Classic Audiobook Collection - Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith ~ Full Audiobook [folklore]

Starting point is 00:00:00 Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. Preface The stories in this volume are transcribed from voluminous illustrated diaries, which have been kept by me for some 20 years spent in travel and in sport in many lands. The last nine of them almost. entirely in Japan, while collecting subjects of natural history for the British Museum. Trawling and dredging in the inland sea, sometimes with success, sometimes without, but in the end, contributing to the treasury some 50 things new to science.

Starting point is 00:00:56 and, according to Sir Edwin Ray Lancaster, adding greatly to the knowledge of Japanese ethnology, as may be supposed, such a life has brought me into close contact with the people, the fisher, the farmer, the priest, the doctor, the children, and all other. from whom there is a possibility of extracting information. Many and weird are details I have been told. In this volume, the publishers prefer to have a mixture, stories of mountains, of trees, of flowers, of places in history, and legends.

Starting point is 00:01:54 For the general results obtained in my diaries, I have to thank our late minister in Tokyo, Sir Ernest Soto. The ministers and vice ministers of foreign affairs and of agriculture, who gave me many letters of introduction, my dear friend Mr. Hattori, governor of Hyogo prefecture, The translators of the original notes and manuscripts, often roughly written in Japanese, among whom are Mr. Ando, Mr. Matusaki, and Mr. Watanabe, and Mr. Mono Yuki, who drew and painted the illustrations from sketches of my own, which must often have graded on his artistic ideas,

Starting point is 00:02:54 keeping him awake in reflection on the crudeness of the European sense of art. To my faithful interpreter, Yuki Igawa, also are due my thanks for continual efforts to find what I wanted, and to many Japanese peasants and fishermen, whose good nature, kindness, and hospitality, have endeared them. to me forever. Well, is it that they so worthy a people, have so worthy a sovereign? R. Gordon Smith, June, 1908. End of Chapter Zero.

Starting point is 00:03:50 Chapter 1 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Linda

Starting point is 00:04:10 Mary Nielsen, Vancouver, B.C. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. The golden hairpin. Footnote. This story savers of

Starting point is 00:04:26 Botan Doro or Pianey Lantern Story. told both by Mitford and Lafkaido Hearn. In this instance, however, the spirit of the dead sister passes into the body of the living one, assumes her form, leaves her sick and ill for over a year, and then allows her to reappear, as if she had never been ill at all. It is the first story of its kind I have heard. End footnote.

Starting point is 00:05:04 Up in the northern city of Sendai, whence come the best of Japanese soldiers, there lived a samurai named Hassanuma. Hasanuma was rich and hospitable, and consequently much thought of and well late. Some 35 years ago, his sonuma, wife presented him with a beautiful daughter, their first child whom they named Ko, which means small, when applied to a child, much as we say little Mary or little Jane.

Starting point is 00:05:42 Her full name was really Hasu Ko, which means little Lily. But here we will call her Co, for short. Exactly on the same date, Saito, one of Hatsunuma's friends, and also a samurai, had the good fortune to have a son. The fathers decided that, being such old friends, they would wed their children to each other when old enough to marry. They were very happy over the idea, and so were their wives. To make the engagement of the base, more binding, Saito handed to Hasuma a golden hairpin, which had long been in his family, and said, Here, my old friend, take this pin. It shall be a token of betrothal from my son, whose name shall be Connojo, to your little daughter, Coe, both of whom are now aged two weeks only.

Starting point is 00:06:50 they live long and happy lives together. Hatsunuma took the pen and handed it to his wife to keep. Then they drank sake to the health of each other, and to the bride and bridegroom of some twenty years thence. A few months after this, Sato, in some way, caused displeasure to his feudal lord, and being dismissed from service, left Sendai with his family,

Starting point is 00:07:23 whither no one knew. 17 years later, Oko San was, with one exception, the most beautiful girl in all Sendai. The exception was her sister, O'K, just a year younger, and as beautiful as herself. Many were the suitors for O'Koh's hand, but she would have none of them, being faithful, to the engagement made for her by her father when she was a baby.

Starting point is 00:07:56 True, she had never seen her betrothed, and, which seemed more curious, neither she nor her family had ever once heard of the Saito family since they left Sondai over 16 years before. But that was no reason why she, a Japanese girl, should have been. break the word of her father, and therefore, O Kho-san, remained faithful, to her unknown lover, though she sorrowed greatly at his non-appearance. In fact, she secretly suffered so much thereby that she sickened, and three months later died, to the grief of all who knew her and her families serious distress. On the day of Oco San's funeral, her mother was seeing to the last attentions paid to the corpses and smoothing her hair with the golden pin given to Co-San or

Starting point is 00:09:02 O-coe, footnote, O means honorable miss, San means miss, either will do, but Coe is the name. End footnote. By Sato in behalf of his son, Conjo. When the body had been placed in its coffin, the mother thrust the pin into the girl's hair, saying, Dearest daughter, this is the pin given as a memento to you by your betroth, Conjo.

Starting point is 00:09:37 Let it be a pledge to bind your spirits in death, as it would have been in life, and may you enjoy endless happiness, I pray. In thus praying no doubt, O Co's mother thought that Conjo also must be dead and that their spirits would meet, but it was not so. For two months after these events,

Starting point is 00:10:04 Conjo himself, now 18 years of age, turned up at Sendai, calling first on his father's old friend Hassan Newman. Oh, the bitterness and misfortune of it all, said the latter. Only two months ago my daughter, Co. died. Had you but come before then, she would have been alive now. But you never even sent a message. We never heard a word of your father or of your mother.

Starting point is 00:10:38 Where did you all go when you left here? Tell me the whole story. Sir, answered the grief-stricken conjo, what you tell me of the death of your daughter, whom I had hoped to marry, sickens my heart, for I, like herself, had been faithful and hoped to marry her, and thought daily of her. When my father took my family away from Sendai,

Starting point is 00:11:10 he took us to Yido, and afterwards we went north to Yezo Island, where my father lost his money and became poor. He died in poverty. My poor mother did not long survive him. I have been working hard to try and earn enough money to marry your daughter, Co. But I have not made more than enough to pay my journey down to Sendai. I felt it my duty to come and tell you of my family's misfortune and my own. The old samurai was much touched by this story. He saw that the most unfortunate of all had been Conjo. Conjo, he said, often I have thought and wondered to myself. Were you honest or were you not? Now I find that you have been truly faithful. and honest to your father's pledge.

Starting point is 00:12:14 But you should have written. You should have written. Because you did not do so, sometimes we thought, my wife and I, that you must be dead. But we kept this thought to ourselves and never told Kosan.

Starting point is 00:12:32 Go to our bootstand. Footnote, family shrine. End footnote. Open the doors of it. and burn a jaw stick to Kosan's mortuary tablet. It will please her spirit. She longed and longed for your return, and died of that same longing.

Starting point is 00:12:54 For love of you, her spirit will rejoice to know that you have come back for her. Conjo did as he was bid, bowing reverently three times before the mortuary tablet of O. Kosan, he muttered a few words of prayer in her behalf, and then lit the incense stick and placed it before the tablet. After this exhibition of sincerity, Hasanuma told the young fellow that he should consider him as an adopted son, and that he must live with them. He could have the small house in the garden. In any case,

Starting point is 00:13:39 Whatever his plans for the future might be, he must remain with them for the present. This was a generous offer, worthy of a samurai. Conjo gratefully accepted it and became one of the family. About a fortnight afterwards, he settled himself in the little house at the end of the garden. Hasonuma, his wife, and their second daughter, O.K. had gone by command of the Daimo to the Hyggin, a religious ceremony held in March. Hassanuma also always worshipped at his ancestral tombs at this time. Towards the dusk of evening they were returning in their panquins.

Starting point is 00:14:32 Conjo stood at the gate to see them pass, as was proper and respectful. The old samurai passed first and was followed by his wife's panquin, and then by that of O'Kee. As this last pass the gate, Conjo thought he heard something fall, causing a metallic sound. After the palanquin had passed, he picked it up without any particular attention. It was the golden hairpin. But of course, though Conjo's father had told him of the pin, Conjo had no idea that this was it, and therefore he thought nothing more than that it must be OK sons. He went back to his little house, closed it for the night, and was about to retire when he heard a knock at the door.

Starting point is 00:15:33 Who is there? he shouted, What do you want? There came no answer, and Conjo laid down on his bed, thinking himself to have been mistaken. But there came another knock, louder than the first, and Conjo jumped out of bed,

Starting point is 00:15:56 and lit the Ando, footnote, lamp, end footnote. If not a fox or a badger, thought he, be some evil spirit come to disturb me. On opening the door with the anto in one hand and a stick in the other, Conjo looked out into the dark, and there, to his astonishment, he beheld a vision of female beauty, the like of which he had never seen before.

Starting point is 00:16:29 Who are you, and what do you want? Quoth he, I am O K. K. San, Oko's younger sister, answered the vision. Though you have not seen me, I have several times seen you, and I have fallen so madly in love with you, that I can think of nothing else but you. When you picked up my golden pin tonight on our return, I had dropped it to serve as an excuse to come to you, and knock, you must love me in return, for otherwise I must die. This heated and outrageous declaration scandalized poor Conjo. Moreover, he felt that it would be doing his kind host, Hassanuma,

Starting point is 00:17:22 a great injustice to be receiving his younger daughter at this hour of the night, and make love to her. He expressed himself forcibly in these terms. If you will not love me as I love you, then I shall take my revenge, said okay, by telling my father that you got me to come here by making love to me, and that you then insulted me.

Starting point is 00:17:54 Poor Conjo, he was in a nice mess. What he feared most, of all was that the girl would do as she said, that the samurai would believe her, and that he would be a disgraced and villainous person. He gave way, therefore, to the girl's request. Night after night she visited him until nearly a month had passed. During this time, Conjo had learn to love dearly, the beautiful O'Kee. Talking to her one evening, he said, My dearest O'Kee, I do not like this secret love of ours. Is it not better that we go away? If I asked your father to give you to me in marriage, he would refuse, because I was betrothed

Starting point is 00:18:52 to your sister. Yes, answered Okie, that is what I also have been wishing. Let us leave this very night and go to Ishikomaki, the place where, you have told me, lives a faithful servant of your late fathers called Kinzo. Yes, Kinzo is his name, and Ishikomaki is the place. Let us start a soon as possible. Having thrust a few clothes into a bag, they started secretly and late that night, and duly arrived at their destination. Kenzo was delighted to receive them and pleased to show how hospitable he could be to his late master's son and the beautiful lady. They live very happily for a year. Then one day, O'Kee said, I think we ought to return to my parents now. If they were angry with us at first, they will have got over the worst of it. We have never written. They must be getting anxious as to my fate as they grow older. Yes, we ought to go.

Starting point is 00:20:14 Conjo agreed. Long had he felt the injustice he was. doing Hassanuma. Next day they found themselves back in Sendai, and Conjo could not help feeling a little nervous as he approached the Samurai's house. They stopped at the outer gate, and O'Kee said to Conjo, I think it will be better for you to go in and see my father and mother first. If they get very angry, show them this golden pin. Conjo stepped boldly up to the door and asked for an interview with the samurai. Before the servant had time to return, Conjo heard the old man shout, Conjo San, why, of course. Bring the boy in at once, and he himself came out to welcome him.

Starting point is 00:21:12 My dear boy, said the samurai, right glad am I to see you back again. I am sorry you did not find your life with us good enough. You might have said you were going. But there, I suppose you take after your father in these matters and prefer to disappear mysteriously. You are welcome back at all events. Conjo was astonished at this speech and answered, But, sir, I have come to beg your pardon for my sin.

Starting point is 00:21:51 What sin have you committed? queried the samurai in great surprise, and drawing himself up in a dignified manner. Conjo then gave a full account of his love affair with Oki. From beginning to end he told it all. and as he proceeded, the samurai showed signs of impatience. Do not joke, sir. My daughter, O'Kee-San, is not a subject for jokes and untruths. She has been as one dead for over a year,

Starting point is 00:22:29 so ill that we have with difficulty forced growl into her mouth. Moreover, she has spoken no word and shown no sign of life. I am neither stating what is untrue nor joking, said Conjo. If you but send outside, you will find okay in the palanquin, in which I left her. A servant was immediately sent to sea and returned stating that there was neither palaquin nor anyone at the gate. Conjo, seeing that the samurai was now beginning to look perplexed and angry, drew the golden pin from his clothes, saying, See, if you doubt me and think I am lying, here is the pin which Oki told me to give to you.

Starting point is 00:23:28 Big Hu-Rish-ta, footnote, an exclamation, such as Great Scott. End footnote, exclaimed O'Kee's mother. How came this pin into your hands? I myself put it into Kho San's coffin just before it was closed. The samurai and conjo stared at each other and the mother at both. Neither knew what to think or what to say or do. Imagine the general surprise when the same. sick, O'Kee, walked into the room, having risen from her bed as if she had never been ill for a

Starting point is 00:24:16 moment. She was the picture of health and beauty. How is this? asked the samurai, almost shouting. How is it, O'Kee, that you have come from your sick bed dressed, and with your hair done and looking as if you had never known a moment of illness. I am not Oki, but the spirit of Oco, was the answer. I was most unfortunate in dying before the return of Conjo San, for I had lived until then, I should have become quite well and been married to him. As it was, my spirit was unhappy. It took the form of my dear sister O'Kee, and for a year has lived happily in her body with Conjo. It is appease now, and about to take its real rest. There is one condition, however, Conjo, which I must make, said the girl turning to him.

Starting point is 00:25:26 You must marry my sister, O'Kee. If you do, this my spirit will rest truly in peace, and then O'Kee will become well and strong. Will you promise to marry O'Kee? The old samurai, his wife, and Conjo were all amazed at this. The appearance of the girl was that of O'Kee, but the voice and manners were those of O'Koh. Then there was the golden hairpin as further proof. The mother knew it well. She had placed it in Co's hair just before the tub coffin was closed.

Starting point is 00:26:12 Nobody could undeceive her on that point. But, said the samurai at last, Old Coe has been dead and buried for more than a year now. That you should appear to us puzzles, us all. Why should you trouble us so? I have explained already, resumed the girl. My spirit could not rest until it had lived with Conjo, whom it knew to be faithful. It has done this now and is prepared to rest. My only desire is to see Conjo marry my sister. Hasanuma, his wife and Conjo, held a consultation.

Starting point is 00:27:00 They were quite prepared that O'Kee should marry, and Conjo did not object. All things being settled, the ghost girl held out her hand to Conjo, saying, This is the last time you will touch the hand of Oko. Farewell, my dear parents, farewell to you all. I am about to pass away. Then she fainted away and seemed dead, and remained thus for half an hour, while the others, overcome with the strange and weird things which they had seen and heard, sat round her, hardly uttering a word.

Starting point is 00:27:45 At the end of the half an hour the body came to life, and standing up said, Dear parents, I have no more fear for me. I am perfectly well again, but I have no idea how I got down from my sick room in this costume, or how it is that I feel so well. Several questions were put to her, but it was quite evident that O'Kee knew nothing of what had happened, nothing of the spirit of O'Cocan or of the golden hairpin.

Starting point is 00:28:24 A week later she and Conjo were married, and the golden hairpin was given to a shrine at Shio Gramma, to which, until quite recently, crowds used to go and worship. End of Chapter 1. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, B. Chapter 2 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libra Vox recording. All Libra Vox recordings are in the public domain.

Starting point is 00:29:05 For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Lyndonry Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. the spirit of the willow tree about one thousand years ago but according to the dates of the story seven hundred and forty-four years ago the temple of san jojongen do was founded that was in eleven thirty-two Sanju Sanjendou means hall of 33 spaces, and there are said to be over 33,33 figures of the goddess Kawanon, the goddess of mercy in the temple today. Before the temple was built, in a village nearby stood a willow tree of great size. It marked the playing ground of all the village children, who swung on its branches and climbed on its limbs. It afforded shade to the aged in the heat of summer, and in the evenings, when work was done, many were the village lads and lasses who vowed eternal love under its branches.

Starting point is 00:30:39 The trees seemed an influence for good to all. Even the weary traveler could sleep peacefully and almost dry under its branches. Alas, even in those times, men were often ruthless with regard to trees. One day the villagers announced an intention to cut it down and use it to build a bridge across the river. There lived in the village a young farmer named Haytero, a great favorite, who had lived near the old tree all his days, as his forefathers had done, and he was greatly against cutting it down. Such a tree should be respected, thought he, had it not braved the storms of hundreds of years? In the heat of summer what pleasure it afforded the children. Did it not give to the weary shelter and to the love-smitten a sense of romance?

Starting point is 00:31:46 All these thoughts, Hetero, impressed upon the villagers. Soon then approve your cutting it down, he said, I will give you as many of my own trees as you require to build the bridge. You must leave this dear old willow alone forever. The villagers readily agreed. They also had a secret veneration for the old tree. Hetero was delighted and readily found wood with which to build the bridge. Some days Hetero, returning from his work, found standing by the willow a beautiful girl.

Starting point is 00:32:31 instinctively he bowed to her. She returned the bow. They spoke together of the tree, its age and beauty. They seemed, in fact, to be drawn towards each other by a common sympathy. Hetero was sorry when she said that she must be going, and she bade him good day. That evening his mind was far from being fixed on the ordinary things of life. life. Who was the lady under the willow tree? How I wish I could see her again, thought he. There was no sleep for Hatero that night. He had caught the fever of love. Next day, he was at his work early, and he

Starting point is 00:33:22 remained at it all day, working doubly hard so as to try and forget the lady of the willow-tree. tree. But on his way home in the evening, behold, there was the lady again. This time she came forward to greet him in the most friendly way. Welcome, good friend, she said. Come and rest under the branches of the willow you love so well, for you must be tired. Hatero readily accepted this invitation, and not only did he rest, but also he declared his love. Day by day after this, the mysterious girl, whom no others had seen, used to meet Hatero, and at last she promised to marry him if he asked no questions as to her parents or friends. I have none, she said.

Starting point is 00:34:27 I can only promise to be a good and faithful wife and tell you that I love you with all my heart and soul. Call me then Higo, footnote, meaning goyth or willow, end note. And I will be your wife. Next day Hittaro took Higo to his house, and they were married. A son was born to them in, a little less than a year, and became their absorbing joy. There was not a moment of their spare time in which either Hetero or his wife was not playing

Starting point is 00:35:11 with the child, whom they called Chiodo. It is doubtful if a more happy home could have been found in all Japan than the house of Hitero, with his good wife Higgo and their beautiful child. Alas, where in this world has complete happiness ever been known to last? Even did the gods permit this, the laws of man would not. When Chi Yodo had reached the age of five years, the most beautiful boy in the neighborhood, the Emperor Toba, decided to build in Kyoto an immense temple to Kawwanan.

Starting point is 00:36:00 He would contribute 1,001 images of the goddess of mercy. Now, in 1907, as we said at the beginning, this temple is known as San Jiu San Gando, and contains 3,333,000. images. The ex-emperor Toba's wish, having become known, orders were given by the authorities to collect timber for the building of the vast temple, and so it came to pass that the days of the big willow tree were numbered, for it would be wanted, with many others to form the roof. Hetero tried to save the tree again by offering every.

Starting point is 00:36:53 other he had on his land for nothing. But that was in vain. Even the villagers became anxious to see their willow tree built into the temple. It would bring them good luck, they thought, and in any case be a handsome gift of theirs towards the great temple. The fatal time arrived. One night when Hittaro and his wife and child had retired to rest and were sleeping, Hatero was awakened by the sound of axes chopping. To his astonishment, he found his beloved wife sitting up in her bed, gazing earnestly at him, while tears rolled down her cheeks, and she was sobbing bitterly.

Starting point is 00:37:48 My dearest husband, she said with choking voice, pray listen to what I tell you now, and do not doubt me. This is unhappily not a dream. When we married, I beg you not to ask me my history, and you have never done so, but I said I would tell you someday, if there should, be a real occasion to do so. Unhappily, that occasion has now arrived. arrived, my dear husband, I am no less a thing than a spirit of the willow tree you loved and so generously saved six years ago. It was to repay you for this great kindness that I appeared to you in human form under the tree, hoping that I could live with you and make you happy for your whole life. Alas! It cannot be. They are cutting down the willow. How I feel every stroke of their axes. I must return to die, for I am part of it. My heart breaks to think also of leaving my darling child, Chiodo, and of his great sorrow when he knows that his mother is no longer in the world. comfort him dearest husband he is old enough and strong enough to be with you now without a mother and yet not suffer i wish you both long lives of prosperity farewell my dearest i must be off to the willow for i hear them striking with their axes harder and harder and it weakens me each blow they give Hetero awoke his child just as Higo disappeared, wondering to himself if it were not a dream.

Starting point is 00:39:57 No, it was no dream. Chiodo, awakening, stretched his arms in the direction. His mother had gone, crying bitterly and imploring her to come back. My darling child, said Hitero, she has gone. she cannot come back. Come, let us dress, and go and see her funeral. Your mother was the spirit of the great willow. A little later, at the break of day, Hetero took Chiodo by the hand and led him to the tree.

Starting point is 00:40:40 On reaching it, they found it down, and already lopped off its branches. The feelings of Hetero may be well imagined. Strange! In spite of united efforts, the men were unable to move the stem a single inch towards the river, in which it was to be floated to Kyoto. On seeing this, Hiterro addressed the men. My friends, said he, the dead trunk of the tree which you are trying to move contains a spirit of my wife.

Starting point is 00:41:19 Perhaps if you allow my little son, Chiodo, to help you, it will be more easy for you, and he would like to help in showing his last respects to his mother. The woodcutters were fully agreeable, and much to their astonishment, as Chiodo came to the back end of the log and pushed it with his little hand. The timber glided easily towards the river.

Starting point is 00:41:50 His father singing the while an Utah. Footnote, poetical song. In footnote. There is a well-known song or ballad in the Utah style said to have sprung from this event. It is sung to the present day by men drawing heavy, weights or doing hard labor. Mazanero cana,

Starting point is 00:42:20 Motowakumano, Yanganino, Sua Dei, Sodati Agitaro Kono Midorigo Wa Yoi, yo, yotona.

Starting point is 00:42:38 Footnote. It is not sad to see the little fellow. who sprang from the dew of the Kumano Willow, and is thus far budding well. Heave-ho, heave-ho, pull hard, my lads. In footnote. In Wakano-Wara, the laborers sing a working or hauling song,

Starting point is 00:43:05 which also is said to have sprung from this story of the Yangani No-Sei. Wakano-urraniwa Meishoga Gozaru, Ichini, Gongan, Nini, Tamashushi ma. Sani Sagari Matsu, Shini Shiogama Yo, Yo, Yo, Yoi, Toy, Toy, Tona. Footnote There are famous places in Wakana. 1. Gongen. Second, Tamashu Shishima. Third, the pine tree with its hanging branches.

Starting point is 00:43:56 Fourth, comes Shio Gama. Is it not good, good, good? In footnote. A third utah sprang from this story and is often applied to small children helping. The wagon could not be drawn when it came to the front of Hittaro's house, so his little five-year-old boy, Chit Yodo, was obliged to help, and they sang, Musenero Cana, Mottoa, Kumano, Yaganino, Tua, Sua,

Starting point is 00:44:39 Sodate Aikaru Kono Medioro wa. Yoi, yo to-do-na. Footnote. It is not sad to see the little fellow who sprang from the dew of the Komono willow, and is thus far budding well. heave ho heave ho pull hard my lads and footnote end of chapter two recording by linda murray nilsson vancouver b c chapter three of ancient tales and folklore of japan this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivax

Starting point is 00:45:42 dot org. Recording by David McKay. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. Ghost of the Violet Well Told to me by Shufukutai Fukuga. In the wild province of Yamato, or very near to its borders, is a beautiful mountain known as Yoshinoyama. It is not only known for its abundance of cherry blossom in the spring,

Starting point is 00:46:14 but it is also celebrated in relation to more than one bloody battle. In fact, Yoshino might be called the staging place of historical battles. Many say when in Yoshino, we are walking on history, because Yoshino itself is history. Near Yoshino mountain lay another known as Subosaka, and between them is the valley of Shimizutani, in which is the violet well. At the approach of spring in this tawny, or hollow, the grass assumes a perfect emerald green, while moss grows luxuriantly over rocks and boulders. Towards the end of April, great patches of deep purple wild violets show up in the lower parts of the valley, while up the sides pink and scarlet azaleas grow in a manner which beggar's description.

Starting point is 00:47:10 Some thirty years ago, a beautiful girl of the age of seven years, named Shingay was wending her way up Shimizutani, accompanied by four servants. All were out for a picnic, and all, of course, were in search of wildflowers. O. Shingi-San was the daughter of a daimyo who lived in the neighborhood.

Starting point is 00:47:33 Every year she was in the habit of having this picnic, and coming to Shimizutani at the end of April to hunt for her favorite flower, the purple violet, Sumire. The five girls, carrying bamboo baskets, were eagerly collecting flowers, enjoying the occupation as only Japanese girls can. They raced in their rivalry to have the prettiest basketful. There not being so many purple violets as were wanted, Oshingay-san said, Let us go to the northern end of the valley, where the violet well is.

Starting point is 00:48:08 Naturally, the girls assented, and off they all ran, each eager to be there first, laughing as they went. O-Shinge outran the rest, and arrived before any of them, and, espying a huge bunch of her favorite flowers of the deepest purple and very sweet in smell, she flung herself down, anxious to pick them before the others came, as she stretched out her delicate hand to grasp them. Oh, horror! A great mountain snake raised his head from beneath his shady retreat. So frightened was O'Shing-San, she fainted away on the spot. In the meanwhile the other girls had given up the race, thinking it would please their mistress to arrive first. They picked what they most fancied, chased butterflies, and arrived fully fifteen minutes after Oshinghe-san had fainted.

Starting point is 00:49:01 On seeing her thus laid out on the grass, a great fear filled them that she was dead, and their alarm increased when they saw a large green snake coiled near her head. They screamed, as do most girls. amid such circumstances. But one of them, Matsu, who did not lose her head so much as the others, threw her basket of flowers at the snake, which, not liking the bombardment,

Starting point is 00:49:26 uncoiled himself and slid away, hoping to find a quieter place. Then all four girls bent over their mistress. They rubbed her hands and threw water on her face, but without effect. Oshingay's beautiful complexion became paler and paler, while her red lips assumed the purplish hue that is a sign of approaching death.

Starting point is 00:49:48 The girls were heartbroken, tears coursed down their faces. They did not know what to do, for they could not carry her. What a terrible state of affairs. Just at that moment they heard a man's voice close behind them. Do not be so sad. I can restore the young lady to consciousness, if you will allow me. They turned and saw a remarkably handsome youth standing on the grass not ten feet away. He appeared as an angel from heaven.

Starting point is 00:50:15 heaven. Without saying more, the young man approached the prostrate figure of Oshinge, and taking her hand in his, felt her pulse. None of the servants liked to interfere in this breach of etiquette. He had not asked permission, but his manner was so gentle and sympathetic that they could say nothing. The stranger examined Oshinge carefully, keeping silence. Having finished, he took out of his pocket, a little case of medicine, and, putting some white powder from this, a paper, said, I am a doctor from a neighboring village, and I have just been to see a patient at the end of the valley. By good fortune I returned this way, and am able to help you and save your mistress's life. Give her this medicine while I hunt for and kill the snake.

Starting point is 00:51:02 O Matsu San forced the medicine, along with a little water, into her mistress's mouth, and in a few minutes she began to recover. Shortly after this, the doctor returned, carrying the dead snake on a stick. Is this the snake you saw lying by your young mistress, he asked? Yes, yes, they cried. That is the horrible thing. Then, said the doctor, it is lucky I came, for it is very poisonous, and I fear your mistress would soon have died had I not arrived and been able to give her the medicine. Ah, I see that it is already doing the beautiful young lady good. On hearing the young man's voice, Oshingay-san sat up. pray, sir, may I ask to whom I am indebted for bringing me thus back to life, she asked.

Starting point is 00:51:51 The doctor did not answer, but in a proud and manly way contended himself by smiling, and bowing low and respectfully, after the Japanese fashion, and departed as quietly and unassumingly as he had arrived, disappearing in the sleepy mist which always appears in the afternoons of springtime in the Shimizu Valley. The four girls helped their mistress home, but indeed she wanted little assistance, for the medicine had done her much good, and she felt quite recovered. Oshinge's father and mother were very grateful for their daughter's recovery, but the name of the handsome young doctor remained a secret to all, except the servant girl, Matsu. For four days, Oshingay remained quite well, but on the fifth day, for some cause or another, she took to her bed, saying she, she was sick. She did not sleep and did not wish to talk, but only to think, and think, and think.

Starting point is 00:52:52 Neither father nor mother could make out what her illness was. There was no fever. Doctors were sent for, one after another, but none of them could say what was the matter. All they saw was that she daily became weaker. Asano Zembei, Shingay's father, was heartbroken, and so was his wife. They had tried everything and failed to do the slightest good to poor Oshinge. One day, O Matsu-san craved an interview with Asano Zembe, who by the bye was the head of all his family, Adymio, and great grandee. Zembe was not accustomed to listen to servants' opinions, but knowing that O Matsu was faithful to his daughter and loved her very nearly as much as he did himself. He consented to hear her. And Omatsu was ushered into his presence.

Starting point is 00:53:44 "'Oh, Master,' said the servant, "'if you will let me find a doctor from my young mistress, I can promise to find one who will cure her. Where on earth will you find such a doctor? Have we not had all the best doctors in the province, and some even from the capital? Where do you propose to look for one?' O Matsu answered, "'Ah, master, my mistress is not suffering from an illness, which can be cured by medicines, not even if they be given by the court, nor are doctors of much use. There is, however, one that I know of who could cure her. My mistress's illness is of the heart. The doctor I know of can cure her. It is for love of him that her heart suffers.

Starting point is 00:54:26 It has suffered so from the day when he saved her life from the snake-bite. Then Omatsu told particulars of the adventure at the picnic which had not been told before, for Oshinge had asked her servants to say as little as possible, fearing they would not be allowed to go to the valley of the violet well again. What is the name of this doctor? asked Asano Zembe, and who is he? Sir, answered O Matsu. He is Dr. Yoshisawa, a very handsome young man of most courtly manners, but he is of low birth, being only of the Eta.

Starting point is 00:55:05 Again note, the Eta are the lowest people or cast in Japan, skinners and killers of animals. End note. Please think, master, of my young mistress's burning heart, full of love for the man who saved her life, and no wonder, for he is very handsome and has the manners of a proud samurai. The only cure for your daughter, sir, is to be allowed to marry her lover. O Shingey's mother felt very sad when she heard this. She knew well, perhaps by experience, of the illnesses caused by love. She wept and said to Zembe,

Starting point is 00:55:45 I am quite with you in sorrow, my lord, at the terrible trouble that has come to us. But I cannot see my daughter die thus. Let us tell her we will make inquiries about the man she loves, and see if we can make him our son-in-law. In any case it is the custom to make full inquiries, which will extend over some days, and in this time our daughter may recover somewhat and get strong enough to hear the news

Starting point is 00:56:08 that we cannot accept her lover as our son-in-law. Zembe agreed to this, and O-Matsu promised to say nothing to her mistress of the interview. Oshingay-san was told by her mother that her father, though he had not consented to the engagement, had promised to make inquiries about Yoshisawa. Oshingay took food and regained much strength on this news. And when she was strong enough, some ten days later, she was called into her father's

Starting point is 00:56:36 presence, accompanied by her mother. My sweet daughter, said Zembe, I have made careful inquiries about Dr. Yoshisawa, your lover. Deeply as it grieves me to say so, it is impossible that I, your father, the head of our whole family, can consent to your marriage with one of so low a family as Yoshisawa, who, in spite of his own goodness, has sprung from the Aeta. I must hear no more of it. Such a contract would be impossible for the Asano family. No one ventured to say a word to this.

Starting point is 00:57:10 In Japan, the head of a family's decision is final. Poor Oshinge bowed to her father and went to her own room where she wept bitterly. O Matsu, the faithful servant, doing her best to console her. Next morning, to the astonishment of the household, Oshinge-san could nowhere be found. Search was made everywhere. even Dr. Yoshisawa joined in the search. On the third day after the disappearance,

Starting point is 00:57:40 one of the searchers looked down at the violet well and saw poor Oshinge's floating body. Two days later she was buried, and on that day, Yoshisawa threw himself into the well. The people say that even now, on wet, stormy nights, they see the ghost of Oshinge-San floating over the well, while some declare that they hear the sound a young man weeping in the valley of Shimizutani.

Starting point is 00:58:12 End of chapter three. Recording by David McKay. Chapter 4 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by David McKay. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith.

Starting point is 00:58:45 story of the flute's tomb, told to me by Fukuaga. Long ago, at a small and out-of-the-way village called Kumedamura, about eight miles to the southeast of Sakai City, in Itzumo province, there was made a tomb, the Fuezuka, or Flutes' Tomb, and to this day many people go thither to offer up prayer and to worship, bringing with them flowers and incense-sticks, which are deposited as offerings to the spirit of the man who was buried there. All the year-round people flocked to it. There is no season at which they pray more particularly than at another. The Fuezuka tomb is situated on a large pond called Kumeda, some five miles in circumference, and all the places around this pond are known as of Kumeda Pond, from which the village of Kumeda took its name.

Starting point is 00:59:42 Whose tomb can it be that attracts such sympathy? The tomb itself is a simple stone pillar, with nothing artistic to recommend it. Neither is the surrounding scenery interesting. It is flat and ugly until the mountains of Kyushua reached. I must tell, as well as I can, the story of whose tomb it is. Between 70 and 80 years ago, there lived near the pond in the village of Kumedamura, a blind Ama, or shampooer, called Yoichi. Yoichi was extremely popular in the neighborhood, being very honest and kind, besides being quite a professor in the art of massage, a treatment necessary to almost every Japanese.

Starting point is 01:00:28 It would be difficult indeed to find a village that had not its ama. Yoichi was blind, and like all men of his calling, carried an iron wand or stick. Also a flute, or fuizuka, the stick to feel his way about with, and the flute to let people know he was. was ready for employment. So good in Amma was Yoichi. He was nearly always employed, and consequently fairly well off, having a little house of his own, and one servant who cooked his food. A little way from Yoichi's house was a small tea house placed upon the banks of the pond. One evening, April 5th, cherry blossom season, just at dusk, Yoichi was on his way home, having been at work all day. His road led him by the pond. There he heard a girl crying, piteously. He stopped and listened for a few moments,

Starting point is 01:01:21 and gathered from what he heard, that the girl was about to drown herself. Just as she entered the lake, Yoichi caught her by the dress and dragged her out. Who are you? And why in such trouble as to wish to die, he asked. I am Asayo, the tea-house girl, she answered. You know me quite well. You must know also that it is not possible for me to support myself out of the small pittance which is paid by my master. I have eaten nothing for two days now, and am tired of my life. Come, come, said the blind man. Dry your tears, I will take you to my house, and do what I can to help you.

Starting point is 01:01:59 You are only twenty-five years of age, and I am told, still a fair-looking girl. Perhaps you will marry. In any case, I will take care of you, and you must not think of killing yourself. Come with me now, and I will see that you are well fed, and the dry clothes are given you. So Yoichi led Asaios. to his home. A few months found them wedded to each other. Were they happy? Well, they should have been, for Yoichi treated his wife with the greatest kindness, but she was unlike her husband. She was selfish, bad-tempered, and unfaithful. In the eyes of Japanese, infidelity is the worst of sins.

Starting point is 01:02:40 How much more, then, is it against the country's spirit when advantage is taken of a husband who is blind. Some three months after they had been married, and in the heat of August, there came to the village a company of actors. Among them was Sawamura Tamataro, of some repute in Asakusa. Asayo, who was very fond of a play, spent much of her time and her husband's money in going to the theater. In less than two days she had fallen violently in love with Tamataro. She sent him money, hardly earned by her blind husband. She wrote to him love letters, begged him to allow her to come and visit him,

Starting point is 01:03:18 and generally disgraced her sex. Things went from bad to worse. The secret meetings of Asaio and the actor scandalized the neighborhood, as in most such cases the husband knew nothing about them. Frequently, when he went home, the actor was in his house, but kept quiet, and Osayo let him out secretly,

Starting point is 01:03:38 even going with him sometimes. Everyone felt sorry. for Yoichi, but none liked to tell him of his wife's infidelity. One day Yoichi went to shampoo a customer who told him of Asayo's conduct. Yoichi was incredulous. But yes, it is true, said the son of his customer. Even now, the actor, Tamataro, was with your wife, so soon as you left your house, he slipped in. This he does every day, and many of us see it. We all feel sorry for you in your blindness, and should be glad to help you

Starting point is 01:04:09 to punish her. Yoichi was deeply grieved, for he knew that his friends were in earnest. But though blind, he would accept no assistance to convict his wife. He trudged home as fast as his blindness would permit, making as little noise as possible with his staff. On reaching home, Yoichi found the front door fastened from the inside. He went to the back and found the same thing there. There was no way of getting in without breaking a door and making a noise. Yoichi was much excited now, for he knew that his guilty wife and her lover were inside,

Starting point is 01:04:45 and he would have liked to kill them both. Great strength came to him, and he raised himself bit by bit until he reached the top of the roof. He intended to enter the house by letting himself down through the Temado. Begin note. Hole in the roof of a Japanese house in place of a chimney. End note. Unfortunately, the straw rope he used in doing this was rotten, and gave way, precipitating him below where he fell on the kinuta.

Starting point is 01:05:14 Begin note, a hard block of wood used in stretching cotton cloth. End note. He fractured his skull and died instantly. Asayo and the actor, hearing the noise, went to see what had happened and were rather pleased to find poor Yoichi dead. They did not report the death until next day, when they said that Yoichi had fallen downstairs and thus killed himself. They buried him with indecent haste, and hardly with proper respect.

Starting point is 01:05:44 Yoichi having no children. His property, according to the Japanese law, went to his bad wife, and only a few months passed before Asayo and the actor were married. Apparently they were happy, though none in the village of Kumeda had any sympathy for them, all being disgusted at their behavior to the poor blind shampoo or Yoichi. Months passed by without event of any interest in the village. No one bothered about Asayo and her husband, and they bothered about no one else,

Starting point is 01:06:13 being sufficiently interested in themselves. The scandal-mongers had become tired, and like all nine-day wonders, the history of the blind Amma, Asayo, and Tamataro had passed into silence. However, it does not do to be assured when the spirit of the injured dead goes un avenged. Up in one of the western provinces, at a small village called Minato, lived one of Yoichi's friends who was closely connected with them.

Starting point is 01:06:40 This was Okuda Ichibai. He and Yoichi had been to school together. They had promised when Ichibay went up to the northwest, always to remember each other and to help each other in time of need. And when Yoichi had become blind, Ichibay came down to Kumeda and helped to start Yoichi in his business of Amah, which he did by giving him a house to live in, a house. which had been bequeathed, to Ichibay. Again, fate decreed that it should be in Ichibay's power to help his friend. At that time, news traveled very slowly,

Starting point is 01:07:13 and Ichibet had not immediately heard of Yoichi's death, or even of his marriage. Judge, then, of his surprise, one night on a waking, to find, standing near his pillow, the figure of a man whom by and by he recognized as Yoichi. Why, Yoichi! I am glad to see you, he said. but how late at night you have arrived. Why did you not let me know you were coming?

Starting point is 01:07:37 I should have been up to receive you, and there would have been a hot meal ready. But never mind. I will call a servant, and everything shall be ready as soon as possible. In the meantime, be seated, and tell me about yourself and how you traveled so far, to have come through the mountains another wild country from Kumada is hard enough at best, but for one who is blind, it is wonderful. I am no longer a living man, answered the ghost of Yoichi, for such it was.

Starting point is 01:08:07 I am indeed your friend Yoichi's spirit, and I shall wander about until I can be avenged for a great ill which has been done me. I have come to beg of you to help me that my spirit may go to rest. If you listen, I will tell my story, and you can then do as you think best. Ichibay was very much astonished, not to say, a little nervous, to know that he was in the presence of a ghost, but he was a brave man, and Yoichi had been his friend. He was deeply grieved to hear of Yoichi's death, and realized that the restlessness of his spirit showed him to have been injured. Ichibet decided not only to listen to the

Starting point is 01:08:51 story, but also to revenge Yoichi, and said so. The ghost then told all that had happened, since he had been set up in the house at Kumedamura. He told of his success as a masseur, of how he had saved the life of Asayo, how he had taken her to his house, and subsequently married her, of the arrival of the accursed acting company, which contained the man who had ruined his life, of his own death and hasty burial,

Starting point is 01:09:17 and of the marriage of Asayo and the actor. I must be avenged. Will you help me to rest in peace? He said in conclusion. Ichibet promised, then the spirit of Yoichi disappeared, and Ichibet slept again. Next morning, Ichibet thought he must have been dreaming,

Starting point is 01:09:39 but he remembered the vision and the narrative so clearly that he perceived them to have been actual. Suddenly turning with the intention to get up, he caught sight of the shine of a metal flute close to his pillow. It was the flute of a blind Ama. It was marked with Yoichi's name. Ichibet resolved to start for Kamedamura and ascertain locally all about Yoichi.

Starting point is 01:10:03 in those times when there was no railway and a rickshaw only here and there travel was slow itchibe took ten days to reach kame damaura he immediately went to the house of his friend yoichi and was there told the whole history again but naturally in another way assayo said yes he saved my life we were married and i helped my blind husband in everything one day alas he mistook the staircase for a door falling down and killing himself. Now I am married to his great friend, an actor called Tamataro, whom you see here. Ichibay knew that the ghost of Yoichi was not likely to tell him lies and to ask for vengeance unjustly. Therefore he continued talking to Asayo and her husband,

Starting point is 01:10:52 listening to their lies and wondering what would be the fitting procedure. Ten o'clock passed thus, and eleven. At twelve o'clock, when Asayo for the sixth or seventh time was assuring Ichibé that everything possible had been done for her blind husband. A windstorm suddenly arose, and in the midst of it was heard the sound of the Amaz flute, just as Yoichi played it. It was so unmistakably his that Asayo screamed with fear. At first distant, nearer and nearer approached the sound, until at last it seemed to be in the room itself. At that moment a cold puff of air came.

Starting point is 01:11:34 down the Temado, and the ghost of Yoichi was seen standing beneath it, a cold, white, glimmering, and sad-faced wraith. Tamatero and his wife tried to get up and run out of the house, but they found that their legs would not support them so full were they of fear. Tamataro seized a lamp and flung it at the ghost, but the ghost was not to be moved. The lamp passed through him and broke, setting fire to the house which burned in the instantly the wind fanning the flames. Ichibay made his escape, but neither Asayo nor her husband could move, and the flames consumed them in the presence of Yoichi's ghost. Their cries were loud and piercing. Ichibet had all the ashes swept up and placed in a tomb. He had buried in another grave,

Starting point is 01:12:27 the flute of the blind Amma, and erected on the ground where the house had been, a monument sacred to the memory of Yoichi. It is known as Fuezuka no quaidan, the flute, ghost, tomb. End of chapter four. Recording by David McKay. Chapter 5 of ancient tales and folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. According by David McKay. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith.

Starting point is 01:13:17 A haunted temple in Inaba province. Again note, In many stories in manuscript volumes, I have told of Shito-Dama or astral spirits. So much evidence have I got from personal acquaintances as to their existence and even frequent occurrence that I almost believe in them myself.

Starting point is 01:13:38 Some say that there are two shapes, the roundish oblong tadpole shape and the more square-fronted eyed shape. Priests declare the shapes and sexes to be all alike indistinguishable from each other, and square-fronted, as in number two. My hunter, Otov Itami, who with his son, saw the old barber's wife's Shito-dama after she had died, declared that the shape was like an egg with a tail. At Suboune, near Naba, two or three dozen people who had seen the Shetodama, of a deaf man and that of a fisher girl there, declared both to be square-fronted.

Starting point is 01:14:16 Again, at Toshishima, the old men declared that there was a carpenter whose Shito-dama appeared five or six times some fifteen years ago, and that it was red instead of having the ordinary phosphorescent smoky white appearance. Shito-dama, I take it, is the astral form that a spirit can assume if it wishes to wander the earth after death. This is the story of a dissatisfied spirit which haunted a temple and also showed itself as a ghost. End note. About the year 1680, there stood an old temple on a wild, pine-clad mountain near the village of Kisaiichi

Starting point is 01:14:55 in the province of Inaba. The temple was far up in a rocky ravine. So high and thick were the trees they kept out nearly all daylight, even when the sun was at its highest. As long as the old men of the trees. the village could remember. The temple had been haunted by Ashito Dama and the skeleton ghost, they thought, of some former priestly occupant. Many priests had tried to live in the temple and make it their home, but all had died. No one could spend a night there and live.

Starting point is 01:15:30 At last, in the winter of 1701 there arrived in the village of Kisaiichi, a priest who was on a pilgrimage. His name was Jogen, and he was a native of the province of Kai. Jogen had come to see the haunted temple. He was fond of studying such things. Though he believed in the Shito-Dama form of spiritual return to earth, he did not believe in ghosts. As a matter of fact, he was anxious to see a Shito-Dama, and moreover wished to have a temple of his own. In this wild mountain temple, with a history which fear and death prevented people from visiting, or priests inhabiting, he thought that he had, to put it in vulgar English, a real good thing. Thus he had found his way to the village on the evening of a cold December night,

Starting point is 01:16:19 and had gone to the inn to eat his rice and to hear all he could about the temple. Jogen was no coward. On the contrary, he was a brave man, and made all inquiries in the calmest manner. Sir, said the landlord, your holiness must not think of going to this temple, for it means death. Many good priests have tried to stay the night there, and every one has been found next morning dead, or has died shortly after daybreak, without coming to his senses. It is no use, sir, trying to defy such an evil spirit as comes to this temple. I beg you, sir, to give up the idea. Badly as we want a temple here, we wish for no more deaths, and often think of

Starting point is 01:16:59 burning down this old haunted one and building anew. Jogun, however, was firm in his resolve to find and see the ghost. "'Kind, sir,' he answered, "'your wishes are for my preservation, but it is my ambition to see Ishito Dama, and, if prayers can quiet it, to reopen the temple, to read its legends from the old books that must lie hidden therein, and to be the head-priest of it generally.' The innkeeper, seeing that the priest was not to be dissuaded, gave up the attempt, and promised that his son should accompany him as guide in the morning and carry sufficient provisions for a day. Next morning was one of brilliant sunshine, and Jogan was out of bed early, making preparations.

Starting point is 01:17:44 Kosa, the innkeeper's 20-year-old son, was tying up the priest's bedding, and enough boiled rice to last him nearly two full days. It was decided that Kosa, after leaving the priest at the temple, should return to the village. For he, as well as every other villager, refused to spend a night at the weird place, but he and his father agreed to go see Jogen on the morrow, or, or, he, and his father agreed to go see Jogan on the morrow, or, as someone grimly put it, to carry him down and give him an honorable funeral and a decent burial. Jogen entered fully into this joke, and shortly after left the village, with Cosa carrying his things and guiding the way. The gorge in which the temple was situated was very steep and wild. Great moss-clad rocks lay strewn everywhere.

Starting point is 01:18:34 When Jogen and his companion had got halfway up, they sat down to rest. and eat. Soon they heard voices of persons ascending, and ere long, the innkeeper and some eight or nine of the village elders presented themselves. "'We have followed you,' said the innkeeper, "'to try once more to dissuade you from running to a sure death. True, we want the temple opened and the ghosts appeased, but we do not wish it at the cost of another life. Please consider.' "'I cannot change my mind,' answered the priest. "'Besides, this is the one chance of my life. Your village elders have promised me that if I am able to appease the spirit and reopen the temple, I shall be the head priest of the temple, which must hereafter become

Starting point is 01:19:19 celebrated. Again, Shoggen refused to listen to advice and laughed at the villagers' fears. Shouldering the packages that had been carried by Kosa, he said, Go back with the rest. I can find my own way now easily enough. I shall be glad if you return tomorrow with carpenters, for no doubt the temple is in sad want of repairs, both inside and out. Now, my friends, until tomorrow, farewell. Have no fear for me. I have none for myself. The villagers made deep bows. They were greatly impressed by the bravery of Jogen, and hoped that he might be spared to become their priest. Jogen in his turn bowed, and then began to continue his ascent. The others watched him as long as he remained in view.

Starting point is 01:20:06 and then retraced their steps to the village, Kosa thanking the good fortune that had not necessitated his having to go to the temple with the priest and return in the evening alone. With two or three people he felt brave enough, but to be here in the gloom of this wild forest and near the haunted temple alone, no, that was not in his line. As Jogen climbed, he came suddenly inside of the temple, which seemed to be almost over his head,

Starting point is 01:20:36 so precipitous were the sides of the mountain and the path. Filled with curiosity, the priest pressed on, in spite of his heavy load, and some fifteen minutes later arrived panting on the temple platform or terrace, which like the temple itself had been built on driven piles and scaffolding. At first glance, Jogan recognized that the temple was large, but lack of attention had caused it to fall into great dilapidation. Rank grasses grew high about its side, Fungi and creepers abounded on the damp sodden posts and supports.

Starting point is 01:21:12 So rotten, in fact, did these appear, the priest mentioned in his written notes that evening, that he feared the spirits less than the state of the posts which supported the building. Cautiously, Jogen entered the temple, and saw that there was a remarkably large and fine gilded figure of Buddha, besides figures of many saints. There were also fine bronzes and vases. drums from which the parchment had rotted off,

Starting point is 01:21:39 incense-burners, or coros, and other valuable or holy things. Behind the temple were the priests' living quarters. Evidently, before the ghost's time, the temple must have had some five or six priests ever present to attend to it and to the people who came to pray. The gloom was oppressive, and as the evening was already approaching,

Starting point is 01:22:03 Jogen beth bethought himself of light. Unpacking his bundle, he filled up, a lamp with oil, and found temple-sticks for the candles which he had brought with him. Having placed one of these on either side of the figure of Buddha, he prayed, earnestly for two hours, by which time it was quite dark. Then he took his simple meal of rice, and settled himself to watch and listen. In order that he might see inside and outside the temple at the same time he had chosen the gallery, concealed behind an old column he waited. In his heart, disbelieved, leaving in ghosts, but anxious, as his note said to see, Ashito Dama. For some two hours he heard

Starting point is 01:22:46 nothing. The wind, such little as there was, sighed round the temple and through the stems of the tall trees. An owl hooded from time to time. Bats flew in and out. A fungusy smell pervaded the air. Suddenly, near Bindite, Jogen heard a rustling in the bushes below him as if somebody were pushing through. He thought it was a deer, or perhaps one of the large red-faced apes, so fond of the neighborhood of high and deserted temples. Perhaps even it might be a fox or a badger. The priest was soon undeceived. At the place whence the sound of the rustling leaves had come, he saw the clear and distinct shape of the well-known Shito-Dama. It moved, first one way, and then another, in a hovering and jerky manner.

Starting point is 01:23:37 and from it a voice as of distant buzzing proceeded but horror of horrors what was that standing among the bushes the priest's blood ran cold there stood the luminous skeleton of a man in loose priest's clothes with glaring eyes and a parchment skin at first it remained still but as the shito dama rose higher and higher the ghost moved after it sometimes visible sometimes not higher and higher came the shito dama until finally the ghost stood at the base of the great figure of buddha and was facing jogen cold beads of sweat stood out on the priest's forehead the marrow seemed to have frozen in his bones he shook so that he could hardly stand biting his tongue to prevent screaming he dashed for the small room in which he had left his bedding, and having bolted himself in, proceeded to look through a crack between the boards. Yes, there was the figure of the ghost still seated near the Buddha, but the Shito-Dama had disappeared.

Starting point is 01:24:56 None of Jogen's senses left him, but fear was paralyzing his body, and he felt himself no longer capable of moving, no matter what should happen. He continued in a lying position to look through the hole. The ghost sat on, turning only its head, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left, and sometimes looking upwards. For full an hour this went on. Then the buzzing sound began again, and the Shito Dama reappeared, circling and circling round the ghost's body, until the ghost vanished, apparently having turned in to the Shito Dama, and after circling round the holy figures three or four times, it suddenly shot out of sight. Next morning, Kosa and five men came up to the temple.

Starting point is 01:25:46 They found the priest alive, but paralyzed. He could neither move nor speak. He was carried to the village, dying before he got there. Much use was made of the priest's notes. No one else ever volunteered to live at the temple, which two years later was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. In digging among the remains, searching for bronzes and metal Buddha, villagers came upon a skeleton buried only a foot deep, near the bushes whence Jogen had first heard

Starting point is 01:26:18 the sounds of rustling. Undoubtedly the ghost and Shito Dama were those of a priest who had suffered a violent death and could not rest. The bones were properly buried, and masses said, and nothing has since been seen of the ghost. All that remains of the temple are the moss-grown pedestals which formed the foundations. End of Chapter 5. Recording by David McKay. Chapter 6 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan.

