission to Hosokawa Masamoto, the great daimyo of Kyoto, a kinsman of +Hatakeyama Yoshimune. Having been ordered to journey through Echizen, +the youth requested and obtained permission to pay a visit, on the way, +to his widowed mother. + +It was the coldest period of the year when he started; and, though +mounted upon a powerful horse, he found himself obliged to proceed +slowly. The road which he followed passed through a mountain-district +where the settlements were few and far between; and on the second day +of his journey, after a weary ride of hours, he was dismayed to find +that he could not reach his intended halting-place until late in the +night. He had reason to be anxious;--for a heavy snowstorm came on, +with an intensely cold wind; and the horse showed signs of exhaustion. +But in that trying moment, Tomotada unexpectedly perceived the thatched +room of a cottage on the summit of a near hill, where willow-trees were +growing. With difficulty he urged his tired animal to the dwelling; and +he loudly knocked upon the storm-doors, which had been closed against +the wind. An old woman opened them, and cried out compassionately at +the sight of the handsome stranger: "Ah, how pitiful!--a young +gentleman traveling alone in such weather!... Deign, young master, to +enter." + + +Tomotada dismounted, and after leading his horse to a shed in the rear, +entered the cottage, where he saw an old man and a girl warming +themselves by a fire of bamboo splints. They respectfully invited him +to approach the fire; and the old folks then proceeded to warm some +rice-wine, and to prepare food for the traveler, whom they ventured to +question in regard to his journey. Meanwhile the young girl disappeared +behind a screen. Tomotada had observed, with astonishment, that she was +extremely beautiful,--though her attire was of the most wretched kind, +and her long, loose hair in disorder. He wondered that so handsome a +girl should be living in such a miserable and lonesome place. + +The old man said to him:-- + +"Honored Sir, the next village is far; and the snow is falling thickly. +The wind is piercing; and the road is very bad. Therefore, to proceed +further this night would probably be dangerous. Although this hovel is +unworthy of your presence, and although we have not any comfort to +offer, perhaps it were safer to remain to-night under this miserable +roof... We would take good care of your horse." + +Tomotada accepted this humble proposal,--secretly glad of the chance +thus afforded him to see more of the young girl. Presently a coarse but +ample meal was set before him; and the girl came from behind the +screen, to serve the wine. She was now reclad, in a rough but cleanly +robe of homespun; and her long, loose hair had been neatly combed and +smoothed. As she bent forward to fill his cup, Tomotada was amazed to +perceive that she was incomparably more beautiful than any woman whom +he had ever before seen; and there was a grace about her every motion +that astonished him. But the elders began to apologize for her, saying: +"Sir, our daughter, Aoyagi, [1] has been brought up here in the +mountains, almost alone; and she knows nothing of gentle service. We +pray that you will pardon her stupidity and her ignorance." Tomotada +protested that he deemed himself lucky to be waited upon by so comely a +maiden. He could not turn his eyes away from her--though he saw that +his admiring gaze made her blush;--and he left the wine and food +untasted before him. The mother said: "Kind Sir, we very much hope that +you will try to eat and to drink a little,--though our peasant-fare is +of the worst,--as you must have been chilled by that piercing wind." +Then, to please the old folks, Tomotada ate and drank as he could; but +the charm of the blushing girl still grew upon him. He talked with her, +and found that her speech was sweet as her face. Brought up in the +mountains as she might have been;--but, in that case, her parents must +at some time been persons of high degree; for she spoke and moved like +a damsel of rank. Suddenly he addressed her with a poem--which was also +a question--inspired by the delight in his heart:-- + + "Tadzunetsuru, + Hana ka tote koso, + Hi wo kurase, + Akenu ni otoru + Akane sasuran?" + +["Being on my way to pay a visit, I found that which I took to be a +flower: therefore here I spend the day... Why, in the time before dawn, +the dawn-blush tint should glow--that, indeed, I know not."] [2] + + +Without a moment's hesitation, she answered him in these verses:-- + + "Izuru hi no + Honomeku iro wo + Waga sode ni + Tsutsumaba asu mo + Kimiya tomaran." + +["If with my sleeve I hid the faint fair color of the dawning +sun,--then, perhaps, in the morning my lord will remain."] [3] + + +Then Tomotada knew that she accepted his admiration; and he was +scarcely less surprised by the art with which she had uttered her +feelings in verse, than delighted by the assurance which the verses +conveyed. He was now certain that in all this world he could not hope +to meet, much less to win, a girl more beautiful and witty than this +rustic maid before him; and a voice in his heart seemed to cry out +urgently, "Take the luck that the gods have put in your way!" In short +he was bewitched--bewitched to such a degree that, without further +preliminary, he asked the old people to give him their daughter in +marriage,--telling them, at the same time, his name and lineage, and +his rank in the train of the Lord of Noto. + +They bowed down before him, with many exclamations of grateful +astonishment. But, after some moments of apparent hesitation, the +father replied:-- + +"Honored master, you are a person of high position, and likely to rise +to still higher things. Too great is the favor that you deign to offer +us;--indeed, the depth of our gratitude therefor is not to be spoken or +measured. But this girl of ours, being a stupid country-girl of vulgar +birth, with no training or teaching of any sort, it would be improper +to let her become the wife of a noble samurai. Even to speak of such a +matter is not right... But, since you find the girl to your liking, and +have condescended to pardon her peasant-manners and to overlook her +great rudeness, we do gladly present her to you, for an humble +handmaid. Deign, therefore, to act hereafter in her regard according to +your august pleasure." + +Ere morning the storm had passed; and day broke through a cloudless +east. Even if the sleeve of Aoyagi hid from her lover's eyes the +rose-blush of that dawn, he could no longer tarry. But neither could he +resign himself to part with the girl; and, when everything had been +prepared for his journey, he thus addressed her parents:-- + +"Though it may seem thankless to ask for more than I have already +received, I must again beg you to give me your daughter for wife. It +would be difficult for me to separate from her now; and as she is +willing to accompany me, if you permit, I can take her with me as she +is. If you will give her to me, I shall ever cherish you as parents... +And, in the meantime, please to accept this poor acknowledgment of your +kindest hospitality." + +So saying, he placed before his humble host a purse of gold ryo. But +the old man, after many prostrations, gently pushed back the gift, and +said:-- + +"Kind master, the gold would be of no use to us; and you will probably +have need of it during your long, cold journey. Here we buy nothing; +and we could not spend so much money upon ourselves, even if we +wished... As for the girl, we have already bestowed her as a free +gift;--she belongs to you: therefore it is not necessary to ask our +leave to take her away. Already she has told us that she hopes to +accompany you, and to remain your servant for as long as you may be +willing to endure her presence. We are only too happy to know that you +deign to accept her; and we pray that you will not trouble yourself on +our account. In this place we could not provide her with proper +clothing,--much less with a dowry. Moreover, being old, we should in +any event have to separate from her before long. Therefore it is very +fortunate that you should be willing to take her with you now." + + +It was in vain that Tomotada tried to persuade the old people to accept +a present: he found that they cared nothing for money. But he saw that +they were really anxious to trust their daughter's fate to his hands; +and he therefore decided to take her with him. So he placed her upon +his horse, and bade the old folks farewell for the time being, with +many sincere expressions of gratitude. + +"Honored Sir," the father made answer, "it is we, and not you, who have +reason for gratitude. We are sure that you will be kind to our girl; +and we have no fears for her sake."... + + +[Here, in the Japanese original, there is a queer break in the natural +course of the narration, which therefrom remains curiously +inconsistent. Nothing further is said about the mother of Tomotada, or +about the parents of Aoyagi, or about the daimyo of Noto. Evidently the +writer wearied of his work at this point, and hurried the story, very +carelessly, to its startling end. I am not able to supply his +omissions, or to repair his faults of construction; but I must venture +to put in a few explanatory details, without which the rest of the tale +would not hold together... It appears that Tomotada rashly took Aoyagi +with him to Kyoto, and so got into trouble; but we are not informed as +to where the couple lived afterwards.] + + +...Now a samurai was not allowed to marry without the consent of his +lord; and Tomotada could not expect to obtain this sanction before his +mission had been accomplished. He had reason, under such circumstances, +to fear that the beauty of Aoyagi might attract dangerous attention, +and that means might be devised of taking her away from him. In Kyoto +he therefore tried to keep her hidden from curious eyes. But a retainer +of Lord Hosokawa one day caught sight of Aoyagi, discovered her +relation to Tomotada, and reported the matter to the daimyo. Thereupon +the daimyo--a young prince, and fond of pretty faces--gave orders that +the girl should be brought to the place; and she was taken thither at +once, without ceremony. + + +Tomotada sorrowed unspeakably; but he knew himself powerless. He was +only an humble messenger in the service of a far-off daimyo; and for +the time being he was at the mercy of a much more powerful daimyo, +whose wishes were not to be questioned. Moreover Tomotada knew that he +had acted foolishly,--that he had brought about his own misfortune, by +entering into a clandestine relation which the code of the military +class condemned. There was now but one hope for him,--a desperate hope: +that Aoyagi might be able and willing to escape and to flee with him. +After long reflection, he resolved to try to send her a letter. The +attempt would be dangerous, of course: any writing sent to her might +find its way to the hands of the daimyo; and to send a love-letter to +any inmate of the place was an unpardonable offense. But he resolved to +dare the risk; and, in the form of a Chinese poem, he composed a letter +which he endeavored to have conveyed to her. The poem was written with +only twenty-eight characters. But with those twenty-eight characters he +was about to express all the depth of his passion, and to suggest all +the pain of his loss:--[4] + + Koshi o-son gojin wo ou; + Ryokuju namida wo tarete rakin wo hitataru; + Komon hitotabi irite fukaki koto umi no gotoshi; + Kore yori shoro kore rojin + +[Closely, closely the youthful prince now follows after the gem-bright +maid;-- + +The tears of the fair one, falling, have moistened all her robes. + +But the august lord, having once become enamored of her--the depth of +his longing is like the depth of the sea. + +Therefore it is only I that am left forlorn,--only I that am left to +wander along.] + + +On the evening of the day after this poem had been sent, Tomotada was +summoned to appear before the Lord Hosokawa. The youth at once +suspected that his confidence had been betrayed; and he could not hope, +if his letter had been seen by the daimyo, to escape the severest +penalty. "Now he will order my death," thought Tomotada;--"but I do not +care to live unless Aoyagi be restored to me. Besides, if the +death-sentence be passed, I can at least try to kill Hosokawa." He +slipped his swords into his girdle, and hastened to the palace. + +On entering the presence-room he saw the Lord Hosokawa seated upon the +dais, surrounded by samurai of high rank, in caps and robes of +ceremony. All were silent as statues; and while Tomotada advanced to +make obeisance, the hush seemed to his sinister and heavy, like the +stillness before a storm. But Hosokawa suddenly descended from the +dais, and, while taking the youth by the arm, began to repeat the words +of the poem:--"Koshi o-son gojin wo ou."... And Tomotada, looking up, +saw kindly tears in the prince's eyes. + +Then said Hosokawa:-- + +"Because you love each other so much, I have taken it upon myself to +authorize your marriage, in lieu of my kinsman, the Lord of Noto; and +your wedding shall now be celebrated before me. The guests are +assembled;--the gifts are ready." + +At a signal from the lord, the sliding-screens concealing a further +apartment were pushed open; and Tomotada saw there many dignitaries of +the court, assembled for the ceremony, and Aoyagi awaiting him in +brides' apparel... Thus was she given back to him;--and the wedding was +joyous and splendid;--and precious gifts were made to the young couple +by the prince, and by the members of his household. + + * * * + +For five happy years, after that wedding, Tomotada and Aoyagi dwelt +together. But one morning Aoyagi, while talking with her husband about +some household matter, suddenly uttered a great cry of pain, and then +became very white and still. After a few moments she said, in a feeble +voice: "Pardon me for thus rudely crying out--but the pain was so +sudden!... My dear husband, our union must have been brought about +through some Karma-relation in a former state of existence; and that +happy relation, I think, will bring us again together in more than one +life to come. But for this present existence of ours, the relation is +now ended;--we are about to be separated. Repeat for me, I beseech you, +the Nembutsu-prayer,--because I am dying." + +"Oh! what strange wild fancies!" cried the startled husband,--"you are +only a little unwell, my dear one!... lie down for a while, and rest; +and the sickness will pass."... + +"No, no!" she responded--"I am dying!--I do not imagine it;--I know!... +And it were needless now, my dear husband, to hide the truth from you +any longer:--I am not a human being. The soul of a tree is my +soul;--the heart of a tree is my heart;--the sap of the willow is my +life. And some one, at this cruel moment, is cutting down my +tree;--that is why I must die!... Even to weep were now beyond my +strength!--quickly, quickly repeat the Nembutsu for me... quickly!... +Ah!..." + + +With another cry of pain she turned aside her beautiful head, and tried +to hide her face behind her sleeve. But almost in the same moment her +whole form appeared to collapse in the strangest way, and to sink down, +down, down--level with the floor. Tomotada had sprung to support +her;--but there was nothing to support! There lay on the matting only +the empty robes of the fair creature and the ornaments that she had +worn in her hair: the body had ceased to exist... + + +Tomotada shaved his head, took the Buddhist vows, and became an +itinerant priest. He traveled through all the provinces of the empire; +and, at holy places which he visited, he offered up prayers for the +soul of Aoyagi. Reaching Echizen, in the course of his pilgrimage, he +sought the home of the parents of his beloved. But when he arrived at +the lonely place among the hills, where their dwelling had been, he +found that the cottage had disappeared. There was nothing to mark even +the spot where it had stood, except the stumps of three willows--two +old trees and one young tree--that had been cut down long before his +arrival. + +Beside the stumps of those willow-trees he erected a memorial tomb, +inscribed with divers holy texts; and he there performed many Buddhist +services on behalf of the spirits of Aoyagi and of her parents. + + + + +JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA + + +In Wakegori, a district of the province of Iyo (1), there is a very +ancient and famous cherry-tree, called Jiu-roku-zakura, or "the +Cherry-tree of the Sixteenth Day," because it blooms every year upon +the sixteenth day of the first month (by the old lunar calendar),--and +only upon that day. Thus the time of its flowering is the Period of +Great Cold,--though the natural habit of a cherry-tree is to wait for +the spring season before venturing to blossom. But the Jiu-roku-zakura +blossoms with a life that is not--or, at least, that was not +originally--its own. There is the ghost of a man in that tree. + + +He was a samurai of Iyo; and the tree grew in his garden; and it used +to flower at the usual time,--that is to say, about the end of March or +the beginning of April. He had played under that tree when he was a +child; and his parents and grandparents and ancestors had hung to its +blossoming branches, season after season for more than a hundred years, +bright strips of colored paper inscribed with poems of praise. He +himself became very old,--outliving all his children; and there was +nothing in the world left for him to live except that tree. And lo! in +the summer of a certain year, the tree withered and died! + +Exceedingly the old man sorrowed for his tree. Then kind neighbors +found for him a young and beautiful cherry-tree, and planted it in his +garden,--hoping thus to comfort him. And he thanked them, and pretended +to be glad. But really his heart was full of pain; for he had loved the +old tree so well that nothing could have consoled him for the loss of +it. + +At last there came to him a happy thought: he remembered a way by which +the perishing tree might be saved. (It was the sixteenth day of the +first month.) Along he went into his garden, and bowed down before the +withered tree, and spoke to it, saying: "Now deign, I beseech you, once +more to bloom,--because I am going to die in your stead." (For it is +believed that one can really give away one's life to another person, or +to a creature or even to a tree, by the favor of the gods;--and thus to +transfer one's life is expressed by the term migawari ni tatsu, "to act +as a substitute.") Then under that tree he spread a white cloth, and +divers coverings, and sat down upon the coverings, and performed +hara-kiri after the fashion of a samurai. And the ghost of him went +into the tree, and made it blossom in that same hour. + +And every year it still blooms on the sixteenth day of the first month, +in the season of snow. + + + + +THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKE + + +In the district called Toichi of Yamato Province, (1) there used to +live a goshi named Miyata Akinosuke... [Here I must tell you that in +Japanese feudal times there was a privileged class of +soldier-farmers,--free-holders,--corresponding to the class of yeomen +in England; and these were called goshi.] + +In Akinosuke's garden there was a great and ancient cedar-tree, under +which he was wont to rest on sultry days. One very warm afternoon he +was sitting under this tree with two of his friends, fellow-goshi, +chatting and drinking wine, when he felt all of a sudden very +drowsy,--so drowsy that he begged his friends to excuse him for taking +a nap in their presence. Then he lay down at the foot of the tree, and +dreamed this dream:-- + +He thought that as he was lying there in his garden, he saw a +procession, like the train of some great daimyo descending a hill near +by, and that he got up to look at it. A very grand procession it proved +to be,--more imposing than anything of the kind which he had ever seen +before; and it was advancing toward his dwelling. He observed in the +van of it a number of young men richly appareled, who were drawing a +great lacquered palace-carriage, or gosho-guruma, hung with bright blue +silk. When the procession arrived within a short distance of the house +it halted; and a richly dressed man--evidently a person of +rank--advanced from it, approached Akinosuke, bowed to him profoundly, +and then said:-- + +"Honored Sir, you see before you a kerai [vassal] of the Kokuo of +Tokoyo. [1] My master, the King, commands me to greet you in his august +name, and to place myself wholly at your disposal. He also bids me +inform you that he augustly desires your presence at the palace. Be +therefore pleased immediately to enter this honorable carriage, which +he has sent for your conveyance." + +Upon hearing these words Akinosuke wanted to make some fitting reply; +but he was too much astonished and embarrassed for speech;--and in the +same moment his will seemed to melt away from him, so that he could +only do as the kerai bade him. He entered the carriage; the kerai took +a place beside him, and made a signal; the drawers, seizing the silken +ropes, turned the great vehicle southward;--and the journey began. + +In a very short time, to Akinosuke's amazement, the carriage stopped in +front of a huge two-storied gateway (romon), of a Chinese style, which +he had never before seen. Here the kerai dismounted, saying, "I go to +announce the honorable arrival,"--and he disappeared. After some little +waiting, Akinosuke saw two noble-looking men, wearing robes of purple +silk and high caps of the form indicating lofty rank, come from the +gateway. These, after having respectfully saluted him, helped him to +descend from the carriage, and led him through the great gate and +across a vast garden, to the entrance of a palace whose front appeared +to extend, west and east, to a distance of miles. Akinosuke was then +shown into a reception-room of wonderful size and splendor. His guides +conducted him to the place of honor, and respectfully seated themselves +apart; while serving-maids, in costume of ceremony, brought +refreshments. When Akinosuke had partaken of the refreshments, the two +purple-robed attendants bowed low before him, and addressed him in the +following words,--each speaking alternately, according to the etiquette +of courts:-- + + +"It is now our honorable duty to inform you... as to the reason of your +having been summoned hither... Our master, the King, augustly desires +that you become his son-in-law;... and it is his wish and command that +you shall wed this very day... the August Princess, his +maiden-daughter... We shall soon conduct you to the presence-chamber... +where His Augustness even now is waiting to receive you... But it will +be necessary that we first invest you... with the appropriate garments +of ceremony." [2] + +Having thus spoken, the attendants rose together, and proceeded to an +alcove containing a great chest of gold lacquer. They opened the chest, +and took from it various roes and girdles of rich material, and a +kamuri, or regal headdress. With these they attired Akinosuke as +befitted a princely bridegroom; and he was then conducted to the +presence-room, where he saw the Kokuo of Tokoyo seated upon the daiza, +[3] wearing a high black cap of state, and robed in robes of yellow +silk. Before the daiza, to left and right, a multitude of dignitaries +sat in rank, motionless and splendid as images in a temple; and +Akinosuke, advancing into their midst, saluted the king with the triple +prostration of usage. The king greeted him with gracious words, and +then said:-- + +"You have already been informed as to the reason of your having been +summoned to Our presence. We have decided that you shall become the +adopted husband of Our only daughter;--and the wedding ceremony shall +now be performed." + +As the king finished speaking, a sound of joyful music was heard; and a +long train of beautiful court ladies advanced from behind a curtain to +conduct Akinosuke to the room in which he bride awaited him. + +The room was immense; but it could scarcely contain the multitude of +guests assembled to witness the wedding ceremony. All bowed down before +Akinosuke as he took his place, facing the King's daughter, on the +kneeling-cushion prepared for him. As a maiden of heaven the bride +appeared to be; and her robes were beautiful as a summer sky. And the +marriage was performed amid great rejoicing. + +Afterwards the pair were conducted to a suite of apartments that had +been prepared for them in another portion of the palace; and there they +received the congratulations of many noble persons, and wedding gifts +beyond counting. + + +Some days later Akinosuke was again summoned to the throne-room. On +this occasion he was received even more graciously than before; and the +King said to him:-- + +"In the southwestern part of Our dominion there is an island called +Raishu. We have now appointed you Governor of that island. You will +find the people loyal and docile; but their laws have not yet been +brought into proper accord with the laws of Tokoyo; and their customs +have not been properly regulated. We entrust you with the duty of +improving their social condition as far as may be possible; and We +desire that you shall rule them with kindness and wisdom. All +preparations necessary for your journey to Raishu have already been +made." + + +So Akinosuke and his bride departed from the palace of Tokoyo, +accompanied to the shore by a great escort of nobles and officials; and +they embarked upon a ship of state provided by the king. And with +favoring winds they safety sailed to Raishu, and found the good people +of that island assembled upon the beach to welcome them. + + +Akinosuke entered at once upon his new duties; and they did not prove +to be hard. During the first three years of his governorship he was +occupied chiefly with the framing and the enactment of laws; but he had +wise counselors to help him, and he never found the work unpleasant. +When it was all finished, he had no active duties to perform, beyond +attending the rites and ceremonies ordained by ancient custom. The +country was so healthy and so fertile that sickness and want were +unknown; and the people were so good that no laws were ever broken. And +Akinosuke dwelt and ruled in Raishu for twenty years more,--making in +all twenty-three years of sojourn, during which no shadow of sorrow +traversed his life. + +But in the twenty-fourth year of his governorship, a great misfortune +came upon him; for his wife, who had borne him seven children,--five +boys and two girls,--fell sick and died. She was buried, with high +pomp, on the summit of a beautiful hill in the district of Hanryoko; +and a monument, exceedingly splendid, was placed upon her grave. But +Akinosuke felt such grief at her death that he no longer cared to live. + + +Now when the legal period of mourning was over, there came to Raishu, +from the Tokoyo palace, a shisha, or royal messenger. The shisha +delivered to Akinosuke a message of condolence, and then said to him:-- + +"These are the words which our august master, the King of Tokoyo, +commands that I repeat to you: 'We will now send you back to your own +people and country. As for the seven children, they are the grandsons +and granddaughters of the King, and shall be fitly cared for. Do not, +therefore, allow your mind to be troubled concerning them.'" + +On receiving this mandate, Akinosuke submissively prepared for his +departure. When all his affairs had been settled, and the ceremony of +bidding farewell to his counselors and trusted officials had been +concluded, he was escorted with much honor to the port. There he +embarked upon the ship sent for him; and the ship sailed out into the +blue sea, under the blue sky; and the shape of the island of Raishu +itself turned blue, and then turned grey, and then vanished forever... +And Akinosuke suddenly awoke--under the cedar-tree in his own garden! + +For a moment he was stupefied and dazed. But he perceived his two +friends still seated near him,--drinking and chatting merrily. He +stared at them in a bewildered way, and cried aloud,-- + +"How strange!" + +"Akinosuke must have been dreaming," one of them exclaimed, with a +laugh. "What did you see, Akinosuke, that was strange?" + +Then Akinosuke told his dream,--that dream of three-and-twenty years' +sojourn in the realm of Tokoyo, in the island of Raishu;--and they were +astonished, because he had really slept for no more than a few minutes. + +One goshi said:-- + +"Indeed, you saw strange things. We also saw something strange while +you were napping. A little yellow butterfly was fluttering over your +face for a moment or two; and we watched it. Then it alighted on the +ground beside you, close to the tree; and almost as soon as it alighted +there, a big, big ant came out of a hole and seized it and pulled it +down into the hole. Just before you woke up, we saw that very butterfly +come out of the hole again, and flutter over your face as before. And +then it suddenly disappeared: we do not know where it went." + +"Perhaps it was Akinosuke's soul," the other goshi said;--"certainly I +thought I saw it fly into his mouth... But, even if that butterfly was +Akinosuke's soul, the fact would not explain his dream." + +"The ants might explain it," returned the first speaker. "Ants are +queer beings--possibly goblins... Anyhow, there is a big ant's nest +under that cedar-tree."... + +"Let us look!" cried Akinosuke, greatly moved by this suggestion. And +he went for a spade. + + +The ground about and beneath the cedar-tree proved to have been +excavated, in a most surprising way, by a prodigious colony of ants. +The ants had furthermore built inside their excavations; and their tiny +constructions of straw, clay, and stems bore an odd resemblance to +miniature towns. In the middle of a structure considerably larger than +the rest there was a marvelous swarming of small ants around the body +of one very big ant, which had yellowish wings and a long black head. + +"Why, there is the King of my dream!" cried Akinosuke; "and there is +the palace of Tokoyo!... How extraordinary!... Raishu ought to lie +somewhere southwest of it--to the left of that big root... Yes!--here +it is!... How very strange! Now I am sure that I can find the mountain +of Hanryoko, and the grave of the princess."... + +In the wreck of the nest he searched and searched, and at last +discovered a tiny mound, on the top of which was fixed a water-worn +pebble, in shape resembling a Buddhist monument. Underneath it he +found--embedded in clay--the dead body of a female ant. + + + + +RIKI-BAKA + + +His name was Riki, signifying Strength; but the people called him +Riki-the-Simple, or Riki-the-Fool,--"Riki-Baka,"--because he had been +born into perpetual childhood. For the same reason they were kind to +him,--even when he set a house on fire by putting a lighted match to a +mosquito-curtain, and clapped his hands for joy to see the blaze. At +sixteen years he was a tall, strong lad; but in mind he remained always +at the happy age of two, and therefore continued to play with very +small children. The bigger children of the neighborhood, from four to +seven years old, did not care to play with him, because he could not +learn their songs and games. His favorite toy was a broomstick, which +he used as a hobby-horse; and for hours at a time he would ride on that +broomstick, up and down the slope in front of my house, with amazing +peals of laughter. But at last he became troublesome by reason of his +noise; and I had to tell him that he must find another playground. He +bowed submissively, and then went off,--sorrowfully trailing his +broomstick behind him. Gentle at all times, and perfectly harmless if +allowed no chance to play with fire, he seldom gave anybody cause for +complaint. His relation to the life of our street was scarcely more +than that of a dog or a chicken; and when he finally disappeared, I did +not miss him. Months and months passed by before anything happened to +remind me of Riki. + +"What has become of Riki?" I then asked the old woodcutter who supplies +our neighborhood with fuel. I remembered that Riki had often helped him +to carry his bundles. + +"Riki-Baka?" answered the old man. "Ah, Riki is dead--poor fellow!... +Yes, he died nearly a year ago, very suddenly; the doctors said that he +had some disease of the brain. And there is a strange story now about +that poor Riki. + +"When Riki died, his mother wrote his name, 'Riki-Baka,' in the palm of +his left hand,--putting 'Riki' in the Chinese character, and 'Baka' in +kana (1). And she repeated many prayers for him,--prayers that he might +be reborn into some more happy condition. + +"Now, about three months ago, in the honorable residence of +Nanigashi-Sama (2), in Kojimachi (3), a boy was born with characters on +the palm of his left hand; and the characters were quite plain to +read,--'RIKI-BAKA'! + +"So the people of that house knew that the birth must have happened in +answer to somebody's prayer; and they caused inquiry to be made +everywhere. At last a vegetable-seller brought word to them that there +used to be a simple lad, called Riki-Baka, living in the Ushigome +quarter, and that he had died during the last autumn; and they sent two +men-servants to look for the mother of Riki. + +"Those servants found the mother of Riki, and told her what had +happened; and she was glad exceedingly--for that Nanigashi house is a +very rich and famous house. But the servants said that the family of +Nanigashi-Sama were very angry about the word 'Baka' on the child's +hand. 'And where is your Riki buried?' the servants asked. 'He is +buried in the cemetery of Zendoji,' she told them. 'Please to give us +some of the clay of his grave,' they requested. + +"So she went with them to the temple Zendoji, and showed them Riki's +grave; and they took some of the grave-clay away with them, wrapped up +in a furoshiki [1].... They gave Riki's mother some money,--ten +yen."... (4) + + +"But what did they want with that clay?" I inquired. + +"Well," the old man answered, "you know that it would not do to let the +child grow up with that name on his hand. And there is no other means +of removing characters that come in that way upon the body of a child: +you must rub the skin with clay taken from the grave of the body of the +former birth."... + + + + +HI-MAWARI + + +On the wooded hill behind the house Robert and I are looking for +fairy-rings. Robert is eight years old, comely, and very wise;--I am a +little more than seven,--and I reverence Robert. It is a glowing +glorious August day; and the warm air is filled with sharp sweet scents +of resin. + +We do not find any fairy-rings; but we find a great many pine-cones in +the high grass... I tell Robert the old Welsh story of the man who went +to sleep, unawares, inside a fairy-ring, and so disappeared for seven +years, and would never eat or speak after his friends had delivered him +from the enchantment. + +"They eat nothing but the points of needles, you know," says Robert. + +"Who?" I ask. + +"Goblins," Robert answers. + +This revelation leaves me dumb with astonishment and awe... But Robert +suddenly cries out:-- + +"There is a Harper!--he is coming to the house!" + +And down the hill we run to hear the harper... But what a harper! Not +like the hoary minstrels of the picture-books. A swarthy, sturdy, +unkempt vagabond, with black bold eyes under scowling black brows. More +like a bricklayer than a bard,--and his garments are corduroy! + +"Wonder if he is going to sing in Welsh?" murmurs Robert. + +I feel too much disappointed to make any remarks. The harper poses his +harp--a huge instrument--upon our doorstep, sets all the strong ringing +with a sweep of his grimy fingers, clears his throat with a sort of +angry growl, and begins,-- + + Believe me, if all those endearing young charms, + Which I gaze on so fondly to-day... + + +The accent, the attitude, the voice, all fill me with repulsion +unutterable,--shock me with a new sensation of formidable vulgarity. I +want to cry out loud, "You have no right to sing that song!" For I have +heard it sung by the lips of the dearest and fairest being in my little +world;--and that this rude, coarse man should dare to sing it vexes me +like a mockery,--angers me like an insolence. But only for a moment!... +With the utterance of the syllables "to-day," that deep, grim voice +suddenly breaks into a quivering tenderness indescribable;--then, +marvelously changing, it mellows into tones sonorous and rich as the +bass of a great organ,--while a sensation unlike anything ever felt +before takes me by the throat... What witchcraft has he learned? what +secret has he found--this scowling man of the road?... Oh! is there +anybody else in the whole world who can sing like that?... And the form +of the singer flickers and dims;--and the house, and the lawn, and all +visible shapes of things tremble and swim before me. Yet instinctively +I fear that man;--I almost hate him; and I feel myself flushing with +anger and shame because of his power to move me thus... + + +"He made you cry," Robert compassionately observes, to my further +confusion,--as the harper strides away, richer by a gift of sixpence +taken without thanks... "But I think he must be a gipsy. Gipsies are +bad people--and they are wizards... Let us go back to the wood." + +We climb again to the pines, and there squat down upon the sun-flecked +grass, and look over town and sea. But we do not play as before: the +spell of the wizard is strong upon us both... "Perhaps he is a goblin," +I venture at last, "or a fairy?" "No," says Robert,--"only a gipsy. But +that is nearly as bad. They steal children, you know."... + +"What shall we do if he comes up here?" I gasp, in sudden terror at the +lonesomeness of our situation. + +"Oh, he wouldn't dare," answers Robert--"not by daylight, you know."... + + +[Only yesterday, near the village of Takata, I noticed a flower which +the Japanese call by nearly the same name as we do: Himawari, "The +Sunward-turning;"--and over the space of forty years there thrilled +back to me the voice of that wandering harper,-- + + As the Sunflower turns on her god, when he sets, + The same look that she turned when he rose. + +Again I saw the sun-flecked shadows on that far Welsh hill; and Robert +for a moment again stood beside me, with his girl's face and his curls +of gold. We were looking for fairy-rings... But all that existed of the +real Robert must long ago have suffered a sea-change into something +rich and strange... Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay +down his life for his friend...] + + + + +HORAI + + +Blue vision of depth lost in height,--sea and sky interblending through +luminous haze. The day is of spring, and the hour morning. + +Only sky and sea,--one azure enormity... In the fore, ripples are +catching a silvery light, and threads of foam are swirling. But a +little further off no motion is visible, nor anything save color: dim +warm blue of water widening away to melt into blue of air. Horizon +there is none: only distance soaring into space,--infinite concavity +hollowing before you, and hugely arching above you,--the color +deepening with the height. But far in the midway-blue there hangs a +faint, faint vision of palace towers, with high roofs horned and curved +like moons,--some shadowing of splendor strange and old, illumined by a +sunshine soft as memory. + +...What I have thus been trying to describe is a kakemono,--that is to +say, a Japanese painting on silk, suspended to the wall of my +alcove;--and the name of it is Shinkiro, which signifies "Mirage." But +the shapes of the mirage are unmistakable. Those are the glimmering +portals of Horai the blest; and those are the moony roofs of the Palace +of the Dragon-King;--and the fashion of them (though limned by a +Japanese brush of to-day) is the fashion of things Chinese, twenty-one +hundred years ago... + + +Thus much is told of the place in the Chinese books of that time:-- + +In Horai there is neither death nor pain; and there is no winter. The +flowers in that place never fade, and the fruits never fail; and if a +man taste of those fruits even but once, he can never again feel thirst +or hunger. In Horai grow the enchanted plants So-rin-shi, and +Riku-go-aoi, and Ban-kon-to, which heal all manner of sickness;--and +there grows also the magical grass Yo-shin-shi, that quickens the dead; +and the magical grass is watered by a fairy water of which a single +drink confers perpetual youth. The people of Horai eat their rice out +of very, very small bowls; but the rice never diminishes within those +bowls,--however much of it be eaten,--until the eater desires no more. +And the people of Horai drink their wine out of very, very small cups; +but no man can empty one of those cups,--however stoutly he may +drink,--until there comes upon him the pleasant drowsiness of +intoxication. + + +All this and more is told in the legends of the time of the Shin +dynasty. But that the people who wrote down those legends ever saw +Horai, even in a mirage, is not believable. For really there are no +enchanted fruits which leave the eater forever satisfied,--nor any +magical grass which revives the dead,--nor any fountain of fairy +water,--nor any bowls which never lack rice,--nor any cups which never +lack wine. It is not true that sorrow and death never enter +Horai;--neither is it true that there is not any winter. The winter in +Horai is cold;--and winds then bite to the bone; and the heaping of +snow is monstrous on the roofs of the Dragon-King. + +Nevertheless there are wonderful things in Horai; and the most +wonderful of all has not been mentioned by any Chinese writer. I mean +the atmosphere of Horai. It is an atmosphere peculiar to the place; +and, because of it, the sunshine in Horai is whiter than any other +sunshine,--a milky light that never dazzles,--astonishingly clear, but +very soft. This atmosphere is not of our human period: it is enormously +old,--so old that I feel afraid when I try to think how old it is;--and +it is not a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen. It is not made of air at +all, but of ghost,--the substance of quintillions of quintillions of +generations of souls blended into one immense translucency,--souls of +people who thought in ways never resembling our ways. Whatever mortal +man inhales that atmosphere, he takes into his blood the thrilling of +these spirits; and they change the sense within him,--reshaping his +notions of Space and Time,--so that he can see only as they used to +see, and feel only as they used to feel, and think only as they used to +think. Soft as sleep are these changes of sense; and Horai, discerned +across them, might thus be described:-- + + +--Because in Horai there is no knowledge of great evil, the hearts of +the people never grow old. And, by reason of being always young in +heart, the people of Horai smile from birth until death--except when +the Gods send sorrow among them; and faces then are veiled until the +sorrow goes away. All folk in Horai love and trust each other, as if +all were members of a single household;--and the speech of the women is +like birdsong, because the hearts of them are light as the souls of +birds;--and the swaying of the sleeves of the maidens at play seems a +flutter of wide, soft wings. In Horai nothing is hidden but grief, +because there is no reason for shame;--and nothing is locked away, +because there could not be any theft;--and by night as well as by day +all doors remain unbarred, because there is no reason for fear. And +because the people are fairies--though mortal--all things in Horai, +except the Palace of the Dragon-King, are small and quaint and +queer;--and these fairy-folk do really eat their rice out of very, very +small bowls, and drink their wine out of very, very small cups... + + +--Much of this seeming would be due to the inhalation of that ghostly +atmosphere--but not all. For the spell wrought by the dead is only the +charm of an Ideal, the glamour of an ancient hope;--and something of +that hope has found fulfillment in many hearts,--in the simple beauty +of unselfish lives,--in the sweetness of Woman... + +--Evil winds from the West are blowing over Horai; and the magical +atmosphere, alas! is shrinking away before them. It lingers now in +patches only, and bands,--like those long bright bands of cloud that +train across the landscapes of Japanese painters. Under these shreds of +the elfish vapor you still can find Horai--but not everywhere... +Remember that Horai is also called Shinkiro, which signifies +Mirage,--the Vision of the Intangible. And the Vision is fading,--never +again to appear save in pictures and poems and dreams... + + + + +INSECT STUDIES + + +BUTTERFLIES + +I + + +Would that I could hope for the luck of that Chinese scholar known to +Japanese literature as "Rosan"! For he was beloved by two +spirit-maidens, celestial sisters, who every ten days came to visit him +and to tell him stories about butterflies. Now there are marvelous +Chinese stories about butterflies--ghostly stories; and I want to know +them. But never shall I be able to read Chinese, nor even Japanese; and +the little Japanese poetry that I manage, with exceeding difficulty, to +translate, contains so many allusions to Chinese stories of butterflies +that I am tormented with the torment of Tantalus... And, of course, no +spirit-maidens will even deign to visit so skeptical a person as myself. + +I want to know, for example, the whole story of that Chinese maiden +whom the butterflies took to be a flower, and followed in +multitude,--so fragrant and so fair was she. Also I should like to know +something more concerning the butterflies of the Emperor Genso, or Ming +Hwang, who made them choose his loves for him... He used to hold +wine-parties in his amazing garden; and ladies of exceeding beauty were +in attendance; and caged butterflies, set free among them, would fly to +the fairest; and then, upon that fairest the Imperial favor was +bestowed. But after Genso Kotei had seen Yokihi (whom the Chinese call +Yang-Kwei-Fei), he would not suffer the butterflies to choose for +him,--which was unlucky, as Yokihi got him into serious trouble... +Again, I should like to know more about the experience of that Chinese +scholar, celebrated in Japan under the name Soshu, who dreamed that he +was a butterfly, and had all the sensations of a butterfly in that +dream. For his spirit had really been wandering about in the shape of a +butterfly; and, when he awoke, the memories and the feelings of +butterfly existence remained so vivid in his mind that he could not act +like a human being... Finally I should like to know the text of a +certain Chinese official recognition of sundry butterflies as the +spirits of an Emperor and of his attendants... + + +Most of the Japanese literature about butterflies, excepting some +poetry, appears to be of Chinese origin; and even that old national +aesthetic feeling on the subject, which found such delightful +expression in Japanese art and song and custom, may have been first +developed under Chinese teaching. Chinese precedent doubtless explains +why Japanese poets and painters chose so often for their geimyo, or +professional appellations, such names as Chomu ("Butterfly-Dream)," +Icho ("Solitary Butterfly)," etc. And even to this day such geimyo as +Chohana ("Butterfly-Blossom"), Chokichi ("Butterfly-Luck"), or +Chonosuke ("Butterfly-Help"), are affected by dancing-girls. Besides +artistic names having reference to butterflies, there are still in use +real personal names (yobina) of this kind,--such as Kocho, or Cho, +meaning "Butterfly." They are borne by women only, as a rule,--though +there are some strange exceptions... And here I may mention that, in +the province of Mutsu, there still exists the curious old custom of +calling the youngest daughter in a family Tekona,--which quaint word, +obsolete elsewhere, signifies in Mutsu dialect a butterfly. In classic +time this word signified also a beautiful woman... + + +It is possible also that some weird Japanese beliefs about butterflies +are of Chinese derivation; but these beliefs might be older than China +herself. The most interesting one, I think, is that the soul of a +living person may wander about in the form of a butterfly. Some pretty +fancies have been evolved out of this belief,--such as the notion that +if a butterfly enters your guest-room and perches behind the bamboo +screen, the person whom you most love is coming to see you. That a +butterfly may be the spirit of somebody is not a reason for being +afraid of it. Nevertheless there are times when even butterflies can +inspire fear by appearing in prodigious numbers; and Japanese history +records such an event. When Taira-no-Masakado was secretly preparing +for his famous revolt, there appeared in Kyoto so vast a swarm of +butterflies that the people were frightened,--thinking the apparition +to be a portent of coming evil... Perhaps those butterflies were +supposed to be the spirits of the thousands doomed to perish in battle, +and agitated on the eve of war by some mysterious premonition of death. + +However, in Japanese belief, a butterfly may be the soul of a dead +person as well as of a living person. Indeed it is a custom of souls to +take butterfly-shape in order to announce the fact of their final +departure from the body; and for this reason any butterfly which +enters a house ought to be kindly treated. + +To this belief, and to queer fancies connected with it, there are many +allusions in popular drama. For example, there is a well-known play +called Tonde-deru-Kocho-no-Kanzashi; or, "The Flying Hairpin of Kocho." +Kocho is a beautiful person who kills herself because of false +accusations and cruel treatment. Her would-be avenger long seeks in +vain for the author of the wrong. But at last the dead woman's hairpin +turns into a butterfly, and serves as a guide to vengeance by hovering +above the place where the villain is hiding. + + +--Of course those big paper butterflies (o-cho and me-cho) which figure +at weddings must not be thought of as having any ghostly signification. +As emblems they only express the joy of living union, and the hope that +the newly married couple may pass through life together as a pair of +butterflies flit lightly through some pleasant garden,--now hovering +upward, now downward, but never widely separating. + + +II + +A small selection of hokku (1) on butterflies will help to illustrate +Japanese interest in the aesthetic side of the subject. Some are +pictures only,--tiny color-sketches made with seventeen syllables; some +are nothing more than pretty fancies, or graceful suggestions;--but the +reader will find variety. Probably he will not care much for the verses +in themselves. The taste for Japanese poetry of the epigrammatic sort +is a taste that must be slowly acquired; and it is only by degrees, +after patient study, that the possibilities of such composition can be +fairly estimated. Hasty criticism has declared that to put forward any +serious claim on behalf of seventeen-syllable poems "would be absurd." +But what, then, of Crashaw's famous line upon the miracle at the +marriage feast in Cana?-- + + Nympha pudica Deum vidit, et erubuit. [1] + +Only fourteen syllables--and immortality. Now with seventeen Japanese +syllables things quite as wonderful--indeed, much more wonderful--have +been done, not once or twice, but probably a thousand times... However, +there is nothing wonderful in the following hokku, which have been +selected for more than literary reasons:-- + + Nugi-kakuru [2] + Haori sugata no + Kocho kana! + +[Like a haori being taken off--that is the shape of a butterfly!] + + + Torisashi no + Sao no jama suru + Kocho kana! + +[Ah, the butterfly keeps getting in the way of the bird-catcher's pole! +[3]] + + + Tsurigane ni + Tomarite nemuru + Kocho kana! + +[Perched upon the temple-bell, the butterfly sleeps:] + + + Neru-uchi mo + Asobu-yume wo ya-- + Kusa no cho! + +[Even while sleeping, its dream is of play--ah, the butterfly of the +grass! [4] + + + Oki, oki yo! + Waga tomo ni sen, + Neru-kocho! + +[Wake up! wake up!--I will make thee my comrade, thou sleeping +butterfly. [5]] + + + Kago no tori + Cho wo urayamu + Metsuki kana! + +[Ah, the sad expression in the eyes of that caged bird!--envying the +butterfly!] + + + Cho tonde-- + Kaze naki hi to mo + Miezari ki! + +[Even though it did not appear to be a windy day, [6] the fluttering of +the butterflies--!] + + + Rakkwa eda ni + Kaeru to mireba-- + Kocho kana! + +[When I saw the fallen flower return to the branch--lo! it was only a +butterfly! [7]] + + Chiru-hana ni-- + Karusa arasou + Kocho kana! + +[How the butterfly strives to compete in lightness with the falling +flowers! [8]] + + + Chocho ya! + Onna no michi no + Ato ya saki! + +[See that butterfly on the woman's path,--now fluttering behind her, +now before!] + + + Chocho ya! + Hana-nusubito wo + Tsukete-yuku! + +[Ha! the butterfly!--it is following the person who stole the flowers!] + + + Aki no cho + Tomo nakereba ya; + Hito ni tsuku + +[Poor autumn butterfly!--when left without a comrade (of its own race), +it follows after man (or "a person")!] + + Owarete mo, + Isoganu furi no + Chocho kana! + +[Ah, the butterfly! Even when chased, it never has the air of being in +a hurry.] + + Cho wa mina + Jiu-shichi-hachi no + Sugata kana! + +[As for butterflies, they all have the appearance of being about +seventeen or eighteen years old.[9]] + + + Cho tobu ya-- + Kono yo no urami + Naki yo ni! + +[How the butterfly sports,--just as if there were no enmity (or "envy") +in this world!] + + + Cho tobu ya, + Kono yo ni nozomi + Nai yo ni! + +[Ah, the butterfly!--it sports about as if it had nothing more to +desire in this present state of existence.] + + + Nami no hana ni + Tomari kanetaru, + Kocho kana! + +[Having found it difficult indeed to perch upon the (foam-) blossoms of +the waves,--alas for the butterfly!] + + + Mutsumashi ya!-- + Umare-kawareba + Nobe no cho. [10] + +[If (in our next existence) we be born into the state of butterflies +upon the moor, then perchance we may be happy together!] + + + Nadeshiko ni + Chocho shiroshi-- + Tare no kon? [11] + +[On the pink-flower there is a white butterfly: whose spirit, I wonder?] + + + Ichi-nichi no + Tsuma to miekeri-- + Cho futatsu. + +[The one-day wife has at last appeared--a pair of butterflies!] + + + Kite wa mau, + Futari shidzuka no + Kocho kana! + +[Approaching they dance; but when the two meet at last they are very +quiet, the butterflies!] + + + Cho wo ou + Kokoro-mochitashi + Itsumademo! + +[Would that I might always have the heart (desire) of chasing +butterflies![12]] + + * * * + +Besides these specimens of poetry about butterflies, I have one queer +example to offer of Japanese prose literature on the same topic. The +original, of which I have attempted only a free translation, can be +found in the curious old book Mushi-Isame ("Insect-Admonitions"); and +it assumes the form of a discourse to a butterfly. But it is really a +didactic allegory,--suggesting the moral significance of a social rise +and fall:-- + + +"Now, under the sun of spring, the winds are gentle, and flowers pinkly +bloom, and grasses are soft, and the hearts of people are glad. +Butterflies everywhere flutter joyously: so many persons now compose +Chinese verses and Japanese verses about butterflies. + +"And this season, O Butterfly, is indeed the season of your bright +prosperity: so comely you now are that in the whole world there is +nothing more comely. For that reason all other insects admire and envy +you;--there is not among them even one that does not envy you. Nor do +insects alone regard you with envy: men also both envy and admire you. +Soshu of China, in a dream, assumed your shape;--Sakoku of Japan, after +dying, took your form, and therein made ghostly apparition. Nor is the +envy that you inspire shared only by insects and mankind: even things +without soul change their form into yours;--witness the barley-grass, +which turns into a butterfly. [13] + +"And therefore you are lifted up with pride, and think to yourself: 'In +all this world there is nothing superior to me!' Ah! I can very well +guess what is in your heart: you are too much satisfied with your own +person. That is why you let yourself be blown thus lightly about by +every wind;--that is why you never remain still,--always, always +thinking, 'In the whole world there is no one so fortunate as I.' + +"But now try to think a little about your own personal history. It is +worth recalling; for there is a vulgar side to it. How a vulgar side? +Well, for a considerable time after you were born, you had no such +reason for rejoicing in your form. You were then a mere cabbage-insect, +a hairy worm; and you were so poor that you could not afford even one +robe to cover your nakedness; and your appearance was altogether +disgusting. Everybody in those days hated the sight of you. Indeed you +had good reason to be ashamed of yourself; and so ashamed you were that +you collected old twigs and rubbish to hide in, and you made a +hiding-nest, and hung it to a branch,--and then everybody cried out to +you, 'Raincoat Insect!' (Mino-mushi.) [14] And during that period of +your life, your sins were grievous. Among the tender green leaves of +beautiful cherry-trees you and your fellows assembled, and there made +ugliness extraordinary; and the expectant eyes of the people, who came +from far away to admire the beauty of those cherry-trees, were hurt by +the sight of you. And of things even more hateful than this you were +guilty. You knew that poor, poor men and women had been cultivating +daikon (2) in their fields,--toiling under the hot sun till their +hearts were filled with bitterness by reason of having to care for that +daikon; and you persuaded your companions to go with you, and to gather +upon the leaves of that daikon, and on the leaves of other vegetables +planted by those poor people. Out of your greediness you ravaged those +leaves, and gnawed them into all shapes of ugliness,--caring nothing +for the trouble of those poor folk... Yes, such a creature you were, +and such were your doings. + +"And now that you have a comely form, you despise your old comrades, +the insects; and, whenever you happen to meet any of them, you pretend +not to know them [literally, 'You make an I-don't-know face']. Now you +want to have none but wealthy and exalted people for friends... Ah! You +have forgotten the old times, have you? + +"It is true that many people have forgotten your past, and are charmed +by the sight of your present graceful shape and white wings, and write +Chinese verses and Japanese verses about you. The high-born damsel, who +could not bear even to look at you in your former shape, now gazes at +you with delight, and wants you to perch upon her hairpin, and holds +out her dainty fan in the hope that you will light upon it. But this +reminds me that there is an ancient Chinese story about you, which is +not pretty. + +"In the time of the Emperor Genso, the Imperial Palace contained +hundreds and thousands of beautiful ladies,--so many, indeed, that it +would have been difficult for any man to decide which among them was +the loveliest. So all of those beautiful persons were assembled +together in one place; and you were set free to fly among them; and it +was decreed that the damsel upon whose hairpin you perched should be +augustly summoned to the Imperial Chamber. In that time there could not +be more than one Empress--which was a good law; but, because of you, +the Emperor Genso did great mischief in the land. For your mind is +light and frivolous; and although among so many beautiful women there +must have been some persons of pure heart, you would look for nothing +but beauty, and so betook yourself to the person most beautiful in +outward appearance. Therefore many of the female attendants ceased +altogether to think about the right way of women, and began to study +how to make themselves appear splendid in the eyes of men. And the end +of it was that the Emperor Genso died a pitiful and painful death--all +because of your light and trifling mind. Indeed, your real character +can easily be seen from your conduct in other matters. There are trees, +for example,--such as the evergreen-oak and the pine,--whose leaves do +not fade and fall, but remain always green;--these are trees of firm +heart, trees of solid character. But you say that they are stiff and +formal; and you hate the sight of them, and never pay them a visit. +Only to the cherry-tree, and the kaido [15], and the peony, and the +yellow rose you go: those you like because they have showy flowers, and +you try only to please them. Such conduct, let me assure you, is very +unbecoming. Those trees certainly have handsome flowers; but +hunger-satisfying fruits they have not; and they are grateful to those +only who are fond of luxury and show. And that is just the reason why +they are pleased by your fluttering wings and delicate shape;--that is +why they are kind to you. + +"Now, in this spring season, while you sportively dance through the +gardens of the wealthy, or hover among the beautiful alleys of +cherry-trees in blossom, you say to yourself: 'Nobody in the world has +such pleasure as I, or such excellent friends. And, in spite of all +that people may say, I most love the peony,--and the golden yellow rose +is my own darling, and I will obey her every least behest; for that is +my pride and my delight.'... So you say. But the opulent and elegant +season of flowers is very short: soon they will fade and fall. Then, in +the time of summer heat, there will be green leaves only; and presently +the winds of autumn will blow, when even the leaves themselves will +shower down like rain, parari-parari. And your fate will then be as the +fate of the unlucky in the proverb, Tanomi ki no shita ni ame furu +[Even through the tree upon which I relied for shelter the rain leaks +down]. For you will seek out your old friend, the root-cutting insect, +the grub, and beg him to let you return into your old-time hole;--but +now having wings, you will not be able to enter the hole because of +them, and you will not be able to shelter your body anywhere between +heaven and earth, and all the moor-grass will then have withered, and +you will not have even one drop of dew with which to moisten your +tongue,--and there will be nothing left for you to do but to lie down +and die. All because of your light and frivolous heart--but, ah! how +lamentable an end!"... + + +III + +Most of the Japanese stories about butterflies appear, as I have said, +to be of Chinese origin. But I have one which is probably indigenous; +and it seems to me worth telling for the benefit of persons who believe +there is no "romantic love" in the Far East. + + +Behind the cemetery of the temple of Sozanji, in the suburbs of the +capital, there long stood a solitary cottage, occupied by an old man +named Takahama. He was liked in the neighborhood, by reason of his +amiable ways; but almost everybody supposed him to be a little mad. +Unless a man take the Buddhist vows, he is expected to marry, and to +bring up a family. But Takahama did not belong to the religious life; +and he could not be persuaded to marry. Neither had he ever been known +to enter into a love-relation with any woman. For more than fifty years +he had lived entirely alone. + +One summer he fell sick, and knew that he had not long to live. He then +sent for his sister-in-law, a widow, and for her only son,--a lad of +about twenty years old, to whom he was much attached. Both promptly +came, and did whatever they could to soothe the old man's last hours. + +One sultry afternoon, while the widow and her son were watching at his +bedside, Takahama fell asleep. At the same moment a very large white +butterfly entered the room, and perched upon the sick man's pillow. The +nephew drove it away with a fan; but it returned immediately to the +pillow, and was again driven away, only to come back a third time. +Then the nephew chased it into the garden, and across the garden, +through an open gate, into the cemetery of the neighboring temple. But +it continued to flutter before him as if unwilling to be driven +further, and acted so queerly that he began to wonder whether it was +really a butterfly, or a ma [16]. He again chased it, and followed it +far into the cemetery, until he saw it fly against a tomb,--a woman's +tomb. There it unaccountably disappeared; and he searched for it in +vain. He then examined the monument. It bore the personal name "Akiko," +(3) together with an unfamiliar family name, and an inscription stating +that Akiko had died at the age of eighteen. Apparently the tomb had +been erected about fifty years previously: moss had begun to gather +upon it. But it had been well cared for: there were fresh flowers +before it; and the water-tank had recently been filled. + +On returning to the sick room, the young man was shocked by the +announcement that his uncle had ceased to breathe. Death had come to +the sleeper painlessly; and the dead face smiled. + +The young man told his mother of what he had seen in the cemetery. + +"Ah!" exclaimed the widow, "then it must have been Akiko!"... + +"But who was Akiko, mother?" the nephew asked. + +The widow answered:-- + +"When your good uncle was young he was betrothed to a charming girl +called Akiko, the daughter of a neighbor. Akiko died of consumption, +only a little before the day appointed for the wedding; and her +promised husband sorrowed greatly. After Akiko had been buried, he made +a vow never to marry; and he built this little house beside the +cemetery, so that he might be always near her grave. All this happened +more than fifty years ago. And every day of those fifty years--winter +and summer alike--your uncle went to the cemetery, and prayed at the +grave, and swept the tomb, and set offerings before it. But he did not +like to have any mention made of the matter; and he never spoke of +it... So, at last, Akiko came for him: the white butterfly was her +soul." + + +IV + +I had almost forgotten to mention an ancient Japanese dance, called the +Butterfly Dance (Kocho-Mai), which used to be performed in the Imperial +Palace, by dancers costumed as butterflies. Whether it is danced +occasionally nowadays I do not know. It is said to be very difficult to +learn. Six dancers are required for the proper performance of it; and +they must move in particular figures,--obeying traditional rules for +every step, pose, or gesture,--and circling about each other very slowly +to the sound of hand-drums and great drums, small flutes and great +flutes, and pandean pipes of a form unknown to Western Pan. + + + + +MOSQUITOES + +With a view to self-protection I have been reading Dr. Howard's book, +"Mosquitoes." I am persecuted by mosquitoes. There are several species +in my neighborhood; but only one of them is a serious torment,--a tiny +needly thing, all silver-speckled and silver-streaked. The puncture of +it is sharp as an electric burn; and the mere hum of it has a +lancinating quality of tone which foretells the quality of the pain +about to come,--much in the same way that a particular smell suggests a +particular taste. I find that this mosquito much resembles the creature +which Dr. Howard calls Stegomyia fasciata, or Culex fasciatus: and that +its habits are the same as those of the Stegomyia. For example, it is +diurnal rather than nocturnal and becomes most troublesome in the +afternoon. And I have discovered that it comes from the Buddhist +cemetery,--a very old cemetery,--in the rear of my garden. + + +Dr. Howard's book declares that, in order to rid a neighborhood of +mosquitoes, it is only necessary to pour a little petroleum, or +kerosene oil, into the stagnant water where they breed. Once a week the +oil should be used, "at the rate of once ounce for every fifteen square +feet of water-surface, and a proportionate quantity for any less +surface." ...But please to consider the conditions in my neighborhood! + +I have said that my tormentors come from the Buddhist cemetery. Before +nearly every tomb in that old cemetery there is a water-receptacle, or +cistern, called mizutame. In the majority of cases this mizutame is +simply an oblong cavity chiseled in the broad pedestal supporting the +monument; but before tombs of a costly kind, having no pedestal-tank, a +larger separate tank is placed, cut out of a single block of stone, and +decorated with a family crest, or with symbolic carvings. In front of a +tomb of the humblest class, having no mizutame, water is placed in cups +or other vessels,--for the dead must have water. Flowers also must be +offered to them; and before every tomb you will find a pair of bamboo +cups, or other flower-vessels; and these, of course, contain water. +There is a well in the cemetery to supply water for the graves. +Whenever the tombs are visited by relatives and friends of the dead, +fresh water is poured into the tanks and cups. But as an old cemetery +of this kind contains thousands of mizutame, and tens of thousands of +flower-vessels the water in all of these cannot be renewed every day. +It becomes stagnant and populous. The deeper tanks seldom get dry;--the +rainfall at Tokyo being heavy enough to keep them partly filled during +nine months out of the twelve. + +Well, it is in these tanks and flower-vessels that mine enemies are +born: they rise by millions from the water of the dead;--and, according +to Buddhist doctrine, some of them may be reincarnations of those very +dead, condemned by the error of former lives to the condition of +Jiki-ketsu-gaki, or blood-drinking pretas... Anyhow the malevolence of +the Culex fasciatus would justify the suspicion that some wicked human +soul had been compressed into that wailing speck of a body... + + +Now, to return to the subject of kerosene-oil, you can exterminate the +mosquitoes of any locality by covering with a film of kerosene all +stagnant water surfaces therein. The larvae die on rising to breathe; +and the adult females perish when they approach the water to launch +their rafts of eggs. And I read, in Dr. Howard's book, that the actual +cost of freeing from mosquitoes one American town of fifty thousand +inhabitants, does not exceed three hundred dollars!... + + +I wonder what would be said if the city-government of Tokyo--which is +aggressively scientific and progressive--were suddenly to command that +all water-surfaces in the Buddhist cemeteries should be covered, at +regular intervals, with a film of kerosene oil! How could the religion +which prohibits the taking of any life--even of invisible life--yield +to such a mandate? Would filial piety even dream of consenting to obey +such an order? And then to think of the cost, in labor and time, of +putting kerosene oil, every seven days, into the millions of mizutame, +and the tens of millions of bamboo flower-cups, in the Tokyo +graveyards!... Impossible! To free the city from mosquitoes it would be +necessary to demolish the ancient graveyards;--and that would signify +the ruin of the Buddhist temples attached to them;--and that would mean +the disparition of so many charming gardens, with their lotus-ponds and +Sanscrit-lettered monuments and humpy bridges and holy groves and +weirdly-smiling Buddhas! So the extermination of the Culex fasciatus +would involve the destruction of the poetry of the ancestral +cult,--surely too great a price to pay!... + + +Besides, I should like, when my time comes, to be laid away in some +Buddhist graveyard of the ancient kind,--so that my ghostly company +should be ancient, caring nothing for the fashions and the changes and +the disintegrations of Meiji (1). That old cemetery behind my garden +would be a suitable place. Everything there is beautiful with a beauty +of exceeding and startling queerness; each tree and stone has been +shaped by some old, old ideal which no longer exists in any living +brain; even the shadows are not of this time and sun, but of a world +forgotten, that never knew steam or electricity or magnetism +or--kerosene oil! Also in the boom of the big bell there is a +quaintness of tone which wakens feelings, so strangely far-away from +all the nineteenth-century part of me, that the faint blind stirrings +of them make me afraid,--deliciously afraid. Never do I hear that +billowing peal but I become aware of a striving and a fluttering in the +abyssal part of my ghost,--a sensation as of memories struggling to +reach the light beyond the obscurations of a million million deaths and +births. I hope to remain within hearing of that bell... And, +considering the possibility of being doomed to the state of a +Jiki-ketsu-gaki, I want to have my chance of being reborn in some +bamboo flower-cup, or mizutame, whence I might issue softly, singing my +thin and pungent song, to bite some people that I know. + + + + +ANTS + +I + +This morning sky, after the night's tempest, is a pure and dazzling +blue. The air--the delicious air!--is full of sweet resinous odors, +shed from the countless pine-boughs broken and strewn by the gale. In +the neighboring bamboo-grove I hear the flute-call of the bird that +praises the Sutra of the Lotos; and the land is very still by reason of +the south wind. Now the summer, long delayed, is truly with us: +butterflies of queer Japanese colors are flickering about; semi (1) are +wheezing; wasps are humming; gnats are dancing in the sun; and the ants +are busy repairing their damaged habitations... I bethink me of a +Japanese poem:-- + + Yuku e naki: + Ari no sumai ya! + Go-getsu ame. + +[Now the poor creature has nowhere to go!... Alas for the dwellings of +the ants in this rain of the fifth month!] + + +But those big black ants in my garden do not seem to need any sympathy. +They have weathered the storm in some unimaginable way, while great +trees were being uprooted, and houses blown to fragments, and roads +washed out of existence. Yet, before the typhoon, they took no other +visible precaution than to block up the gates of their subterranean +town. And the spectacle of their triumphant toil to-day impels me to +attempt an essay on Ants. + +I should have liked to preface my disquisitions with something from the +old Japanese literature,--something emotional or metaphysical. But all +that my Japanese friends were able to find for me on the +subject,--excepting some verses of little worth,--was Chinese. This +Chinese material consisted chiefly of strange stories; and one of them +seems to me worth quoting,--faute de mieux. + + * + +In the province of Taishu, in China, there was a pious man who, every +day, during many years, fervently worshiped a certain goddess. One +morning, while he was engaged in his devotions, a beautiful woman, +wearing a yellow robe, came into his chamber and stood before him. He, +greatly surprised, asked her what she wanted, and why she had entered +unannounced. She answered: "I am not a woman: I am the goddess whom you +have so long and so faithfully worshiped; and I have now come to prove +to you that your devotion has not been in vain... Are you acquainted +with the language of Ants?" The worshiper replied: "I am only a +low-born and ignorant person,--not a scholar; and even of the language +of superior men I know nothing." At these words the goddess smiled, and +drew from her bosom a little box, shaped like an incense box. She +opened the box, dipped a finger into it, and took therefrom some kind +of ointment with which she anointed the ears of the man. "Now," she +said to him, "try to find some Ants, and when you find any, stoop down, +and listen carefully to their talk. You will be able to understand it; +and you will hear of something to your advantage... Only remember that +you must not frighten or vex the Ants." Then the goddess vanished away. + +The man immediately went out to look for some Ants. He had scarcely +crossed the threshold of his door when he perceived two Ants upon a +stone supporting one of the house-pillars. He stooped over them, and +listened; and he was astonished to find that he could hear them +talking, and could understand what they said. "Let us try to find a +warmer place," proposed one of the Ants. "Why a warmer place?" asked +the other;--"what is the matter with this place?" "It is too damp and +cold below," said the first Ant; "there is a big treasure buried here; +and the sunshine cannot warm the ground about it." Then the two Ants +went away together, and the listener ran for a spade. + +By digging in the neighborhood of the pillar, he soon found a number of +large jars full of gold coin. The discovery of this treasure made him a +very rich man. + +Afterwards he often tried to listen to the conversation of Ants. But he +was never again able to hear them speak. The ointment of the goddess +had opened his ears to their mysterious language for only a single day. + + * + +Now I, like that Chinese devotee, must confess myself a very ignorant +person, and naturally unable to hear the conversation of Ants. But the +Fairy of Science sometimes touches my ears and eyes with her wand; and +then, for a little time, I am able to hear things inaudible, and to +perceive things imperceptible. + + +II + +For the same reason that it is considered wicked, in sundry circles, to +speak of a non-Christian people having produced a civilization +ethically superior to our own, certain persons will not be pleased by +what I am going to say about ants. But there are men, incomparably +wiser than I can ever hope to be, who think about insects and +civilizations independently of the blessings of Christianity; and I +find encouragement in the new Cambridge Natural History, which contains +the following remarks by Professor David Sharp, concerning ants:-- + + +"Observation has revealed the most remarkable phenomena in the lives of +these insects. Indeed we can scarcely avoid the conclusion that they +have acquired, in many respects, the art of living together in +societies more perfectly than our own species has; and that they have +anticipated us in the acquisition of some of the industries and arts +that greatly facilitate social life." + + +I suppose that a few well-informed persons will dispute this plain +statement by a trained specialist. The contemporary man of science is +not apt to become sentimental about ants or bees; but he will not +hesitate to acknowledge that, in regard to social evolution, these +insects appear to have advanced "beyond man." Mr. Herbert Spencer, whom +nobody will charge with romantic tendencies, goes considerably further +than Professor Sharp; showing us that ants are, in a very real sense, +ethically as well as economically in advance of humanity,--their lives +being entirely devoted to altruistic ends. Indeed, Professor Sharp +somewhat needlessly qualifies his praise of the ant with this cautious +observation:-- + + +"The competence of the ant is not like that of man. It is devoted to +the welfare of the species rather than to that of the individual, which +is, as it were, sacrificed or specialized for the benefit of the +community." + + +--The obvious implication,--that any social state, in which the +improvement of the individual is sacrificed to the common welfare, +leaves much to be desired,--is probably correct, from the actual human +standpoint. For man is yet imperfectly evolved; and human society has +much to gain from his further individualization. But in regard to +social insects the implied criticism is open to question. "The +improvement of the individual," says Herbert Spencer, "consists in the +better fitting of him for social cooperation; and this, being conducive +to social prosperity, is conducive to the maintenance of the race." In +other words, the value of the individual can be only in relation to the +society; and this granted, whether the sacrifice of the individual for +the sake of that society be good or evil must depend upon what the +society might gain or lose through a further individualization of its +members... But as we shall presently see, the conditions of ant-society +that most deserve our attention are the ethical conditions; and these +are beyond human criticism, since they realize that ideal of moral +evolution described by Mr. Spencer as "a state in which egoism and +altruism are so conciliated that the one merges into the other." That +is to say, a state in which the only possible pleasure is the pleasure +of unselfish action. Or, again to quote Mr. Spencer, the activities of +the insect-society are "activities which postpone individual well-being +so completely to the well-being of the community that individual life +appears to be attended to only just so far as is necessary to make +possible due attention to social life,... the individual taking only +just such food and just such rest as are needful to maintain its vigor." + + +III + +I hope my reader is aware that ants practise horticulture and +agriculture; that they are skillful in the cultivation of mushrooms; +that they have domesticated (according to present knowledge) five +hundred and eighty-four different kinds of animals; that they make +tunnels through solid rock; that they know how to provide against +atmospheric changes which might endanger the health of their children; +and that, for insects, their longevity is exceptional,--members of the +more highly evolved species living for a considerable number of years. + +But it is not especially of these matters that I wish to speak. What I +want to talk about is the awful propriety, the terrible morality, of +the ant [1]. Our most appalling ideals of conduct fall short of the +ethics of the ant,--as progress is reckoned in time,--by nothing less +than millions of years!... When I say "the ant," I mean the highest +type of ant,--not, of course, the entire ant-family. About two +thousand species of ants are already known; and these exhibit, in their +social organizations, widely varying degrees of evolution. Certain +social phenomena of the greatest biological importance, and of no less +importance in their strange relation to the subject of ethics, can be +studied to advantage only in the existence of the most highly evolved +societies of ants. + + +After all that has been written of late years about the probable value +of relative experience in the long life of the ant, I suppose that few +persons would venture to deny individual character to the ant. The +intelligence of the little creature in meeting and overcoming +difficulties of a totally new kind, and in adapting itself to +conditions entirely foreign to its experience, proves a considerable +power of independent thinking. But this at least is certain: that the +ant has no individuality capable of being exercised in a purely selfish +direction;--I am using the word "selfish" in its ordinary acceptation. +A greedy ant, a sensual ant, an ant capable of any one of the seven +deadly sins, or even of a small venial sin, is unimaginable. Equally +unimaginable, of course, a romantic ant, an ideological ant, a poetical +ant, or an ant inclined to metaphysical speculations. No human mind +could attain to the absolute matter-of-fact quality of the +ant-mind;--no human being, as now constituted, could cultivate a mental +habit so impeccably practical as that of the ant. But this +superlatively practical mind is incapable of moral error. It would be +difficult, perhaps, to prove that the ant has no religious ideas. But +it is