Tales of Old Japan - Maybe You Like It

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spirit, and by his prayers and admonitions caused it to cease from troubling the living. The laying of disturbed spirits appears to form one of the regular functions of the Buddhist priests; at least, we find them playing a conspicuous part in almost every ghost-story. About thirty years ago there stood a house at Mitsumé, in the Honjô of Yedo, which was said to be nightly visited by ghosts, so that no man dared to live in it, and it remained untenanted on that account. However, a man called Miura Takéshi, a native of the province of Oshiu, who came to Yedo to set up in business as a fencing-master, but was too poor to hire a house, hearing that there was a haunted house, for which no tenant could be found, and that the owner would let any man live in it rent free, said that he feared neither man nor devil, and obtained leave to occupy the house. So he hired a fencing-room, in which he gave his lessons by day, and after midnight returned to the haunted house. One night, his wife, who took charge of the house in his absence, was frightened by a fearful noise proceeding from a pond in the garden, and, thinking that this certainly must be the ghost that she had heard so much about, she covered her head with the bed-clothes and remained breathless with terror. When her husband came home, she told him what had happened; and on the following night he returned earlier than usual, and waited for the ghostly noise. At the same time as before, a little after midnight, the same sound was heard—as though a gun had been fired inside the pond. Opening the shutters, he looked out, and saw something like a black cloud floating on the water, and in the cloud was the form of a bald man. Thinking that there must be some cause for this, he instituted careful inquiries, and learned that the former tenant, some ten years previously, had borrowed money from a blind shampooer, 84 and, being unable to pay the debt, had murdered his creditor, who began to press him for his money, and had thrown his head into the pond. The fencing-master accordingly collected his pupils and emptied the pond, and found a skull at the bottom of it; so he called in a priest, and buried the skull in a temple, causing prayers to be offered up for the repose of the murdered man's soul. Thus the ghost was laid, and appeared no more. The belief in curses hanging over families for generations is as common as that in ghosts and supernatural apparitions. There is a strange 84.The apparently poor shaven-pated and blind shampooers of Japan drive a thriving trade as money-lenders. They give out small sums at an interest of 20 per cent. per month—210 per cent. per annum—and woe betide the luckless wight who falls into their clutches. 188
story of this nature in the house of Asai, belonging to the Hatamoto class. The ancestor of the present representative, six generations ago, had a certain concubine, who was in love with a man who frequented the house, and wished in her heart to marry him; but, being a virtuous woman, she never thought of doing any evil deed. But the wife of my lord Asai was jealous of the girl, and persuaded her husband that her rival in his affections had gone astray; when he heard this he was very angry, and beat her with a candlestick so that he put out her left eye. The girl, who had indignantly protested her innocence, finding herself so cruelly handled, pronounced a curse against the house; upon which, her master, seizing the candlestick again, dashed out her brains and killed her. Shortly afterwards my lord Asai lost his left eye, and fell sick and died; and from that time forth to this day, it is said that the representatives of the house have all lost their left eyes after the age of forty, and shortly afterwards they have fallen sick and died at the same age as the cruel lord who killed his concubine. 189
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Tales of Old Japan Lord Redesdale P
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Preface In the Introduction to the
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The Forty-Seven Rônins The books w
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On the left-hand side of the main c
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all preparations accordingly; and t
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etainers having become Rônins, som
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pedlars contrived to gain access to
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the verandah; while the rest of his
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castle. There being no possibility
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is, that, for this audacious conduc
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carrying out his intention of killi
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came to pray before the grave of Oi
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enthusiasts called the Japanese nig
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cheek by jowl with the old shrines
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If you are in luck, you may cool yo
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loved him even in death may be seen
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But his dangers were not yet over;
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implore you, desert me now!!" and a
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And yet a girl is not disgraced if
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The better the Japanese people come
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desirable investments. The engageme
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Kazuma's Revenge It is a law that h
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y strong ties of friendship, and we
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who was my foster-child. You had be
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you had better return home as quick
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lance exercise, and enjoyed both we
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the vendetta within its precincts;
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man who had come up from the castle
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present chief of which is known as
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used to fight for the honour of vic
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"Yes, sir, at your service. I am al
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temper, began fighting less careful
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"It is a great honour for a humble
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home rather crestfallen. Umanojô,
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It soon became known that Banzayém
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without obtaining a clue to the whe
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ack the sword, your head shall be l
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Mound of the Yoshiwara, has thwarte
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that any one was following him, swa
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When he had introduced the two appr
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deed, do you come to-morrow night w
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"Nay," answered Gombei, "but we hav
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women and children, and by foul and
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exhibitions by an actor dressed up
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one by one into the demon's chamber
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called Nô, which is performed on s
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The second piece was Tsunémasa. Ts
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fisherman is so transported with jo
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servant leading the way. Arrived at
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like the "spill-and-pelt" scene in
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The Wonderful Adventures of Funakos
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Sixteen and upwards being considere
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losing them to no purpose, thought
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that Jiuyémon does not find out wh
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"Listen to me, Master Takaségawa.