Starting point is 01:26:57 This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. A carp gives a lesson in perseverance. Between the year 1750 and 1760, there lived in Kyoto, a great painter named Okyo, Mary Yuma, Okio. His paintings were such as to fetch high prices, even in those.

Starting point is 01:27:44 days. Okyo had not only many admirers in consequence, but had also many pupils who strove to copy his style. Among them was one named Roshto, who eventually became the best of all. When first Rostov went to Okios to study, he was, without exception, the Dalai, and most stupid pupil that Okyo had ever had to deal with. His learning was so slow that pupils who had entered as students under Okio a year and more after Rose II overtook him. He was one of those plotting but unfortunate ewes who work hard, harder perhaps than most,

Starting point is 01:28:42 and seemed to go backwards as, if the gods were against them. Footnote. One day my old painter, Booz Tzu, was talking with me about Japan's greatest painters, and of one of them he told a strange story. It was interesting in one thing especially, and that was that the name of Rose Tew

Starting point is 01:29:11 I could not find mentioned in Louise Gantz's book, though of course Mariyama Oiko was. Five names are given as those of the best pupils of Okyo, but Rose Tew was not mentioned. I wrote to my friend the local governor who is an authority on Japanese paintings. His answer was, you are quite right. Rose Tew was one of Oyoko's best pupils, perhaps the best. In footnote, I have the deepest sympathy with Rose Tew. I myself became a bigger fool day by day as I worked.

Starting point is 01:30:02 The harder I worked or tried to remember, the more manifestly a fool I became. Rose stew, however, was in the end successful, having been greatly encouraged by his observations of the perseverance of a carp. Many of the pupils who entered O'Kyo's school after Rose Tew had left, having become quite good painters, poor Rose Tew was the only one who had made no progress whatever for, three years. So disconsolate was he, and so little encouragement did his master offer, that at last crestfallen and sad, he gave up the hopes he had of becoming a great painter, and quietly left the school one evening, intending either to go home or to kill himself on the way. All that night he walked, and halfway into the next, when, tired out from want of sleep and of food, he flung himself down on the snow under the pine trees.

Starting point is 01:31:20 Some hours before dawn rose to you awoke, hearing a strange noise not thirty paces from him. He could not make it out, but sat up, listening and glancing towards a while. the place, whence the sound of splashing water, came. As the day broke, he saw that the noise was caused by a large carp, which was persistently jumping out of the water, evidently trying to reach a piece of Semb, a kind of biscuit made of rice and salt, lying on the ice of a pond which Rose Sue found himself. For full three hours the fish must have been jumping thus unsuccessfully, cutting and bruising himself against the edges of the ice,

Starting point is 01:32:16 until the blood flowed and many scales had been lost. Roosthew watched it persistency with admiration. The fish tried every imaginable device. Sometimes it would make a determined attack on the ice where the biscuit lay from underneath by charging directly upwards. At other times it would jump high in the air and hope that by falling on the ice, bit by bit would be broken away until it should be able to reach the Sembi. and, indeed, the carp did, thus break the ice, until at last he reached the prize, bleeding and hurt, but still rewarded for brave perseverance. Ross Hugh, much impressed, watched the fish swim off with the food and reflected.

Starting point is 01:33:17 Yes, he said to himself, this has been a moral lesson to me. I will be like this carp. I will not go home until I have gained my object. As long as there is breath in my body, I will work to carry out my intention. I will labor harder than ever, and no matter if I do not progress, I will continue in my efforts until I attain my end or die.

Starting point is 01:33:52 After this resolved, Rosti visited the neighboring temple and prayed for success. Also, he thanked the local deity that he had been enabled to see through the carp's perseverance, the line that a man should take in life. Roscoo then returned to Kyoto and to his master. O'Kyo told the story of the carp, and he said, his determination. O'Kyo was much pleased and did his best for his backward pupil. This time Roastew progressed. He became a well-known painter, the best man O'Kio ever taught, as good in fact as his master, and he ended by being one of Japan's greatest painters.

Starting point is 01:34:48 Roastew took for crest the leaping carp. End of Chapter 6. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 7 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith

Starting point is 01:35:27 Chapter 7 Legends told by a fisherman on Lake Bia at Zizi While upfishing on Lake Biaa and later shooting in the vicinity Shooting is not allowed on the lake itself, the water being considered a holy place, I often made Zizi my headquarters. At the edge of the lake, just there stands the cottage of an old, old fisherman and his sons. They have made a little harbor for their boats, but they cultivate no ground, their cottage standing in wild grass near a solitary willow.

Starting point is 01:36:08 The reason of this is that they are rich, or comparatively so, being the owners of an immense fish trap which runs out into the lake nearly a mile, and is a disgrace to all civilized ideas of conservation. They bought the rights from the Daimyo, who owned Zizi Castle a hundred years or more ago. This is my own guess at the date, for I never asked or noted it. The trap catches enough to keep the whole of four families comfortable. Two or three interesting little legends,

Starting point is 01:36:46 truths the old senior fisherman called them. I got either from himself or from his son while visiting his trap, or sitting under his willow, fishing myself for stories. Surely the Dona-san could not be interested in the simple old stories of bygone days. Even my sons do not care for them nowadays. I care for anything of interest, I said, and you will greatly please me by telling me any fisherman's legends of hero. or even of the northwestern end of the lake, if you know any. Well, there is our fireball, said the old fisherman.

Starting point is 01:37:28 This is a curious and unpleasant thing. I have seen it many times myself. I will begin with that. Legend. Many years ago there was a daimyo who had constructed at the foot of the southern spur of Mount Hia a castle, the ruins of which may still be seen just to the north of the military barracks of the ninth regiment in Outsu. The name of the daimaux was Akechee Mitsuhide, and it is his Shito-dama that we see now in wet weather on the lake. It is called the spirit of Akechi.

Starting point is 01:38:04 The reason of it is this. When Akechichi Mitsohide defended himself against the Toyotomi, he was closely invested, but his castle held out bravely and could not be taken, in spite of Toyotomi's greater forces. As time went on, the besiegers became exasperated and prevailed upon a bad fisherman from Magisa village, to tell where was the source of water which supplied Ackichi's castle. The water, having been cut off, the garrison had to capitulate, but not before Akechee and most of his men had committed suicide. From that time, in rain or in rough weather, there has come from the castle a fireball, six inches in diameter or more. It comes to wreak vengeance on fishermen and causes many wrecks, leading boats out of their course. Sometimes it comes almost into the boat,

Starting point is 01:39:03 once a fisherman struck it with a bamboo pole, breaking it up into many fiery bits, and on that occasion many boats were lost. In full, it is called the spider fire of the spirit of the dead Aki. That is all, sir, that I can tell of it, except that I often have seen it myself and feared it. That is very interesting, said I, and quite what I like. Can you tell me any more? Perhaps if Donassan found interest in that simple story, he would like to know the reason of why we always have such a terrible storm over the lake on February twenty-feworthy. fifth, so I will tell of that also. Legend.

Starting point is 01:39:53 Long ago there lived in the village of Komotsu, on the southeastern side of the lake, a beautiful girl called Otani. She was the daughter of a wealthy farmer, and of a studious nature, as far as it was possible for a girl to be so in those days. That is to say, she was forever wishing to learn and to know things, which were not always within the province of women to know. With the intention of inquiring and learning, she frequently crossed the lake in a boat alone

Starting point is 01:40:25 to visit a certain talented and clever young monk, who was the chief priest at one of the smaller temples situated at the foot of Mount Ha'i-san, just over there where you are looking now. So deeply impressed was Otani-san with the priest's knowledge, she lost her heart and fell in love with him. Her visits became more frequent. Often she crossed the lake alone

Starting point is 01:40:51 and spite her for parents' protests, when the waves were too high for the safety even of a hearty fisherman like myself. At last, Otani could resist no longer. She felt that she must tell the good priest of her love for him and see if she could not persuade him to renounce the church and run away with her. The monk was greatly sorrowed, and did not quite know what to say or how to put the girl off.

Starting point is 01:41:20 At last he thought that he would give her an impossible task. Knowing that the weather on Lake Wiba, toward the end of February, is nearly impossible, as far as the navigation of small boats is concerned, he said, probably not for a moment, meaning it seriously. Oh, Tani-san, if you successfully cross, the lake on the evening of February 25th in a washing tub, it might be possible that I should cast off my robes and forget my calling to carry out your wishes. Otani did not think of the impossible, nor did she quite understand the depth of the priest's meaning.

Starting point is 01:42:01 Young and foolish as she was with her blind love, she sculled herself home, thinking that the next time she crossed the lake it would be in the washing tub. and to carry off the young priest as her husband. She was supremely happy. At last the 25th of February arrived, Otani had taken care that the best and largest washing-tub had been left near the borders of the lake. After dark she embarked in her frail craft,

Starting point is 01:42:32 and without the least fear started. When she was about halfway across, a fearful storm broke over highing a mountain, The waves arose and the wind blew with blinding force. Moreover, the light that was usually burning on the ha'isan side of the lake, which the priest had promised should be especially bright this night, had been blown out. It was not long before poor Otani's tub was capsized, and in spite of her efforts to keep afloat, she sank beneath the waves to rise no more.

Starting point is 01:43:12 it is said by some that the priest himself put out the light so as to cut off the last possible chance of otani's reaching the shore being overzealous in his thoughts of good and evil since the night that otani was drowned every twenty fifth of february has been wild and stormy and fishermen fear to be out on that day people say that the cause is the dissatisfi satisfied spirit of poor Otani, who, though she did not fear death, died disconsolate at being deceived by the monk she loved. The washing tub that Otani used drifted ashore Kinojama village in eastern Omi. It was picked up by Gensuki, a matchmaker, who split it up and made matches of it. When this became known to the villages of Kinojama, including Gensuki himself, They resolved that every 25th of February should be a holiday and that a prayer should be said at their shrine for the spirit of Otani.

Starting point is 01:44:23 They call the day, Troia, dealers in matches festival, and on it no men work. That is a capital story, said I, to the fishermen, but I should greatly have liked to put the monk in another tub on the following twenty-fif. 5th of February and anchored him out, so that he should be sure of being drowned in the same way. Does the Dona San know why all the little papers are tied in the black rocks at Ishiyamadera? No, I do not, I answered. And moreover, when I went there, no one would or could tell me.

Starting point is 01:45:04 Well, it is not an uninteresting story, and I will tell it to you, for it is short. legend. As the Dona-san has been to Ishiyamadira, he will know about the temple and monastery, which has a history eleven hundred years long, but few people know the real reason why the bits of paper with prayers on them are tied to the black rocks. The origin, or the reason of tying these paper prayers, Usubi no kami, as they are called, is pretty of suicide for the romance of love can make it so. Many years ago in Baba Street of Outsu, then known as Shibaya Street, there was a tea house called Kagiga, which kept very beautiful Geisha.

Starting point is 01:45:54 Among them was one named Otagahana, whose loveliness surpassed all imagination. Though scarcely 17, her heart was no longer her own. It had gone as completely to her lover, Denbei, as had his had his to her. It is difficult to imagine how this desperate affair came about at first, for Denbighi was only the clerk of a rice merchant to Nootsu, and had but little money to spend on Geisha, especially in such an expensive tea-house as Kagiya. Jealousy and unhappiness crept into the heart of Denbai, not on account of any unfaithfulness on the part of Otagahana-san, but because he felt jealous of others, being well enough off to go to the Kagiyah tea house and hear her sing and see

Starting point is 01:46:45 her dance while they ate costly dinners. So much do these sorrows tell upon Denbéi's heart, at last he used to falsify his master's account books, frequently taking money, which he spent, of course, at the Kagia tea house, in seeing the beloved Otagahana. state of affairs could not last long, and when Denbigh told Otagahana how he had procured the money to come and see her, she was shocked beyond measure. My dearest, she said, the wrong which you have done out of love for me is sure to be discovered, and even if it were not it would be wrong. Our love is so great that there remains but one chance for our future happiness.

Starting point is 01:47:35 "'Sinju!' "'Suicide together. "'Nothing else will enable us to become united, "'for if I ran away with you, "'they would soon recapture me, "'most probably before a day and a night had passed.' "'Will you leave with me to-night?' said Denbei. "'I will meet you at two o'clock in the morning

Starting point is 01:47:57 "'when all are asleep, "'down at that flat-growing pine-tree "'near the east end of the town. "'From there, we will go to Ishiama and after praying at that holy temple to our good Kwanan, we will do Shinju in the Hota-Rudani, Firefly Valley, and our souls will depart together. Denbighi bowed to his sweetheart and spoke words of gratitude for her faithfulness in recognizing his love for her as the cause of his sin, and he promised that at the appointed hour

Starting point is 01:48:32 he would meet her by the pine tree near the lake and take her off to Ishirodo. There to carry out their final act and die together. To save time, Donna San, in telling this story, it is only necessary to say that Denbei and Otagahana met, and that, after passing over the flat and uninteresting plain known as Awatsu, they reached and passed the Seta Bridge, and that shortly after, about daybreak, they found themselves at Ishiyama. There, in one of the tea houses, they remained some hours in bliss, and then went to the temple to pray to Kwanan. Then they went to the Hotaru-Dani, and after embracing each other for the last time on this earth, they each wrote a prayer on a piece of paper, twisted it into a piece of string, and fastened it into a double knot with their thumbs and little fingers through a small hole bored in the soft black rock. Their being able to do this successfully was taken as an omen that all would be well with them after death, and was an answer to their prayer.

Starting point is 01:49:44 Their spirits passed away together, just as the leaves of fragrant flowers, blown off by autumn winds, passed together under Seta Bridge. That, Dana San, is the origin and reason of tying these pieces of paper to the black rocks and other places at Ichiyama Dera. The custom is still followed by many country folks who go to worship and pray for the spirits of Denbigh in Otagahana in the Firefly Valley itself. End of Chapter 7 Chapter 8 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, order to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org.

Starting point is 01:50:45 Recording by Linda Greenhelson, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. By Richard Gordon Smith A miraculous sword About the year 110 BC, there lived a brave prince known in Japanese history as Yamato Daki no Mikoto. Footnote

Starting point is 01:51:13 Yamato Daki no Mikoto, one of the 80 children of the Emperor Keiko, was a great hero of the prehistoric age. While yet a stripling, he was sent by his father to destroy the rebels of Western Japan. In order to accomplish this end, he borrowed the gown of his aunt, who was high priestess of Isse, and thus disguised, made the rebel chieftains fall in love with him, while carousing in the cave where they dwelt. Then suddenly drawing a sword from his bosom, he smote them to death.

Starting point is 01:52:02 He next subdued the province of Ismo, and finally conquered Eastern Japan, which was at that time a barbarous waste. After many adventures, both warlike and amorous, he died on the Homeward March to Yamoto, where the Emperor, his father, held court. End footnote. He was a great warrior, as was his son, who is said to have been a husband to the Empress Jingo. I presume a second one, for it could not have been the emperor who was assassinated before the Empress's conquest of Korea. However, that does not very much matter to my story, which is merely the legend attached to the the miraculous sword known as the Kisangi no surugi, the grass-cutting sword, which is held as one of the three sacred treasures and is handed down from father to son in the imperial family. The sword is kept at the Atsua shrine in Owari province.

Starting point is 01:53:20 At the date given by my interpreter 110 BC, I should add, or thereabouts, allowing large margins, Yamato Daki no Mikoto, had been successful at all events in suppressing the revolutionists known as the Kumaso in Kyushu, being a man of energy and possessing a strong force, of trained men, he resolved that he would suppress the revolutionists up on the northeastern coasts. Before starting, Yamato Daki, No Mikoto thought he should go to east to worship in the temples,

Starting point is 01:54:09 to pray for divine aid, and to call on an aunt who lived near. Yamato Daki spent five or six days with his aunt, Princess Yamato Him, to whom he announced his intention of subduing the rebels. She presented him with her greatest treasure, the miraculous sword, and also with a tinder and flint box. Before parting with her nephew, Yamato Him no Mikoto said, This sword is the most precious thing which I could give you, and will guard you safely through all dangers. Value it accordingly, for it will be one of the sacred treasures. Legend says that in the age of the gods,

Starting point is 01:55:05 Susan O No, Mikoto, once found an old man and a woman weeping bitterly because a mammoth eight-headed snake had devoured seven of their daughters, and there remained only one more whom they felt sure the eighth serpent's head would take. Susan No No Mikoto asked if they would give him the daughter if he killed the snake, to which they gladly assented. Susan No. filled eight buckets with saki wine. and put them where the serpent was likely to come, and hiding himself in the vicinity awaited events.

Starting point is 01:55:52 The monster came, and the eight heads drank the eight buckets full of sake, and became naturally dead drunk. Susan Noe then dashed in and cut the beast to bits. In the tail he found a sword, the celebrated and miraculous sword. Kusangi no Sirgi, the grass-cutting sword of our story. After bidding farewell to Yamato Him no Mikoto, the prince took his departure, setting out for the province of Surruga on the eastern coast

Starting point is 01:56:34 to find what he could hear, it being in a turbulent state, and it was there that he ran into, his first danger, and that his enemies laid a trap for him through their knowledge that he was fond of hunting. There were some immense rush plains in Surga, province where now stands the village of Yitsu Mura. Yaita means burning fields. It was resolved by the rebels that one of them should go and invite Yamato Daki to come out and hunt while they were to scatter and hide themselves in the long grass, until the guide should lead him into their midst, when they would jump up and kill him.

Starting point is 01:57:29 Accordingly, they sent to Yamato Daki a plausible and clever man, who told him that there were many deer on the grass plains. Would he come and hunt them? The man volunteered to act as guide. The invitation was tempting, and, as he had found the country less rebellious than he had expected, the prince accepted. When the morning arrived, the prince,

Starting point is 01:57:59 in addition to carrying his hunting bow, carried the sword given him by his aunt, the princess Yamato. The day was windy. and it was thought by the rebels that as the rushes were so dry, it would be more sure and less dangerous to themselves to fire the grass, for it was certain that the guide would make the prince hunt up wind, and if they fired the grass properly,

Starting point is 01:58:31 the flames would rush with lightning speed towards him and be absolutely safe for themselves. Yamato Daki did just as they had expected. He came quietly on, suspecting nothing. Suddenly the rushes took fire in front and at the sides of him. The prince realized that he had been betrayed. The treacherous guide had disappeared. The prince stood in danger of suffocation and death.

Starting point is 01:59:05 The smoke, dense and choking, rushed, along with rapidity and great roaring. Yamato Daki tried to run for the only gap, but was too late. Then he began cutting the grass with his sword to prevent the fire from reaching him. He found that whatever direction he cut in with his sword, the wind changed to that direction. If to the north he cut, the wind changed to the south and prevented the fire from advancing farther, if to the south, the wind changed to the north, and so on. Taking advantage of this, Yamato Daki retaliated upon his enemies.

Starting point is 01:59:53 He got fire from his aunt's tinderbox, and where there was no fire in the rushes he lit them, cutting through the grass at the same time in the direction in which he wished the fire to go. rushing thus from point to point he was successful in the endeavor to turn the tables on his enemies and destroyed them all. It is important to note that there is in existence a sword, said to be this sword, in the Atsua Shrine, Owari Province. A great festival in honor of it is held on June 21st every year. That place, Yamato Daki no Mikoto went on to Sagami province. Finding things quiet there, he took a ship to cross to Kazuwa province, accompanied by a lady he deeply loved, who was given the title of Hemi, Princess, because of Yamato Daki's rank. Her name was Takibana.

Starting point is 02:01:06 They had not got more than ten miles from shore When a terrible storm arose The ship threatened to go down This, said Takibana Himi Is the doing of one of the sea goddesses Who thirst for men's lives I will give her mind, my lord Perhaps that may appease her

Starting point is 02:01:31 Until you have safely crossed the wicked sea Without further warning, Takabana Hemi cast herself into the sea, the waves closed over her head, to the concertation and grief of all, and to the breaking of Yamato Daki's heart. As Tachibana Himi had expected, the sea goddess was appeased. The wind went down, the water calmed, and the ship reached Kazuwa province. in safety. Yamato Daki went as far as Yizo, putting down small rebellions on the way. Several years afterwards, accompanied by many of his old officers, he found himself back on the side of a hill in Sagamie province, overlooking the place where poor Takabana Himi had given up her life for him

Starting point is 02:02:33 by throwing herself into the sea. The prince gazed sadly at the sea, and thrice exclaimed, with tears flowing down his cheeks, brave though he was, Azuma Waya! Alas, my dearest wife! And Eastern Japan, about the middle,

Starting point is 02:02:55 has since then been called Azuma. End of Chapter 8, recording by Linda Ray Nielsen. Vancouver, BC. Chapter 9 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All LibraVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org.

Starting point is 02:03:31 Recording by Linda Ray Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. Richard Gordon Smith, the procession of ghosts. Footnote. Somewhere between the years 1400 and 1550, there lived a family of celebrated painters, covering three generations, and consequently difficult to be accurate about. There were Tosa Mitsunobu, Kano Mitsunobu, and Hasagawa Mitsunobu. Sometimes Tosso Mitsunobu signed his pictures as Fujiwara Mitsunobu.

Starting point is 02:04:19 When to this I add that there were other celebrated painters, Cano Masanubu, Kano Motonubu, besides their families, imitators, and name foragers. You will realize the difficulties into which one may fall in fixing on names and dates, but as usual I have been placed safely on high ground by a kind friend, H.E. Mr. Hattori, the governor whose knowledge of art is great. Undoubtedly, it was Tosa Mitsunubu who painted the picture known as the Hayaki Yakku, or as the 100-Ghosts procession, which is celebrated and has served as a map of instruction in the drawing of hobgoblins and ghosts,

Starting point is 02:05:18 spooks, eerie, or whatever you may choose to call them. As far as I can judge, the picture was painted about the end of the first half of the 15th century. End note. Some four or 500 years ago there was an old temple not far from Fushimi near Kyoto. It was called the Sojini Temple, and had been deserted for many. years, priests fearing to live there on account of the ghosts which were said to haunt it. Still, no one had ever seen the ghosts. No doubt the story came into the people's minds from the fact that the whole of the priests

Starting point is 02:06:05 had been killed by a large band of robbers many years beyond the memory of men. For the sake of loot, of course. So great a horror did this strike into the minds. of all that the temple was allowed to rot and run to ruin. One year a priest, a pilgrim, and a stranger, passed by the temple, and, not knowing its history, went in and sought refuge from the weather, instead of continuing his journey to Fushimi, having cold rice in his wallet, he felt that he could not do better than pass. the night there, for though the weather might be cold, he would at all events save drenching the only

Starting point is 02:06:56 clothes which he had, and be well off in the morning. The good man took up his quarters in one of the smaller rooms, which was in less bad repair than the rest of the place, and after eating his meal, said his prayers and lay down to sleep, while the rain, fell in torrents on the roof, and the wind howled through the creaky buildings. Try as he might, the priest could not sleep, for the cold drafts chilled him to the marrow. Somewhere about midnight, the old man heard weird and unnatural noises. They seemed to proceed from the main building. Prompted by curiosity, he arose, and when he got to the main building, he found Hayakhi Yako, meaning a procession of 100 ghosts,

Starting point is 02:07:55 a term, I believe, which has been generally applied to a company of ghosts. The ghosts fought, wrestled, danced, and made merry. Though greatly alarmed at first, our priests became interested. After a few moments, however, more awful spirit-like ghosts came on the same. seen. The priest ran back to the small room in which he barred himself, and he spent the rest of the night saying masses for the souls of the dead. At daybreak, though the weather continued wet, the priest departed. He told the villagers what he had seen, and they spread the news so widely that within three or four days the temple was known as the worst haunted temple in the neighborhood.

Starting point is 02:08:48 It was at this time that the celebrated painter Tasa Mitsunobu heard of it. Having ever been anxious to paint a picture of Hayaki Yaku, he thought that a sight of the ghosts in Shozinjee Temple might give him the necessary material. So off to Fushimi and Shozhenji he started. Mitsub nobu went straight to the temple at dusk and sat up all night in no very happy state of mind, but he saw no ghosts and heard no noise. Next morning he opened all the windows and doors and flooded the main temple with light. No sooner had he done this than he found the walls of the place covered, as it were, with the figures or drawings of ghosts of indescribable complexity.

Starting point is 02:09:53 There were far more than 200 and all different. Could he but remember them? That was what Tosa Mitsunobu thought. Drawing his notebook and brush from his pocket, he proceeded to take them down minutely. This occupied the best part of the day. During his examination of the outlines of the various ghosts and goblins, which he had drawn, Mitsunubu saw that the fantastic shapes had come from cracks in the damp, deserted walls.

Starting point is 02:10:32 These cracks were filled with fungi and mildew, which in their turn produced the toning, coloring, and eventually the figures from which he compiled his celebrated picture, Hayaki Yakko. Footnote. It is well known that certain fungi and mildews produce phosphorescent light amid certain circumstances. No doubt the priest saw the cracks in the wall amid these circumstances and the noise he heard was made by rats. I once read a story about a haunted country house in England, the ghost in which was evidently found to be a luminous fungus. In footnote,

Starting point is 02:11:22 grateful was he to the imaginative priest whose stories had led him to the place. Without him, never would the picture have been drawn. Never could the horrible aspects of so many ghosts and goblins have entered the mind of one man, no matter how imaginative. My painter's illustration gives a few copied from a first-hand copy of Mitsou Nubuz. In of Chapter 9, recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 10 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libre Vox recording. All Libre Box recordings are in the public to make.

Starting point is 02:12:17 For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libribox.org. Recording by Melanie Jensen Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. A Faithful Servant In the reign of Emperor Angi, which began in the year 901 AD, there lived a man whose name has ever since been celebrated on account of his beautiful writings, poetic and other. He was the emperor's great favorite, and consequently he was the strong man of the day. His name was Sugavara Michizene.

Starting point is 02:12:54 Needless to say, it was not very long before, with all these things in his favor, he was the head of the government, living in luxury. Things went well enough for a time, but the inevitable came at last. Not all the people agreed with Michizene's ideas or his politics. Secret enemies lurked at every corner. Among them was one particularly bad man named Tokihira, whose poisonous intrigues at court were constant. Tokihira held a government position under Michizane and hated him in his heart, thinking that if he could but arrange to get Machizene into the bad graces of the emperor,

Starting point is 02:13:32 he himself might become leader of the government. Machizene was a man with whom little fault could be found, and so it came to pass that Tokihira was unable to find any cause for starting evil reports about him. But as time went on, he became more determined to do evil in the end. At last an opportunity arrived. Tokihira, who had many secret agents trying to discover something to be reported to the emperor against Michizene, heard a statement that Prince Toki, Tokinomi, had fallen secretly in love with the beautiful daughter of Michizene, and that they held secret meetings. Tokihira was overjoyed to the nose and went straight away to the emperor,

Starting point is 02:14:13 who received him, hearing that he had a marvelous tale of intrigue to tell. Your Majesty, said Tokihira, much as I grieve to tell it, a serious plot is about. Sugawara Michizane has so arranged it that Your Majesty's younger brother, Prince Toki, has fallen in love with his daughter. Deeply, as I regret to say it, they hold secret meetings. Moreover, Michizene, Your Majesty's premiere, is scheming that your majesty's majesty may be assassinated, or at least dethroned in favor of Prince Toki, who is to marry Michizanais's daughter. Naturally, the Emperor Engie was infuriated. He was a good and sound monarch,

Starting point is 02:14:56 and he had ruled the people, with the aid of Michizene fairly, firmly, and well. He had looked upon Machizenei as a personal friend, and to think of Machisenae conspiring his assassination, or at all events so scheming as to place Prince Toki on the throne. and to marry his own daughter to the prince was more than he could stand. He sent for Machizene. Machizene protested his innocence. True it was, he said, that the prince had fallen in love with his daughter, but that was not much to be wondered at.

Starting point is 02:15:28 His daughter was beautiful. The prince and she were much of the same age, and had seen much of each other from their childhood. Now that they had grown older, they found that their friendship had turned to love. That was all. It was not easy for a prince of the blood royal to meet the love, to meet the lady of his heart quite so openly as another mite, and, no doubt, they had met,

Starting point is 02:15:47 for his daughter had told him so. As to the plot asserted by Tokihira, that was absolutely fanciful, and it was an astonishment to hear of so dastardly an accusation. Tokihira perceived the temper of the emperor. By loud words and unscrupulous lies he upset all the unfortunate Michizene's protests, and the emperor ordered Michizenei to be sent for the rest of his life to Sukushi. in the island of Kyoshu. Accompanied only by his faithful servant Matsuo, Michisine went into exile. The punishment of Michisene, unjust as it was, broke up the employment of many others. All those who had been closely associated with him were dismissed. Among them was Takebayashi Genzo, who had been one of Michizene's chief attendants. Genzo had been one of Machizene's literary

Starting point is 02:16:37 pupils. Consequently, it is not astonishing that on losing employment, Genzo fled to a small town, and out of duty took with him Machizene's wife and young son Kan Su-Shai, age ten. All changed their names, and Genzo, to support them as well as his own family, established a small school. Thus it was that for some time, Kan Su-Shai escaped the wicked designs against his life that had been planned by Tokihira. Matsuo, the faithful servant who had followed his master, Machizanay into banishment, heard of a vile plot to a seven. his master's son, and after many weary days of thought as to how he could prevent it, he perceived that the only way would be to sacrifice his own son instead.

Starting point is 02:17:24 First, he told his banished master of his intention, and having obtained leave, he journeyed back to Kyoto, and sought out Tokihira himself, to whom he offered his services both as a servant and as a hunter of Machizine's son, Kansushai. Tokihira readily engaged him, thinking now that he would be sure to find the boy whom he wished to have beheaded. Tokihira had taken the place of Michizenei in the emperor's favor and had great power. His will was almost law. So well did Matsuo play his part in Tokihira's household and among his servants, it was not long before they were all agreed that Matsuo was most faithful to his new master, and the greatest confidence was placed in him. Shortly after this, it came to the knowledge of Tokihira that Kan Tsushai,

Starting point is 02:18:12 was hidden under a different name in the school which belonged to Genzo. Genza was ordered to send the boy's head to Kokihira within 48 hours. Matsuo, ever-faithful, hearing of this, went to Genzo's school in disguise and disclosed to the schoolmaster, whom readily assented his scheme for saving Kansu-Sai. Then Matsuo sent his son, Kotaro, to Genzo's school, from which he never returned alive, poor boy. And though, in honor be it said, Genzo did not like the killing of this boy, it steeled his nerves for the sake of his former master and now to save Kansu Suai's life.

Starting point is 02:18:52 With one blow of his sword, he took off the innocent head. At the appointed time, Tokihira's official called at the school to fetch it, and they carried it back to Tokihira, saying, Now, Lord Tokihira, there was no longer feared for the future from Michizanay's son, for here is his head in this box. See, and here is the schoolmaster Takabayashi Genzo, who followed your lordship's orders and cut it off. Tokihira was pleased, but not perfectly assured that the head was the right one.

Starting point is 02:19:23 So, knowing that Matsuo had previously been employed by Michizanei, and that he must know if it were Kan Shusai's head or not, he called him, ordering him to take the head out of the box and identify it. poor matzuo imagine his feelings at having to draw his only son kotaro's head from the box and hold it up by the hair and assure the lord tokihira that it was indeed the head of kanshu's son he did so however with great nerve and splendid fortitude thus saving the life of khan shu'si and fulfilling his duty to his banished master michizeney matzuo's fidelity is still adored by those who know the story Not long after a terrible thunderstorm came over Kyoto, a thunderbolt crashed through Tokihira's palace and killed him. To this day, people say that Michizane's spirit came down in the shape of that thunderbolt to be avenged. End of Chapter 10. Recording by Melanie Jensen

Starting point is 02:20:27 Chapter 11 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibreVox.org. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. Prince Hossokawa's Most Valuable Title Deeds. Footnote. Told to me by Mr. Mat Zuzuki and said to be perfectly The document in question being in possession of the present prince Hosukawa. End note.

Starting point is 02:21:22 Several hundred years ago there dwelt in lands of the Hosukawa, a widow, and her daughter. A beautiful girl of 17 named Kazui. O Kazui's son's father had been fouly murdered some six months before, and both Kazui and her mother, had made up their minds to devote their fortune and their lives to bringing the criminals to justice. In these efforts, they received no help, but spent the whole of their money until at last they were almost forced to beg in the street for food. Day after day, however, they continued to pray in the temple for help, and never once lost heart or weakened in their purpose.

Starting point is 02:22:12 Kazui told her mother that, were she fortunate enough to gain the affections of a man, even he should be sacrificed in the effort after vengeance. One day it came to pass that the poverty-stricken appearance of Kazui and her mother, returning as usual from praying in the temple, aroused the mirth of a party of ruffs who proceeded to insult them. A handsome young samurai Okawa Joymon happened to come along. Drawing his sword, he very soon put the roughs to flight. Having done this and bowing low, he asked whom he had the honor of serving. O Kazui answered for her mother and quickly recognized that this handsome youth was just such

Starting point is 02:23:09 as she had longed to meet, so that he might fall in love and wish to help her in seeking out the murderer of her father. Therefore, not unnaturally, she encouraged him, and he fell in love with her. In the meanwhile,

Starting point is 02:23:28 an old friend of Kazui's father, feeling great sorrow for her, had found a place for her in Prince Hossackawa's household, and there she had, won such favor in the eyes of the prince, or, as the title then was, Daimio, that the other maids began to be jealous. It happened that one evening, Okawa, now desperately in love with Okazuri, in spite of being the retainer of another Daimio, felt that he must see her at all costs.

Starting point is 02:24:07 He arranged a secret meeting and eventually found his way to Kazui's apartment. Still full of desire for vengeance, she seized upon the occasion to pour forth her story and implore assistance. Okawa, being a true knight-errant, vowed that he would speak no more of love until he himself had hunted down and killed the murderers of Kazui's father. Just as he had finished making this vow, one of the jealous maids, who had been listening, made her presence known and rushed off to tell her mistress. What was to be done? Okawa, the retainer of another daimio, caught in the castle secretly conversing with one of the Hosukawa maids of honor.

Starting point is 02:25:04 Surely both he and she would suffer death. O Kuzzi was not long in thinking. She hid her lover in an old armor case. That, however, was no use. She was instantly summoned into the presence of the Dimeo, and the armor chest was carried in as well. The Dain Mo furiously angry ordered that O Kuzuri should be killed. Okawa spoke up. He said that she was in no way responsible for the secret meeting,

Starting point is 02:25:42 and the fault was entirely his, and begged that he might be allowed to die in place of her. Moreover, he told the whole story of Kazui's life, and mentioned that her ambition in life was to avenge the death of her father. The daimo was greatly touched, recognizing the shiver. on both sides, he took Okawa into his own service, promising at the same time to aid them both in fulfilling their purpose. Tears of gratitude came into Okawa's eyes, and he vowed there and then to sacrifice his life for Hosukawa on the very first opportunity. After about a year had passed, a great fire broke out in the castle. It was so sudden that nothing could be done. The wind, fanning the flames, barely gave time for the people to escape,

Starting point is 02:26:43 much less to carry off the family valuables. When all were clear of the burning mass, the Daimaux suddenly remembered that his title deeds would be lost, and that such a disaster would be dangerous. for his family. Realizing this, he jumped from his horse and was about to dash back to try and recover them, but his retainers held him, fearing that he would die. Okawa, hearing this, thought with delight that now an opportunity had come to him to save his new master and pay him for the kindness to himself and Kazui. He rushed.

Starting point is 02:27:28 into the burning mass, and having broken open the iron safe, seized the valuable documents. Then he found escape impossible. He was cut off by fire on all sides and plainly saw that both he and the papers must be burned. At this moment a thought came to him. Though he must be burned, possibly his body might save the documents. Drawing his short sword, He deliberately disemboweled himself and thrust the roll of papers into his stomach. Then he flung himself on the flaming floor and died. The fire went on. Poor Okawa was charred beyond recognition.

Starting point is 02:28:15 When the fire was over, his body was recovered, and inside the roasted corpse was found the bloodstained roll of papers on which the Hosukawa family depended. From that time on, the document has been called Hossacawa No Chi Daruma, the bloodstained document of the Hosakawa's. End of Chapter 11, recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 12 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the book. public domain. For more information to volunteer, please visit Librevox.org. Ancient tales and folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. The story of Kato Seyaman. In the days when Ashikaga was Shogun,

Starting point is 02:29:21 there served under him a knight of good family, Kato Seimon, of whom he was especially fond. Things went well with Seimon. He lived in what might be almost be called a palace. Money he possessed in plenty. He had a charming wife who had born him a son. And according to old custom, he had many others who lived his wives within his mansion. There was no war in the land. Sayamon found no trouble in his household. Peace and contentment reigned. He enjoyed life accordingly by feasting and so forth. Oh, that such a life could last, thought he, but fate decreed otherwise. One evening when Seymon was strolling about in his lovely garden, watching the fireflies and listening to singing insects and piping

Starting point is 02:30:18 toads, of which he was extremely fond, he happened to pass his wife's room and to look up. There he saw his dear wife and his favorite concubine playing chess, go in Japanese. What struck him most was that they appeared perfectly happy and contented in each other's society. While Seimon looked, however, their hair seemed to rear up from behind in the shapes of snakes, which fought desperately. This filled him with fear. Seymon, in amazement, stealthily approached in order to see better, but he found the vision just the same. his wife and the other lady, when moving their men, smiled at each other, showing every sign of great courtesy. Nevertheless, there remained the indistinct outlines of their hair, assuming the forms of fighting snakes.

Starting point is 02:31:17 Hitherto, Seiman had thought of them as almost sisters to each other, and so outwardly had they in fact appeared. but now that he had seen the mysterious sign of the snakes, he knew that they hated each other more than could be understood by a man. He became uneasy in his mind. Until then, his life had been rendered double happy because he thought his home was peaceful, but now he reflected, hatred and malice must be rampant in the house. Sayimon felt as if he were a rudderless boat,

Starting point is 02:31:53 being drawn towards a cataract from which no means of escape seemed possible. He spent a sleepless night in meditation, during which he decided that to run away would be the safest course in the end. Peace was all that he craved for. To obtain it, he would devote himself to religious work for the rest of his life. Next morning, Ketoseiman was nowhere to be found. There was consternation in the household. Men were dispatched here, there and everywhere, but Seyman could not be found.

Starting point is 02:32:27 On the fifth or sixth day after the disappearance, his wife reduced the establishment, but continued herself with her little son Ishidumaro to live in the house. Even the Shogun Ashikaga was greatly disconcerted at Seahemon's disappearance. No news of him came, and time passed on until a year had gone. and then another, when Seiman's wife resolved to take Ishidomaru, aged five, and go in search. For five weary years they wandered about, this mother and son making inquiries everywhere, but not the slightest clue could they get, until at last one day they were staying at a village in Kishu where they met an old man who told them that a year before he had seen Kato Seiman at the temple of Koyasan.

Starting point is 02:33:20 Sure, he said. I knew him, for I was once a palanquin bearer for the shogun, and often and often saw Siamon son. I cannot say if he is at the temple, but he was a priest there a year ago. For Ishi Dumaro and his mother there was but little sleep that night. They were in a fever of excitement. Ishi Dumaro was now eleven years of age and was most anxious to have his father at home. Both mother and son, happy after their long years of searching, eagerly looked forward to the morrow. Unfortunately, according to ancient regulations, Koyasan Temple and Mountain were only for men. No woman was allowed to ascend to worship the image of Buddha on this mountain.

Starting point is 02:34:11 Thus, Ishidomaro's mother had to remain in the village while he went in quest of his father. At daybreak he started, full of hope, and telling his mother not to fear. I will bring back father this very evening, said he, and how happy we shall all be. Farewell for the time being, and fear not for me. So saying Ishidomara went off. True, he said, I do not know my father by sight, but he has a black mole over his left eye, and so have I. Besides, I feel, that it is my father I am going to meet.

Starting point is 02:34:50 With that, and such other thoughts in his mind, the boy plotted upwards through the tall and gloomy forests, stopping here and there at some wayside shrine to pray for success. Higher and higher Ishidumaro climbed. Koyo san is near 1,100 feet in height, until he reached the outer gates of the temple, of which the true name is Kangobugi. For Koyosan,

Starting point is 02:35:16 means only Coya Mountain. Arrived at the first priest's house, Ishi Dumao espied an old man, mumbling prayers. Please, sir, said he, doffing his hat and bowing low, could you tell me if there is a priest here called Ketoseimon? Greatly, should I be obliged if you could direct me to him? He has only been a priest for five years,

Starting point is 02:35:40 for all that time my dear mother and myself have been in search of him. He is my father, and we both love him much and wish him to come back to us. Ah, my lad, I feel sorry for you, answered Seimon, for it was indeed he. I know of no man called Kato Seimon in these temples. Delivering himself of this speech, Seimon showed considerable emotion. He fully recognized that the boy he was addressing was his son, and he was under sore distress to deny him thus, and not to recognize and take him to his heart.

Starting point is 02:36:22 But Seiman had made up his mind, that the rest of his life should be sacrificed for the sake of Buddha and that all worldly things should be cast aside. Ishidomaro and his wife needed no money for food, but were well provided for, thus he need not trouble on those grounds. Seimon determined to remain as he was, a poor monk, hidden in the monastery on Koyosan. With a desperate effort he continued, I don't remember ever hearing of a Kato Seimans having been here, though of course I have heard of the Kato Seiman, who was the great

Starting point is 02:37:04 friend of the Shogun Ashikaga. Ishidomaro was not at all satisfied with this answer. He felt somehow or other, that he was in the presence of his father. Moreover, the priest had a black mole over his left eye, and he, Ishidomaro, had one exactly the same. Sir, said he, again addressing the priest, my mother has always particularly drawn my attention to the mole over my left eye, saying, my son, your father has such a mark over his left eye, the exact counterpart. Now, remember this, for when you go forth to see him that this will be a sure sign to you. You, sir, have the exact mark that I have, and I know and feel that you are my father. With that, tears came into the eyes of Isidomaro,

Starting point is 02:37:57 and outstretching his arms, he cried, Father, Father, let me embrace you. Seymann trembled all over with emotion, but haughtily held up his head, and recovering himself, said, My lad, there are many men and many boys who have moles over their left eyebrows, and even over their right. I am not your father. You must go elsewhere to seek him. At this moment the chief priest came and called Seimon to the evening services, which were held in the main temple. Thus it was that Seimon preferred to devote his life to Buddha, and, as Mitsumatsuaki tells me, to emulate Buddha, rather than return to the ways of the world or to his family,

Starting point is 02:38:48 or even to recognize his one and only son. My sympathies are with Ishidomaro, of whom, as his poor mother, we are told nothing further. To end in Mr. Matsuzaki's words, What became of Isidomaro and his mother is not known, but it is told to this day that Ketu Seiman passed the rest of his life in peace and purity, entirely sacrificing his body and soul to Buddha, and did these things without any person to mourn over him, but imperfect contentment. In the third book of Sir Edwin Arnold's Light of Asia are the following verses, which were

Starting point is 02:39:32 addressed to Buddha when he was a prince, by the winds. We are the voices of the wandering wind. wander thou too, O prince, I rest to find. Leave love for love of lovers, for woes' sake, Quit state for sorrow and deliverance make. So sigh we, passing over the silver strings, To thee who know'st not yet of earthly things, So say we, mocking as we pass away,

Starting point is 02:40:05 Those lovely shadows wherewith thou dost play. No one, I feel sure, will fail to agree with me that Seiman appears as a weak, selfish, and unheroic personage, not as a hero, much less as a Buddha. Footnote Told to being by Mr. Matsuzaki, I cannot say that I think much of this story. Seaman is made a hero, but he must appear to most as rather cowardly and low creature. I remarked upon this to Mr. Matsuzaki. saying, I do not see that the story is finished. You make Seymond out a model person, whereas to me,

Starting point is 02:40:45 he appears the worst one in the story. Surely the wife and son should have come out as the good people. But you laud and praise Seaman for leaving his family, and refusing to recognize them when they had no sin against themselves. I do not admit the difficulty, said Mr. Matsuzaki. It is the same as the Lord Buddha. He always left his wife and devoted his life to religious affairs just as Seiman did. Well, I could not agree with this. Buddha was Buddha, a benefactor and helper to the whole of Asia. Seiman was a poor miserable weakling who simply sought personal peace. As far as the story goes, I defy anybody to find him a hero, or a person who in any way emulated Buddha, unless he did so from an entirely Japanese point of view.

Starting point is 02:41:34 The story, however, is a quite celebrated one. Refer to in many Japanese books. So Mr. Matsuzaki tells me. End of footnote. End of Chapter 12. Chapter 13 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libervox recording. All Libervox recordings are in the public domain.

Starting point is 02:42:01 For more information or to volunteer, please visitlibavox.org. Recording by Maria Melodia Carey. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. Great fire caused by a lady's dress. Some 120 years ago in the year of Temay, a most terrible fire broke out in the western corner of Yedo, the worst fire probably that is known to the world's history, for it is said to have destroyed no fewer than 188,000 persons.

Starting point is 02:42:34 At that time, they lived in Yedo, now Tokyo, a very rich pawnbroker, Enshu Hikoemon, the proud possessor of a beautiful daughter, aged 16, whose name was Osame, which in this instance is probably derived from the word Sameru to fade away, for in truth, Osame-san did fade away. Enshu Hikoyemon loved his daughter dearly, and he being a widower with no other child, his thoughts and affections were concentrated on her alone. He had long been rich enough to cast aside the mean thoughts and characteristics which had enabled him to reach his present position. From being a hard-hearted, relentless money grubber, Enshu Hikou Emoan had become soft-hearted and generous, as far, at all events, as his daughter was concerned. One day, the beautiful Osame went to pray at her ancestors' graves.

Starting point is 02:43:32 She was accompanied by her maid, and, after saying her prayers, past the temple of Homiogi, which is in the same grounds as Hongo Maruyama, and there, as she repeated her prayers before the image of Buddha, she saw a young priest, with whom she fell instantly in love. Tether to she had had no love affair, nor indeed did she fully realize what had happened beyond the fact that the youth's face pleased her to gaze upon. It was a solemn and noble face. Asosame lit a jubes. Joss stick and handed it to the priest to be placed before Buddha, their hands met, and she felt

Starting point is 02:44:14 pass through her body a thrill the like of which she had never experienced. Poor Osame was what is known as madly in love at first sight, in love so much that as she arose and left the temple, all she could see was the face of the young priest. Wherever she looked, she saw nothing else. She spoke not a word to her maid on the way home, but when straight to her room. Next morning she announced to the maid that she was indisposed. Go, she said, and tell my dear father that I shall remain in bed. I do not feel well this day. Next day was much the same, and so were the next and the next. Hikoemon, disconsolate, tried every means to enliven his daughter. He sought to get her away to the seaside. He offered to take her

Starting point is 02:45:05 to the holy temple of Isse or to Kompera, she would not go. Doctors were called and could find nothing wrong with Osama'san. She has something on her mind, and when you can get it off, she will be well, was all that they could say. At last Osama confessed to her father that she had lost her heart to a young priest in the Homeyodji Temple. Nay, she said, be not angry with me, father, for I do not know him and have seen him only once. in that once I loved him, for he has a noble face, which haunts me night and day, and so it is that my heart is heavy, and my body sickens for the want of him. O, father, if you love me and wish to save my life, go and find him, and tell him that I love him, and that without him I must die. Poor Hicohemon! Here was a nice business, his daughter in love,

Starting point is 02:46:05 dying of love for an unknown priest. What was he to do? First, he humoured his daughter, and at last, after several days, persuaded her to accompany him to the temple. Unfortunately, they did not see the priest in question, nor did they on a second visit. And after this, Osama became more disconsolate than ever, absolutely refusing to leave her room. Night and day, her sobs were heard all over the house, and her father was utterly wretched, especially as he had now found out secretly that the priest, with whom his daughter had fallen in love, was one of the most strict of Buddha's followers and not likely to err from the disciplinarian rules of religion. In spite of this, Hikoemon determined to make an effort in behalf of his daughter. He ventured to the temple

Starting point is 02:46:59 alone, saw the priest told him of his daughter's love, and asked if a union would be possible. The priest spurned the idea, saying, is it not evident to you by my robes that I have devoted my love to Buddha? It is an insult that you should make such a proposition to me. Hikoemon returned to his home, deeply mortified at the rebuff, but felt it his duty to be candid with his daughter. Osame wept herself into hysterics. She grew worse day by day. Hoping to distract her mind, her father had got made for her a magnificent dress, which cost nearly yen four thousand. He thought that Osame would be vain enough to wish to put it on and to go out and show it. This was no use. Osama was not like other women. She cared not for fine raiment

Starting point is 02:47:54 or for creating sensations. She put a costume on in her room to please her father, but then she took it off again and went back to her bed where two days later she died of a broken heart. Hicko-Eman felt the loss of his pretty daughter very much. At the funeral, there must have been half a mile of flower-bearers. The superb dress was presented to the temple. Such dresses are carefully kept.

Starting point is 02:48:20 They remind the priests to say prayers for their late owners as, Every two or three months they are being dusted and cleaned. The vicar, or head priest of this temple, however, was not a good man. He stole this particular dress of Osames, knowing the value, and sold it secretly to a second-hand dealer in such things. Some twelve months later, the dress was again donated to the same temple by another father whose daughter had died of a love affair, he having bought the dress at the second-hand clothes shop.

Starting point is 02:48:52 this girl died and was buried on the same day of the same month as osame the priest of the temple was not sorry to see the valuable garment return as a gift to his church and being mercenary he sold it again it seemed indeed a sort of gold mine to himself and his church imagine therefore the feeling among the priests when in the following year in the same month and on exactly the same day as that on which osame and the other girl had died. Another girl of exactly the same age was buried in their cemetery, having died also of a love affair, and having also worn the splendid dress that Osame was given, which was duly presented to the temple at the conclusion of her burial service for the third time. To say that the chief priest was astonished would be to say little. He and the rest of them were sorely perplexed and troubled. There were the honest priest, who had had nothing to do. do with the selling of the garment, and the dishonest head priest or vicar. The honest men were puzzled. The vicar was frightened into thinking honesty, the best policy, amid the circumstances.

Starting point is 02:50:05 Accordingly, he assembled all the priests of the temple, made a hasty confession, and asked for advice. The priest came to one conclusion, and that was that the spirit of Assam-E-san was in the dress, and that it must be burned, and burned with some ceremony, so as to a peasant. And that to a appease her spirit. Accordingly, a time was fixed. When the day arrived, many people came to the temple. A great ceremony was held, and finally the valuable garment was placed upon a stone cut in the shape of a lotus flower and lighted. The weather was calm at the time, but as the garment took fire, a sudden gust of wind came, instantly fanning the hole into flame. The gust increased into a storm which carried one of the sleeves of the dress up to the ceiling of the temple.

Starting point is 02:50:56 Her it caught between two rafters and burned viciously. In less than two or three minutes, the whole temple was on fire. The fire went on for seven days and seven nights, at the expiration of which time nearly the whole of the south and western portions of Yedo were gone, and gone also were 188,000 people. people. The charred remains, as far as possible, were collected and buried, and a temple, which now exists, called Ekoin, was built at the spot to invoke the blessing of Buddha on their souls. Note by Matsuzaki. At the present day, the Echolene Temple is well known. Games and wrestling are

Starting point is 02:51:41 held there twice a year. Visitors to the temple see the wrestling place, but no one asks why the temple was built there. End of Chapter 13. Maria Melodya Carey. End of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. By Richard Gordon Smith. Chapter 14 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Librevox recording.

Starting point is 02:52:13 All Librevox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. History of Awatu Fuji Tasuna. Footnote, told to me by my friend Mr. Matsu Suzuki. End note.

Starting point is 02:52:44 Hojo Tokiori, who, my Murray says, was born in 1246 AD and died 17,000. years later, in 1263, was regent for a time, young as he was. One day he went to worship at the shrine of Suruko Atta in Kamakura. That same evening he dreamed that one of the gods appeared to him and said, Hojo Tokyori, you are very young for a ruler, and there are some who will try to deceive you. you. For honest men are scarce. There is one man who is of exceptional honesty. However, and if you wish to govern the people successfully, it would be envisible to employ him.