certain that such ideas could not be of any use to it. The being +incapable of moral weakness is beyond the need of "spiritual guidance." + + +Only in a vague way can we conceive the character of ant-society, and +the nature of ant-morality; and to do even this we must try to imagine +some yet impossible state of human society and human morals. Let us, +then, imagine a world full of people incessantly and furiously +working,--all of whom seem to be women. No one of these women could be +persuaded or deluded into taking a single atom of food more than is +needful to maintain her strength; and no one of them ever sleeps a +second longer than is necessary to keep her nervous system in good +working-order. And all of them are so peculiarly constituted that the +least unnecessary indulgence would result in some derangement of +function. + +The work daily performed by these female laborers comprises +road-making, bridge-building, timber-cutting, architectural +construction of numberless kinds, horticulture and agriculture, the +feeding and sheltering of a hundred varieties of domestic animals, the +manufacture of sundry chemical products, the storage and conservation +of countless food-stuffs, and the care of the children of the race. All +this labor is done for the commonwealth--no citizen of which is capable +even of thinking about "property," except as a res publica;--and the +sole object of the commonwealth is the nurture and training of its +young,--nearly all of whom are girls. The period of infancy is long: +the children remain for a great while, not only helpless, but +shapeless, and withal so delicate that they must be very carefully +guarded against the least change of temperature. Fortunately their +nurses understand the laws of health: each thoroughly knows all that +she ought to know in regard to ventilation, disinfection, drainage, +moisture, and the danger of germs,--germs being as visible, perhaps, to +her myopic sight as they become to our own eyes under the microscope. +Indeed, all matters of hygiene are so well comprehended that no nurse +ever makes a mistake about the sanitary conditions of her neighborhood. + +In spite of this perpetual labor no worker remains unkempt: each is +scrupulously neat, making her toilet many times a day. But as every +worker is born with the most beautiful of combs and brushes attached to +her wrists, no time is wasted in the toilet-room. Besides keeping +themselves strictly clean, the workers must also keep their houses and +gardens in faultless order, for the sake of the children. Nothing less +than an earthquake, an eruption, an inundation, or a desperate war, is +allowed to interrupt the daily routine of dusting, sweeping, scrubbing, +and disinfecting. + + +IV + +Now for stranger facts:-- + +This world of incessant toil is a more than Vestal world. It is true +that males can sometimes be perceived in it; but they appear only at +particular seasons, and they have nothing whatever to do with the +workers or with the work. None of them would presume to address a +worker,--except, perhaps, under extraordinary circumstances of common +peril. And no worker would think of talking to a male;--for males, in +this queer world, are inferior beings, equally incapable of fighting or +working, and tolerated only as necessary evils. One special class of +females,--the Mothers-Elect of the race,--do condescend to consort with +males, during a very brief period, at particular seasons. But the +Mothers-Elect do not work; and they must accept husbands. A worker +could not even dream of keeping company with a male,--not merely +because such association would signify the most frivolous waste of +time, nor yet because the worker necessarily regards all males with +unspeakable contempt; but because the worker is incapable of wedlock. +Some workers, indeed, are capable of parthenogenesis, and give birth to +children who never had fathers. As a general rule, however, the worker +is truly feminine by her moral instincts only: she has all the +tenderness, the patience, and the foresight that we call "maternal;" +but her sex has disappeared, like the sex of the Dragon-Maiden in the +Buddhist legend. + +For defense against creatures of prey, or enemies of the state, the +workers are provided with weapons; and they are furthermore protected +by a large military force. The warriors are so much bigger than the +workers (in some communities, at least) that it is difficult, at first +sight, to believe them of the same race. Soldiers one hundred times +larger than the workers whom they guard are not uncommon. But all these +soldiers are Amazons,--or, more correctly speaking, semi-females. They +can work sturdily; but being built for fighting and for heavy pulling +chiefly, their usefulness is restricted to those directions in which +force, rather than skill, is required. + + +[Why females, rather than males, should have been evolutionally +specialized into soldiery and laborers may not be nearly so simple a +question as it appears. I am very sure of not being able to answer it. +But natural economy may have decided the matter. In many forms of life, +the female greatly exceeds the male in bulk and in energy;--perhaps, in +this case, the larger reserve of life-force possessed originally by the +complete female could be more rapidly and effectively utilized for the +development of a special fighting-caste. All energies which, in the +fertile female, would be expended in the giving of life seem here to +have been diverted to the evolution of aggressive power, or +working-capacity.] + + +Of the true females,--the Mothers-Elect,--there are very few indeed; +and these are treated like queens. So constantly and so reverentially +are they waited upon that they can seldom have any wishes to express. +They are relieved from every care of existence,--except the duty of +bearing offspring. Night and day they are cared for in every possible +manner. They alone are superabundantly and richly fed:--for the sake of +the offspring they must eat and drink and repose right royally; and +their physiological specialization allows of such indulgence ad +libitum. They seldom go out, and never unless attended by a powerful +escort; as they cannot be permitted to incur unnecessary fatigue or +danger. Probably they have no great desire to go out. Around them +revolves the whole activity of the race: all its intelligence and toil +and thrift are directed solely toward the well-being of these Mothers +and of their children. + +But last and least of the race rank the husbands of these Mothers,--the +necessary Evils,--the males. They appear only at a particular season, +as I have already observed; and their lives are very short. Some cannot +even boast of noble descent, though destined to royal wedlock; for they +are not royal offspring, but virgin-born,--parthenogenetic +children,--and, for that reason especially, inferior beings, the chance +results of some mysterious atavism. But of any sort of males the +commonwealth tolerates but few,--barely enough to serve as husbands for +the Mothers-Elect, and these few perish almost as soon as their duty +has been done. The meaning of Nature's law, in this extraordinary +world, is identical with Ruskin's teaching that life without effort is +crime; and since the males are useless as workers or fighters, their +existence is of only momentary importance. They are not, indeed, +sacrificed,--like the Aztec victim chosen for the festival of +Tezcatlipoca, and allowed a honeymoon of twenty days before his heart +was torn out. But they are scarcely less unfortunate in their high +fortune. Imagine youths brought up in the knowledge that they are +destined to become royal bridegrooms for a single night,--that after +their bridal they will have no moral right to live,--that marriage, for +each and all of them, will signify certain death,--and that they cannot +even hope to be lamented by their young widows, who will survive them +for a time of many generations...! + + +V + +But all the foregoing is no more than a proem to the real "Romance of +the Insect-World." + +--By far the most startling discovery in relation to this astonishing +civilization is that of the suppression of sex. In certain advanced +forms of ant-life sex totally disappears in the majority of +individuals;--in nearly all the higher ant-societies sex-life appears +to exist only to the extent absolutely needed for the continuance of +the species. But the biological fact in itself is much less startling +than the ethical suggestion which it offers;--for this practical +suppression, or regulation, of sex-faculty appears to be voluntary! +Voluntary, at least, so far as the species is concerned. It is now +believed that these wonderful creatures have learned how to develop, or +to arrest the development, of sex in their young,--by some particular +mode of nutrition. They have succeeded in placing under perfect control +what is commonly supposed to be the most powerful and unmanageable of +instincts. And this rigid restraint of sex-life to within the limits +necessary to provide against extinction is but one (though the most +amazing) of many vital economies effected by the race. Every capacity +for egoistic pleasure--in the common meaning of the word +"egoistic"--has been equally repressed through physiological +modification. No indulgence of any natural appetite is possible except +to that degree in which such indulgence can directly or indirectly +benefit the species;--even the indispensable requirements of food and +sleep being satisfied only to the exact extent necessary for the +maintenance of healthy activity. The individual can exist, act, think, +only for the communal good; and the commune triumphantly refuses, in so +far as cosmic law permits, to let itself be ruled either by Love or +Hunger. + + +Most of us have been brought up in the belief that without some kind of +religious creed--some hope of future reward or fear of future +punishment--no civilization could exist. We have been taught to think +that in the absence of laws based upon moral ideas, and in the absence +of an effective police to enforce such laws, nearly everybody would +seek only his or her personal advantage, to the disadvantage of +everybody else. The strong would then destroy the weak; pity and +sympathy would disappear; and the whole social fabric would fall to +pieces... These teachings confess the existing imperfection of human +nature; and they contain obvious truth. But those who first proclaimed +that truth, thousands and thousands of years ago, never imagined a form +of social existence in which selfishness would be naturally impossible. +It remained for irreligious Nature to furnish us with proof positive +that there can exist a society in which the pleasure of active +beneficence makes needless the idea of duty,--a society in which +instinctive morality can dispense with ethical codes of every sort,--a +society of which every member is born so absolutely unselfish, and so +energetically good, that moral training could signify, even for its +youngest, neither more nor less than waste of precious time. + + +To the Evolutionist such facts necessarily suggest that the value of +our moral idealism is but temporary; and that something better than +virtue, better than kindness, better than self-denial,--in the present +human meaning of those terms,--might, under certain conditions, +eventually replace them. He finds himself obliged to face the question +whether a world without moral notions might not be morally better than +a world in which conduct is regulated by such notions. He must even ask +himself whether the existence of religious commandments, moral laws, +and ethical standards among ourselves does not prove us still in a very +primitive stage of social evolution. And these questions naturally lead +up to another: Will humanity ever be able, on this planet, to reach an +ethical condition beyond all its ideals,--a condition in which +everything that we now call evil will have been atrophied out of +existence, and everything that we call virtue have been transmuted into +instinct;--a state of altruism in which ethical concepts and codes will +have become as useless as they would be, even now, in the societies of +the higher ants. + + +The giants of modern thought have given some attention to this +question; and the greatest among them has answered it--partly in the +affirmative. Herbert Spencer has expressed his belief that humanity +will arrive at some state of civilization ethically comparable with +that of the ant:-- + + +"If we have, in lower orders of creatures, cases in which the nature is +constitutionally so modified that altruistic activities have become one +with egoistic activities, there is an irresistible implication that a +parallel identification will, under parallel conditions, take place +among human beings. Social insects furnish us with instances completely +to the point,--and instances showing us, indeed, to what a marvelous +degree the life of the individual may be absorbed in subserving the +lives of other individuals... Neither the ant nor the bee can be +supposed to have a sense of duty, in the acceptation we give to that +word; nor can it be supposed that it is continually undergoing +self-sacrifice, in the ordinary acceptation of that word... [The facts] +show us that it is within the possibilities of organization to produce +a nature which shall be just as energetic in the pursuit of altruistic +ends, as is in other cases shown in the pursuit of egoistic ends;--and +they show that, in such cases, these altruistic ends are pursued in +pursuing ends which, on their other face, are egoistic. For the +satisfaction of the needs of the organization, these actions, conducive +to the welfare of others, must be carried on... + +. . . . . . . . + +"So far from its being true that there must go on, throughout all the +future, a condition in which self-regard is to be continually subjected +by the regard for others, it will, contrari-wise, be the case that a +regard for others will eventually become so large a source of pleasure +as to overgrow the pleasure which is derivable from direct egoistic +gratification... Eventually, then, there will come also a state in +which egoism and altruism are so conciliated that the one merges in the +other." + + +VI + +Of course the foregoing prediction does not imply that human nature +will ever undergo such physiological change as would be represented by +structural specializations comparable to those by which the various +castes of insect societies are differentiated. We are not bidden to +imagine a future state of humanity in which the active majority would +consist of semi-female workers and Amazons toiling for an inactive +minority of selected Mothers. Even in his chapter, "Human Population in +the Future," Mr. Spencer has attempted no detailed statement of the +physical modifications inevitable to the production of higher moral +types,--though his general statement in regard to a perfected nervous +system, and a great diminution of human fertility, suggests that such +moral evolution would signify a very considerable amount of physical +change. If it be legitimate to believe in a future humanity to which +the pleasure of mutual beneficence will represent the whole joy of +life, would it not also be legitimate to imagine other transformations, +physical and moral, which the facts of insect-biology have proved to be +within the range of evolutional possibility?... I do not know. I most +worshipfully reverence Herbert Spencer as the greatest philosopher who +has yet appeared in this world; and I should be very sorry to write +down anything contrary to his teaching, in such wise that the reader +could imagine it to have been inspired by Synthetic Philosophy. For the +ensuing reflections, I alone am responsible; and if I err, let the sin +be upon my own head. + + +I suppose that the moral transformations predicted by Mr. Spencer, +could be effected only with the aid of physiological change, and at a +terrible cost. Those ethical conditions manifested by insect-societies +can have been reached only through effort desperately sustained for +millions of years against the most atrocious necessities. Necessities +equally merciless may have to be met and mastered eventually by the +human race. Mr. Spencer has shown that the time of the greatest +possible human suffering is yet to come, and that it will be +concomitant with the period of the greatest possible pressure of +population. Among other results of that long stress, I understand that +there will be a vast increase in human intelligence and sympathy; and +that this increase of intelligence will be effected at the cost of +human fertility. But this decline in reproductive power will not, we +are told, be sufficient to assure the very highest of social +conditions: it will only relieve that pressure of population which has +been the main cause of human suffering. The state of perfect social +equilibrium will be approached, but never quite reached, by mankind-- + + +Unless there be discovered some means of solving economic problems, +just as social insects have solved them, by the suppression of sex-life. + + +Supposing that such a discovery were made, and that the human race +should decide to arrest the development of sex in the majority of its +young,--so as to effect a transferrence of those forces, now demanded +by sex-life to the development of higher activities,--might not the +result be an eventual state of polymorphism, like that of ants? And, in +such event, might not the Coming Race be indeed represented in its +higher types,--through feminine rather than masculine evolution,--by a +majority of beings of neither sex? + + +Considering how many persons, even now, through merely unselfish (not +to speak of religious) motives, sentence themselves to celibacy, it +should not appear improbable that a more highly evolved humanity would +cheerfully sacrifice a large proportion of its sex-life for the common +weal, particularly in view of certain advantages to be gained. Not the +least of such advantages--always supposing that mankind were able to +control sex-life after the natural manner of the ants--would be a +prodigious increase of longevity. The higher types of a humanity +superior to sex might be able to realize the dream of life for a +thousand years. + +Already we find lives too short for the work we have to do; and with +the constantly accelerating progress of discovery, and the +never-ceasing expansion of knowledge, we shall certainly find more and +more reason to regret, as time goes on, the brevity of existence. That +Science will ever discover the Elixir of the Alchemists' hope is +extremely unlikely. The Cosmic Powers will not allow us to cheat them. +For every advantage which they yield us the full price must be paid: +nothing for nothing is the everlasting law. Perhaps the price of long +life will prove to be the price that the ants have paid for it. +Perhaps, upon some elder planet, that price has already been paid, and +the power to produce offspring restricted to a caste morphologically +differentiated, in unimaginable ways, from the rest of the species... + + +VII + +But while the facts of insect-biology suggest so much in regard to the +future course of human evolution, do they not also suggest something of +largest significance concerning the relation of ethics to cosmic law? +Apparently, the highest evolution will not be permitted to creatures +capable of what human moral experience has in all areas condemned. +Apparently, the highest possible strength is the strength of +unselfishness; and power supreme never will be accorded to cruelty or +to lust. There may be no gods; but the forces that shape and dissolve +all forms of being would seem to be much more exacting than gods. To +prove a "dramatic tendency" in the ways of the stars is not possible; +but the cosmic process seems nevertheless to affirm the worth of every +human system of ethics fundamentally opposed to human egoism. + + +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- + + +Notes + + +THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HOICHI + +[1] See my Kotto, for a description of these curious crabs. + +[2] Or, Shimonoseki. The town is also known by the name of Bakkan. + +[3] The biwa, a kind of four-stringed lute, is chiefly used in musical +recitative. Formerly the professional minstrels who recited the +Heike-Monogatari, and other tragical histories, were called biwa-hoshi, +or "lute-priests." The origin of this appellation is not clear; but it +is possible that it may have been suggested by the fact that +"lute-priests" as well as blind shampooers, had their heads shaven, +like Buddhist priests. The biwa is played with a kind of plectrum, +called bachi, usually made of horn. + +(1) A response to show that one has heard and is listening attentively. + +[4] A respectful term, signifying the opening of a gate. It was used +by samurai when calling to the guards on duty at a lord's gate for +admission. + +[5] Or the phrase might be rendered, "for the pity of that part is the +deepest." The Japanese word for pity in the original text is "aware." + +[6] "Traveling incognito" is at least the meaning of the original +phrase,--"making a disguised august-journey" (shinobi no go-ryoko). + +[7] The Smaller Pragna-Paramita-Hridaya-Sutra is thus called in +Japanese. Both the smaller and larger sutras called Pragna-Paramita +("Transcendent Wisdom") have been translated by the late Professor Max +Muller, and can be found in volume xlix. of the Sacred Books of the +East ("Buddhist Mahayana Sutras").--Apropos of the magical use of the +text, as described in this story, it is worth remarking that the +subject of the sutra is the Doctrine of the Emptiness of Forms,--that +is to say, of the unreal character of all phenomena or noumena... "Form +is emptiness; and emptiness is form. Emptiness is not different from +form; form is not different from emptiness. What is form--that is +emptiness. What is emptiness--that is form... Perception, name, +concept, and knowledge, are also emptiness... There is no eye, ear, +nose, tongue, body, and mind... But when the envelopment of +consciousness has been annihilated, then he [the seeker] becomes free +from all fear, and beyond the reach of change, enjoying final Nirvana." + + +OSHIDORI + +[1] From ancient time, in the Far East, these birds have been regarded +as emblems of conjugal affection. + +[2] There is a pathetic double meaning in the third verse; for the +syllables composing the proper name Akanuma ("Red Marsh") may also be +read as akanu-ma, signifying "the time of our inseparable (or +delightful) relation." So the poem can also be thus rendered:--"When +the day began to fail, I had invited him to accompany me...! Now, after +the time of that happy relation, what misery for the one who must +slumber alone in the shadow of the rushes!"--The makomo is a short of +large rush, used for making baskets. + + +THE STORY OF O-TEI + +(1) "-sama" is a polite suffix attached to personal names. + +(2) A Buddhist term commonly used to signify a kind of heaven. + +[1] The Buddhist term zokumyo ("profane name") signifies the personal +name, borne during life, in contradistinction to the kaimyo +("sila-name") or homyo ("Law-name") given after death,--religious +posthumous appellations inscribed upon the tomb, and upon the mortuary +tablet in the parish-temple.--For some account of these, see my paper +entitled, "The Literature of the Dead," in Exotics and Retrospectives. + +[2] Buddhist household shrine. + +(3) Direct translation of a Japanese form of address used toward +young, unmarried women. + + +DIPLOMACY + +(1) The spacious house and grounds of a wealthy person is thus called. + +(2) A Buddhist service for the dead. + + +OF A MIRROR AND A BELL + +(1) Part of present-day Shizuoka Prefecture. + +(2) The two-hour period between 1 AM and 3 AM. + +(3) A monetary unit. + + +JIKININKI + +(1) The southern part of present-day Gifu Prefecture. + +[1] Literally, a man-eating goblin. The Japanese narrator gives also +the Sanscrit term, "Rakshasa;" but this word is quite as vague as +jikininki, since there are many kinds of Rakshasas. Apparently the word +jikininki signifies here one of the Baramon-Rasetsu-Gaki,--forming the +twenty-sixth class of pretas enumerated in the old Buddhist books. + +[2] A Segaki-service is a special Buddhist service performed on behalf +of beings supposed to have entered into the condition of gaki (pretas), +or hungry spirits. For a brief account of such a service, see my +Japanese Miscellany. + +[3] Literally, "five-circle [or five-zone] stone." A funeral monument +consisting of five parts superimposed,--each of a different +form,--symbolizing the five mystic elements: Ether, Air, Fire, Water, +Earth. + + +MUJINA + +(1) A kind of badger. Certain animals were thought to be able to +transform themselves and cause mischief for humans. + +[1] O-jochu ("honorable damsel"), a polite form of address used in +speaking to a young lady whom one does not know. + +(2) An apparition with a smooth, totally featureless face, called a +"nopperabo," is a stock part of the Japanese pantheon of ghosts and +demons. + +[2] Soba is a preparation of buckwheat, somewhat resembling vermicelli. + +(3) An exclamation of annoyed alarm. + +(4) Well! + + +ROKURO-KUBI + +[1] The period of Eikyo lasted from 1429 to 1441. + +[2] The upper robe of a Buddhist priest is thus called. + +(1) Present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. + +(2) A term for itinerant priests. + +[3] A sort of little fireplace, contrived in the floor of a room, is +thus described. The ro is usually a square shallow cavity, lined with +metal and half-filled with ashes, in which charcoal is lighted. + +(3) Direct translation of "suzumushi," a kind of cricket with a +distinctive chirp like a tiny bell, whence the name. + +(4) Now a rokuro-kubi is ordinarily conceived as a goblin whose neck +stretches out to great lengths, but which nevertheless always remains +attached to its body. + +(5) A Chinese collection of stories on the supernatural. + +[4] A present made to friends or to the household on returning from a +journey is thus called. Ordinarily, of course, the miyage consists of +something produced in the locality to which the journey has been made: +this is the point of Kwairyo's jest. + +(6) Present-day Nagano Prefecture. + + +A DEAD SECRET + +(1) On the present-day map, Tamba corresponds roughly to the central +area of Kyoto Prefecture and part of Hyogo Prefecture. + +[1] The Hour of the Rat (Ne-no-Koku), according to the old Japanese +method of reckoning time, was the first hour. It corresponded to the +time between our midnight and two o'clock in the morning; for the +ancient Japanese hours were each equal to two modern hours. + +[2] Kaimyo, the posthumous Buddhist name, or religious name, given to +the dead. Strictly speaking, the meaning of the word is sila-name. (See +my paper entitled, "The Literature of the Dead" in Exotics and +Retrospectives.) + + +YUKI-ONNA + +(1) An ancient province whose boundaries took in most of present-day +Tokyo, and parts of Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures. + +[1] That is to say, with a floor-surface of about six feet square. + +[2] This name, signifying "Snow," is not uncommon. On the subject of +Japanese female names, see my paper in the volume entitled Shadowings. + +(2) Also spelled Edo, the former name of Tokyo. + + +THE STORY OF AOYAGI + +(1) An ancient province corresponding to the northern part of +present-day Ishikawa Prefecture. + +(2) An ancient province corresponding to the eastern part of +present-day Fukui Prefecture. + +[1] The name signifies "Green Willow;"--though rarely met with, it is +still in use. + +[2] The poem may be read in two ways; several of the phrases having a +double meaning. But the art of its construction would need considerable +space to explain, and could scarcely interest the Western reader. The +meaning which Tomotada desired to convey might be thus +expressed:--"While journeying to visit my mother, I met with a being +lovely as a flower; and for the sake of that lovely person, I am +passing the day here... Fair one, wherefore that dawn-like blush before +the hour of dawn?--can it mean that you love me?" + +[3] Another reading is possible; but this one gives the signification +of the answer intended. + +[4] So the Japanese story-teller would have us believe,--although the +verses seem commonplace in translation. I have tried to give only their +general meaning: an effective literal translation would require some +scholarship. + + +JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA + +(1) Present-day Ehime Prefecture. + + +THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKE + +(1) Present-day Nara Prefecture. + +[1] This name "Tokoyo" is indefinite. According to circumstances it +may signify any unknown country,--or that undiscovered country from +whose bourn no traveler returns,--or that Fairyland of far-eastern +fable, the Realm of Horai. The term "Kokuo" means the ruler of a +country,--therefore a king. The original phrase, Tokoyo no Kokuo, might +be rendered here as "the Ruler of Horai," or "the King of Fairyland." + +[2] The last phrase, according to old custom, had to be uttered by +both attendants at the same time. All these ceremonial observances can +still be studied on the Japanese stage. + +[3] This was the name given to the estrade, or dais, upon which a +feudal prince or ruler sat in state. The term literally signifies +"great seat." + + +RIKI-BAKA + +(1) Kana: the Japanese phonetic alphabet. + +(2) "So-and-so": appellation used by Hearn in place of the real name. + +(3) A section of Tokyo. + +[1] A square piece of cotton-goods, or other woven material, used as a +wrapper in which to carry small packages. + +(4) Ten yen is nothing now, but was a formidable sum then. + + + + +INSECT STUDIES + +BUTTERFLIES + +(1) Haiku. + +[1] "The modest nymph beheld her God, and blushed." (Or, in a more +familiar rendering: "The modest water saw its God, and blushed.") In +this line the double value of the word nympha--used by classical poets +both in the meaning of fountain and in that of the divinity of a +fountain, or spring--reminds one of that graceful playing with words +which Japanese poets practice. + +[2] More usually written nugi-kakeru, which means either "to take off +and hang up," or "to begin to take off,"--as in the above poem. More +loosely, but more effectively, the verses might thus be rendered: "Like +a woman slipping off her haori--that is the appearance of a butterfly." +One must have seen the Japanese garment described, to appreciate the +comparison. The haori is a silk upper-dress,--a kind of sleeved +cloak,--worn by both sexes; but the poem suggests a woman's haori, +which is usually of richer color or material. The sleeves are wide; and +the lining is usually of brightly-colored silk, often beautifully +variegated. In taking off the haori, the brilliant lining is +displayed,--and at such an instant the fluttering splendor might well +be likened to the appearance of a butterfly in motion. + +[3] The bird-catcher's pole is smeared with bird-lime; and the verses +suggest that the insect is preventing the man from using his pole, by +persistently getting in the way of it,--as the birds might take warning +from seeing the butterfly limed. Jama suru means "to hinder" or +"prevent." + +[4] Even while it is resting, the wings of the butterfly may be seen +to quiver at moments,--as if the creature were dreaming of flight. + +[5] A little poem by Basho, greatest of all Japanese composers of +hokku. The verses are intended to suggest the joyous feeling of +spring-time. + +[6] Literally, "a windless day;" but two negatives in Japanese poetry +do not necessarily imply an affirmative, as in English. The meaning is, +that although there is no wind, the fluttering motion of the +butterflies suggests, to the eyes at least, that a strong breeze is +playing. + +[7] Alluding to the Buddhist proverb: Rakkwa eda ni kaerazu; ha-kyo +futatabi terasazu ("The fallen flower returns not to the branch; the +broken mirror never again reflects.") So says the proverb--yet it +seemed to me that I saw a fallen flower return to the branch... No: it +was only a butterfly. + +[8] Alluding probably to the light fluttering motion of falling +cherry-petals. + +[9] That is to say, the grace of their motion makes one think of the +grace of young girls, daintily costumed, in robes with long fluttering +sleeves... And old Japanese proverb declares that even a devil is +pretty at eighteen: Oni mo jiu-hachi azami no hana: "Even a devil at +eighteen, flower-of-the-thistle." + +[10] Or perhaps the verses might be more effectively rendered thus: +"Happy together, do you say? Yes--if we should be reborn as +field-butterflies in some future life: then we might accord!" This poem +was composed by the celebrated poet Issa, on the occasion of divorcing +his wife. + +[11] Or, Tare no tama? [Digitizer's note: Hearn's note calls +attention to an alternative reading of the ideogram for "spirit" or +"soul."] + +[12] Literally, "Butterfly-pursuing heart I wish to have +always;"--i.e., I would that I might always be able to find pleasure in +simple things, like a happy child. + +[13] An old popular error,--probably imported from China. + +[14] A name suggested by the resemblance of the larva's artificial +covering to the mino, or straw-raincoat, worn by Japanese peasants. I +am not sure whether the dictionary rendering, "basket-worm," is quite +correct;--but the larva commonly called minomushi does really construct +for itself something much like the covering of the basket-worm. + +(2) A very large, white radish. "Daikon" literally means "big root." + +[15] Pyrus spectabilis. + +[16] An evil spirit. + +(3) A common female name. + + +MOSQUITOES + +(1) Meiji: The period in which Hearn wrote this book. It lasted from +1868 to 1912, and was a time when Japan plunged head-first into +Western-style modernization. By the "fashions and the changes and the +disintegrations of Meiji" Hearn is lamenting that this process of +modernization was destroying some of the good things in traditional +Japanese culture. + + +ANTS + +(1) Cicadas. + +[1] An interesting fact in this connection is that the Japanese word +for ant, ari, is represented by an ideograph formed of the character +for "insect" combined with the character signifying "moral rectitude," +"propriety" (giri). So the Chinese character actually means "The +Propriety-Insect." + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of +Strange Things, by Lafcadio Hearn + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KWAIDAN: STORIES AND STUDIES *** + +***** This file should be named 1210.txt or 1210.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/1/1210/ + +Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +KWAIDAN: Stories and Studies of Strange Things + +By Lafcadio Hearn + + + + +A Note from the Digitizer + +On Japanese Pronunciation + + +Although simplified, the following general rules will help the reader +unfamiliar with Japanese to come close enough to Japanese pronunciation. + + +There are five vowels: a (as in fAther), i (as in machIne), u (as in +fOOl), e (as in fEllow), and o (as in mOle). Although certain vowels become +nearly "silent" in some environments, this phenomenon can be safely ignored +for the purpose at hand. + + +Consonants roughly approximate their corresponding sounds in English, +except for r, which is actually somewhere between r and l (this is why the +Japanese have trouble distinguishing between English r and l), and f, which +is much closer to h. + + +The spelling "KWAIDAN" is based on premodern Japanese pronunciation; when +Hearn came to Japan, the orthography reflecting this pronunciation was +still in use. In modern Japanese the word is pronounced KAIDAN. + + +There are many ellipses in the text. Hearn often used them in this book; +they do not represent omissions by the digitizer. + + +Author's original notes are in brackets, those by the digitizer are in +parentheses. Diacritical marks in the original are absent from this +digitized version. + + + + +KWAIDAN: Stories and Studies of Strange Things + +By Lafcadio Hearn + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + +THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HOICHI +OSHIDORI +THE STORY OF O-TEI +UBAZAKURA +DIPLOMACY +OF A MIRROR AND A BELL +JIKININKI +MUJINA +ROKURO-KUBI +A DEAD SECRET +YUKI-ONNA +THE STORY OF AOYAGI +JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA +THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKE +RIKI-BAKA +HI-MAWARI +HORAI + + INSECT STUDIES +BUTTERFLIES +MOSQUITOES +ANTS + + +INTRODUCTION + + + +The publication of a new volume of Lafcadio Hearn's exquisite studies of +Japan happens, by a delicate irony, to fall in the very month when the +world is waiting with tense expectation for news of the latest exploits of +Japanese battleships. Whatever the outcome of the present struggle between +Russia and Japan, its significance lies in the fact that a nation of the +East, equipped with Western weapons and girding itself with Western energy +of will, is deliberately measuring strength against one of the great powers +of the Occident. No one is wise enough to forecast the results of such a +conflict upon the civilization of the world. The best one can do is to +estimate, as intelligently as possible, the national characteristics of the +peoples engaged, basing one's hopes and fears upon the psychology of the +two races rather than upon purely political and statistical studies of the +complicated questions involved in the present war. The Russian people have +had literary spokesmen who for more than a generation have fascinated the +European audience. The Japanese, on the other hand, have possessed no such +national and universally recognized figures as Turgenieff or Tolstoy. They +need an interpreter. + + +It may be doubted whether any oriental race has ever had an interpreter +gifted with more perfect insight and sympathy than Lafcadio Hearn has +brought to the translation of Japan into our occidental speech. His long +residence in that country, his flexibility of mind, poetic imagination, and +wonderfully pellucid style have fitted him for the most delicate of +literary tasks. Hi has seen marvels, and he has told of them in a marvelous +way. There is scarcely an aspect of contemporary Japanese life, scarcely an +element in the social, political, and military questions involved in the +present conflict with Russia which is not made clear in one or another of +the books with which he has charmed American readers. + + +He characterizes Kwaidan as "stories and studies of strange things." A +hundred thoughts suggested by the book might be written down, but most of +them would begin and end with this fact of strangeness. To read the very +names in the table of contents is like listening to a Buddhist bell, struck +somewhere far away. Some of his tales are of the long ago, and yet they +seem to illumine the very souls and minds of the little men who are at this +hour crowding the decks of Japan's armored cruisers. But many of the +stories are about women and children,-- the lovely materials from which the +best fairy tales of the world have been woven. They too are strange, these +Japanese maidens and wives and keen-eyed, dark-haired girls and boys; they +are like us and yet not like us; and the sky and the hills and the flowers +are all different from our. Yet by a magic of which Mr. Hearn, almost alone +among contemporary writers, is the master, in these delicate, transparent, +ghostly sketches of a world unreal to us, there is a haunting sense of +spiritual reality. + + +In a penetrating and beautiful essay contributed to the "Atlantic Monthly" +in February, 1903, by Paul Elmer More, the secret of Mr. Hearn's magic is +said to lie in the fact that in his art is found "the meeting of three +ways." "To the religious instinct of India -- Buddhism in particular,-- +which history has engrafted on the aesthetic sense of Japan, Mr. Hearn +brings the interpreting spirit of occidental science; and these three +traditions are fused by the peculiar sympathies of his mind into one rich +and novel compound,-- a compound so rare as to have introduced into +literature a psychological sensation unknown before." Mr. More's essay +received the high praise of Mr. Hearn's recognition and gratitude, and if +it were possible to reprint it here, it would provide a most suggestive +introduction to these new stories of old Japan, whose substance is, as Mr. +More has said, "so strangely mingled together out of the austere dreams of +India and the subtle beauty of Japan and the relentless science of Europe." + +March, 1904. + + = = = = = = = *** = = = = = = = + + + +Most of the following Kwaidan, or Weird Tales, have been taken from old +Japanese books,-- such as the Yaso-Kidan, Bukkyo-Hyakkwa-Zensho, +Kokon-Chomonshu, Tama-Sudare, and Hyaku-Monogatari. Some of the stories may +have had a Chinese origin: the very remarkable "Dream of Akinosuke," for +example, is certainly from a Chinese source. But the story-teller, in every +case, has so recolored and reshaped his borrowing as to naturalize it... +One queer tale, "Yuki-Onna," was told me by a farmer of Chofu, +Nishitama-gori, in Musashi province, as a legend of his native village. +Whether it has ever been written in Japanese I do not know; but the +extraordinary belief which it records used certainly to exist in most parts +of Japan, and in many curious forms... The incident of "Riki-Baka" was a +personal experience; and I wrote it down almost exactly as it happened, +changing only a family-name mentioned by the Japanese narrator. + +L.H. + +Tokyo, Japan, January 20th, 1904. + + + + +KWAIDAN + + + +THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HOICHI + + + +More than seven hundred years ago, at Dan-no-ura, in the Straits of +Shimonoseki, was fought the last battle of the long contest between the +Heike, or Taira clan, and the Genji, or Minamoto clan. There the Heike +perished utterly, with their women and children, and their infant emperor +likewise -- now remembered as Antoku Tenno. And that sea and shore have +been haunted for seven hundred years... Elsewhere I told you about the +strange crabs found there, called Heike crabs, which have human faces on +their backs, and are said to be the spirits of the Heike warriors [1]. But +there are many strange things to be seen and heard along that coast. On +dark nights thousands of ghostly fires hover about the beach, or flit above +the waves,-- pale lights which the fishermen call Oni-bi, or demon-fires; +and, whenever the winds are up, a sound of great shouting comes from that +sea, like a clamor of battle. + + +In former years the Heike were much more restless than they now are. They +would rise about ships passing in the night, and try to sink them; and at +all times they would watch for swimmers, to pull them down. It was in order +to appease those dead that the Buddhist temple, Amidaji, was built at +Akamagaseki [2]. A cemetery also was made close by, near the beach; and +within it were set up monuments inscribed with the names of the drowned +emperor and of his great vassals; and Buddhist services were regularly +performed there, on behalf of the spirits of them. After the temple had +been built, and the tombs erected, the Heike gave less trouble than before; +but they continued to do queer things at intervals,-- proving that they had +not found the perfect peace. + + + +Some centuries ago there lived at Akamagaseki a blind man named Hoichi, +who was famed for his skill in recitation and in playing upon the biwa [3]. +>From childhood he had been trained to recite and to play; and while yet a +lad he had surpassed his teachers. As a professional biwa-hoshi he became +famous chiefly by his recitations of the history of the Heike and the +Genji; and it is said that when he sang the song of the battle of +Dan-no-ura "even the goblins [kijin] could not refrain from tears." + + +At the outset of his career, Hoichi was very poor; but he found a good +friend to help him. The priest of the Amidaji was fond of poetry and music; +and he often invited Hoichi to the temple, to play and recite. Afterwards, +being much impressed by the wonderful skill of the lad, the priest proposed +that Hoichi should make the temple his home; and this offer was gratefully +accepted. Hoichi was given a room in the temple-building; and, in return +for food and lodging, he was required only to gratify the priest with a +musical performance on certain evenings, when otherwise disengaged. + + + +One summer night the priest was called away, to perform a Buddhist service +at the house of a dead parishioner; and he went there with his acolyte, +leaving Hoichi alone in the temple. It was a hot night; and the blind man +sought to cool himself on the verandah before his sleeping-room. The +verandah overlooked a small garden in the rear of the Amidaji. There +Hoichi waited for the priest's return, and tried to relieve his solitude by +practicing upon his biwa. Midnight passed; and the priest did not appear. +But the atmosphere was still too warm for comfort within doors; and Hoichi +remained outside. At last he heard steps approaching from the back gate. +Somebody crossed the garden, advanced to the verandah, and halted directly +in front of him -- but it was not the priest. A deep voice called the blind +man's name -- abruptly and unceremoniously, in the manner of a samurai +summoning an inferior:-- + + +"Hoichi!" + + +"Hai!" (1) answered the blind man, frightened by the menace in the +voice,-- "I am blind! -- I cannot know who calls!" + + +"There is nothing to fear," the stranger exclaimed, speaking more gently. +"I am stopping near this temple, and have been sent to you with a message. +My present lord, a person of exceedingly high rank, is now staying in +Akamagaseki, with many noble attendants. He wished to view the scene of the +battle of Dan-no-ura; and to-day he visited that place. Having heard of +your skill in reciting the story of the battle, he now desires to hear your +performance: so you will take your biwa and come with me at once to the +house where the august assembly is waiting." + + +In those times, the order of a samurai was not to be lightly disobeyed. +Hoichi donned his sandals, took his biwa, and went away with the stranger, +who guided him deftly, but obliged him to walk very fast. The hand that +guided was iron; and the clank of the warrior's stride proved him fully +armed,-- probably some palace-guard on duty. Hoichi's first alarm was over: +he began to imagine himself in good luck; -- for, remembering the +retainer's assurance about a "person of exceedingly high rank," he thought +that the lord who wished to hear the recitation could not be less than a +daimyo of the first class. Presently the samurai halted; and Hoichi became +aware that they had arrived at a large gateway; -- and he wondered, for he +could not remember any large gate in that part of the town, except the main +gate of the Amidaji. "Kaimon!" [4] the samurai called,-- and there was a +sound of unbarring; and the twain passed on. They traversed a space of +garden, and halted again before some entrance; and the retainer cried in a +loud voice, "Within there! I have brought Hoichi." Then came sounds of feet +hurrying, and screens sliding, and rain-doors opening, and voices of womeni +n converse. By the language of the women Hoichi knew them to be domestics +in some noble household; but he could not imagine to what place he had been +conducted. Little time was allowed him for conjecture. After he had been +helped to mount several stone steps, upon the last of which he was told to +leave his sandals, a woman's hand guided him along interminable reaches of +polished planking, and round pillared angles too many to remember, and over +widths amazing of matted floor,-- into the middle of some vast apartment. +There he thought that many great people were assembled: the sound of the +rustling of silk was like the sound of leaves in a forest. He heard also a +great humming of voices,-- talking in undertones; and the speech was the +speech of courts. + + +Hoichi was told to put himself at ease, and he found a kneeling-cushion +ready for him. After having taken his place upon it, and tuned his +instrument, the voice of a woman -- whom he divined to be the Rojo, or +matron in charge of the female service -- addressed him, saying,-- + + +"It is now required that the history of the Heike be recited, to the +accompaniment of the biwa." + + +Now the entire recital would have required a time of many nights: +therefore Hoichi ventured a question:-- + + +"As the whole of the story is not soon told, what portion is it augustly +desired that I now recite?" + + +The woman's voice made answer:-- + + +"Recite the story of the battle at Dan-no-ura,-- for the pity of it is the +most deep." [5] + + +Then Hoichi lifted up his voice, and chanted the chant of the fight on the +bitter sea,-- wonderfully making his biwa to sound like the straining of +oars and the rushing of ships, the whirr and the hissing of arrows, the +shouting and trampling of men, the crashing of steel upon helmets, the +plunging of slain in the flood. And to left and right of him, in the pauses +of his playing, he could hear voices murmuring praise: "How marvelous an +artist!" -- "Never in our own province was playing heard like this!" -- +"Not in all the empire is there another singer like Hoichi!" Then fresh +courage came to him, and he played and sang yet better than before; and a +hush of wonder deepened about him. But when at last he came to tell the +fate of the fair and helpless,-- the piteous perishing of the women and +children,-- and the death-leap of Nii-no-Ama, with the imperial infant in +her arms,-- then all the listeners uttered together one long, long +shuddering cry of anguish; and thereafter they wept and wailed so loudly +and so wildly that the blind man was frightened by the violence and grief +that he had made. For much time the sobbing and the wailing continued. But +gradually the sounds of lamentation died away; and again, in the great +stillness that followed, Hoichi heard the voice of the woman whom he +supposed to be the Rojo. + + +She said:-- + + +"Although we had been assured that you were a very skillful player upon +the biwa, and without an equal in recitative, we did not know that any one +could be so skillful as you have proved yourself to-night. Our lord has +been pleased to say that he intends to bestow upon you a fitting reward. +But he desires that you shall perform before him once every night for the +next six nights -- after which time he will probably make his august +return-journey. To-morrow night, therefore, you are to come here at the +same hour. The retainer who to-night conducted you will be sent for you... +There is another matter about which I have been ordered to inform you. It +is required that you shall speak to no one of your visits here, during the +time of our lord's august sojourn at Akamagaseki. As he is traveling +incognito, [6] he commands that no mention of these things be made... You +are now free to go back to your temple." + + +After Hoichi had duly expressed his thanks, a woman's hand conducted him +to the entrance of the house, where the same retainer, who had before +guided him, was waiting to take him home. The retainer led him to the +verandah at the rear of the temple, and there bade him farewell. + + +It was almost dawn when Hoichi returned; but his absence from the temple +had not been observed,-- as the priest, coming back at a very late hour, +had supposed him asleep. During the day Hoichi was able to take some rest; +and he said nothing about his strange adventure. In the middle of the +following night the samurai again came for him, and led him to the august +assembly, where he gave another recitation with the same success that had +attended his previous performance. But during this second visit his absence +from the temple was accidentally discovered; and after his return in the +morning he was summoned to the presence of the priest, who said to him, in +a tone of kindly reproach:-- + + +"We have been very anxious about you, friend Hoichi. To go out, blind and +alone, at so late an hour, is dangerous. Why did you go without telling us? +I could have ordered a servant to accompany you. And where have you been?" + + +Hoichi answered, evasively,-- + + +"Pardon me kind friend! I had to attend to some private business; and I +could not arrange the matter at any other hour." + + +The priest was surprised, rather than pained, by Hoichi's reticence: he +felt it to be unnatural, and suspected something wrong. He feared that the +blind lad had been bewitched or deluded by some evil spirits. He did not +ask any more questions; but he privately instructed the men-servants of the +temple to keep watch upon Hoichi's movements, and to follow him in case +that he should again leave the temple after dark. + + + +On the very next night, Hoichi was seen to leave the temple; and the +servants immediately lighted their lanterns, and followed after him. But it +was a rainy night, and very dark; and before the temple-folks could get to +the roadway, Hoichi had disappeared. Evidently he had walked very fast,-- a +strange thing, considering his blindness; for the road was in a bad +condition. The men hurried through the streets, making inquiries at every +house which Hoichi was accustomed to visit; but nobody could give them any +news of him. At last, as they were returning to the temple by way of the +shore, they were startled by the sound of a biwa, furiously played, in the +cemetery of the Amidaji. Except for some ghostly fires -- such as usually +flitted there on dark nights -- all was blackness in that direction. But +the men at once hastened to the cemetery; and there, by the help of their +lanterns, they discovered Hoichi,-- sitting alone in the rain before the +memorial tomb of Antoku Tenno, making his biwa resound, and loudly chanting +the chant of the battle of Dan-no-ura. And behind him, and about him, and +everywhere above the tombs, the fires of the dead were burning, like +candles. Never before had so great a host of Oni-bi appeared in the sight +of mortal man... + + +"Hoichi San! -- Hoichi San!" the servants cried,-- "you are bewitched!... +Hoichi San!" + + +But the blind man did not seem to hear. Strenuously he made his biwa to +rattle and ring and clang; -- more and more wildly he chanted the chant of +the battle of Dan-no-ura. They caught hold of him; -- they shouted into his +ear,-- + + +"Hoichi San! -- Hoichi San! -- come home with us at once!" + + +Reprovingly he spoke to them:-- + + +"To interrupt me in such a manner, before this august assembly, will not +be tolerated." + + +Whereat, in spite of the weirdness of the thing, the servants could not +help laughing. Sure that he had been bewitched, they now seized him, and +pulled him up on his feet, and by main force hurried him back to the +temple,-- where he was immediately relieved of his wet clothes, by order of +the priest. Then the priest insisted upon a full explanation of his +friend's astonishing behavior. + + +Hoichi long hesitated to speak. But at last, finding that his conduct had +really alarmed and angered the good priest, he decided to abandon his +reserve; and he related everything that had happened from the time of first +visit of the samurai. + + +The priest said:-- + + +"Hoichi, my poor friend, you are now in great danger! How unfortunate that +you did not tell me all this before! Your wonderful skill in music has +indeed brought you into strange trouble. By this time you must be aware +that you have not been visiting any house whatever, but have been passing +your nights in the cemetery, among the tombs of the Heike; -- and it was +before the memorial-tomb of Antoku Tenno that our people to-night found +you, sitting in the rain. All that you have been imagining was illusion -- +except the calling of the dead. By once obeying them, you have put yourself +in their power. If you obey them again, after what has already occurred, +they will tear you in pieces. But they would have destroyed you, sooner or +later, in any event... Now I shall not be able to remain with you to-night: +I am called away to perform another service. But, before I go, it will be +necessary to protect your body by writing holy texts upon it." + + + +Before sundown the priest and his acolyte stripped Hoichi: then, with +their writing-brushes, they traced upon his breast and back, head and face +and neck, limbs and hands and feet,-- even upon the soles of his feet, and +upon all parts of his body,-- the text of the holy sutra called +Hannya-Shin-Kyo. [7] When this had been done, the priest instructed Hoichi, +saying:-- + + +"To-night, as soon as I go away, you must seat yourself on the verandah, +and wait. You will be called. But, whatever may happen, do not answer, and +do not move. Say nothing and sit still -- as if meditating. If you stir, or +make any noise, you will be torn asunder. Do not get frightened; and do not +think of calling for help -- because no help could save you. If you do +exactly as I tell you, the danger will pass, and you will have nothing more +to fear." + + + +After dark the priest and the acolyte went away; and Hoichi seated himself +on the verandah, according to the instructions given him. He laid his biwa +on the planking beside him, and, assuming the attitude of meditation, +remained quite still,-- taking care not to cough, or to breathe audibly. +For hours he stayed thus. + + +Then, from the roadway, he heard the steps coming. They passed the gate, +crossed the garden, approached the verandah, stopped -- directly in front +of him. + + +"Hoichi!" the deep voice called. But the blind man held his breath, and +sat motionless. + + +"Hoichi!" grimly called the voice a second time. Then a third time -- +savagely:-- + + +"Hoichi!" + + +Hoichi remained as still as a stone,-- and the voice grumbled:-- + + +"No answer! -- that won't do!... Must see where the fellow is."... + + +There was a noise of heavy feet mounting upon the verandah. The feet +approached deliberately,-- halted beside him. Then, for long minutes,-- +during which Hoichi felt his whole body shake to the beating of his +heart,-- there was dead silence. + + +At last the gruff voice muttered close to him:-- + + +"Here is the biwa; but of the biwa-player I see -- only two ears!... So +that explains why he did not answer: he had no mouth to answer with -- +there is nothing left of him but his ears... Now to my lord those ears I +will take -- in proof that the august commands have been obeyed, so far as +was possible"... + + +At that instant Hoichi felt his ears gripped by fingers of iron, and torn +off! Great as the pain was, he gave no cry. The heavy footfalls receded +along the verandah,-- descended into the garden,-- passed out to the +roadway,-- ceased. From either side of his head, the blind man felt a thick +warm trickling; but he dared not lift his hands... + + + +Before sunrise the priest came back. He hastened at once to the verandah +in the rear, stepped and slipped upon something clammy, and uttered a cry +of horror; -- for he say, by the light of his lantern, that the clamminess +was blood. But he perceived Hoichi sitting there, in the attitude of +meditation -- with the blood still oozing from his wounds. + + +"My poor Hoichi!" cried the startled priest,-- "what is this?... You have +been hurt? + + +At the sound of his friend's voice, the blind man felt safe. He burst out +sobbing, and tearfully told his adventure of the night. + + +"Poor, poor Hoichi!" the priest exclaimed,-- "all my fault! -- my very +grievous fault!... Everywhere upon your body the holy texts had been +written -- except upon your ears! I trusted my acolyte to do that part of +the work; and it was very, very wrong of me not to have made sure that he +had done it!... Well, the matter cannot now be helped; -- we can only try +to heal your hurts as soon as possible... Cheer up, friend! -- the danger +is now well over. You will never again be troubled by those visitors." + + + +With the aid of a good doctor, Hoichi soon recovered from his injuries. +The story of his strange adventure spread far and wide, and soon made him +famous. Many noble persons went to Akamagaseki to hear him recite; and +large presents of money were given to him,-- so that he became a wealthy +man... But from the time of his adventure, he was known only by the +appellation of Mimi-nashi-Hoichi: "Hoichi-the-Earless." + + + + +OSHIDORI + + +There was a falconer and hunter, named Sonjo, who lived in the district +called Tamura-no-Go, of the province of Mutsu. One day he went out hunting, +and could not find any game. But on his way home, at a place called +Akanuma, he perceived a pair of oshidori [1] (mandarin-ducks), swimming +together in a river that he was about to cross. to kill oshidori is not +good; but Sonjo happened to be very hungry, and he shot at the pair. His +arrow pierced the male: the female escaped into the rushes of the further +shore, and disappeared. Sonjo took the dead bird home, and cooked it. + + +That night he dreamed a dreary dream. It seemed to him that a beautiful +woman came into his room, and stood by his pillow, and began to weep. So +bitterly did she weep that Sonjo felt as if his heart were being torn out +while he listened. And the woman cried to him: "Why,-- oh! why did you kill +him? -- of what wrong was he guilty?... At Akanuma we were so happy +together,-- and you killed him!... What harm did he ever do you? Do you +even know what you have done? -- oh! do you know what a cruel, what a +wicked thing you have done?... Me too you have killed,-- for I will not +live without my husband!... Only to tell you this I came."... Then again +she wept aloud,-- so bitterly that the voice of her crying pierced into the +marrow of the listener's bones; -- and she sobbed out the words of this +poem:-- + + Hi kurureba +Sasoeshi mono wo -- + Akanuma no +Makomo no kure no +Hitori-ne zo uki! + +("At the coming of twilight I invited him to return with me --! Now to +sleep alone in the shadow of the rushes of Akanuma -- ah! what misery +unspeakable!") [2] + +And after having uttered these verses she exclaimed:-- "Ah, you do not know +-- you cannot know what you have done! But to-morrow, when you go to +Akanuma, you will see,-- you will see..." So saying, and weeping very +piteously, she went away. + + +When Sonjo awoke in the morning, this dream remained so vivid in his mind +that he was greatly troubled. He remembered the words:-- "But to-morrow, +when you go to Akanuma, you will see,-- you will see." And he resolved to +go there at once, that he might learn whether his dream was anything more +than a dream. + + +So he went to Akanuma; and there, when he came to the river-bank, he saw +the female oshidori swimming alone. In the same moment the bird perceived +Sonjo; but, instead of trying to escape, she swam straight towards him, +looking at him the while in a strange fixed way. Then, with her beak, she +suddenly tore open her own body, and died before the hunter's eyes... + + + +Sonjo shaved his head, and became a priest. + + + + +THE STORY OF O-TEI + + + +A long time ago, in the town of Niigata, in the province of Echizen, there +lived a man called Nagao Chosei. + + +Nagao was the son of a physician, and was educated for his father's +profession. At an early age he had been betrothed to a girl called O-Tei, +the daughter of one of his father's friends; and both families had agreed +that the wedding should take place as soon as Nagao had finished his +studies. But the health of O-Tei proved to be weak; and in her fifteenth +year she was attacked by a fatal consumption. When she became aware that +she must die, she sent for Nagao to bid him farewell. + + +As he knelt at her bedside, she said to him:-- + + +"Nagao-Sama, (1) my betrothed, we were promised to each other from the +time of our childhood; and we were to have been married at the end of this +year. But now I am goingto die; -- the gods know what is best for us. If I +were able to live for some years longer, I could only continue to be a +cause of trouble and grief for others. With this frail body, I could not be +a good wife; and therefore even to wish to live, for your sake, would be a +very selfish wish. I am quite resigned to die; and I want you to promise +that you will not grieve... Besides, I want to tell you that I think we +shall meet again."... + + +"Indeed we shall meet again," Nagao answered earnestly. "And in that Pure +Land (2) there will be no pain of separation." + + +"Nay, nay!" she responded softly, "I meant not the Pure Land. I believe +that we are destined to meet again in this world,-- although I shall be +buried to-morrow." + + +Nagao looked at her wonderingly, and saw her smile at his wonder. She +continued, in her gentle, dreamy voice,-- + + +"Yes, I mean in this world,-- in your own present life, Nagao-Sama... +Providing, indeed, that you wish it. Only, for this thing to happen, I must +again be born a girl, and grow up to womanhood. So you would have to wait. +Fifteen -- sixteen years: that is a long time... But, my promised husband, +you are now only nineteen years old."... + + +Eager to soothe her dying moments, he answered tenderly:-- + + +"To wait for you, my betrothed, were no less a joy than a duty. We are +pledged to each other for the time of seven existences." + + +"But you doubt?" she questioned, watching his face. + + +"My dear one," he answered, "I doubt whether I should be able to know you +in another body, under another name,-- unless you can tell me of a sign or +token." + + +"That I cannot do," she said. "Only the Gods and the Buddhas know how and +where we shall meet. But I am sure -- very, very sure -- that, if you be +not unwilling to receive me, I shall be able to come back to you... +Remember these words of mine."... + + +She ceased to speak; and her eyes closed. She was dead. + +* * * + + + +Nagao had been sincerely attached to O-Tei; and his grief was deep. He had +a mortuary tablet made, inscribed with her zokumyo; [1] and he placed the +tablet in his butsudan, [2] and every day set offerings before it. He +thought a great deal about the strange things that O-Tei had said to him +just before her death; and, in the hope of pleasing her spirit, he wrote a +solemn promise to wed her if she could ever return to him in another body. +This written promise he sealed with his seal, and placed in the butsudan +beside the mortuary tablet of O-Tei. + + + +Nevertheless, as Nagao was an only son, it was necessary that he should +marry. He soon found himself obliged to yield to the wishes of his family, +and to accept a wife of his father's choosing. After his marriage he +continued to set offerings before the tablet of O-Tei; and he never failed +to remember her with affection. But by degrees her image became dim in his +memory,-- like a dream that is hard to recall. And the years went by. + + +During those years many misfortunes came upon him. He lost his parents by +death,-- then his wife and his only child. So that he found himself alone +in the world. He abandoned his desolate home, and set out upon a long +journey in the hope of forgetting his sorrows. + + + +One day, in the course of his travels, he arrived at Ikao,-- a +mountain-village still famed for its thermal springs, and for the beautiful +scenery of its neighborhood. In the village-inn at which he stopped, a +young girl came to wait upon him; and, at the first sight of her face, he +felt his heart leap as it had never leaped before. So strangely did she +resemble O-Tei that he pinched himself to make sure that he was not +dreaming. As she went and came,-- bringing fire and food, or arranging the +chamber of the guest,-- her every attitude and motion revived in him some +gracious memory of the girl to whom he had been pledged in his youth. He +spoke to her; and she responded in a soft, clear voice of which the +sweetness saddened him with a sadness of other days. + + +Then, in great wonder, he questioned her, saying:-- + + +"Elder Sister (3), so much do you look like a person whom I knew long ago, +that I was startled when you first entered this room. Pardon me, therefore, +for asking what is your native place, and what is your name?" + + +Immediately,-- and in the unforgotten voice of the dead,-- she thus made +answer:-- + + +"My name is O-Tei; and you are Nagao Chosei of Echigo, my promised +husband. Seventeen years ago, I died in Niigata: then you made in writing a +promise to marry me if ever I could come back to this world in the body of +a woman; -- and you sealed that written promise with your seal, and put it +in the butsudan, beside the tablet inscribed with my name. And therefore I +came back."... + + +As she uttered these last words, she fell unconscious. + + + +Nagao married her; and the marriage was a happy one. But at no time +afterwards could she remember what she had told him in answer to his +question at Ikao: neither could she remember anything of her previous +existence. The recollection of the former birth,-- mysteriously kindled in +the moment of that meeting,-- had again become obscured, and so thereafter +remained. + + + + +UBAZAKURA + + + +Three hundred years ago, in the village called Asamimura, in the district +called Onsengori, in the province of Iyo, there lived a good man named +Tokubei. This Tokubei was the richest person in the district, and the +muraosa, or headman, of the village. In most matters he was fortunate; but +he reached the age of forty without knowing the happiness of becoming a +father. Therefore he and his wife, in the affliction of their +childlessness, addressed many prayers to the divinity Fudo Myo O, who had a +famous temple, called Saihoji, in Asamimura. + + +At last their prayers were heard: the wife of Tokubei gave birth to a +daughter. The child was very pretty; and she received the name of Tsuyu. As +the mother's milk was deficient, a milk-nurse, called O-Sode, was hired for +the little one. + + +O-Tsuyu grew up to be a very beautiful girl; but at the age of fifteen she +fell sick, and the doctors thought that she was going to die. In that time +the nurse O-Sode, who loved O-Tsuyu with a real mother's love, went to the +temple Saihoji, and fervently prayed to Fudo-Sama on behalf of the girl. +Every day, for twenty-one days, she went to the temple and prayed; and at +the end of that time, O-Tsuyu suddenly and completely recovered. + + +Then there was great rejoicing in the house of Tokubei; and he gave a +feast to all his friends in celebration of the happy event. But on the +night of the feast the nurse O-Sode was suddenly taken ill; and on the +following morning, the doctor, who had been summoned to attend her, +announced that she was dying. + + +Then the family, in great sorrow, gathered about her bed, to bid her +farewell. But she said to them:-- + + +"It is time that I should tell you something which you do not know. My +prayer has been heard. I besought Fudo-Sama that I might be permitted to +die in the place of O-Tsuyu; and this great favor has been granted me. +Therefore you must not grieve about my death... But I have one request to +make. I promised Fudo-Sama that I would have a cherry-tree planted in the +garden of Saihoji, for a thank-offering and a commemoration. Now I shall +not be able myself to plant the tree there: so I must beg that you will +fulfill that vow for me... Good-bye, dear friends; and remember that I was +happy to die for O-Tsuyu's sake." + + + +After the funeral of O-Sode, a young cherry-tree,-- the finest that could +be found,-- was planted in the garden of Saihoji by the parents of O-Tsuyu. +The tree grew and flourished; and on the sixteenth day of the second month +of the following year,-- the anniversary of O-Sode's death,-- it blossomed +in a wonderful way. So it continued to blossom for two hundred and +fifty-four years,-- always upon the sixteenth day of the second month; -- +and its flowers, pink and white, were like the nipples of a woman's +breasts, bedewed with milk. And the people called it Ubazakura, the +Cherry-tree of the Milk-Nurse. + + + + +DIPLOMACY + + + +It had been ordered that the execution should take place in the garden of +the yashiki (1). So the man was taken there, and made to kneel down in a +wide sanded space crossed by a line of tobi-ishi, or stepping-stones, such +as you may still see in Japanese landscape-gardens. His arms were bound +behind him. Retainers brought water in buckets, and rice-bags filled with +pebbles; and they packed the rice-bags round the kneeling man,-- so wedging +him in that he could not move. The master came, and observed the +arrangements. He found them satisfactory, and made no remarks. + + +Suddenly the condemned man cried out to him:-- + + +"Honored Sir, the fault for which I have been doomed I did not wittingly +commit. It was only my very great stupidity which caused the fault. Having +been born stupid, by reason of my Karma, I could not always help making +mistakes. But to kill a man for being stupid is wrong,-- and that wrong +will be repaid. So surely as you kill me, so surely shall I be avenged; -- +out of the resentment that you provoke will come the vengeance; and evil +will be rendered for evil."... + + +If any person be killed while feeling strong resentment, the ghost of that +person will be able to take vengeance upon the killer. This the samurai +knew. He replied very gently,-- almost caressingly:-- + + +"We shall allow you to frighten us as much as you please -- after you are +dead. But it is difficult to believe that you mean what you say. Will you +try to give us some sign of your great resentment -- after your head has +been cut off?" + + +"Assuredly I will," answered the man. + + +"Very well," said the samurai, drawing his long sword; -- "I am now going +to cut off your head. Directly in front of you there is a stepping-stone. +After your head has been cut off, try to bite the stepping-stone. If your +angry ghost can help you to do that, some of us may be frightened... Will +you try to bite the stone?" + + +"I will bite it!" cried the man, in great anger,-- "I will bite it! -- I +will bite" -- + + +There was a flash, a swish, a crunching thud: the bound body bowed over +the rice sacks,-- two long blood-jets pumping from the shorn neck; -- and +the head rolled upon the sand. Heavily toward the stepping-stone it rolled: +then, suddenly bounding, it caught the upper edge of the stone between its +teeth, clung desperately for a moment, and dropped inert. + + + +None spoke; but the retainers stared in horror at their master. He seemed +to be quite unconcerned. He merely held out his sword to the nearest +attendant, who, with a wooden dipper, poured water over the blade from haft +to point, and then carefully wiped the steel several times with sheets of +soft paper... And thus ended the ceremonial part of the incident. + + + +For months thereafter, the retainers and the domestics lived in ceaseless +fear of ghostly visitation. None of them doubted that the promised +vengeance would come; and their constant terror caused them to hear and to +see much that did not exist. They became afraid of the sound of the wind in +the bamboos,-- afraid even of the stirring of shadows in the garden. At +last, after taking counsel together, they decided to petition their master +to have a Segaki-service (2) performed on behalf of the vengeful spirit. + + +"Quite unnecessary," the samurai said, when his chief retainer had uttered +the general wish... "I understand that the desire of a dying man for +revenge may be a cause for fear. But in this case there is nothing to +fear." + + +The retainer looked at his master beseechingly, but hesitated to ask the +reason of the alarming confidence. + + +"Oh, the reason is simple enough," declared the samurai, divining the +unspoken doubt. "Only the very last intention of the fellow could have been +dangerous; and when I challenged him to give me the sign, I diverted his +mind from the desire of revenge. He died with the set purpose of biting the +stepping-stone; and that purpose he was able to accomplish, but nothing +else. All the rest he must have forgotten... So you need not feel any +further anxiety about the matter." + + +-- And indeed the dead man gave no more trouble. Nothing at all happened. + + + + +OF A MIRROR AND A BELL + + + +Eight centuries ago, the priests of Mugenyama, in the province of Totomi +(1), wanted a big bell for their temple; and they asked the women of their +parish to help them by contributing old bronze mirrors for bell-metal. + + +[Even to-day, in the courts of certain Japanese temples, you may see heaps +of old bronze mirrors contributed for such a purpose. The largest +collection of this kind that I ever saw was in the court of a temple of the +Jodo sect, at Hakata, in Kyushu: the mirrors had been given for the making +of a bronze statue of Amida, thirty-three feet high.] + + + +There was at that time a young woman, a farmer's wife, living at +Mugenyama, who presented her mirror to the temple, to be used for +bell-metal. But afterwards she much regretted her mirror. She remembered +things that her mother had told her about it; and she remembered that it +had belonged, not only to her mother but to her mother's mother and +grandmother; and she remembered some happy smiles which it had reflected. +Of course, if she could have offered the priests a certain sum of money in +place of the mirror, she could have asked them to give back her heirloom. +But she had not the money necessary. Whenever she went to the temple, she +saw her mirror lying in the court-yard, behind a railing, among hundreds of +other mirrors heaped there together. She knew it by the Sho-Chiku-Bai in +relief on the back of it,-- those three fortunate emblems of Pine, Bamboo, +and Plumflower, which delighted her baby-eyes when her mother first showed +her the mirror. She longed for some chance to steal the mirror, and hide +it,-- that she might thereafter treasure it always. But the chance did not +come; and she became very unhappy,-- felt as if she had foolishly given +away a part of her life. She thought about the old saying that a mirror is +the Soul of a Woman -- (a saying mystically expressed, by the Chinese +character for Soul, upon the backs of many bronze mirrors),-- and she +feared that it was true in weirder ways than she had before imagined. But +she could not dare to speak of her pain to anybody. + + + +Now, when all the mirrors contributed for the Mugenyama bell had been sent +to the foundry, the bell-founders discovered that there was one mirror +among them which would not melt. Again and again they tried to melt it; but +it resisted all their efforts. Evidently the woman who had given that +mirror to the temple must have regretted the giving. She had not presented +her offering with all her heart; and therefore her selfish soul, remaining +attached to the mirror, kept it hard and cold in the midst of the furnace. + + +Of course everybody heard of the matter, and everybody soon knew whose +mirror it was that would not melt. And because of this public exposure of +her secret fault, the poor woman became very much ashamed and very angry. +And as she could not bear the shame, she drowned herself, after having +written a farewell letter containing these words:-- + + + +"When I am dead, it will not be difficult to melt the mirror and to cast +the bell. But, to the person who breaks that bell by ringing it, great +wealth will be given by the ghost of me." + + + +-- You must know that the last wish or promise of anybody who dies in +anger, or performs suicide in anger, is generally supposed to possess a +supernatural force. After the dead woman's mirror had been melted, and the +bell had been successfully cast, people remembered the words of that +letter. They felt sure that the spirit of the writer would give wealth to +the breaker of the bell; and, as soon as the bell had been suspended in the +court of the temple, they went in multitude to ring it. With all their +might and main they swung the ringing-beam; but the bell proved to be a +good bell, and it bravely withstood their assaults. Nevertheless, the +people were not easily discouraged. Day after day, at all hours, they +continued to ring the bell furiously,-- caring nothing whatever for the +protests of the priests. So the ringing became an affliction; and the +priests could not endure it; and they got rid of the bell by rolling it +down the hill into a swamp. The swamp was deep, and swallowed it up,-- and +that was the end of the bell. Only its legend remains; and in that legend +it is called the Mugen-Kane, or Bell of Mugen. + +* * * + + + +Now there are queer old Japanese beliefs in the magical efficacy of a +certain mental operation implied, though not described, by the verb +nazoraeru. The word itself cannot be adequately rendered by any English +word; for it is used in relation to many kinds of mimetic magic, as well as +in relation to the performance of many religious acts of faith. Common +meanings of nazoraeru, according to dictionaries, are "to imitate," "to +compare," "to liken;" but the esoteric meaning is to substitute, in +imagination, one object or action for another, so as to bring about some +magical or miraculous result. + + +For example:-- you cannot afford to build a Buddhist temple; but you can +easily lay a pebble before the image of the Buddha, with the same pious +feeling that would prompt you to build a temple if you were rich enough to +build one. The merit of so offering the pebble becomes equal, or almost +equal, to the merit of erecting a temple... You cannot read the six +thousand seven hundred and seventy-one volumes of the Buddhist texts; but +you can make a revolving library, containing them, turn round, by pushing +it like a windlass. and if you push with an earnest wish that you could +read the six thousand seven hundred and seventy-one volumes, you will +acquire the same merit has the reading of them would enable you to gain... +So much will perhaps suffice to explain the religious meanings of +nazoraeru. + + +The magical meanings could not all be explained without a great variety of +examples; but, for present purposes, the following will serve. If you +should make a little man of straw, for the same reason that Sister Helen +made a little man of wax,-- and nail it, with nails not less than five +inches long, to some tree in a temple-grove at the Hour of the Ox (2),-- +and if the person, imaginatively represented by that little straw man, +should die thereafter in atrocious agony,-- that would illustrate one +signification of nazoraeru... Or, let us suppose that a robber has entered +your house during the night, and carried away your valuables. If you can +discover the footprints of that robber in your garden, and then promptly +burn a very large moxa on each of them, the soles of the feet of the robber +will become inflamed, and will allow him no rest until he returns, of his +own accord, to put himself at your mercy. That is another kind of mimetic +magic expressed by the term nazoraeru. And a third kind is illustrated by +various legends of the Mugen-Kane. + + + +After the bell had been rolled into the swamp, there was, of course, no +more chance of ringing it in such wise as to break it. But persons who +regretted this loss of opportunity would strike and break objects +imaginatively substituted for the bell,-- thus hoping to please the spirit +of the owner of the mirror that had made so much trouble. One of these +persons