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At this the pair looked very foolis
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pipe, and kept a sharp look-out for
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Jiuyémon, out of gratitude for the
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Jiuyémon, having received this per
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heaven, begged the Emperor that his
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iron. Like the Gods Niô, 63 they s
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The Eta Maiden and the Hatamoto It
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annoyed him very much; however, he
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ing the girl to you. But for to-day
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"Dear me, Miss O Koyo, his lordship
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this tea-house. But, as people woul
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"Very well, then, the day after to-
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lull the suspicions of that fellow
Page 137 and 138: eauty; and Sazen, drawing aside a s
Page 139 and 140: have not so much money by me at pre
Page 141 and 142: desire. When he heard this, Kiyomor
Page 143 and 144: Fairy Tales I think that their quai
Page 145 and 146: "I'll go and call upon the sparrows
Page 147 and 148: place than it was time for them to
Page 149 and 150: "Oh!" answered the hare, "this is c
Page 151 and 152: That night, when the good old man w
Page 153 and 154: The Battle of the Ape and the Crab
Page 155 and 156: The Adventures of Little Peachling
Page 157 and 158: The Foxes' Wedding Once upon a time
Page 159 and 160: The History of Sakata Kintoki A lon
Page 161 and 162: The Elves and the Envious Neighbour
Page 163 and 164: grass rain-coats, and carrying sick
Page 165 and 166: entirely composed of dead men's rem
Page 167 and 168: I am taking care of myself; so for
Page 169 and 170: "We may congratulate ourselves on o
Page 171 and 172: this Sôgorô, he is not the only o
Page 173 and 174: "Ay! ay! what you say is just from
Page 175 and 176: standing to this day. He fell sick
Page 177 and 178: Then Shigayémon, one of the servan
Page 179 and 180: The peasants, having heard this deg
Page 181 and 182: whole household was thrown into con
Page 183 and 184: other nobles, Ogasawara Iki no Kami
Page 185 and 186: the castle of Sakura; and in the 17
Page 187: following day, the officers of that
Page 191 and 192: to the Abbot was granted the right,
Page 193 and 194: 1625, in honour of Yakushi Niôrai,
Page 195 and 196: How Tajima Shumé Was Tormented by
Page 197 and 198: whole body was thin and worn and th
Page 199 and 200: Concerning Certain Superstitions Ca
Page 201 and 202: overcome this mysterious drowsiness
Page 203 and 204: "It is true that he is but a common
Page 205 and 206: Sôda, who was wide awake; and so,
Page 207 and 208: was as big as either of the cats: t
Page 209 and 210: Tokutarô thought this very odd, an
Page 211 and 212: "I ought to have the honour of invi
Page 213 and 214: The Grateful Foxes One fine spring
Page 215 and 216: choosing a pretty spot, produced th
Page 217 and 218: And as she spoke, the fox shed tear
Page 219 and 220: which is nominally the reward of le
Page 221 and 222: time forth it came every night to t
Page 223 and 224: suspicious, and I shall have to tel
Page 225 and 226: "You don't know what you're talking
Page 227 and 228: Japanese Sermons "Sermons preached
Page 229 and 230: "Nammiyô! nammiyô!" grateful and
Page 231 and 232: "'Verily, as to this skull, whether
Page 233 and 234: Sermon I (The Sermons of Kiu-Ô, Vo
Page 235 and 236: hearts, which we would not change f
Page 237 and 238: garlands of flowers round torches,
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visit Kiôto, and had also ascended
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come upon him for fifty or a hundre
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Sermon II (The Sermons Of Kiu-Ô, V
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Well, this man's relations and frie
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well. The best plan will be for me
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this place I shall be dunning you t
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The relations, after hearing the fi
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Sermon III (The Sermons of Kiu-Ô,
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Môshi severely censures the disreg
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Chokichi, pretending not to know wh
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egan to compose poetry. One would w
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Old and young, men and women, rich
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However, young men, trusting to the
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Kami 117 disembowelled himself in t
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ceremony is gone through in other w
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although the hara-kiri cannot be ca
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One of the councillors present, add
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On Certain Things to Be Borne in Mi
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and took leave of them, and calling
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duty: he must perform his part in s
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Sanô reached out his hand to take
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it off, and then submit it for insp
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the blood. When the identification
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himself, to the condemned man, who
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death. I believe that, in the inter
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proposer, Ono Seigorô, who on more
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it is carried and received by a per
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pourers. A different sort of condim
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In old times the bride and bridegro
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The author of the "Sho-rei Hikki" m
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On the Birth and Bearing of Childre
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it of dried fish or seaweed which a
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he keeps until the time of the cutt
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in paper from their bosoms, they ho
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urgeoning, Hearn published this del
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