Starting point is 02:53:39 His name is Awoto Fuji Tsununa. Hojo Tokyori told him of his dream. Nay, said he, It was more than a dream. It was a vision that called upon me to appoint you to the post, which I have done. Ah, indeed, quote, Awwatu Fuji Tasuna. Then, sir, if you appoint high officials as the result of dreams and visions, it is a risky matter, for, by those dreams we may someday be ordered to beheaded. Hojo Tokyori laughed at this, and said he hoped not. Awoto Fuji-Tasuna turned out a most excellent and trustworthy official,

Starting point is 02:54:33 popular, just and honest. No one had a word against him, and Hojo Tokyori was delighted. One day Fujisuna was carrying over a bridge a bag of money, belonging to the government. He fell and a big burst. Fujita Sanna collected the money, with the exception of a half-cent piece, which had rolled in some way over the edge of the bridge

Starting point is 02:55:03 and fallen into the river. Fuji-Tasana could have let it go, putting another in its place, but that course would not have been up to the high standard of his morals in size, such matters. He had lost a half cent which belonged to the government. It was, he knew, in the river. Consequently, he refused to move on until it was recovered. That was clearly his duty. Awoto Fujisuna ran to the houses at either end of the bridge, telling the villagers

Starting point is 02:55:42 merely that he had dropped some government money into the river. Would they come and help him to find it? Of course they would, ready to help as the Japanese countrymen have been from time in memorial. All followed Fuji-Dissana into the river, men, women, and children, and a diligent search was kept up by several hundreds for many hours, without result. When at last, just as the sun was setting, an old farmer picked up the half-cent. which he presented to Fuji-Tasana. Fujita-Sana was delighted and told the people that things were all right now.

Starting point is 02:56:28 He had recovered the money, thanks to the quick sight of the farmer. But they cried, that is only a half-cent. Where is the rest? My friends, said Fuji-Tasana, the half-cent is all that was lost, but that half cent was not mine. It was part of the government treasure and was entrusted to me, and it was my duty to recover it. Here are 30 yen for you who have helped me to find it, to spend in Saki. That is my money, and remember what I tell you, that, no matter how small a thing is entrusted to you by the government, you must not lose it. You must not lose it.

Starting point is 02:57:15 it, but give up your life and fortune sooner. The villagers were much impressed with this great honesty and way of reasoning. Hoju Tokyori, on hearing the little story, sent for and promoted Awoku Fujitasana, to a higher position than he had held before. But in spite of his advances and riches, the minister continued to work hard, to eat simple food, and to put on plain raiment, living in a cottage instead of occupying a palace, and devoting his life to his country. End of Section 14.

Starting point is 02:58:00 Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 15 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Librevox recording. All Librevox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Linda Ray Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith, A Life Saved by a Spider and Two Doves.

Starting point is 02:58:46 Of Yorim Tomo Murray says that he lived from left, He was the founder of the Shogun 8, the first Japanese mayor of the palace, if one may so phrase it. A scion of the great house of Minamoto, as shrewd and ambitious as he was unscrupulous and inhuman. He was left an orphan at an early age and barely escaped death as a lad. at the hands of Kiomori, the then all-powerful minister who belonged to the rival house of Tierra. In this excellently concentrated epitone of Yori Tomo's 52 years of life, it will readily be seen that he must have had innumerable adventures. Fighting went on throughout his career, yet oddly enough, in spite of all this, he died comfortably in bed.

Starting point is 02:59:55 In the earlier half of Yorimoto's time, he was once severely defeated at a battle against Oba Kajjika in the Ishi-Bashi mountains in the province of Izu. So bad had been his defeat that Yoritomo, with city, of his most faithful followers to use vulgar language made a bolt of it. They ran not over boldly, but to save their skins, and in their haste to escape Oba Caged Chica's men, they took, like hunted hares, to a large forest, hoping there to escape by lying concealed. After they had pushed their way into the thickest and heaviest,

Starting point is 03:00:45 part of the forest. They came to an enormous He-K no-key tree, partly rotten, and containing a hollow which was large enough to hide them all. Yori Tomo and his six followers eagerly sought refuge within the tree, for in their state of tiredness they could not long hope to escape the large an act of forces of Oba Kajjika, which were following up their victory by hunting out and cutting off all those who had fled. When he reached the edge of the forest, Oba Kagechika sent his cousin Oba Kajtoki to search for Yoritomo,

Starting point is 03:01:35 saying, go my cousin and bring in our enemy Yoritomo. It is the opportunity of your life. For sure it is that he must be in this forest. I myself will endeavor as our men come up to place them so as to surround the forest. Oba K. Jotori was not pleased with his mission, for at one time he had known and been friendly with Yori Tomo. However, he bowed low to his cousin and was. went off. Half an hour after starting, Obo Kajitori came to the enormous tree and found his old

Starting point is 03:02:19 friend Yoritomo and his six faithful attendants. His heart softened, and instead of carrying out his duty, he returned to Oba Kage Chica, saying that he had been unable to find the enemy, and that in his opinion Yoritomo had escaped from the wood. Oba Caged Chica was very angry and openly said that he did not believe his cousin, that to escape from the wood was impossible in such a short time. Come, said he, follow me some 15 or 20 of you, and you, my cousin, lead the way and show us where you went and play fair. or you shall suffer for it. Thus bid, Caged Toki led the way, carefully avoiding the big tree,

Starting point is 03:03:14 for he was determined to save the life of Yoritomo if he could. By some misfortune, however, he chose an abnormally bad path, and Caged Chica, having on a particularly heavy suit of armor, cried out, Enough of your leading! Let us stick to the road by, which we started. It is more likely to be the one which our fugitives took. In any case,

Starting point is 03:03:44 this is no road at all where you lead us, and with heavy armor on it is impossible. Thus, it was that in due time they reached a huge tree. Kajatoki was much afraid that his cousin would go into the hollow and find Yori Tomo and said to think how he could save him. Cage Chica was about to enter the hollow tree when a bright idea occurred to Caj Tokey. Hold, said he, it is no use wasting time by going in there. Can't you see that there's a spider's web right across the entrance?

Starting point is 03:04:28 it would have been quite impossible for anyone to get inside without breaking it. Cage Chica was half inclined to agree that his cousin was right, but being still a little suspicious about him, he put in his bow to feel what was inside. Just as his bow was about to be thrust against Yori Tomo's heavy armor, which would naturally have revealed his presence, two beautiful white doves flew out of the top of the hole. You are right, cousin, said Caged Chica, laughing.

Starting point is 03:05:08 When he saw the doves, I am wasting time here, for no one can be in this tree with wild doves in it, besides the entrance being closed by a cobweb. Thus it was that Yoritomo's life, was saved by a spider and two doves. When he became Shogun in later years and fixed upon Kamakura as his place of residence and, as the seat of government, two shrines were built in the temple of Suru Gaoka,

Starting point is 03:05:44 which itself is dedicated to Hachiman, the god of war. One is dedicated to the emperor Nintoku, son of the, of Ojin, the god of war, and the other to Yoritomo, called Shirahata Jinja. The shrines were erected to show Yoritomo's gratitude to the god of war, for doves are known in Japan as the messengers of war, not of peace. Note, I think that the shrine called by Murray Shira Hata, which means white flag, is really Shirohatu, the white doves. The following is from Murray.

Starting point is 03:06:32 The Temple of Hachiman, the God of War, dating from the end of the 12th century, stands in a commanding position on a hill called Shirogaoka, and is approached by a stately avenue of pine trees leading up the whole way from the seashore. Though both avenue and temple have suffered from the ravages of time, enough still remains to remind one of the ancient glories of the place. Three stone tori lead up to the temple, which stands at the head of a broad flight of stone steps.

Starting point is 03:07:13 Notice the magnificent Icho tree, nearly 20 feet in circumference, and said to be over a thousand years old. and the flowering trees scattered about the grounds. Before ascending the flight of steps, the minor shrines to the rear deserve notice. The nearer one painted red and called Wakamiya is dedicated to the emperor Nintoku, son of the god of war. The father one, renovated in 1890, is called Shira Hata,

Starting point is 03:07:52 Jinja and dedicated to Yori Tomo. The style and structure are somewhat unusual, black and gold being the only colors employed, and iron being the material of the four main pillars. The interior holds a small wooden image of Yori Tomo. A side path leads up, hence to the main temple, which is enclosed in a square Colonnade painted bread. The temple, which was re-erected in 1828, after having been destroyed by fire seven years previously, is in the Ryayubu Shinto style, with red pellers, beams, and rafters, and is decorated with small painted carvings, chiefly of birds and animals. In the colonnade are several religious, Eiloquins, Mikkioshi, used on the occasion of the semi-annual festivals, April 15th and December 15th, a wooden image of Sumiyoshi by Unki, and a few relics of Yoritomo. Most of the relics once preserved in the temple have been removed to the residence of the chief priest,

Starting point is 03:09:14 has Zohaki, Oyasu, Kwan, and are only exhibited at festival times. Immediately behind the temple of Hachiman is a small hill called Shiraba Yama, where Yoritomo is said to have often admired the prospect. The base of the hill is enclosed and laid out as a garden. End of Chapter 15, recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 16 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain.

Starting point is 03:10:05 For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Lindemory Nielsen, Vancouver, B. ancient tales and folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith, Murakami Yoshiteru's faithfulness. Murakami Yoshiteru, we shall call him Yoshitiru, for short, was one of the faithful retainers of Prince Mori Inga, third son of the emperor God Ego, who reigned from 1319. to 1339. When I say reigned, I mean that God Ego was emperor, but there was a regent at the time,

Starting point is 03:10:57 Hojo Tachactori, who ruled with harshness and great selfishness. With the exception of young Prince Moringa, the imperial family appeared to take things easily. They preferred quietude and comfort to turbulence and quarreling. Prince Moringa was different. Fiery tempered and proud, he thought that Hojo Takatori was usurping the emperor's rights. The man, he said, was nothing more by birth than one of the emperor's subjects and had no business to be made regent. Naturally, these opinions led to trouble, and it was not. Not very long before Prince Moriniga was obliged to leave the capital suddenly, with his followers of whom there were some hundreds,

Starting point is 03:11:53 not enough to fight Hojo Takotakot at the time. Prince Moriniga had made up his mind that it would be better to live independently in Yamato than to be under the sway of Hojo Takotori, as were his father and his elder brothers, having collected the most faithful of his followers, of whom the most notable was the hero of our story, Murakami Yoshitiru, the prince left the capital in disguise and started for Yoshino in Yamato. There, in the wild mountains, he intended to build a castle in which to dwell for the rest of his days, independent of the regent, whom he held in much loathing. Prince Moringa carried with him an imperial flag, which he expected would gain for him sympathy and help even in the wild Yamoto province,

Starting point is 03:13:00 though from Kito, the then capital to the borders of Yamato is, in a direct line, only about 30 miles. The whole country is mountainous and wild. Roads are non-existent, mountain paths taking their place. Consequently, it was noon on the fifth day before the prince found himself at a little border village called Imogase. Here he found his way blocked, as it were by a guardhouse, the soldiery of which had been chosen from a mum of a month. Imogase villagers, headed by one Shoji, a rough and disagreeable man. When Prince Moringa and his party of about 80 followers dressed as Yamabushi, fighting monks, arrived, flying the standard, they were called to a halt by the village guard,

Starting point is 03:14:00 and told that they could go no farther into Yamato without leaving one of themselves as hostage. The prince was too haughty to speak to the villagers and explain, and unfortunately Murakami Yoshitiru, his most trusted leader, could not be found, for he had remained some miles behind to gather straw and make a new pair of Waragi straw shoes. Soji, leader of the Imogais villagers, was firm in his demand that one of the party should be left behind until their return. For some twenty minutes, matters stood thus. Neither side wanted to fight. At last, Solji said,

Starting point is 03:14:52 Well, you may say that you are a prince. I am a simple villager, and I don't know. You may carry the imperial flag, but when you are dressed like Yamabushi, it does not look exactly as you were a prince. As I don't want trouble and you want to pass without trouble, my orders being that out of all parties over ten armed people, I am to hold one as a hostage. The only suggestion that I can make is that I keep as hostage this imperial flag. The prince, glad enough to save leaving one of his faithful followers, gave the standard to Soji as a hostage, and then he and his party were allowed to pass into Yamato.

Starting point is 03:15:46 They proceeded on their way, not half an hour after they had passed, Murakami Yoshitiru arrived at the guardhouse, having made himself a pair of straw shoes, to take the place of his old ones, and his surprise at seeing his master's flag in such low hands was equaled by his anger. What is the meaning of this? he asked. Sochi explained what had happened. On hearing the story, Murakami lost control of his seat. temper. He flew into a violent passion. He reviled Soji and his men as a set of low black guards, who scarcely had a right to look at the imperial standard of Japan, much less to dare to touch it.

Starting point is 03:16:39 And with that, he began a general assault on the village guard, killing three or four and putting the rest to flight. Murakami then seized the standard. and ran on with it until towards evening he came up with the prince and his party, who were overjoyed at what he had done at the recovery of the flag. Two days later the party reached Yoshino, and in the vicinity of this place they built a fortress, where for some months they dwelt in peace. It was not long, however, before the regent heard of the prince's,

Starting point is 03:17:22 his whereabouts, and he soon sent a small army after him. For two days the fort was desperately attacked. On the third the outer gates were taken. Two-thirds of the prince's men were dead. Murakami had been wounded three times, and his life could not last long. Faithful to the end, he rushed to his prince, saying, Master, I am wounded unto death. In less than half an hour our enemies will have conquered us, for we have but few men left. Your highness is unwounded, and can in disguise escape when end comes.

Starting point is 03:18:05 Give me quick your armor, and let me pretend that I am, your highness. I will show our enemies how a prince can die. Changing clothes hastily and donning the prince's armor, Murakami, bleeding badly from his wounds, and already more dead than alive with weakness from the loss of blood, regained the wall, and struggling up the last steps, he reached a point where he could see and be seen by the whole of the enemy. I am Prince Moringa, shouted he, Fate is against me, though I am in the right. Sooner or later heaven's punishment will come down on you.

Starting point is 03:18:52 Until then, my curses upon you and take a lesson as to how a prince can die, emulating it if you dare when your time comes. With this, Murakami Yoshitiru drew his sword across his abdomen, and seizing his quivering entrails, he flung them in. into the midst of his enemies, his dead body falling directly afterwards. His head was taken to the region in Quito as the head of Prince Moringa, who escaped a plot in the future. End of Chapter 16.

Starting point is 03:19:37 Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 17 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Josh Kibby. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. A Story of Oki Islands The Oki Islands, some 45 miles from the mainland of Hokie Province, were for centuries

Starting point is 03:20:15 the scene of strife, of sorrow, and of banishment. But today they are fairly prosperous and highly peaceful. fish, octopus, and cuttlefish form the main exports. They are a weird, wild, and rocky group, difficult of access, and few indeed are the Europeans who have visited them. I know of only two, the late Lufcadio Hearn, and Mr. Anderson, who was there to collect animals for the Duke of Bedford. I myself sent Oto, my Japanese hunter, who was glad to return. In the Middle Ages, that is from about the year 1000 AD, there was much fighting over the island. by various chieftains, and many persons were sent thither in banishment.

Starting point is 03:20:56 There was much fighting over the islands by various chieftains, and many persons were sent thither in banishment. In the year 1239, Hojo Yoshitoshi defeated the Emperor Goh Toba and banished him to Dogen Island. Another Hojo chieftain banished another emperor, Go Daigo, to Nishima. Aoriba Shima, the hero of our story, was probably banished by the same Hojo chieftain, whose name is given to me as Takatoki, Hojo, and the date of the story must be about 1320 AD. At the time when Hojo Takatoki reigned over the country with absolute power, there was a samurai whose name was Oriba Shima.

Starting point is 03:21:38 By some misfortune, Oriba, as we shall call him, had offended Hojo Takatoki and had consequently found himself banished to one of the islands of the Oki Group, which was then known as Kamashima, Holy Island. So the relator of the story tells me, but I doubt his geographical statement, and think the island must have been Nishinoshima, island of the west or West Island. Since writing this, I have found that there is a very small island called Kamashima between the two main islands of the Okee Archipelago, southwest of the eastern island. Oriba had a beautiful daughter, aged 18, of whom he was as fond as she was of him, and consequently the banishment and separation rendered both of them doubly miserable. her name was tokoyo o tokoyo san tokoyo left at her old home in shima province isa wept from morn till eve and sometimes from eve till morn at last unable to stand the separation any longer she resolved to risk all and try to reach her father or die in the attempt for she was brave as are most girls of shima province where the women have much to do with the sea as a child she had loved to dive with the women whose daily duty is to collect a wabi and pearl

Starting point is 03:22:49 oyster shells, running with them the risk of life in spite of her higher birth and frailer body. She knew no fear. Having decided to join her father, O Tokoyo, sold what property she could dispose of, and set out on her long journey to the far-off province of Hokie, which, after many weeks she reached, striking the sea at a place called Akasaki, whence on clear days the islands of Oki can be dimly seen. Immediately, she set to and tried to persuade the fishermen to take her to the islands, but nearly all her money had gone, and moreover, no one was allowed to land at the Okia Islands in those days, much less to visit those who had been banished thence. The fishermen laughed at Tokoyo, and told her that she had better go home. The brave girl

Starting point is 03:23:32 was not to be put off. She bought what stock of provisions she could afford, at night went down to the beach, and, selecting the lightest boat she could find, pushed it with difficulty into the water, and sculled as hard as her tiny arms would allow her. Fortune sent a strong breeze, and the current was also in her favor. Next evening, more dead than alive, she found her efforts crowned with success. Her boat touched the shore of a rocky bay. O Tokoyo sought a sheltered spot and lay down to sleep for the night. In the morning, she awoke much refreshed, ate the remainder of her provisions,

Starting point is 03:24:06 and started to make inquiries as to her father's whereabouts. The first person she met was a fisherman. No, he said, I have never heard of your father, and if you take my advice you will not ask for her. him if he has been banished, for it may lead you to trouble and him to death. Poor O. Tokoyo wandered from one place to another, subsisting on charity, but never hearing a word of her father. One evening she came to a little cape of rocks whereon stood a shrine. After bowing before Buddha, and employing his help to find her dear father, O Tokoyo lay down

Starting point is 03:24:39 intending to pass the night there, for it was a peaceful and holy spot, well sheltered from the winds, which, even in summer, as it was now, the 13th of June, blow with some violence all around the Okee Islands. Tokoyo had slept about an hour when she heard, in spite of the dashing of waves against the rocks, a curious sound, the clapping of hands, and the bitter sobbing of a girl. As she looked up in the bright moonlight, she saw a beautiful person of 15 years, sobbing bitterly. Besider stood a man who seemed to be the shrine-keeper or priest. He was clapping his hands, and mumbling Namu Amirabutsu's. Both were dressed in white. When the prayer was over, the priest led the girl to the edge of the rocks and was about to push her over into the sea

Starting point is 03:25:23 when O Tokoyo came to the rescue, rushing at and seizing the girl's arm just in time to savor. The old priest looked surprised at the intervention, but there was a no way angered or put about, and explained as follows. It appears from your intervention that you are a stranger to this small island. Otherwise, you would know that the unpleasant business upon which you find me is not at all to my liking or to the liking of any of us. Unfortunately, we are cursed with an evil god in this island, whom we call Yofunenushi. He lives at the bottom of the sea and demands once a year a girl just under 15 years of age. This sacrificial offering has to be made on June 13th day of the dog, between 8 and 9 o'clock in the evening. If our villagers neglect this, Yofunenushi

Starting point is 03:26:12 becomes angered, and causes great storms which drown many of all fishermen. By sacrificing one young girl annually much is saved. For the last seven years, it has been my sad duty to superintend the ceremony, and it is that which you have now interrupted. O Tokoyo listened to the end of the priest's explanation, and then said, Holy monk, if these things be as you say, it seems that there is sorrow everywhere. Let this young girl go, and say that she may stop her weeping, for I am more sorrowful than she, and will willingly take her place and offer myself to Yufuninushi.

Starting point is 03:26:51 I am the sorrowing daughter of Oriba Shima, a samurai of high rank, who has been exiled to this island. It is in search of my dear father that I have come here. But he is so closely guarded that I cannot get to him, or even find out exactly where he has been hidden. My heart is broken, and I have nothing more for which to wish to live. and am therefore glad to save this girl. Please take this letter, which is addressed to my father,

Starting point is 03:27:17 that you should try and deliver it to him is all I ask. Saying which, Tokoyo took the white robe off the younger girl and put it on herself. She then knelt before the figure of Buddha, and prayed for strength and courage to slay the evil god Yofuninushi. Then she drew a small and beautiful dagger which had belonged to one of her ancestors, and placing it between her pearly teeth. she dived into the roaring sea and disappeared, the priest and the other girl looking after her with wonder and admiration and the girl with thankfulness.

Starting point is 03:27:50 As we said at the beginning of the story, Tokoyo had been brought up much among the divers of her own country in Shima. She was a perfect swimmer and knew, moreover, something of fencing and jujitsu, as did many girls of her position in those days. Tokoyo swam downwards through the clear water which was illuminated by bright moonlight, Down, down she swam, passing silvery fish, until she reached the bottom, and there she found herself opposite a submarine cave, resplendent with the phosphorescent lights issuing from awabby shells and the pearls that glittered through their openings.

Starting point is 03:28:25 As Tokoyo looked, she seemed to see a man seated in the cave. Fearing nothing, willing to fight and die, she approached, holding her dagger ready to strike. Tokoyo took him for Yufuninushi, the evil god of whom the priest had spoken. The god made no sign of life, however, and Tokoyo saw that it was no god, but only a wooden statue of Hojo Takatoki, the man who had exiled her father. At first she was angry and inclined to wreak her vengeance on the statue. But after all, what would be the use of that? Better do good than evil. She would rescue the thing. Perhaps it had been made by some person who, like her father, had suffered at the hands of Hojo Takatoki. Was rescue possible? Indeed it was more. It was probable.

Starting point is 03:29:07 So perceiving, Tokoyo. undid one of her girdles and wounded about the statue which she took out of the cave. True, it was waterlogged and heavy, but things are lighter in the water than they are out, and Koyo feared no trouble in bringing it to the surface. She was about to tie it on her back. However, the unexpected happened. She beheld, coming slowly out of the depths of the cavern, a horrible thing, a luminous, phosphorescent creature of the shape of a snake, but with legs and small scales on its back and sides.

Starting point is 03:29:36 The thing was 27 or 8 Shaku, about 26 feet in length. The eyes were fiery. Tokoyo gripped her dagger with renewed determination, feeling sure that this was the evil god, the Yufuneushi that required annually a girl to be cast to him. No doubt the Yufoninushi took her for the girl that was his due. Well, she would show him who she was, and kill him if she could, and so save the necessity of further annual contributions of a virgin from this poor island's few.

Starting point is 03:30:05 Slowly, the monster came on, and Tokoyo braced herself for the combat. When the creature was within six feet of her, she moved sideways and struck out his right eye. This so disconcerted the evil god that he turned and tried to re-enter the cavern. But Tokoyo was too clever for him. Blinded by the loss of his right eye, as also by the blood which flooded into his left, the monster was slow in his movements, and thus the brave and agile Tokoyo was able to do with him much as she liked. She got to the left side of him where she was able to stab. him in the heart, and knowing that he could not long survive the blow, she headed him off,

Starting point is 03:30:39 so as to prevent his gaining too far an entrance into the cave, where in the darkness she might find herself at a disadvantage. Yofune Nushi, however, was unable to see his way back to the depths of his cavern, and after two or three heavy gasps, died not far from the entrance. Tokoyo was pleased at her success. She felt that she had slain the god that cost the life of a girl a year to the people of the island to which she had come in search of her father. She perceived that she must take it in the wooden statue to the surface, which after several attempts she managed to do, having been in the sea for nearly half an hour. In the meantime, the priest and the little girl had continued to gaze into the water where Tokoyo had disappeared, marveling at her bravery, the priest praying for her soul and the girl thinking the gods. Imagine their surprise when suddenly they noticed a struggling body rise to the surface in a somewhat awkward manner.

Starting point is 03:31:30 They could not make it out at all, until at last, the little girl. girl cried, "'Why, Holy Father, it is the girl who took my place and dived into the sea. I recognize my white clothes, but she seems to have a man and a huge fish with her.' The priest had by this time realized that it was Tokoyo who had come to the surface, and he rendered all the help he could. He dashed down the rocks and pulled her half in sensible form ashore. He cast his girdle around the monster and put the carved image of Hojo Takatoki on a rock beyond reach of the waves. soon assistance came and all were carefully removed to a safe place in the village. Tokoyo was the heroine of the hour.

Starting point is 03:32:08 The priest reported the whole thing to Tamayoshi, the Lord who ruled the island at the time, and he and his turn reported the matter to Lord Hojo Takatoki, who ruled the whole province of Hokie, which included the islands of Oki. Takatoki was suffering from some peculiar disease quite unknown to the medical experts of the day. The recovery of the wooden statue representing himself made it clear that he was laboring under the curse of someone to whom he had behaved unjustly. Someone who had carved his figure, cursed it, and sunk it in the sea. Now that it had been brought to the surface, he felt that the curse was over, that he would get better. And he did. On hearing that the

Starting point is 03:32:44 heroine of the story was the daughter of his old enemy, Oribe Shima, who was confined in prison, he ordered his immediate release, and great were the rejoicings thereat. The curse on the image of Hojo Takatoki had brought with it the evil god Yofuninushi, who demanded a virgin a year's contribution. Yofuneushi had now been slain, and the islanders feared no further trouble from storms. Oriba Shima and his brave daughter, Ookoyo, returned to their own country in Chima province, where the people hailed them with delight, and their popularity soon re-established their impoverished estates, on which men were willing to work for nothing. In the island of Kamejima, Holy Island, and the Oki archipelago, peace reigned. No more virgins were offered on June 13th to the evil god Yofunenushi,

Starting point is 03:33:29 body was buried on the cape at the shrine where our story begins. Another small shrine was built to commemorate the event. It was called the Tomb of the Sea Serpent. The wooden statue of Hojo Takatoki, after much traveling, found a resting place at Hons Soji in Kamakura. End of Chapter 17, recording by Josh Kibby. Chapter 18 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org, read by Angelique Campbell, March 2019. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith, Cape of the Woman's Sword.

Starting point is 03:34:20 Footnote. The title to this old and hitherto untold tale is not much less curious than the story itself, which was told to me by a man called Fukuga. who journeys much up and down the southern coast in search of pearls and coral. End note. Down in the province of Higo are a group of large islands, framing with the mainland, baritable little inland seas, deep bays, and narrow channels. The whole of this is called Amaksa. There are a village called Amaksamura, a sea known as Amaksa O Me,

Starting point is 03:35:00 an island known as a Maxa Ome, an island known as a Moxa. and the Cape known as Jekin Shokai, which is the most prominent feature of them all, projecting into the Amoxa Sea. History relates that in the year 1577, the Damio of the province issued an order that everyone under him was to become a Christian or be banished. During the next century, this decree was reversed, only it was ordered that the Christians should be executed. tens of thousands of christianized heads were collected and sent for burial to nagasaki shimabara and amoxa this repeated for murray has not much to do with my story after all it is possible that at the time the amoxa people became christian the sort in question being in some temple was with the gods cast into the sea and recovered later by a coral or pearl diver in the Bonoruku period, which lasted from 1592 to 1596. A history would naturally spring from a sword so recovered, but to the story, the cape of Zulkan Zaki, the woman's sword cape, was not always so

Starting point is 03:36:21 called. In former years, before the Benuruoku period, it had been called Furuzaki. Udo is the god of fierceness, always represented as surrounded by fire and holding a sword, or Buru's cape. The reason of the change of names was this. The inhabitants of Amaksa lived almost entirely on what they got out of the sea, so that when it came to pass that for two years of the Bonrucu period, no fish came into their seas or bay, and they were sorely distressed, many actually starved and their country was in a state of desolation their largest and longest nets were shot and hauled in vain not a single fish so large as a sardine could they catch at last things got so bad that they could not even sea fish schooling outside their bay peculiar rumbling sounds were occasionally heard coming from under the sea off cape fu-doo but of these they thought little being japanese and used to earth all the people knew was that the fish had completely gone, where they could not tell, or why.

Starting point is 03:37:38 Only one day an old and much-respected fisherman said, I fear, my friends, that the noise we so often hear of Kepuru has nothing to do with earthquakes, but that the god of the sea has been displeased. When evening, a few days after this, a sailing junk, Suokou shiom, owned by one tarata who commanded her anchored for the night to the lee of furozaki after having stowed their sails and made everything snug the crew pulled their beds up from below for the weather was hot and rolled them out on deck towards the middle of the night the captain was awakened by a peculiar mumbling sound seeming to come from the bottom of the sea apparently it came from the direction in which their anchor lay the rope which held it trembled visibly. Tarata said the sound reminded him of the rowing of the falling tide and the Naruto Channel between Awa and Awaji Island.

Starting point is 03:38:43 Suddenly, he saw towards the bowels of the junk, a beautiful maid clothed in the finest of white silks, he thought. She seemed, however, hardly real, being surrounded by a glimmering haze. Tarado was not a coward. Nevertheless, he roused his men, but he did not quite like this. As soon as he had shaken the men to their senses, he moved towards the figure, which, when but ten or twelve feet away, addressed him in the most melodious of voices, thus, Ah, could I but be back in the world? That is my only wish. Tarada, astonished and frightened, fell on his knees and was about to pray when a sound of roaring waters was heard again, and the white-clad maiden disappeared into the sea. Next morning, Tarada went on shore to ask the people of Amoxa if they had ever heard of such a thing before, and to tell them of his experiences.

Starting point is 03:39:51 No, said the village elder. Two years ago, we never heard the noises which we hear now, our food or cape, almost daily, and we had much fish here before then, but we have even now never seen the figure of the girl whom, you say, you saw last night. Surely, this must be the ghost of some poor girl that has been drowned, and the noise we hear must be made by the god of the sea, who is in anger that her bones and body are not taken out of this bay, where that fish so much liked her come before her body fouled the bottom. A consultation was held by the fishermen. They concluded that the village elder was right, that someone must have been drowned in the bay,

Starting point is 03:40:39 and that the body was polluting the bottom. It was her ghost that had appeared on Tarada's ship, and the noise was naturally caused by the angry god of the sea, offended that his fish were prevented from entering the bay by its uncleanness. What was to be done was quite clear. Someone must dive to the bottom in spite of the depth of water and bring the body or bones to the surface. It was a dangerous job, and not a pleasant one either, the bringing up of a corpse that had lain at the bottom for well over a year.

Starting point is 03:41:15 As no one volunteered for the dive, the villagers suggested a man who was a great swimmer. A man who had all his life been dumb and consequently was a person of no value, as no one would marry him, and no one cared for him. His name was Sankichi, or as they called him, Oshin-no Sankichi. Dumb Sankichi. He was 26 years of age.

Starting point is 03:41:43 He had always been honest. He was very religious, attending as a child. the temples and shrines constantly, but he kept to himself, as his infirmity did not appeal to the community. As soon as this poor fellow heard that in the opinion of most of them there was a dead body at the bottom of the bay, which had to be brought to the surface, he came forward and made signs that he would do the work or die in the attempt. What was his poor life worth in comparison with the hundreds of fishermen who lived about the bay, their lives depending upon the presence of fish. The fishermen consulted

Starting point is 03:42:19 among themselves and agreed that they would let Oshino San Kichi make the attempt on the morrow, and until that time he was the popular hero. Next day, when the tide was low, all the villages assembled on the beach to give Dum Tzankichia

Starting point is 03:42:35 parting cheer. He was towed off to Tarada's junk, and after bidding farewell to his fubilations, dived into the sea off her boughs. Sankichi's swim until he reached the bottom, passing through hot and cold currents the whole way. Hastily he looked and swam about, but no corpse or bones did he come across.

Starting point is 03:42:59 At last, he came to a projecting rock, and on the top of that he espied something like a sword wrapped in old brocade. On grasping it, he felt that it really was a sword. On his untying the string and drawing the blade, it proved. to be one of dazzling brightness with not a speck of rust. It is, thought San Kichi, that Japan is the country of the sword, in which its spirit dwells. It must be the goddess of the sword that makes the roaring sound which frightens away the fishes, when she comes to the surface. Feeling that he had secured a rare treasure, San Kichi lost no time in returning to the surface.

Starting point is 03:43:46 he was promptly hauled on board the Sukushimara, amid the cheers of the villagers and his relations. So long had he been underwater, and so benumbed was his body, he promptly fainted. Fires were lit, and his body was rubbed until he came to, and gave by signs an account of his dive. The head official of the neighborhood, Nehrucée Sushum Anokami, examined the sword, but, in spite of its beauty and excellence, no name could be found on the blade, and the official expressed it as his opinion that the sword was a holy treasure. He recommended the erection of a shrine dedicated to Fu-do, wherein the sword should be kept in order to guard the village against further trouble. Money was collected. The shrine was built. Orsien-no-san-kichi was made

Starting point is 03:44:42 the caretaker and lived a long and happy life. The fish returned to the bay, for the spirit of the sword was no longer dissatisfied by being at the bottom of the sea. End. Chapter 18. Chapter 19 of ancient tales and folklore of Japan. This is a Librevox recording. All Librevox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith

Starting point is 03:45:32 How Yogo Deiou won a battle. During the reign of the Emperor Shirakawa, which was between the years 1073 and 1086 AD, there lived a general whose name was yogodayu he had built a fort for himself and his small army in the wilds of yamato not far from the mountain of where about the year thirteen eighty the unfortunate emperor godegu camped among the same rocky fastness and eventually perished even to-day as one winds in and out of the narrowly gorge where the railway passes Kasagi in the Kizuga Valley, one is struck by the extreme wildness of the scenery. Here it was that Yoko Diyu built his fort. Some months later, he was attacked by his wife's brother, whom he detested and got badly beaten, so much so as to have only some 20 warriors left alive.

Starting point is 03:46:47 With these he escaped to Kasagi Mountains and hid himself for two days, in a cave, in fear and trembling that he should be discovered. On the third day, Yogo Deyu, finding that he was not pursued, ventured forth to admire the scenery. While thus occupied, he saw a bee in a large spider's web, struggling in vain to free itself. Struggle as it might, it only made things worse. Yoko Dei, feeling sympathy for the bee, relieved it from its captivity and let it fly, saying, Ah, little B, fly back to liberty and to your hive. I wish I could do the same. It is a pleasure to relieve those in captivity.

Starting point is 03:47:42 even though one is at the mercy of one's enemy as I am. That night Yoko Deu dreamed that a man dressed in black and yellow saluted him and said, Sir, I have come to tell you that it is my desire to help you and fulfill the resolve which I came to this morning. And who pray may you be? answered Yogodeu in his dream. I am the bee whom you released from the spider's web, and deeply grateful, so much so that I have thought out a plan by which you can defeat your enemy and regain your lost fortune.

Starting point is 03:48:31 How is it possible for me to defeat my enemy with only a remnant of my force, some twenty warriors, quote Yogodayu, It is very simple, was the answer. Follow exactly the instructions I give you, and you shall see. But I have no walls behind which the few friends I have can make a show of fighting. It is impossible for me to attack my enemy. The bees smiled and said, You shall not want walls.

Starting point is 03:49:09 You shall be attacked. and with the help of some 10 millions of the bees of Yamoto, you shall put your enemies to rout. Listen, when you have fixed upon the day and the place where you will fight, your brother-in-law, build a wooden house, place in it as many hundred empty jars and receptacles as your men can find, so that wee bees may come and hide in them. You must live in the house with your 20 and odd men,

Starting point is 03:49:44 and manage to let your enemy know where you are, and that you are collecting a force to attack him. It will then not be long before he attacks you. When he does, we bees will come out in our millions and help you. You are sure of victory, fear nothing, but do as I say. As Yogodeu was about to speak, the bead disappeared, and he awoke from his dream. Deeply impressed, he related it to his men. It was arranged that these should split themselves into couples and return to their native province,

Starting point is 03:50:30 collect what men they could, and be back at the cave some 30 days later. Yogo Deyu went off alone. Thirty days later they all met again at the cave on Kasaki Yama. Altogether they were now 80 men. Quietly they set two and following the bees' advice, built a wooden house at the entrance of the valley, and put there in some 2,000 jars. No sooner had this been done than the bees arrived in countless thousands.

Starting point is 03:51:05 until there must have been well-nighed to millions. One of Yogodeu's men was sent to propagate reports that he was strongly fortifying himself. Two days later, his brother-in-law came to attack him. Yogodeu began fighting carelessly, so as to draw the enemy, who, seeing this, came on in full force and in a most unguarded way. As soon as the whole of the enemy's force lay revealed,

Starting point is 03:51:41 the beasts swarmed out of their hiding places and flew among them in such blinding swarms, stinging as they went here, there, and everywhere, that there was no standing against them. The enemy, without a single exception, turned and ran. They were pursued by, the bees and by Yogo Dei's 80 men, who simply cut them down as they light, for each of the enemy had fully 3,000 bees attending them. Many lost their minds and went mad. Thus, after completely defeating his old enemy, Yogodeu became repossessed of his fortress, and to commemorate the event, he built a small temple at the back of Kassi. Sagi Yama. All the dead bees that could be found were collected and buried there, and once a year

Starting point is 03:52:42 during the rest of his life, Yogodeyu used to go and worship there. End of Chapter 19, recording by Linda Ray Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 20 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Librevox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. The isolated or desolated island. Many years ago, the Lord of Kishu, head of one of the three families of the Tokugawa's, ordered his people to hold a hunting party on Toma Gashima, Toma Island. In those days,

Starting point is 03:53:40 Such hunting parties were often ordered more for the purpose of improving drill and organization than for sport. It brought men together and taught others to handle them, both on land and at sea. It made men recognize their commanders and superiors, and it disclosed what men were worthy of being made such. hunting parties of this kind were considered as military maneuvers. On this particular hunt or maneuver, the Lord of Kishu was to make a kind of descent by water on the island of Toma and kill all the game that his landing party could beat up. Boats and junks were armed as if for war, and so were the men, except they wore no armor. The day for the entertainment was fine, some 60 boats put to sea, and landed successfully

Starting point is 03:54:41 about 800 men on Toma Island, and busy indeed were they chasing boar and deer the whole morning. Towards afternoon, however, a storm of great violence came on and completely stopped the sport. The men were ordered to return to the shore, and regain their boats before these should be smashed on the beach. On embarking they put out to sea with the intention of gaining the mainland. On shore, trees were being uprooted, columns of sand flew high in the air, and the gale was indeed terrific. If unsure it was as bad as this, it must be much worse at sea. The Lord of Kishu's boats and junks were tossed about as if they were floating leaves. One of the party was a notably brave man. Makino Heine, who had been nicknamed Inoshishi, wild war, on account of his reckless bravery.

Starting point is 03:55:43 Seeing that neither junks nor boats were making headway against the storm, he pushed the small boat off the junk, jumped into it alone, took the oars, laughed at everyone, and cried, See here. You all seemed to be too frightened to make headway. Look at what I do, and follow me. I'm afraid of the waves, and none of you should be, if you are to serve our Lord of Kishu faithfully. With that, Maki Nohei-Nas shut out into the wild sea, and by extraordinary exertion, managed to get some three hundred yards ahead of the rest of the fleet. Then the gale increased to such violence that he was incapable of doing anything. For fear of being blown out of the boat he was obliged to hold tight to the mast,

Starting point is 03:56:32 and otherwise abandon his fate to good fortune. At times even the heart of the wild boar quailed. Often his boat was lifted clean out of the water by the wind. Waves towered over him. He closed his eyes and awaited his fate. Finally, one squall, more powerful than the rest, blew his boat out of the water. And it was seen from the other boats,

Starting point is 03:57:00 which lay at anchor, to disappear. here into the horizon. Heine had clung to the boat tightly. When the mast blew away, he held on to the ribs. He prayed hard and earnestly. Some eight hours after the storm began, Heinev found the boat in comparatively smooth water. She was flooded, and she was a wreck, but still she floated, and that was all he cared for at the moment. Moreover, Hei Neff felt encouraged, because between two dark clouds he could see an opening and some stars, though at present it was absolutely dark, and the driving grain had not seized. Suddenly, when Heine was wondering how far he had been blown from shore or from his friends, crack, he felt his boat plump into a rock. The shock was

Starting point is 03:57:54 so violent, for the boat was still being driven fast by the gale, that our hero lost his balance and was thrown fully ten feet away. Falling on soft stuff, Heine thought it was in the sea, but his hands suddenly realized that it was soft wet sand. Delighted at this discovery, he looked at the clouds and the sky, and came to the conclusion that, in another hour, it would be daylight. In the meantime, he thanked the gods for his deliverance

Starting point is 03:58:26 and prayed for his friends, and for his Lord and His Lord. master. As morning broke, Heine arose, stiff, weary, and hungry. Before the sun appeared, he realized that he was on an island. No other land was in sight, and it puzzled him sorely to guess where he could be, for from all the Kishu Islands, the mainland could be easily seen. Oh, here is a new tree. I have never seen that in Kishu, said he. And this flower, that is also new, while here's a butterfly more brilliant than any I know. So saying and thinking, Heineb began looking about for food, and, being a Japanese, easily satisfied

Starting point is 03:59:14 his appetite with the shellfish, which were abundantly strewn everywhere after the storm. The island on which Heina had been cast was fair in size, some two miles across and ten in circumference, There was one small hill in the middle, which Heine had resolved to ascend, to see if he could discover Kishu from the top of it. Accordingly, he started. The undergrowth of bush was so great that Heine made a detour to another bay. The trees were quite different from any he had ever seen before, and there were many kinds of palms.

Starting point is 03:59:53 At last he found to his delight a well-worn path leading up the mountain. He took it, but when he came to a doubt, damp place in the way, he was in no wit reassured, for there he saw footmarks, which could have been made by no one who was not a giant. They were fully eighteen inches in length. A warrior belonging to Kishu must fear nothing, thought Heine, and arming himself with a stout stick, he proceeded. Near the top he found the opening to a somewhat large cave, and, nothing daunted, began to enter, prepared to meet anything. What was his surprise was an enormous man, fully eight feet in height, appeared before him, not more than ten feet from the entrance.

Starting point is 04:00:44 He was a hideous, wild-looking creature, nearly black with long, unkempt hair, flashing his angry eyes, and a mouth that stretched from ear to ear, showing two glittering rows of teeth, and he wore no clothes except the skin of a wild cat tied around his loins. As soon as he saw Heina, he came to a standstill and said, In Japanese, who were you? How have you got here? And what have you come for? Makino Heina answered these questions, as fully as he thought necessary,

Starting point is 04:01:22 by telling his name, and adding, I am a retainer of the Lord of Kishu, and was blown away by the storm after we had been hunting and holding maneuvers on Toma Island. And where are these places you speak of? Remember that this island is unknown to the world, and has been, for thousands of years. I am its sole occupant, and wish to remain so. No matter how I came, I am here. My name is Tomaru, and my father was Yamaguchi-Showen, who died.

Starting point is 04:01:59 with his master, Toyotomi Hiditsugu, on Koyasan Mountain in 1563. Both died by their own hands. And I got here, no matter how, and here I intend to remain undisturbed. I heard of your Lord of Kishu, and of the Tokugawa family, before I left Japan, and for that reason I will help you. By giving you my old boat in which I arrived, come to the beach, I will send you off in the right direction, and if you continue sailing northwest you shall in time reach kishu but it is a long way off a very long way with that they walked down to the beach see said tomaru the boat is well nigh rotten for it is many years since she was put here but with luck you may reach kishu stay you must have some provision i can give you only dry fish and fruits

Starting point is 04:02:59 but to these you are welcome, and I must give you a present for your master, the Lord of Kishu. It is a kind of a seaweed. You shall have some for yourself, too. It is my great discovery on this island. No matter how bad a sword cut you may get, it will stop the blood flowing and cure it once. Now, jump into the boat and row away. I like to be alone. You may speak of your adventure, but you are not to mention my life. name. Farewell. Heinek could only do as he was bid. Consequently, he made off. Rowing night and day, and eaten by favorable currents, he found himself off the coast of Kishu on the third day after leaving the island. The people were much astonished to see him alive, and the Lord

Starting point is 04:03:52 of Kishu rejoiced, especially at the sword-cut healing seaweed, which he had planted his the sea, at a part of the coast which he renamed and called Nagusa Gori, district of the famous seaweed. Later, Makino Heina sailed again by permission of his lord to get more seaweed. The island was found, but the giant had disappeared. End of Section 20. Chapter 21 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain.

Starting point is 04:04:40 For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. By Richard Gordon Smith. Chikubu Island, Lake Bewa. many years ago when i was a boy there was a song about chinaman it began in china once there lived a man and his name was ding dong dang his legs were long and his feet were small and this chinese man couldn't walk at all chorus chichi marie chichi mara ding dong ding dong da kosi kosi kosi kosi kosi k k k kakka kikubu kikubu chang little in those days did i think that i should come across an island or any other place for that matter of that which bore the name of part of this wild and idiotic chorus chiki bu chiki bu chikiboo chiki boo chiki buchy tiki ch'i buchy tchang it sounds truly wild

Starting point is 04:06:03 well so it is. I have found an island on Lake Bewa, which is pronounced and spelt, exactly as in the chorus of this song of my youth, Chikibu, is there, and I am puzzled to know where the composer found it. In my Japanese, I can't find it. However, let us to the story. It is not a very good one, but as it relates to the only island of importance in the lake, it is worth chronicling. Chikibu Shima is situated about two-thirds up towards the northwestern end of Lake Biwa. In Omi Province, the lake is some 35 miles long and 12 broad. The island is holy, I believe, and it is said to have been called. caused by an earthquake nearly 600 years BC.

Starting point is 04:07:04 Fuji Mountain made its appearance at the same time. Thus we have, so far as we like to believe it, the geographical pedigree of Lake Bewa and its principal island. The nearest land to Chikibu is Suoro Cape, which is about two miles away. There, some 300 years ago, dwelt two sisters. Oh, Ziru and Kami. They were 15 and 11 respectively, and dwelt with their old and only uncle, their father and mother and all their other relations, being dead. Zuru, the crane, and Kami, the turtle, were devoted to each other. In fact, the poor girls clung to each other as the remnant. of a family should cling. They loved each other. They were inseparable. At that time, there was much fear among the inhabitants of to zero point, of a large carp, a carp of such size that it was

Starting point is 04:08:14 called the master of Lake Bewa. It was said that this fish ate dogs, cats, and sometimes people. if they were unwise enough to swim into water sufficiently deep for him to maneuver in. His principal hover was in the water surrounding Chikibu Island at the northern end of the lake. When O. Ziru reached the age of 15 and her sister O Kami was 11, O Ziru became sick with consumption. from bad she grew worse, and her poor little sister, O'Kami, became quite disconsolate. She cried because of her sister's illness and went by herself to pray at all the temples in the neighborhood. Day after day she thought of nothing but her sister's illness.

Starting point is 04:09:12 But all she did, poor child, was in vain. Old Ziru became worse. In her great distress, O Kami thought that she should venture to the wild and sacred island of Chikubu, there to pray to the goddess of mercy, Kawannan. To do so with any chance of her prayers being heard, it was necessary that she should go alone. She would row off secretly that night. After darkness had come and her uncle's household had gone to sleep, Okami crept forth and went down to the edge of the lake, where her uncle's boat and many others lay.

Starting point is 04:09:58 Getting into one, the lightest she could find, she sculled towards Chikibu Island. The sky was clear and the water glistened. In less than an hour, this whole-hearted charled of Nippon was kneeling before the ever-pleasing, and soothing figure of Kawanan, the goddess ever ready to listen to the prayers of the unhappy, and there she prayed to the full extent of her feelings, weeping between times in sorrow for the sickness of her sister. When poor Okami had finished praying, she got into her boat and began

Starting point is 04:10:38 to row back to Zoro. She had got within half a mile of that place, when a terrible storm arose, and in the third squall her boat was capsized. Okami was no swimmer, and as she sank into the depths of the lake, the giant carp saw her and instantly carried her off and devoured her. Next morning was consternation at to zero. When it was found that both Okami San and one of the fishermen, fishermen's boats were missing. It was naturally surmised that she had gone out on the lake, and probably to Chikibu Island to prey to Kawannan. Boats went off in search, but nothing could be found,

Starting point is 04:11:31 saved the marks of her footsteps from the shore to the shrine, dedicated to Kawanan. On hearing this sad news, O Tsyru, who lay nigh unto death, became worse, but in spite of her sad condition, she could not bear the idea of lingering on in the world without her sister, O'Kami. Consequently, she resolved to destroy her life as near as she could think to the place where O'Kami had died, so that her spirit might journey with hers until perhaps they should become born again together. At all events, it was clearly her duty to follow her sister. When the dusk of evening arrived,

Starting point is 04:12:21 O. to Cyril crept out from her room and gained the beach, where she, like her little sister, took the lightest boat which she could find and rode herself out, in spite of her weakness, to a spot, where she thought that the carp might have killed her sister. There standing in the bows of the boat,

Starting point is 04:12:43 she cried aloud, O mighty carp, that has devoured my sister. Devour me also, that our spirits may follow the same path and become reunited. It is for this I cast myself into the lake. So saying, O to Zero, shut her eyes and jumped into the water. Down, down, down she went, until she reached the bottom. No soon. had she alighted there, feeling, curiously enough, no effects of being underwater, then she heard her name called. Strange indeed, thought she, that I should hear my name at the bottom of Lake

Starting point is 04:13:30 Biwa. She opened her eyes and beheld standing beside her an old priest. Oh, Ticero asked him who he was, and why he had called her. I was a priest, he exclaimed. Perhaps I am one now. At all events, I often come to the bottom of the lake. I know all about your little sister, Kami, of her faithfulness and affection for you, and of yours for her. I also know of the storm which capsized her boat when she had been praying to Kawannan on Shikibu Island, and of her being taken and eaten by that horrible carp.

Starting point is 04:14:18 Believe me, none of these are reasons why you should take your own life. Go back on earth, rather, and pray to Buddha for your sister's blessing and for her soul. I will see that you are avenged on the carp, and I will see that you get well and strong. Take my hand, so, and I will take you back on the carp. shore. Having said this and carried Siru to land, the priest disappeared. For some time she lay unconscious, but when she came fully to her senses, O to Zero found herself on Chikibu Island and feeling considerably stronger than she had felt for some time. She went to the shrine dedicated to Kawanan and passed the remainder of the night in prayer. In the morning,

Starting point is 04:15:12 having gone to the beach, she saw boats in the distance coming from Tuzaro Point, but what was more extraordinary, there lay not ten feet from the shore where she stood, an enormous carp, fully nine feet in length, dead. Among the search boats that arrived was one containing her uncle and a priest. Tuzuro told her story. The carp was buried at a small promontory on the island, which is called Miyazaki. It was named Koizuka Miyazaki, the carp's grave at Temple Cape. O. To Zero lived to a ripe old age and was never ill again.

Starting point is 04:16:01 History tells of her at the age of 70, informing Ota Nobuanga, who came to destroy temples in the neighborhood that if he touched the shrines on Chikibu Island, she herself would see to his destruction. End of Chapter 21, recording by Linda Brie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 22 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Labor Vox recording. All labor box recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org read by Angeloag Campbell

Starting point is 04:16:51 March 2019. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith, reincarnation. In the far north and mountainous portion of Ichigo province is a temple which during the reign of the Emperor Igijo had a curious story attached to it. And though the Emperor Ikejo, reigned so long ago as between the years 987 and 1011 AD. The teller of the story assured me that he believed the temple to be in existence still. The temple's name is Kenoto, and it is situated in the hills and the wild woods, which in those days must have been almost virgin forest. The monk who reign supreme over the Kenoto Temple was a youngish man, but very devout. He read sacred sermons from the Holy Buddhist Bible, aloud twice a day.

Starting point is 04:17:50 One day, the good youth perceived that two monkeys had come down from the mountain and sat listening to his reading with serious faces and no tricks. He was amused, and, taking no notice, continued to read. As soon as he had finished, the monkeys went off into the hills. The monk was surprised to see the monkeys appear at both the sermons next day, and when on the third day they came again, he could not help asking why they came so regularly. We have come, Holy Father, because we like to hear the words and sermons of Buddha as read by yourself, and greatly do we desire to retain all the wisdom and virtues which we have heard you recite. Is it possible for you to copy out the great and holy Buddhist book? It would be a very laborious affair, answered the priest, highly astonished,

Starting point is 04:18:49 but so rare an interest is it that you animals take in the sermons of our great Lord Buddha, I will make an effort to satisfy your wish, hoping that thereby you may be benefited. The monkeys bowed and left the priest, pleased with the priest. themselves, and the promise they had obtained, while the priest set to at his gigantic labors of copying the Buddhist Bible. Some six or seven days later, about 500 monkeys came to the temple, each bearing parchment paper, which they laid before the priest, the foreman saying how deeply grateful they would be when they had got the copy of the Bible so that they might know their laws and mend their ways. And, bowing again before the priest, they retired, all except the first

Starting point is 04:19:41 two monkeys. These two said diligently to work to find food for the priest while he wrote. Day after day they went into the mountains, returning with wild fruits and potatoes, honey and mushrooms, and the priest wrote steadily on, being thus attended, until he had copied five volumes of the sacred book. When he reached the end of the fifth volume, the monkeys, for some unaccountable reason, failed to come, and the good priest was quite nervous on their account. The second day of their absence he went in search of them, fearing that they must have been overcome by some misfortune. Everywhere, the priest found traces of the forages in his behalf. Branches broken off the wild fruit trees, scratching and holes where they had been looking at.