was a woman called Umegae,-- famed in Japanese legend because of +her relation to Kajiwara Kagesue, a warrior of the Heike clan. While the +pair were traveling together, Kajiwara one day found himself in great +straits for want of money; and Umegae, remembering the tradition of the +Bell of Mugen, took a basin of bronze, and, mentally representing it to be +the bell, beat upon it until she broke it,-- crying out, at the same time, +for three hundred pieces of gold. A guest of the inn where the pair were +stopping made inquiry as to the cause of the banging and the crying, and, +on learning the story of the trouble, actually presented Umegae with three +hundred ryo (3) in gold. Afterwards a song was made about Umegae's basin +of bronze; and that song is sung by dancing girls even to this day:-- + + Umegae no chozubachi tataite + O-kane ga deru naraba + Mina San mi-uke wo + Sore tanomimasu + +["If, by striking upon the wash-basin of Umegae, I could make honorable +money come to me, then would I negotiate for the freedom of all my +girl-comrades."] + + + +After this happening, the fame of the Mugen-Kane became great; and many +people followed the example of Umegae,-- thereby hoping to emulate her +luck. Among these folk was a dissolute farmer who lived near Mugenyama, on t +he bank of the Oigawa. Having wasted his substance in riotous living, this +farmer made for himself, out of the mud in his garden, a clay-model of the +Mugen-Kane; and he beat the clay-bell, and broke it,-- crying out the while +for great wealth. + + +"Then, out of the ground before him, rose up the figure of a white-robed +woman, with long loose-flowing hair, holding a covered jar. And the woman +said: "I have come to answer your fervent prayer as it deserves to be +answered. Take, therefore, this jar." So saying, she put the jar into his +hands, and disappeared. + + +Into his house the happy man rushed, to tell his wife the good news. He +set down in front of her the covered jar,-- which was heavy,-- and they +opened it together. And they found that it was filled, up to the very brim, +with... + + +But no! -- I really cannot tell you with what it was filled. + + +JIKININKI + + + +Once, when Muso Kokushi, a priest of the Zen sect, was journeying alone +through the province of Mino (1), he lost his way in a mountain-district +where there was nobody to direct him. For a long time he wandered about +helplessly; and he was beginning to despair of finding shelter for the +night, when he perceived, on the top of a hill lighted by the last rays of +the sun, one of those little hermitages, called anjitsu, which are built +for solitary priests. It seemed to be in ruinous condition; but he hastened +to it eagerly, and found that it was inhabited by an aged priest, from whom +he begged the favor of a night's lodging. This the old man harshly refused; +but he directed Muso to a certain hamlet, in the valley adjoining where +lodging and food could be obtained. + + +Muso found his way to the hamlet, which consisted of less than a dozen +farm-cottages; and he was kindly received at the dwelling of the headman. +Forty or fifty persons were assembled in the principal apartment, at the +moment of Muso's arrival; but he was shown into a small separate room, +where he was promptly supplied with food and bedding. Being very tired, he +lay down to rest at an early hour; but a little before midnight he was +roused from sleep by a sound of loud weeping in the next apartment. +Presently the sliding-screens were gently pushed apart; and a young man, +carrying a lighted lantern, entered the room, respectfully saluted him, and +said:-- + + +"Reverend Sir, it is my painful duty to tell you that I am now the +responsible head of this house. Yesterday I was only the eldest son. But +when you came here, tired as you were, we did not wish that you should feel +embarrassed in any way: therefore we did not tell you that father had died +only a few hours before. The people whom you saw in the next room are the +inhabitants of this village: they all assembled here to pay their last +respects to the dead; and now they are going to another village, about +three miles off,-- for by our custom, no one of us may remain in this +village during the night after a death has taken place. We make the proper +offerings and prayers; -- then we go away, leaving the corpse alone. +Strange things always happen in the house where a corpse has thus been +left: so we think that it will be better for you to come away with us. We +can find you good lodging in the other village. But perhaps, as you are a +priest, you have no fear of demons or evil spirits; and, if you are not +afraid of being left alone with the body, you will be very welcome to the +use of this poor house. However, I must tell you that nobody, except a +priest, would dare to remain here tonight." + + +Muso made answer:-- + + +"For your kind intention and your generous hospitality and am deeply +grateful. But I am sorry that you did not tell me of your father's death +when I came; -- for, though I was a little tired, I certainly was not so +tired that I should have found difficulty in doing my duty as a priest. Had +you told me, I could have performed the service before your departure. As +it is, I shall perform the service after you have gone away; and I shall +stay by the body until morning. I do not know what you mean by your words +about the danger of staying here alone; but I am not afraid ofghosts or +demons: therefore please to feel no anxiety on my account." + + +The young man appeared to be rejoiced by these assurances, and expressed +his gratitude in fitting words. Then the other members of the family, and +the folk assembled in the adjoining room, having been told of the priest's +kind promises, came to thank him,-- after which the master of the house +said:-- + + +"Now, reverend Sir, much as we regret to leave you alone, we must bid you +farewell. By the rule of our village, none of us can stay here after +midnight. We beg, kind Sir, that you will take every care of your honorable +body, while we are unable to attend upon you. And if you happen to hear or +see anything strange during our absence, please tell us of the matter when +we return in the morning." + + + +All then left the house, except the priest, who went to the room where the +dead body was lying. The usual offerings had been set before the corpse; +and a small Buddhist lamp -- tomyo -- was burning. The priest recited the +service, and performed the funeral ceremonies,-- after which he entered +into meditation. So meditating he remained through several silent hours; +and there was no sound in the deserted village. But, when the hush of the +night was at its deepest, there noiselessly entered a Shape, vague and +vast; and in the same moment Muso found himself without power to move or +speak. He saw that Shape lift the corpse, as with hands, devour it, more +quickly than a cat devours a rat,-- beginning at the head, and eating +everything: the hair and the bones and even the shroud. And the monstrous +Thing, having thus consumed the body, turned to the offerings, and ate them +also. Then it went away, as mysteriously as it had come. + + + +When the villagers returned next morning, they found the priest awaiting +them at the door of the headman's dwelling. All in turn saluted him; and +when they had entered, and looked about the room, no one expressed any +surprise at the disappearance of the dead body and the offerings. But the +master of the house said to Muso:-- + + +"Reverent Sir, you have probably seen unpleasant things during the night: +all of us were anxious about you. But now we are very happy to find you +alive and unharmed. Gladly we would have stayed with you, if it had been +possible. But the law of our village, as I told you last evening, obliges +us to quit our houses after a death has taken place, and to leave the +corpse alone. Whenever this law has been broken, heretofore, some great +misfortune has followed. Whenever it is obeyed, we find that the corpse and +the offerings disappear during our absence. Perhaps you have seen the +cause." + + +Then Muso told of the dim and awful Shape that had entered the +death-chamber to devour the body and the offerings. No person seemed to be +surprised by his narration; and the master of the house observed:-- + + +"What you have told us, reverend Sir, agrees with what has been said about +this matter from ancient time." + + +Muso then inquired:-- + + +"Does not the priest on the hill sometimes perform the funeral service for +your dead?" + + +"What priest?" the young man asked. + + +"The priest who yesterday evening directed me to this village," answered +Muso. "I called at his anjitsu on the hill yonder. He refused me lodging, +but told me the way here." + + +The listeners looked at each other, as in astonishment; and, after a +moment of silence, the master of the house said:-- + + +"Reverend Sir, there is no priest and there is no anjitsu on the hill. For +the time of many generations there has not been any resident-priest in this +neighborhood." + + +Muso said nothing more on the subject; for it was evident that his kind +hosts supposed him to have been deluded by some goblin. But after having +bidden them farewell, and obtained all necessary information as to his +road, he determined to look again for the hermitage on the hill, and so to +ascertain whether he had really been deceived. He found the anjitsu without +any difficulty; and, this time, its aged occupant invited him to enter. +When he had done so, the hermit humbly bowed down before him, exclaiming:-- +"Ah! I am ashamed ! -- I amvery much ashamed! -- I am exceedingly +ashamed!" + + +"You need not be ashamed for having refused me shelter," said Muso. "you +directed me to the village yonder, where I was very kindly treated; and I +thank you for that favor. + + +"I can give no man shelter," the recluse made answer; -- and it is not for +the refusal that I am ashamed. I am ashamed only that you should have seen +me in my real shape,-- for it was I who devoured the corpse and the +offerings last night before your eyes... Know, reverend Sir, that I am a +jikininki, [1] -- an eater of human flesh. Have pity upon me, and suffer me +to confess the secret fault by which I became reduced to this condition. + + +"A long, long time ago, I was a priest in this desolate region. There was +no other priest for many leagues around. So, in that time, the bodies of +the mountain-folk who died used to be brought here,-- sometimes from great +distances,-- in order that I might repeat over them the holy service. But I +repeated the service and performed the rites only as a matter of business; +-- I thought only of the food and the clothes that my sacred profession +enabled me to gain. And because of this selfish impiety I was reborn, +immediately after my death, into the state of a jikininki. Since then I +have been obliged to feed upon the corpses of the people who die in this +district: every one of them I must devour in the way that you saw last +night... Now, reverend Sir, let me beseech you to perform a Segaki-service +[2] for me: help me by your prayers, I entreat you, so that I may be soon +able to escape from this horrible state of existence"... + + +No sooner had the hermit uttered this petition than he disappeared; and +the hermitage also disappeared at the same instant. And Muso Kokushi found +himself kneeling alone in the high grass, beside an ancient and moss-grown +tomb of the form called go-rin-ishi, [3] which seemed to be the tomb of a +priest. + + +MUJINA + + + +On the Akasaka Road, in Tokyo, there is a slope called Kii-no-kuni-zaka,-- +which means the Slope of the Province of Kii. I do not know why it is +called the Slope of the Province of Kii. On one side of this slope you see +an ancient moat, deep and very wide, with high green banks rising up to +some place of gardens; -- and on the other side of the road extend the long +and lofty walls of an imperial palace. Before the era of street-lamps and +jinrikishas, this neighborhood was very lonesome after dark; and belated +pedestrians would go miles out of their way rather than mount the +Kii-no-kuni-zaka, alone, after sunset. + + +All because of a Mujina that used to walk there. (1) + + + +The last man who saw the Mujina was an old merchant of the Kyobashi +quarter, who died about thirty years ago. This is the story, as he told +it:-- + + +One night, at a late hour, he was hurrying up the Kii-no-kuni-zaka, when +he perceived a woman crouching by the moat, all alone, and weeping +bitterly. Fearing that she intended to drown herself, he stopped to offer +her any assistance or consolation in his power. She appeared to be a slight +and graceful person, handsomely dressed; and her hair was arranged like +that of a young girl of good family. "O-jochu," [1] he exclaimed, +approaching her,-- "O-jochu, do not cry like that!... Tell me what the +trouble is; and if there be any way to help you, I shall be glad to help +you." (He really meant what he said; for he was a very kind man.) But she +continued to weep,-- hiding her face from him with one of her long sleeves. +"O-jochu," he said again, as gently as he could,-- "please, please listen +to me!... This is no place for a young lady at night! Do not cry, I implore +you! -- only tell me how I may be of some help to you!" Slowly she rose up, +but turned her back to him, and continued to moan and sob behind her +sleeve. He laid his hand lightly upon her shoulder, and pleaded:-- +"O-jochu! -- O-jochu! -- O-jochu!... Listen to me, just for one little +moment!... O-jochu! -- O-jochu!"... Then that O-jochu turned around, and +dropped her sleeve, and stroked her face with her hand; -- and the man saw +that she had no eyes or nose or mouth,-- and he screamed and ran away. (2) + + +Up Kii-no-kuni-zaka he ran and ran; and all was black and empty before +him. On and on he ran, never daring to look back; and at last he saw a +lantern, so far away that it looked like the gleam of a firefly; and he +made for it. It proved to be only the lantern of an itinerant soba-seller, +[2] who had set down his stand by the road-side; but any light and any +human companionship was good after that experience; and he flung himself +down at the feet of the soba-seller, crying out, "Ah! -- aa!! -- aa!!!"... + + +"Kore! kore!" (3) roughly exclaimed the soba-man. "Here! what is the +matter with you? Anybody hurt you?" + + +"No -- nobody hurt me," panted the other,-- "only... Ah! -- aa!" + + +"-- Only scared you?" queried the peddler, unsympathetically. "Robbers?" + + +"Not robbers,-- not robbers," gasped the terrified man... "I saw... I saw +a woman -- by the moat; -- and she showed me... Ah! I cannot tell you what +she showed me!"... + + +"He! (4) Was it anything like THIS that she showed you?" cried the +soba-man, stroking his own face --which therewith became like unto an +Egg... And, simultaneously, the light went out. + + + + +ROKURO-KUBI + + +Nearly five hundred years ago there was a samurai, named Isogai +Heidazaemon Taketsura, in the service of the Lord Kikuji, of Kyushu. This +Isogai had inherited, from many warlike ancestors, a natural aptitude for +military exercises, and extraordinary strength. While yet a boy he had +surpassed his teachers in the art of swordsmanship, in archery, and in the +use of the spear, and had displayed all the capacities of a daring and +skillful soldier. Afterwards, in the time of the Eikyo [1] war, he so +distinguished himself that high honors were bestowed upon him. But when the +house of Kikuji came to ruin, Isogai found himself without a master. He +might then easily have obtained service under another daimyo; but as he had +never sought distinction for his own sake alone, and as his heart remained +true to his former lord, he preferred to give up the world. so he cut off +his hair, and became a traveling priest,-- taking the Buddhist name of +Kwairyo. + + +But always, under the koromo [2] of the priest, Kwairyo kept warm within +him the heart of the samurai. As in other years he had laughed at peril, so +now also he scorned danger; and in all weathers and all seasons he +journeyed to preach the good Law in places where no other priest would have +dared to go. For that age was an age of violence and disorder; and upon the +highways there was no security for the solitary traveler, even if he +happened to be a priest. + + + +In the course of his first long journey, Kwairyo had occasion to visit the +province of Kai. (1) One evening, as he was traveling through the mountains +of that province, darkness overcame him in a very lonesome district, +leagues away from any village. So he resigned himself to pass the night +under the stars; and having found a suitable grassy spot, by the roadside, +he lay down there, and prepared to sleep. He had always welcomed +discomfort; and even a bare rock was for him a good bed, when nothing +better could be found, and the root of a pine-tree an excellent pillow. His +body was iron; and he never troubled himself about dews or rain or frost or +snow. + + +Scarcely had he lain down when a man came along the road, carrying an axe +and a great bundle of chopped wood. This woodcutter halted on seeing +Kwairyo lying down, and, after a moment of silent observation, said to him +in a tone of great surprise:-- + + +"What kind of a man can you be, good Sir, that you dare to lie down alone +in such a place as this?... There are haunters about here,-- many of them. +are you not afraid of Hairy Things?" + + +"My friend," cheerfully answered Kwairyo, "I am only a wandering priest,-- +a 'Cloud-and-Water-Guest,' as folks call it: Unsui-no-ryokaku. (2) And I am +not in the least afraid of Hairy Things,-- if you mean goblin-foxes, or +goblin-badgers, or any creatures of that kind. As for lonesome places, I +like them: they are suitable for meditation. I am accustomed to sleeping in +the open air: and I have learned never to be anxious aboutmy life." + + +"You must be indeed a brave man, Sir Priest," the peasant responded, "to +lie down here! This place has a bad name,-- a very bad name. But, as the +proverb has it, Kunshi ayayuki ni chikayorazu ['The superior man does not +needlessly expose himself to peril']; and I must assure you, Sir, that it +is very dangerous to sleep here. Therefore, although my house is only a +wretched thatched hut, let me beg of you to come home with me at once. In +the way of food, I have nothing to offer you; but there is a roof at least, +and you can sleep under it without risk." + + +He spoke earnestly; and Kwairyo, liking the kindly tone of the man, +accepted this modest offer. The woodcutter guided him along a narrow path, +leading up from the main road through mountain-forest. It was a rough and +dangerous path,-- sometimes skirting precipices,-- sometimes offering +nothing but a network of slippery roots for the foot to rest upon,-- +sometimes winding over or between masses of jagged rock. But at last +Kwairyo found himself upon a cleared space at the top of a hill, with a +full moon shining overhead; and he saw before him a small thatched cottage, +cheerfully lighted from within. The woodcutter led him to a shed at the +back of the house, whither water had been conducted, through bamboo-pipes, +from some neighboring stream; and the two men washed their feet. Beyond the +shed was a vegetable garden, and a grove of cedars and bamboos; and beyond +the trees appeared the glimmer of a cascade, pouring from some loftier +height, and swaying in the moonshine like a long white robe. + + + +As Kwairyo entered the cottage with his guide, he perceived four persons +-- men and women -- warming their hands at a little fire kindled in the ro +[1] of the principle apartment. They bowed low to the priest, and greeted +him in the most respectful manner. Kwairyo wondered that persons so poor, +and dwelling in such a solitude, should be aware of the polite forms of +greeting. "These are good people," he thought to himself; "and they must +have been taught by some one well acquainted with the rules of propriety." +Then turning to his host,-- the aruji, or house-master, as the others +called him,-- Kwairyo said:-- + + +"From the kindness of your speech, and from the very polite welcome given +me by your household, I imagine that you have not always been a woodcutter. +Perhaps you formerly belonged to one of the upper classes?" + + +Smiling, the woodcutter answered:-- + + +"Sir, you are not mistaken. Though now living as you find me, I was once a +person of some distinction. My story is the story of a ruined life -- +ruined by my own fault. I used to be in the service of a daimyo; and my +rank in that service was not inconsiderable. But I loved women and wine too +well; and under the influence of passion I acted wickedly. My selfishness +brought about the ruin of our house, and caused the death of many persons. +Retribution followed me; and I long remained a fugitive in the land. Now I +often pray that I may be able to make some atonement for the evil which I +did, and to reestablish the ancestral home. But I fear that I shall never +find any way of so doing. Nevertheless, I try to overcome the karma of my +errors by sincere repentance, and by helping as afar as I can, those who +are unfortunate." + + +Kwairyo was pleased by this announcement of good resolve; and he said to +the aruji:-- + + +"My friend, I have had occasion to observe that man, prone to folly in +their youth, may in after years become very earnest in right living. In the +holy sutras it is written that those strongest in wrong-doing can become, +by power of good resolve, the strongest in right-doing. I do not doubt +that you have a good heart; and I hope that better fortune will come to +you. To-night I shall recite the sutras for your sake, and pray that you +may obtain the force to overcome the karma of any past errors." + + +With these assurances, Kwairyo bade the aruji good-night; and his host +showed him to a very small side-room, where a bed had been made ready. Then +all went to sleep except the priest, who began to read the sutras by the +light of a paper lantern. Until a late hour he continued to read and pray: +then he opened a little window in his little sleeping-room, to take a last +look at the landscape before lying down. The night was beautiful: there +was no cloud in the sky: there was no wind; and the strong moonlight threw +down sharp black shadows of foliage, and glittered on the dews of the +garden. Shrillings of crickets and bell-insects (3) made a musical tumult; +and the sound of the neighboring cascade deepened with the night. Kwairyo +felt thirsty as he listened to the noise of the water; and, remembering the +bamboo aqueduct at the rear of the house, he thought that he could go there +and get a drink without disturbing the sleeping household. Very gently he +pushed apart the sliding-screens that separated his room from the main +apartment; and he saw, by the light of the lantern, five recumbent bodies +-- without heads! + + +For one instant he stood bewildered,-- imagining a crime. But in another +moment he perceived that there was no blood, and that the headless necks +did not look as if they had been cut. Then he thought to himself:-- "Either +this is an illusion made by goblins, or I have been lured into the dwelling +of a Rokuro-Kubi... (4) In the book Soshinki (5) it is written that if one +find the body of a Rokuro-Kubi without its head, and remove the body to +another place, the head will never be able to join itself again to the +neck. And the book further says that when the head comes back and finds +that its body has been moved, it will strike itself upon the floor three +times,-- bounding like a ball,-- and will pant as in great fear, and +presently die. Now, if these be Rokuro-Kubi, they mean me no good;-- so I +shall be justified in following the instructions of the book."... + + +He seized the body of the aruji by the feet, pulled it to the window, and +pushed it out. Then he went to the back-door, which he found barred; and he +surmised that the heads had made their exit through the smoke-hole in the +roof, which had been left open. Gently unbarring the door, he made his way +to the garden, and proceeded with all possible caution to the grove beyond +it. He heard voices talking in the grove; and he went in the direction of +the voices,-- stealing from shadow to shadow, until he reached a good +hiding-place. Then, from behind a trunk, he caught sight of the heads,-- +all five of them,-- flitting about, and chatting as they flitted. They were +eating worms and insects which they found on the ground or among the trees. +Presently the head of the aruji stopped eating and said:-- + + +"Ah, that traveling priest who came to-night!-- how fat all his body is! +When we shall have eaten him, our bellies will be well filled... I was +foolish to talk to him as I did;-- it only set him to reciting the sutras +on behalf of my soul! To go near him while he is reciting would be +difficult; and we cannot touch him so long as he is praying. But as it is +now nearly morning, perhaps he has gone to sleep... Some one of you go to +the house and see what the fellow is doing." + + +Another head -- the head of a young woman -- immediately rose up and +flitted to the house, lightly as a bat. After a few minutes it came back, +and cried out huskily, in a tone of great alarm:-- + + +"That traveling priest is not in the house;-- he is gone! But that is not +the worst of the matter. He has taken the body of our aruji; and I do not +know where he has put it." + + +At this announcement the head of the aruji -- distinctly visible in the +moonlight -- assumed a frightful aspect: its eyes opened monstrously; its +hair stood up bristling; and its teeth gnashed. Then a cry burst from its +lips; and -- weeping tears of rage -- it exclaimed:-- + + +"Since my body has been moved, to rejoin it is not possible! Then I must +die!... And all through the work of that priest! Before I die I will get at +that priest! -- I will tear him! -- I will devour him!... AND THERE HE IS +-- behind that tree! -- hiding behind that tree! See him ! -- the fat +coward!"... + + +In the same moment the head of the aruji, followed by the other four +heads, sprang at Kwairyo. But the strong priest had already armed himself +by plucking up a young tree; and with that tree he struck the heads as they +came,-- knocking them from him with tremendous blows. Four of them fled +away. But the head of the aruji, though battered again and again, +desperately continued to bound at the priest, and at last caught him by the +left sleeve of his robe. Kwairyo, however, as quickly gripped the head by +its topknot, and repeatedly struck it. It did not release its hold; but it +uttered a long moan, and thereafter ceased to struggle. It was dead. But +its teeth still held the sleeve; and, for all his great strength, Kwairyo +could not force open the jaws. + + +With the head still hanging to his sleeve he went back to the house, and +there caught sight of the other four Rokuro-Kubi squatting together, with +their bruised and bleeding heads reunited to their bodies. But when they +perceived him at the back-door all screamed, "The priest! the priest!" -- +and fled, through the other doorway, out into the woods. + + +Eastward the sky was brightening; day was about to dawn; and Kwairyo knew +that the power of the goblins was limited to the hours of darkness. He +looked at the head clinging to his sleeve,-- its face all fouled with blood +and foam and clay; and he laughed aloud as he thought to himself: "What a +miyage! [4] -- the head of a goblin!" After which he gathered together his +few belongings, and leisurely descended the mountain to continue his +journey. + + +Right on he journeyed, until he came to Suwa in Shinano; (6) and into the +main street of Suwa he solemnly strode, with the head dangling at his +elbow. Then woman fainted, and children screamed and ran away; and there +was a great crowding and clamoring until the torite (as the police in those +days were called) seized the priest, and took him to jail. For they +supposed the head to be the head of a murdered man who, in the moment of +being killed, had caught the murderer's sleeve in his teeth. As the +Kwairyo, he only smiled and said nothing when they questioned him. So, +after having passed a night in prison, he was brought before the +magistrates of the district. Then he was ordered to explain how he, a +priest, had been found with the head of a man fastened to his sleeve, and +why he had dared thus shamelessly to parade his crime in the sight of +people. + + +Kwairyo laughed long and loudly at these questions; and then he said: -- + + +"Sirs, I did not fasten the head to my sleeve: it fastened itself there -- +much against my will. And I have not committed any crime. For this is not +the head of a man; it is the head of a goblin; -- and, if I caused the +death of the goblin, I did not do so by any shedding of blood, but simply +by taking the precautions necessary to assure my own safety."... And he +proceeded to relate the whole of the adventure, -- bursting into another +hearty laugh as he told of his encounter with the five heads. + + +But the magistrates did not laugh. They judged him to be a hardened +criminal, and his story an insult to their intelligence. Therefore, without +further questioning, they decided to order his immediate execution, -- all +of them except one, a very old man. This aged officer had made no remark +during the trial; but, after having heard the opinion of his colleagues, he +rose up, and said: -- + + +"Let us first examine the head carefully; for this, I think, has not yet +been done. If the priest has spoken truth, the head itself should bear +witness for him... Bring the head here!" + + +So the head, still holding in its teeth the koromo that had been stripped +from Kwairyo's shoulders, was put before the judges. The old man turned it +round and round, carefully examined it, and discovered, on the nape of its +neck, several strange red characters. He called the attention of his +colleagues to these, and also bad them observe that the edges of the neck +nowhere presented the appearance of having been cut by any weapon. On the +contrary, the line of leverance was smooth as the line at which a falling +leaf detaches itself from the stem... Then said the elder: -- + + +"I am quite sure that the priest told us nothing but the truth. This is +the head of a Rokuro-Kubi. In the book Nan-ho-i-butsu-shi it is written +that certain red characters can always be found upon the nape of the neck +of a real Rokuro-Kubi. There are the characters: you can see for yourselves +that they have not been painted. Moreover, it is well known that such +goblins have been dwelling in the mountains of the province of Kai from +very ancient time... But you, Sir," he exclaimed, turning to Kwairyo, -- +"what sort of sturdy priest may you be? Certainly you have given proof of a +courage that few priests possess; and you have the air of a soldier rather +than a priest. Perhaps you once belonged to the samurai-class?" + + +"You have guessed rightly, Sir," Kwairyo responded. "Before becoming a +priest, I long followed the profession of arms; and in those days I never +feared man or devil. My name then was Isogai Heidazaemon Taketsura of +Kyushu: there may be some among you who remember it." + + +At the mention of that name, a murmur of admiration filled the +court-room.; for there were many present who remembered it. And Kwairyo +immediately found himself among friends instead of judges, -- friends +anxious to prove their admiration by fraternal kindness. With honor they +escorted him to the residence of the daimyo, who welcomed him, and feasted +him, and made him a handsome present before allowing him to depart. When +Kwairyo left Suwa, he was as happy as any priest is permitted to be in this +transitory world. As for the head, he took it with him, -- jocosely +insisting that he intended it for a miyage. + + + +And now it only remains to tell what became of the head. + + + +A day or two after leaving Suwa, Kwairyo met with a robber, who stopped +him in a lonesome place, and bade him strip. Kwairyo at once removed his +koromo, and offered it to the robber, who then first perceived what was +hanging to the sleeve. Though brave, the highwayman was startled: he +dropped the garment, and sprang back. Then he cried out:-- "You! -- what +kind of a priest are you? Why, you are a worse man than I am! It is true +that I have killed people; but I never walked about with anybody's head +fastened to my sleeve... Well, Sir priest, I suppose we are of the same +calling; and I must say that I admire you!... Now that head would be of use +to me: I could frighten people with it. Will you sell it? You can have my +robe in exchange for your koromo; and I will give you five ryo for the +head." + + +Kwairyo answered:-- + + +"I shall let you have the head and the robe if you insist; but I must tell +you that this is not the head of a man. It is a goblin's head. So, if you +buy it, and have any trouble in consequence, please to remember that you +were not deceived by me." + + +"What a nice priest you are!" exclaimed the robber. "You kill men, and +jest about it!... But I am really in earnest. Here is my robe; and here is +the money;-- and let me have the head... What is the use of joking?" + + +"Take the thing," said Kwairyo. "I was not joking. The only joke -- if +there be any joke at all -- is that you are fool enough to pay good money +for a goblin's head." And Kwairyo, loudly laughing, went upon his way. + + + +Thus the robber got the head and the koromo; and for some time he played +goblin-priest upon the highways. But, reaching the neighborhood of Suwa, he +there leaned the true story of the head; and he then became afraid that the +spirit of the Rokuro-Kubi might give him trouble. So he made up his mind to +take back the head to the place from which it had come, and to bury it with +its body. He found his way to the lonely cottage in the mountains of Kai; +but nobody was there, and he could not discover the body. Therefore he +buried the head by itself, in the grove behind the cottage; and he had a +tombstone set up over the grave; and he caused a Segaki-service to be +performed on behalf of the spirit of the Rokuro-Kubi. And that tombstone -- +known as the Tombstone of the Rokuro-Kubi -- may be seen (at least so the +Japanese story-teller declares) even unto this day. + + + + +A DEAD SECRET + + +A long time ago, in the province of Tamba (1), there lived a rich merchant +named Inamuraya Gensuke. He had a daughter called O-Sono. As she was very +clever and pretty, he thought it would be a pity to let her grow up with +only such teaching as the country-teachers could give her: so he sent her, +in care of some trusty attendants, to Kyoto, that she might be trained in +the polite accomplishments taught to the ladies of the capital. After she +had thus been educated, she was married to a friend of her father's family +-- a merchant named Nagaraya;-- and she lived happily with him for nearly +four years. They had one child, -- a But O-Sono fell ill and died, in the +fourth year after her marriage. + + +On the night after the funeral of O-Sono, her little son said that his +mamma had come back, and was in the room upstairs. She had smiled at him, +but would not talk to him: so he became afraid, and ran away. Then some of +the family went upstairs to the room which had been O-Sono's; and they were +startled to see, by the light of a small lamp which had been kindled before +a shrine in that room, the figure of the dead mother. She appeared as if +standing in front of a tansu, or chest of drawers, that still contained her +ornaments and her wearing-apparel. Her head and shoulders could be very +distinctly seen; but from the waist downwards the figure thinned into +invisibility;-- it was like an imperfect reflection of her, and transparent +as a shadow on water. + + +Then the folk were afraid, and left the room. Below they consulted +together; and the mother of O-Sono's husband said: "A woman is fond of her +small things; and O-Sono was much attached to her belongings. Perhaps she +has come back to look at them. Many dead persons will do that, -- unless +the things be given to the parish-temple. If we present O-Sono's robes and +girdles to the temple, her spirit will probably find rest." + + +I was agreed that this should be done as soon as possible. So on the +following morning the drawers were emptied; and all of O-Sono's ornaments +and dresses were taken to the temple. But she came back the next night, and +looked at the tansu as before. And she came back also on the night +following, and the night after that, and every night; -- and the house +became a house of fear. + + + +The mother of O-Sono's husband then went to the parish-temple, and told +the chief priest all that had happened, and asked for ghostly counsel. The +temple was a Zen temple; and the head-priest was a learned old man, known +as Daigen Osho. He said: "There must be something about which she is +anxious, in or near that tansu." -- "But we emptied all the drawers," +replied the woman; -- "there is nothing in the tansu." -- "Well," said +Daigen Osho, "to-night I shall go to your house, and keep watch in that +room, and see what can be done. You must give orders that no person shall +enter the room while I am watching, unless I call." + + + +After sundown, Daigen Osho went to the house, and found the room made +ready for him. He remained there alone, reading the sutras; and nothing +appeared until after the Hour of the Rat. [1] Then the figure of O-Sono +suddenly outlined itself in front of the tansu. Her face had a wistful +look; and she kept her eyes fixed upon the tansu. + + +The priest uttered the holy formula prescribed in such cases, and then, +addressing the figure by the kaimyo [2] of O-Sono, said: -- "I have come +here in order to help you. Perhaps in that tansu there is something about +which you have reason to feel anxious. Shall I try to find it for you?" The +shadow appeared to give assent by a slight motion of the head; and the +priest, rising, opened the top drawer. It was empty. Successively he opened +the second, the third, and the fourth drawer; -- he searched carefully +behind them and beneath them;-- he carefully examined the interior of the +chest. He found nothing. But the figure remained gazing as wistfully as +before. "What can she want?" thought the priest. Suddenly it occurred to +him that there might be something hidden under the paper with which the +drawers were lined. He removed the lining of the first drawer:-- nothing! +He removed the lining of the second and third drawers:-- still nothing. But +under the lining of the lowermost drawer he found -- a letter. "Is this the +thing about which you have been troubled?" he asked. The shadow of the +woman turned toward him, -- her faint gaze fixed upon the letter. "Shall I +burn it for you?" he asked. She bowed before him. "It shall be burned in +the temple this very morning," he promised;-- "and no one shall read it, +except myself." The figure smiled and vanished. + + + +Dawn was breaking as the priest descended the stairs, to find the family +waiting anxiously below. "Do not be anxious," he said to them: "She will +not appear again." And she never did. + + +The letter was burned. It was a love-letter written to O-Sono in the time +of her studies at Kyoto. But the priest alone knew what was in it; and the +secret died with him. + + + + +YUKI-ONNA + + +In a village of Musashi Province (1), there lived two woodcutters: Mosaku +and Minokichi. At the time of which I am speaking, Mosaku was an old man; +and Minokichi, his apprentice, was a lad of eighteen years. Every day they +went together to a forest situated about five miles from their village. On +the way to that forest there is a wide river to cross; and there is a +ferry-boat. Several times a bridge was built where the ferry is; but the +bridge was each time carried away by a flood. No common bridge can resist +the current there when the river rises. + + + +Mosaku and Minokichi were on their way home, one very cold evening, when a +great snowstorm overtook them. They reached the ferry; and they found that +the boatman had gone away, leaving his boat on the other side of the river. +It was no day for swimming; and the woodcutters took shelter in the +ferryman's hut, -- thinking themselves lucky to find any shelter at all. +There was no brazier in the hut, nor any place in which to make a fire: it +was only a two-mat [1] hut, with a single door, but no window. Mosaku and +Minokichi fastened the door, and lay down to rest, with their straw +rain-coats over them. At first they did not feel very cold; and they +thought that the storm would soon be over. + + +The old man almost immediately fell asleep; but the boy, Minokichi, lay +awake a long time, listening to the awful wind, and the continual slashing +of the snow against the door. The river was roaring; and the hut swayed and +creaked like a junk at sea. It was a terrible storm; and the air was every +moment becoming colder; and Minokichi shivered under his rain-coat. But at +last, in spite of the cold, he too fell asleep. + + +He was awakened by a showering of snow in his face. The door of the hut +had been forced open; and, by the snow-light (yuki-akari), he saw a woman +in the room, -- a woman all in white. She was bending above Mosaku, and +blowing her breath upon him;-- and her breath was like a bright white +smoke. Almost in the same moment she turned to Minokichi, and stooped over +him. He tried to cry out, but found that he could not utter any sound. The +white woman bent down over him, lower and lower, until her face almost +touched him; and he saw that she was very beautiful, -- though her eyes +made him afraid. For a little time she continued to look at him;-- then she +smiled, and she whispered:-- "I intended to treat you like the other man. +But I cannot help feeling some pity for you, -- because you are so young... +You are a pretty boy, Minokichi; and I will not hurt you now. But, if you +ever tell anybody -- even your own mother -- about what you have seen this +night, I shall know it; and then I will kill you... Remember what I say!" + + +With these words, she turned from him, and passed through the doorway. +Then he found himself able to move; and he sprang up, and looked out. But +the woman was nowhere to be seen; and the snow was driving furiously into +the hut. Minokichi closed the door, and secured it by fixing several +billets of wood against it. He wondered if the wind had blown it open;-- he +thought that he might have been only dreaming, and might have mistaken the +gleam of the snow-light in the doorway for the figure of a white woman: but +he could not be sure. He called to Mosaku, and was frightened because the +old man did not answer. He put out his hand in the dark, and touched +Mosaku's face, and found that it was ice! Mosaku was stark and dead... + + +By dawn the storm was over; and when the ferryman returned to his station, +a little after sunrise, he found Minokichi lying senseless beside the +frozen body of Mosaku. Minokichi was promptly cared for, and soon came to +himself; but he remained a long time ill from the effects of the cold of +that terrible night. He had been greatly frightened also by the old man's +death; but he said nothing about the vision of the woman in white. As soon +as he got well again, he returned to his calling,-- going alone every +morning to the forest, and coming back at nightfall with his bundles of +wood, which his mother helped him to sell. + + + +One evening, in the winter of the following year, as he was on his way +home, he overtook a girl who happened to be traveling by the same road. She +was a tall, slim girl, very good-looking; and she answered Minokichi's +greeting in a voice as pleasant to the ear as the voice of a song-bird. +Then he walked beside her; and they began to talk. The girl said that her +name was O-Yuki [2]; that she had lately lost both of her parents; and that +she was going to Yedo (2), where she happened to have some poor relations, +who might help her to find a situation as a servant. Minokichi soon felt +charmed by this strange girl; and the more that he looked at her, the +handsomer she appeared to be. He asked her whether she was yet betrothed; +and she answered, laughingly, that she was free. Then, in her turn, she +asked Minokichi whether he was married, or pledge to marry; and he told her +that, although he had only a widowed mother to support, the question of an +"honorable daughter-in-law" had not yet been considered, as he was very +young... After these confidences, they walked on for a long while without +speaking; but, as the proverb declares, Ki ga areba, me mo kuchi hodo ni +mono wo iu: "When the wish is there, the eyes can say as much as the +mouth." By the time they reached the village, they had become very much +pleased with each other; and then Minokichi asked O-Yuki to rest awhile at +his house. After some shy hesitation, she went there with him; and his +mother made her welcome, and prepared a warm meal for her. O-Yuki behaved +so nicely that Minokichi's mother took a sudden fancy to her, and persuaded +her to delay her journey to Yedo. And the natural end of the matter was +that Yuki never went to Yedo at all. She remained in the house, as an +"honorable daughter-in-law." + + + +O-Yuki proved a very good daughter-in-law. When Minokichi's mother came to +die,-- some five years later,-- her last words were words of affection and +praise for the wife of her son. And O-Yuki bore Minokichi ten children, +boys and girls,-- handsome children all of them, and very fair of skin. + + +The country-folk thought O-Yuki a wonderful person, by nature different +from themselves. Most of the peasant-women age early; but O-Yuki, even +after having become the mother of ten children, looked as young and fresh +as on the day when she had first come to the village. + + + +One night, after the children had gone to sleep, O-Yuki was sewing by the +light of a paper lamp; and Minokichi, watching her, said:-- + + +"To see you sewing there, with the light on your face, makes me think of a +strange thing that happened when I was a lad of eighteen. I then saw +somebody as beautiful and white as you are now -- indeed, she was very like +you."