Tales of Old Japan - Maybe You Like It

lady's household presented themselves before my lord Kôtsuké no Suké,
and said—
"Since the middle of last month, the waiting-women have been complaining
to us of the ghostly noises by which my lady is nightly disturbed,
and they say that they cannot continue to serve her. We have
tried to soothe them, by saying that the devils should be exorcised at
once, and that there was nothing to be afraid of. Still we feel that their
fears are not without reason, and that they really cannot do their work;
so we beg that your lordship will take the matter into your
consideration."
"This is a passing strange story of yours; however, I will go myself tonight
to my lady's apartments and keep watch. You can come with me."
Accordingly, that night my lord Kôtsuké no Suké sat up in person. At
the hour of the rat (midnight) a fearful noise of voices was heard, and
Sôgorô and his wife, bound to the fatal crosses, suddenly appeared; and
the ghosts, seizing the lady by the hand, said—
"We have come to meet you. The pains you are suffering are terrible,
but they are nothing in comparison with those of the hell to which we
are about to lead you."
At these words, Kôtsuké no Suké, seizing his sword, tried to sweep the
ghosts away with a terrific cut; but a loud peal of laughter was heard,
and the visions faded away. Kôtsuké no Suké, terrified, sent his retainers
to the temples and shrines to pray that the demons might be cast out; but
the noises were heard nightly, as before. When the eleventh month of the
year came round, the apparitions of human forms in my lady's apartments
became more and more frequent and terrible, all the spirits railing
at her, and howling out that they had come to fetch her. The women
would all scream and faint; and then the ghosts would disappear amid
yells of laughter. Night after night this happened, and even in the daytime
the visions would manifest themselves; and my lady's sickness
grew worse daily, until in the last month of the year she died, of grief
and terror. Then the ghost of Sôgorô and his wife crucified would appear
day and night in the chamber of Kôtsuké no Suké, floating round the
room, and glaring at him with red and flaming eyes. The hair of the attendants
would stand on end with terror; and if they tried to cut at the
spirits, their limbs would be cramped, and their feet and hands would
not obey their bidding. Kôtsuké no Suké would draw the sword that lay
by his bedside; but, as often as he did so, the ghosts faded away, only to
appear again in a more hideous shape than before, until at last, having
exhausted his strength and spirits, even he became terror-stricken. The
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