Starting point is 04:20:31 for wild potatoes. Evidently the monkeys had worked hard, and the poor priest felt deeply anxious on their account. At last, when near the top of the mountain, his heart gave abound, and was filled with sorrow when he came to a hole which the monkeys had made in looking for wild potatoes, so deep that they had been unable to get out. No doubt, both of them had died of broken hearts, fearing that the priest would think they had deserted him. There remained nothing to do but to bury the monkeys and pray for their blessing, which he did. Shortly after this, the priest was called away from the temple to another. So, as he saw no necessity to continue copying the Buddhist Bible, he put the five volumes he had copied into one of the pillars of the temple, which had a sort of shelf-covered cut in it. Forty years later,

Starting point is 04:21:28 there arrived at the temple one Konomitaka A-san who had become governor or lord of Ichiko province. He came with half of his retainers and domestics and asked the priest if they knew anything of the unfinished copy of the Buddhist Bible. Was it in the temple still? No, they said. We were none of us here at the time your lordship mentioned, but there is one old man, a servant who is eighty-five years of age and he may be able to tell you something we will send for him shortly afterwards a man with blowing white beard was ushered in he's it the old document that a priest began copying out for the monkeys you want well if so that has never been touched since and is a matter of so little importance that i had nearly forgotten about it the document is in in a little secret shelf which is hollowed out in one of the main pillars of the temple. I would have fetch it.

Starting point is 04:22:33 Some ten minutes later, the documents were in the hands of Kinomataka A-San, who was in ecstasy of delight at the sight of them. He told the priest and the old man that he was the Lord of Ikejo province, and that he had journeyed all the way to their temple to see if unfinished volumes of the Bible remained there. for, he said, I was the senior of the two monkeys who were so anxious to obtain copies of the whole of our Lord Buddha's sermons, and now that I have been born a man, I wish to complete them. You know Mataka A-son was allowed to take the five volumes away with him, and for five years he kept copying out of the sacred book. He copied three thousand volumes and all, and it is said, that they are now kept in the temple of Kenoto in Ikigyo province as its most sacred treasure.

Starting point is 04:23:34 End, Chapter 22 Chapter 23 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard. Gordon Smith, the diving woman of Owee Soe Bay. Oweeso, in the province of Sagami, has become such a celebrated place as the chosen

Starting point is 04:24:14 residence of the Marquis Ito, and of several other high Japanese personages, that a story of a somewhat romantic nature dating back to the Nenon period may be interesting. During one of the earliest years of the period, which lasted from 1116 to 1169, E.D., a certain knight, whose name was Takadaijero, became ill in the town of Kamakora, where he had been on duty, and was advised to spend the hot month of August at Oiso, and there to give himself perfect rest, peace, and quietness. Having obtained permission to do this, Takadai Jiro lost no time in getting to the place and settling himself down, as comfortably as was possible, in a small inn which faced the sea.

Starting point is 04:25:09 Being a landsman, who, with the exception of his service at Kamakora, had hardly ever seen the sea, Takadai was pleased to dwell in gazing at it, both by day and by night. For, like most Japanese of high birth, he was poetical, and romantic. After his arrival at Oiso, Takadai felt weary and dusty. As soon as he had secured his rooms, he threw off his clothes and went down to bathe. Takadai, whose age was about 25 years, was a good swimmer and plunged into the sea, without fear, going out for nearly half a mile. There, however, misfortune overtook him. He was seized with a violent cramp and began to sink.

Starting point is 04:25:57 A fishing boat sculled by a man and containing a diving girl happened to see him and went to the rescue. But by this time he had lost consciousness and had sunk for the third time. The girl jumped overboard and swam to the spot where he had disappeared and, having dived deep, brought him to the surface, holding him there until the boat came up, when by the united efforts of herself and her father Takadai was hauled on board. but not before he had realized that the soft arm that clung round his neck was that of a woman. When he was thoroughly conscious again, before they had reached the shore, Takadai saw that his preserver was a beautiful alma, diving girl, aged not more than 17.

Starting point is 04:26:47 Such beauty he had never seen before, not even in the higher circles in which he was accustomed to move. Takadai was in love. with his brave savior, before the boat had grounded on the pebbly beach. Determined in some way to repay the kindness he had received, Takadai helped to haul their boat up the steep beach, and then to carry their fish and nets to their little fatched cottage, where he thanked the girl for her noble and gallant act in saving him, and congratulated her father on the possession of such a daughter.

Starting point is 04:27:23 Having done this, he returned to the inn, which was not more than a few hundred yards away. From that time on, the soul of Takadai knew no peace. Love of the maddest kind was on him. There was no sleep for him at night, for he saw nothing but the face of the beautiful diving girl whose name he had ascertained was Kynu. Try as he might.

Starting point is 04:27:50 He could not for a moment put her out of his mind. In the daytime it was worse, for Okino was not to be seen, being out at sea with her father, diving for the Haleotus shells and others, and it was generally the dusk of evening before she returned, and then in the dim light, he could not see her. Once indeed Takadai tried to speak to Okina, but she would have nothing to say to him, and continued busying herself and assisting her father to carry the nets and fish up to their cottage. This made Takadaii far worse, and he went home, wild, mad, and more in love than ever. At last his love grew so great that he could endure it no longer. He felt that at all events

Starting point is 04:28:40 it would be a relief to declare it. So he took his most confidential servant into the secret, and dispatched him with a letter to the fisherman's cottage. Okinau-san did not even write an answer, but told the old servant to thank his master in her behalf for his letter and his proposal of marriage. Tell him also, said she, that no good can come of a union between one of so high a birth as he and one so lowly as I. Such a badly matched pair could never make a happy home. In answer to the servant's expostulation, she merely added, I have told you what to tell your master, take him the message. Takadaiji Jiro, on hearing what Tokinu had said, was not angry.

Starting point is 04:29:33 He was simply astonished. It was beyond his belief that a fisher girl could refuse such an offer in marriage as himself, a samurai of the upper class. Indeed, instead of being angry, Takadai was so sorry, startle as to be rather pleased than otherwise, for he thought that perhaps he had taken the fair O'Kino-san a little too suddenly, and that this first refusal was only a bit of coyness on her part. That was not to be wondered at. I will wait a day or two, thought Takadai.

Starting point is 04:30:08 Now that Kinu knows of my love, she may think of me, and so become anxious to see me. I will keep out of the way. Perhaps then she will be as anxious to see me as I am to see her. Takadaii kept to his own room for the next three days, believing in his heart that Okinu must be pining for him. On the evening of the fourth day he wrote another letter to Okina, more full of love than the first, dispatched his old servant and waited patiently for the answer.

Starting point is 04:30:41 When Okinu was handed the letter, She laughed and said, Truly, old man, You appear to me very funny, bringing me letters. This is the second in four days, and never until four days ago have I ever had a letter addressed to me in my life. What is this one about, I wonder?

Starting point is 04:31:02 Saying this, she tore it open and read, and then turning to the servant, continued. It is difficult for me to understand. If you gave my message to your master correctly, he could not fail to know that I could not marry him. His position in life is far too high. Is your master quite right in his head? Yes, except for the love of you, my young master is quite right in his head. But since he has seen you, he talks and thinks of nothing but you, until even I have got quite tired of it, and earnestly pray to Kwanan daily.

Starting point is 04:31:41 that the weather may get cool so that we may return to our duties at Kamakora. For three full days I had to sit in the inn listening to my young master's poems about your beauty and his love, and I had hoped that every day would find us fishing from a boat for the sweet Aberrami fish, which are now fat and good as every other sensible person is doing. Yes, my master's head was right enough, but you have unsettled it, it seems. Oh, do marry him, so that we shall all be happy and go out fishing every day and waste no more of this unusual holiday? You are a selfish old man, answered O'Kinu. Would you that I marry to satisfy your master's love and your desire for fishing?

Starting point is 04:32:28 I have told you to tell your master that I will not marry him because we could not, in our different ranks of life, become happy. Go and repeat that answer. The servant implored once more, but Okinau remained firm, and finally he was obliged to deliver the unpleasant message to his master. Poor Takadai, this time he was distressed, for the girl had even refused to meet him. What was he to do?

Starting point is 04:33:01 He wrote one more imploring letter, and also spoke to Okinu's father, but the father said, sir, my daughter is all I have to love in the world. I cannot influence her in such a thing as her love. Moreover, all our diving girls are strong in mind as well as in body, for constant danger strengthens their nerves. They are not like the weak farmer's girls, who can be influenced and even ordered to marry men they hate. Their minds are oftener than not stronger than those of us men. I always did what Kino's mother told me I was to do, and could not influence Kino in such a thing as her marriage.

Starting point is 04:33:45 I might give you my advice, and should do so. But, sir, in this case I must agree with my daughter that great as the honor done to her, she would be unwise to marry one above her own station in life. Takadai's heart was broken. There was nothing more that he could say, and nothing more that he could do. Bowing low, he left the fisherman and retired forthwith to his room in the inn, which he never left, much to the consternation of his servant. Day by day he grew thinner, and as the day approached for his return from leave, Takadai was far more of an invalid than he had been on his arrival at Owee so.

Starting point is 04:34:29 What was he to do? The sentiment of the old proverb that there are as good fish in the sea as ever came out of did not in any way appeal to him. He felt that life was no longer worth having. He resolved to end it in the sea, where his spirit might perhaps linger and catch sight occasionally of the beautiful diving girl, who had bewitched his heart.

Starting point is 04:34:56 Takadai that evening wrote a last note to Kino, and as soon as all the villagers of Oiso were asleep, he arose and went to the cottage, slipping the note under the door. Then he went to the beach, and after tying a large stone to a rope and to his neck, he got into a boat and rode himself about a hundred yards from shore, where he took the stone in his arms and jumped overboard. Next morning, Okina was shocked to read in the note that Jiro Takadai was to kill himself for love of her.

Starting point is 04:35:32 She rushed down to the beach but could see only an empty fishing boat, some three of four hundred yards from shore, to which she swam. There she found Takadai's tobacco box and his Juro, medicine box. Okino thought that Takadai must have thrown himself into the sea somewhere hereabouts, so she began to dive, and was not long before she found the body, which she brought to the surface, after some trouble on account of the weight of the stone, which the arms rigidly grasped. O'Kino took the body back to shore, where she found Takadai's old servant wringing his hands in grief. The body was taken back to Kamakora where it was buried.

Starting point is 04:36:19 Okino was sufficiently touched to vow that she would never marry anyone. True, she had not loved Takadai, but he had loved and had died for her. If she married, his spirit would not rest in peace. No sooner had Okino mentally undertaken this generous course than a strange thing came to pass. Seagulls, which were especially uncommon in the Oviso Bay, began to swarm it. They settled over the exact spot where Takadai had drowned himself. In stormy weather, they hovered over it on the wing, but they never went. went away from the place. Fishermen thought it extraordinary. But Kino knew well enough that the spirit

Starting point is 04:37:10 of Takadai must have passed into the gulls, and for it she prayed regularly at the temple. And out of her small savings she built a little tomb, sacred to the memory of Takadai Jiro. By the time Kino was twenty years of age, her beauty was celebrated, and many were the offers she had in marriage, but she refused them all and kept her vow of celibacy. During her entire life, the seagulls were always on the spot where Takadai had been drowned. She died by drowning in a severe typhoon some nine years later than Takadai, and from that day, the seagulls disappeared, showing that his spirit was now no longer in fear of O'Kino, Marrying.

Starting point is 04:38:05 End of Section 23. Chapter 24 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. Theft and Recovery of a Golden Kwanan. In the period of the Genroku, which lasted from 1688 to 1704, when the Shogun, or military ruler Tsenyoshi's power was in full sway, he presented a solid gold figure of Kwanan, the goddess of mercy, to each of his three leading families of the provinces of Kyi, Mito, and Oari, and they were considered as of the highest and greatest value by each of these leading glory.

Starting point is 04:39:08 or daimios, who had kept them in their inner palaces, so that they were almost impossible to get at, and were considered at least absolutely safe from robbers. But even in spite of this, the Lord of Ghii took additional precautions by always having a man, night and day, to guard his idol. At the same period lived a most redoubtable robber whose name was Yaya Gumo. He was more than an ordinary robber, and was what the people called Fueng Kiwi, which means seal breaker or seal cutter, a first-class burglar, in fact, who never descended to robbing the poor, but only robbed the richest and most difficult palaces and castles that were to be got at, taking from them only the highest and most valuable treasures they possessed. This bold robber broke into the Lord

Starting point is 04:40:03 of Kiwi's palace. knew how, took the idol of Kwanan and left his name written on a piece of paper. The Lord of Hei, very angry, sent for the guard, whose name was Mumashima Iganosuke, and reprimanded him severely, asking him what excuse he had to make. None, my lord, tiredness overcame me and I slept. There is but one way in which I can show my regret, and that I will do by destroying myself. The Lord of Ki-I, who was a man of wisdom, answered that before he did this, it would be more useful if Iganosuke would follow up the robber and try to recover the idol. Iganosuke who had always been a faithful servant readily consented, and having obtained indefinite leave, went away.

Starting point is 04:40:57 For fully four months he was quite unsuccessful, though he had traveled over half the country. At last he heard reports of robberies in Shokugu, and then later in Shikoku province. Hurrying down from Izumu to Okayama, he there got on board a ship bound across the inland sea for Takamatsu in Shikoku. The weather was fine and the sea smooth, and Iganusugi was in high spirits, for he had heard that one or two of the robberies had undoubtedly been done by Yaiigumu, and he felt that at last he must be getting nearer the man he wished to catch. Perhaps even he was on that very boat. Who could tell?

Starting point is 04:41:41 Thinking of these possibilities, Iganosuke kept very much to himself, watching the people whose spirits all seemed to be affected by the beautiful weather, for though mostly strangers they were all social. Among them was a good-looking young samurai, who had attracted Igunosugi by his refined appearance, as also by a beautiful gold pipe, which he drew out from its case and smoked while chatting to his neighbor. By and by, a samurai of some 60 years of age came up to the young man

Starting point is 04:42:16 and said, Sir, I have lost my pipe and tobacco pouch, somewhere on this ship. I am a confirmed smoker, and almost dying for a whiff of tobacco. Might I borrow yours for a moment or two? The young samurai handed both his pipe and his pouch to the old man, with a bow, saying that this afforded him great pleasure. The old samurai, after his three puffs of the pipe, was about to empty out the ash and refill it.

Starting point is 04:42:47 To do so, without thinking what he was about, he knocked the pipe on the outside of the ship. To his horror, the gankubi, the bowl, dropped off into the sea. The old man knew that the pipe was gold and of great value and was utterly confused. He did not know what to say. His apologies were profuse, but they did not bring back the end of the pipe. The young samurai, of course, was much annoyed, but it would be no use getting angry. In any case, that would have been an excessively vulgar proceeding, more especially with so old a man. He said,

Starting point is 04:43:29 Ah, the pipe was given to me by the Lord of my clan for meritorious service rendered in the big hunt last year. And truly, I do not know how I shall be able to face the disgrace of incurring his anger. He grew pale as he mused. The old samurai felt more sorry than ever when he heard this and said, There is only one way I see that you can face your lord, and that is by my death. I also was a samurai of some importance when younger and know how to conduct myself. It is right that I should disembal myself as an apology to you for my carelessness. And saying this, the old samurai drew his right arm and shoulder from under his kimono.

Starting point is 04:44:16 Surprised at the old man's high sense of honor, the young samurai seized the hand in which he held his sword and prevented him, saying, that will really do no good. It would not make it easier for me to explain to my lord. Your death can bring no apology to him. It was I to whom he gave the pipe, and it is I who have lost it by lending it to you. It is I, therefore, who should offer the apology to my lord by doing Harakiri. Then the young samurai prepared to kill himself. Iganosuke, who had been watching the incident, stepped forward and said, gentlemen, I also am a samurai, and I have heard what you say. Let me say that, though the pipe end has fallen into the sea, it in no way follows that it is lost beyond recovery. Both of you appear to me

Starting point is 04:45:07 to be unnecessarily hasty. I am a good diver and swimmer. Our ship is be calmed, and the water hereabouts is not very deep. I am quite ready to try and help you to recover the pipe if you will allow me. Of course, both other samurai were pleased at this idea, of which, being no swimmers themselves, they had never thought. And Igunusuki lost no time in throwing off his kimono and diving into the sea where he was thoroughly at home, having been in his younger days so expert a swimmer, that he gave lessons to many of the samurai akki. Down he went to the bottom, finding not much more than seven Japanese, fathoms of five feet each. The bottom was composed almost entirely of stone and was very clear.

Starting point is 04:45:58 Iganosuke had not moved many feet along before he saw the end of the gold pipe, and at the same time something else gleamed between the stones. Thrusting the pipe between his teeth, he seized the other object, and to his great astonishment found it to be no less a thing than the gold figure of Kwanon, which had been stolen from the castle of the Lord of Kyi. Carefully returning to the surface, Iganosuke scrambled on board and handed the pipe-end to the grateful young samurai, who, with the old one, bowed to the ground. When Iganosuke had thrown on his clothes, he said, I am a retainer of the Lord of Kiyi, and I have come from our castle of Takegaki to hunt for the robber who stole the very figure of Kwanan,

Starting point is 04:46:48 which I have just by good fortune, while looking for your pipe, recovered. Is it not wonderful? Truly, the old saying, Nasakiwai to Notame Narazu, is quite true. Then the old man, in a wild state of delight, cried, Even more curious is this. My name is Matsuri Fuji of Takamatsu.

Starting point is 04:47:11 Only a month ago, the robber whom you name, Yayagumu Fu and Kiwi, the sealbreaker, came into the bedroom of my lord and was about to steal great valuables when I, who was on guard, tried to take him. Though an old man I am a fencer, but he was too clever for me and escaped. I followed him down to the beach, but was not fast enough, and he got away. Since then, I have always wondered what he had in his kimono pockets, for the bright rays of some gilded thing shot out of them. The robber had not got far from the shore before a great storm arose. He was wrecked and drowned.

Starting point is 04:47:51 Both his body and the boat were recovered some days later, and I identified them, but there was nothing in his pocket. It is clear that when his boat upset, the robber lost the Kwanan, which must have been what I saw shining out of his pocket. Truly, this was a wonderful string of coincidences. Iganosuke, who had no further cause to travel, returned to the Lord of Ki-I, and reported his adventures and good fortune. So much pleased was the daimyo he gave Iganosuke a present. The figure of the gold Kwanan was better guarded than ever before. Undoubtedly, it had miraculous power, and it may still be among the treasures of Kei.

Starting point is 04:48:37 End of Section 24. of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. Saigio Hoshi's Rock Some 12 miles south of Shodoshima, Shodo Island,

Starting point is 04:49:13 is the largesh island of Nau, or Nao Shima, on the western side of the enchanting island sea, which it has been my good fortune to cruise over at will, helped instead of being hindered by the Japanese government, in consequence of the kindness of Sir Ernest Satow. Now Shima has but few inhabitants, not, I think, more than from 60 to 100, in the time of our story, about the year 1156. There were only two.

Starting point is 04:49:47 Sobei and his good wife, Ooyonee. These lived alone at a beautiful little bay, where they had built a fishing hut, and cultivated some three thousand subo of land, with the produce of which, and an unlimited supply of fish, they were perfectly happy, untroubled by the quarrels of the day, which were then particularly serious, it being the Hogan period, which, lasting from 1156 to 1160, took its name from what was known as the Hogan Rebellion, or to put it correctly, revolution.

Starting point is 04:50:24 It was during this exciting period that the ex-emperor, Shutoku, life 1124 to 1141, who was suspected of leading the rebellion, was for safety banished by those in power to the island of Naoshima, stranded, marooned in little else than the clothes he stood in, he was in an unviable plight. As far as he knew, the island was desolate. After his marooners had left him, he strolled on the beach, wondering what next he should do. Should he take his life, or should he struggle to retain it? While pondering these questions, night overcame Shutoku, before he had thought of making a shelter,

Starting point is 04:51:08 and he sat in consequence, contemplating the past and listening to the sad waves. Next morning, as the sun rose above the horizon, the ex-emperor began to move. He had resolved to live. He had not gone far along the beach when he found marks of feet upon the sand, and shortly afterwards, from across a little rocky promontory, he saw smoke ascending in the still air, lightened in his still air, lightened in his heart, the ex-emperor, stepped out, and after some twenty minutes of stiff climbing, came down into the bay where stood the hut of Sobeye and his wife.

Starting point is 04:51:48 Marching boldly up, he told him who he was, and how he had been marooned and exiled, and asked them many questions. Sir, said Sobeye, my wife and I are very humble people. We live in peace, for there are none to disturb us here, and we are passing through our lives very happily. To our humble, fair, you are truly welcome. Our cottage is small, but you shall have its shelter while we build another and a better for you, and at all times we shall be your servants. The ex-emperor was pleased to hear these words of friendship, and became one of the family. He helped to build a lodge for himself. He helped the old couple in their fishing and

Starting point is 04:52:33 agriculture and became deeply attached to them. In the autumn, he fell ill, and was nursed through a dangerous fever. His medicines were being made by Oyoni from leaves, seaweeds, and other natural products of the island, and towards the spring he began to recover. In his convalescence, the ex-emperor went out one day to sit by the sea and admire the scenery, and became so absorbed in a flock of seagulls, that were following a school of sardines that he failed to notice what was going on around him. When he looked up, suddenly it was to find himself surrounded by no less than fourteen knights in armor.

Starting point is 04:53:16 As soon as these noticed that the ex-emperor had seen them, one, the eldest, a grey-haired and benevolent-looking old man, stepped up to him, and bowing, said, O my beloved sovereign, at last I have found you, My name is Furuzuka Iga, and regretfully I am obliged to tell you that I am sent by the Mikado to secure your head. He fears while you live, even in banishment, for the peace of the country. Please enable me to take your head as speedily and as painlessly as possible. It is my misfortune to have to do it.

Starting point is 04:53:55 The ex-emperor seemed in no way surprised at this speech. Without a word, he arranged himself and stretched his name. neck to receive the blow from Ega's sword. Ega, touched by his manly conduct, began to weep, and exclaimed, Oh, what a brave sovereign, what a samurai, how I grieve to be his executioner. But his duty was plain, so he nerved himself and struck off the ex-emperor's head with a single blow. As soon as the head fell upon the sand, the other knights came up and respectfully placed the head in a silken bag and awaited orders from their chief. My friends, said for Ozuka Iga,

Starting point is 04:54:41 go back to the boat and take the head of Chutuko to the emperor. Tell him that his orders have been carried out and that he need have no future fear. Go without me, for I remain here to weep over the deed which I have had to do. The knights were astonished, but they departed, and, Iga gave way to grief.

Starting point is 04:55:04 Soon it came to pass that Sobeye and his wife went to look for the ex-emperor, for his absence had been long. They knew the spot where he loved to sit and gaze at the beautiful scenery. Thus it was that they found Ega weeping. What is this? they cried. What means this blood upon the sand? Who, sir, may you be? And where is our guest?

Starting point is 04:55:27 Iga explained that he was an envoy from the mikado, and that it had been his painful duty to kill the ex-emperor. The fury of Sobeye and his wife knew no bounds. Instinctively, they decided that they must both die after avenging the ex-emperor by killing Ega. They proceeded to attack him with their knives, Sobei in front and his wife from behind. Ega avoided them by his proficiency in Jiu-Jitsu.

Starting point is 04:55:57 In two seconds, he had both of them by the wrists, and then said, good people, for I know you to be such. Listen to my story. The ex-emperor, who has been in exile on this island for nearly a year, and whom you befriended and prevented from perishing from starvation and exposure, is not the real ex-emperor, but my own son, for Zukataro. Sobeye and his wife looked at him in bewilderment, and asked for an explanation,

Starting point is 04:56:30 Listen, and I will tell you, said Furuzuka Iga. As the result of the revolution in the imperial household, ex-emperor Shotuko was taken from the enemy of the reigning emperor and was sentenced to exile on this island, which was supposed to be uninhabited, and is so for all but yourselves. The ex-emperor must have died had you not been here to support him, And though I am attached to the imperial court, I did not like one who had been my sovereign so to perish.

Starting point is 04:57:06 It was my duty to bring the ex-emperor here and maroon him. I marooned, instead, my own son, who was very much like him, and was glad to take the ex-emperor's place. Unfortunately, the Mikado's mind became uneasy during the winter, fearing that so long as the ex-emperor remained alive there might be further trouble. And I was again sent to Naoshima Island, this time to bring back the ex-emperor's head. You know now what I have had to do. Was ever a father called upon to carry out so terrible a commission? Pity me. Be not angered.

Starting point is 04:57:48 You have lost your friend and I, my son. But the ex-emperor still lives. Moreover, he knows of my loyalty to him, and will be here shortly in secret and in disguise. That is why I have remained. And that is the whole of the story I have to tell, and both of you must know how deeply grateful I feel towards you both in your great kindness to my son, Tarot. The poor samurai bowed to the ground, and the old couple, too simple to know what to do, remained silent, with tears of sorrow and of sympathy streaming down their faces.

Starting point is 04:58:28 For fully half an hour nothing was said. They remained, weeping on the blood-stained beach, waiting for the tide to rise and wash away the marks. And they might have been longer, had it not been, that suddenly they heard the sweet strains of the bewa, a musical instrument of four strings, a lute. Then Iga arose and drying his eyes, said, here my friends comes the real ex-emperor, though in disguise.

Starting point is 04:58:58 He never goes anywhere without his loot, and he has signs and signals with me by certain airs he plays. He is asking now if it is safe to come forward, and if I give no answer, it is safe. Listen and see him approach. Sobeye and his wife had never listened to such soft and bewitching music before. And hearts full of sorrow, they sat listening. Nearer and nearer the music came until they saw coming along the beach a man in poor clothes, whom they might almost have mistaken for their dead friend, so like he was to him. When he came near, Ega went up and bowed, and then led the stranger to the fisherman and his wife, whom he had made known, telling the ex-emperor what kindness they had shown his son Tarrow.

Starting point is 04:59:51 The ex-emperor was pleased and said that he was deeply grateful and considered them as part of that faithful body who had worked to save his life. Just then a ship was seen to round the point of the bay. It was the ship in which Ega had arrived, the ship which had worn away his son's head. The ex-emperor, followed by Ega, Sobeye, and his wife,

Starting point is 05:00:16 kneeled on the sand near the bloody stain, and prayed long for the peace of the spirit of taro. Next day, the ex-emperor announced his intention of remaining for the rest of his life on the island of Naushima with Sobei and Oyooni. Ego was taken to the mainland by Sobei and found his way back to the capital. The ex-emperor, attended by the faithful old couple, lived for a year on the island. His time was passed in playing on the Bia and in praying for the spirit of taro. At the end of the year he died for mournfulness.

Starting point is 05:00:57 Sobei and his wife devoted all their spare time to building a small shrine to his memory. It is said to be standing to this day. In the third year of Ninnon, the famous but eccentric priest and poet Saigyo, who was related to the imperial family, spent 17 days on the island, praying night and day. During this time, he sat on the favorite rock of Taro and the ex-emperor. The rock is still known as Saigio Iwa. Saigio's Rock. End of Section 25.

Starting point is 05:01:41 Chapter 26 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit. Libravox.org. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon-Smith. How Masakuni regained his sight. Some 70 years ago, there dwelt in Kyoto, a celebrated swordmaker, a native of the province of Awa in Tokushima. Awanokami Masakuni, for such was his name, dwelt in Kyoto for the purpose of business, and because he was nearer the homes of the grandees for whom it paid him

Starting point is 05:02:24 best to make swords. With him lived his beautiful little daughter, Ai, or O'I. San, Ayi, meaning love. She was fourteen, and only a child, but her beauty was enough to make her an object of affection to anyone who happened to see her. O'I. thought of no one but her father, and of him she was extremely fond. As time went on, Masakuni so improved in the art of making swords and forging blades that he came to be regarded with much jealousy by the other swordsmakers, all of whom, including Masakuni, lived in the Karasu Tengu district of Kyoto, where it was the fashion for swordmakers to dwell in those days.

Starting point is 05:03:12 Alas, the skill of Masakuni cost him and I. Though the samurai and wearers of swords held ethical ideas of honor and bushi, said to be far above the average, it does not appear that the sword-makers were the same. They often committed the most horrible and cowardly crimes. One of these was to put out either one or both of the eyes of their sword-making rivals while they slept. Thus it came to pass one night that little Oai-e-son was awakened from, her sleep by the piercing cry of her father, and found him writhing on the floor in agony, with his right eye, stabbed, and burst.

Starting point is 05:03:55 O I. I.e. summoned aid, but nothing could save the eye. It was done for. And though the place could be healed, Masakuni must give up all idea of ever having the use of his right eye again. There was not even the satisfaction of catching his assailant, for he did not know, who it was. Amid these circumstances, it was evident that Masakuni could no longer remain a swordmaker. After the loss of his eye, it would be impossible for him to carry out any of the fine work needed to keep up his reputation. Consequently, he returned to his native village, O'hara, in the province of Awa with his daughter. Poor Masakuni had not been long settled in his old home, before his left eye began to feel bad.

Starting point is 05:04:48 And in less than a week there appeared to be every chance of his losing its use altogether. I.e. was disconsolate. For her dear father to lose the use of both eyes was terrible. She loved him dearly, and knew that his only remaining pleasures in life were herself and beautiful scenery. What could she do? Poor child. She waited on him day and night, cooked, and was his nurse. When she had exhausted every means in her power to do good, and her father's left eye grew worse, she betook herself to praying.

Starting point is 05:05:27 Daily, she toiled up the wild and rocky mountain of Shirataki, near the summit of which there was a little shrine dedicated to Fudo, sometimes thought of as the god of wisdom. There, day after day, she prayed that she might be led to the knowledge that would cure her father, and though it was now the icy month of January, after so doing, she divested herself of clothing and stood for nearly half an hour under the waterfall from which the mountain takes its name, as was the custom of all who wished to impress upon the deity the earnestness and sincerity of their prayers. For three months, O'I.E. had thus gone up the mountain daily, to pray and undergo the terrible cold of the waterfall. Yet her prayer seemed unanswered, for there was no improvement in her father. O'I.E., however, did not lose heart. Toward the end of February, she climbed again. In spite of the severe cold, ice was hanging on to many parts of the rock. O'I.E, after praying to Fudo San, divested herself.

Starting point is 05:06:37 off of clothing and stepped under the fall, there to continue her prayers, as long as she could possibly stand and live. So great was the cold. In a few moments she lost consciousness, and slipped down into the basin of the fall, receiving a severe blow on the head. Just then, by unusual good fortune, an old man, followed by his servant, came up the mountain and was looking at and admiring the waterfall. The white body of Oauai-I-san caught his eye, while it was being turned in the basin of the fall, not thirty feet from where he stood. The old man and the servant hastened to pull out the body, and began to rub it, and found that life was not extinct. O'I.E. was half drowned, and numb, insensible from the cold and the blow,

Starting point is 05:07:33 and the blood was flowing freely from the wound. They made up their minds to save this beautiful girl, and set to with vigor. A fire was lit, her clothes were warmed and put on, and in less than twenty minutes she had opened her eyes and was able to speak. Seeing this, the old man asked, Is it by accident we find you thus nearly dead, or have you tried to take your own life? No, said the girl.

Starting point is 05:08:02 it is not that I wish to take my own life, it is to save the eyesight of my father that I have come here to pray. This is the hundredth day of my prayer. Tomorrow and every following day I shall be here to pray again and to so continue, for it is against the teachings of Buddha to despair. O'I. then related the history of her father's blindness. The old man, answering, said, If devotion to duty has its reward, yours, young lady, has come. Perhaps you are not aware who I am. My name is Uwozumi. Dr. Uwozumi.

Starting point is 05:08:45 I am the chief doctor in Kyoto, and I am the only one at present who has passed his full degrees in the medical sciences of the Dutch. I have just been to the palace at Yedo, and am now on my return to Kyoto. I have only put in here with my ship for today and have come up this mountain to admire the scenery. Now I have found you, and so grieve with you in your trouble, that I will stay here a week or two and see what can be done for your father. Do not let us lose time, put on the rest of your clothes, and let us go to your house. Oai-e-san was delighted. At last she thought, her prayer had been answered by Fudo-san.

Starting point is 05:09:27 With joy in her heart, she almost ran down the mountain, forgetting all about her narrow escape and the long gash she had received in her head. Dr. Uozumi had found it hard to keep anywhere near this healthy young maid. Arrived at the house, Uozumi made an examination of the patient and ordered remedies after the Dutch prescriptions, the medicines for which he fortunately had with him. Day after day the doctor and O'I.E. attended Masakuni, and at the end of the tenth day, his left eye was perfectly cured. Masakuni was delighted at the partial recovery of his sight, and, like his daughter, attributed the good fortune of the celebrated doctor's arrival to the mercy of Fudo San. Having purified his body and soul by living on a vegetable diet and bathing in cold water for ten days, he began making two souls. which sometime afterwards he finished. One, he presented to the god Fudo, and the other

Starting point is 05:10:31 to Dr. Uozumi. They were afterwards known as the celebrated swords made by the semi-blind Masakuni. The doctor thought it a pity to allow such a skilled artist as Masakuni to remain in the remote village of Awa province, and also that the beautiful Oai should be allowed to rust there, so he persuaded them to join him in Kyoto. Subsequently, he obtained a place, as made of honor in the palace of the Duke of Karasumaru for Oai-I-San, where she was perfectly happy. Five years later, Masakuni died,

Starting point is 05:11:09 and was buried in the cemetery of Torbiyama, at the eastern end of Kyoto. So my storyteller Fuguga tells me. End of Section 26. Chapter 27 of 187. and Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain.

Starting point is 05:11:35 For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording by Larry Castleberry of Detroit, Michigan. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith, Chapter 27. Sagami Bay Hatsushima Island is probably unknown to all foreigners, and to 9,999 out of every 10,000 Japanese. Consequently, it is of not much importance. Nevertheless, it has produced quite a romantic little story, which was told to me by a friend who had visited there some six years before. The island is about seven miles southeast of Atami in Sagami Bay, Izou Province. It is so far

Starting point is 05:12:17 isolated from the mainland, the very little intercourse goes on with the outer world. Indeed, it is said that the inhabitants of Hasushima Island are a queer people and prefer keeping to themselves. Even today, there are only some 200 houses, and the population cannot exceed 1,000. The principal production of the island is, of course, fish. But it is celebrated also for its janku flowers, Suisin. Thus it would be seen that there is hardly any trade. With little the people buy from or sell to the mainland, they carry in their own fishing boats. In matrimony, also they keep to themselves, and are generally conservative and all the better for it.

Starting point is 05:12:59 There is a well-known fisherman's song of Hatsushima Island. It means something like the following, and it is of the origin of that queer verse that the story is. Today is the 10th of June. May the rain fall in torrents, for I long to see my dearest Ocho san. Hi, hi. Yarriko no-sa. Yariko no-sa. Many years ago, there lived on the island the daughter of a fisherman, whose beauty even as a child was extraordinary.

Starting point is 05:13:31 As she grew, Cho, for such was her name, improved in looks, and in spite of her lowly birth, she had the manners and refinement of a lady. At the age of 18, there was not a young man on the island who was not in love with her. All were eager to seek her hand in marriage, but hardly any dare to ask, even through the medium of a third party as was usual. Amongst them was a handsome fisherman of about 20 years, whose name was Shinsaku. Being less simple than the rest and a little more bold, he one day approached Gisuke, Ocho's brother on the subject.

Starting point is 05:14:10 Gisuke could see nothing against his sister Marion Shinsaku. Indeed, he rather liked Shinsaku, and their families had always been friends, So he called his sister Ocho down to the beach where they were sitting and told her that Shinsaku had proposed for her hand in marriage and that he thought it an excellent match of which her mother would have approved has she been alive. He added, you must marry soon, you know, you are 18. And we want no spinster on Hasushima or girls brought here from the mainland to marry our bachelors. Stay, stay, my dear brother. I do not want all this sermon on

Starting point is 05:14:49 Spencerhood, cried Ocho. I have no intention of remaining single, I can tell you. And as far as Shinsaku, I would rather marry him than anyone else. So do not worry yourself further on that account. Settle the day of the happy event. Needless to say, young Asuke was delighted, and so was Shinsaku, and they settled that the marriage should be three days thence. Soon, when all the fishing boats had returned to the village, the news spread, and it would be difficult to describe. the state of the younger men's feelings. Hitherto, everyone had hoped to win the pretty Ocho Sahn. All had lived in that happy hope and rejoiced in the uncertain state of love, which causes such happiness in its early stages. Shinsaku had hitherto been a general favorite.

Starting point is 05:15:38 Now, the whole of their hopes were dashed to the ground. Ocho was not for any of them. As for Shinsaku, how they suddenly hated him. What was to be done? they asked one another, little thinking of the comical side, or that in any case, Ocho would marry only one of them. No attention was paid to the fish they had caught. Their boats were scarcely pulled high enough on the beach for safety. Their minds were wholly given to the question how each and every one of them could marry Ocho San. First of all, it was decided to tell Shinsaku that they would prevent his marriage if possible. There were several fights on the quiet beach, which had never before been destroyed. by a display of ill-filling. At last, Isuke, Ocho's brother, consulted with his sister in Shinsaku,

Starting point is 05:16:27 and they decided for the peace of the island to break off the marriage. Ocho and her lover determining that at all events they would marry no one else. However, even this great sacrifice had no effect. There were fully 30 men. In fact, the whole of the bachelors wanted to marry Ocho. They fought daily. The whole island was thrown into a discontent. Poor Ocho, son, what could she do? Had not she and Shinsaku done enough already in sacrificing happiness for the peace of the island? There was only one more thing she could do, and being a Japanese girl, she did it. She wrote two letters, one to her brother, Gisuke, another to Shinsaku, beating them farewell. The island of Hasushima has never had trouble until,

Starting point is 05:17:15 I was born, she said. For three hundred years or more, our people, though poor, have lived happily and in peace. Alas, now it is no longer so on account of me. Farewell, I shall be dead. Tell our people that I have died to bring them back their senses, for they have been foolish about me. Farewell. After leaving the two letters where Gisukee slept, Ocho slipped stealthily out of the house. It was a pouring wet and stormy night. in the 10th of June, and cast herself into the sea from some rocks near her cottage, after well-loading her sleeves with stones so that she might rise no more. Next morning, when Gisuke found the letters, instinctively, he knew what must have happened,

Starting point is 05:18:02 and rushed from the house to find Shinsaku. Brother and lover read their letters together, and were stricken with grief, as indeed was everyone else. A search was made, and soon, Ocho's straw slippers were found, on the point of rocks near her house. Gisuke knew that she must have jumped into the sea here, and he and Shinsaku dived down and found her body lying at the bottom. They brought it to the surface, and it was buried just beyond the rocks on which she had last stood.

Starting point is 05:18:31 From that day, Shinsaku was unable to sleep at night. The poor fellow was quite distracted. Ocho's letter and straw slippers he placed beside his bed and surrounded them with flowers. His days he spent decorating and weeping over her tomb. At last one evening, Shensaku resolved to make away with his own body, hoping that his spirit might find Ocho, and he wandered toward her tomb to take a last farewell.

Starting point is 05:18:59 As he did so, he thought he saw Ocho and called her aloud three or four times, and then, with outstretched arms, he rushed delightedly at her. The noise awoke Yisuke, whose house was close to the grave. He came out and found Shinsaku clasping the stone pillar which was placed at his head. Shinsaku explained that he has seen the spirit of Ocho and that he was about to follow her by taking his life, but from this he was dissuaded. Do not do that. Devote your life rather, and I will help you in building a shrine dedicated to Cho. You will join her when you die by nature, but please her spirit here by never marrying another. Shinsaku promised, the young men of the place now began to

Starting point is 05:19:45 be deeply sorry for Shinsaku. What selfish beasts they had been, they thought. However, they would mend their ways and spend all their spare time in building a shrine to Ocho San, and this they did. The shrine is called the Shrine of Ocho San of Hatsushima. And a ceremony is held there every 10th of June, Curious to relate, it invariably rains on that day, and the fishermen say that the spirit of Ocho comes in the rain, hence the song. Today is the 10th of June. My, may the rain fall in torrents, for I long to see my dearest Ocho son. Hi, hi, hi, Yarriko no sah, yariqoosa. The shrine still stands, I am told. End of chapter 27. Recording by Larry Castleberry, Detroit,

Starting point is 05:20:36 Michigan. Chapter 28 of ancient tales and folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libervox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Maria Melodya Carey. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith, the king of Tari Jima.

Starting point is 05:21:07 Many years ago, they lived a daimyo called Tarao, his castle and home were at Osaka in Osumi province, and amongst his retinue was a faithful and favorite servant whose name was Kume Shuzen. Kume had long been land steward to the Lord Tarao, and indeed acted for him and everything connected with business. One day, Kumee had been dispatched to the capital, Kyoto, to attend to business for his master, when the daimiotoshiro of Huga quarreled with the daimyo of Osumi over some boundary question and Kume not being there to help his master, who was a hasty person. The two clans fought at the foot of Mount Kitamata. Footnote. It is impossible to say exactly to which of the Torijima Islands, this story relates. There are two, one, a rock islet, some 60 miles east of Okinawa Jima,

Starting point is 05:22:05 the main island on which is the capital of all the islands, Nafa, and the other or larger Tori Gima between longitude 128 degrees and 129 degrees, and not far south of latitudinal line 38 degrees. My storyteller declares a tale to be about the rocky island south, which charts show as 60 feet above water at high tide, by reason of there being an island adjacent called Kumeshima, while I argue that it is more probably about the northern Tori Gima, adjacent to which is a large island named Takuneshima,

Starting point is 05:22:41 which might very well have been meant for Kumeshima. With Japanese, Chinese, and English names, these islands are very puzzling. The Japanese, though excellent map makers, are bad geographers, changing names as they think fit. End of footnote. The Lord Tarau of Osumi was killed, and so were most of his men.

Starting point is 05:23:03 They were most completely beaten. The survivors retired to their Lord's capital, of Osaki, but the enemy followed them up and again defeated them, taking the castle. Messengers had been dispatched to bring back Khome, of course, but Khomew decided that there was only one honorable thing to do, and that was to gather the few remaining samurai he could, and fight again in his dead master's behalf. Unfortunately, only some 50 men came to his call. These would Khomew hid in the mountains with the intention of waiting until they had recruited more. One of Toshiro's spies found this out, and all except Komeh were taken prisoners. Being hotly pursued,

Starting point is 05:23:43 Kume hid himself in the daytime, and made for the sea by night. After three days he reached hisaki, and there, having bought all the provision he could carry, hit himself until an opportunity should come of seizing a boat in the darkness, hoping to baffle his pursuers. Koumet was no sailor, in fact, he had hardly ever been in a boat, and never except as a passenger. There was no difficulty in finding a boat. He pushed it off and let it drift, for he could not use the ore and understood nothing about a sail. Fortunately, Hisaki is a long cape on the southeast coast, facing the open Pacific, and therefore there was no difficulty in getting away, the wind being favorable and the tide as well. Besides, there is here a strong current, always traveling south towards the Luchus. Koumé was

Starting point is 05:24:30 more or less indifferent as to where he went, and even if he cared, he could not have helped himself for, though his knowledge of direction on land was very good, as soon as he found himself out of sight of land he was lost. All he knew was that where the sun rose, there was no land which he could reach, that China lay in a direction in which it set, and that to the south there were islands which were reputed to hold savages,

Starting point is 05:24:55 Nambanjin, foreign southern savages. Thus Kume drifted on, he knew not wither, lying in the bottom of the boat, and in no way economizing his provisions, and it naturally came to pass that at the end of the second day he had no water left and suffered much in consequence. Towards morning on the fifth day, Cuma lay half asleep in the bottom of the boat. Suddenly he felt it bump.

Starting point is 05:25:21 What ho, she bumps, said he to himself in his native tongue, and, sitting up, he found he had drifted on to a rocky island. Cumae was not long in scrambling ashore and dragging his boat as high as he was able. The first thing he said about doing was to find water to quench his thirst. As he wandered along the rocky shore hunting for a stream, Koumé knew that the island could not be inhabited, for there were tens of thousands of sea-fowl perched upon the rocks, feeding along the beach and floating on the water.

Starting point is 05:25:48 Others were sitting on eggs. Koumé could see that he was not likely to starve while the birds were breeding, and he could see, moreover, that fish were there in abundance, for birds of the Gannet species were simply gorging themselves with a kind of iwashi, sardine, which made the surface of the calm sea frizzle into form. in their endeavors to escape the larger fish that were pursuing them from underneath. Shoals of flying fish came quite close to shore, pursued by the magnificent albacore,

Starting point is 05:26:15 which clearly showed that fishermen did not visit these parts. Shellfish were in plenty in the coral pools, and among them lay, thickly strewn, the smaller of the pearl mussels with which Kume was familiar in his own country. There was no sand on this island, that is to say, on the seashore. everything seemed to be of coral formation except that there was a thick reddish substance on the top of all out of which grew low scrubby trees bearing many fruits which kumme found quite excellent to eat there was no trouble in finding water there were several streams flowing down the beach and coming from the thick scrub kumai returned to his boat to make sure that it was safe and having found a better cove for it he moved it thither then having eaten some more fruit and shellfish and seaweed, Kume lay down to sleep

Starting point is 05:27:08 and to think of his dead master and wonder how he could eventually avenge him on the daimyo Toshiro of Huga. When morning broke, Kume was not a little surprised to see some eight or nine figures of people, as he first thought, sleeping. But when it grew lighter, he found that they were turtles,

Starting point is 05:27:26 and it was not long before he was on shore and had turned one. But then, recollecting that there was plenty of food without taking the life of a beast, so much venerated, he let it go. Perhaps, thought he, like Urasima, my kindness to the turtle may save me. Indeed, these turtles may be messengers or retainers of the Sea King's Palace. One thing that Kume now decided was to learn to row and sail his boat. He set to that very morning, and almost mastered the art of using the immense sculling ore used by present and ancient Japanese alike. In the afternoon he visited

Starting point is 05:28:01 the highest part of his island, but it was not high enough. to enable him to see land though he thought at one time that he could discern that faint line of blue on the horizon which prophecies distant land however he was safe for the time he had food in plenty and water true the birds somewhat bothered him for they did not act as might have been expected there seemed something uncanny in the way they sat on their perches and watched him he did not like that and often threw a stone at them but even that had little effect they only seemed to look more serious. Though Cumae was no sailor, he was a good enough swimmer, as are most Japanese who live anywhere along the sea provinces, and he was quite able to dive in moderation and up to a depth of three Japanese fathoms, 15 feet. Thus it was that Cume spent all the time he was not practicing in his boat in diving for shellfish. He soon found that there were enormous quantities of pearl oysters, which contained beautiful pearls, and,

Starting point is 05:29:04 having collected some 50 or 60, large and small. He cut one of the sleeves of his coat and made a bag which he determined to fill. One day, while Kume was diving about after his pearls and shellfish, he found that by looking in the holes of rocks beneath the low-tide level, he could find pearls that had fallen from the dead and rotten shells above. In one case, they were like gravel, and he took them out of a cavity by handfuls. Discolored they certainly were, but Koumé knew them from the round, of shape, and rubbing with sand or earth soon proved them to be pearls. Thus it was that he worked

Starting point is 05:29:41 with renewed energy, hoping all the time to make sufficient money to be able eventually to avenge his dead master. One day, some six weeks after he had landed on the island, he saw a distant sail. Through the day he watched it carefully, but it did not seem to come or go much nearer, and Kame came to the conclusion that it must be the sale of a stationary fishing-boat, for there was breeze enough to have taking it off out of sight twice over since he had watched if it had wanted to go. Surely there must be lands somewhere over there beyond the boat. It would not be there for half a day if not. Tomorrow, now that I can manage to sail and row my boat, I will start on an expedition and see. I do not expect to find my own countrymen there, but I may find Chinese who may be friendly,

Starting point is 05:30:27 and if I find the southern savages I shall not, with my good Japanese sword, be afraid of them. next morning, Kumé provisioned his boat with fruit, water, shellfish, and eggs, and, tying his bag of pearls about him, set sail in a southwesterly direction. There was little wind, and the boat went slowly, but Kume steered steadily all night, as was natural, considering the little he knew. He dared not go to sleep, and thus perhaps lose all idea of the direction once he had come. Thus it came, that when morning broke the sun rose on his port, side, and he found himself not more than some four miles from an island, which lay right ahead of him.

Starting point is 05:31:10 Quite elated with his first success in navigation, Kume seized his oars and helped the boat along. On reaching the land, his reception was anything but pleasant. At least one hundred angry savages were on the beach with spears and staves. But what were they, as my translator asked, to a Japanese samurai? Fifteen of them were put out of action without his getting a scratch, for Koume was. was well up in all the defensive arts that his military training had given him, and the tricks in Jiu-jitsu were familiar to him. The rest of his adversaries became frightened and began to run. Kume caught one of them and tried to ask what island this was, and what kind of people they were. By signs he explained that he was a Japanese and in no way an enemy, but on the contrary,

Starting point is 05:31:57 wished to be friendly and, as they could see, he was alone, greatly impressed with Kume's prowess, and glad that he did not wish to resume hostilities, the natives stuck their spears point downwards in the sand, and came forward to Kumé, who sheed his sword and proceeded to examine the fifteen men he had laid low. Eleven of these had fallen by some clever Jiu-Jitsu trick, and were, to all intents and purposes, dead. But Kumé took them in various ways,

Starting point is 05:32:27 and restored them to life by a well-known art called Kwatsu, really artificial breathing, which has been practiced in Japan for hundreds of years in connection with some secret jiu-jitsu tricks which are said to kill you unless someone is present who knows the art of quatsu you must die if left for over two hours without being restored. At present it is illegal to kill temporarily even though you know the art of quatsu. Khmer stored nine of his fallen enemies which in itself was considered to be a marvelous performance and gained them much respect. Two others were dead. The rest had wounds from which they were covered. Peace being established, Koumé was escorted by the chief to the village and given a hut to

Starting point is 05:33:09 himself, and he found the people kind and agreeable. A wife was given to him, and Kumee settled down to the life of the island and to learn the language, which in many ways resembled his own. Sugar and yams were the principal things planted, with, of course, rice in the hills, and where there was sufficient water for terracing. But fishing formed the principal occupation of all. Four or five times a year the islanders were visited by a junk which bought their produce and exchanged things they wanted for it, such as beds, iron rods, calico, and salt. After three months' residence, Kumae was able to talk the language a little and had managed to narrate his adventures. Moreover, he had explained that the island from which he had sailed, he had named it Torijima. On account

Starting point is 05:33:56 of the birds there was a far better island than their own for all marine produce. my friends said kumme accompany me over there and sea i have shown you my pearls i am not much of a diver but for those that are divers there are as many as you can wish also sea-slugs behes demeer and namako of the very best kinds do you know that the island which you call tori is bewitched they asked it is impossible to go there for there is a gigantic bird which comes twice a year and kills all men who have ventured to land it could not have been there when you were there or you could not have lived a day. Well, my friend, said Kume, I am not afraid of a bird, and, as you have been very kind to me, I should like to show you my torijima, for, though small, it is better than your island

Starting point is 05:34:45 for all the things which come from the sea, and you would say so if you came. Please say that some of you will accompany me. At last thirty men said they would go, that would be three boatloads of them. Accordingly, next evening they started, and, as the direction was well known to the loo'clock, Luchuans, they reached the shores of Torijima just as the sun arose.

Starting point is 05:35:06 Kume's boat arrived first. Though he had been fully warned of the great bird which must have been absent when he was in the island, Kume landed alone and was proceeding up the shore when an immense eagle with a body larger than his own swept down on him and began to fight. Kume, being a Japanese, immediately cut the monster in half. From that day, Torijima has been settled on by fishermen and has afforded more pearls, coral, and fish than the other, which they named Kumijima, and sometimes Shuzhen Shima, both being his names.