... + + +Without lifting her eyes from her work, O-Yuki responded:-- + + +"Tell me about her... Where did you see her? + + +Then Minokichi told her about the terrible night in the ferryman's hut,-- +and about the White Woman that had stooped above him, smiling and +whispering,-- and about the silent death of old Mosaku. And he said:-- + + +"Asleep or awake, that was the only time that I saw a being as beautiful +as you. Of course, she was not a human being; and I was afraid of her,-- +very much afraid,-- but she was so white!... Indeed, I have never been sure +whether it was a dream that I saw, or the Woman of theSnow."... + + +O-Yuki flung down her sewing, and arose, and bowed above Minokichi where +he sat, and shrieked into his face:-- + + +"It was I -- I -- I! Yuki it was! And I told you then that I would kill +you if you ever said one work about it!... But for those children asleep +there, I would kill you this moment! And now you had better take very, very +good care of them; for if ever they have reason to complain of you, I will +treat you as you deserve!"... + + +Even as she screamed, her voice became thin, like a crying of wind;-- then +she melted into a bright white mist that spired to the roof-beams, and +shuddered away through the smoke-hold... Never again was she seen. + + + + +THE STORY OF AOYAGI + + +In the era of Bummei [1469-1486] there was a young samurai called Tomotada +in the service of Hatakeyama Yoshimune, the Lord of Noto (1). Tomotada was +a native of Echizen (2); but at an early age he had been taken, as page, +into the palace of the daimyo of Noto, and had been educated, under the +supervision of that prince, for the profession of arms. As he grew up, he +proved himself both a good scholar and a good soldier, and continued to +enjoy the favor of his prince. Being gifted with an amiable character, a +winning address, and a very handsome person, he was admired and much liked +by his samurai-comrades. + + +When Tomotada was about twenty years old, he was sent upon a private +mission to Hosokawa Masamoto, the great daimyo of Kyoto, a kinsman of +Hatakeyama Yoshimune. Having been ordered to journey through Echizen, the +youth requested and obtained permission to pay a visit, on the way, to his +widowed mother. + + +It was the coldest period of the year when he started; and, though mounted +upon a powerful horse, he found himself obliged to proceed slowly. The road +which he followed passed through a mountain-district where the settlements +were few and far between; and on the second day of his journey, after a +weary ride of hours, he was dismayed to find that he could not reached his +intended halting-place until late in the night. He had reason to be +anxious;-- for a heavy snowstorm came on, with an intensely cold wind; and +the horse showed signs of exhaustion. But in that trying moment, Tomotada +unexpectedly perceived the thatched room of a cottage on the summit of a +near hill, where willow-trees were growing. With difficulty he urged his +tired animal to the dwelling; and he loudly knocked upon the storm-doors, +which had been closed against the wind. An old woman opened them, and cried +out compassionately at the sight of the handsome stranger: "Ah, how +pitiful! -- a young gentleman traveling alone in such weather!... Deign, +young master, to enter." + + + +Tomotada dismounted, and after leading his horse to a shed in the rear, +entered the cottage, where he saw an old man and a girl warming themselves +by a fire of bamboo splints. They respectfully invited him to approach the +fire; and the old folks then proceeded to warm some rice-wine, and to +prepare food for the traveler, whom they ventured to question in regard to +his journey. Meanwhile the young girl disappeared behind a screen. Tomotada +had observed, with astonishment, that she was extremely beautiful,-- though +her attire was of the most wretched kind, and her long, loose hair in +disorder. He wondered that so handsome a girl should be living in such a +miserable and lonesome place. + + +The old man said to him:-- + + +"Honored Sir, the next village is far; and the snow is falling thickly. +The wind is piercing; and the road is very bad. Therefore, to proceed +further this night would probably be dangerous. Although this hovel is +unworthy of your presence, and although we have not any comfort to offer, +perhaps it were safer to remain to-night under this miserable roof... We +would take good care of your horse." + + +Tomotada accepted this humble proposal, -- secretly glad of the chance +thus afforded him to see more of the young girl. Presently a coarse but +ample meal was set before him; and the girl came from behind the screen, to +serve the wine. She was now reclad, in a rough but cleanly robe of +homespun; and her long, loose hair had been neatly combed and smoothed. As +she bent forward to fill his cup, Tomotada was amazed to perceive that she +was incomparably more beautiful than any woman whom he had ever before +seen; and there was a grace about her every motion that astonished him. But +the elders began to apologize for her, saying: "Sir, our daughter, Aoyagi, +[1] has been brought up here in the mountains, almost alone; and she knows +nothing of gentle service. We pray that you will pardon her stupidity and +her ignorance." Tomotada protested that he deemed himself lucky to be +waited upon by so comely a maiden. He could not turn his eyes away from her +-- though he saw that his admiring gaze made her blush;-- and he left the +wine and food untasted before him. The mother said: "Kind Sir, we very much +hope that you will try to eat and to drink a little,-- though our +peasant-fare is of the worst,-- as you must have been chilled by that +piercing wind." Then, to please the old folks, Tomotada ate and drank as he +could; but the charm of the blushing girl still grew upon him. He talked +with her, and found that her speech was sweet as her face. Brought up in +the mountains as she might have been;-- but, in that case, her parents must +at some time been persons of high degree; for she spoke and moved like a +damsel of rank. Suddenly he addressed her with a poem -- which was also a +question -- inspired by the delight in his heart:-- + +"Tadzunetsuru, +Hana ka tote koso, +Hi wo kurase, +Akenu ni otoru +Akane sasuran?" + + + +["Being on my way to pay a visit, I found that which I took to be a +flower: therefore here I spend the day... Why, in the time before dawn, the +dawn-blush tint should glow -- that, indeed, I know not."] [2] + + + +Without a moment's hesitation, she answered him in these verses:-- + +"Izuru hi no +Honomeku iro wo +Waga sode ni +Tsutsumaba asu mo +Kimiya tomaran." + + + +[If with my sleeve I hid the faint fair color of the dawning sun,-- then, +perhaps, in the morning my lord will remain."] [3] + + + +Then Tomotada knew that she accepted his admiration; and he was scarcely +less surprised by the art with which she had uttered her feelings in verse, +than delighted by the assurance which the verses conveyed. He was now +certain that in all this world he could not hope to meet, much less to win, +a girl more beautiful and witty than this rustic maid before him; and a +voice in his heart seemed to cry out urgently, "Take the luck that the gods +have put in your way!" In short he was bewitched -- bewitched to such a +degree that, without further preliminary, he asked the old people to give +him their daughter in marriage,-- telling them, at the same time, his name +and lineage, and his rank in the train of the Lord of Noto. + + +They bowed down before him, with many exclamations of grateful +astonishment. But, after some moments of apparent hesitation, the father +replied:-- + + +"Honored master, you are a person of high position, and likely to rise to +still higher things. Too great is the favor that you deign to offer us;-- +indeed, the depth of our gratitude therefor is not to be spoken or +measured. But this girl of ours, being a stupid country-girl of vulgar +birth, with no training or teaching of any sort, it would be improper to +let her become the wife of a noble samurai. Even to speak of such a matter +is not right... But, since you find the girl to your liking, and have +condescended to pardon her peasant-manners and to overlook her great +rudeness, we do gladly present her to you, for an humble handmaid. Deign, +therefore, to act hereafter in her regard according to your august +pleasure." + + +Ere morning the storm had passed; and day broke through a cloudless east. +Even if the sleeve of Aoyagi hid from her lover's eyes the rose-blush of +that dawn, he could no longer tarry. But neither could he resign himself to +part with the girl; and, when everything had been prepared for his journey, +he thus addressed her parents:-- + + +"Though it may seem thankless to ask for more than I have already +received, I must again beg you to give me your daughter for wife. It would +be difficult for me to separate from her now; and as she is willing to +accompany me, if you permit, I can take her with me as she is. If you will +give her to me, I shall ever cherish you as parents... And, in the +meantime, please to accept this poor acknowledgment of your kindest +hospitality." + + +So saying, he placed before his humble host a purse of gold ryo. But the +old man, after many prostrations, gently pushed back the gift, and said:-- + + +"Kind master, the gold would be of no use to us; and you will probably +have need of it during your long, cold journey. Here we buy nothing; and we +could not spend so much money upon ourselves, even if we wished... As for +the girl, we have already bestowed her as a free gift;-- she belongs to +you: therefore it is not necessary to ask our leave to take her away. +Already she has told us that she hopes to accompany you, and to remain your +servant for as long as you may be willing to endure her presence. We are +only too happy to know that you deign to accept her; and we pray that you +will not trouble yourself on our account. In this place we could not +provide her with proper clothing,-- much less with a dowry. Moreover, being +old, we should in any event have to separate from her before long. +Therefore it is very fortunate that you should be willing to take her with +you now." + + + +It was in vain that Tomotada tried to persuade the old people to accept a +present: he found that they cared nothing for money. But he saw that they +were really anxious to trust their daughter's fate to his hands; and he +therefore decided to take her with him. So he placed her upon his horse, +and bade the old folks farewell for the time being, with many sincere +expressions of gratitude. + + +"honored Sir," the father made answer, "it is we, and not you, who have +reason for gratitude. We are sure that you will be kind to our girl; and we +have no fears for her sake."... + + + +[Here, in the Japanese original, there is a queer break in the natural +course of the narration, which therefrom remains curiously inconsistent. +Nothing further is said about the mother of Tomotada, or about the parents +of Aoyagi, or about the daimyo of Noto. Evidently the writer wearied of his +work at this point, and hurried the story, very carelessly, to its +startling end. I am not able to supply his omissions, or to repair his +faults of construction; but I must venture to put in a few explanatory +details, without which the rest of the tale would not hold together... It +appears that Tomotada rashly took Aoyagi with him to Kyoto, and so got into +trouble; but we are not informed as to where the couple lived afterwards.] + + + +...Now a samurai was not allowed to marry without the consent of his lord; +and Tomotada could not expect to obtain this sanction before his mission +had been accomplished. He had reason, under such circumstances, to fear +that the beauty of Aoyagi might attract dangerous attention, and that means +might be devised of taking her away from him. In Kyoto he therefore tried +to keep her hidden from curious eyes. But a retainer of Lord Hosokawa one +day caught sight of Aoyagi, discovered her relation to Tomotada, and +reported the matter to the daimyo. Thereupon the daimyo -- a young prince, +and fond of pretty faces -- gave orders that the girl should be brought to +the place; and she was taken thither at once, without ceremony. + + + +Tomotada sorrowed unspeakably; but he knew himself powerless. He was only +an humble messenger in the service of a far-off daimyo; and for the time +being he was at the mercy of a much more powerful daimyo, whose wishes were +not to be questioned. Moreover Tomotada knew that he had acted foolishly,-- +that he had brought about his own misfortune, by entering into a +clandestine relation which the code of the military class condemned. There +was now but one hope for him,-- a desperate hope: that Aoyagi might be able +and willing to escape and to flee with him. After long reflection, he +resolved to try to send her a letter. The attempt would be dangerous, of +course: any writing sent to her might find its way to the hands of the +daimyo; and to send a love-letter to anyinmate of the place was an +unpardonable offense. But he resolved to dare the risk; and, in the form of +a Chinese poem, he composed a letter which he endeavored to have conveyed +to her. The poem was written with only twenty-eight characters. But with +those twenty-eight characters he was about to express all the depth of his +passion, and to suggest all the pain of his loss:-- [4] + +Koshi o-son gojin wo ou; +Ryokuju namida wo tarete rakin wo hitataru; +Komon hitotabi irite fukaki koto umi no gotoshi; +Kore yori shoro kore rojin + + + +[Closely, closely the youthful prince now follows after the gem-bright maid;-- + + +The tears of the fair one, falling, have moistened all her robes. + + +But the august lord, having one become enamored of her -- the depth of his +longing is like the depth of the sea. + + +Therefore it is only I that am left forlorn, +-- only I that am left to wander along.] + + + +On the evening of the day after this poem had been sent, Tomotada was +summoned to appear before the Lord Hosokawa. The youth at once suspected +that his confidence had been betrayed; and he could not hope, if his letter +had been seen by the daimyo, to escape the severest penalty. "Now he will +order my death," thought Tomotada;-- "but I do not care to live unless +Aoyagi be restored to me. Besides, if the death-sentence be passed, I can +at least try to kill Hosokawa." He slipped his swords into his girdle, and +hastened to the palace. + + +On entering the presence-room he saw the Lord Hosokawa seated upon the +dais, surrounded by samurai of high rank, in caps and robes of ceremony. +All were silent as statues; and while Tomotada advanced to make obeisance, +the hush seemed to his sinister and heavy, like the stillness before a +storm. But Hosokawa suddenly descended from the dais, and, while taking the +youth by the arm, began to repeat the words of the poem:-- "Koshi o-son +gojin wo ou."... And Tomotada, looking up, saw kindly tears in the prince's +eyes. + + +Then said Hosokawa:-- + + +"Because you love each other so much, I have taken it upon myself to +authorize your marriage, in lieu of my kinsman, the Lord of Noto; and your +wedding shall now be celebrated before me. The guests are assembled;-- the +gifts are ready." + + +At a signal from the lord, the sliding-screens concealing a further +apartment were pushed open; and Tomotada saw there many dignitaries of the +court, assembled for the ceremony, and Aoyagi awaiting him in brides' +apparel... Thus was she given back to him;-- and the wedding was joyous and +splendid;-- and precious gifts were made to the young couple by the prince, +and by the members of his household. + + * * * + + + +For five happy years, after that wedding, Tomotada and Aoyagi dwelt +together. But one morning Aoyagi, while talking with her husband about some +household matter, suddenly uttered a great cry of pain, and then became +very white and still. After a few moments she said, in a feeble voice: +"Pardon me for thus rudely crying out -- but the paid was so sudden!... My +dear husband, our union must have been brought about through some +Karma-relation in a former state of existence; and that happy relation, I +think, will bring us again together in more than one life to come. But for +this present existence of ours, the relation is now ended;-- we are about +to be separated. Repeat for me, I beseech you, the Nembutsu-prayer,-- +because I am dying." + + +"Oh! what strange wild fancies!" cried the startled husband,-- "you are +only a little unwell, my dear one!... lie down for a while, and rest; and +the sickness will pass."... + + +"No, no!" she responded -- "I am dying! -- I do not imagine it;-- I +know!... And it were needless now, my dear husband, to hide the truth from +you any longer:-- I am not a human being. The soul of a tree is my soul;-- +the heart of a tree is my heart;-- the sap of the willow is my life. And +some one, at this cruel moment, is cutting down my tree;-- that is why I +must die!... Even to weep were now beyond my strength!-- quickly, quickly +repeat the Nembutsu for me... quickly!... Ah!... + + + +With another cry of pain she turned aside her beautiful head, and tried to +hide her face behind her sleeve. But almost in the same moment her whole +form appeared to collapse in the strangest way, and to sank down, down, +down -- level with the floor. Tomotada had spring to support her;-- but +there was nothing to support! There lay on the matting only the empty robes +of the fair creature and the ornaments that she had worn in her hair: the +body had ceased to exist... + + + +Tomotada shaved his head, took the Buddhist vows, and became an itinerant +priest. He traveled through all the provinces of the empire; and, at holy +places which he visited, he offered up prayers for the soul of Aoyagi. +Reaching Echizen, in the course of his pilgrimage, he sought the home of +the parents of his beloved. But when he arrived at the lonely place among +the hills, where their dwelling had been, he found that the cottage had +disappeared. There was nothing to mark even the spot where it had stood, +except the stumps of three willows -- two old trees and one young tree -- +that had been cut down long before his arrival. + + +Beside the stumps of those willow-trees he erected a memorial tomb, +inscribed with divers holy texts; and he there performed many Buddhist +services on behalf of the spirits of Aoyagi and of her parents. + + + + +JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA + + +In Wakegori, a district of the province of Iyo (1), there is a very +ancient and famous cherry-tree, called Jiu-roku-zakura, or "the Cherry-tree +of the Sixteenth Day," because it blooms every year upon the sixteenth day +of the first month (by the old lunar calendar),-- and only upon that day. +Thus the time of its flowering is the Period of Great Cold,-- though the +natural habit of a cherry-tree is to wait for the spring season before +venturing to blossom. But the Jiu-roku-zakura blossoms with a life that is +not -- or, at least, that was not originally -- its own. There is the ghost +of a man in that tree. + + + +He was a samurai of Iyo; and the tree grew in his garden; and it used to +flower at the usual time,-- that is to say, about the end of March or the +beginning of April. He had played under that tree when he was a child; and +his parents and grandparents and ancestors had hung to its blossoming +branches, season after season for more than a hundred years, bright strips +of colored paper inscribed with poems of praise. He himself became very +old,-- outliving all his children; and there was nothing in the world left +for him to live except that tree. And lo! in the summer of a certain year, +the tree withered and died! + + +Exceedingly the old man sorrowed for his tree. Then kind neighbors found +for him a young and beautiful cherry-tree, and planted it in his garden,-- +hoping thus to comfort him. And he thanked them, and pretended to be glad. +But really his heart was full of pain; for he had loved the old tree so +well that nothing could have consoled him for the loss of it. + + +At last there came to him a happy thought: he remembered a way by which +the perishing tree might be saved. (It was the sixteenth day of the first +month.) Along he went into his garden, and bowed down before the withered +tree, and spoke to it, saying: "Now deign, I beseech you, once more to +bloom,-- because I am going to die in your stead." (For it is believed that +one can really give away one's life to another person, or to a creature or +even to a tree, by the favor of the gods;-- and thus to transfer one's life +is expressed by the term migawari ni tatsu, "to act as a substitute.") Then +under that tree he spread a white cloth, and divers coverings, and sat down +upon the coverings, and performed hara-kiri after the fashion of a samurai. +And the ghost of him went into the tree, and made it blossom in that same +hour. + + +And every year it still blooms on the sixteenth day of the first month, in +the season of snow. + + + + +THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKE + + +In the district called Toichi of Yamato Province, (1) there used to live a +goshi named Miyata Akinosuke... [Here I must tell you that in Japanese +feudal times there was a privileged class of soldier-farmers,-- +free-holders,-- corresponding to the class of yeomen in England; and these +were called goshi.] + + +In Akinosuke's garden there was a great and ancient cedar-tree, under +which he was wont to rest on sultry days. One very warm afternoon he was +sitting under this tree with two of his friends, fellow-goshi, chatting and +drinking wine, when he felt all of a sudden very drowsy,-- so drowsy that +he begged his friends to excuse him for taking a nap in their presence. +Then he lay down at the foot of the tree, and dreamed this dream:-- + + +He thought that as he was lying there in his garden, he saw a procession, +like the train of some great daimyo descending a hill near by, and that he +got up to look at it. A very grand procession it proved to be,-- more +imposing than anything of the kind which he had ever seen before; and it +was advancing toward his dwelling. He observed in the van of it a number of +young men richly appareled, who were drawing a great lacquered +palace-carriage, or gosho-guruma, hung with bright blue silk. When the +procession arrived within a short distance of the house it halted; and a +richly dressed man -- evidently a person of rank -- advanced from it, +approached Akinosuke, bowed to him profoundly, and then said:-- + + +"Honored Sir, you see before you a kerai [vassal] of the Kokuo of Tokoyo. +[1] My master, the King, commands me to greet you in his august name, and +to place myself wholly at your disposal. He also bids me inform you that he +augustly desires your presence at the palace. Be therefore pleased +immediately to enter this honorable carriage, which he has sent for your +conveyance." + + +Upon hearing these words Akinosuke wanted to make some fitting reply; but +he was too much astonished and embarrassed for speech;-- and in the same +moment his will seemed to melt away from him, so that he could only do as +the kerai bade him. He entered the carriage; the kerai took a place beside +him, and made a signal; the drawers, seizing the silken ropes, turned the +great vehicle southward;-- and the journey began. + + +In a very short time, to Akinosuke's amazement, the carriage stopped in +front of a huge two-storied gateway (romon), of a Chinese style, which he +had never before seen. Here the kerai dismounted, saying, "I go to +announce the honorable arrival,"--and he disappeared. After some little +waiting, Akinosuke saw two noble-looking men, wearing robes of purple silk +and high caps of the form indicating lofty rank, come from the gateway. +These, after having respectfully saluted him, helped him to descend from +the carriage, and led him through the great gate and across a vast garden, +to the entrance of a palace whose front appeared to extend, west and east, +to a distance of miles. Akinosuke was then shown into a reception-room of +wonderful size and splendor. His guides conducted him to the place of +honor, and respectfully seated themselves apart; while serving-maids, in +costume of ceremony, brought refreshments. When Akinosuke had partaken of +the refreshments, the two purple-robed attendants bowed low before him, and +addressed him in the following words,-- each speaking alternately, +according to the etiquette of courts:-- + + + +"It is now our honorable duty to inform you... as to the reason of your +having been summoned hither... Our master, the King, augustly desires that +you become his son-in-law;... and it is his wish and command that you shall +wed this very day... the August Princess, his maiden-daughter... We shall +soon conduct you to the presence-chamber... where His Augustness even now +is waiting to receive you... But it will be necessary that we first invest +you... with the appropriate garments of ceremony." [2] + + +Having thus spoken, the attendants rose together, and proceeded to an +alcove containing a great chest of gold lacquer. They opened the chest, and +took from it various roes and girdles of rich material, and a kamuri, or +regal headdress. With these they attired Akinosuke as befitted a princely +bridegroom; and he was then conducted to the presence-room, where he saw +the Kokuo of Tokoyo seated upon the daiza, [3] wearing a high black cap of +state, and robed in robes of yellow silk. Before the daiza, to left and +right, a multitude of dignitaries sat in rank, motionless and splendid as +images in a temple; and Akinosuke, advancing into their midst, saluted the +king with the triple prostration of usage. The king greeted him with +gracious words, and then said:-- + + +"You have already been informed as to the reason of your having been +summoned to Our presence. We have decided that you shall become the adopted +husband of Our only daughter;-- and the wedding ceremony shall now be +performed." + + +As the king finished speaking, a sound of joyful music was heard; and a +long train of beautiful court ladies advanced from behind a curtain to +conduct Akinosuke to the room in which he bride awaited him. + + +The room was immense; but it could scarcely contain the multitude of +guests assembled to witness the wedding ceremony. All bowed down before +Akinosuke as he took his place, facing the King's daughter, on the +kneeling-cushion prepared for him. As a maiden of heaven the bride appeared +to be; and her robes were beautiful as a summer sky. And the marriage was +performed amid great rejoicing. + + +Afterwards the pair were conducted to a suite of apartments that had been +prepared for them in another portion of the palace; and there they received +the congratulations of many noble persons, and wedding gifts beyond +counting. + + + +Some days later Akinosuke was again summoned to the throne-room. On this +occasion he was received even more graciously than before; and the King +said to him:-- + + +In the southwestern part of Our dominion there is an island called Raishu. +We have now appointed you Governor of that island. You will find the people +loyal and docile; but their laws have not yet been brought into proper +accord with the laws of Tokoyo; and their customs have not been properly +regulated. We entrust you with the duty of improving their social condition +as far as may be possible; and We desire that you shall rule them with +kindness and wisdom. All preparations necessary for your journey to Raishu +have already been made." + + + +So Akinosuke and his bride departed from the palace of Tokoyo, accompanied +to the shore by a great escort of nobles and officials; and they embarked +upon a ship of state provided by the king. And with favoring winds they +safety sailed to Raishu, and found the good people of that island assembled +upon the beach to welcome them. + + + +Akinosuke entered at once upon his new duties; and they did not prove to +be hard. During the first three years of his governorship he was occupied +chiefly with the framing and the enactment of laws; but he had wise +counselors to help him, and he never found the work unpleasant. When it was +all finished, he had no active duties to perform, beyond attending the +rites and ceremonies ordained by ancient custom. The country was so healthy +and so fertile that sickness and want were unknown; and the people were so +good that no laws were ever broken. And Akinosuke dwelt and ruled in Raishu +for twenty years more,-- making in all twenty-three years of sojourn, +during which no shadow of sorrow traversed his life. + + +But in the twenty-fourth year of his governorship, a great misfortune came +upon him; for his wife, who had borne him seven children,-- five boys and +two girls,-- fell sick and died. She was buried, with high pomp, on the +summit of a beautiful hill in the district of Hanryoko; and a monument, +exceedingly splendid, was placed upon her grave. But Akinosuke felt such +grief at her death that he no longer cared to live. + + + +Now when the legal period of mourning was over, there came to Raishu, from +the Tokoyo palace, a shisha, or royal messenger. The shisha delivered to +Akinosuke a message of condolence, and then said to him:-- + + +"These are the words which our august master, the King of Tokoyo, commands +that I repeat to you: 'We will now send you back to your own people and +country. As for the seven children, they are the grandsons and +granddaughters of the King, and shall be fitly cared for. Do not, +therefore, allow you mind to be troubled concerning them.'" + + +On receiving this mandate, Akinosuke submissively prepared for his +departure. When all his affairs had been settled, and the ceremony of +bidding farewell to his counselors and trusted officials had been +concluded, he was escorted with much honor to the port. There he embarked +upon the ship sent for him; and the ship sailed out into the blue sea, +under the blue sky; and the shape of the island of Raishu itself turned +blue, and then turned grey, and then vanished forever... And Akinosuke +suddenly awoke -- under the cedar-tree in his own garden! + + +For a moment he was stupefied and dazed. But he perceived his two friends +still seated near him,-- drinking and chatting merrily. He stared at them +in a bewildered way, and cried aloud,-- + + +"How strange!" + + +"Akinosuke must have been dreaming," one of them exclaimed, with a laugh. +"What did you see, Akinosuke, that was strange?" + + +Then Akinosuke told his dream,-- that dream of three-and-twenty years' +sojourn in the realm of Tokoyo, in the island of Raishu;-- and they were +astonished, because he had really slept for no more than a few minutes. + + +One goshi said:-- + + +"Indeed, you saw strange things. We also saw something strange while you +were napping. A little yellow butterfly was fluttering over your face for a +moment or two; and we watched it. Then it alighted on the ground beside +you, close to the tree; and almost as soon as it alighted there, a big, big +ant came out of a hole and seized it and pulling it down into the hole. +Just before you woke up, we saw that very butterfly come out of the hole +again, and flutter over your face as before. And then it suddenly +disappeared: we do not know where it went." + + +"Perhaps it was Akinosuke's soul," the other goshi said;-- "certainly I +thought I saw it fly into his mouth... But, even if that butterfly was +Akinosuke's soul, the fact would not explain his dream." + + +"The ants might explain it," returned the first speaker. "Ants are queer +beings -- possibly goblins... Anyhow, there is a big ant's nest under that +cedar-tree."... + + +"Let us look!" cried Akinosuke, greatly moved by this suggestion. And he +went for a spade. + + + + + +The ground about and beneath the cedar-tree proved to have been excavated, +in a most surprising way, by a prodigious colony of ants. The ants had +furthermore built inside their excavations; and their tiny constructions of +straw, clay, and stems bore an odd resemblance to miniature towns. In the +middle of a structure considerably larger than the rest there was a +marvelous swarming of small ants around the body of one very big ant, which +had yellowish wings and a long black head. + + +"Why, there is the King of my dream!" cried Akinosuke; "and there is the +palace of Tokoyo!... How extraordinary!... Raishu ought to lie somewhere +southwest of it -- to the left of that big root... Yes! -- here it is!... +How very strange! Now I am sure that I can find the mountain of Hanryoko, +and the grave of the princess."... + + +In the wreck of the nest he searched and searched, and at last discovered +a tiny mound, on the top of which was fixed a water-worn pebble, in shape +resembling a Buddhist monument. Underneath it he found -- embedded in clay +-- the dead body of a female ant. + + + + +RIKI-BAKA + + +His name was Riki, signifying Strength; but the people called him +Riki-the-Simple, or Riki-the-Fool,-- "Riki-Baka,"-- because he had been +born into perpetual childhood. For the same reason they were kind to him,-- +even when he set a house on fire by putting a lighted match to a +mosquito-curtain, and clapped his hands for joy to see the blaze. At +sixteen years he was a tall, strong lad; but in mind he remained always at +the happy age of two, and therefore continued to play with very small +children. The bigger children of the neighborhood, from four to seven years +old, did not care to play with him, because he could not learn their songs +and games. His favorite toy was a broomstick, which he used as a +hobby-horse; and for hours at a time he would ride on that broomstick, up +and down the slope in front of my house, with amazing peals of laughter. +But at last he became troublesome by reason of his noise; and I had to tell +him that he must find another playground. He bowed submissively, and then +went off,-- sorrowfully trailing his broomstick behind him. Gentle at all +times, and perfectly harmless if allowed no chance to play with fire, he +seldom gave anybody cause for complaint. His relation to the life of our +street was scarcely more than that of a dog or a chicken; and when he +finally disappeared, I did not miss him. Months and months passed by before +anything happened to remind me of Riki. + + +"What has become of Riki?" I then asked the old woodcutter who supplies +our neighborhood with fuel. I remembered that Riki had often helped him to +carry his bundles. + + +"Riki-Baka?" answered the old man. "Ah, Riki is dead -- poor fellow!... +Yes, he died nearly a year ago, very suddenly; the doctors said that he had +some disease of the brain. And there is a strange story now about that poor +Riki + + +"When Riki died, his mother wrote his name, 'Riki-Baka,' in the palm of +his left hand,-- putting 'Riki' in the Chinese character, and 'Baka' in +kana (1). And she repeated many prayers for him,-- prayers that he might be +reborn into some more happy condition. + + +"Now, about three months ago, in the honorable residence of Nanigashi-Sama +(2), in Kojimachi (3), a boy was born with characters on the palm of his +left hand; and the characters were quite plain to read,-- 'RIKI-BAKA'! + + +"So the people of that house knew that the birth must have happened in +answer to somebody's prayer; and they caused inquiry to be made everywhere. +At least a vegetable-seller brought word to them that there used to be a +simple lad, called Riki-Baka, living in the Ushigome quarter, and that he +had died during the last autumn; and they sent two men-servants to look for +the mother of Riki. + + +"Those servants found the mother of Riki, and told her what had happened; +and she was glad exceedingly -- for that Nanigashi house is a very rich and +famous house. But the servants said that the family of Nanigashi-Sama were +very angry about the word 'Baka' on the child's hand. 'And where is your +Riki buried?' the servants asked. 'He is buried in the cemetery of +Zendoji,' she told them. 'Please to give us some of the clay of his grave,' +they requested. + + +"So she went with them to the temple Zendoji, and showed them Riki's +grave; and they took some of the grave-clay away with them, wrapped up in a +furoshiki [1].... They gave Riki's mother some money,-- ten yen."... (4) + + + +"But what did they want with that clay?" I inquired. + + +"Well," the old man answered, "you know that it would not do to let the +child grow up with that name on his hand. And there is no other means of +removing characters that come in that way upon the body of a child: you +must rub the skin with clay taken from the grave of the body of the former +birth."