Starting point is 05:35:43 Moreover, Kume Shuzhen was made the king of both islands. Kume never got back to Japan to avenge his master, the Lord Tarao. Indeed, he was better off than he had ever been before, and lived a happy life on the two wild Luchu Islands, had not yet come under the Chinese rule, being too small to be thought of. After some 15 years, Kumei died and was buried on Kumi Jima. My storyteller says that those who visit the Luchus and pass Kumi Jima will notice from the sea a monument to Koumé Shuzen. End of Chapter 28, recording by Maria Melodya Carey.

Starting point is 05:36:27 Chapter 29 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. Recordings are in the public domain. For more information to volunteer, please visit to Libravox.org. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. The perpetual life-giving wine. Between the northeastern boundary of Totomi Province and the northwestern of Suruga Province stands a lofty mountain, Daimuginzan.

Starting point is 05:37:00 It is a wild and rugged mountain, clad nearly three quarters up with lofty pines, yonoki, Icho, camphers, etc. There are but few paths, and hardly anyone goes up the hill. About halfway up through the forest is a shrine erected to Kwanan, but it is so small that no priest lives there, and the building is rotting away. No one knows why it was put up in such an inaccessible place, except perhaps one solitary girl and her parents, who used to go there for some reason of their own. One day about 11.07 A.D., the girl was praying for her mother's recovery from sickness.

Starting point is 05:37:46 Okorihua was her name. She lived at Toshiro, at the foot of the mountain, and was the beauty of the countryside, the daughter of a much-loved samurai of some importance. Amid the solemn silence, Ucariha clapped her hands thrice before Kwanan as she prayed, causing mountain echoes to resound. Having finished her prayers, Okorea began to make her way downwards when she was suddenly strung upon by a ruffianly-looking man, who seized her by the arm.

Starting point is 05:38:21 She cried aloud for help, but nothing came except the echoes of her voice, and she gave up herself for lost. Suddenly a piercing cold breeze came along, carrying the autumn leaves and little columns. Okorica struggled violently with her assailant, who seemed to weaken to the cold wind, as it struck his face. Okorica weakened, too. In a few seconds the man fell down as in a drunken sleep, and she was on the point of falling. She knew not why, and of sleeping. Scarce could she keep her eyes open.

Starting point is 05:38:59 Just then, the wind came hot instead of cold, and she felt herself awake again. On looking up, she saw advancing towards her a beautiful girl, apparently not many years older than herself. The stranger was dressed in white and seemed to glide. Her face was white as the snow which kept Mount Daimu-Genzan. Her brows were crescent-shaped, like those of Buddha. Her mouth was like flowers. In a silvery voice, she called to Okorihah, saying, Be neither surprised nor afraid, my child.

Starting point is 05:39:37 I saw that you were in danger, and I came to your rescue, by putting that savage creature to sleep. I sent the warm breeze so that you might not fall. You need not fear that the man is dead. I can revive him if I choose, or keep him as he is, if I wish. What is your name? Okorica fell on her knees to express her thanks, and rising said,

Starting point is 05:40:05 My name is Okoriyah. My father is the samurai who owns the greater part of the village of Tashiro at the foot of the mountain. My mother, being ill, I have come up to this old shrine to pray Kwonan for her recovery. Five times have I been up before, but never met anyone until today. When this dreadful man attacked me, I only only have been. my deliverance entirely to you, Holy Lady, and I am humbly and deeply grateful. I do hope I shall be able to come here and pray at this shrine again. My father and mother prayed here before I was born, both to Quanan and to the tenon of the mountain. They had no child, and I was sent to them after their

Starting point is 05:40:44 prayers. Therefore, it is right that I should come here to pray from my mother, but this horrid man has frightened me so that I shall be afraid to come alone again. The mountain goddess, for such was Zokorriha's rescuer, smiled, and said, You need have no fear, my pretty child. Come here when you will, and I shall be your protector. Children who are as devoted to their parents as you are deserve all that is good, and are holy in themselves. If you wish to please me, come again tomorrow,

Starting point is 05:41:19 so that we may converse, and bring me some flowers from the fields, for I never descend low enough on earth to get these. though they are my favorites. They smell so sweet. And now you had better go home. When you have had time to reach there, I will restore this horrid man to life and let him go. He is not likely to return to molest you. I shall be here tomorrow, said Okorea, bowing her thanks amid her sayanars. Okoriyahsan was so much impressed by the face of the goddess that she could not sleep,

Starting point is 05:41:53 and at daybreak next morning was out in the fields gathering. flowers, which she took up to the mountain to the shrine where she found the goddess waiting. They talked of many subjects, and enjoyed each other's company, and arranged to meet often. Consequently, whenever Okarija had time, she always went up the mountain. This continued for nearly a year when Okorea went up with flowers for the goddess as usual, but she was looking sad and felt sad. Why is this? asked the goddess. Why are you so sad?

Starting point is 05:42:29 Ah, your holiness is right, said Okoriyah. I am sad. For this may be the last day I can come up here and see you. I am now 17 years of age and my parents think me old enough to marry. Twelve years ago, my father arranged that I should marry the son of one of his friends, Tokoi, Oviwasaki Mura, when we were old enough. Now I am sad to be old enough, so I must marry. The wedding is to be in three days. After that I shall have to stay home and work for my husband, and I fear I shall not see you anymore. That is why I am sad. As she spoke, tears ran down her cheeks, and there was, for a few moments, no consoling her.

Starting point is 05:43:13 But the goddess soothed her, saying, You must not be sad, dear child. On the contrary, you are about to enter the happiest state of life by being married. If people were not married and did not produce children to inherit new spirits and life, there could be no continuation. Go back, my child, happily. Get married and produce children. You will be happy, and doing your duty to the world and to the goddess.

Starting point is 05:43:43 Before we say farewell, I give you this small gourd of ferocious. Take care of it on your way down the mountain, and when you are married, give some to your husband. You will both remain as you are in appearance, never growing a day older, though you live for centuries, as you will do, and also it will bring you perfect happiness. Now, farewell. Again the tears came to Okorica's eyes as she bade farewell to her benefactress. But she mustered all her pluck, and making her last bow, took her way down the mountain, weeping as she went. Three days later, Okorica was married.

Starting point is 05:44:28 It was a lucky day, according to the calendars. And moreover, it was the year that the Emperor Toba came to the throne, 1108, E.D. One day, when celebrating this event at a picnic, Okorica, gave her husband, some of the Furoshu Sakhi, and took the rest herself, as the goddess had bidden her. They were sitting on a beautiful green, grassy spot, whereon grew wild violets of delicious fragrance. At their feet gurgled a mountain stream of sparkling clearness.

Starting point is 05:45:01 To their surprise they found petals of cherry blossom, suddenly falling all around them. There were no cherry trees near. And at first they were much puzzled. But they saw in the blue sky one white cloud, which had just sailed over them, and seated thereon was the god. of Mount Daimuganzan. Okorihya recognized her and pointed her out to her husband as their

Starting point is 05:45:29 benefactress. The white cloud carried her up to the top of the mountain where it hovered until the shades of evening hit it. Okoriha and her husband never grew older. They lived for hundreds of years as Senins in Mount Daimugenzan. End of Section 29. Section 30 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Robert Gordon Smith.

Starting point is 05:46:16 Many years ago, there lived in the village of Nomugi in Hida province, an old farmer named Jinnai, with his wife. They had a daughter on whom they simply doted. Her name was Yuka. She was seven years of age and an extremely beautiful child. Unfortunately, just at this age, she developed something the matter with her leg, which grew worse and worse until the limb became deformed. Oh, Yuka suffered no pain, but her parents were much troubled.

Starting point is 05:46:50 Doctors, drugs, and the advice of many friends, made Yuka's leg no pain. better. How sad it will be for her later on, thought her mother and father. Even now it is sad that she should have a deformed leg when she plays with other children. There being no help, Yuka and her parents had to make the best of things. In any case, Yuka was not the only deformity in the village. There were other cases. One of Yuka's boy playmates, Tarako, had been born blind, and another Rinkichi was so deaf that he could hold his ear to the temple bell while the other children struck it

Starting point is 05:47:31 and he never heard the sound though he felt a vibration well these two were perhaps no better off than Yuka and at last her parents began to console themselves the child played about and seemed perfectly happy

Starting point is 05:47:46 Nomugi village is at the foot of the great mountain Norikura Dake which rises 10,500 feet and is a wild place of volcanic origin. Many of the children of Nomugi used to go daily and play on the grassy slope of an old dam at the end of the village. They would throw stones into the water, fish, sailboats, and pick flowers. The dam was a kind of club for the children.

Starting point is 05:48:18 From morning to evening they were there, having with them their rice to eat. One day, while thus playing, they were surprised by an old man with a long white beard approaching them. He came from the direction of the mountain. All stopped their games to watch him. He came on into their midst, and, patting them on the head, seemed to make friends naturally. Taking notice of Yuka's bad leg, the old man said, Come, how is this? Have not your parents tried to cure it? Little Yuka answered that they had, but that they could not do any good.

Starting point is 05:48:56 The old man made her lie down on the grass and began to manipulate the leg, pulling it this way and that way, and rubbed in some red medicine which he took from a case. The old man then operated on Tarako, the blind boy, and on Rinqi, the deaf one. Now, my children, said he, you all love your fathers and mothers, and it will be a great pleasure to them to find you cured of your ailments. You are not well yet, but you will be if you do what I tell you, in less than three or four days. You are not to mention having seen me until I tell you that you may,

Starting point is 05:49:35 after you are cured. Tomorrow you will meet me at the flat rock under the cave on Mount Norikudadake. You know the place. Very well. Until tomorrow, goodbye. and if I find you do as I tell you, I will make you all laugh by showing you some fancy tricks. Then he trudged off in the direction whence he had come. The children continued their play, thinking, what a nice old man!

Starting point is 05:50:04 And, strange to say, O Yuka, as she walked home, felt her leg to be of greater use. Very little attention is paid to Japanese children. They are nearly always good and well-behaved. little grown-up people, in fact, and therefore they ate their suppers and went to bed as such, giving no account of their day's amusements or of the strange old man. Next day they went to the flat rock. As it was wet, they had not started until late, but they found the old man, and though he had no time to play with them and show the tricks which he had promised,

Starting point is 05:50:42 he attended to Yucca's leg and to the dumb boy and the blind. Now go home, he said, and come back here tomorrow. By the time you get home, Yuka's leg will be well. Tadako will be able to see, and Rinkichi able to hear. And I am sure your relations will be delighted. Tomorrow, if it is fine, you must come early and we shall have lots of fun. Even before they got home, everything came about as the old man had said. The three children were recovered.

Starting point is 05:51:15 the villagers and the parents rejoiced together, but all were mystified as to who the magician could be. If he returns to the mountain, as the children say, then he must live in the cave, said one. He must be a senin, said another. It is rumoured that the most famous priest, Ku Khaishonin, who founded the sacred temple on Mount Koyasan in Kiyi province, was able to make these wondrous cures in children, added another.

Starting point is 05:51:45 But with all the gossiping and conjectures, none could explain how it was possible to bring sight to a boy who had been born blind. At last, someone suggested that two or three should follow the children secretly on the following day. By hiding themselves, they might be able to see what happened. This excellent plan was adopted. In the morning, about 30 children started off at daybreak, followed, unknown to themselves, by the same. two men of the village. When the children arrived at the flat rock, which is said to be large enough to measure one thousand Japanese mats of six feet by three feet, they found the old man seated at one end of it. The two men who had followed hid themselves in some fine azalea bushes. First they saw the old

Starting point is 05:52:37 man rise to his feet, and then go over to the children and hear from the three cured ones how they felt, and how their parents had been pleased. Tarako was the most delighted, perhaps, of the three, for he had never seen the world before, or even his parents. Now, my children, you have come here to see me, and I am going to amuse you all. See here. Saying this, the old man picked up some dead sticks, and, blowing at their ends, produced blossoming cherry branches, plum blossoms and peach, and handed a branch of each to the girls. Next he took a stone and threw it into the air, and, behold, it turned into a dove, another turned into a hawk, or, in fact, into any bird a boy chose to name.

Starting point is 05:53:26 Now, said the old man, I will show you some animals that will make you laugh. He recited some mystic verse, and monkeys came leaping on the flat rock and began to wrestle with one another. The children clapped their hands in delight, but one of the men who was hidden exclaimed in his astonishment, "'Who can this wizard be? No other but a wizard could do such things.' The venerable old man heard, and, looking cautiously round, said, "'Children, I can do no more tricks today. My spell has gone. I will go to my home, and you had better go to yours. Farewell.' So saying, the old man bowed to them and turned up the mountain path, taking the direction of the cave.

Starting point is 05:54:14 The two men came out from their hiding, and they, with the children, tried to follow him. In spite of his great age, he was much more nimble than they among the rocks, but they got far enough to see him enter the cave. Some minutes later they came to the entrance, and bowed before it. The entrance was surrounded by fragrant flowers. but into its dark depths they did not venture. Suddenly, O Yuka pointed upwards, crying, There is the old grandfather!

Starting point is 05:54:45 They all looked up, and standing on a cloud was the old man, right over the summit of the mountain. Ah, now it is quite clear, cried one of the men. It is the famous hermit of Mount Norikuradake. They all bowed low, and then went home to report to the villagers what they'd seen. subscriptions were collected, a small temple was built inside the cave, and they called it the Sendokutsu Temple, which means the Senin's Temple. End of Chapter 30

Starting point is 05:55:17 Read by Rob Marland Chapter 31 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Librevox recording. All Librevox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Librevox.org. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith Yosogi's Camellia Tree In the reign of the Emperor Sanjo began a particularly unlucky time. It was about the year 1013 AD when Sanjo came to the throne, the first year of Chowa.

Starting point is 05:56:00 Plague broke out. Two years later the royal palace was burned down and a war began with Korea, then known as Shidagi. In 1016, another fire broke out in the new palace. A year later, the emperor gave up the throne, owing to blindness and for other causes. He handed over the reins of office to Prince Atzuhara, who was called the Emperor Go Ichijijio, and came to the throne in the first year of Kwanin, about 1017 or 1018. The period during which the emperor Go Ichigio reigned, about 20 years, up to 1010, was one of the worst in Japanese history.

Starting point is 05:56:43 There were more wars, more fires, and worse plagues than ever. Things were in disorder generally, and even Kyoto was hardly safe to people of means, owing to the bans of brigands. In 1025, the most appalling outbreak of smallpox came. There was hardly a village or a town in Japan which escaped. It is at this period that our story begins. Our heroine, if such she may be called, is no less a deity than the goddess of the great mountain of Fuji, which nearly all the world has heard of or seen depicted. Therefore, if the legend sounds stupid and childish, blame only my way of telling it, simply as it was told to me. And think of the great mountain of Japan,

Starting point is 05:57:33 as to which anything should be interesting. Moreover, challenge others for a better I have been able to find none myself. During the terrible scourge of smallpox, there was a village in Suduga province called Kamide, which still exists, but is of little importance. It suffered more badly than most other villages, scarce an inhabitant escaped. A youth of 16 or 17 years was much tried. His mother was taken with the disease, and his father being dead, the responsibility of the household fell on Yosoji, for such was his name.

Starting point is 05:58:15 Yosoji procured all the help he could for his mother, sparing nothing in the way of medicines and attendance. But his mother grew worse day by day, until at last her life was utterly despaired of. Having no other resource left to him, Yosoji resolved to consult a famous fortune-teller and magician, Camo Yamakiko. Kamo Yamakiko told Yosogi that there was but one chance that his mother could be cured, and that lay much with his own courage. If, said the fortune-teller, you will go to a small brook which flows from the southwestern side of Mount Fuji and find a small shrine near its source where Okinagasaki Neo,

Starting point is 05:58:59 the god of long breath, is worshipped, you may be able to cure your mother by bringing her water therefrom to drink. But I warn you that the place is full of dangers from wild beasts and other things, and that you may not return at all or even reach the place. Yosuji, in no way discouraged, made his mind up that he would start on the following morning, and, thanking the fortune-teller, went home to prepare for an early start. At three o'clock next morning he was off. It was a long and rough walk, one which he had never taken before,

Starting point is 05:59:36 but he trudged gaily on being sound of limb and bent on an errand of deepest concern. Towards midday, Yosuji arrived at a place where three rough paths met and was sorely puzzled which to take. While he was deliberating, the figure of a beautiful girl clad in white came towards him through the forest. At first Yusouji felt inclined to. run, but the figure called to him in silvery notes, saying, Do not go, I know what you are here for.

Starting point is 06:00:09 You are a brave lad and a faithful son. I will be your guide to the stream, and, take my word for it, its waters will cure your mother. Follow me, if you will, and have no fear, though the road is bad and dangerous. The girl turned, and Yosuji followed in wonderment. In silence, the two. went for fully four miles, always upwards and into deeper and more gloomy forests. At last a small shrine was reached, in front of which were two tories, and from a cleft of a rock gurgled a silvery stream,

Starting point is 06:00:46 the clearness of which was such as Yosogi had never seen before. There, said the white-robed girl, it's the stream of which you are in search. Fill your gourd, and drink of it yourself, for the water will prevent you catching the plague. Make haste, for it grows late, and it would not be well for you to be here at night. I shall guide you back to the place where I met you. Yosuji did as he was bid, drinking and then filling the bottle to the brim. Much faster did they return than they had come, for the way was all downhill. On reaching the meeting of the three paths, Yosuji bowed low to his guide and thanked her for her great kindness,

Starting point is 06:01:31 and the girl told him again that it was her pleasure to help so dutiful a son. "'In three days you will want more water for your mother,' said she, "'and I shall be at the same place to be your guide again.' "'May I not ask to who I am indebted for this great kindness?' asked Yosuji. "'No, you must not ask, for I should not tell you,' answered the girl. Bowing again, Yosu Jou proceeded on his way as fast as he could, wondering, greatly. On reaching home he found his mother worse. He gave her a cup of the water and told her of his adventures. During the night, Yosuji awoke as usual to attend to his mother's wants and to give her

Starting point is 06:02:15 another bowl of water. Next morning he found that she was decidedly better. During the day he gave her three more doses and on the morning of the third day he set forth to keep his appointment with the fair lady in white, whom he found seated waiting for him on a rock at the meeting of the three paths. Your mother is better, I can see from your happy face, said she. Now follow me as before, and make haste. Come again in three days, and I will meet you. It will take five trips in all, for the water must be taken fresh. You may give some to the sick villagers as well. Five times did Yusogit take the trip. At the end of the fifth, his mother was perfectly well, and most thankful for her restoration,

Starting point is 06:03:04 besides which, most of the villagers who had not died were cured. Yosuji was the hero of the hour. Everyone marvelled and wondered who the white-robed girl was, for, though they had heard of the shrine of Okinagasuke Neo, none of them knew where it was, and but few would have dared to go if they had known. Of course, all knew that Yosuji was indebted in the first place to the fortune teller Kamoyama Kiko, to whom the whole village sent presents. Yosuji was not easy in his mind. In spite of the good he had brought about, he thought to himself that he owed the whole of his success

Starting point is 06:03:44 in finding and bringing the water to the village to his fair guide, and he did not feel that he had shown sufficient gratitude. Always he had hurried home as soon as he had got the point. precious water, bowing his thanks. That was all, and now he felt as if more were due. Surely prayers at the shrine were due, or something? And who was the lady in white? He must find out. Curiosity called upon him to do so. Thus Yosuji resolved to pay one more visit to the spring, and started early in the morning. Now familiar with the road, he did not stop at the meeting of the three paths, but pursued his way directly to the shrine. It was the first time he had traveled the road

Starting point is 06:04:29 alone, and in spite of himself he felt afraid, though he could not say why. Perhaps it was the oppressive gloom of the mysterious dark forest, overshadowed by the Holy Mountain of Fuji, which in itself was more mysterious still, and filled one both with superstitious and religious feelings, and a feeling of awe as well. one of any imagination can approach the mountain even today without having one or all of these emotions. Yosuji, however, sped on, as fast as he could go, and arrived at the shrine of Okinaga-Sukinai. He found that the stream had dried up, there was not a drop of water left. Yosuji flung himself upon his knees before the shrine and thanked the god of long breath,

Starting point is 06:05:19 that he had been the means of curing his mother and the surviving villagers. He prayed that his guide to the spring might reveal her presence, and that he might be enabled to meet her once more to thank her for her kindness. When he arose, Yosuji saw his guide standing beside him, and bowed low. She was the first to speak. You must not come here, she said. I have told you so before. It is a place of great danger for you.

Starting point is 06:05:47 Your mother and the villagers are cured. There is no reason for you to come here more. "'I have come,' answered Yosoji, "'because I have not fully spoken my thanks, "'and because I wish to tell you how deeply grateful I am to you, "'as is my mother, and as are the whole of our villages. "'Moreover, they all as well as I, "'wish to know to whom they are indebted for my guidance to the spring.

Starting point is 06:06:13 "'Though Camor Yamakiko told me of the spring, "'I should never have found it but for your kindness, "'which has now extended over five weeks. surely you will let us know to whom we are so much indebted, so that we may at least erect a shrine in our temple. All that you ask is unnecessary. I am glad that you are grateful. I knew that one so truly filial as you must be so, and it is because of your filial piety and goodness that I guided you to this health-giving spring, which, as you see, is dry, having at present no further use. It is unnecessary. It is unnecessary, that you should know who I am. We must now part, so farewell. End your life as you have begun it,

Starting point is 06:06:59 and you shall be happy. The beautiful maiden swung a wild camellia branch over her head, as if with a beckoning motion, and a cloud came down from the top of the Mount Fuji, enveloping her at first in mist. It then arose, showing her figure to the weeping Yossoji, who now began to realize that he loved the abhorting figure, and that it was no lesser figure than that of the great goddess of Fujiyama. Yosuji fell on his knees and prayed to her, and the goddess, acknowledging his prayer, threw down the branch of wild chamelea. Yosuji carried it home and planted it, caring for it with the utmost attention. The branch grew to a tree with marvellous rapidity, being over twenty feet high in two years. A shrine was built. People came to worship the tree, and it is said that the dew drops from

Starting point is 06:07:53 its leaves are a cure for all eye complaints. End of Chapter 31. Read by Rob Marland. Chapter 32 of Ancient Tales in Folklore of Japan. This is a Librevox recording. All Librevox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, auto-volunteer, please visits Librivox.org. Recording by Vlad Amalchak Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith Wales

Starting point is 06:08:35 There are many stories and superstitions regarding whales. I take one, dating back to the period of Hoen, 1135, which will show the veneration and the fear in which the Japanese have always held these creatures. I will annex the translation by Mr. Ando for Consulate of a newspaper paragraph of date February 12, 1907, showing that the superstitions are still current. Some 172 years ago, when the Hoian period began, the shrine of Atsuta at Nagoya was burned down. For some reason, this calamity was said at the time to have happened,

Starting point is 06:09:19 because the head shrine watcher, Yoda Eman, had startled, one of the gods. Well, at any rate, the Holy Shrine was burned down, and the caretaker was exiled to Oshima Island in Idzu province, now generally known as Vries Island. It is the largest and most northerly of the group of islands which run in a chain towards the southeast. The nearest to Oshima is Toshi Island, often named Vishima, of which our story is told. Yoder Eman was a man of active mind and pursuits.

Starting point is 06:09:56 Perhaps that is why he startled the god who caused the fire at Atsuta. In any case, he felt his exile greatly. He could gain no news of home or family, and he fretted and worried himself to such an extent that at last his nights became sleepless, and he thought to himself that if some relief to his mind did not come soon, he must either kill himself or go mad. At last it occurred to him that possibly he might get permission to go fishing

Starting point is 06:10:28 and the permission was given him on condition that he kept within a mile of the shore. Day after day, Yoda took the boat which was lent him and returned generally with a goodly supply of fish, singing to himself as eroding turned out from the shore. He soon managed to sleep soundly and regain his strength After a month or two, Yoder became quite a popular person, giving his fish away free to any who chose to take them, and he was soon allowed a wider range than the one mile limit.

Starting point is 06:11:05 He became an expert sailor, and had it not been for the loss of his family, he would have been quite happy in his new home. One day, the morning being calm, Yoder ventured farther away than usual, hoping to capture some of the larger fish, which were reputed to be plentiful, some 10 miles from Toshishima. He was lucky and landed three magnificent fish of the mackerel family, known as Sada in Japan, Sear in India,

Starting point is 06:11:36 and Albuquer with us in England, who never see them. Unfortunately, after this, the wind, instead of springing up from the southeast as usual, came out from the northwest, and instead of being able to return to Oshima, Yoda found himself being blown farther from it. The wind came stronger and stronger until a gale was blowing, and soon the currents caused a high and breaking sea.

Starting point is 06:12:07 Darkness set in, and Yoda thought to himself that this was a visitation upon him for having caught fish. Oh, cried he aloud. What foolish sin have I now committed? Surely my position as a banished priest should have told me that I was seen in and catching fish. He flung himself on the bottom of the boat and prayed. But his prayers availed him nothing, for the wind increased in force and so did the sea.

Starting point is 06:12:41 Long after midnight a big wave smashed the boat to splinters. half stunned, half drowned, a yoda clung to the large ore, and so remained for some three hours. At last he felt himself being bumped against what he took to be a rock and letting go the ore scrambled onto it, more dead than alive. After many efforts, so exhausted was he and so enummed, he sat there only half conscious in the dark. Towards morning, the turn of tide caused the sea to smooth down, and as the sun rose, Yoda found to his horror that it was no rock upon which he sat, but the back of a live whale of gigantic size.

Starting point is 06:13:34 Yodda knew neither what to do, nor what to think. He dared not move for fear of disturbing the whale's repose. Even when the animal blew water and air from its pout hole did he venture to turn his body. But silently he muttered prayers all the time. At last, when the sun was full up, the whale began to turn round and as it did, so Yoda saw a large fishing boat, not more than half a mile away. He shouted and shouted at the top of his voice, trying to attract attention. move he dared not, lest the whale should leave him. The wind was still high, but the sea was smooth.

Starting point is 06:14:24 Suddenly, the fishing boat changed its course, and the whale lay still again, basking in the sunshine. The boat advanced rapidly, and when about 80 feet from the whale brought up to the wind and lay still. A lifeline with a bow attached was drifted towards the whale, and when it was near enough, Yoda slid off to take it, and was hauled into the boat, thoroughly thankful for his rescue. As soon as Yoda was on board, the boat began to roll, for the whale lashed his tail and was plain about, causing quite a heavy sea. But to the relief of all, the creature headed south for the open Pacific. The crew on the fishing boat belonged to Toshi Island, and had heard of a very little bit. Yoder Eman, and being good-natured fellows felt sorry for him in his exile. After his astonishing adventure

Starting point is 06:15:23 with the whale, they did not in the least mind taking him back to Oshima, which they reached about sundown. Yoder immediately reported himself and was congratulated on his extraordinary escape. After this, Yoder gave up fishing and submitted without grumbling to the severe discipline of his exile. On the occasion of Prince Tannen ascending the throne, an ordinance was issued, giving freedom to many prisoners and exiles. Yudah Eamon was among them and was giving permission to return home, but he said he had made so many friends on the island and his life has been saved so miraculously that he preferred to leave where he was, and he obtained official permission to do so, and to send for his family, which after building a house he did.

Starting point is 06:16:19 In the first year of Koji, 1142 to 1144, Yodo was made mayor of Shichto, that is, the seven islands lying round or south of Oshima, and including itself. Now, thought he, I shall be able to repay the kindness that the whale showed me in saving my life. And he issued an order that no whales were to be chased or killed anywhere near the islands over which he had jurisdiction. At first there was some grumbling, but the government sent messengers to Oshima to say that the emperor approved Yudah Eman's order. And furthermore, that during Yodda's life, no whale was to be killed anywhere in Shichto. Whale and Whaler Some years ago, they lived a wealthy fisherman called Matsushima Tomiguro at Matsushima in Nagasaki.

Starting point is 06:17:21 He made a large fortune by whale fishing. One night, he dreamed a strange dream. A whale, Zato Kujira, carrying a baby whale, appeared before his pillow and requested him to let her and the baby go safely. They were going to pass a certain part of the sea at a certain time and date. Matsushima heartlessly did not accede, but took advantage of the information. He put a net in the sad sea at the due time and caught a whale and her baby. Not long after, the cruel fisherman began to reap the harvest of his mercilessness.

Starting point is 06:18:05 Misfortune after misfortune befell him, and dull his wife. wealth disappeared. It must be the result of its cruelty in killing the whale and its baby, said the neighbors. And for some time, they never caught whales carrying babies. Translated by Mr. Ando. End of chapter 32. Chapter 33 of ancient tales and folklore of Japan. This isn't Libravox recording.

Starting point is 06:18:42 All Libravox recorded. recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Linda Ray Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. The Holy Cherry Tree of Musubi No Kami Temple. In the province of Mimkasa is a small town called Khakmi, and in the temple grounds is a shrine, which has been there for some hundreds of years, and is dedicated to Musubi Nokami, the god of love. Nearby one stood a magnificent old cherry tree, which was given the name of Kanzakur.

Starting point is 06:19:42 or holy cherry, and it is in honor of this tree that the shrine dedicated to the God of love was built. Long ago when the village of Kagmi was smaller than it is at present, it had as one of its chief residence a man called Sodaharu. Sodaru was one of those men, to be found in me. most Japanese villages, who with but little work thrive on the work of others and grow richer than most. He bought and sold their crops, making commission both ways, and before he was middle-aged, he was a rich man. Sudha'u was a widower, but he had a lovely daughter, who was age 17, and it was thought by Sudau that the time had now arrived for him

Starting point is 06:20:47 to look about for a desirable husband for Hanano. Accordingly he called her to him and said, The time has come, my dear child, when it is my duty to find you a suitable husband. When I have done so you will, I trust a pretext. prove of him, for it will be your duty to marry him. Of course, O Hanano, bowed her willingness to two just as her father decreed, but at the same time she confided in her favorite servant, Yucca, that she did not care

Starting point is 06:21:29 about being married to a man that she might not love. What can I do? What would you advise me to do? my dear O Yuka. Do try and think how you can help me to obtain a man I can love. A handsome man he must be, and not more than 22 years of age. O Yuka answered that the advice asked for was difficult to give, but there was one thing, she said. You can go to the temple and pray at the shrine of Musupi No Kami, the god of love. Pray him that the husband your father finds may be handsome and after your own heart.

Starting point is 06:22:22 They say that if you pray at this shrine, 21 days in succession, you will obtain the kind of lover you want. O'Hamano was pleased with the idea, and that afternoon accompanied by Yucca her maid, she went to pray at the shrine of Musubi no Kani. Day after day they continued until the 21st, and last day of the series had arrived. They had finished their prayers and were on their way from the temple, and passing under the great cherry tree known as the Canzacura or Holy Cherry, when they saw standing near its stem a youth of some 20 or 21 years. He was handsome with a pale face and expressive eyes.

Starting point is 06:23:23 In his hand he held a branch of cherry blossom. He smiled pleasantly at Hasano. and she at him, then bowing he came forward and smiling presented her with the blossom. Hasano blushed and took the flowers. The youth bowed again and walked away, as did Hasano, who had a fluttering heart and felt very happy, for she thought that this youth must be the one sent by the God of love in answer to her prayers. Of course it must be, she said to O Yuka. This is the 21st, and that completes the course of prayer you spoke of.

Starting point is 06:24:19 Am I not lucky? And is he not handsome? I do not think it possible that a more handsome youth was ever seen. I wish he had not gone away so soon. This and much more did Oh Hanno prattle to her maid on the way home, upon reaching which the first thing she did was to put the cherry blossom branch into a vase in her own room. O Yuka, she called for the twentieth time at least. Now you must go and find out all you can about the young man.

Starting point is 06:25:07 But say nothing to my father as yet. Possibly it is not the husband he is choosing for me. But I can love no other at all events, and I must love him in secret if this is the case. Now go, dear Yuka, find out all you can, and will you prove yourself more faithful and dear to me than ever? And the faithful maid went on her young mistress's errand. Now, O Yuka found out nothing about the youth they had seen under the Holy

Starting point is 06:25:50 cherry tree, but she found out that there was another youth in the village who had fallen greatly in love with her mistress, and as he had heard that Oh, Hanano's father was looking out for a suitable husband, he intended to apply next day himself. His name was Tokunoski. He was a fairly well-connected youth and had some means, but his looks were in no way comparable with those of the youth who had handed the cherry branch to Hanano. Having discovered this much, Yucca returned to her young mistress and reported. Next day, early in the morning, at the most formal calling hour, Toku's Toko nooski went by appointment to see Hanano's father. Hanano was called to serve tea and saw the young man. Tokunoski was

Starting point is 06:27:04 structiously formal and polite to her and she to him, and soon after he left Hanano was told by her that was the young man whom he had chosen to be her husband. He is a man. He is a is desirable in every way, he added. He has money. His father is my friend, and he has secretly loved you for some months. You can ask for nothing better. Oh, Hanano made no answer,

Starting point is 06:27:38 but burst of crying and left the room, and Yuka was called in her steed. I have found a most desirable young man as husband for your mistress. said Sotau, but instead of showing pleasure and gratitude she has flown from the room, crying, can you explain to me the reason? You must know her secrets. Has she a lover unknown to me? Oyuka was not prepared to face the anger of her mistress's father, and she thought that truth in this especial instance,

Starting point is 06:28:20 would further Hanano's interests best, so she told the story faithfully and boldly. So Ayu thanked her for it, and again called his daughter to him, telling her that she must either produce her lover or allow Tokuun Skui to call and press his suit. Next morning, Toku Un-Skui did call, but Hanano told him with ears in her eyes that she could not love him, for she loved another whose name she did not even know herself. This is a strange piece of news, thought Toku unskui to himself, almost insulting to love a man whose name she did not even know herself.

Starting point is 06:29:18 she does not know, and, bowing low, he left the house, determined to find out who his nameless rival was, even if he had to disguise himself and follow Hanano to do so. That very afternoon, Hanano and Yucca went to pray as usual, and on coming away, they again found the handsome youth standing under the cherry tree. And again he advanced and smilingly handed Hanano a branch full of bloom, but again no words came from his lips, and it was evident to Tokunusuki, who was hiding behind some stone lanterns, that they could not have known each other long. In a few moments they bowed and separated. Oh, Hanano and her maid walked away from the temple, while the youth under the cherry tree looked after them. Tokun No Skui was now furiously jealous. He came from his hiding

Starting point is 06:30:38 place and accosted the youth under the cherry tree in a rude and rough tone. Who are you, you hateful, rascal? Give me your name and address at once, and tell me how you dare tempt the beautiful Ohanu San to love you. He was about to seize his enemy by the arm, when the enemy jumped suddenly back a step, and before Toku Unasku had time to catch him a sudden, Gust of wind blew the bloom thickly off the cherry tree.

Starting point is 06:31:22 So thick and quickly did the blossoms fell, they blinded Toku noesaku for some moments. When he could see again, the handsome youth was gone. But there was a strange moaning sound inside the cherry tree. while one of the temple priests came rushing at him in great anger, crying, Ah, you sacrilegious villain! What do you mean by attempting violence here? Do you not know that this cherry tree has stood here for hundreds of years?

Starting point is 06:32:07 It is sacred and contains a holy spirit, which sometimes comes forth in the form of a youth. It is he that you try to touch with your filthy and unholy hand. Be gone, I say, and never dare enter this temple again. Tokunusuki did not want pressing. He took to his hails and ran, and he ran straight to the house, of Sodayaku and told what he had seen and what had befallen him, omitting nothing, even to the names of the priest had called him.

Starting point is 06:32:57 Perhaps now your daughter may consent to marry me. He finished by saying, she cannot marry a Holy Spirit. Oh, Hanno was called and told the story, and was very much. much upset, that the face to whom she had given her heart was that of a spirit. What sin have I committed? she cried, falling in love with a God, and she rushed off to implore forgiveness at the shrine. Long and earnestly she prayed that her sin might be forgiven her. She resolved to devote the rest of her life to the ten. temple, and as she refused to marry, she obtained her father's consent.

Starting point is 06:33:50 Then she applied for permission to live in the temple and become one of its caretakers. She shaved her head, wore a white linen coat, and the crimson pantaloons which denote that you are no longer of the world. Oh, Hanno remained in the temple. for the rest of her life, sweeping the grounds and praying. The temple still stands. It is highly probable that if the stump of the cherry tree remains, another tree is planted beside it, as is usual.

Starting point is 06:34:32 End of Chapter 33, recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 34 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan This is a Librevox recording All Librevox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer Please visit Librevox.org Recording by Vlad Amalchuk Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan

Starting point is 06:35:05 By Richard Gordon Smith A story of Mount Kanzan Re Far up on the northeastern coast of Korea is a high mountain called Kanzan Re, and not far from its base where lies the district of Kan Koifu is a village called Tehagan, trading in little but natural products such as mushrooms, timber, furs, fish, and a little gold. In this village lived a pretty girl called Cho-yo, an orphan of some means. Her father, Choka, had been the only merchant in the district, and he had made quite a fortune for those parts, which he had left to Cho-yo when she was some 16 summers old.

Starting point is 06:35:51 At the foot of the mountain of Kanzan Re, lived a woodcutter of his simple and frugal habits. He dwelt alone in a broken-down hut, associated with but the few to whom he sold his wood, and was considered generally to be a morose and unsociable man. The recluse he was called, and many wondered who he was and why he kept so much to himself, for he was not yet 30 years of age and was remarkable for his good looks and strong frame. Sawada Shigoki was his name, but the people did not know it. One evening, as the recluse was wending his way down the rough mountain path, with a large load of firewood on his back,

Starting point is 06:36:31 he was resting in a particularly wide and rocky pass, darkened by the huge pine trees which towered on every hand, and was startled by a rustling sound close below. He looked nervously round, for the place in which he was had the reputation of being haunted by tigers, and with some truth, for several people had lightly been killed by them. On this occasion, however, the sound which had startled the recluse was caused by no tiger, but only by a pheasant which fluttered off her nest, and was imitating the sign of a wounded bird, to draw the intruder's attention away from the direction of her nest.

Starting point is 06:37:10 Strange, however, was it, thought the recluse, that the bird should have so acted, for she could neither have seen nor heard him, and so he listened intently to find a cause. There were not many minutes to wait. Almost immediately the recluse heard the sounds of voices and of scuffling, and hiding himself behind the trunk of a large tree, he waited, axe in hand. Soon he saw being carried, pushed and dragged down the path, a girl of surpassing beauty. She was in charge of three villainous men

Starting point is 06:37:45 whom the recluse soon recognized as bandits. As they were coming his way, the recluse retained his position, hidden behind the great pine and grasping more firmly his axe. And as the four approached him, he sprang out and blocked their way. Who have you here and what are you doing with this girl?

Starting point is 06:38:06 cried he. Let her go, or you will have to suffer. Being three to one, the robbers were in no fear and cried back. Stand out of our way you fall and let us pass unless you wish to lose your life. But the woodcutter was not afraid. He raised his axe and the robbers drew their swords. The woodcutter was too much for them. In an instant he had cut down one and pushed another over the precipice

Starting point is 06:38:37 and the third took to his heels only two. too glad to get away with his life. The recluse then bent down to attend to the girl who had fainted. He fetched water and bathed her face, bringing her back to her senses, and as soon as she was able to speak, he asked who she was, whether she was hurt, and how she had come into the hands of such ruffians. Amid sobs and weeping, the girl answered, I am Cho-Yo-choka, my home is the village of Tehegun.

Starting point is 06:39:10 This is the anniversary of my father's death, and I went to pray at his tomb at the foot of Gando Mountain. The day being fine, I decided to make a long tour and come back this way. About an hour ago, I was seized by these robbers, and the rest you know. Oh, sir, I'm thankful to you for your brave ring saving me. Please tell me your name. The woodcutter answered, Ah, then you are the famous beauty of Tehegan village, of whom I have so often heard. It is an honour indeed to me that I have been able to help you.

Starting point is 06:39:49 As for me, I am a woodcutter, the recluse they call me, and I live at the foot of this mountain. If you will come with me, I will take you to my hut where you can rest, and then I will see you safely to your home. Cho-yo was very grateful to the woodcutter, who shouldered his stack of wood, and, taking her by the hand, led her down the steep and dangerous path. At his heart they rested, and he made her tea. Then took her to the outskirts of a village, where, bowing to her in a manner far above that of the ordinary peasant, he left her. That night, Choyo could think of nothing but the brave and hand. handsome woodcutter who had saved her life. So much indeed did she think that before the morn had dawned, she felt herself in love deeply and desperately. The day passed and night came.

Starting point is 06:40:48 Cho-yo had told all her friends of how she had been saved and by whom. The more she talked, the more she thought of the woodcutter, until at last she made up her mind that she must go and see him, for she knew that he would not come to see her. I have the excuse of going to thank him, she thought. And besides, I will take him a presence of some delicacies and fish. Accordingly, next morning she started off at daybreak, carrying her present in a basket. By good fortune, she found the recluse at home, sharpening his axes, but otherwise taking a holiday. I have come, sir, to thank you again for your brave rescue of myself the other day.

Starting point is 06:41:36 And I have brought a small present, which I trust, however unworthy you will deign to accept. Said the love-sick Choyo. There is no reason to thank me for performing a common duty, said the recluse. But by so fair a pair of lips as yours, it is pleasing to be thanked. And I feel a great honor. The gift, however, I cannot accept, for then I should be the debtor, which for a man is wrong. Choa felt both flattered and rebuffed at this speech, and tried again to get the recluse to accept her present, but though her attempts led to friendly conversation and to chaff, he would not do so.

Starting point is 06:42:22 And Choya left, saying, Well, you have beaten me today, but I will return, and in time I shall beat you and make you accept a gift from me. Come here when you like, answered the recluse. I shall always be glad to see you, for you are a ray of light in my miserable heart. But never shall you place me under an obligation by making me accept a gift. It was a curious answer, thought Choyo as she left, but, Oh, how handsome he is, and how how I am.

Starting point is 06:42:59 I love him, and anyway, I will visit him again often and see who wins in the end. Such was the assurance of so beautiful a girl as Cho-yo. She felt that she must conquer in the end. For the next two months, she visited the recluse often, and they sat and talked. He brought her wild flowers of great rarity and beauty from the highest mountains and berries to it, but never once did he make love to her or even accept the slightest present from her hands. That did not deter Choya from pursuing her love. She was determined to win in the end, and she even felt that in a way this strange man loved her as she loved him, but for some reason would not say

Starting point is 06:43:49 so. One day in the third month after her rescue, Choyo again went to see the recluse. He was He was not at home, so she sat and waited, looking round the miserable hut and thinking what a pity it was, that so noble a man should live in such a state, when she, who was well off, was only too anxious to marry him, and of her own beauty she knew well. While she was thus musing, the woodcutter returned, not in his usual rags, but in the handsome costume of a Japanese samurai. And greatly astonished was she as she rose to greet him. Ah, fair Cho-yo, you are surprised to see me now as I am, and it is also with sorrow that I must tell you what I do, for I know well what is in both your heart and mind. Today we must part forever, for I am going away.

Starting point is 06:44:51 Choos flung herself upon the floor, weeping bitterly, And then, rising, said, between her sobs, Oh, now this cannot be. You must not leave me, but take me with you. Hitherto, I have said nothing, because it is not for a maid to declare her love, but I love you, and have loved you ever since the day you saved me from the robbers. Take me with you, no matter where, even to the cave where the demons of hell live, will I follow you if you will but let me.

Starting point is 06:45:21 You must, for I cannot be happy without you. cried the recluse. This cannot be. It is impossible, for I am a Japanese, not a Korean. Though I love you as much as you love me, we cannot be united. My name is Sawada Shigyoki. I am a samurai from Kouroume. Ten years ago I committed a political offense and had to fly from my country.

Starting point is 06:45:47 I came to Korea disguised as a woodcutter, and until I met you, I had not a happy day. Now our government is changed and I am free to return home. To you I have told this story and to you alone. Forgive my heartlessness in leaving you. I do so with tears in my eyes and sorrow in my heart. Farewell. So saying, the brave samurai, as my raconteur calls him,

Starting point is 06:46:17 strode from the heart never to see poor Cho-yo again. Cho-Yo continued to weep until darkness came on and it was too late for her to return home in safety. So she spent the night where she was in weeping. Next morning she was found by her servants, almost demented with fever. She was carried to her home and for three months was seriously ill. On her recovery, she gave most of her money to temples and in charity. She sold her house, keeping only enough money to buy her house. herself rice and spent the remainder of her days alone in the little hut at the foot of

Starting point is 06:46:57 Mount Kanzan Re, where at the age of 21 she was found dead of a broken heart. The samurai was brave, but was he noble in spite of his haughty national pride. To the Japanese mind he acted as did Buddha when he renounced his worldly loves. chances there if all men act thus of a sincere friendship between Japan and Korea. End of Chapter 34 Chapter 35 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org.

Starting point is 06:47:49 Read by Angeloic Campbell April 2019. and folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith, White Bone Mountain. At the foot of Mount Shimongataki, up in the northwestern province of Ikejo, once stood, and probably even still stands in rotten or repaired state, a temple of some importance, in so much as it was the burial ground of the feudal Lord Yamana's ancestors. The name of the temple was Vamonji, and many high and important priests kept it up generation after generation, owing to the early help received from Lord Yamanah's relations. Among the priests who presided over this temple was one named Araji Joan, who was the adopted

Starting point is 06:48:36 son of the Otomo family. Araji was learned and virtuous and had many followers, but one day the sight of a most attractive girl called Kikou, meaning chrysanthemum, whose age was 18, upset all his religious equilibrium. He fell desperately in love with her, offering to sacrifice his position and reputation if she would only listen to his prayer and marry him. But the lovely Okikusan refused all his entreaties. A year later she was taken seriously ill with fever and died, and whispers when abroad that Araji the priest had cursed her in his jealousy and brought about her illness and her death. The rumor was not exactly without reason, but Raji went mad within a week of Okiku's death. He neglected his services, and then got worse, running wildly about the temple, shrieking at night,

Starting point is 06:49:35 and frightening all those who came near. Finally, one night he dug up the body of Okiku and ate part of her flesh. People declared that he had turned into the devil, and none dared go near the temple. Even the younger priest left, until at last he was alone. So terrified were the people, none approached the temple, which soon ran to rack and ruin. Thorny bushes were on the roof, moss on the hitherto polished and matted floors, birds built their nests inside, perched on the mortuary tables, and made a mess of everything. The temple, which had once been a masterpiece of beauty, became a rotting ruin. One summer evening, some six or seven months later, an old woman who owned a tea house, at the foot of Shumongataki Mountain was about to close her shutters when she was terrified at the sight of a priest with a white cap on his head approaching. The devil priest! The devil priest! She cried as she slammed the last shutter in his face. Get away! Get away! We can't have you here! What do you mean by devil priest? I am a traveling or pilgrim priest, not a robber. Let me in at once, where I want both rest and refreshment, cried the voice from outside. The old woman looked through a crack in the shutters and saw that it was not the dreaded maniac,

Starting point is 06:50:51 but a venerable pilgrim priest. So she opened the door in Letty Men, profuse in her apologies, and telling him how they were all frightened out of their wits by the priest of Fumongi Temple, who had gone mad over a love affair. Oh, sir, it is truly terrible. We hardly dare go within half a mile of the temple now, and someday the mad priest is sure to come out of it and kill some of us. Do you mean to tell me that a priest has so far forgotten himself as to break through the teachings of Buddha and to make himself the slave of worldly passions? asked the traveler. I don't know about the worldly passions, cried the old lady, but our priest has turned into a devil, as all the people hereabouts will tell you, for he has even dug up and eaten of the flesh of the poor girl whom he calls to die by his cursing. there have been instances of people turning devils said the priest but they are usually common people and not priest a courtier of the emperor's so's turned into a serpent the wife of yoshi into a moth the mother of ogan into a yansha or vampire bat but i have never heard of a priest turning into a devil besides a raji joan your priest at fumanji temple was a virtuous and clever man i have always heard i have come here in fact to do myself the honor or of meeting him, and tomorrow I shall go and see him. The old lady served the priest with tea and begged

Starting point is 06:52:19 him to think of no such thing, but he persisted and said that on the morrow he would do as he mentioned, and read the mad priest a lecture, and then he laid himself down to rest for the night. Next afternoon, the old priest, true to his word, started for the Fomange Temple, the old lady accompanying him for the first part of the walk to the place where the path which led to the temple turned up the mountain, and there she bade him goodbye, refusing to go another step. The sun was beginning to set as the priest came in sight of the temple, and he saw that the place was in great disorder. The gates had tumbled off their hinges, withered leaves were thickly strewn everywhere and crumpled under his feet, but he walked boldly on and stroked a small temple belt with his staff.

Starting point is 06:53:04 At the sound came many birds and bats from the temple, the bats flapping round his head, but there was no other sign of life. He showed. struck the bell again with renewed force, and it boomed and clanged in echoes. At last, a thin, miserable-looking priest came out, and looking wildly about said, Who are you? And why have you come here? The temple has long since been deserted, for some reason which I cannot understand. If you want lodging, you must go to the village. There is neither food nor bedding here. I am a priest from Wakasa province. The pretty scenery and clear streams have caused me to linger long on my journey. It is too late now to go to the village, and I am too tired.

Starting point is 06:53:45 So please let me remain for the night, said the priest. The other made answer, I cannot order you away. The place is no longer more than a ruined shed. You can stay if you like, but you can have neither food nor bedding. Having said this, he sat on the corner of a rock while the pilgrim priest sat on another close by. Neither spoke until it was dark and the moon had risen. Then the mad priest said, find what place you can and sigh to sleep. There are no beds, but what there is of the roof keeps the mountain dew from falling on you during the night, and it falls heavily here and wets you through. Then he went into the temple. The pilgrim priest could not tell where, for it was dark, and he could not follow, the place being littered with idols and beams and furniture,

Starting point is 06:54:32 which the mad priest had hacked to pieces in the early stages of his madness. The pilgrim, therefore, felt his way about until he found himself between a large fallen idol and a wall and here he decided to spend the night it being as safe a place in which to hide from the maniac as any he could find without knowing his way about or having a light fortunately for himself he was a strong and healthy old man and was well able to do without food and also to stand unharmed the piercing and damp cold the pilgrim priest could hear the sound of the many streams which gargled down the mountain side there was also the unpleasant sound of squeaking rats as they chased and fought and of bats which flew in and out of the place and of hoating owls but beyond this nothing nothing of the mad priest hour after hour passed thus until one o'clock when suddenly, just as the pilgrim felt himself dozing off, he was aroused by a noise. The whole temple seemed as if it were being knocked down. Shudders were slammed with such violence that they fell to the floor. Right and left idols and furniture were being hurled about.

Starting point is 06:55:37 In and outran the sound of the naked pattering feet of the crazed priest who shouted, Oh, where is the beautiful O' Kiku? My sweetly beloved Akiku! oh where oh where is she the gods and the devils have combined to defraud me of her and i care for neither and defy them all kiku kiko come to me the pilgrim thinking his cramped position would be dangerous if the maniac came near him availed himself of an opportunity when the latter was in a far-up part of the temple, to get out into the grounds and hide himself again. It would be easier to see what went on, thought he,

Starting point is 06:56:30 and to run if necessary. He hid himself first in one part of the grounds and then in another. Meanwhile, the mad priest paid several rushing visits to the outsides of the temple, keeping up all the time his awful cries for Okiku. Towards morning he retired once more to the part of the temple in which he lived, and no more noise was made. Our pilgrim then went forth from his hiding, and seated himself in the rock which he had occupied the evening before, determined to see if he could not force a conversation with a dmented man, and read him a lesson from the sacred teachings of Buddha. He sat patiently on until the sun was high, but all remained silent. There was no sign of the mad priest. Towards midday the pilgrim heard sounds in the temple, and bind by the madman came out, looking as if he had just recovered from a drunken orgy. He appeared at dazed and was quiet, and started as he saw the old priest seated on the rock as he had been

Starting point is 06:57:25 the night before. The old man rose, and approaching him said, my friend, my name is Ungai. I am a brother priest from the temple of Dagoggi in Wakasa province. I came hither to see you, hearing of your great wisdom. But last night I heard in the village that you had broken your vows as a priest and lost your heart to a maiden, and that from love of her you have turned into a a dangerous demon, I have in consequence considered it my duty to come and read you a lecture, as it is impossible to pass your conduct unnoticed. Pray, listen to the lecture and tell me if I can help you. The mad priest answered quite meekly, you are indeed a border. Please tell me what I can do to forget the past and to become a holy and virtuous priest. Once more,

Starting point is 06:58:14 Ungai answered, come out here in the grounds and seat yourself on this rock. Then he read a lecture out of the Buddhist Bible and finished by saying, And now, if you wish to redeem your soul, you must sit on this rock until you are able to explain the following lines, which are written in the sacred book. The moon on the lake shines on the winds between the pine trees, and a long night grows quiet at midnight. Having said this, Ungai bowed low and left the mad priest, Joan, sitting on the rock reflecting. For a month, Ungai wandered from temple to temple lecturing. At the end of that time, he came back by way of Homongi Temple,

Starting point is 06:58:56 and thought he would go up to it and see what had happened to Mad Joan. At the tea house in which he had first put up, he asked the old landlady if she had seen or heard any more of the crazy priest. No, she said, we have neither seen nor heard of him. Some people say he has left, but no one knows, for none dare go up to the temple to see. Well, said Ungey, I will go up tomorrow morning and find out. Next morning, Ungey went to the temple and found Joan still seated exactly as he had left him on the rock, muttering the words. The moon on the lake shines on the winds between the pine trees, and a long night grows quiet. At midnight, Joan's hair and beard had become long and gray in the time, and he appeared to be miserably thin, and almost transparent. Ungai was struck with pity at Joan's righteous determination and patience, and tears came to his eyes.

Starting point is 06:59:55 Get up, get up, said he, or indeed you are a holy and determined man. But Joan did not move. Ungui poked him with his staff to awaken him as he thought, but to his horror, Joan fell to pieces and disappeared like a flake of melting snow. Ungai stayed in the temple for three days, praying for the soul of Joan. The villagers, hearing of this generous action, rebuilt the temple and made him their priest. Their temple had formerly belonged to the Meitzlsect, but now it was transferred to Ungai's Jaudou sect, and the temple or name of Omangei was changed to Hakatsuzon, White Bone Mountain. The temple is said to have prospered for hundreds of years after.

Starting point is 07:00:41 End of Chapter 35. Chapter 36 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Colleen McMahon. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. A Stormy Night's Tragedy. Footnote. Fukuugugat told me this story and vouches for its accuracy.

Starting point is 07:01:17 End of footnote. All who have read anything of Japanese history must have heard of Saigo Takamori, who lived between the years 1827 and 1877. He was a great imperialist, fighting for the emperor until 1876, when he gave over, owing to his disapproval of the Europeanization going on in the country and the abandonment of ancient national ways. As practical commander-in-chief of the Imperial Army, Saigo fled to Kagoshima, where he raised a body of faithful followers, which was the beginning of the Satuma Rebellion. The imperialist defeated them, and in September of 1877, Saigo was killed. Some say in the last battle, and others that he did Sapuku, and that his head was cut off and secretly buried, so that it should not fall into the hands of his enemies. Saigo Takomori,

Starting point is 07:02:08 was highly honored even by the imperialists. It is hard to call him a rebel. He did not rebel against his emperor, but only against the revolting idea of becoming Europeanized, who can say that he was not right? He was a man of fine sentiment and great loyalty. Should all of us follow meekly the imperial order in England if we were told that we were to practice the manners and customs of South Sea Islanders? That would be hardly less revolting to us than Europeanization was to Saigo. In the first year of Meiji, 1868, the Tokugawa army had been badly beaten by Saigo at Fushimi, and field-martialed Tokugawa Keiki had the greatest difficulty in getting down to the sea and escaping to Yedo. The Imperial Army proceeded along the Tokhido Road, determined to break up the Tokugawa force.

Starting point is 07:02:56 Their advance guard had reached Hiratsuka under Mount Fuji on the coast. It was a spring day, the 5th of April, and the cherry trees were in full bloom. the country folk had come in to see the victorious troops, who formed the advance guard of those who had beaten the Tokugawa. There were many beggars about, together with peddlers and cellars of sweets, roasted potatoes and whatnot. Towards evening, clouds came over the skies. At five o'clock, rain began.

Starting point is 07:03:22 At six, everyone was undercover. At the principal inn were a party of the headquarters staff officers, including the gallant Saigo. They were making the best of the bad weather and not feeling particularly lively, when they heard the soft and melodious notes of the Shakuhachi at the gate. That is the poor blind beggar we saw playing near the temple today, said one. Yes, so it is, said another. The poor fellow must be very wet and miserable.

Starting point is 07:03:48 Let us call him in. Capital idea, assented all of them, among whom was Saigo Takamori. We will have him in and raise a subscription for him if he can raise our spirits in this weather. They gave the landlord an order to admit the blind flute player. The poor man was led in by a side door and brought into the presence of the officers. Gentlemen, said he, you have done me a very great honor and a kindness, for it is not pleasant to stand outside playing in the rain with cotton clothes on. I think I can repay you, for I am said to play the Shakahachi well. Since I have been blind, it has become my only pleasure,

Starting point is 07:04:25 and not only that, but also my only means of living. It is hard now in these unsettled days when everything is upside down, to earn a living. Not many travelers come to the inns while the imperial troops occupy them. These are hard days, gentlemen. They may be hard days for you, poor blind fellow, but say nothing against the imperial troops, for we have to be suspicious. They're being spies of the Tokugawa. Three eyes, indeed, does each of us need in his head. Well, well, I have no wish to say aught against the imperial troops, said the blind man. All I have to say is that it is precious hard for a blind man to earn enough rice, wherewith to fill his stomach. Only once a week, on average, am I called to play to private parties,

Starting point is 07:05:05 or to shampoo some rheumatic person such as this wet weather produces. The blessing of the gods be on it. Well, we will see what we can do for you, poor fellow, said Saigo. Go round the room and see what you can collect, and then we will start the concert. Matsuiichi did as he was bid, and returned to Saigo some ten minutes later with five or six yen, to which Saigo added, saying, there, poor fellow, what do you think of that? Say no more that the end. The imperial troops cause you to have an empty belly. Say rather that if you lived near them long, the skin of your belly might become so overstretched as to cause you perforce to open your eyes, and then indeed you might find yourself put about for a trade. But let us hear your music. We are dull

Starting point is 07:05:45 of spirit tonight and want enlivening. Oh, gentlemen, this is too much. Far too much for my poor music. Take some of it back. No, no, they answered. We are troops and officers of the imperial army. Our lives are uncertain from day to day. It is a place. to give and to enjoy music when we can. The blind man began to play, and he played long and late. Sometimes his heirs were lively, and at other times as mournful as the spring wind which blew through the cherry trees. But his manner was enchanting, and all were grateful to him for having afforded a night's amusement. At eleven o'clock the concert finished, and they went to rest. The blind beggar left to the inn, and Cato Sichibe, the proprietor, locked it up, in spite of the centuries

Starting point is 07:06:28 posted outside. The inn was surrounded by hedges and several clumps of bamboos stood in the corners. At the far end was an artificial mountain with a lake at its foot, and near the lake a little summer house over which towered a huge and ancient pine tree, one of the branches of which stretched right back over the roof of the inn. At about one o'clock in the morning, the form of a man might have been seen stealthily climbing this huge tree until he had reached the branch which hung over the inn. There he stretched himself flat and began squirming along, evidently intent upon reaching the upper floor of the house. Unfortunately for himself, he cracked a small branch of dead wood, and the sound caused a sentry to look up. Who goes there, cried he, bringing his musket round. But there was no

Starting point is 07:07:14 answer. The sentry shouted for help, and it was not more than twenty seconds before the whole house was up and out. No escape for the man on the tree was possible. He was taken prisoner. Imagine in the astonishment of all when they found that he was the blind beggar, but now not blind at all. His eyes flashed fire of indignation at his captors, for the great plan of his young life was dead. Who is he? cried one and all, and why the trickery of being blind last evening? A spy, that's what he is. A Tokugawa spy, said one. Take him to headquarters so that the chief officers may interrogate him, and be careful to hold his hands, for his every appearance of being a samurai and a fighter.

Starting point is 07:07:53 And so the prisoner was led off to the temple of Homanji, where the headquarters of the staff temporarily were. The prisoner was brought into the presence of Saigo Takamori and four other imperial officers, one of whom was Katsura Koguro. He was made to kneel. Then Saigo, who was the chief, said, hold your head up and give us your name. The prisoner answered, I am Watanabe Tatuzo. I am one of those who have the honor of belonging to the bodyguard of the Tokugawa government. You are bold, said Saigo. Will you have the goodness to tell us why you have been masquerading as a blind beggar, and why you were caught in an attempt to break into the inn? I found that the imperial ambassador was sleeping there, and our cause is not bettered by killing ordinary officers. You are a fool,

Starting point is 07:08:41 answered Saigo. How much better would you find yourself off if you killed Yanaguara, Hashimoto, or Katsura. Your question is stupid, was the unabashed answer. Every man of us does his little. My efforts are only a fragment, but little by little we shall gain our ends. Have you a comrade here? asked Saigo. Oh no, answered the prisoner. We act individually as we think best for the cause. It was my intention to kill anyone of importance whose death might strengthen us. I was acting entirely as I thought best. And Saigo said, your loyalty does you credit, and I admire you for that, but you should recognize that after the last victory of the imperial troops at Fushimi, the Tokugawa's tenure of office extending over 300 years has come to an end.

Starting point is 07:09:27 It is only natural that the imperial family should return to power. Your intention is presumably to support a power that is finished. Have you never heard the proverb which says that no single support can hold a falling tower? Now tell me truthfully the absurd ideas which appear to exist in your mind. Do you really think that the to Tokugawa have any further chance? If you were any other than the heroic or admirable Saigo, I should refuse to answer these questions, said the prisoner. But, as you are the great Saigo Takamori, and I admire your loyalty and courage, I will confess that after our defeat, some 200 of a samurai formed into a society swearing to sacrifice our lives to the cause in any way that we were able.

Starting point is 07:10:10 I regret to say that nearly all ran away, and that I am, as far as I am able to judge, about the only one left. As you will execute me, there will be none. Stop, cried Saigo, say no more. Let me ask you, will you not join us? Look upon the Tokugawa as dead. Too many faithful but ignorant samurai have died for them. The imperial family must reign. Nine-tenths of the country demand it. Though your guilt stands confessed, your loyalty is admirable, and we should gladly take you to our side. Think before you answer. No thought was necessary. Watanabi Tatsuzo answered instantly. No, never. Though alone, I will not be unfaithful to my cause. You'd better behead me before the day dawns. I see the strength of your arguments that the imperial family must and should reign,

Starting point is 07:10:57 but that cannot alter my decision with regard to my own fate. Saigo stood up and said, Here is a man whom we must respect. There are many Tokugawa who have joined our cause through fear, but they retain hate in their hearts. Look all of you at this Watanabe and forget him not, for he is a noble man and true to the death. So saying Saigo bowed to Watanabe and then, turning to the guard, said, take the prisoner to the Sambon Matsu and behead him as soon as the day dawns. Footnote. Sambon Matsu is three pines. End a footnote. Watanabe Tatsuzo was led forth and executed accordingly. There is a crossroad on the way leading to Mariko, on the right of the Nita ferry, some five or six Cho from the hill where is the Hamanji,

Starting point is 07:11:43 Ikegami in Abaragun, Tokyo Fu, where there is a little grave with a tombstone over it, with characters written thereon. They mean tomb of futetsushi, and it is here that Watanabe Tatsuzzo is said to have been buried. End of Chapter 36. Recording by Colleen McMan. Chapter 37 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Librevox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Colleen McMahon. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. The Cakemono Ghost of Aki Province. Footnote. About 250 years ago, a strange legend was attached to a cakemono which was painted by an artist's celebrity, Sawara Kameju, by name.

Starting point is 07:12:45 and, owing to the reasons given in the story, the kakemono was handed over to the safekeeping of the head priest of the Koryinji Temple. End of footnote. Down the inland sea, between Umma Daiichi and Korei, now a great naval port, and in the province of Aki, there is a small village called Yaiyama, in which lived a painter of some note, Abaytenko. Abay Tenko taught more than he painted, and relied for his living mostly on the small means. to which he had succeeded at his father's death, and on the aspiring artists who boarded in the village for the purpose of taking daily lessons from him. The island and rock scenery in the neighborhood afforded continual study, and Tenco was never short of pupils. Among them was one scarcely more than a boy, being only seventeen years of age. His name was Sawara Kamaju,

Starting point is 07:13:39 and a most promising pupil he was. He had been sent to Tenko over a year before, when scarce 16 years of age, and for the reason that Tenko had been a friend of his father, Sawara was taken under the roof of the artist and treated as if he had been his son. Tenko had had a sister who went into the service of the Lord of Aki, by whom she had a daughter. Had the child been a son, it would have been adopted into the Aki family. But being a daughter, it was, according to Japanese custom, sent back to its mother's family. With the result, the Tenko took charge of the child, whose name was Kimi. The mother being dead, the child had lived with him for 16 years. Our story opens with Okimi grown into a pretty girl.

Starting point is 07:14:23 Okimi was a most devoted adopted daughter to Tenko. She attended almost entirely to his household affairs, and Tenko looked upon her as if indeed she were his own daughter, instead of an illegitimate niece, trusting her in everything. After the arrival of the young student, Okimi's heart gave her much trouble. She fell in love with him. Soara admired Okimi greatly, but of love he never said a word, being too much absorbed in his study. He looked upon Kimi as a sweet girl, taking his meals with her and enjoying her society. He would have fought for her, and he loved her, but he never gave himself time to think that she was not his sister, and that he might make love to her. So it came to pass at last that Okumi, one day, with the pains of love in her heart, availed herself of her

Starting point is 07:15:11 guardian's absence of the temple, whether he had gone to paint something for the priests. Okimi screwed up her courage and made love to Sawara. She told him that since he had come to the house, her heart had known no peace. She loved him, and would like to marry him if he did not mind. This simple and maiden-like request, accompanied by the offer of tea, was more than young Sawara was able to answer without acquiescence. After all, it did not much matter, thought he. Kimi is a most beautiful and charming girl, and I like her very much, and must marry someday.

Starting point is 07:15:45 So, Sawara told Kimi that he loved her, and would be only too delighted to marry her when his studies were complete, say two or three years thence. Kimi was overjoyed, and, on the return of the good Tenko from Corinji Temple, informed her guardian of what had passed. Soirah set to with renewed vigor, and worked diligently, improving very much in his style of painting. And after a year, Tenko thought it would do him good to finish off his studies in Kyoto, under an old friend of his own, a painter named Sumyoshi Miyokei. Thus it was that in the spring of the sixth year of Kyoho, that is, in 1721, Sawara bade farewell to Tenko and his pretty niece

Starting point is 07:16:28 Okimi, and started forth to the capital. It was a sad parting. Sawara had grown to love Kimi very deeply, and he vowed that as soon as his name was made, he would return and marry her. In the olden days, the Japanese were even more shockingly poor correspondence than they are now, and even lovers or engaged couples did not write to each other, as several of my tales may show. After Sawara had been away for a year, it seemed that he should write and say at all events how he was getting on, but he did not do so. A second year passed, and still there was no news. In the meantime, there had been several admirers of Okimis who had proposed Tenko for her hand, but Tenko had invariably said that Kimi-san was already engaged,

Starting point is 07:17:14 until one day he heard from Miyoki, the painter in Kyoto, who told him that Sawara was making splendid progress, and that he was most anxious that the youth should marry his daughter. He felt that he must ask his old friend Tenko first, and before speaking to Sawara. Tenko, on the other hand, had an application from a rich merchant for O'Kimi's hand. What was Tenko to do? Sawara showed no signs of returning. On the contrary, it seemed that Miyokai was anxious to get him to marry into his family.

Starting point is 07:17:47 That must be a good thing for Sawara, he thought. Miokei is a better teacher than I, and if Sawara marries his daughter, he will take more interest than ever in my old pupil. Also, it is advisable that Kimi should marry that rich young merchant, if he is a I can persuade her to do so, but it will be difficult, for she loves Suara still. I am afraid he has forgotten her. A little strategy I will try, and tell her that Miokei has written to tell me that Saurah is going to marry his daughter, then possibly she may feel sufficiently vengeful to agree

Starting point is 07:18:19 to marry the young merchant. Arguing thus to himself, he wrote to Miokeye to say that he had his full consent to ask Suara to be his son-in-law, and he wished him every success in the the effort, and in the evening he spoke to Kimi. Kimi, he said, today I've had news of Sawara through my friend Milkei. Oh, do tell me what, cried the excited Kimi. Is he coming back, and has he finished his education? How delighted I shall be to see him!

Starting point is 07:18:48 We can be married in April, when the cherry blooms, and he can paint a picture of our first picnic. I fear, Kimi, the news which I have does not talk of his coming back. On the contrary, I am asked by Miokai. Kae to allow Sawara to marry his daughter, and, as I think such a request could not have been made had Suara been faithful to you, I have answered that I have no objection to the union. And now, as for yourself, I deeply regret to tell you this, but as your uncle and guardian, I again wish to impress upon you the advisability of marrying Yorazoya, the young merchant, who is deeply in

Starting point is 07:19:24 love with you and in every way a most desirable husband. Indeed, I must insist upon it, for I think it is most desirable. Poor Kimi-san broke into tears and deep sobs, and without answering a word, went to her room, where Tenko thought it well to leave her alone for the night. In the morning she had gone. None knew whither, there being no trace of her. Up in Kyoto, Sawara continued his studies, true and faithful to Okimi. After receiving Tenko's letter approving of Mio Kyi's asking Suara to become his son-in-law, Mio Kyi asks Suwara, if he would so honor him. When you marry my daughter, we shall be a family of painters,

Starting point is 07:20:06 and I think you will be one of the most celebrated ones that Japan ever had. But, sir, cried Suara, I cannot do myself the honor of marrying your daughter, for I am already engaged. I have been for the last three years. To Kimi, Tenko's daughter. It is most strange that he should not have told you. There was nothing for me okay to say to this,

Starting point is 07:20:26 but there was much for Sawara to think about. foolish, perhaps he then thought, were the ways of Japanese, and not corresponding more freely. He wrote to Kimi twice accordingly, but no answer came. Then Miyoki fell ill of a chill and died, so Suwara returned to his village home in Aki, where he was welcomed by Tenko, who was now without Okimi, lonely in his old age. When Sawara heard that Kimi had gone away, leaving neither address nor letter, he was very angry, for he had not been told the reason. An ungrateful and bad girl, said he to Tenko, and I have been lucky indeed in not marrying her.

Starting point is 07:21:05 Yes, yes, said Tenko, you have been lucky. But you must not be too angry. Women are queer things, and, as the saying goes, when you see what are running uphill and hands laying square eggs, you may expect to see a truly honest-minded woman. But come now, I want to tell you that as I am growing old and feeble, I wish to make you the master of my house and property here. You must take my name and Mary. Feeling disgusted in Okimi's conduct, Sawara readily consented. A pretty young girl, daughter of a wealthy farmer, was found, Kiku, the Chrysanthemum, and she and Sawara lived happily with Old Tenco, keeping his house and minding his estate. Soara painted in his spare time. Little by little, he became quite famous. One day the Lord of Aki sent for him, and said it was his wish that

Starting point is 07:21:54 Sawara should paint the seven beautiful scenes of the islands of Kabakarijima, six probably. The pictures were to be mounted on gold screens. This was the first commission that Sawara had had from such a high official. He was very proud of it and went off to the upper and lower Kabakari Islands, where he made rough sketches. He went also to the rocky islands of Shakoku Jima and to the little uninhabited island of Dikokuima, where an adventure befell him. strolling along the shore he met a girl tanned by sun and wind she wore only a red cotton cloth about her loins and her hair fell upon her shoulders she had been gathering shellfish and had a basket of them under her arm Sawara thought it strange that he should meet a single woman in so wild a place, and more so still when she addressed him, saying,

Starting point is 07:22:44 Surely you are Sirara Kamaju, are you not? Yes, answered Sawara, I am. But it is very strange that you should know me. May I ask how you do so? If you are Sawara, as I know you are, you should know me without asking, for I am no other than Kimi, to whom you are engaged. Suara was astonished and hardly knew what to say, so he asked her questions as to how she had come to this lonely island. O'Kimi explained everything and ended by saying, with a smile of happiness upon her face, And since, my dearest Sawara, I understand that what I was told is false, and that did not marry Mio K's daughter, and that we have been faithful to each other, we can be married and happy after all. Oh, think how happy we shall be! Alas, alas, my dear Kimi, it cannot be. I was led to suppose that you had deserted our benefactor Tenco and given up all thought of me.

Starting point is 07:23:37 Oh, the sadness of it all, the wickedness! I have been persuaded that you were faithless and had been made to marry another. Oh, Kimi made no answer, but began to run along the shore, towards a little hut, which home she had made for herself. She ran fast, and Suara ran after her, calling, Kimi, Kimi, stop and speak to me. But Kimi did not stop. She gained her hut, and, seizing a knife, plunged it into her throat, and fell back, bleeding to death. Suara greatly grieved, burst into tears. It was horrible to see

Starting point is 07:24:10 the girl who might have been his bride lying dead at his feet, all covered with blood, and having suffered so horrible a death at her own hands. Greatly impressed, he drew paper from his pocket and made a sketch of the body. Then he and his boatman buried Okimi above the tide mark near the primitive hut. Afterwards, at home, with a mournful heart, he painted a picture of the dead girl and hung it in his room. On the first night that it was hung, Sawara had a dreadful dream. On awakening, he found the figure on the kakemono seemed to be alive. The ghost of Okimi stepped out of it and stood near his bed. Night after night the ghost appeared, until sleep and rest for Sawara were no longer possible. There was nothing to be done, thought he, but to send his wife

Starting point is 07:24:56 back to her parents, which he did, and the kakemono he presented to the Kharinji Temple, where the priests kept it with great care and daily prayed for the spirit of Okimi-san. After that, Sawara saw the ghosts no more. The kakemono is called the Ghost Picture of Tenko 2, and is said to be still kept in the Karinji Temple, where it was placed some 230 to 240 years ago. End of Chapter 37. Recording by Colleen McMahon. 38 of ancient tales and folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the

Starting point is 07:25:41 public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Linda Ray Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. By Richard Gordon Smith. Saki. Two thousand or more years ago, Lake Biwa in Omi Province and Mount Fuji in Suruga province came into being in one night. Though my story relates this as fact, you are fully entitled to say, should you feel so inclined, wonderful indeed are the ways of nature. But do so respectfully, and without levity, for otherwise you will grossly offend and will not understand the ethical ideas of Japanese folklore stories. Well, at the time of this extraordinary geographical event, there lived one Ureene, a man of poor means even for those days. He loved saki wine and scarcely ever

Starting point is 07:26:59 spent a day without drinking some of it. Yoreen lived near the place, which is now called Suzu Kawa, a little to the north of the river known as Fujikawa. On the day which followed Fujsaan's appearance, Yurine became ill and was in consequence unable to drink his cup of sake. He became worse and worse. and, at last feeling that there could be no hope for him, decided to give himself the pleasure of drinking a cup before he died.

Starting point is 07:27:40 Accordingly, he called to himself his only son. Coriuri, a boy of fourteen years, and told him to go and fetch him a cup or two of the wine. Coeuri was sorely perplexed. He had no sacky in his. in the house, and there was not a single coin left wherewith to buy. This he did not like to tell his father, fearing that the unpleasant state of affairs might make him worse. So he took his gourd and went wandering along the beach, wondering how he could get what his father wanted. While thus employed,

Starting point is 07:28:25 Koyuri heard a voice, calling him by name. As he looked up towards the pines which fringed the beach, he saw a man and a woman sitting beneath an immense tree. Their hair was a scarlet red, and so were their bodies. At first, Koyuri was afraid. He had never seen their like before, but the voice was kindly, and the man was making signs to him to approach. Koyuri did so in fear and trembling, but with that coolness which characterizes the Japanese boy. As Koyuri approached the strange people he noticed that they were drinking sake, from large flat cups known as Sakadzuki, and that on the sand beside them was an immense jar,

Starting point is 07:29:26 from which they took the liquor. Moreover, he noticed that the saki was whiter than any he had seen before. Thinking always of his father, Koyuri unslung his gourd, reported his father's illness and begged for Saki. The red man took the gourd and filled it. After expressing gratitude, Koyuri ran off delighted. Here, father, here. said he as he reached his hut.

Starting point is 07:30:00 I have got you the saki, the best I have ever seen, and I am sure it tastes as good as it looks. Try it and tell me. The old man took the wine and drank greedily, expressing great satisfaction, and said was indeed the best he had ever tasted. Next day he wanted more. The boy found his two red friends, and again they filled the gourd. In short, Koyuri had his gourd filled for five days in succession, and his father had regained spirits and was almost well in consequence. Now, there lived in the next hut to Urean, an unpleasant neighbor who was also fond of Saki,

Starting point is 07:30:51 but too poor to procure it. His name was Mammy Kiko. On hearing that Urien had been drinking sake for the last five days, he became furiously jealous, and calling Coriuri asked where and how he had procured it. The boy explained that he had got it from the strange people with red hair who had been living near the big pine tree for some days past. Give me your gourd to taste, cried Mammy Kiko, snatching it roughly. Do you think that your father is the only man who was good enough for Saki? Putting the gourd to his lips, he began to drink, but he threw it down in disgust a second later, and spat out what was in his mouth.

Starting point is 07:31:47 What filth is this, he cried. to your father you give the most excellent saki, while to me you give foul water. What is the meaning of it? He gave Koyuri a sound beating and then told him to lead the way to the red people on the beach, saying, I will beat you again if I don't get some good saki, so you had better see to it. Khoruri led the way, weeping the while at the loss of His sake, which Mammy Kiko had thrown away, and fearing the anger of his red friends. In the usual place they found the strangers, who had both been drinking and were still doing so.

Starting point is 07:32:39 Mammy Kiko was surprised at their appearance. He had seen nothing quite like them before. Their bodies were of the pink of cherry blossom shining in the sun, while their long red hair almost frightened him. Both were naked except for a green girdle made of some curious seaweed. Well, boy, Kowuri, what are you crying about? And why back so soon? Has your father drunk the saki already? If so, he must be almost.

Starting point is 07:33:17 as fond of it as we. No, no, my father has not drunk it, but Mammy Kiko here took it from me and drank some, spitting it out and saying it was not saki. The rest he threw away, and then made me bring him here. May I have some more for my father? The red men refilled the gourd and told him not to mine, and seemed amused at Kowuri's account of Mammy Kiko spitting it out.

Starting point is 07:33:53 I am as fond as sake as anyone, cried Mammy Kiko. Will you give me some? Oh, yes, help yourself, said the Red Man. Help yourself. Mammy Kiko filled the largest of the cups, and putting it to his nose, smelt the fragrance, which was delicious. But as soon as he put it to his lips,

Starting point is 07:34:20 his face changed, and he had to spit again, for the taste was nauseating. What is the meaning of this? He cried angrily, and the regman answered still more angrily. You do not seem to be aware of who I am. Well, I will tell you that I am a shojo

Starting point is 07:34:45 of high degree, and I live deep in the bottom of the ocean near the Sea Dragon's Palace. Recently we heard that a sacred mountain had arisen on the edge of the sea, and as it is a lucky omen and a sign that the Empire of Japan will exist in perpetuity, I have come here to see it. While enjoying the magnificent scene from Sir Ruga Coast. I met this good boy, Koyuri, who asked for Saki for his poor, sick, old father, and I gave him some. Now this Saki is not ordinary Saki, but sacred, and those who drink it live forever and retain their youth. Moreover, it cures all diseases even in the aged. But you must know that any medicine,

Starting point is 07:35:45 is sometimes a poison, and thus it is that this sweet, sacred white saki, is good only in taste to the righteous, and bad tasting and poisonous to the wicked. Thus I know that, as it tastes evil to you, you are an evil and wicked man, selfish and greedy. and both the soldiers laughed at Mammy Kiko, who, on hearing that the few drops which he must have swallowed, would act as a poison and soon kill him, begged to cry with fear and to regret his conduct. He begged and implored forgiveness and that his life might be spared, and vowed that he would reform if only given a time. chance. The shojo, drawing some powder from a case, gave it to Mammy Kiko and told him to swallow it in some sake. For, said he, it is better to repent and reform even in your old age than not at all. Mamikiko drank it down this time, finding the wine sweet and delicious. It strengthened him

Starting point is 07:37:10 and made him feel well, and he reformed and became a good man. He made friends again with Urein and treated Koyuri well. Some years later, Mamikiko and Urein built a hut at the southern base of Fujisan, where they brewed white saki from a recipe given them by the shojo, and they gave it to all who suffered from Sancho, Saki poisoning. Both Mami Kiko and Yoreen lived for 300 years. In the Middle Ages, a man who had heard this story

Starting point is 07:37:52 brewed White Saki at the foot of Mount Fuji. He made it with rice yeast, and people became very fond of it. Even today, white saki is brewed somewhere at the foot of the mountain, and is well known as a special liqueur belonging to Fiji. I myself drank it in 1907 without fear of living beyond my 55th year. End of Chapter 38, recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 39 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libre Vox recording.

Starting point is 07:38:46 All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. The Blind Beauty Nearly 300 years ago, or, according to, my storyteller in the second year of Kawani, which would be 1626, the period of Kawani having begun in 1624 and ended in 1644, there lived at my Daziru in the province of Tango, a youth named Kichijiro.

Starting point is 07:39:41 Kichijiro had been born at the village of Tai, where his father had been a native, but on the death of the father he had come with his elder brother Kitshiuki to Ma DeZiro. The brother was his only living relation except an uncle, and had taken care of him for four years. educating him from the age of 11 until 15, and Kichigiro was very grateful, and determined that now he had reached the age of 15, he must no longer be a drag on his brother, but must begin to make a way in the world for himself.

Starting point is 07:40:33 After looking about for some weeks, Kichigero found employment with Shiawaya, Hachi Yemon, a merchant in Mag Zero. He worked very hard and soon gained his master's friendship. Indeed, Hachiyamon thought very highly of his apprentice. He favored him in many ways over older clerks, and finally entrusted him with the key of his safes, which contained documents and much money.

Starting point is 07:41:07 Now Hachi Yimon had a daughter of Kichigero's age, of great beauty and promise, and she felt desperately in love with Kichigero, who himself was at first unaware of this. The girl's name was Ima, O Ima Sane, and she was one of those delightfully ruddy, happy-faced girls whom only Japan can produce. A mixture of yellow and red, with hair and eyebrows as black as a raven. Ima paid Kichi Jiro compliments now and then, but he was a boy who thought little of love. He intended to get on in the world, and marriage was a thing which had not yet entered into his mind. after Kichigiro had been some six months in the employment of Hachiyamon, he stood higher than ever in the master's estimation, but the other clerks did not like him. They were jealous. One was specially so. This was Kanshii, who hated him not only because he was favored by the merchant, but also because he himself, loved Oima, who had given him many a rebuff when he had attempted to make love to her. So great did this secret hate become, at last Canse-she-she vowed that he would be revenged upon Kichigero,

Starting point is 07:42:52 and if necessary upon his master Hachii-I-Mon, and his daughter O'Ima as well, for he would be revenged. he was a wicked and scheming man. One day an opportunity occurred. Kichigiro had so far secured confidence that the master had sent him off to Kasumi in Tajima province there to negotiate the purchase of a junk. While he was away, Ken Si-Chi broke into the room where the safe was kept and took their from two bags containing money in gold up to the value of 200 rail. He effaced all signs of his action and went quietly back to his work.

Starting point is 07:43:45 Two or three days later, Kichigero returned, having successfully accomplished his mission, and after reporting this to the master, set to his routine work again. On examining the safe, he found that the the 200 Rio of gold were missing, and, he having reported this, the office and the household were thrown into a state of excitement. After some hours of hunting for the money, it was found in a coro, incense burner, which belonged to Kichigero, and no one was more surprised than he. It was Kansiichi who had found it. Naturally, after having put it there himself, he did not accuse Kichigiro of having stolen the money.

Starting point is 07:44:41 His plans were more deeply laid. The money having been found there, he knew that Kichigero himself would have to say something. Of course, Kichikiguro said he was absolutely innocent, and that when he had left for Kassumi, the money was safe. He had seen it just before leaving. Hachi-I-Mong was sorely distressed. He believed in the innocence of Kichigero. But how was he to prove it? Seeing that his master did not believe Kichikichiro guilty,

Starting point is 07:45:20 Kansichi decided that he must do something which would render it more or less impossible for Hachie-I-mon to do a otherwise than to send his hated rival Kichigero away. He went to the master and said, Sir, I, as your head clerk, must tell you that, though perhaps Kichiguro is innocent, things seem to prove that he is not. For how could the money have got into his quarrel?

Starting point is 07:45:56 If he is not punished, the theft will reflect on all of us, clerks. your faithful servants, and I myself should have to leave your service, for all the others would do so, and you would be unable to carry on your business. Therefore, I venture to tell you, sir, that it would be advisable in your own interest to send poor Kichigero for whose misfortune I deeply grieve away. Hachimon saw the force of this argument and agreed. He sent for Ketchigero, to whom he said, Kichigero, deeply as I regret it, I am obliged to send you away. I do not believe in your guilt, but I know that if I do not send you away, all my clerks will leave me, and I shall be ruined.

Starting point is 07:46:56 To show you that I believe in your innocence, I will tell you that my daughter, Emma, loves you, and that if you are willing, and after you can prove your innocence, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to have you back as my son-in-law. Go now, try and think how you can prove your innocence. My best wishes go with you. Kitchi Jiro was very sad. Now that he had to go, he found that he should more than miss the companionship of the sweet O'Ima. With tears in his eyes he vowed to the father that he would come back, prove his innocence, and marry O'Ima. And with O'Ima herself, he had his first love seen. They vowed that neither should rest until the scheming thief had been discussed.

Starting point is 07:47:56 and they were both reunited in such a way that nothing could part them. Kichigiro went back to his brother, Hichisuki, at Thai Village, to consult as to what it would be best for him to do to reestablish his reputation. After a few weeks, he was employed through his brother's interest, and that of his only surviving uncle in Cayoto. There he worked hard and faithfully for four long years, bringing much credit to his firm and earning much admiration from his uncle, who made him heir to considerable landed property

Starting point is 07:48:45 and gave him a share in his own business. Kichigero found himself at the age of 20, quite a rich man. In the meantime, calamity had come on Pretty Oima. After Kichigero had left Madazoo, Kanchi, began to pester her with attentions. She would have none of him. She would not even speak to him, and so exasperated did he become at last that he used to weigh her, on one occasion he resorted to violence and tried to carry her away by force. Of this, she complained to her father, who promptly dismissed him from his service. This made villain can shikichi angrier than ever, as the Japanese proverb says, Kawasiyya amati Nikusa,

Starting point is 07:49:53 excessive love is hatred. So it was with Kansi-chi, his love turned to hatred. He thought how he could be avenged on Hachiman and Oima. The most simple means he thought would be to burn down their house, the business offices, and the stores of merchandise. That must bring ruin. So one night, Shichie said about doing these things and accomplished them most successfully, with the exception that he himself was caught in the act and sentenced to a heavy punishment. That was the only satisfaction which was got by Hachiman, who was all but ruined. He sent away all his clerks and retired from business, for he was too old. to begin again. With just enough to keep life and body together, Hachimon and his pretty daughter lived

Starting point is 07:51:02 in a little cheap cottage on the banks of the river, where it was Hachimons' only pleasure to fish for carp and jacko. For three years he did this, and then fell ill and died. Poor O'Ima was left to herself, as lovely as ever, but mournful. The few friends she had tried to prevail on her to marry somebody. Anybody, they said, sooner than live alone. But to this advice the girl would not listen. It is better to live miserably alone, she said, than to marry one for whom you do not care.

Starting point is 07:51:47 I can love none, but Kijero. though I shall not see him again. O'Ima spoke the truth on that occasion, without knowing it, for, true as it is that it never rains, but it pours, O'Ima was to have more trouble. An eye sickness came to her, and in less than two months after her father's death,

Starting point is 07:52:15 the poor girl was blind, with no one to attend to her, once but an old nurse who was stuck to her through all her troubles. Ima had barely sufficient money to pay for rice. It was just at this time that Kichigiro's success was assured. His uncle had given him a half interest in the business and made a will in which he left him his whole property. Kichikji Jiro decided to go and report himself,

Starting point is 07:52:49 to his old master at Mad DeZero and to claim the hand of Oima, his daughter. Having learned the sad story of downfall and ruin and also of Ima's blindness, Kichigiro went to the girl's cottage. Poor O'Ima came out and flung herself into his arms, weeping bitterly and crying, Kichigero, my beloved, This is indeed almost the hardest blow of all. The loss of my sight was as nothing before.

Starting point is 07:53:28 But now that you have come back, I cannot see you, and how I long to do so. You can but little imagine. It is indeed the saddest blow of all. You cannot now marry me. Kichigero petted her and said, Dearest Emma, you must not be too hasty in your thoughts. I have never ceased thinking of you, indeed. I have grown to love you desperately. I have property now in Kayoto. But should you prefer to do so,

Starting point is 07:54:07 we will live here in this cottage. I am ready to do anything you wish. It is my desire to re-establish your father's or business, for the good of your family, but first and before even this, we will be married and never part again. We will do that tomorrow. Then we will go together to Kyoto and see my uncle and ask for his advice. He is always good and kind, and you will like him. He is sure to like you. Next day they say, started on their journey to Cayuto, and Kichiguro saw his brother and his uncle, neither of whom had any objection to Kichiguro's bride on account of her blindness. Indeed, the uncle was so much pleased at his nephew's fidelity that he gave him half of his

Starting point is 07:55:09 capital there and then. Kichigero built a new house and offices in Maddus. just where his first master Hachimon's place had been. He re-established a business completely, calling his firm the second Shiwola Hachimong, as is often done in Japan, which adds much to the confusion of Europeans who study Japanese art, for pupils often take the names of their clever masters, calling themselves the second. or even the third or the fourth. In the garden of their Madziro home was an artificial mountain, and on this Kichigiro had erected a tombstone or memorial dedicated to Hachiman,

Starting point is 07:56:03 his father-in-law. At the foot of the mountain, he erected a memorial to Kan Sichi. Thus he rewarded the evil wickedness of Kan Shih-chi by kindness, but showed at the same time that evil-doers cannot expect high places. It is to be hoped that the spirits of the two dead men become reconciled. They say in Mad Ziru that the memorial tombs still stand. End of Chapter 39. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 40 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan.

Starting point is 07:56:59 This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. The Secret of Ida Match. pond. In the first year of Bunkiyu, 1861 to 1864, there lived a man called Yehara Kaysuke in Kasu Miga Seki in the district of Kojimaichi. He was a Hatamoto, that is, a feudatory vassal of the shogun, and a man to whom some respect was due. But apart from that,

Starting point is 07:57:40 Yehara was much liked for his kindness of heart and general fairness in dealing with people. In Ida Machi lived another Hatomoto, Hayashi Hayato. He had been married to Yehara's sister for five years. They were exceedingly happy. Their daughter, four years old now, was the delight of their hearts. Their cottage was rather dilapidated, but it was Hayashi's own, with the pond in front of it and two farms, the whole property comprising some 200 acres, of which nearly half was under cultivation.

Starting point is 07:58:20 Thus, Hayashi was able to live without working much. In the summer he fished for carp, in the winter he wrote much, and was considered a bit of a poet. At the time of this story, Hayashi, having planted his rice and sweet potatoes, Sato Imo, had but little to do, and spent most of his time with his wife, fishing in his ponds, one of which contained large supon, terrapin turtles, as well as coy, carp. Suddenly, things went wrong. Yehara was surprised one morning to receive a visit from his sister, or Komi. I have come, dear brother, she said, to beg you to help me to obtain a divorce or separation from my

Starting point is 07:59:08 husband? Divorce? Why should you want a divorce? Have you not always said you were happy with your husband, my dear friend Hayashi? For what sudden reason do you ask for a divorce? Remember you have been married for five years now, and that is sufficient to prove that your life has been happy, and that Hayashi has treated you well. At first, O Kome would not give any reason why she wished to be separated from her husband. But at last she said, Brother, think not that Hayashi has been unkind. He is all that can be called kind, and we deeply love each other. But, as you know, Hayashi's family have owned the land, the farms on one of which latter we live, for some 300 years. Nothing would induce him to change his place of abode,

Starting point is 08:00:03 and I should never have wished him to do so, until some twelve days ago. What has happened within these twelve wonderful days? asked Yehara. Dear brother, I can stand it no longer, was his sister's answer. Up to twelve days ago, all went well, but then a terrible thing happened. It was very dark and warm, and I was sitting outside our house, looking at the clouds passing over the moon, and talking to my daughter. Suddenly there appeared as if walking on the lilies of the pond, a white figure. Oh, so white, so wet, and so miserable to look at. It appeared to rise from the pond and float in the air, and then approached me slowly until it was within ten feet. As it came, my child cried,

Starting point is 08:00:55 Why, mother, there comes Osumi. Do you know Osumi? I answered her that I did not, I think. But in truth I was so frightened I hardly know what I said. The figure was horrible to look at. It was that of a girl of 18 or 19 years, with hair disheveled and hanging loose over white and wet shoulders. Help me! Help me! cried the figure, and I was so frightened that I covered my eyes and screamed for my husband, who was inside.

Starting point is 08:01:31 He came out and found me in a dead. faint, with my child by my side, also in a state of terror. Hayashi had seen nothing. He carried us both in, shut the doors, and told me I must have been dreaming. Perhaps, he sarcastically added, you saw the kappa, which is said to dwell in the pond, but which none of my family have seen for over one hundred years. That is all my husband said on the subject. Next night, however, when in bed, my child seized me suddenly, crying in terror-stricken tones. O'Sumi! Here is Osumi! How horrible she looks! Mother! Mother, do you see her?

Starting point is 08:02:16 I did see her. She stood dripping wet within three feet of my bed. The whiteness and the wetness and the disheveled hair being what gave her the awful look, which she bore. Help me! Help me! cried the figure. and then disappeared. After that, I could not sleep, nor could I get my child to do so. On every night, until now, the ghost has come. Oh, Sumi, as my child calls her, I should kill myself if I had to remain longer in that house, which has become a terror to myself and my child. My husband does not see the ghost and only laughs at me, and that is why I see no way out of the difficulty, but a

Starting point is 08:03:02 separation. Yehara told his sister that on the following day he would call on Hayashi, and sent his sister back to her husband that night. Next day, when Yehara called, Hayashi, after hearing what the visitor had to say, answered, it is very strange. I was born in this house over 20 years ago, but I have never seen the ghost which my wife refers to, and have never heard about it. Not the slightest eluded. to it was ever made by my father or mother. I will make inquiries of all my neighbours and servants, and ascertain if they ever heard of the ghost, or even of anyone coming to a sudden and untimely end. There must be something. It is impossible that my little child should know the name,

Starting point is 08:03:52 Sumi, she never having known anyone bearing it. Inquiries were made, but nothing could be learned from the servants or from the neighbours. Hayashi reasoned that the ghost being always wet, the mystery might be solved by drying up the pond, perhaps to find the remains of some murdered person

Starting point is 08:04:14 whose bones required decent burial and prayers said over them. The pond was old and deep, covered with water plants, and had never been emptied within his memory. It was said to contain a kappa, mythical beef, half turtle, half man.

Starting point is 08:04:33 In any case, there were many Terrapin turtle, the capture of which would well repay the cost of the emptying. The bank of the pond was cut, and next day there remained only a pool in the deepest part. Hayashi decided to clear even this, and dig into the mud below. At this moment, the grandmother of Hayashi arrived, an old woman of some 80 years,

Starting point is 08:04:58 and said, Go no father. I can tell you all about the ghost. Osumi does not rest, and it is quite true that her ghost appears. I am very sorry about it, now in my old age, for it is my fault. The sin is mine. Listen, and I will tell you all. Everyone stood astonished at these words, feeling that some secret was about to be revealed. The old woman continued. When Hayashi Hayato, your grandfather was alive, we had a beautiful servant girl, 17 years of age, called O Sumi.

Starting point is 08:05:38 Your grandfather became a namad of this girl and she of him. I was about 30 at that time, and was jealous, for my better looks had passed away. One day when your grandfather was out, I took Sumi to the pond and gave her a severe beating, during the struggle she fell into the water and got entangled in the weeds and there i left her fully believing the water to be shallow and that she could get out she did not succeed and was drowned your grandfather found her dead on his return in those days the police were not very particular with their inquiries the girl was buried but nothing was said to me and the matter soon blew over fourteen days ago was the fiftieth anniversary of this tragedy perhaps that is the reason of sumi's ghost appearing for appear she must or your child could not have known of her name it must be as your child says and that the first time she appeared sumi communicated her name the old woman was shaking with fear and advised them all to say prayers at oh sumi's tomb this was done and the ghost has been seen no more. Hayashi said,

Starting point is 08:06:58 Though I am a samurai and have read many books, I never believed in ghosts, but now I do. End of Chapter 40, recording by Rob Marland. Chapter 41 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Librevox recording. All Librevox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org.

Starting point is 08:07:35 Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. The Spirit of Yanokey Footnote Fugia say said that this was an old story told him by his nurse, who was a native of the village of Okiyama, also that a solid gold Buddha, 18 inches in height, had been stolen from the temple three years ago. In footnote.

Starting point is 08:08:16 There is a mountain in the province of Izumi called Okiyama, or Ojiyama. It is connected with the Mumaru Yama. mountains i will not vouch that i am accurate in spelling either suffice it to say that the story was told to me by fu kuga say and translated by mr ando the japanese translator of our consulate at kobe both of these give the mountain's name as okiyama and say that on the top of it from time immemorial there has been a shrine dedicated to Fudo Mayo O Achala in Sanskrit which means immovable and is the god always represented as surrounded by fire and sitting uncomplainingly on as an example to others and he carries a sword in one hand and a rope in the other as a warning that punishment awaits those who are unable to overcome with honor the painful struggles of life.

Starting point is 08:09:38 Well, at the top of Okiyama, high or big mountain, is this very old temple to Fudo, and many are the pilgrimages which are made there annually. The mountain itself is covered with forest, and there are some remarked, Carcable Cryptomerias, Camphor, and Pine Trees. Many years ago, in the days of which I speak, there were only a few priests living up at this temple. Among them was a middle-aged man, half-priest, half-caretaker, called Yanoki.

Starting point is 08:10:20 For 20 years had Yanoki lived at the temple. Yet during that time he had never cast his eyes on the figure of Fudo, over which he was partly set to guard. It was kept shut in a shrine and never seen by anyone but the head priest. One day, Yanoke's curiosity got the better of him. Early in the morning, the door of the shrine was not quite closed. Yonoki looked in, but saw nothing. On turning to the light again,

Starting point is 08:10:57 he found that he had lost the use of the eye that had looked. He was stone blind in the right eye. Feeling that the divine punishment served him well, and that the gods must be angry, he set about purifying himself and fasted for 100 days. Yonoki was mistaken in his way of devotion and repentance, and did not pass it. the gods. On the contrary, they turned him into a tengu, long-nosed devil, who dwells in mountains,

Starting point is 08:11:37 and is the great teacher of Jiu-Jitsu. But Yonoki continued to call himself a priest, Ichiggen-Hoshi, meaning the one-eyed priest for a year, and then died. And it is said that his spirit passed into an enormous cryptomaria tree on the east side of the mountain. After that, when sailors passed the Chinu Sea, Oskah Bay, if there was a storm, they used to pray to the one-eyed priest for help, and if a light was seen on the top of Okiyama, they had a sure sign that no matter how rough the sea, their ship would not be lost. It may be said, in fact, that after death of the one-eyed priest, more importance was attached to his spirit and to the tree into which it had taken refuge than to the temple itself. The tree was called

Starting point is 08:12:46 the lodging of the one-eyed priest, and no one dared approach it. not even the woodcutters who were familiar with the mountains. It was a source of awe and an object of reverence. At the foot of Okiyama was a lonely village separated from others by fully two re, five miles, and there were only 130 houses in it. Every year the villages used to celebrate the bond by engaging, after it was over in the dance called Bon Odori. Like most other things in Japan,

Starting point is 08:13:30 the Bon and the Bon Odori were in extreme contrast. The Bonn was a ceremony arranged for the spirits of the dead, who were supposed to return to Earth for three days annually, to visit their family shrines, something like Our All Saints Day, and in any case, quite a serious religious performance. The Bon Odori is a dance which varies considerably in different provinces. It is confined mostly to villages,

Starting point is 08:14:06 for one cannot count the pretty Geishak dances in Kyoto, which are practically copies of it. It is a dance of boys and girls, one may say, and continues nearly all night. on the village green. For the three or four nights that it lasts, opportunities for flirtations of the most violent kind are plentiful. There are no chaperones, so to speak, and, to put it vulgarly, everyone goes on the bust. Hitherto virtuous maidens spend the night out, as impromptu sweethearts and in the village of which this story is told, not only is it they who let themselves

Starting point is 08:14:58 go, but even young brides also. So it came to pass that the village at the foot of Okiyama mountain, away so far from other villages, was a bad one morally. There was no restriction to what a girl might do, or what she might not do during the nights of the Bon or Dory. Things went from bad to worse until, at the time of which I write, Anarchy reigned during the festive days. At last it came to pass that after a particularly festive bond on a beautiful moonlit night in August, the well-beloved and charming daughter of Cura Hashi, Yosa Imon, Okimi, aged 18 years, who had promised her lover, Hirosuke, that she would meet him secretly that evening, was on her way to do so. After passing the last house in her mountain

Starting point is 08:16:06 village, she came to a thick copse, and standing at the edge of it was a man whom Okimmy at first took to be her lover. On approaching, she found that it was not Hirosuki, but a very handsome youth of 23 years. He did not speak to her. In fact, he kept a little away. If she advanced, he receded. So handsome was the youth, O'Kimmy felt that she loved him. Oh no, my heart beats for him, said she. After all, why should I not give up Kurosuki? He is not good-looking like this man, whom I love already before I have even spoken to him. I hate Kurosuki, now that I see this man. As she said this, she saw the figure smiling and beckoning, and being a wicked girl, loose in her morals. She followed him and was seen no more. Her family were much exercised in their minds.

Starting point is 08:17:24 A week passed, and O Kemi San did not return. A few days later, Tame, the 16-year-old daughter of Kinsaku, who was secretly in love with the son of the village headman, was awaiting him in the temple grounds, standing the while by the stone figure of Jizodu, Sanskrit, Shittigarbaaha, patron of women and children. Suddenly there stood near Tamayi a handsome youth of 23 years, as in the case of O Kimi. She was greatly struck by the youth's beauty, so much so that when he took her by the hand and let her off she made no effort to resist,

Starting point is 08:18:17 and she also disappeared. And thus it was that nine girls of amorous nature disappeared from this small village. Everywhere for 30 miles around, people talked and wondered and said unkind things. In Okiyama village itself, the elder people said, Yes, it must be that our children's immodesty, since the Bon Odori has angered Yanoki San. Perhaps it is he himself who appears in the form of this handsome youth and carries off our daughters.

Starting point is 08:19:01 Nearly all agreed in a few days that they owed their losses, to the spirit of Yanokee tree. And as soon as this notion had taken root, the whole of the villagers locked and barred themselves in their houses both day and night. Their farms became neglected. Wood was not being cut in the mountain. Business was at a standstill.

Starting point is 08:19:29 The rumor of this state of affairs spread, and the Lord of Kishiwada, becoming uneasy, summoned Sonobi Hayama, the most celebrated swordsmen in that part of Japan. Sonobi, you are the bravest man I know of, and the best fighter.

Starting point is 08:19:52 It is for you to go and inspect the tree where lodges of the spirit of Yanoki. You must use your own discretion. I cannot advise as, as to what it is best that you should do. I leave it to you to dispose of the mystery and the disappearances of the nine girls. My lord, said Sonobi,

Starting point is 08:20:20 my life is at your lordship's call. I shall either clear the mystery or die. After this interview with his master, Sonobi went home. He put himself through a quarter. of cleansing. He fasted and bathed for a week and then repaired to Okiyama. This was in the month of October, when to me things always looked their best. Sonobi ascended the mountain and went first to the temple, which he reached at three o'clock in the afternoon, after a hard climb. Here he said prayers

Starting point is 08:21:05 before the god Fudo for fully half an hour. Then he set out to cross the short valley which led up to the Okiyama Mountain and to the tree which held the spirit of the one-eyed priest, Yanoki. It was a long and steep climb with no paths, for the mountain was avoided as much as possible by even the most adventurous of woodcutters, none of whom ever dreamed of going up as far as the Yanoke tree. Sonobi was in good training and a bold warrior. The woods were dense.