... + + + + +HI-MAWARI + + +On the wooded hill behind the house Robert and I are looking for +fairy-rings. Robert is eight years old, comely, and very wise;-- I am a +little more than seven,-- and I reverence Robert. It is a glowing glorious +August day; and the warm air is filled with sharp sweet scents of resin. + + +We do not find any fairy-rings; but we find a great many pine-cones in the +high grass... I tell Robert the old Welsh story of the man who went to +sleep, unawares, inside a fairy-ring, and so disappeared for seven years, +and would never eat or speak after his friends had delivered him from the +enchantment. + + +"They eat nothing but the points of needles, you know," says Robert. + + +"Who?" I ask. + + +""Goblins," Robert answers. + + +This revelation leaves me dumb with astonishment and awe... But Robert +suddenly cries out:-- + + +"There is a Harper! -- he is coming to the house!" + + +And down the hill we run to hear the harper... But what a harper! Not like +the hoary minstrels of the picture-books. A swarthy, sturdy, unkempt +vagabond, with black bold eyes under scowling black brows. More like a +bricklayer than a bard,-- and his garments are corduroy! + + +"Wonder if he is going to sing in Welsh?" murmurs Robert. + + +I feel too much disappointed to make any remarks. The harper poses his +harp -- a huge instrument -- upon our doorstep, sets all the strong ringing +with a sweep of his grimy fingers, clears his throat with a sort of angry +growl, and begins,-- + +Believe me, if all those endearing young charms, +Which I gaze on so fondly to-day... + + + +The accent, the attitude, the voice, all fill me with repulsion +unutterable,-- shock me with a new sensation of formidable vulgarity. I +want to cry out loud, "You have no right to sing that song!" For I have +heard it sung by the lips of the dearest and fairest being in my little +world;-- and that this rude, coarse man should are to sing it vexes me like +a mockery,-- angers me like an insolence. But only for a moment!... With +the utterance of the syllables "to-day," that deep, grim voice suddenly +breaks into a quivering tenderness indescribable;-- then, marvelously +changing, it mellows into tones sonorous and rich as the bass of a great +organ,-- while a sensation unlike anything ever felt before takes me by the +throat... What witchcraft has he learned? what secret has he found -- this +scowling man of the road?... Oh! is there anybody else in the whole world +who can sing like that?... And the form of the singer flickers and dims;-- +and the house, and the lawn, and all visible shapes of things tremble and +swim before me. Yet instinctively I fear that man;-- I almost hate him; and +I feel myself flushing with anger and shame because of his power to move me +thus... + + + +"He made you cry," Robert compassionately observes, to my further +confusion,-- as the harper strides away, richer by a gift of sixpence taken +without thanks... "But I think he must be a gipsy. Gipsies are bad people +-- and they are wizards... Let us go back to the wood." + + +We climb again to the pines, and there squat down upon the sun-flecked +grass, and look over town and sea. But we do not play as before: the spell +of the wizard is strong upon us both... "Perhaps he is a goblin," I venture +at last, "or a fairy?" "No," says Robert,-- "only a gipsy. But that is +nearly as bad. They steal children, you know."... + + +"What shall we do if he comes up here?" I gasp, in sudden terror at the +lonesomeness of our situation. + + +"Oh, he wouldn't dare," answers Robert -- "not by daylight, you know."... + + + +[Only yesterday, near the village of Takata, I noticed a flower which the +Japanese call by nearly the same name as we do: Himawari, "The +Sunward-turning;" -- and over the space of forty years there thrilled back +to me the voice of that wandering harper,-- + +As the Sunflower turns on her god, when he sets, +The same look that she turned when he rose. + +Again I saw the sun-flecked shadows on that far Welsh hill; and Robert for +a moment again stood beside me, with his girl's face and his curls of gold. +We were looking for fairy-rings... But all that existed of the real Robert +must long ago have suffered a sea-change into something rich and strange... +Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his +friend...] + + + + +HORAI + + +Blue vision of depth lost in height,-- sea and sky interblending through +luminous haze. The day is of spring, and the hour morning. + + +Only sky and sea,-- one azure enormity... In the fore, ripples are +catching a silvery light, and threads of foam are swirling. But a little +further off no motion is visible, nor anything save color: dim warm blue of +water widening away to melt into blue of air. Horizon there is none: only +distance soaring into space,-- infinite concavity hollowing before you, and +hugely arching above you,-- the color deepening with the height. But far in +the midway-blue there hangs a faint, faint vision of palace towers, with +high roofs horned and curved like moons,-- some shadowing of splendor +strange and old, illumined by a sunshine soft as memory. + + +...What I have thus been trying to describe is a kakemono,-- that is to +say, a Japanese painting on silk, suspended to the wall of my alcove;-- and +the name of it is Shinkiro, which signifies "Mirage." But the shapes of the +mirage are unmistakable. Those are the glimmering portals of Horai the +blest; and those are the moony roofs of the Palace of the Dragon-King;-- +and the fashion of them (though limned by a Japanese brush of to-day) is +the fashion of things Chinese, twenty-one hundred years ago... + + + +Thus much is told of the place in the Chinese books of that time:-- + + +In Horai there is neither death nor pain; and there is no winter. The +flowers in that place never fade, and the fruits never fail; and if a man +taste of those fruits even but once, he can never again feel thirst or +hunger. In Horai grow the enchanted plants So-rin-shi, and Riku-go-aoi, and +Ban-kon-to, which heal all manner of sickness;-- and there grows also the +magical grass Yo-shin-shi, that quickens the dead; and the magical grass is +watered by a fairy water of which a single drink confers perpetual youth. +The people of Horai eat their rice out of very, very small bowls; but the +rice never diminishes within those bowls,-- however much of it be eaten,-- +until the eater desires no more. And the people of Horai drink their wine +out of very, very small cups; but no man can empty one of those cups,-- +however stoutly he may drink,-- until there comes upon him the pleasant +drowsiness of intoxication. + + + +All this and more is told in the legends of the time of the Shin dynasty. +But that the people who wrote down those legends ever saw Horai, even in a +mirage, is not believable. For really there are no enchanted fruits which +leave the eater forever satisfied,-- nor any magical grass which revives +the dead,-- nor any fountain of fairy water,-- nor any bowls which never +lack rice,-- nor any cups which never lack wine. It is not true that sorrow +and death never enter Horai;-- neither is it true that there is not any +winter. The winter in Horai is cold;-- and winds then bite to the bone; and +the heaping of snow is monstrous on the roofs of the Dragon-King. + + +Nevertheless there are wonderful things in Horai; and the most wonderful +of all has not been mentioned by any Chinese writer. I mean the atmosphere +of Horai. It is an atmosphere peculiar to the place; and, because of it, +the sunshine in Horai is whiter than any other sunshine,-- a milky light +that never dazzles,-- astonishingly clear, but very soft. This atmosphere +is not of our human period: it is enormously old,-- so old that I feel +afraid when I try to think how old it is;-- and it is not a mixture of +nitrogen and oxygen. It is not made of air at all, but of ghost,-- the +substance of quintillions of quintillions of generations of souls blended +into one immense translucency,-- souls of people who thought in ways never +resembling our ways. Whatever mortal man inhales that atmosphere, he takes +into his blood the thrilling of these spirits; and they change the sense +within him,-- reshaping his notions of Space and Time,-- so that he can see +only as they used to see, and feel only as they used to feel, and think +only as they used to think. Soft as sleep are these changes of sense; and +Horai, discerned across them, might thus be described:-- + + + +-- Because in Horai there is no knowledge of great evil, the hearts of the +people never grow old. And, by reason of being always young in heart, the +people of Horai smile from birth until death -- except when the Gods send +sorrow among them; and faces then are veiled until the sorrow goes away. +All folk in Horai love and trust each other, as if all were members of a +single household;-- and the speech of the women is like birdsong, because +the hearts of them are light as the souls of birds;-- and the swaying of +the sleeves of the maidens at play seems a flutter of wide, soft wings. In +Horai nothing is hidden but grief, because there is no reason for shame;-- +and nothing is locked away, because there could not be any theft;-- and by +night as well as by day all doors remain unbarred, because there is no +reason for fear. And because the people are fairies -- though mortal -- all +things in Horai, except the Palace of the Dragon-King, are small and quaint +and queer;-- and these fairy-folk do really eat their rice out of very, +very small bowls, and drink their wine out of very, very small cups... + + + +-- Much of this seeming would be due to the inhalation of that ghostly +atmosphere -- but not all. For the spell wrought by the dead is only the +charm of an Ideal, the glamour of an ancient hope;-- and something of that +hope has found fulfillment in many hearts ,-- in the simple beauty of +unselfish lives,-- in the sweetness of Woman... + + +-- Evil winds from the West are blowing over Horai; and the magical +atmosphere, alas! is shrinking away before them. It lingers now in patches +only, and bands,-- like those long bright bands of cloud that train across +the landscapes of Japanese painters. Under these shreds of the elfish vapor +you still can find Horai -- but not everywhere... Remember that Horai is +also called Shinkiro, which signifies Mirage,-- the Vision of the +Intangible. And the Vision is fading,-- never again to appear save in +pictures and poems and dreams... + + + + + INSECT STUDIES + + +BUTTERFLIES + + I + + + +Would that I could hope for the luck of that Chinese scholar known to +Japanese literature as "Rosan"! For he was beloved by two spirit-maidens, +celestial sisters, who every ten days came to visit him and to tell him +stories about butterflies. Now there are marvelous Chinese stories about +butterflies -- ghostly stories; and I want to know them. But never shall I +be able to read Chinese, nor even Japanese; and the little Japanese poetry +that I manage, with exceeding difficulty, to translate, contains so many +allusions to Chinese stories of butterflies that I am tormented with the +torment of Tantalus... And, of course, no spirit-maidens will even deign to +visit so skeptical a person as myself. + + +I want to know, for example, the whole story of that Chinese maiden whom +the butterflies took to be a flower, and followed in multitude,-- so +fragrant and so fair was she. Also I should like to know something more +concerning the butterflies of the Emperor Genso, or Ming Hwang, who made +them choose his loves for him... He used to hold wine-parties in his +amazing garden; and ladies of exceeding beauty were in attendance; and +caged butterflies, se free among them, would fly to the fairest; and then, +upon that fairest the Imperial favor was bestowed. But after Genso Kotei +had seen Yokihi (whom the Chinese call Yang-Kwei-Fei), he would not suffer +the butterflies to choose for him,-- which was unlucky, as Yokihi got him +into serious trouble... Again, I should like to know more about the +experience of that Chinese scholar, celebrated in Japan under the name +Soshu, who dreamed that he was a butterfly, and had all the sensations of a +butterfly in that dream. For his spirit had really been wandering about in +the shape of a butterfly; and, when he awoke, the memories and the feelings +of butterfly existence remained so vivid in his mind that he could not act +like a human being... Finally I should like to know the text of a certain +Chinese official recognition of sundry butterflies as the spirits of an +Emperor and of his attendants... + + + +Most of the Japanese literature about butterflies, excepting some poetry, +appears to be of Chinese origin; and even that old national aesthetic +feeling on the subject, which found such delightful expression in Japanese +art and song and custom, may have been first developed under Chinese +teaching. Chinese precedent doubtless explains why Japanese poets and +painters chose so often for their geimyo, or professional appellations, +such names as Chomu ("Butterfly-Dream)," Icho ("Solitary Butterfly)," etc. +And even to this day such geimyo as Chohana ("Butterfly-Blossom"), Chokichi +("Butterfly-Luck"), or Chonosuke ("Butterfly-Help"), are affected by +dancing-girls. Besides artistic names having reference to butterflies, +there are still in use real personal names (yobina) of this kind,-- such as +Kocho, or Cho, meaning "Butterfly." They are borne by women only, as a +rule,-- though there are some strange exceptions... And here I may mention +that, in the province of Mutsu, there still exists the curious old custom +of calling the youngest daughter in a family Tekona,-- which quaint word, +obsolete elsewhere, signifies in Mutsu dialect a butterfly. In classic time +this word signified also a beautiful woman... + + + +It is possible also that some weird Japanese beliefs about butterflies are +of Chinese derivation; but these beliefs might be older than China herself. +The most interesting one, I think, is that the soul of a living person may +wander about in the form of a butterfly. Some pretty fancies have been +evolved out of this belief,-- such as the notion that if a butterfly enters +your guest-room and perches behind the bamboo screen, the person whom you +most love is coming to see you. That a butterfly may be the spirit of +somebody is not a reason for being afraid of it. Nevertheless there are +times when even butterflies can inspire fear by appearing in prodigious +numbers; and Japanese history records such an event. When Taira-no-Masakado +was secretly preparing for his famous revolt, there appeared in Kyoto so +vast a swarm of butterflies that the people were frightened,-- thinking the +apparition to be a portent of coming evil... Perhaps those butterflies were +supposed to be the spirits of the thousands doomed to perish in battle, and +agitated on the eve of war by some mysterious premonition of death. + + +However, in Japanese belief, a butterfly may be the soul of a dead person +as well as of a living person. Indeed it is a custom of souls to take +butterfly-shape in order to announce the fact of their final departure from +the body; and for this reason any butterfly which enters a house ought to +be kindly treated. + + +To this belief, and to queer fancies connected with it, there are many +allusions in popular drama. For example, there is a well-known play called +Tonde-deru-Kocho-no-Kanzashi; or, "The Flying Hairpin of Kocho." Kocho is a +beautiful person who kills herself because of false accusations and cruel +treatment. Her would-be avenger long seeks in vain for the author of the +wrong. But at last the dead woman's hairpin turns into a butterfly, and +serves as a guide to vengeance by hovering above the place where the +villain is hiding. + + + +-- Of course those big paper butterflies (o-cho and me-cho) which figure +at weddings must not be thought of as having any ghostly signification. As +emblems they only express the joy of living union, and the hope that the +newly married couple may pass through life together as a pair of +butterflies flit lightly through some pleasant garden,-- now hovering +upward, now downward, but never widely separating. + + + +II + + +A small selection of hokku (1) on butterflies will help to illustrate +Japanese interest in the aesthetic side of the subject. Some are pictures +only,-- tiny color-sketches made with seventeen syllables; some are nothing +more than pretty fancies, or graceful suggestions;-- but the reader will +find variety. Probably he will not care much for the verses in themselves. +The taste for Japanese poetry of the epigrammatic sort is a taste that must +be slowly acquired; and it is only by degrees, after patient study, that +the possibilities of such composition can be fairly estimated. Hasty +criticism has declared that to put forward any serious claim on behalf of +seventeen-syllable poems "would be absurd." But what, then, of Crashaw's +famous line upon the miracle at the marriage feast in Cana?-- + +Nympha pudica Deum vidit, et erubuit. [1] + +Only fourteen syllables -- and immortality. Now with seventeen Japanese +syllables things quite as wonderful -- indeed, much more wonderful -- have +been done, not once or twice, but probably a thousand times... However, +there is nothing wonderful in the following hokku, which have been selected +for more than literary reasons:-- + + Nugi-kakuru [2] +Haori sugata no + Kocho kana! + + + +[Like a haori being taken off -- that is the shape of a butterfly!] + + Torisashi no +Sao no jama suru + Kocho kana! + + + +[Ah, the butterfly keeps getting in the way of the bird-catcher's pole! [3]] + + Tsurigane ni +Tomarite nemuru + Kocho kana! + + + +[Perched upon the temple-bell, the butterfly sleeps:] + + Neru-uchi mo +Asobu-yume wo ya -- + Kusa no cho! + + + +[Even while sleeping, its dream is of play -- ah, the butterfly of the +grass! [4] + + Oki, oki yo! +Waga tomo ni sen, + Neru-kocho! + + + +[Wake up! wake up! -- I will make thee my comrade, thou sleeping +butterfly. [5]] + + Kago no tori +Cho wo urayamu + Metsuki kana! + + + +[Ah, the sad expression in the eyes of that caged bird! -- envying the +butterfly!] + + Cho tonde -- +Kaze naki hi to mo + Miezari ki! + + + +[Even though it did not appear to be a windy day, [6] the fluttering of +the butterflies --!] + + Rakkwa eda ni +Kaeru to mireba -- + Kocho kana! + + + +[When I saw the fallen flower return to the branch -- lo! it was only a +butterfly! [7]] + + Chiru-hana ni -- +Karusa arasou + Kocho kana! + + + +[How the butterfly strives to compete in lightness with the falling +flowers! [8]] + + Chocho ya! +Onna no michi no + Ato ya saki! + + + +[See that butterfly on the woman's path,-- now fluttering behind her, now +before!] + + Chocho ya! +Hana-nusubito wo + Tsukete-yuku! + + + +[Ha! the butterfly! -- it is following the person who stole the flowers!] + + Aki no cho +Tomo nakereba ya; + Hito ni tsuku + + + +[Poor autumn butterfly!-- when left without a comrade (of its own race), +it follows after man (or "a person")!] + + Owarete mo, +Isoganu furi no + Chocho kana! + + + +[Ah, the butterfly! Even when chased, it never has the air of being in a +hurry.] + + Cho wa mina +Jiu-shichi-hachi no + Sugata kana! + + + +[As for butterflies, they all have the appearance of being about seventeen +or eighteen years old.[9]] + + Cho tobu ya -- +Kono yo no urami + Naki yo ni! + + + +[How the butterfly sports,-- just as if there were no enmity (or "envy") +in this world!] + + Cho tobu ya, +Kono yo ni nozomi + Nai yo ni! + + + +[Ah, the butterfly! -- it sports about as if it had nothing more to desire +in this present state of existence.] + + Nami no hana ni +Tomari kanetaru, + Kocho kana! + + + +[Having found it difficult indeed to perch upon the (foam-) blossoms of +the waves,-- alas for the butterfly!] + + Mutsumashi ya! -- +Umare-kawareba + Nobe no cho. [10] + + + +[If (in our next existence) we be born into the state of butterflies upon +the moor, then perchance we may be happy together!] + + Nadeshiko ni +Chocho shiroshi -- + Tare no kon? [11] + + + +[On the pink-flower there is a white butterfly: whose spirit, I wonder?] + + Ichi-nichi no +Tsuma to miekeri -- + Cho futatsu. + + + +[The one-day wife has at last appeared -- a pair of butterflies!] + + Kite wa mau, +Futari shidzuka no + Kocho kana! + + + +[Approaching they dance; but when the two meet at last they are very +quiet, the butterflies!] + + Cho wo ou +Kokoro-mochitashi + Itsumademo! + + + +[Would that I might always have the heart (desire) of chasing butterflies![12]] + + * * * + + + +Besides these specimens of poetry about butterflies, I have one queer +example to offer of Japanese prose literature on the same topic. The +original, of which I have attempted only a free translation, can be found +in the curious old book Mushi-Isame ("Insect-Admonitions"); and it assumes +the form of a discourse to a butterfly. But it is really a didactic +allegory,-- suggesting the moral significance of a social rise and fall:-- + + + +"Now, under the sun of spring, the winds are gentle, and flowers pinkly +bloom, and grasses are soft, and the hearts of people are glad. Butterflies +everywhere flutter joyously: so many persons now compose Chinese verses and +Japanese verses about butterflies. + + +"And this season, O Butterfly, is indeed the season of your bright +prosperity: so comely you now are that in the whole world there is nothing +more comely. For that reason all other insects admire and envy you;-- there +is not among them even one that does not envy you. Nor do insects alone +regard you with envy: men also both envy and admire you. Soshu of China, in +a dream, assumed your shape;-- Sakoku of Japan, after dying, took your +form, and therein made ghostly apparition. Nor is the envy that you inspire +shared only by insects and mankind: even things without soul change their +form into yours;-- witness the barley-grass, which turns into a butterfly. +[13] + + +"And therefore you are lifted up with pride, and think to yourself: 'In all +this world there is nothing superior to me!' Ah! I can very well guess what +is in your heart: you are too much satisfied with your own person. That is +why you let yourself be blown thus lightly about by every wind;-- that is +why you never remain still,-- always, always thinking, 'In the whole world +there is no one so fortunate as I.' + + +"But now try to think a little about your own personal history. It is +worth recalling; for there is a vulgar side to it. How a vulgar side? Well, +for a considerable time after you were born, you had no such reason for +rejoicing in your form. You were then a mere cabbage-insect, a hairy worm; +and you were so poor that you could not afford even one robe to cover your +nakedness; and your appearance was altogether disgusting. Everybody in +those days hated the sight of you. Indeed you had good reason to be ashamed +of yourself; and so ashamed you were that you collected old twigs and +rubbish to hide in, and you made a hiding-nest, and hung it to a branch,-- +and then everybody cried out to you, 'Raincoat Insect!' (Mino-mushi.) [14] +And during that period of your life, your sins were grievous. Among the +tender green leaves of beautiful cherry-trees you and your fellows +assembled, and there made ugliness extraordinary; and the expectant eyes of +the people, who came from far away to admire the beauty of those +cherry-trees, were hurt by the sight of you. And of things even more +hateful than this you were guilty. You knew that poor, poor men and women +had been cultivating daikon (2) in their fields,-- toiling under the hot +sun till their hearts were filled with bitterness by reason of having to +care for that daikon; and you persuaded your companions to go with you, and +to gather upon the leaves of that daikon, and on the leaves of other +vegetables planted by those poor people. Out of your greediness you ravaged +those leaves, and gnawed them into all shapes of ugliness,-- caring nothing +for the trouble of those poor folk... Yes, such a creature you were, and +such were your doings. + + +"And now that you have a comely form, you despise your old comrades, the +insects; and, whenever you happen to meet any of them, you pretend not to +know them [literally, 'You make an I-don't-know face']. Now you want to +have none but wealthy and exalted people for friends... Ah! You have +forgotten the old times, have you? + + +"It is true that many people have forgotten your past, and are charmed by +the sight of your present graceful shape and white wings, and write Chinese +verses and Japanese verses about you. The high-born damsel, who could not +bear even to look at you in your former shape, now gazes at you with +delight, and wants you to perch upon her hairpin, and holds out her dainty +fan in the hope that you will light upon it. But this reminds me that there +is an ancient Chinese story about you, which is not pretty. + + +"In the time of the Emperor Genso, the Imperial Palace contained hundreds +and thousands of beautiful ladies,-- so many, indeed, that it would have +been difficult for any man to decide which among them was the loveliest. +So all of those beautiful persons were assembled together in one place; and +you were set free to fly among them; and it was decreed that the damsel +upon whose hairpin you perched should be augustly summoned to the Imperial +Chamber. In that time there could not be more than one Empress -- which was +a good law; but, because of you, the Emperor Genso did great mischief in +the land. For your mind is light and frivolous; and although among so many +beautiful women there must have been some persons of pure heart, you would +look for nothing but beauty, and so betook yourself to the person most +beautiful in outward appearance. Therefore many of the female attendants +ceased altogether to think about the right way of women, and began to study +how to make themselves appear splendid in the eyes of men. And the end of +it was that the Emperor Genso died a pitiful and painful death -- all +because of your light and trifling mind. Indeed, your real character can +easily be seen from your conduct in other matters. There are trees, for +example,-- such as the evergreen-oak and the pine,-- whose leaves do not +fade and fall, but remain always green;-- these are trees of firm heart, +trees of solid character. But you say that they are stiff and formal; and +you hate the sight of them, and never pay them a visit. Only to the +cherry-tree, and the kaido [15], and the peony, and the yellow rose you go: +those you like because they have showy flowers, and you try only to please +them. Such conduct, let me assure you, is very unbecoming. Those trees +certainly have handsome flowers; but hunger-satisfying fruits they have +not; and they are grateful to those only who are fond of luxury and show. +And that is just the reason why they are pleased by your fluttering wings +and delicate shape;-- that is why they are kind to you. + + +"Now, in this spring season, while you sportively dance through the +gardens of the wealthy, or hover among the beautiful alleys of cherry-trees +in blossom, you say to yourself: 'Nobody in the world has such pleasure as +I, or such excellent friends. And, in spite of all that people may say, I +most love the peony,-- and the golden yellow rose is my own darling, and I +will obey her every least behest; for that is my pride and my delight.'... +So you say. But the opulent and elegant season of flowers is very short: +soon they will fade and fall. Then, in the time of summer heat, there will +be green leaves only; and presently the winds of autumn will blow, when +even the leaves themselves will shower down like rain, parari-parari. And +your fate will then be as the fate of the unlucky in the proverb, Tanomi ki +no shita ni ame furu [Even through the tree upon which I relied for shelter +the rain leaks down]. For you will seek out your old friend, the +root-cutting insect, the grub, and beg him to let you return into your +old-time hole;-- but now having wings, you will not be able to enter the +hole because of them, and you will not be able to shelter your body +anywhere between heaven and earth, and all the moor-grass will then have +withered, and you will not have even one drop of dew with which to moisten +your tongue,-- and there will be nothing left for you to do but to lie down +and die. all because of your light and frivolous heart -- but, ah! how +lamentable an end!"... + +III + + + +Most of the Japanese stories about butterflies appear, as I have said, to +be of Chinese origin. But I have one which is probably indigenous; and it +seems to me worth telling for the benefit of persons who believe there is +no "romantic love" in the Far East. + + + +Behind the cemetery of the temple of Sozanji, in the suburbs of the +capital, there long stood a solitary cottage, occupied by an old man named +Takahama. He was liked in the neighborhood, by reason of his amiable ways; +but almost everybody supposed him to be a little mad. Unless a man take the +Buddhist vows, he is expected to marry, and to bring up a family. But +Takahama did not belong to the religious life; and he could not be +persuaded to marry. Neither had he ever been known to enter into a +love-relation with any woman. For more than fifty years he had lived +entirely alone. + + +One summer he fell sick, and knew that he had not long to live. He then +sent for his sister-in-law, a widow, and for her only son,-- a lad of about +twenty years old, to whom he was much attached. Both promptly came, and did +whatever they could to soothe the old man's last hours. + + +One sultry afternoon, while the widow and her son were watching at his +bedside, Takahama fell asleep. At the same moment a very large white +butterfly entered the room, and perched upon the sick man's pillow. The +nephew drove it away with a fan; but it returned immediately to the pillow, +and was again driven away, only to come back a third time. Then the nephew +chased it into the garden, and across the garden, through an open gate, +into the cemetery of the neighboring temple. But it continued to flutter +before him as if unwilling to be driven further, and acted so queerly that +he began to wonder whether it was really a butterfly, or a ma [16]. He +again chased it, and followed it far into the cemetery, until he saw it fly +against a tomb,-- a woman's tomb. There it unaccountably disappeared; and +he searched for it in vain. He then examined the monument. It bore the +personal name "Akiko," (3) together with an unfamiliar family name, and an +inscription stating that Akiko had died at the age of eighteen. Apparently +the tomb had been erected about fifty years previously: moss had begun to +gather upon it. But it had been well cared for: there were fresh flowers +before it; and the water-tank had recently been filled. + + +On returning to the sick room, the young man was shocked by the +announcement that his uncle had ceased to breathe. Death had come to the +sleeper painlessly; and the dead face smiled. + + +The young man told his mother of what he had seen in the cemetery. + + +"Ah!" exclaimed the widow, "then it must have been Akiko!"... + + +But who was Akiko, mother?" the nephew asked. + + +The widow answered:-- + + +"When your good uncle was young he was betrothed to a charming girl called +Akiko, the daughter of a neighbor. Akiko died of consumption, only a little +before the day appointed for the wedding; and her promised husband sorrowed +greatly. After Akiko had been buried, he made a vow never to marry; and he +built this little house beside the cemetery, so that he might be always +near her grave. All this happened more than fifty years ago. And every day +of those fifty years -- winter and summer alike -- your uncle went to the +cemetery, and prayed at the grave, and swept the tomb, and set offerings +before it. But he did not like to have any mention made of the matter; and +he never spoke of it... So, at last, Akiko came for him: the white +butterfly was her soul." + +IV + + + +I had almost forgotten to mention an ancient Japanese dance, called the +Butterfly Dance (Kocho-Mai), which used to be performed in the Imperial +Palace, by dancers costumed as butterflies. Whether it is danced +occasionally nowadays I do not know. It is said to be very difficult to +learn. Six dancers are required for the proper performance of it; and they +must move in particular figures,-- obeying traditional rules for ever step, +pose, or gesture,-- and circling about each other very slowly to the sound +of hand-drums and great drums, small flutes and great flutes, and pandean +pipes of a form unknown to Western Pan. + + +MOSQUITOES + + + +With a view to self-protection I have been reading Dr. Howard's book, +"Mosquitoes." I am persecuted by mosquitoes. There are several species in +my neighborhood; but only one of them is a serious torment,-- a tiny needly +thing, all silver-speckled and silver-streaked. The puncture of it is sharp +as an electric burn; and the mere hum of it has a lancinating quality of +tone which foretells the quality of the pain about to come,-- much in the +same way that a particular smell suggests a particular taste. I find that +this mosquito much resembles the creature which Dr. Howard calls Stegomyia +fasciata, or Culex fasciatus: and that its habits are the same as those of +the Stegomyia. For example, it is diurnal rather than nocturnal and becomes +most troublesome in the afternoon. And I have discovered that it comes from +the Buddhist cemetery,-- a very old cemetery,-- in the rear of my garden. + + + +Dr. Howard's book declares that, in order to rid a neighborhood of +mosquitoes, it is only necessary to pour a little petroleum, or kerosene +oil, into the stagnant water where they breed. Once a week the oil should +be used, "at the rate of once ounce for every fifteen square feet of +water-surface, and a proportionate quantity for any less surface." ...But +please to consider the conditions in my neighborhood! + + +I have said that my tormentors come from the Buddhist cemetery. Before +nearly every tomb in that old cemetery there is a water-receptacle, or +cistern, called mizutame. In the majority of cases this mizutame is simply +an oblong cavity chiseled in the broad pedestal supporting the monument; +but before tombs of a costly kind, having no pedestal-tank, a larger +separate tank is placed, cut out of a single block of stone, and decorated +with a family crest, or with symbolic carvings. In front of a tomb of the +humblest class, having no mizutame, water is placed in cups or other +vessels,-- for the dead must have water. Flowers also must be offered to +them; and before every tomb you will find a pair of bamboo cups, or other +flower-vessels; and these, of course, contain water. There is a well in the +cemetery to supply water for the graves. Whenever the tombs are visited by +relatives and friends of the dead, fresh water is poured into the tanks and +cups. But as an old cemetery of this kind contains thousands of mizutame, +and tens of thousands of flower-vessels the water in all of these cannot be +renewed every day. It becomes stagnant and populous. The deeper tanks +seldom get dry;-- the rainfall at Tokyo being heavy enough to keep them +partly filled during nine months out of the twelve. + + +Well, it is in these tanks and flower-vessels that mine enemies are born: +they rise by millions from the water of the dead;-- and, according to +Buddhist doctrine, some of them may be reincarnations of those very dead, +condemned by the error of former lives to the condition of Jiki-ketsu-gaki, +or blood-drinking pretas... Anyhow the malevolence of the Culex fasciatus +would justify the suspicion that some wicked human soul had been compressed +into that wailing speck of a body... + + + +Now, to return to the subject of kerosene-oil, you can exterminate the +mosquitoes of any locality by covering with a film of kerosene all stagnant +water surfaces therein. The larvae die on rising to breathe; and the adult +females perish when they approach the water to launch their rafts of eggs. +And I read, in Dr. Howard's book, that the actual cost of freeing from +mosquitoes one American town of fifty thousand inhabitants, does not exceed +three hundred dollars!... + + + +I wonder what would be said if the city-government of Tokyo -- which is +aggressively scientific and progressive -- were suddenly to command that +all water-surfaces in the Buddhist cemeteries should be covered, at regular +intervals, with a film of kerosene oil! How could the religion which +prohibits the taking of any life -- even of invisible life -- yield to such +a mandate? Would filial piety even dream of consenting to obey such an +order? And then to think of the cost, in labor and time, of putting +kerosene oil, every seven days, into the millions of mizutame, and the tens +of millions of bamboo flower-cups, in the Tokyo graveyards!... Impossible! +To free the city from mosquitoes it would be necessary to demolish the +ancient graveyards;-- and that would signify the ruin of the Buddhist +temples attached to them;-- and that would mean the disparition of so many +charming gardens, with their lotus-ponds and Sanscrit-lettered monuments +and humpy bridges and holy groves and weirdly-smiling Buddhas! So the +extermination of the Culex fasciatus would involve the destruction of the +poetry of the ancestral cult,-- surely too great a price to pay!... + + + +Besides, I should like, when my time comes, to be laid away in some +Buddhist graveyard of the ancient kind,-- so that my ghostly company should +be ancient, caring nothing for the fashions and the changes and the +disintegrations of Meiji (1). That old cemetery behind my garden would be a +suitable place. Everything there is beautiful with a beauty of exceeding +and startling queerness; each tree and stone has been shaped by some old, +old ideal which no longer exists in any living brain; even the shadows are +not of this time and sun, but of a world forgotten, that never knew steam +or electricity or magnetism or -- kerosene oil! Also in the boom of the big +bell there is a quaintness of tone which wakens feelings, so strangely +far-away from all the nineteenth-century part of me, that the faint blind +stirrings of them make me afraid,-- deliciously afraid. Never do I hear +that billowing peal but I become aware of a striving and a fluttering in +the abyssal part of my ghost,-- a sensation as of memories struggling to +reach the light beyond the obscurations of a million million deaths and +births. I hope to remain within hearing of that bell... And, considering +the possibility of being doomed to the state of a Jiki-ketsu-gaki, I want +to have my chance of being reborn in some bamboo flower-cup, or mizutame, +whence I might issue softly, singing my thin and pungent song, to bite some +people that I know. + + + + +ANTS + +I + + +This morning sky, after the night's tempest, is a pure and dazzling blue. +The air -- the delicious air! -- is full of sweet resinous odors, shed from +the countless pine-boughs broken and strewn by the gale. In the neighboring +bamboo-grove I hear the flute-call of the bird that praises the Sutra of +the Lotos; and the land is very still by reason of the south wind. Now the +summer, long delayed, is truly with us: butterflies of queer Japanese +colors are flickering about; semi (1) are wheezing; wasps are humming; +gnats are dancing in the sun; and the ants are busy repairing their damaged +habitations... I bethink me of a Japanese poem:-- + + Yuku e naki: +Ari no sumai ya! + Go-getsu ame. + + + +[Now the poor creature has nowhere to go!... Alas for the dwellings of the +ants in this rain of the fifth month!] + + + +But those big black ants in my garden do not seem to need any sympathy. +They have weathered the storm in some unimaginable way, while great trees +were being uprooted, and houses blown to fragments, and roads washed out of +existence. Yet, before the typhoon, they took no other visible precaution +than to block up the gates of their subterranean town. And the spectacle of +their triumphant toil to-day impels me to attempt an essay on Ants. + + +I should have like to preface my disquisitions with something from the old +Japanese literature,-- something emotional or metaphysical. But all that my +Japanese friends were able to find for me on the subject,-- excepting some +verses of little worth,-- was Chinese. This Chinese material consisted +chiefly of strange stories; and one of them seems to me worth quoting,-- +faute de mieux. + + * + + + +In the province of Taishu, in China, there was a pious man who, every day, +during many years, fervently worshiped a certain goddess. One morning, +while he was engaged in his devotions, a beautiful woman, wearing a yellow +robe, came into his chamber and stood before him. He, greatly surprised, +asked her what she wanted, and why she had entered unannounced. She +answered: "I am not a woman: I am the goddess whom you have so long and so +faithfully worshiped; and I have now come to prove to you that your +devotion has not been in vain... Are you acquainted with the language of +Ants?" The worshiper replied: "I am only a low-born and ignorant person,-- +not a scholar; and even of the language of superior men I know nothing." At +these words the goddess smiled, and drew from her bosom a little box, +shaped like an incense box. She opened the box, dipped a finger into it, +and took therefrom some kind of ointment with which she anointed the ears +of the man. "Now," she said to him, "try to find some Ants, and when you +find any, stoop down, and listen carefully to their talk. You will be able +to understand it; and you will hear of something to your advantage... Only +remember that you must not frighten or vex the Ants." Then the goddess +vanished away. + + +The man immediately went out to look for some Ants. He had scarcely +crossed the threshold of his door when he perceived two Ants upon a stone +supporting one of the house-pillars. He stooped over them, and listened; +and he was astonished to find that he could hear them talking, and could +understand what they said. "Let us try to find a warmer place," proposed +one of the Ants. "Why a warmer place?" asked the other;-- "what is the +matter with this place?" "It is too damp and cold below," said the first +Ant; "there is a big treasure