Starting point is 08:21:50 There was a chilling damp, which came from the spray of a high waterfall. The solitude was intense, and once or twice Sinobi put his hand on the hilt of his sword, thinking that he heard some one following in the gloom but there was no one and by five o'clock sinobi had reached the tree and addressed it thus o honourable an aged tree that has braved centuries of storm thou hast become the home of yonoki's spirit in truth there is much honour in having so stately a lodging and therefore he cannot have been so bad a man. I have come from the Lord of Keshwada to upbraid him, however, and to ask what means it, that Yonoki's spirit should appear as a handsome youth

Starting point is 08:22:53 for the purpose of robbing poor people of their daughters. This must not continue, else you, as the lodging of Yanoke's spirit, will be cut down, so that it may escape to another part of the country. At that moment, a warm wind blew on the face of Sonobi, and dark clouds appeared overhead, rendering the forest dark. Rain began to fall, and the rumblings of earthquake were heard. Suddenly the figure of an old priest appeared in ghostly form, wrinkled and thin, transparent and clammy, nerve-shattering, but Sonomi had no fear.

Starting point is 08:23:44 You have been sent by the Lord of Kishiwada, said the ghost. I admire your courage for coming. So cowardly and sinful are most men. They fear to come near where my spirit. spirit has taken refuge. I can assure you that I do no evil to the good. So bad had morals become in the village, it was time to give a lesson. The villagers' customs defied the gods. It is true that I, hoping to improve these people and make them godly, assumed the form of a youth and carried away nine of the worst of them. They are quite well. They deeply regret their sins and will

Starting point is 08:24:35 reform their village. Every day I have given them lectures. You will find them on the mini-toge, or second summit of this mountain, tied to trees. Go there and release them, and afterwards tell the Lord of Kishiwada what the spirit of Yonoki, the one-eyed priest, has done, and that it is always ready to help him to improve his people. Farewell! No sooner had the last word been spoken than the spirit vanished. Sonobi, who felt somewhat dazed by what the spirit had said, started off nevertheless to the Minotog, and there, sure enough, were the nine girls, tied each to a tree, as the spirit had said. He cut their bonds, gave them a lecture, took them back to the village, and reported to the Lord of Kishiwanda. Since then the people have feared more than ever the spirit of the one-eyed

Starting point is 08:25:49 priest. They have become completely reformed. An example to the surrounding villages. The nine houses or families whose daughters behaved so badly contribute annually the rice eaten by the priests of Fudo-Mayo Temple. It is spoken of as the nine families rice of Oki. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 42 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org.

Starting point is 08:26:50 Recording by Linda Marie Nelson, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan By Richard Gordon Smith The Spirit of the Lotus Lily For some time I have been hunting for a tale about the lotus lily My friend Fuguwa has at last found one Which is said to date back some 200 years It applies to a castle that was then situated in

Starting point is 08:27:25 what was known as Kenai, now incorporated into what may be known as the Kayoto district. Probably it refers to one of the castles in that neighborhood, though I myself know of only one, which is now called Nijo Castle. Fukuha,

Starting point is 08:27:49 who does not speak English, and my interpreter, made it very difficult for me to say that the story does not really belong to a castle in the province of Izumi, for after starting it in Kyoto, they suddenly brought me to Izumi, making the hero of it the lord of Coriyama. In any case, I was the first told that disease and sickness broke out in Kenai, Kyoto. Thousands of people died of it. It spread to Izumi, where the feudal lord of Koryama lived, and attacked him also. Doctors were called from all parts, but it was no use. The disease spread,

Starting point is 08:28:44 and, to the dismay of all, not only the Lord of Coriama, but also his wife and child were stricken. There was a panic terror in the country, not that the people feared for themselves, but because they were in dread that they might lose their lord and his wife and child. The Lord Coriama was much beloved. People flocked to the castle. They camped round its high walls and in its empty moats, which were dry, there having been no war for some time. One day, during the illness of the great family,

Starting point is 08:29:32 Kada Samon, the highest official in the castle, next to the Lord Coriama himself, was sitting in his room, thinking what was best to be done on the various questions that were awaiting the Daimo's recovery. While he was thus engaged, a servant announced that there was a visitor at the outer gate, who requested an interview, saying that he thought he could cure the three sufferers. Tadda Samon would see the caller, whom the servant shortly after fetched.

Starting point is 08:30:13 The visitor turned out to be a yama bushy, mountain recluse, in appearance. and on entering the room bowed low to Samon, saying, Sir, it is an evil business, this illness of our Lord and Master, and it has been brought about by an evil spirit, who has entered the castle because you have put up no defense against impure and evil spirits. This castle is the center of administration for the war, of the surrounding country, and it was unwise to allow it to remain unfortified against impure and evil spirits. The saints of old footnote, racan, and footnote, have always told us to plant the lotus lily,

Starting point is 08:31:13 not only in the one inner ditch surrounding a castle, but also in both ditches. or in as many as there be, and moreover, to plant them all around the ditches. Surely, sir, you know that the lotus, being the most emblematic flower in our religion, must be the most pure and sacred. For this reason, it drives away uncleanniness, which cannot cross it. Be assured, sir, that if your lord had, not neglected the northern ditches of his castle but had kept them filled with water clean and had planted the sacred lotus no such evil spirit would have come as the present sent by heaven to warn him if i am allowed to do so i shall enter the castle to-day and pray that the evil spirit of sickness leave and i ask that i may make that i may

Starting point is 08:32:21 be allowed to plant lotuses in the northern moats. Thus only can the Lord of Coriama and his family be saved. Sammon nodded in answer, for he now remembered that the northern moats had neither lotus or water, and that this was partly his fault, a matter of economy in connection with the estates. He interviewed, his master, who was more sick than ever. He called all the court officials. It was decided that the Yamabushi should have his way. He was told to carry out his ideas as he thought best. There was plenty of money, and there were hundreds of hands ready to help him, everything to save the master. The Yamabushi washed his body and prayed that the evil spirit of sickness should leave the castle. Subsequently, he superintended the cleansing and repairing of the northern moats,

Starting point is 08:33:34 directing the people to fill them with water and plant lotuses. Then he disappeared mysteriously, vanished almost before the men's eyes. wonderingly, but with more energy than ever, the men worked to carry out the orders. In less than 24 hours, the moats had been cleaned, repaired, filled, and planted. As was to be expected, the Lord Coriyama, his wife and son, became rapidly better. In a week all were able to be up, and in a week, all were able to be up, and in a fortnight they were as well as ever they had been. Thanksgivings were held, and there were great rejoicings all over Izumi.

Starting point is 08:34:27 Later people flocked to see the splendidly kept moats of lotuses, and the villagers went so far as to rename among themselves the castle, calling it the lotus castle. Some years passed before anything. strange happened. The Lord Coriama had died from natural causes and had been succeeded by his son, who had neglected the lotus roots. A young samurai was passing along one of the moats. This was at the end of August, when the flowers of the lotus are strong and high. The samurai suddenly saw two beautiful boys, about six or seven years of age, playing at the edge of the moat.

Starting point is 08:35:19 Boys, said he, it is not safe to play so near an edge of the moat. Come along with me. He was about to take them by the hand and lead them off to a safer place, when they sprang into the air a little way, smiling at him the while and fell into the water. where they disappeared with a great splash that covered him with spray. So astonished was a samurai he hardly knew what to think, for they did not reappear. He made sure they must be two kappas, mythical animals, and with this idea in his mind, he ran to the castle and gave information. The high officials held a meeting

Starting point is 08:36:13 and arranged to have the moats dragged and cleaned. They felt that this should have been done when the young lord had succeeded his father. The moats were dragged accordingly from end to end. But no capa was found. They came to the conclusion that the samurai had been indulging in fancies and he was chaffed in consequence. Some few weeks later, another samurai,

Starting point is 08:36:45 Maratha Ippi, was returning in the evening from visiting his sweetheart, and his road led along the outer moat. The lotus blossoms were luxuriant, and Ipe sauntered slowly on, admiring them and thinking of his lady love. when suddenly he espied a dozen or more of the beautiful little boys playing near the water's edge. They had no clothing on and were splashing one another with water. Ah, reflected the samurai, these surely are the kappas, of which we were told before.

Starting point is 08:37:30 Having taken the form of human beings, they think to deceive me. A samurai is not frightened by such as they, and they will find it difficult to escape the keen edge of my sword. Ipai cast off his clogs, and drawing his sword, proceeded stealthily to approach the supposed Kappa's. He approached until he was within some twenty yards. Then he remained hidden behind a bush. and stood for a minute to observe. The children continued their play. They seemed to be perfectly natural children,

Starting point is 08:38:15 except that they were all extremely beautiful, and from them was wafted a peculiar scent, almost powerful but sweet, and resembling that of the lotus lily. A pie was puzzled, and was almost inclined to sheath his sword on seeing how innocent and unsuspecting the children looked. But he thought that he would not be acting up

Starting point is 08:38:46 to the determination of a samurai if he changed his mind, gripping his sword with renewed vigor, therefore he dashed out from his hiding place and slashed right and left among the sword. the supposed Kappa's. Ippie was convinced that he had done much slaughter, for he had felt his sword strike over and over again, and had heard the dull thuds of things falling.

Starting point is 08:39:20 But when he looked about to see what he had killed, there arose a peculiar vapor of all colors which almost blinded him by its brilliance. It fell in a watery spray all around him. Ipai determined to wait until the morning, for he could not, as a samurai, leave such an adventure unfinished, nor indeed would he have liked to recount it to his friends until he had seen the thing cleaned through. It was a long and dreary wait,

Starting point is 08:40:00 but Ippai was equal to it and never closed his eyes during the night. When morning dawn he found nothing but the stalks of lotus lilies sticking up out of the water in his vicinity. But my sword struck more than lotus stalks, thought he, if I have not killed the Kappa's which I saw myself in human form, they must have been the spirits of the lotus. What terrible sins have I committed? It was by the spirits of the lotus

Starting point is 08:40:41 that our Lord of Coriama and his family were saved from death. Alas, what have I done? I, a samurai, whose every drop of blood belongs to his master. I have drawn my sword on my master's most faithful friends. I must appease the spirits by disemboweling myself. Iphi said a prayer, and then, sitting on a stone by the side of the fallen lotus flowers, did Herakiri. The flowers continued to bloom, but after this no more lotus spirits were seen. End of Chapter 42.

Starting point is 08:41:30 Recording by Linder Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, B.C. Chapter 43 Of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan

Starting point is 08:42:07 by Richard Gordon Smith The Temple of Awabi In Noto Province, there is a small fishing village called Nanano. It is at the extreme northern end of the mainland. There is nothing opposite until one reaches either Korea or the Siberian coast, except the small rocky islands which are everywhere in Japan, surrounding as it were by an outer fringe, the land proper of Japan itself. Nano contains not more than 500 souls.

Starting point is 08:42:52 Many years ago, the place was devastated by an earthquake, and a terrific storm, which between them destroyed nearly the whole village and killed half of the people. On the morning after this terrible visitation, it was seen that the geographical situation had changed. Opposite nano, some two miles from the land, had arisen a rocky island about a mile in circumference. The sea was muddy and yellow. The people surviving were so overcome and odd that none ventured into a boat for nearly a month afterwards. Indeed, most of the boats had been destroyed. Being Japanese, they took things philosophically.

Starting point is 08:43:44 Everyone helped some other, and within a month the village looked much as it had looked before, smaller and less populated, perhaps, but managing itself unassisted by the outside world. Indeed, all the neighboring villages had suffered much in the same way, and after the manner of ants had put things right again. The fishermen of Nano arranged that their first fishing expedition should be taken together, two days before the Bonn. They would first go and inspect the new island and then continue out to sea for a few miles,

Starting point is 08:44:31 to find if there were still as many Thai fish on their favorite ground as there used to be. It would be a day of intense interest, and the villages of some 50 miles of coast had all decided to make their ventures some. Each village trying its own grounds, of course, but all starting at the same time, with a view of eventually reporting to each other the condition of things with regard to fish for mutual assistance in a strong characteristic in the Japanese when trouble overcomes them.

Starting point is 08:45:15 At the appointed time, two days before the festival, the fishermen started from Nano. There were 13 boats. They visited first the New Island, which proved to be simply a large rock. There were many rock fish, such as rassie and sea perch, about it. But beyond that, there was nothing remarkable. It had not had time to gather many sea fish on its surface, and there was but little edible seaweed as yet. So the 13 boats went farther to sea to discover what had occurred

Starting point is 08:45:59 to their old and excellent Thai grounds. These were found to produce just about what they used to produce in the days before the earthquake, but the fishermen were not able to stay long enough to make a thorough test. They had meant to be away all night, but at dusk the sky gave every appearance of a storm, so they pulled up their anchors and made for home. As they came close to the New Island, they were surprised to see, on one side of it, The water for the space of 240 feet square lit up with a strange light.

Starting point is 08:46:45 The light seemed to come from the bottom of the sea, and in spite of the darkness, the water was transparent. The fishermen, very much astonished, stopped to gaze down into the blue waters. They could see fish swimming about in thousands, but the depth was too great for them to see the bottom. And so they gave rain to all kinds of superstitious ideas as to the cause of the light, and talked from one boat to the other about it.

Starting point is 08:47:20 A few minutes afterwards, they had shipped their immense paddling oars, and all was quiet. Then they heard rumbling noises at the bottom of the sea, and this filled them with concertation. They feared another eruption. The oars were put out again, and to say that they went fast, would in no way convey an idea of the pace that the men made their boats travel

Starting point is 08:47:52 over the two miles between the mainland and the island. Their homes were reached well before the storm came on, But the storm lasted for fully two days, and the fishermen were unable to leave the shore. As the sea calmed down and the villagers were looking out, on the third day cause for astonishment came. Shooting out of the sea near the island rock were rays that seemed to come from a sun in the bottom of the sea. all the village congregated on the beach to see this extraordinary spectacle, which was discussed far into the night. Not even the old priest could throw any light on the subject.

Starting point is 08:48:47 Consequently, the fishermen became more and more scared, and a few of them were ready to venture to see next day, though it was the time for the magnificent Sawara, King Mackerel. Only one boat left the shore, and that belonged to Master Kansuki, a fisherman of some 50 years of age, who, with his son Matakichi, a youth of 18, and a most faithful son, was always to the force. when anything out of the common had to be done. Kanusuki had been the acknowledged bold fisherman of Nano,

Starting point is 08:49:38 the leader in all things since most could remember, and his faithful and devoted son had followed him from the age of 12 through many perils, so that no one was astonished to see their boat leave alone. They went first to the Thai grounds and fished there during the night, catching some 30-odd tie between them, the average weight of which would be four pounds. Towards break of day, another storm showed on the horizon. Kansuki pulled up his anchor and started for home, hoping to take in a hobo line.

Starting point is 08:50:25 which he had dropped overboard near the rocky island on his way out, a line holding some 200 hooks. They had reached the island and hauled in nearly the whole line when the rising sea caused Kansuki to lose his balance and fall overboard. Usually the old man would soon have found it an easy matter to scramble back into the boat. On this occasion, however, his head did not appear above water, and so his son jumped in to rescue his father. He dived into water, which almost dazzled him, for bright rays were shooting through it. He could see nothing of his father, but felt that he could not leave him, as the mysterious rays rising from the bottom might have something to do. to do with the accident, he made up his mind to follow them. They must, he thought, be reflections from the eye of some monster. It was a deep dive, and for many minutes Matakichi was underwater. At last he

Starting point is 08:51:44 reached the bottom, and here he found an enormous colony of the Awabi ear shells. The space covered by them was fully 200 square feet, and in the middle of all was one of gigantic size, the light of which he had never heard of, from the holes at the top, through which the feelers pass, shot the bright rays which illuminated the sea, rays which are said by the Japanese divers to show the presence of a pearl. The pearl in this shell, thought Madakichi, the pearl in this shell, thought Madagichi, must be one of enormous size, as large as a baby's head.

Starting point is 08:52:37 From all the Awabi shells on the patch, he could see the lights, that lights were coming, which denoted that they contained pearls. But wherever he looked, Matakichi could see nothing of his father. He thought his father must have been drowned. And if so, that the best thing for him to do

Starting point is 08:53:03 would be to regain the surface and repair to the village to report his father's death, and also his wonderful discovery, which would be of such value to the people of Nano. Having, after much difficulty, reached the surface, he, to his dismay, found the boat broken by the sea, which was now high. Madakichi was lucky, however, he saw a bit of floating wreckage, which he seized, and as sea, wind, and current, helped him, strong swimmer as he was, it was not more than half an hour, before he was ashore, relating to the villagers the adventures of the day, his discoveries, and the loss of his dear father. The fishermen could hardly credit the news that what they had taken

Starting point is 08:54:05 to be supernatural lights were caused by ear shells, for the much-valued ear-shell was extremely rare about their district. But Mattie, Kichy was a youth of such trustworthiness that even the most skeptical believed him in the end. And had it not been for the loss of Kansuki, there would have been great rejoicing in the village that evening. Having told the villagers the news, Matakichi repaired to the old priest's house at the end of the village, and told him also. And now that my beloved father is dead, said he, I myself beg that you will make me one of your disciples,

Starting point is 08:55:01 so that I may pray daily for my father's spirit. The old priest followed Matakichi's wish and said, Not only shall I be glad to have so brave and filial a youth as yourself as a self, as a disciple, but also I myself would pray with you for your father's spirit, and on the 21st day from his death, we will take boats and pray over the spot at which he was drowned. Accordingly, on the morning of the 21st day after the drowning of poor Kansuki, his son and the priest were anchored over the place where he had been lost, and prayers for the spirit of the dead were said. That same night the priest awoke at midnight, he felt ill at ease, and thought much of the

Starting point is 08:56:01 spiritual affairs of his flock. Suddenly he saw an old man standing near the head of his couch, who bowed courteously and said, I am the spirit of the great earshall, lying on the bottom of the sea near Rocky Island. My age is over one thousand years. Some days ago a fisherman fell from his boat into the sea, and I killed and ate him. This morning I heard your reverence praying over the place where I lay, with the son of the man I ate. Your secret prayers have taught me shame, and I sorrow for the thing I have done.

Starting point is 08:56:51 By way of atonement, I have ordered my followers to scatter themselves, while I have determined to kill myself, so that the pearls that are in my shell may be given to Matakichi, the son of the man I ate. all I ask is that you should pray for my spirit's welfare. Farewell. Saying which the ghost of the ear-shell vanished, early next morning when Madagichi opened his shutters to dust the front of his door, he found thereat what he took at first to be a large rock covered with seaweed, and even with pink coral, on close to the first.

Starting point is 08:57:39 For examination, Madagichi found it to be the immense ear-shell which he had seen at the bottom of the sea off Rocky Island. He rushed off to the temple to tell the priest, who told Madagichi of his visitation during the night. The shell and the body contained therein were carried to the temple with every respect and much ceremony. prayers were said over it, and though the shell and the immense pearl were kept in the temple, the body was buried in a tomb next to Kansuki's, with a monument erected over it, and another over Kansuki's grave. Madagichi changed his name to that of Nichigi and lived happily. there have been no ear-shell seen near nano since. But on the rocky island is erected a shrine to the spirit of the ear-shell.

Starting point is 08:58:50 Note, a 3,000 yen pearl which I know of was sold for 12 cents by a fisherman from the west. It came from a temple, belongs now to Mikomotu, and I. is this size. End of Chapter 43. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 44 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Librevox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain.

Starting point is 08:59:34 For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gorge. and Smith. Human Fireflies In Funakami Mura, Omi province, lived an old farmer called Kanchido. The like of him for honesty, charity and piety, had never been known, no, not even among the priesthood. Annually, Kanchiro made pilgrimages to various parts of the country to say his prayers and do his duty towards the various deities, never thinking of his old age or of his infirmities. He was not strong, and suffered almost always from dysentery during the hot weather. Consequently, he usually made his

Starting point is 09:00:24 pilgrimages in cooler times. In the eighth year of Kwansei, however, Kanchido felt that he could not live another year, and feeling that he should not like to miss making another pilgrimage to the great shrines at he set, he resolved to take all risks and go in August, the hottest month. The people in Funakami Village subscribed 100 yen for the venerable man so that he might have the honour and credit of presenting a decent sum to the great shrines. On a certain day, therefore, Kan Shiro started alone, with the money hung in a bag about his neck. He had walked from sunrise to sunset for two days. when on the third, in great heat, he arrived at the village of Myo,

Starting point is 09:01:15 feeling nearly dead with weakness, for he had another attack of his old complaint. Kan Shido felt that he could not continue his journey while this lasted, especially as he considered himself in an unclean condition, unfit to carry the holy money which had been entrusted to him by his friends in Funakami. He went accordingly to the cheapest inn he could feel, find, and confided both his story and the hundred yen to the landlord, saying, Sir, I am an old man, sick with dysentery. If you will take care of me for a day or two, I shall be better. Keep also until I am well this sacred money, for it would not do for me to

Starting point is 09:02:00 defile it by carrying it with me while I am unwell. Chimpachi, the innkeeper, bowed, and gave every assurance that Kanchido's wish should be followed. Fear nothing, said he, I will place the money in its bag in a safe place, and myself attend upon you until you are well, for such good men as you are rare. For five days the poor old man was very sick indeed, but with his indomitable pluck he recovered,

Starting point is 09:02:32 and on the sixth day decided to start again. It was a fine day, Canchido paid his bill, thanked the landlord for his kindness, and was handed over his money bag at the door. He did not look into the bag because there were many coolies and pilgrims about. He did not wish these strangers to see that he carried much money. Instead of hanging it about his neck, as he had done before, he put the bag into his sack of clothing and food, and started off. Towards midday, Kanchido stopped to rest and eat his cold rice under a pine tree.

Starting point is 09:03:12 On examining his bag, he found the hundred yen gone, and stones of the same weight placed in it instead. The poor man was greatly disconcerted. He did not even wait to eat his rice, but started back to the inn, which he reached at dusk. He explained as best he could the facts to Jimpachi, the innkeeper. At first this worthy listened to the story with some sympathy, but when Kanshido begged him to return the money, he flew into a rage. You old rascal, said he,

Starting point is 09:03:46 a nice story you're telling to try and blackmail me. I'll give you a lesson that you'll not forget. And with that, he struck the old man a severe blow on the chest, and then, seizing a stick, beat him unmercifully. The coolies joined in, and thrashed him until he was nearly dead. Poor old fellow. What could he do?

Starting point is 09:04:11 Alone as he was, he crawled away half dead, but he got to the sacred Isai shrines three days later, and after saying his prayers started back to Funakami. Here he arrived seriously ill. On telling his story, some believed him, but others did not. So overcome with grief was he, he sold his small property to refund the money,

Starting point is 09:04:38 and with the rest he continued his pilgrimages to various temples and shrines. At last, all his money was gone, but even then he continued his pilgrimages, begging food as he went. Three years later he again visited Mujo village on his way to Isse, and here he learned that his enemy had since made a good deal of money, and now lived in quite a good house, Kanchido went and found him and said, Three years ago you stole the money entrusted to me.

Starting point is 09:05:12 I sold my property to refund the people what they'd given me to take to Isse. I have been a beggar and a wanderer ever since. Think not that I shall not be avenged. I shall be. You are young, I am old. Vengeance will overtake you soon. Jimpachi still protested innocence, and began to get angry, saying,

Starting point is 09:05:37 You disreputable old Blaggard, If you want a meal of rice, say so, but do not dare to threaten me. At this moment, the watchman on his rounds took Kanchido for a real beggar, and, seizing him by the arm, dragged him to the end of the village, and ordered him not to re-enter it,

Starting point is 09:05:57 on pain of arrest, and there the poor old man died of anger and weakness. The good priest of the neighbouring temple took the body and buried it with respect, saying prayers. Jimpachi, in the meantime, afflicted with a guilty conscience, became sick, until after a few days he was unable to leave his bed. After he had lost all power of movement, a curious thing occurred. Thousands and thousands of fireflies came out of Kan Shido's tomb

Starting point is 09:06:28 and flew to the bedroom of Chimpachi. They surrounded his mind. mosquito curtain and tried to force their way in. The top of the curtain was pressed down with them. The air was foul with them. The glimmer dazzled the sick man's eyes. No rest was possible. The villagers came in to try and kill them, but they could make no impression. For the string of flies from Kan Shido's tomb continued as fast as others were killed. The fireflies went nowhere else than to Jimpachi's room, and there they only surrounded his bed. One or two villagers, seeing this, said,

Starting point is 09:07:09 It must be true that Jimpachi stole the money from the old man, and that this is his spirit's revenge. Then everyone feared to kill the flies. Thicker and thicker they grew, until they did at last make a hole in the mosquito net, and then they settled all over Jimpachi. They got in his mouth, his nose, his ears and his eyes. He kicked and screamed and lived thus in agony for 20 days,

Starting point is 09:07:37 and after his death, the flies disappeared completely. End of Chapter 44, recording by Rob Marland. Chapter 45 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Librevox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Librevox.org. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. The Chrysanthemum Hermit. Many years ago, they were lived at the foot of the mountains of Nambu. In Adetigan, Saitama Prefecture, an old man named Kikuo, which means Chrysanthemum old man. Kikuo was a faithful retainer of Tsugaru. He was then called Sawad. Hayato. Hiko is a man of great bodily strength and fine appearance, and had much to do with the

Starting point is 09:08:42 efficiency of the small fighting force which protected the feudal lord, the castle, and the estates. Nevertheless, an evil day came. The feudal lord's small force was overthrown, the estates and castle were lost. The lord and his faithful retainer, with the few survivors, escaped to the mountains where they continued to think that a day might come when they would be able to have their revenge. During the enforced idleness, Kikuo, knowing his lord's love of flowers, especially of the chrysanthemum, made his mind up to devote all his spare time to making chrysanthemum beds. This, he thought, would lessen the pain of defeat and exile. The feudal lord was greatly pleased, but his cares and anxieties were not abated. He sickened and died, in great poverty,

Starting point is 09:09:41 much to the sorrow of Kikuo and the rest of his followers. Kikou wept night and day over the humble and lonely grave, but he busied himself again to please the spirit of his lord by planting chrysanthemums round the tomb, and tending them daily. By and by the board, the board, and by, the of the flowers was 30 yards broad to the wonder of all who saw. It was because of that, Hayato got the name of chrysanthemum old man. The chrysanthemum is in China a holy flower. Ancient history tells of a man called Hoso, great-grandson of the emperor Zhuge Kai, who lived to the age of 800 years without showing the slightest sign of decay. This was attributed to his drinking the dew of the chrysanthemum.

Starting point is 09:10:32 besides his devotion to flowers kikaru delighted in children from the village he called him to his poor hut and as there was no schoolmaster he taught them to write to read and jiu jitsu the children loved him and the good villages revered him as if he were a kind of a god In about his eighty-second year, Kikuo caught cold, and the fever which came with it gave him great pain. During the daytime, his pupils attended to his wants, but at night the old man was alone in his cottage. One autumn night he awoke and found standing about his veranda some beautiful children. They did not look quite like any children he knew. They were too beautiful and noble-looking to be the poorer. of the village. Kiko al-Sama, cried two of them,

Starting point is 09:11:26 Do not fear us, though we are not real children. We are the spirits of the chrysanthemum which you love so much, and of which you have taken such care. We have come to tell you how sorry we are to see you ill, although we have heard that in China there once lived a man called Hoso who lived for eight hundred years by drinking the dew which falls from the flowers. We have tried all we can to prolong your life, but we find that the heavens do not allow that you should live to a much greater age than you have already reached.

Starting point is 09:11:59 In thirty days more you will die. Make ready, therefore, to depart. Saying this, they all wept bitterly. Goodbye then, said Kikuo. I have no further hopes of living. Let my death be easy. In the next world I may be able to serve my old lord and master. The only thing that makes me sad to leave this world is you. I must forever regret to leave my chrysanthemums. Saying this, he smiled at them in affection. You have been very kind to us, said the Kiku spirits.

Starting point is 09:12:35 And we love you for it. Man rejoices at birth and feels sad at death, yet now you shed no tears. You say you do not mind dying except for leaving us. If you die, we shall not survive. for it would be useless misery. Believe us when we say that we shall die with you. As the spirits of the chrysanthemums finished speaking, a puff of wind came about the house and they disappeared. As the day dawned, the old man grew worse, and strange to say, all the chrysanthemums

Starting point is 09:13:09 began to fade. Even those which were just beginning to bloom, the leaves crumbled up and dried. as the spirits had foretold at the end of the 30th day the old man died. The kiku flowers died then. Not one was left in the whole district. Villagers could not account for it. They buried the old man near his lord, and thinking to honor and please him, planted time after time, chrysanthemums near his grave, but all faded and died as soon as they were planted. The two little graves were at last given up, and they remain in their solitude, with wild grasses only growing about them. End of Chapter 45 Chapter 46 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan.

Starting point is 09:14:09 This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit Librevox. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith, The Princess Pion. Many years ago at Gamogun in the province of Omi

Starting point is 09:14:42 was a castle called Azuchi No Shiro. It was a magnificent old place, surrounded by walls and a moat filled with lotus lilies. The feudal lord was a very brave and wealthy man. Yuki, Nisen, No Joe. His wife had been dead for some years. He had no son, but he had a beautiful daughter aged 18, who, for some reason which is not quite clear to me, was given the title of Princess. For a considerable period there had been peace and quiet in the land. The feudal lords were on the best of terms, and everyone was happy. Amid these circumstances, Lord Nizhennojo perceived that there was a good opportunity to find a husband for his daughter, Princess Ayah,

Starting point is 09:15:47 and after a time the second son of the Lord of Aco of Harima province was selected, to the satisfaction of both fathers, the affair having little to do with the principles. Lord Aco's son had viewed his bride with approval, and she him. One may say that young people are bound to approve each other when it is that parents wish that they be united. Many suicides result from this. Princess Aya made her mind up to try and love her prospective husband.

Starting point is 09:16:30 She saw nothing of him, but she thought of him and talked of him. One evening when Princess Aya was walking in the magnificent gardens by the moonlight, accompanied by her maids in waiting, she wandered down through her favorite peony bed to the pond where she loved to gaze at her reflection on the nights of the full moon, to listen to frogs and to watch the fireflies. When nearing the pond, her foot slipped,

Starting point is 09:17:04 and she would have fallen into the water had it not been that a young man appeared as if by magic, and caught her. He disappeared as soon as he put her on her feet again. The maids of honor saw her slip. They saw a glimmer of light, and that was all. But Princess Aya had seen more. She had seen the handsomest young man she could imagine. 21 years old, she said to Osadoxan, her favorite maid. He must have been, a samurai of the highest order. His dress was covered with my favorite peonies, and his swords were richly mounted. Oh, that I could have seen him a minute longer, to thank him for saving me from the water.

Starting point is 09:18:04 Who can he be? and how could he have got into our garden through all the guards? So spoke the princess to her maids, directing them at the same time that they were to say a word to no one, for fear that her father should hear, find the young man, and behead him for trespass. After this evening, Princess Aya fell sick. could not eat or sleep and turn pale. The day for her marriage with the young lord of Aku came and went without the event. She was far too sick for that. The best of the doctors had been sent from Kyoto, which was then the capital, but none of them had been able to do anything,

Starting point is 09:18:59 and the maid grew thinner and thinner. As a last resort, the Lord Nizen Nojo, her father, sent for her most confidential maid and friend, O Sadio, and demanded if she could give any reason for his daughter's mysterious sickness. Had she a secret lover, had she a particular dislike for her betroth? Sir, said O Sadio, I do not like to tell secrets, but here it seems my duty. to your lordship's daughter, as well as to your lordship. Some three weeks ago, when the moon was at its full, we were walking in the peony beds down near the pond where the princess loves to be.

Starting point is 09:19:51 She stumbled and nearly fell into the water, when a strange thing happened. In an instant a most beautiful young samurai appeared and held her up, thus preventing her from falling into the pond. We could all see the glimmer of him, but your daughter and I saw him most distinctly. Before your daughter could thank him, he had disappeared. None of us could understand how it was possible for a man to get into the gardens of the princess,

Starting point is 09:20:28 for the gates of the castle are guarded on all sides, and the princess's garden is so much better guarded than the rest that it seems truly incredible that a man could get in. We maids were asked to say nothing for fear of your lordship's anger. Since that evening it is that our beloved princess Ayah has been sick, sir. It is sickness of the heart. She is deeply in love with the young samurai. She is. saw for so brief a space. Indeed, my lord, there never was such a handsome man in the world before, and if we cannot find him, the young princess, I fear will die. How is it possible for a man to get into the grounds, said Lord Yuki Nazan-nojo? People say foxes and badgers assume the figures of men

Starting point is 09:21:30 sometimes. But even so it is possible for such supernatural beings to enter my castle grounds, guarded as it is at every opening. That evening the poor princess was more wearily unhappy than ever before, thinking to enliven her a little, the maid sent for a celebrated player on the Biaw, called Yashika Kenjo. The weather being hot, they were sitting on the gallery in Gawa, and while the musician was playing Danoora, there appeared suddenly from behind the peonies, the same handsome young samurai.

Starting point is 09:22:20 He was visible to all this time, even to the peonies embroidered on his dress. There he is, there he is, they cried, at which he instantly disappeared again. The princess was highly excited and seen more lively than she had been for days. The old Daimau grew more puzzled than ever when he heard of it. Next night, while two of the maids were playing for their mistress, O Yisan the flute and O Yakumo the Koto, the figure of the young man, appeared again. A thorough search having been made during the day in the immense peony beds was absolutely no result.

Starting point is 09:23:13 Not even the sign of a footmark, the thing was increasingly strange. A consultation was held, and it was decided by the Lord of the Castle to invite a veteran officer of great strength and renown, Mackey Higo, to capture the youth should he appear that evening. Macchi Higo readily consented, and at the appointed time, dressed in black and consequently invisible, concealed himself among the peonies. Music seemed to have a fascination for the young samurai. It was while music was being played that he made his appearances. Consequently, O'Gay and Yukamo resumed their concert, while all gazed eagerly towards the peony beds. As the ladies played a piece called Soferin,

Starting point is 09:24:15 there, sure enough, arose a figure of a young samurai, dressed magnificently in clothes, which are covered with embroidered peonies. Everyone gazed at him and wondered why Mackie Hugo did not jump up and catch him. The fact was that Mackey Hugo was so much astonished by the noble bearing of the youth that at first he did not like to touch him. recovering himself and thinking of his duty to his lord, he stealthly approached the young man, and seizing him round, the waist held him tight.

Starting point is 09:25:00 After a few seconds, Macchi Higo felt a kind of wet steam falling on his face. By degrees it made him faint, and he fell to the ground, still grasping the young samurai. for he had made up his mind that he would secure him. Everyone had seen the scuffle, and some of the guards came hurrying to the place.

Starting point is 09:25:29 Just as they reached the spot, Mackey Hugo came to his senses and shouted, Come, gentlemen, I have caught him, come and see. But on looking at what he held in his arms, he discovered it to be only a large peony. By this time the Lord Nasson Nojo had arrived at the spot, where Macchi Hugo lay, and so had the Princess Aywa and her maids.

Starting point is 09:26:02 All were astonished and mystified except the Daimaux himself, who said, Ah, it is as I said, No fox or badger's spirit could pass our guards and get into this garden. It is the spirit of the peony flower that took the form of a prince. Turning to his daughter and her maids, he said, You must take this as a compliment and pay great respect to the peony, and show the one caught by Mackey Hugo kindness,

Starting point is 09:26:42 as well by taking care of it. The Princess Aya carried the flower back to her room, where she put it in a vase of water and placed it near her pillow. She felt as if she had her sweetheart with her day by day she got better. She tended the peony herself, and, strange to say, the flowers seemed to get stronger and stronger, instead of fading. At last the princess recovered.

Starting point is 09:27:16 She became radiantly beautiful, while the peony continued to remain in perfect bloom, showing no sign of dying. The princess Aya, being now perfectly well, her father could no longer put off the wedding. Consequently, some days later, the Lord of Aco and his family arrived at the capital. and his second son was married to the princess. As soon as the wedding was over, the peony was found

Starting point is 09:27:49 still in its vase, but dead and withered. The villagers always after this, instead of speaking of the princess Eia, or Eia Hemi, called her Botan hemi or peony princess. End of Chapter 46. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 47 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Librevox recording. All LibraVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org.

Starting point is 09:28:40 recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith The Memorial Cherry Tree Footnote This story begins on the 17th of February in the second year of Cancou As the first year of Cancue

Starting point is 09:29:07 was in 1190 and the last in 1199, the precise date is February 17, 1192. In footnote. In the compound or enclosure of the temple called Bukoji at Tadatsui, High Cross Street, formerly called Yabugashita, which means under the bush in Katsui, Kyoto, a curio dealer had his little shop. His name was Kihachi. Kihachi had not much to sell, but what little he had was usually good. Consequently, his was a place that the better people

Starting point is 09:29:55 looked into when they came to pray, to see if not to buy, for they knew full well if there was a good thing to be bought. Kihaichi bought it. It was a small and ancient kind of Christie's. In fact, except that things were not sold by auction. One day, the day on which this story starts, Kiyachi was sitting in his shop ready either to gossip or sell when in walked a young knight or court noble. Cooji, the Japanese, called him in those days, and very different was such and one from a knight of a feudal lord or of a daimaux, who was usually a blusterer. This particular night had been to the temple to pray. You have many pretty and interesting things here, said he. May I come in and look at them until this shower of rain has

Starting point is 09:31:05 passed? My name is Sakata, and I belong to the court. Come in, come in, said Kiachi. By all means, some of my things are pretty, and all are undoubtedly good, but the gentry part with little at present. One wants to live two lives of a hundred years each in my trade. One hundred of distress, revolution, and trouble, wherein one may collect the things cheap, and the next hundred of peace wherein one may sell them and enjoy the proceeds. My business is rotten and unprofitable, yet, in spite of that, I love the things I buy, and often look at them long before I put them up for sale. Where, sir, are you bound for?

Starting point is 09:32:05 I see that you are going to travel by the clothes you wear and carry. That's true, answered Sakata. You are very shrewd. I am going to travel as far as Tobah in Yamato, to see my dearest friend, who has has been taken suddenly and mysteriously ill. It is feared he may not live until I get there. At toba, answered the old curio dealer, pardon me if I ask the name of your friend.

Starting point is 09:32:41 Certainly, said Sakata, my friend's name is Matsui. Then, said the curio dealer, he is the gentleman who is said to have killed, the ghost or spirit of the old cherry tree near Topa, growing in the grounds of the temple, in which he lives at present with the priests. The people say that this cherry tree is so old that the spirit left it. It appeared in the form of a beautiful woman, and Matsui, either fearing or not liking it, killed it with the result, they say, that from that very evening, which was about ten days ago, your friend Matsui has been sick.

Starting point is 09:33:33 And I may add that when the spirit was killed, the tree withered and died. Sakata, thanking Kiyachi for this information, went on his way and eventually found his friend Matsui being carefully nursed by the priest of the Shohen. temple, Topa with whom he was closely connected. Soon after the young knight had left the old curio dealer, Kiyachi in his shop, it began to snow, and so it continued and appeared likely to continue for some time. Kiyachi therefore put up his shutters and retired to bed, as is often very sensibly done in Japan, and he no doubt retired with many old wood carvings to rub and give an ancient

Starting point is 09:34:32 appearance too during the period of darkness. Not very late in the evening, there was a knock at the shutters. Keachi, not wishing to get out of his warm bed, shouted, Who are you? Come back in the morning. I do not feel well enough. to get up tonight. But you must. You must get up. I am sent to sell you a good khaki-mono, called the voice of a young girl,

Starting point is 09:35:06 so sweetly and entreatingly that the old curio dealer got up, and after much fumbling with his numbed fingers opened the door. Snow had fallen thickly, but now it was, clear moonlight, and Kiyachi saw standing before him a beautiful girl of fifteen, barefooted, and holding in her hands a kakimono half unfolded. "'See,' said she, "'I have been sent to sell you this. "'She was a daughter of Matsui of Toba,' she said.

Starting point is 09:35:48 the old man called her in and saw that the picture was that of a beautiful woman standing up. It was well done, and the old man took a fancy to it. I will give you one real for it, said he, and to his astonishment the young girl accepted his offer eagerly, so much so that he thought that perhaps she had stolen it, Being a curio dealer, he said nothing on the point, but paid her the money. She ran away with haste. Yes, she has stolen it, stolen it undoubtedly, muttered the old man.

Starting point is 09:36:33 But what am I supposed to know about that? The cakimono is worth fully 50 real if it is worth a cent, and not often do such chances come to me. So delighted was Kiachi with his purchase. He lit his lamp, hung the picture in his Kakimono corner, and sat watching it. It was indeed a beautiful woman well painted, and worth more even than the fifty real he at first thought. But by all the saints, it seemed. to change. Yes, it is no longer a beautiful woman. The face has changed to that of a fearful and

Starting point is 09:37:24 horrible figure. The face of the woman has become haggard. It is covered with blood. The eyes open and shut and the mouth gasps. Kiachi feels blood dropping on his head. It comes from a wound in the woman's shoulder. To shut out so horrid a sight, he put his head under the bedclothes and remained thus sleeplessly until dawn. When he opened his eyes, the cacamono was the same as when he had bought it,

Starting point is 09:38:05 a beautiful woman. He supposed that his delight in having made a good bargain must have been made in dreams, so he thought nothing more about the horror. Kiyachi, however, was mistaken. The kakimono again kept him awake all night, showing the same bloody face and occasionally even shrieking. Kiyachi got no sleep and perceived that instead of a cheap bargain,

Starting point is 09:38:37 he had got a very expensive one, for he felt that he must go to Toba and return it to Matsui, and he knew that he could claim no expenses. After fully two days of travel, Hiyachi reached the Shō'an Temple near Toba, where he asked to see Matsui. He was ushered ceremoniously into his room. The invalid was better, but on being handed the kakimono, with the figure of the lady painted on it. He turned pale, tore it to fragments, and threw it into the temple fire.

Starting point is 09:39:24 Iori footnote. The story says furnace, but unless cremation went on in those days, it must have been the Inori open floor fire, or else if a Shinto temple, an open, air bonfire, which is lit on certain days. End footnote, after which he jumped in with his daughter himself and both were burned to death. Kihaichi was sick for many days after this sight. The story soon spread over the whole surrounding country.

Starting point is 09:40:08 Prince Nijo, governor of Kyoto, had a thorough inquiry. made into the circumstances of the case, and it was found beyond doubt that the trouble to Matsui and his family came through his having killed the spirit of the old cherry tree. The spirit, to punish him and show that there was invisible life in old and dead things, and often of the best, appeared to Matsui as a beautiful, beautiful woman being killed. The spirit went into his beautiful picture and haunted him. Prince Nijo had a fine cherry tree planted on the spot of the old to commemorate the event, and it is called the Memorial Cherry Tree to this day.

Starting point is 09:41:09 End of Chapter 47, recording by Linda Marie Nielsen. Vancouver, BC. Chapter 48 of ancient tales and folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by David McKay. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith.

Starting point is 09:41:46 The Girohei Cherry Tree, Kyoto. The Japanese say that, ghosts in inanimate nature generally have more liveliness than ghosts of the dead. There is an old proverb which says something to the effect that the ghosts of trees love not the willow, by which I suppose is meant that they do not assimilate. In Japanese pictures of ghosts, there is nearly always a willow tree. Whether Hokusai, the ancient painter or Okyo Maruyama, a famous painter of Kyoto of more recent date, was responsible for the pictures with ghosts and willow trees,

Starting point is 09:42:24 I do not know. But certainly Maruyama painted many ghosts under willow trees, the first from his wife, who lay sick. Exactly what this has to do with the following story, I cannot see. But my storyteller began with it. In the northern part of Kyoto is a Shinto temple called Hirano. It is celebrated for the fine cherry trees

Starting point is 09:42:49 that grow there. Among them is an old dead tree which is called Girohai, and is much cared for. But the story attached to it is little known, and has not been told, I believe, to a European before. During the cherry blossom season, many people go to view the trees, especially at night. Close to the Girohai cherry tree, many years ago, was a large and prosperous tea house, once owned by Girohei, who had started in quite a small way. So rapidly did he make money, he attributed his success to the virtue of the old cherry tree, which he accordingly venerated. Girohei paid the greatest respect to the tree, attending to its wants. He prevented boys from climbing it and breaking its branches. The tree prospered, and so did he.

Starting point is 09:43:38 One morning a samurai, of the blood and thunder kind, walked up to the Hirono Temple, and sat down at Girohaye's tea house to take a long look at the cherry blossom. He was a powerful, dark-skinned, evil-faced man about five feet eight in height. Are you the landlord of this tea-house? Asked tea. Yes, sir, Girohay answered meekly. I am. What can I bring you, sir? Nothing, I thank you, said the samurai. What a fine tree you have here opposite your tea-house. Yes, sir, it is to the fineness of the tree that I owe my prosperity. Thank you, sir, for expressing your appreciation of it. I want a branch off the tree, quoth the samurai, for a geisha.

Starting point is 09:44:26 Deeply as I regretted, I am obliged to refuse your request. I must refuse everybody. The temple priests gave orders to this effect before they let me erect this place. No matter who it may be that asks, I must refuse. Flowers may not even be picked off the tree, though they may be gathered when they fall. Please, sir. Remember that there is an old proverb which tells us to cut the plum-tree for our vases, but not the cherry. You seem to be an unpleasantly argumentative person for your station in life, said the samurai.

Starting point is 09:44:57 When I say that I want a thing, I mean to have it, so you had better go and cut it. However much you may be determined, I must refuse, said Girohaye, quietly and politely. And however much you may refuse, the more determined, am I to have it. I, as a samurai, said I should have it. Do you think that you can turn me from my purpose? If you have not the politeness to get it, I will take it by force. Suiting his action to his words, the samurai drew a sword about three feet long and was about to cut off the best branch of all. Jirohei clung to the sleeve of his sword-arm, crying, I have asked you to leave the tree alone, but you would not. Please, take my life instead. You are

Starting point is 09:45:43 an insolent and annoying fool. I gladly follow your request. And saying this, the samurai stabbed Girohai slightly to make him let go the sleeve. Girohai did let go, but he ran to the tree, where in a further struggle over the branch, which was cut, in spite of Girohai's defense, he was stabbed again, this time fatally. The samurai, seeing that the man must die, got away as quickly as possible, leaving the cut branch in full bloom on the ground. Hearing the noise, the servants came out of the house, followed by Girohaye's poor old wife. It was seen that Girohai himself was dead, but he clung to the tree as firmly as in life, and it was fully an hour before they were able to get him away. From this time things went badly with the tea house.

Starting point is 09:46:38 Very few people came, and such as did come were poor and spent, but but little money. Besides, from the day of the murder of Girohé, the tree had begun to fade and die. In less than a year it was absolutely dead. The tea-house had to be closed for want of funds to keep it open. The old wife of Girohaye had hanged herself on the dead tree, a few days after her husband had been killed. People said that ghosts had been seen about the tree, and were afraid to go there at night. Even neighboring tea-houses suffered, and so did the temple, which for a time became unpopular. The samurai, who had been the cause of all this, kept his secret, telling no one but his own father what he had done, and he expressed to his father's intention of going to the

Starting point is 09:47:24 temple to verify the statements about the ghosts. Thus, on the third day of March in the third year of Keio, that is, 42 years ago, he started one night alone and well-armed, in spite of his father's attempts to stop him. He went straight to the old dead tree, and hid himself behind a stone lantern. To his astonishment, at midnight the dead tree suddenly came out into full bloom, and looked just as it had been when he cut the branch and killed Girohei. On seeing this, he fiercely attacked the tree with his keen-edged sword. He attacked it with mad fury, cutting and slashing, and he heard a fearful scream which seemed to him to come from inside the tree.

Starting point is 09:48:08 After half an hour he became exhausted, but resolved to wait until daybreak to see what damage he had wrought. When day dawned, the samurai found his father, lying on the ground, hacked to pieces, and of course dead. Doubtless the father had followed to try and see that no harm came to the son. The samurai was stricken with grief and shame. Nothing was left but to go and pray to the gods for forgiveness and to offer his life to them, which he did by disemboweling himself. From that day the ghost appeared no more, and people came as before to view the cherry bloom by night as well as by day, so they do even now. No one has ever been able to say whether the ghost which appeared was the ghost of Girohei, or that of his wife, or that of the cherry tree which had died when its limb had been severed.

Starting point is 09:49:05 End of Chapter 48. recording by David McKay Chapter 49 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan This is a Libravox recording All Libravox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer Please visit Libravox.org Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan

Starting point is 09:49:33 By Richard Gordon Smith The Snow Ghost Perhaps there are not many Even in Japan Who have heard of the use of the Yukiona, snow ghost. It is little spoken of, except in the higher mountains which are continually snow-clad in the winter. Those who have read Lofcadio-Hern's books will remember a story of the Yukiona, made much of on account of its beautiful telling, but in reality, not better than the

Starting point is 09:50:07 following. Up in the northern province of Echigo, opposite Sado Island on the the Japan Sea, snow falls heavily. Sometimes there is as much as 20 feet of it on the ground, and many are the people who have been buried in the snows and never found until spring. Not many years ago, three companies of soldiers, with the exception of three or four men, were destroyed in Aeo Mori, and it was many weeks before they were dug out, dead of course. Mysterious disappearances naturally give rise to fancies in a fanciful people, and from time immemorial the snow ghost has been one with the people of the north, while those of the south say that those of the north take so much sake

Starting point is 09:51:01 that they see snow-covered trees as women. Be that as it may, I must explain what a farmer called Kiosimans saw. In the village of Hoy, which consisted only of 11 houses, very poor ones at that, lived Kiyosemann. He was poor, and doubly unfortunate in having lost both his son and his wife. A little lonely life, in the afternoon on the 19th of January of the third year of Tempo, that is 1833, a tremendous snowstorm came on. Kiu Zeman closed the shutters and made himself as comfortable as he could. Towards 11 o'clock at night he was awakened by a rapping at his door.

Starting point is 09:51:49 It was a peculiar rap and came at regular intervals. Kyozeman sat up in bed, looked towards the door, and did not know what to think of this. The rapping came again, and with it the gentle voice of a girl, thinking that it might be one of his neighbor's children wanting help, Kiyoseman jumped out of bed, but when he got to the door he feared to open it. Voice and rapping coming again just as he reached it, he sprang back with a cry,

Starting point is 09:52:24 Who are you? What do you want? Open the door, open the door, came the voice from outside. Open the door, is that likely until I know who you are in what you are doing out so late and on such a night? But you must let me in. How can I perceive farther in this deep snow? I do not ask for food, but only for shelter. I am very sorry, but I have no quilts or bedding.

Starting point is 09:52:51 I can't possibly let you stay in my house. I don't want quilts or bedding, only shelter, pleaded the voice. I can't let you in any way, shouted Kiyosimon. It is too late and against the rules and the law. saying which Kyosiman rebarred his door with a strong piece of wood, never once having ventured to open a crack in the shutters to see who his visitor might be. As he turned towards his bed, with a shutter, he beheld the figure of a woman standing beside it, clad in white, with her hair down her back.

Starting point is 09:53:28 She had not the appearance of a ghost. Her face was pretty, and she seemed to be about twenty-five years of age. Kyuzimon, taken by surprise, and very much alarmed, called out. Who and what are you? And how did you get in? Where did you leave your ghetto? I can come in anywhere when I choose, said the figure, and I am the woman who you would not let in. I require no clogs, for I whirl along over the snow,

Starting point is 09:53:58 sometimes even flying through the air. I am on my way to visit the next village, but the wind is against me. That is why I wanted you to let me rest here. If you will do so, I shall start as soon as the wind goes down. In any case, I shall be gone by morning. I should not so much mind letting you rest if you were an ordinary woman. I should, in fact, be glad, but I fear spirits greatly, as my forefathers have done, said Kiyuzimon.

Starting point is 09:54:30 Be not afraid. You have a butsu-done? said the figure. Yes, I have a Butzodon, said Kiyosimon. But what can you want to do with that? You say you are afraid of the spirits, of the effect that I may have upon you. I wish to pay my respects to your ancestors' tablets, and assure their spirits that no ill shall befall you through me. Will you open and light the Bhutsudan?

Starting point is 09:55:00 Yes, said Kiosimon, with fear and tremble. I will open the Butzodan and light the lamp. Please pray for me as well, for I am an unfortunate and unlucky man. But you must tell me in return who and what spirit you are. You want to know much. But I will tell you, said the spirit. I believe you are a good man. My name is Oyasu.

Starting point is 09:55:30 I am the daughter of Yazimon, who lives in the next village. My father, as perhaps you may have heard, is a farmer, and he adopted into his family, and as a husband for his daughter, Isiburo. Isiburo is a good man, but on the death of his wife last year he forsook his father-in-law and went back to his old home. It is principally for that reason that I am about to seek and remonstrate with him now. Am I to understand, said Kiyosimon, that the daughter who was, married to Isiburo is the one who perished in the snow last year?