buried here; and the sunshine cannot warm the +ground about it." Then the two Ants went away together, and the listener +ran for a spade. + + +By digging in the neighborhood of the pillar, he soon found a number of +large jars full of gold coin. The discovery of this treasure made him a +very rich man. + + +Afterwards he often tried to listen to the conversation of Ants. But he +was never again able to hear them speak. The ointment of the goddess had +opened his ears to their mysterious language for only a single day. + + * + + + +Now I, like that Chinese devotee, must confess myself a very ignorant +person, and naturally unable to hear the conversation of Ants. But the +Fairy of Science sometimes touches my ears and eyes with her wand; and +then, for a little time, I am able to hear things inaudible, and to +perceive things imperceptible. + + + +II + + +For the same reason that it is considered wicked, in sundry circles, to +speak of a non-Christian people having produced a civilization ethically +superior to our own, certain persons will not be pleased by what I am going +to say about ants. But there are men, incomparably wiser than I can ever +hope to be, who think about insects and civilizations independently of the +blessings of Christianity; and I find encouragement in the new Cambridge +Natural History, which contains the following remarks by Professor David +Sharp, concerning ants:-- + + + +"Observation has revealed the most remarkable phenomena in the lives of +these insects. Indeed we can scarcely avoid the conclusion that they have +acquired, in many respects, the art of living together in societies more +perfectly than our own species has; and that they have anticipated us in +the acquisition of some of the industries and arts that greatly facilitate +social life." + + + +I suppose that a few well-informed persons will dispute this plain +statement by a trained specialist. The contemporary man of science is not +apt to become sentimental about ants or bees; but he will not hesitate to +acknowledge that, in regard to social evolution, these insects appear to +have advanced "beyond man." Mr. Herbert Spencer, whom nobody will charge +with romantic tendencies, goes considerably further than Professor Sharp; +showing us that ants are, in a very real sense, ethically as well as +economically in advance of humanity,-- their lives being entirely devoted +to altruistic ends. Indeed, Professor Sharp somewhat needlessly qualifies +his praise of the ant with this cautious observation:-- + + + +"The competence of the ant is not like that of man. It is devoted to the +welfare of the species rather than to that of the individual, which is, as +it were, sacrificed or specialized for the benefit of the community." + + + +-- The obvious implication,-- that any social state, in which the +improvement of the individual is sacrificed to the common welfare, leaves +much to be desired,-- is probably correct, from the actual human +standpoint. For man is yet imperfectly evolved; and human society has much +to gain from his further individualization. But in regard to social insects +the implied criticism is open to question. "The improvement of the +individual," says Herbert Spencer, "consists in the better fitting of him +for social cooperation; and this, being conducive to social prosperity, is +conducive to the maintenance of the race." In other words, the value of the +individual can be only in relation to the society; and this granted, +whether the sacrifice of the individual for the sake of that society be +good or evil must depend upon what the society might gain or lose through a +further individualization of its members... But as we shall presently see, +the conditions of ant-society that most deserve our attention are the +ethical conditions; and these are beyond human criticism, since they +realize that ideal of moral evolution described by Mr. Spencer as "a state +in which egoism and altruism are so conciliated that the one merges into +the other." That is to say, a state in which the only possible pleasure is +the pleasure of unselfish action. Or, again to quote Mr. Spencer, the +activities of the insect-society are "activities which postpone individual +well-being so completely to the well-being of the community that individual +life appears to be attended to only just so far as is necessary to make +possible due attention to social life,... the individual taking only just +such food and just such rest as are needful to maintain its vigor." + + + +III + + +I hope my reader is aware that ants practise horticulture and agriculture; +that they are skillful in the cultivation of mushrooms; that they have +domesticated (according to present knowledge) five hundred and eighty-four +different kinds of animals; that they make tunnels through solid rock; that +they know how to provide against atmospheric changes which might endanger +the health of their children; and that, for insects, their longevity is +exceptional,-- members of the more highly evolved species living for a +considerable number of years. + + +But it is not especially of these matters that I wish to speak. What I +want to talk about is the awful propriety, the terrible morality, of the +ant [1]. Our most appalling ideals of conduct fall short of the ethics of +the ant,-- as progress is reckoned in time,-- by nothing less than millions +of years!... When I say "the ant," I mean the highest type of ant,-- not, +of course, the entire ant-family. About two thousand species of ants are +already known; and these exhibit, in their social organizations, widely +varying degrees of evolution. Certain social phenomena of the greatest +biological importance, and of no less importance in their strange relation +to the subject of ethics, can be studied to advantage only in the existence +of the most highly evolved societies of ants. + + + +After all that has been written of late years about the probable value of +relative experience in the long life of the ant, I suppose that few persons +would venture to deny individual character to the ant. The intelligence of +the little creature in meeting and overcoming difficulties of a totally new +kind, and in adapting itself to conditions entirely foreign to its +experience, proves a considerable power of independent thinking. But this +at least is certain: that the ant has no individuality capable of being +exercised in a purely selfish direction;-- I am using the word "selfish" in +its ordinary acceptation. A greedy ant, a sensual ant, an ant capable of +any one of the seven deadly sins, or even of a small venial sin, is +unimaginable. Equally unimaginable, of course, a romantic ant, an +ideological ant, a poetical ant, or an ant inclined to metaphysical +speculations. No human mind could attain to the absolute matter-of-fact +quality of the ant-mind;-- no human being, as now constituted, could +cultivate a mental habit so impeccably practical as that of the ant. But +this superlatively practical mind is incapable of moral error. It would be +difficult, perhaps, to prove that the ant has no religious ideas. But it is +certain that such ideas could not be of any use to it. The being incapable +of moral weakness is beyond the need of "spiritual guidance." + + + +Only in a vague way can we conceive the character of ant-society, and the +nature of ant-morality; and to do even this we must try to imagine some yet +impossible state of human society and human morals. Let us, then, imagine a +world full of people incessantly and furiously working,-- all of whom seem +to be women. No one of these women could be persuaded or deluded into +taking a single atom of food more than is needful to maintain her strength; +and no one of them ever sleeps a second longer than is necessary to keep +her nervous system in good working-order. And all of them are so peculiarly +constituted that the least unnecessary indulgence would result in some +derangement of function. + + +The work daily performed by these female laborers comprises road-making, +bridge-building, timber-cutting, architectural construction of numberless +kinds, horticulture and agriculture, the feeding and sheltering of a +hundred varieties of domestic animals, the manufacture of sundry chemical +products, the storage and conservation of countless food-stuffs, and the +care of the children of the race. All this labor is done for the +commonwealth -- no citizen of which is capable even of thinking about +"property," except as a res publica;-- and the sole object of the +commonwealth is the nurture and training of its young,-- nearly all of whom +are girls. The period of infancy is long: the children remain for a great +while, not only helpless, but shapeless, and withal so delicate that they +must be very carefully guarded against the least change of temperature. +Fortunately their nurses understand the laws of health: each thoroughly +knows all that she ought to know in regard to ventilation, disinfection, +drainage, moisture, and the danger of germs,-- germs being as visible, +perhaps, to her myopic sight as they become to our own eyes under the +microscope. Indeed, all matters of hygiene are so well comprehended that no +nurse ever makes a mistake about the sanitary conditions of her +neighborhood. + + +In spite of this perpetual labor no worker remains unkempt: each is +scrupulously neat, making her toilet many times a day. But as every worker +is born with the most beautiful of combs and brushes attached to her +wrists, no time is wasted in the toilet-room. Besides keeping themselves +strictly clean, the workers must also keep their houses and gardens in +faultless order, for the sake of the children. Nothing less than an +earthquake, an eruption, an inundation, or a desperate war, is allowed to +interrupt the daily routine of dusting, sweeping, scrubbing, and +disinfecting. + + + +IV + + +Now for stranger facts:-- + + +This world of incessant toil is a more than Vestal world. It is true that +males can sometimes be perceived in it; but they appear only at particular +seasons, and they have nothing whatever to do with the workers or with the +work. None of them would presume to address a worker,-- except, perhaps, +under extraordinary circumstances of common peril. And no worker would +think of talking to a male;-- for males, in this queer world, are inferior +beings, equally incapable of fighting or working, and tolerated only as +necessary evils. One special class of females,-- the Mothers-Elect of the +race,-- do condescend to consort with males, during a very brief period, at +particular seasons. But the Mothers-Elect do not work; and they most accept +husbands. A worker could not even dream of keeping company with a male,-- +not merely because such association would signify the most frivolous waste +of time, nor yet because the worker necessarily regards all males with +unspeakable contempt; but because the worker is incapable of wedlock. Some +workers, indeed, are capable of parthenogenesis, and give birth to children +who never had fathers. As a general rule, however, the worker is truly +feminine by her moral instincts only: she has all the tenderness, the +patience, and the foresight that we call "maternal;" but her sex has +disappeared, like the sex of the Dragon-Maiden in the Buddhist legend. + + +For defense against creatures of prey, or enemies of the state, the +workers are provided with weapons; and they are furthermore protected by a +large military force. The warriors are so much bigger than the workers (in +some communities, at least) that it is difficult, at first sight, to +believe them of the same race. Soldiers one hundred times larger than the +workers whom they guard are not uncommon. But all these soldiers are +Amazons,-- or, more correctly speaking, semi-females. They can work +sturdily; but being built for fighting and for heavy pulling chiefly, their +usefulness is restricted to those directions in which force, rather than +skill, is required. + + + +[Why females, rather than males, should have been evolutionally +specialized into soldiery and laborers may not be nearly so simple a +question as it appears. I am very sure of not being able to answer it. But +natural economy may have decided the matter. In many forms of life, the +female greatly exceeds the male in bulk and in energy;-- perhaps, in this +case, the larger reserve of life-force possessed originally by the complete +female could be more rapidly and effectively utilized for the development +of a special fighting-caste. All energies which, in the fertile female, +would be expended in the giving of life seem here to have been diverted to +the evolution of aggressive power, or working-capacity.] + + + +Of the true females,-- the Mothers-Elect,-- there are very few indeed; and +these are treated like queens. So constantly and so reverentially are they +waited upon that they can seldom have any wishes to express. They are +relieved from every care of existence,-- except the duty of bearing +offspring. Night and day they are cared for in every possible manner. They +alone are superabundantly and richly fed:-- for the sake of the offspring +they must eat and drink and repose right royally; and their physiological +specialization allows of such indulgence ad libitum. They seldom go out, +and never unless attended by a powerful escort; as they cannot be permitted +to incur unnecessary fatigue or danger. Probably they have no great desire +to go out. Around them revolves the whole activity of the race: all its +intelligence and toil and thrift are directed solely toward the well-being +of these Mothers and of their children. + + +But last and least of the race rank the husbands of these Mothers,-- the +necessary Evils,-- the males. They appear only at a particular season, as I +have already observed; and their lives are very short. Some cannot even +boast of noble descent, though destined to royal wedlock; for they are not +royal offspring, but virgin-born,-- parthenogenetic children,-- and, for +that reason especially, inferior beings, the chance results of some +mysterious atavism. But of any sort of males the commonwealth tolerates but +few,-- barely enough to serve as husbands for the Mothers-Elect, and these +few perish almost as soon as their duty has been done. The meaning of +Nature's law, in this extraordinary world, is identical with Ruskin's +teaching that life without effort is crime; and since the males are useless +as workers or fighters, their existence is of only momentary importance. +They are not, indeed, sacrificed,-- like the Aztec victim chosen for the +festival of Tezcatlipoca, and allowed a honeymoon of twenty days before his +heart was torn out. But they are scarcely less unfortunate in their high +fortune. Imagine youths brought up in the knowledge that they are destined +to become royal bridegrooms for a single night,-- that after their bridal +they will have no moral right to live,-- that marriage, for each and all of +them, will signify certain death,-- and that they cannot even hope to be +lamented by their young widows, who will survive them for a time of many +generations...! + + + +V + + +But all the foregoing is no more than a proem to the real "Romance of the +Insect-World." + + +-- By far the most startling discovery in relation to this astonishing +civilization is that of the suppression of sex. In certain advanced forms +of ant-life sex totally disappears in the majority of individuals;-- in +nearly all the higher ant-societies sex-life appears to exist only to the +extent absolutely needed for the continuance of the species. But the +biological fact in itself is much less startling than the ethical +suggestion which it offers;-- for this practical suppression, or +regulation, of sex-faculty appears to be voluntary! Voluntary, at least, so +far as the species is concerned. It is now believed that they wonderful +creatures have learned how to develop, or to arrest the development, of sex +in their young,-- by some particular mode of nutrition. They have succeeded +in placing under perfect control what is commonly supposed to be the most +powerful and unmanageable of instincts. And this rigid restraint of +sex-life to within the limits necessary to provide against extinction is +but one (though the most amazing) of many vital economies effected by the +race. Every capacity for egoistic pleasure -- in the common meaning of the +word "egoistic" -- has been equally repressed through physiological +modification. No indulgence of any natural appetite is possible except to +that degree in which such indulgence can directly or indirectly benefit the +species;-- even the indispensable requirements of food and sleep being +satisfied only to the exact extent necessary for the maintenance of healthy +activity. The individual can exist, act, think, only for the communal good; +and the commune triumphantly refuses, in so far as cosmic law permits, to +let itself be ruled eitherby Love or Hunger. + + + +Most of us have been brought up in the belief that without some kind of +religious creed -- some hope of future reward or fear of future punishment +-- no civilization could exist. We have been taught to think that in the +absence of laws based upon moral ideas, and in the absence of an effective +police to enforce such laws, nearly everybody would seek only his or her +personal advantage, to the disadvantage of everybody else. The strong would +then destroy the weak; pity and sympathy would disappear; and the whole +social fabric would fall to pieces... These teachings confess the existing +imperfection of human nature; and they contain obvious truth. But those who +first proclaimed that truth, thousands and thousands of years ago, never +imagined a form of social existence in which selfishness would be naturally +impossible. It remained for irreligious Nature to furnish us with proof +positive that there can exist a society in which the pleasure of active +beneficence makes needless the idea of duty,-- a society in which +instinctive morality can dispense with ethical codes of every sort,-- a +society of which every member is born so absolutely unselfish, and so +energetically good, that moral training could signify, even for its +youngest, neither more nor less than waste of precious time. + + + +To the Evolutionist such facts necessarily suggest that the value of our +moral idealism is but temporary; and that something better than virtue, +better than kindness, better than self-denial,-- in the present human +meaning of those terms,-- might, under certain conditions, eventually +replace them. He finds himself obliged to face the question whether a world +without moral notions might not be morally better than a world in which +conduct is regulated by such notions. He must even ask himself whether the +existence of religious commandments, moral laws, and ethical standards +among ourselves does not prove us still in a very primitive stage of social +evolution. And these questions naturally lead up to another: Will humanity +ever be able, on this planet, to reach an ethical condition beyond all its +ideals,-- a condition in which everything that we now call evil will have +been atrophied out of existence, and everything that we call virtue have +been transmuted into instinct;-- a state of altruism in which ethical +concepts and codes will have become as useless as they would be, even now, +in the societies of the higher ants. + + + +The giants of modern thought have given some attention to this question; +and the greatest among them has answered it -- partly in the affirmative. +Herbert Spencer has expressed his belief that humanity will arrive at some +state of civilization ethically comparable with that of the ant:-- + + + +"If we have, in lower orders of creatures, cases in which the nature is +constitutionally so modified that altruistic activities have become one +with egoistic activities, there is an irresistible implication that a +parallel identification will, under parallel conditions, take place among +human beings. Social insects furnish us with instances completely to the +point,-- and instances showing us, indeed, to what a marvelous degree the +life of the individual may be absorbed in subserving the lives of other +individuals... Neither the ant nor the bee can be supposed to have a sense +of duty, in the acceptation we give to that word; nor can it be supposed +that it is continually undergoing self-sacrifice, in the ordinary +acceptation of that word... [The facts] show us that it is within the +possibilities of organization to produce a nature which shall be just as +energetic in the pursuit of altruistic ends, as is in other cases shown in +the pursuit of egoistic ends;-- and they show that, in such cases, these +altruistic ends are pursued in pursuing ends which, on their other face, +are egoistic. For the satisfaction of the needs of the organization, these +actions, conducive to the welfare of others, must be carried on... + +. . . . . . . . + + + +"So far from its being true that there must go on, throughout all the futur +e, a condition in which self-regard is to be continually subjected by the +regard for others, it will, contrari-wise, be the case that a regard for +others will eventually become so large a source of pleasure as to overgrow +the pleasure which is derivable from direct egoistic gratification... +Eventually, then, there will come also a state in which egoism and altruism +are so conciliated that the one merges in the other." + + + +VI + + +Of course the foregoing prediction does not imply that human nature will +ever undergo such physiological change as would be represented by +structural specializations comparable to those by which the various castes +of insect societies are differentiated. We are not bidden to imagine a +future state of humanity in which the active majority would consist of +semi-female workers and Amazons toiling for an inactive minority of +selected Mothers. Even in his chapter, "Human Population in the Future," +Mr. Spencer has attempted no detailed statement of the physical +modifications inevitable to the production of higher moral types,-- though +his general statement in regard to a perfected nervous system, and a great +diminution of human fertility, suggests that such moral evolution would +signify a very considerable amount of physical change. If it be legitimate +to believe in a future humanity to which the pleasure of mutual beneficence +will represent the whole joy of life, would it not also be legitimate to +imagine other transformations, physical and moral, which the facts of +insect-biology have proved to be within the range of evolutional +possibility?... I do not know. I most worshipfully reverence Herbert +Spencer as the greatest philosopher who has yet appeared in this world; and +I should be very sorry to write down anything contrary to his teaching, in +such wise that the reader could imagine it to have been inspired by +Synthetic Philosophy. For the ensuing reflections, I alone am responsible; +and if I err, let the sin be upon my own head. + + + +I suppose that the moral transformations predicted by Mr. Spencer, could +be effected only with the aid of physiological change, and at a terrible +cost. Those ethical conditions manifested by insect-societies can have been +reached only through effort desperately sustained for millions of years +against the most atrocious necessities. Necessities equally merciless may +have to be met and mastered eventually by the human race. Mr. Spencer has +shown that the time of the greatest possible human suffering is yet to +come, and that it will be concomitant with the period of the greatest +possible pressure of population. Among other results of that long stress, I +understand that there will be a vast increase in human intelligence and +sympathy; and that this increases of intelligence will be effected at the +cost of human fertility. But this decline in reproductive power will not, +we are told, be sufficient to assure the very highest of social conditions: +it will only relieve that pressure of population which has been the main +cause of human suffering. The state of perfect social equilibrium will be +approached, but never quite reached, by mankind -- + + + +Unless there be discovered some means of solving economic problems, just +as social insects have solved them, by the suppression of sex-life. + + + +Supposing that such a discovery were made, and that the human race should +decide to arrest the development of six in the majority of its young,-- so +as to effect a transferrence of those forces, now demanded by sex-life to +the development of higher activities,-- might not the result be an eventual +state of polymorphism, like that of ants? And, in such event, might not the +Coming Race be indeed represented in its higher types,-- through feminine +rather than masculine evolution,-- by a majority of beings of neither sex? + + + +Considering how many persons, even now, through merely unselfish (not to +speak of religious) motives, sentence themselves to celibacy, it should not +appear improbably that a more highly evolved humanity would cheerfully +sacrifice a large proportion of its sex-life for the common weal, particular +ly in view of certain advantages to be gained. Not the least of such +advantages -- always supposing that mankind were able to control sex-life +after the natural manner of the ants -- would be a prodigious increase of +longevity. The higher types of a humanity superior to sex might be able to +realize the dream of life for a thousand years. + + +Already we find lives too short for the work we have to do; and with the +constantly accelerating progress of discovery, and the never-ceasing +expansion of knowledge, we shall certainly find more and more reason to +regret, as time goes on, the brevity of existence. That Science will ever +discover the Elixir of the Alchemists' hope is extremely unlikely. The +Cosmic Powers will not allow us to cheat them. For every advantage which +they yield us the full price must be paid: nothing for nothing is the +everlasting law. Perhaps the price of long life will prove to be the price +that the ants have paid for it. Perhaps, upon some elder planet, that price +has already been paid, and the power to produce offspring restricted to a +caste morphologically differentiated, in unimaginable ways, from the rest +of the species... + + + +VII + + +But while the facts of insect-biology suggest so much in regard to the +future course of human evolution, do they not also suggest something of +largest significance concerning the relation of ethics to cosmic law? +Apparently, the highest evolution will not be permitted to creatures +capable of what human moral experience has in all areas condemned. +Apparently, the highest possible strength is the strength of unselfishness; +and power supreme never will be accorded to cruelty or to lust. There may +be no gods; but the forces that shape and dissolve all forms of being would +seem to be much more exacting than gods. To prove a "dramatic tendency" in +the ways of the stars is not possible; but the cosmic process seems +nevertheless to affirm the worth of every human system of ethics +fundamentally opposed to human egoism. + +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- + +Notes + +THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HOICHI +[1] See my Kotto, for a description of these curious crabs. +[2] Or, Shimonoseki. The town is also known by the name of Bakkan. +[3] The biwa, a kind of four-stringed lute, is chiefly used in musical +recitative. Formerly the professional minstrels who recited the +Heike-Monogatari, and other tragical histories, were called biwa-hoshi, or +"lute-priests." The origin of this appellation is not clear; but it is +possible that it may have been suggested by the fact that "lute-priests" as +well as blind shampooers, had their heads shaven, like Buddhist priests. +The biwa is played with a kind of plectrum, called bachi, usually made of +horn. +(1) A response to show that one has heard and is listening attentively. +[4] A respectful term, signifying the opening of a gate. It was used by +samurai when calling to the guards on duty at a lord's gate for admission. +[5] Or the phrase might be rendered, "for the pity of that part is the +deepest." The Japanese word for pity in the original text is "aware." +[6] "Traveling incognito" is at least the meaning of the original +phrase,-- "making a disguised august-journey" (shinobi no go-ryoko). +[7] The Smaller Pragna-Paramita-Hridaya-Sutra is thus called in Japanese. +Both the smaller and larger sutras called Pragna-Paramita ("Transcendent +Wisdom") have been translated by the late Professor Max Muller, and can be +found in volume xlix. of the Sacred Books of the East ("Buddhist Mahayana +Sutras"). -- Apropos of the magical use of the text, as described in this +story, it is worth remarking that the subject of the sutra is the Doctrine +of the Emptiness of Forms,-- that is to say, of the unreal character of all +phenomena or noumena... "Form is emptiness; and emptiness is form. +Emptiness is not different from form; form is not different from emptiness. +What is form -- that is emptiness. What is emptiness -- that is form... +Perception, name, concept, and knowledge, are also emptiness... There is no +eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind... But when theenvelopment of +consciousness has been annihilated, then he [the seeker] becomes free from +all fear, and beyond the reach of change, enjoying final Nirvana." + +OSHIDORI +[1] From ancient time, in the Far East, these birds have been regarded as +emblems of conjugal affection. +[2] There is a pathetic double meaning in the third verse; for the +syllables composing the proper name Akanuma ("Red Marsh") may also be read +as akanu-ma, signifying "the time of our inseparable (or delightful) +relation." So the poem can also be thus rendered:-- "When the day began to +fail, I had invited him to accompany me...! Now, after the time of that +happy relation, what misery for the one who must slumber alone in the +shadow of the rushes!" -- The makomo is a short of large rush, used for +making baskets. + +THE STORY OF O-TEI +(1) "-sama" is a polite suffix attached to personal names. +(2) A Buddhist term commonly used to signify a kind of heaven. +[1] The Buddhist term zokumyo ("profane name") signifies the personal +name, borne during life, in contradistinction to the kaimyo ("sila-name") +or homyo ("Law-name") given after death,-- religious posthumous +appellations inscribed upon the tomb, and upon the mortuary tablet in the +parish-temple. -- For some account of these, see my paper entitled, "The +Literature of the Dead," in Exotics and Retrospectives. +[2] Buddhist household shrine. +(3) Direct translation of a Japanese form of address used toward young, +unmarried women. + +DIPLOMACY +(1) The spacious house and grounds of a wealthy person is thus called. +(2) A Buddhist service for the dead. + +OF A MIRROR AND A BELL +(1) Part of present-day Shizuoka Prefecture. +(2) The two-hour period between 1 AM and 3 AM. +(3) A monetary unit. + +JIKININKI +(1) The southern part of present-day Gifu Prefecture. +[1] Literally, a man-eating goblin. The Japanese narrator gives also the +Sanscrit term, "Rakshasa;" but this word is quite as vague as jikininki, +since there are many kinds of Rakshasas. Apparently the word jikininki +signifies here one of the Baramon-Rasetsu-Gaki,-- forming the twenty-sixth +class of pretas enumerated in the old Buddhist books. +[2] A Segaki-service is a special Buddhist service performed on behalf of +beings supposed to have entered into the condition of gaki (pretas), or +hungry spirits. For a brief account of such a service, see my Japanese +Miscellany. +[3] Literally, "five-circle [or five-zone] stone." A funeral monument +consisting of five parts superimposed,-- each of a different form,-- +symbolizing the five mystic elements: Ether, Air, Fire, Water, Earth. + +MUJINA +(1) A kind of badger. Certain animals were thought to be able to transform +themselves and cause mischief for humans. +[1] O-jochu ("honorable damsel"), a polite form of address used in +speaking to a young lady whom one does not know. +(2) An apparition with a smooth, totally featureless face, called a +"nopperabo," is a stock part of the Japanese pantheon of ghosts and demons. +[2] Soba is a preparation of buckwheat, somewhat resembling vermicelli. +(3) An exclamation of annoyed alarm. +(4) Well! + +ROKURO-KUBI +[1] The period of Eikyo lasted from 1429 to 1441. +[2] The upper robe of a Buddhist priest is thus called. +(1) Present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. +(2) A term for itinerant priests. +[3] A sort of little fireplace, contrived in the floor of a room, is thus +described. The ro is usually a square shallow cavity, lined with metal and +half-filled with ashes, in which charcoal is lighted. +(3) Direct translation of "suzumushi," a kind of cricket with a +distinctive chirp like a tiny bell, whence the name. +(4) Now a rokuro-kubi is ordinarily conceived as a goblin whose neck +stretches out to great lengths, but which nevertheless always remains +attached to its body. +(5) A Chinese collection of stories on the supernatural. +[4] A present made to friends or to the household on returning from a +journey is thus called. Ordinarily, of course, the miyage consists of +something produced in the locality to which the journey has been made: this +is the point of Kwairyo's jest. +(6) Present-day Nagano Prefecture. + +A DEAD SECRET +(1) On the present-day map, Tamba corresponds roughly to the central area +of Kyoto Prefecture and part of Hyogo Prefecture. +[1] The Hour of the Rat (Ne-no-Koku), according to the old Japanese method +of reckoning time, was the first hour. It corresponded to the time between +our midnight and two o'clock in the morning; for the ancient Japanese hours +were each equal to two modern hours. +[2] Kaimyo, the posthumous Buddhist name, or religious name, given to the +dead. Strictly speaking, the meaning of the work is sila-name. (See my +paper entitled, "The Literature of the Dead" in Exotics and +Retrospectives.) + +YUKI-ONNA +(1) An ancient province whose boundaries took in most of present-day +Tokyo, and parts of Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures. +[1] That is to say, with a floor-surface of about six feet square. +[2] This name, signifying "Snow," is not uncommon. On the subject of +Japanese female names, see my paper in the volume entitled Shadowings. +(2) Also spelled Edo, the former name of Tokyo. + +THE STORY OF AOYAGI +(1) An ancient province corresponding to the northern part of present-day +Ishikawa Prefecture. +(2) An ancient province corresponding to the eastern part of present-day +Fukui Prefecture. +[1] The name signifies "Green Willow;" -- though rarely met with, it is +still in use. +[2] The poem may be read in two ways; several of the phrases having a +double meaning. But the art of its construction would need considerable +space to explain, and could scarcely interest the Western reader. The +meaning which Tomotada desired to convey might be thus expressed:-- "While +journeying to visit my mother, I met with a being lovely as a flower; and +for the sake of that lovely person, I am passing the day here... Fair one, +wherefore that dawn-like blush before the hour of dawn? -- can it mean that +you love me?" +[3] Another reading is possible; but this one gives the signification of +the answer intended. +[4] So the Japanese story-teller would have us believe,-- although the +verses seem commonplace in translation. I have tried to give only their +general meaning: an effective literal translation would require some +scholarship. + +JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA +(1) Present-day Ehime Prefecture. + +THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKE +(1) Present-day Nara Prefecture. +[1] This name "Tokoyo" is indefinite. According to circumstances it may +signify any unknown country,-- or that undiscovered country from whose +bourn no traveler returns,-- or that Fairyland of far-eastern fable, the +Realm of Horai. The term "Kokuo" means the ruler of a country,-- therefore +a king. The original phrase, Tokoyo no Kokuo, might be rendered here as +"the Ruler of Horai," or "the King of Fairyland." +[2] The last phrase, according to old custom, had to be uttered by both +attendants at the same time. All these ceremonial observances can still be +studied on the Japanese stage. +[3] This was the name given to the estrade, or dais, upon which a feudal +prince or ruler sat in state. The term literally signifies "great seat." + +RIKI-BAKA +(1) Kana: the Japanese phonetic alphabet. +(2) "So-and-so": appellation used by Hearn in place of the real name. +(3) A section of Tokyo. +[1] A square piece of cotton-goods, or other woven material, used as a +wrapper in which to carry small packages. +(4) Ten yen is nothing now, but was a formidable sum then. + + INSECT STUDIES +BUTTERFLIES +(1) Haiku. +[1] "The modest nymph beheld her God, and blushed." (Or, in a more +familiar rendering: "The modest water saw its God, and blushed.") In this +line the double value of the word nympha -- used by classical poets both in +the meaning of fountain and in that of the divinity of a fountain, or +spring -- reminds one of that graceful playing with words which Japanese +poets practice. +[2] More usually written nugi-kakeru, which means either "to take off and +hang up," or "to begin to take off," -- as in the above poem. More loosely, +but more effectively, the verses might thus be rendered: "Like a woman +slipping off her haori -- that is the appearance of a butterfly." One must +have seen the Japanese garment described, to appreciate the comparison. The +haori is a silk upper-dress,-- a kind of sleeved cloak,-- worn by both +sexes; but the poem suggests a woman's haori, which is usually of richer +color or material. The sleeves are wide; and the lining is usually of +brightly-colored silk, often beautifully variegated. In taking off the +haori, the brilliant lining is displayed,-- and at such an instant the +fluttering splendor might well be likened to the appearance of a butterfly +in motion. +[3] The bird-catcher's pole is smeared with bird-lime; and the verses +suggest that the insect is preventing the man from using his pole, by +persistently getting in the way of it,-- as the birds might take warning +from seeing the butterfly limed. Jama suru means "to hinder" or "prevent." +[4] Even while it is resting, the wings of the butterfly may be seen to +quiver at moments,-- as if the creature were dreaming of flight. +[5] A little poem by Basho, greatest of all Japanese composers of hokku. +The verses are intended to suggest the joyous feeling of spring-time. +[6] Literally, "a windless day;" but two negatives in Japanese poetry do +not necessarily imply an affirmative, as in English. The meaning is, that +although there is no wind, the fluttering motion of the butterflies +suggests, to the eyes at least, that a strong breeze is playing. +[7] Alluding to the Buddhist proverb: Rakkwa eda ni kaerazu; ha-kyo +futatabi terasazu ("The fallen flower returns not to the branch; the broken +mirror never again reflects.") So says the proverb -- yet it seemed to me +that I saw a fallen flower return to the branch... No: it was only a +butterfly. +[8] Alluding probably to the light fluttering motion of falling cherry-petals. +[9] That is to say, the grace of their motion makes one think of the grace +of young girls, daintily costumed, in robes with long fluttering sleeves... +And old Japanese proverb declares that even a devil is pretty at eighteen: +Oni mo jiu-hachi azami no hana: "Even a devil at eighteen, +flower-of-the-thistle." +[10] Or perhaps the verses might be more effectively rendered thus: "Happy +together, do you say? Yes -- if we should be reborn as field-butterflies in +some future life: then we might accord!" This poem was composed by the +celebrated poet Issa, on the occasion of divorcing his wife. +[11] Or, Tare no tama? [Digitizer's note: Hearn's note calls attention to +an alternative reading of the ideogram for "spirit" or "soul."] +[12] Literally, "Butterfly-pursing heart I wish to have always;' -- i.e., +I would that I might always be able to find pleasure in simple things, like +a happy child. +[13] An old popular error,-- probably imported from China. +[14] A name suggested by the resemblance of the larva's artificial +covering to the mino, or straw-raincoat, worn by Japanese peasants. I am +not sure whether the dictionary rendering, "basket-worm," is quite +correct;-- but the larva commonly called minomushi does really construct +for itself something much like the covering of the basket-worm. +(2) A very large, white radish. "Daikon" literally means "big root." +[15] Pyrus spectabilis. +[16] An evil spirit. +(3) A common female name. + +MOSQUITOES +(1) Meiji: The period in which Hearn wrote this book. It lasted from 1868 +to 1912, and was a time when Japan plunged head-first into Western-style +modernization. By the "fashions and the changes and the disintegrations of +Meiji" Hearn is lamenting that this process of modernization was destroying +some of the good things in traditional Japanese culture. + +ANTS +(1) Cicadas. +[1] An interesting fact in this connection is that the Japanese word for +ant, ari, is represented by an ideograph formed of the character for +"insect" combined with the character signifying "moral rectitude," +"propriety" (giri). So the Chinese character actually means "The +Propriety-Insect." + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Kwaidan, by Lafcadio Hearn + diff --git a/old/old/kwidn10.zip b/old/old/kwidn10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c3ae94d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/kwidn10.zip |