Starting point is 09:56:09 If so, you must be the spirit of Oyasu, or Isiburo's wife? Yes, that is right, said the spirit. I was Oyasu, a wife of Isiburo, who perished now a year ago in the great snowstorm, of which tomorrow will be the anniversary. Kiyosimon, with trembling hands, lit the lamp in the little Butzudan. mumbling, Namuami da Bootsu, namuami da Bootsu. With a fervor which he had never felt before.

Starting point is 09:56:41 When this was done, he saw the figure of the Yukiona, the snow spirit, advance, but there was no sound of footsteps as she glided to the altar. Kiyosimun retired to bed where he promptly fell asleep, but shortly afterwards he was disturbed by the voice of the woman, bidding him farewell. Before he had time to sit up, she disappeared, leaving no sign. The fire still burned in the Butzodon. Kuzimon got up at daybreak and went to the next village to see Isiburo, whom he found living with his father-in-law Yazimon.

Starting point is 09:57:20 Yes, said Isiburo. It was wrong of me to leave my late wife's father when she died. I am not surprised that on cold nights when it snows I have been visited continually by my wife's spirit as a reproof. Early this morning I saw her again and I resolved to return. I have only been here two hours as it is. On comparing notes, Kiyosimon and Isiburo found that directly the spirit of Oyasu had left the house of Kiyosimon she appeared to Isiburo at about half an hour after midnight and stayed with him until he had promised to return to her father's house and help him to live in his old age. That is roughly my story of the Yukiona.

Starting point is 09:58:10 All those who die by the snow and cold become spirits of snow, appearing when there is snow, just as the spirits of those who are drowned in the sea only appear in stormy seas. Even to the present day, in the north, priests say prayers to appease the spirits of those who have died by snow and to prevent them from haunting people who are connected with them. End of Chapter 49. Chapter 50 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain.

Starting point is 09:58:52 For more information or to volunteer, please visitlibrovox.org. Recording by Maria Melodya Carey. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. The Snow Tomb. footnote told to me by Fukuchi in connection with the firelights in foxes, carefully translated by Mr. Watanabe of the prefectural government. End of footnote. Many years ago they lived a young man of the samurai class,

Starting point is 09:59:19 who was much fain for his skill and fencing in what was called the style of Yagyu. So adept was he, he earned by teaching under his master, no less than 30 barrels of rice and two rations, which, I am told, vary from one to five show a month. As one show is 0.666 feet square, our young samurai, Rukugo, Yakeji, was well off. The seat of his success was at Minamiwari Gesui, Hongo Yedo. His teacher was Sudo Jirozaemon, and the school was at Ishiwaraaku. Rokugo was in no way proud of his skill.

Starting point is 09:59:54 It was the modesty of the youth, coupled with cleverness, that had prompted the teacher to make his pupil an assistant master, The school was one of the best in Tokyo, and there were over 100 pupils. One January, the pupils were assembled to celebrate the new year, and on this the seventh day of it, were drinking Nanakusa, a kind of sloppy rice in which seven grasses and green vegetables are mixed, said to keep off all diseases for the year. The pupils were engaged in ghost stories,

Starting point is 10:00:24 each trying to tell a more alarming one than his neighbor, until the hair of many was practically on end, and it was late in the evening. It was accustomed to keep the 7th of January in this way, and they took their turns by drawing numbers. One hundred candles were placed in a shed at the end of the garden, and each teller of a story took his turn at bringing one away, until they had all told the story. This was too upset, if possible, the bragging of the pupil who said he did not believe in ghosts and feared nothing. At last it came to the turn of Rokugo.

Starting point is 10:00:58 After fetching his candle from the end of the garden, he spoke as follows. My friends, listen to my story. It is not very dreadful, but it is true. Some three years ago, when I was 17, my father sent me to Gifu in Mino Province. I reached on the way a place called Nakamura, about 10 o'clock in the evening. Outside the village, on some wild, uncultivated land, I saw a curious fireball. It moved here and there without noise, came quite close to me, and then went away again, moving generally as if looking. for something. It went round and round over the same ground, time after time. It was generally five feet off the ground, but sometimes it went lower. I will not say that I was frightened

Starting point is 10:01:42 because subsequently I went to the Miyoshi Inn and to bed without mentioning what I had seen to anyone, but I can assure you all that I was very glad to be in the house. Next morning, my curiosity got the better of me. I told the landlord what I had seen, and he recounted to me a story, he said about two hundred years ago a great battle was fought here and the general who was defeated was himself killed when his body was recovered early in the action it was found to be headless the soldiers thought that a head must have been stolen by the enemy one more anxious and the rest to find his master's head continued to search while the action went on while searching he himself was killed since that evening two hundred years ago the fireball has been burning after

Starting point is 10:02:26 10 o'clock. The people from that time till now have called it Kubi Sagashinoi. Footnote, the head-seeking fire. End of footnote. As the master of the inn finished relating this story, my friends, I felt an unpleasant sensation in the heart. It was the first thing of a ghostly kind that I had seen. The pupils agreed that the story was strange. Roku-go pushed his toes into his get-a-clogs and started to fetch his candle from the end of the garden. He had not proceeded far into the garden before he heard the voice of a woman. It was not very dark as there was snow on the ground, but Rukho could see no woman. He had got as far as the candles when he heard the voice again, and, turning suddenly, saw a beautiful woman of some eighteen summers. Her clothes were fine. The obi,

Starting point is 10:03:14 belt, was tied in the Tatea no jiri, shape of the arrow standing erect as an arrow in a quiver. The dress was all of the pine and bamboo pattern, and her hair was done in the Shimada style. Roku-go stood looking at her with wonder and admiration. A minute's reflection showed him that it could be no girl and that her beauty had almost made him forget that he was a samurai. No, it is no real woman, it is a ghost. What an opportunity for me to distinguish myself before all my friends, saying which he drew his sword, tempered by the famous Moria Shinkai, and with one downward cut, severed head,

Starting point is 10:03:53 body, and all, into halves. He ran, seized the candle, and took it back to the room where the pupils were awaiting him. There he told the story and begged them to come and see the ghost. All the young men looked at one another, none of them being partial to ghosts in what you may call real life. None cared to venture. But by and by, Yamamoto Jonosuke, with better courage than the rest, said, I will go and dashed off. As soon as the other pupils saw this, they also, gathering pluck, went forth into the garden. When they came to the spot where the dead ghosts were supposed to lie,

Starting point is 10:04:27 they found only the remains of a snowman, which they themselves had made during the day, and this was cut in half from head to foot, just as Rokugo had described. They all laughed. Several of the young samurai were angry, but they thought that Rokogo had been making fools of them. But when they returned to the house, they soon saw that Rokogu had not been trifling. They found him sitting with an air of great haughtiness, and thinking that his pupils would now indeed see how able a sort of. he was. However, they looked at Rokogo scornfully and addressed them thus. Indeed, we have received

Starting point is 10:05:01 remarkable evidence of your ability. Even the small boy who throws a stone at a dog would have had the courage to do what you did. Rokogo became angry and called them insolent. He lost his temper to such an extent that for a moment his hand flew to his sword hilt, and he even threatened to kill one or two of them. A samurai apologized for their rudeness, but at it Your ghost was only the snowman we made ourselves this morning. That is why we tell you that a child need not fear to attack it. At this information, Okogu was confounded, and he, in his turn, apologized for his temper.

Starting point is 10:05:38 Nevertheless, he said he could not understand how it was possible for him to mistake a snowman for a female ghost. Puzzled and ashamed, he begged his friends not to say any more about the matter, but keep it to themselves. Thereupon, he bade them for well and left the house. It was no longer snowing, but the snow lay thick upon the ground. Roku had had a good deal of sake, and his gate was not oversteady, as he made his way home to Wari Gessui. When he passed near the gates of the Khorinji Temple, he noticed a woman coming faster than he could understand through the temple grounds.

Starting point is 10:06:13 He leaned against the fence to watch her. Her hair was disheveled, and she was all out of order. Soon a man came running behind her with a butcher's knife in his hand and shouted as he caught her. You wicked woman, you have been unfaithful to your poor husband, and I will kill you for it, for I am his friend, stabbing her five or six times, he did so, and then moved away. Rekugo, zooming his way homewards, thought, what a good friend must be the man who had killed the unfaithful wife. A bad woman justly rewarded with death, thought he. Rokugo had not gone very far. However, when, to his utter astonishment, he met face to face

Starting point is 10:06:51 the woman whom he had just seen killed. She was looking at him with angry eyes, and she said, How can a brave samurai watch so cruel a murder as you have just seen enjoying the sight? Rokugo was much astonished. Do not talk to me as if I were your husband, said he, for I am not. I was pleased to see you killed for being unfaithful. Indeed, if you are the ghost of the woman, I shall kill you myself before he could draw his sword. The ghost had vanished. Rokugo continued his way, and on nearing his house he met a woman who came up to him with horrible face and clenched teeth, as if in agony. He had had had enough troubles with women that evening. They must be foxes who had assumed the forms of women, thought he, as he continued to gaze at this last one.

Starting point is 10:07:39 At that moment he recollected that he had heard of a fact about fox women. It was that fire coming from the bodies of foxes and badgers is always so bright that even on the darkest night you can tell the color. of their hair or even the figures woven in the stuffs they wear when assuming the forms of men or women. It is clearly visible at one can, six feet. Remembering this, Rukugo approached a little closer to the woman, and sure enough, he could see the pattern of her dress, shown up as if fire were underneath. The hair too seemed to have fire under it. Knowing now that it was a fox he had to do with, Rukugo drew his best sword, the famous one made by Moria and proceeded to attack carefully, for he knew he should have to hit the fox and not the spirit of the fox in the woman's form.

Starting point is 10:08:28 It is said that whenever a fox or a badger transforms itself into human shape, the real presence stands behind the apparition. If the apparition appears on the left side, the presence of the animal himself is on the right. Rokugo made his attack accordingly, killing the fox and consequently the apparition. He ran to his house and called up his relations, who came flogical, out with lanterns. Near a myrtle tree, which was almost 200 years old, they found the body, not a fox or a badger, but of an otter. The animal was carried home. Next day, invitations were issued to all the pupils at the fencing school to come and see it, and a great feast was given. Roku-go had wiped away a great disgrace. The pupils erected a tomb for the beast.

Starting point is 10:09:16 It is known as Yukizuka, the snow tomb, and is still to be seen. seen in the Kourinji Temple at Warigessui-Honjo in Tokyo. End of Chapter 50, recording by Maria Melodia Kerry. Chapter 51 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by David McKay.

Starting point is 10:09:53 Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. The dragon-shaped plum-tree. In the year 1716 of the Kiohoera, one hundred and ninety-one years ago, there lived at Momoyama Fushimi, an old gardener, Hambéi, who was loved and respected for his kindliness of nature and his great honesty. Though a poor man, Hambay had saved enough to live on, and he had inherited a house and garden from his father. Consequently, he was happy. His favorite pastime was tending the garden, and an extraordinarily fine plum tree, known in Japan is of the furio kind, which means lying dragon.

Starting point is 10:10:38 Such trees are of great value, and much sought after for the arrangement of gardens. Curiously enough, though one may see many beautiful ones, trees growing on mountains or on wild islands, they are very rarely touched except near the larger commercial centers. Indeed, the Japanese have almost a veneration for some of these fantastic furio-shaped trees, and leave them alone whether they be pines or plums. The tree in question, Hambé loved so much that no offer people could make would induce him to part with it. So notoriously beautiful were the tints and curves of this old stunted tree. Large sums had many times been offered for it.

Starting point is 10:11:20 Humberi loved it not only for its beauty, but also because it. it had belonged to his father and grandfather. Now, in his old age, with his wife and her dotage and his children gone, it was his chief companion. In the autumn he tended it in its untidiness of dead and dying leaves. He felt sorry and sympathetic for it in its cold and bare state in November and December. But in January, he was happily employed in watching the buds which would blossom in February. When they did bloom, it was his custom to let the people come at certain hours daily to see the tree and listen to stories of historical facts, and also to stories of romance regarding the plum tree, of which the Japanese mind is ever full. When this again was over, Humbay pruned and tied

Starting point is 10:12:08 the tree. In the hot season he lingered under it smoking his pipe and was often rewarded for his care by two or three dozen delicious plums, which he valued and loved as much, almost, as if they had been his own offspring. Thus, year after year, the tree had become so much Humbay's companion that a king's ransom would not have bought it from him. Alas, no man is destined to be let alone in this world,

Starting point is 10:12:35 someone is sure sooner or later to covet his property. It came to pass that a high official at the Emperor's Court heard of Humbay's Fourier tree in one of a few tree and wanted it for his own garden. This Dainagan sent his steward, Kotara Naruse, to see Hambay with a view to purchase, never for a moment doubting that the old gardener would readily sell if the sum offered were sufficient.

Starting point is 10:13:01 Kotara Narusei arrived at Momoyama Fushimi and was received with due ceremony. After drinking a cup of tea, he announced that he had been sent to inspect and make arrangements to take the Furio Pursiope, plum-tree for the dineagon. Hambe was perplexed. What excuse for refusal should he make to so high a personage? He made a fumbling and rather stupid remark of which the clever steward soon took advantage. On no account, said Hambay, can I sell the old tree? I have refused many offers for it already.

Starting point is 10:13:36 I never said that I was sent to buy the tree for money, said Cotaro. I said that I had come to make arrangements by which the Dainaghan could have it conveyed carefully to his palace, where he proposes to welcome it with ceremony and treat it with the greatest kindness. It is like taking a bride to the palace for the Dinagon. Oh, what an honor for the plum tree to be united by marriage with one of such illustrious lineage. You should indeed be proud of such a union for your tree. Please, be counseled by me and grant the Dinagon's wish. What was Humberay now to say? Such a lowly-bore person asked by a gallant samurai to grant a favor to no less a person than the dana gun. Sir, he answered, your request in behalf of the dionagon has been so courteously made that I am

Starting point is 10:14:24 completely prevented from refusing. You must, however, tell the dinegan that the tree is a present, for I cannot sell it. Kotaro was greatly pleased with the success of his maneuvers, and, drawing from his clothes a bag, said, please, as is customary on making a gift, except this small one in return. To the gardener's great astonishment, the bag contained gold. He returned it to Cotaro, saying it was impossible to accept the gift. But on again being pressed by the smooth-tongued samurai, he retracted. The moment Cotero had left, Humbered this.

Starting point is 10:15:04 He felt as if he had sold his own flesh and blood, as if he had sold his daughter to the diana gun. That evening he could not sleep. Towards midnight his wife rushed into his room, and pulling him by the sleeve, shouted, "'You wicked old man, you villainous old rascal, at your age, too. Where did you get that girl? I have caught you. Don't tell me lies. You're going to beat me now. I see by your eyes. I am not surprised if you avenge yourself in this way. You must feel an old fool.' Humby thought his wife had gone off her head for good this time. He had seen no girl. What is the matter with you, Obasan? He asked. I have seen no girl, and do not know what you were talking about.

Starting point is 10:15:52 Don't tell me lies. I saw her. I saw her myself when I went down to get a cup of water. Saw. Saw—what do you mean, said Humby? I think you've gone mad talking of seeing girls. I did see her. I saw her weeping outside the door. and a beautiful girl she was, you old sinner, only seventeen or eighteen years of age. Humbay got out of bed to see for himself whether his wife had spoken the truth or had gone truly mad. On reaching the door he heard sobbing, and on opening, beheld a beautiful girl. Who are you, and why here? asked Hambay. I am the spirit of the plum-tree, which for so many years you have tended and loved,

Starting point is 10:16:39 as did your father before you. I have heard, and grieve greatly at it, that an arrangement has been made whereby I am to be removed to the Dainagans' gardens. It may seem good fortune to belong to a noble family, and an honour to be taken into it. I cannot complain. Yet I grieve at being moved from where I have been so long,

Starting point is 10:17:01 and from you, who have so carefully tended to my wants. Can you not let me remain here a little longer, as long as I live? i pray you do i have made a promise to send you off on saturday to the dainagon in kiyoto but i cannot refuse your plea for i love to have you here be easy in your mind and i will see what can be done said the spirit dried its tears smiled at humbe and disappeared as it were into the stem of the tree while hambay's wife stood looking on in wonder not at all reassured that there was not some trick on her husband's part. At last, the fatal Saturday on which the tree was to be removed, arrived, and Kotaro came with many men and a cart. Hambe told him what had happened, of the tree's spirit, and of what it had implored of him. Here, take the money, please, said the old man. Tell the story to

Starting point is 10:18:04 the Dainaghan as I tell it to you, and surely he will have mercy. Kotaro was angry and said, How has this change come about? Have you been drinking too much sake, or are you trying to fool me? You must be careful, I warn you, else you shall find yourself headless. Even supposing the spirit of the tree did appear to you in the form of a girl, did it say that it would be sorry to leave your poor garden for a place of honour in that of the dynagon? You are a fool, and an insulting fool. How dare you return the dionagons present? How could I explain such an insult to him, and what would he think? think of me. As you are not keeping your word, I will take the tree by force, or kill you in place of it. Kotaro was greatly enraged. He kicked Hambé down the steps, and, drawing his sword, was about to cut off his head, when suddenly there was a little puff of wind, scented with plum blossom, and then there stood in front of Kotaro the beautiful girl, the spirit of the plum tree.

Starting point is 10:19:07 "'Get out of my way, or you'll get hurt,' shouted Kotaro. "'No, I will not go away. You had better kill me the spirit that has brought such trouble, instead of killing a poor, innocent old man,' said the spirit. "'I don't believe in the spirits of plum-trees,' said Kotaro. "'That you are a spirit is evident, but you are only that of an old fox, so I will comply with your request, and at all events kill you first.' No sooner had he said this than he had said this, then he had he said,

Starting point is 10:19:37 made a cut with his sword, and he distinctly felt that he cut through a body. The girl disappeared, and all that fell was a branch of the plum tree, and most of the flowers that were blooming. Kotaro now realized that what the gardener had told him was true, and made apologies accordingly. I will carry this branch to the dinegan, said he, and see if he will listen to the story. Thus was Humberay's life saved by this spirit. of the tree. The Dainagon heard the story, and was so moved that he sent the old gardener a kind message, and told him to keep the tree and the money, as an expression of his sorrow for the trouble which he had brought about. Alas, however, the tree withered and died soon after Cotaro's

Starting point is 10:20:24 cruel blow, and in spite of Humber's care, the dead stump was venerated for many years. End of Chapter 51. Recording by David McKay. Chapter 52 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by David McKay. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith.

Starting point is 10:21:04 The chessboard cherry tree. Begin note. This story, with the exception of the ghost, I believe to be true. For the sepuku of Saaito-Ukan is just the kind of reasoning that would have been held out in the days of the story, and is even today possible in many cases. See a case quoted by Professor Chamberlain of the servant to an Englishman at Yokohama, and note the number of cases in the recent war. End note. In olden times, long before the misfortunes of Europeanization came to Japan, there lived at Kazamatsu in Nakasatani, near Shetan. Shijikwai Murashinjigun, Hitachi province, a hot-headed old Daimyo, Odasayaman.

Starting point is 10:21:50 His castle stood at the top of a pine-clad hill about three miles from what is now known as Kamitachi Station on the Nippon Railway. Siamon was noted for his bravery as a soldier, for his abominable play at Go, or Goban, and for his bad temper and violence when he lost, which was invariably. His most intimate friends among his retainers had tried hard to reform his manners after losing it go, but it was hopeless. All those who won from him he struck in the face with a heavy iron fan, such as was carried by warriors in those days, and he would just as readily have drawn his sword and cut his best friend's head off, as been interfered with on those occasions. To be invited to play go with their lord was what all his bold samurai dreaded most.

Starting point is 10:22:37 At last it was agreed among them that sooner than suffer the gross indignity of being struck by him when they won they would let him win. After all, it did not much matter there being no money on the game. Thus Siamon's game grew worse and worse, for he never learned anything.

Starting point is 10:22:55 Yet in his conceit, he thought he was better than everybody. On the third of March, in honor of his little daughter, Occhio, he gave a dinner party to his retainers. The third of March is the daughter, Dolls Day, Hina no Sekku, the day upon which girls bring out their dolls. People go from house to house to see them, and the little owners offer you sweet white sake in a doll's cup with much ceremony. Siamon, no doubt, chose this day of feasting as a compliment to his daughter, for he gave sweet white sake after their food, to be drunk to the health of the dolls, instead of men's sake,

Starting point is 10:23:31 which the guests would have liked much better. Siamon himself absolutely disliked sweet sake. so as soon as the feast was over he called saito ukon one of his oldest and most faithful warriors to come and play go with him leaving the others to drink ucon curiously enough had not played with his lord before and he was delighted that he had been chosen he had made up his mind to die that evening after giving his master a proper lesson in a luxuriously decorated room there was placed a goban chess-board with two go cases containing the men which are made of white and black stones. The white stones are usually taken by the superior player and the black by the inferior. Without any apology or explanation, Ucon took the case containing the white stones, and began to place them as if he were without question the superior player. Siamon's temper began to work up, but he did not show it. So many games of Go had his retainers allowed him to win lately, he was fully confident that he should win again, and that Ucon would have,

Starting point is 10:24:36 in addition to apologize for presuming to take the white stones. The game ended in a win for Yukon. I must have another game, said Siamon. I was careless in that one. I will soon show you how I can beat you when I try. Again Siamon was beaten, this time not without losing his temper, for his face turned red,

Starting point is 10:24:58 his eyes looked devilish, and with a bullying voice full of passion he roared for a third game. This also Ucon won Siamon's wrath knew no bounds Seizing his iron fan He was about to smite Ucon a violent blow in the face His opponent caught him by the wrist and said

Starting point is 10:25:17 My lord what ideas have you about games Your lordship seems to think curiously about them It is the better player who wins While the inferior must fail If you fail to beat me at Go It is because you are the inferior player Is this manner of your lordships in taking defeat from a superior up to the form of Bushido and a samurai as we are taught it.

Starting point is 10:25:39 Be counseled by me, your faithful retainer, and be not so hasty with your anger. It ill befits one in your lordship's high position. And with a look full of reproof at Siamon, Ucon bowed almost to the ground. You, insolent rascal, roared Siamon, how dare you speak to me like that! Don't move! Stand as you are with your head bowed so that I may take Take it off. Your sword is to kill your enemies, not your retainers and friends, said Yukon. Sheathe your sword, my lord.

Starting point is 10:26:13 You need not trouble yourself to kill me, for I have already done Sepuku. Disembowled myself, in order to offer you the advice which I have given, and to save all others. See here, my lord. Ucon opened his clothes and exhibited an immense cut across his stomach. Siamon stood for a minute, taken aback. And while he thus stood, U-Kan spoke to him once more, telling him how he must control his temper and treat his subjects better. On hearing this advice again, Siamon's passion returned.

Starting point is 10:26:47 Seizing his sword, he rushed upon U-Kan, and crying, Not even by your dying spirit will I allow myself to be advised, made a furious cut at U-Kan's head. He missed, and cut the go-board into instead. Then, seeing that U-Kan was dying rapidly, Siamon dropped beside him, crying bitterly in saying, "'Much do I regret to see you thus die, O faithful, Yukon.

Starting point is 10:27:13 In losing you I lose my oldest and most faithful retainer. You have served me faithfully, and fought most gallantly in all my battles. Pardon me, I beg of you. I will take your advice. It was surely a sign by the gods that they were displeased at my conduct when they made me miss your head with my sword and cut the go-board. Ucon was pleased to find his lord at last repentant. He said,

Starting point is 10:27:37 I shall not even in death forget the relation between master and servant, and my spirit shall be with you and watch over your welfare as long as you live. Then Ucon breathed his last. Siamon was so much moved by the faithfulness of Ucon that he caused him to be buried in his own garden and he buried the broken go-board with him.

Starting point is 10:28:01 From that time on, the Lord Siamon's conduct was completely reformed. He was good and kind to all his subjects, and all his people were happy. A few months after Ucon's death, a cherry tree sprang out of his grave. In three years, the tree grew to be a fine one and bloomed luxuriantly. On the third of March in the third year, the anniversary of Ucon's death, Siamon was surprised to find it suddenly in bloom. He was looking at it, and thinking of watering it himself as usual on that day, when he suddenly saw a faint figure standing by the stem of the tree.

Starting point is 10:28:39 Just as he said, You are, I know, the spirit of faithful Saito-U-Kon. The figure disappeared. Siamon ran to the tree to pour water over the roots, when he noticed that the bark of some feet of the stem had all cracked up to the size and shape of the squares of a go-board. He was much impressed. For years afterwards,

Starting point is 10:29:04 until, in fact, Siamon's death, the ghost of Ucon appeared on each third of March. A fence was built round the tree, which was held sacred, and even to the present, they say, the tree is to be seen. End of Chapter 52. Recording by David McKay. Chapter 53 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. all Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,

Starting point is 10:29:50 please visit leapovox.org. Recording by Linda Marine Yielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith The precious sword Natori Nohoto Idi Kamomotsu was a vassal of the Lord of Nakura town in Kishu. His ancestors had all been brave warriors, and he had greatly distinguished himself in a battle at Shizu Gataki,

Starting point is 10:30:32 which took its name from a mountain in the province of Omi. The great Hidiyoshi had successfully fought in the same place, so far back as in the 11th year of the Tencho era, 1573 to 1592, that is 1584, with Shiba Katsui. Idi Kamotsu ancestors were loyal men, one of them as a warrior. had a reputation second to none. He had cut the heads off no fewer than 48 men with one sword. In due time, this weapon came to Idi Camotsu, and was capped by him as a most valuable family treasure. Rather early in life, Camotsu found himself a widower. His young wife left a son called Fujiwaka.

Starting point is 10:31:41 By and by Kamamotozu felt lonely, married a lady whose name was Sadako. Sadako later bore a son, who was called Goro. Twelve or fourteen years after that, Kamamoto himself died, leaving the two sons in charge of Sadako. Fujiwaka was at that time 19 years of age. Sadako became jealous of Fujiwaka, knowing him as the elder son to be the heir to Kamamoto's property. She tried by every means to put her own son, Gora, first. In the meantime, a little romance was secretly going on between a beautiful girl called

Starting point is 10:32:35 said, daughter of Iwasa, Shiro, and young Fujiwaka. They had fallen in love with each other, were holding secret meetings to their hearts content, and vowing promises of marriage. At last they were found out, and Sadako made their conduct a pretext for driving Fujiwaka out of the house, and depriving him of all rights in the family property. Attached to the establishment was a faithful old nurse, Matsui, who had brought up Fujiwaka from his infancy. She was grieved at the injustice which had been done, but little did she think of the loss of bunny or of property

Starting point is 10:33:29 in comparison with the loss of the sword, the miraculous sword of which the outcast son was the proper owner. She thought night and day of how she might get the heirloom for young Fujiwaka. After many days she came to the conclusion that she must steal the sword from the Ihai, shrine, or rather a wooden tablet in the interior of the shrine, bearing the posthumous name of an ancestor, which represents the spirit of that ancestor. One day when her mistress and the others were absent, Matsui stole the sword. No sooner had she done so than it became apparent that it would be some months perhaps.

Starting point is 10:34:25 perhaps before she should be able to put it into the hands of the rightful owner. For of Fujiwaka, nothing had been heard since his stepmother had driven him out. Fearing that she might be accused, the faithful Matsui dug a hole in the garden near the Ayuma, a little house, such as is kept in every Japanese gentleman's garden. for performing the tea ceremony in and there she put the sword meaning to keep it hidden until such time as she should be able to present it to fujiwaka sadako having occasion to go to the buddha the day after missed the sword and knowing omatsu to have been the only servant left in the house at the time taxed her with the theft of the sword. Matsu denied the theft, thinking that in the cause of justice, it was right of her to do so, but it was not easy to persuade Sade Sadeaku, who had Matsui confined

Starting point is 10:35:45 in and out-house, and gave orders that neither rice nor water was to be given her until she confessed. No one was allowed to go near Matsu except Sadako herself, who kept the key of the shed, which she visited only once every four or five days. About the tenth day poor Matsu died from starvation. She had stuck faithfully to her resolution, that she would keep the sword and deliver it someday to her young master. the lawful air. No one knew of Matsui's death. The evening on which she had died, found Sadako seated in an old shed in a remote part of the garden, and trying to cool herself,

Starting point is 10:36:41 for it was very hot. After she had sat for about half an hour, she suddenly saw the figure of amaciated woman, with disheveled hair. The figure appeared from behind a stone lantern, glided along towards the place where Sadako was seated and looked full into Sadako's face. Sadako immediately recognized Masui and upbraided her loudly for breaking out of her prison. Go back, you thieving woman, said she,

Starting point is 10:37:22 I have not half-finished with you yet. How dare you leave the place where you are locked up and come to confront me? The figure gave no answer, but glided slowly along to the spot, where the sword had been buried and dug it up. Sadako watched carefully, and being no coward, rushed at the figure of Matsui, intending to seize the sword. Figure and sword suddenly disappeared. Sadako then ran at top speed to the shed

Starting point is 10:38:00 where Matsui had been imprisoned and flung the door open with violence before her lay Matsui dead, evidently having been so for two or three days. Her body was thin and emaciated. Sedaco perceived. that it must have been the ghost of Omatsui that she had seen and mumbled Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu, the Buddhist prayer asking for protection or mercy.

Starting point is 10:38:38 After having been driven from his family home, Idi Fujiwaka had wandered to many places, begging his food. At last he got some small employment and was able to support himself at a very cheap inn at Umamachi Asakusa Temple. One midnight he awoke and found standing at the foot of his bed, the emaciated figure of his old nurse, bearing in her hands the precious sword. The heirloom valued beyond all others. It was wrapped in scarlet and gold brocade, as it had been before, and it was laid reverentially by the figure of Omatsu at Fujiwaka's feet. Oh, my dear nurse, said he, how glad am I!

Starting point is 10:39:39 Before he had closed his sentence, the figure had disappeared. My storyteller did not say what became of Saddoco or of her son. End of Chapter 53, recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 54 of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a LibraVox recording. All LibraVox recordings are in the public domain. more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC.

Starting point is 10:40:30 Ancienteals and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith Chapter 54 The White Serpent God Harada Curando was one of the leading vassals of the Lord of Tussergu. He was a remarkable swordsman and gave lessons in fencing. Next in seniority to Harada, among the vassals was one Gunnayu, who also taught fencing, but he was no match for the famous Harada, and consequently was somewhat jealous.

Starting point is 10:41:15 One day to encourage the art of fencing amongst his vassals, the daimo summoned all his people and ordered them to give an exhibition in his presence. After the younger vassals had performed, the daimo gave an order that Herada, Kerando, and Hira Gundayu should have a match. To the winner, he said, he would present a gold image of the goddess of Kawananon. both men fenced their best there was great excitement gunn ayu had never done so well before but herada was too good he won the match receiving the gold image of kawannon from the hands of the daimo amid loud cheering gunn dayu left the scene of the encounter boiling over with jealousy and vowing vengeance.

Starting point is 10:42:21 Four of his most faithful companions left with him and said they would help him to waylay and assault Harada that very evening. Having arranged this cowardly plan, they proceeded to hide on the road, which Harada must traverse on his return home. For three hours they lay there with evil intentions. At last in the moonlight they saw Harada come staggering along,

Starting point is 10:42:54 for, as was natural on such an occasion, he had, with friends, been indulging in Saki freely. Gunda'iou and his four companions sprang out at him, Gundayu shouting, Now you will have to fight me to the death. Harada tried to draw his sword, but was slow, his head whirling. Gunda Ayu did not wait, but cut him to the ground, killing him. The five villains then hunted through his clothes, found the golden image of Kawanon, and ran off,

Starting point is 10:43:38 never again to appear on the domains of the Lord of Sugaru. When the body of Harada was found, there was great grief. Dono Suki, Harada's son, a boy of 16, vowed to avenge his father's death and obtained from the Daimo special permission to kill Gundayu as and when he chose. The disappearance of Gunda Ayu was sufficient evidence that he had been. the murderer. Yonosuke set out that day on his hunt for Gunda Ayu. He wandered about the country for five long years without getting the slightest clue. But at the end of that time, by the guidance of Buddha, he located his enemy at Gifu, where he was acting as fencing master to the feudal lord of that place. Donosuku found that it would be difficult to get at Gunda Au in an ordinary way,

Starting point is 10:44:54 for he hardly ever left the castle. He decided, therefore, to change his name to that of Ipai, and to apply for a place in Gunda Au's house as a Shugan, a samurai's private attendant. In this, Ipa'i, as we shall now call him, was particularly lucky, for, as Gunda Aou was in want of such an attendant, he got the place. On the 24th of June, a great celebration was held at the house of Gunda Aou, it being the fifth anniversary of his service to the clan. He put his stolen golden image of Kawanon on the Tocon the part of a Japanese room raised five inches above the floor where pictures and flowers are placed, and a dinner, Wasaki, was set before it. A dinner was given by Gunda Au to his friends, all of whom drank so deeply that they felt asleep.

Starting point is 10:46:08 Next day, the image of Kaoanon had disappeared. It was not to be found. A few days later, Ippai became ill, and owing to poverty, was unable to buy proper medicine. He went from bad to worse. His fellow servants were kind to him, but they could do nothing that improved his condition. Ipai did not seem to care. He lay in his bed and seemed almost pleased to be getting weaker and weaker. All he asked was that a branch of his favorite Omato, Rodea Japonica, should be kept in a vase before his bed, so that he might see it continually, and this simple request was naturally complied with.

Starting point is 10:47:02 In the autumn, Ipi passed quietly away and was buried. After the funeral, when the servants were cleaning out, the room in which he had died, it was noticed with astonishment that a small white snake was curled round the vase containing the omoto. They tried to remove it, but it coiled itself tighter. At last they threw the vase into the pond, not caring to have such a thing about them. Their astonishment, the water had no effect on the snake, which continued to cling to the vase. Feeling that there was something uncanny about the snake, they wanted to get it farther away. So they cast a net, brought the vase and snake to shore again, and threw them into a stream.

Starting point is 10:48:02 Even that made but little difference. the snake slightly changing its position so as to keep the branch of Omoto from falling out of the vase. By this time there was consternation among the servants and the news spread to the different houses within the castle gates. Some samurai came down to the stream to sea and found the white snake still firmly coiled about the vase and branch. One of the samurai drew his sword and made a slash at the snake, which let go and escaped, but the vase was broken, and, to the alarm of all, the image of the Kawanon fell out into the stream, together with a stamped permit from the feudal lord of Sugaru to kill a certain man, whose name was left blank.

Starting point is 10:49:05 The samurai who had broken the vase and found the lost treasure seemed particularly pleased, and hastened to tell Gondau the good news. But instead of being pleased, that person showed signs of fear. He became deadly pale when he heard the story of the death of Ipai and of the extraordinary appearance of the mysterious white. snake, he trembled. He realized that Ipa was, no less a person, than Yanosuke, son of Harada, whose appearance after the murder he had always feared. True to the spirit of a samurai, however, Gunda Ayu pulled himself together and professed great pleasure to the person who had brought the image of

Starting point is 10:50:05 Kawanan. Moreover, to celebrate the occasion, he gave a great feast that evening. Curiously enough, the samurai who had broken the vase and recovered the image became suddenly ill and was unable to attend. After he had dismissed his guests, at about 10 p.m., Gundaou retired to his bed. In the middle of the night he awoke with what he took to be a terrible nightmare. There was a choking sensation at his throat. He squirmed and twisted, gurgling noises proceeded from his mouth, to such an extent that he aroused his wife, who in terror struck alight. She saw a white snake coiled tightly round her husband's throat. His face was purple. and his eyeballs stood out two inches from his face.

Starting point is 10:51:08 She called for help, but it was too late. As the young samurai came rushing in, their fencing master was black in the face and dead. Next day, there was a close investigation. Messengers were dispatched to the Lord of Tsugu to inquire as to the history of the murdered Harada Curando, father of Yonosuke or Ipae, and as to that of Gundayu, who had been in his employee for five years. Having ascertained the truth, the lord of Gifu, moved by the zeal of Yonosuke in discharging his file duties, returned the golden image of Kawannon,

Starting point is 10:52:03 to the bereaved family of Harada, and in commemoration he worshipped the dead snake at a shrine erected at the foot of Koduyama Mountain. The spirit is still known as Hajukha no Myogen, the white serpent god. Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Chapter 55 of the Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording.

Starting point is 10:52:50 All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. by Richard Gordon Smith, a festival of the Awabi fish. Manazuru Manato is situated on a small promontory of the same name. It faces the Sagma Bay, framed for beauty. At its back are mountains rising gradually and overtopped in the distance by the majestic Fuji.

Starting point is 10:53:36 to the north on clear days the sandy shores of Kozu and Oiso. Twenty-five miles off seemed to be almost within arm's reach. Some people have compared the beauties of Manaziru Zaki from Cape to River with a place in China called Sikihiki by the celebrated poet of the country Sotoba, who wrote Sikihiki No Fu, the ode to Sikihiki. Many years ago, Minamoto no Yoritomo, after his defeat at the Battle of Ishibashiyama, fled to Manaziru Minato and stayed there for a few days while waiting for favorable weather to cross to the opposite side. of Awah. One can still see, I am told, the cave in which he hid, which retains its old name.

Starting point is 10:54:45 Shito Iwa The scenery on the coast is magnificent. The rocks rise sheer out of the sea and enclose a perfect little bay on the inside of Manazu Zaki, Cape. There the fishermen erected a quiet little shrine, Kabuni Jinja, where they worshipped the goddess who guards the fishing of their coast. They had but little to complain of in the Bay of Manzuru. The waters were deep and all was well stocked with fish such as Thai. In due season came the Sawara, giant mackerel, and all the smaller migratory fishes, including the sardine and anchovy. The fishermen had not to complain of until about 40 years ago, when a strange thing happened.

Starting point is 10:55:47 On the 24th of June, a person from some inland place arrived for a few days sea bathing. He was no swimmer, and he was drowned the first day. His body was never recovered, though the fishermen did all they could to find it. From this event onwards, for a full two years, the abundance of fish in the bay grew less and less, until it became difficult to catch enough to eat. The situation was serious in the extreme. Some of the elder fishermen attributed the change to the stranger, who had, had been drowned. It is our unrecovered body, they said, that has made our sacred waters change.

Starting point is 10:56:40 The uncleanliness has offended Gugan Ohimi, our goddess. It will never do to go on as we are. We must hold a special festival at the temple of Kibuni Jinja. Accordingly, the head priest, Iwanta, was approached. He was pleased with the idea, and a certain day was fixed upon. On the appointed evening, hundreds of fishermen gathered together, with torches in one hand, and Shia Rao, or Gohi Papers, footnote. Gohi Papers are a Shinto emblem, representing gifts of cloth to the deity, usually the god kami.

Starting point is 10:57:32 Some say gohi represent, in their curious cutting, the kami beating Dora, a gong used in worship. End footnote. Fastened on a bamboo in the other. They formed into procession and advanced towards the shrine from various directions, beating, gongs. At the temple the priest read from the sacred books and prayed to the goddess that had watched over them and their fisheries not to desert them because their waters had been polluted by a dead body. They would search for it by every means in their power and cleanse the bay. Suddenly, while the priest was praying a light, the brilliance of which nearly blinded,

Starting point is 10:58:24 the fishermen flashed out of the water. The priests stopped for a moment. A rumbling noise was heard at the bottom of the sea, and then there arose to the surface, a goddess of surpassing beauty, probably Kawanon-Gioren. She looked at the ceremony which was being held on shore for a full hour, and then disappeared with another flash,

Starting point is 10:58:53 leaving the sound of roaring waves. The priest and the elder fishermen considered matters, and came to the conclusion that what they had seen was indeed their goddess, and that she had been pleased at their ceremony. Also, they thought the dead body must still be at the bottom of the bay, directly under the spot whence the flashes of light and the goddesses, herself had appeared. It was arranged that two young virgins who could dive should be sent down at the spot to sea, and two were accordingly chosen, Seotome and Tamajo. Wrapped in white skirts,

Starting point is 10:59:42 these maidens were taken in a boat to where the flashes and the goddess had appeared. The girls dived, reached the bottom, and searched for the body. of the man drowned two years before. Instead of finding it, they saw only a small but dazzling light. Curiosity led them to the spot, and there they found hundreds upon hundreds of awabee, ear shells, fastened upon a rock six feet in height and 25 or 30 in length. Whenever the fish moved, they were obliged to raise the sheep. shells, and it was the glitter of the pearls inside that had attracted the damsels. This rock must have been the tomb of the drowned, or else the home of the goddess.

Starting point is 11:00:38 Seotome and Tamajo returned to the surface, each having taken from the rock a large shell to show the priest. As they came to the shore, cheers were given in their honor, and the priest's and the fishermen crowded round them. On learning about the Awabi shells, which they had never before heard of as being in the bay, they came to the conclusion that it was not uncleanliness that kept the fish away. The lights thrown from the brilliant necruous shells, and pearls inside them must be the cause.

Starting point is 11:01:21 Many times have we heard of the Awabi flying. They must have flown here at some time within two years. The fishermen resolved to remove them. It was evident that the goddess had appeared in the light, so as to show what it was that kept the fish away. No time was lost. Many hundreds of men and women went down. and cleared the place, and the fish began to return to Manaziro Manato.

Starting point is 11:01:59 At the suggestion of the priest, Iwata, there is held on every 24th of June, Amatsuri Festival. The fishermen light torches and go to the shrine for worship all the night through. This is called the Awabi Festival of Kabuni. This story was told to me by a man who knows nothing of shellfish. He told the story as of the Osari, a kind of cocko shell dug out of the sand at low tide. It is impossible that the story could have referred to other shellfish than haliotis, the earshall, or the awabi, or the regular pearl oes. Oster. Diving women have seen the flight of Halliotis and described it to me. If one feels

Starting point is 11:03:01 disposed to leave a rock, they all feel the same impulse and go. Thus it is the large old heliotis sometimes appear on a rock, some 15 fathoms deep, when not one was there the day before. and they go with equal quickness. For a thousand years or more, the same rocks have been haunted, and divers keep their finds at the bottom of the sea a great secret, at least so I observe at Toshi. End of Chapter 55, recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC.

Starting point is 11:03:52 Chapter number 56, of Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan

Starting point is 11:04:21 by Richard Gordon Smith. Spirit of a willow tree saves family honor. Long ago there lived in Yamada Village, Sarashina Gun, Shinato Province, one of the richest men in the northern part of Japan. For many generations, the family had been rich, and at last the fortune descended in the 83rd generation to Gobi, Yusah. The family had no title, but the people treated them almost with the respect due to a princely house. Even the boys in the street, who are not given to bestowing either compliments or titles of respect, bowed ceremoniously when they met Gobie, Yusah. Gobi was the soul of good nature, sympathetic to all in trouble.

Starting point is 11:05:25 The riches which Gobi had inherited were mainly money and land, about which he worried himself very little. It would have been difficult to find a man who knew less and carried less about his affairs than Gobi. He spent his money freely, and when he came to think of accounts his easy nature let them all slide. His great pleasures were painting cacamono pictures, talking to his friends, and eating good things. He ordered his steward not to worry him with unsatisfactory accounts of crops or any other disagreeable subjects. The destiny of man and his feet is arranged in heaven, said he. Gobe was quite celebrated as a painter. and could have made a considerable amount of money by selling his cacamonos.

Starting point is 11:06:32 But no, that would not be doing credit to his ancestors and his name. One day, while things were going from bad to worse, and Gobi was seated in his room painting, a friend came to gossip. He told Gobi that the village people were beginning to talk seriously, about a spirit that had been seen by no fewer than three of them. At first they had laughed at the man who saw the ghost. The second man who saw it they were inclined not to take quite seriously. But now it had been seen by one of the village elders,

Starting point is 11:07:18 and so there could be no doubt about it. Where do they see it? asked Gobi. They say that it appears under your old willow tree between 11 and 12 o'clock at night, the tree that hangs some of its boughs out of your garden into the street. That is odd, remarked Gobi. I can remember hearing of no murder under that tree, nor even spirit connection with any of my ancestors. But there must be something if three of our villagers have seen it.

Starting point is 11:08:01 Yet again, where there is an old willow tree, someone is sure to say, sooner or later, that he has seen a ghost. If there is a spirit there, I wonder whose it is. I should like to paint the ghost if I could see it, so as to leave it to my descendants, as the last ominous sign on the road, which has led to the family's ruin. That I shall make an effort to do.

Starting point is 11:08:37 This very evening I will sit up to watch for the thing. Never had Gobie been seized with such energy before. He dismissed his friend and went to bed at four o'clock in the afternoon, so as to allow himself to be up at ten o'clock. At that hour his servant awoke him, but even then he could not be got up before eleven. By 12 o'clock midnight, Goby was at last out in his garden, hidden in bushes facing the willow.

Starting point is 11:09:15 It was a bright night, and there was no sign of any ghosts until after one o'clock, when clouds passed over the moon. Just when Gobi was thinking of going back to bed, he beheld, arising from the ground under the willow, a thin column of white smoke, which gradually assumed the form of a charming girl. Goby stared in astonishment and admiration. He had never thought that a ghost could be such a vision of beauty. Rather, he had expected to see a white, wild-eyed, disheveled old woman with protruding bones, the spectacle of whom would freeze his marrow and make his teeth clatter. gradually the beautiful figure approached Gobi and hung its head as if it wished to address him. Who and what are you? cried Gobi. You seem too beautiful to my mind to be the spirit of one who is dead.

Starting point is 11:10:33 If you are indeed spectral, do tell me, if you may, whose spirit are you and why you? appear under this willow tree. I am not the spirit or ghost of man, as you say, answered the spirit, but the spirit of this willow tree. Then why do you leave the tree now? As they tell me you have done several times within the last ten days. I am, as I say, the spirit of this willow, which was plough. planted here in the 21st generation of your family. That is now about six centuries ago.

Starting point is 11:11:20 I was planted to mark the place where your wise ancestor buried a treasure, 20 feet below the ground, and 15 from my stem facing east. There is a vast sum of gold in a strong iron chest hidden there. The money was buried to save your house when it was about to fall. Never hitherto has there been danger, but now, in your time, ruin has come. And it is for me to step forth and tell you how, by the foresight of your ancestor, you have been saved from disgracing the family name by bankruptcy. Pray dig the strong box up and save the name of your house. Begin as soon as you can and be careful in future.

Starting point is 11:12:19 Then she vanished. Go be returned to the house, scarcely believing it possible that such good luck had come to him as the spirit of the willow tree planted by his wise ancestor had said, He did not go to bed, however. He summoned a few of his most faithful servants, and at daybreak began digging. What excitement there was when at 19 feet they struck the top of an iron chest. Go be jumped with delight, and it may almost be said that his servants did the same.

Starting point is 11:13:03 for to see their honored master's name fall into the disgrace of bankruptcy would have caused many of them to disembow themselves. They tore and dug with all their might until they had the huge and weighty case out of the hole. They broke off the top with pickaxes and then Goby saw a collection of old sacks. He seized one of these, but the age of it was too great. It burst and sent rolling out over a hundred immense old-fashioned oblong gold coins of ancient times, which must have been worth thirty pounds each. Gobi Usa's hand shook. He could hardly realize as true as good fortune which had come to him.

Starting point is 11:14:02 Bag after bag was pulled out, each containing a small fortune, until finally the bottom of the box was reached. Here was found a letter, some 600 years of age, saying, He of my descendants, who was obliged to make use of the treasure, to save our family reputation, will read aloud and make known that this treasure has been buried by me, Fuji, Yusa, in the 21st generation of our family, so that in time of need or danger a future generation

Starting point is 11:14:43 will be able to fall back upon it and save the family name. He whose great misfortune necessitates the use of the treasure must say, greatly do I repent the folly that has brought the affairs of our family so low and necessitated the assistance of an early ancestor. I can only repay such by diligent attention to my household affairs, and also show high appreciation and give kindness to the willow tree which has so long been watching. and guarding my ancestors' treasure. These things I vowed to do, I shall reform entirely. Gobi Yussa read this out to the servants and to his friends. He became a man of energy.

Starting point is 11:15:45 His lands and farms were properly taken care of, and the Yusah family regained its influential position. Gobie painted a cacamono of the spirit of the willow tree as he had seen her, and this he kept in his own room during the rest of his life. It is the famous painting in the Yusa Gardens today, which is called the Willow Ghost, and perhaps it is the model from which most of the Willow Tree Ghost paintings, have sprung goby fenced in the famous willow tree and attended to it himself as did those who followed him end of chapter fifty six recording by linder mary nielsen vanc chapter fifty seven of ancient tales and folk-lore of japan this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer

Starting point is 11:16:59 here, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by David McKay. Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith. The camphor tree tomb. Five Rhee, ten miles, from Shirakawa, in the province of Iwaki, there is a village called Yabukimura. Close by is a grove, some 400 feet square. The trees used to include a monster camphor, nearly 150 feet in height, of

Starting point is 11:17:29 untold age, and venerated by villagers and strangers alike as one of the greatest trees in Japan. A shrine was erected to it in the grove, which was known as the Nekoma-Myojin forest, and a faithful old man, Hamadatsushima, lived there, caring for the tree, the shrine, and the whole grove. One day the tree was felled, but instead of withering or dying, it continued to grow, and it is still flourishing, though lying on the ground. poor Hamarasuima disemboweled himself when the sacred tree had been cut down. Perhaps it is because his spirit entered the sacred tree that the tree will not die. Here is the story.

Starting point is 11:18:11 On the 17th of January in the third and last year of the Meireki period, that is 1658, a great fire broke out in the Homyoji Temple in the Maruyama Hongo district of Yedo, now Tokyo. The fire spread with such rapidity that not only, was that particular district burned, but also a full eighth of Yedo itself was destroyed. Many of the daimio's houses and palaces were consumed. The Lord Date Tsunamune of Sendai, one of the three greatest daimios, who were Satsuma, Kaga, Sendai, had the whole of his seven palaces and houses destroyed by the fire. The other daimios, or feudal lords, lost only one or two. Lord Date Tsunamune

Starting point is 11:18:57 resolved to build the finest palace that could be designed. It was to be at Shenzhenza in Shiba. He ordered that no time should be lost and directed one of his high officials, Harada Kaenao Nori, to see to the matter. Harada, accordingly, sent for the greatest house-building contractor of the day, one Kino Kunia Bunzaemon. And to him, he said,

Starting point is 11:19:22 You are aware that the fire has destroyed the whole of the town mansions of Lord Date Tsunamune. I am directed to see that the finest palace should be immediately built, second to none except the Shoguns. I have sent for you as the largest contractor in Yado. What can you do? Just make some suggestions and give me your opinion. Certainly, my lord, I can make plenty of suggestions, but to build such a palace will cost an enormous amount of money, especially now after this fire, for there is a great scarcity of large timber in the land. Never mind expenses, said Harada. Those I shall pay as you like and when you like. I will even advance money if you wanted.

Starting point is 11:20:05 Oh, then, answered the delighted contractor. I will start immediately. What would you think of having a palace like that of Kinkakuchi in Kyoto, which was built by the shogun Ashikaga. What I should build would be a finer mansion than that of the present shogun, let alone those of any daen. the whole of the hagi shelves to be made out of the rarest woods the tokubashira cakumono corner post to be of the nantes and ceilings of unjointed camphor tree boards should we be able to find a tree of sufficient size i can find nearly everything except the last in my own stocks the camphor trees are difficult there are but few they are mostly sacred and dangerous to interfere with or obtain i know of one in the forest of of Neko-Mami-O-Jin in Iwaki province. If I can get that tree, I should indeed be able to make an unjointed ceiling, and that would completely put other palaces and mansions in the second rank. Well, well, I must leave all this to you, said Harada. You know that no expense need be spared, as long as you produce speedily what is required by Lord Date Tsunamune.

Starting point is 11:21:14 The contractor bowed low, saying that he should set to and do his best, and he left no doubt delighted at so open a contract, which would enable him to fill his pockets. He set about making inquiries in every direction, and became convinced that the only camphor tree that would suit his purpose was the one before referred to, owing chiefly to its great breadth. Kino Kunia knew also that the part of the district where in lay this tree belonged to or was under the management of Fujieda Geiki, now in the Hanjo district of Yedo acting as a shogun's retainer,

Starting point is 11:21:46 well off, receiving 1,200 koku of rice a year, but not over-scrupulous about money of which he was always in need. Contractor Kino-Kunia soon learned all about the man and then went to call. Your name is Kino-Kunia Bunza-Eyaman, I believe. What may I ask do you wish to see me about, said Fuji-Ada. Sir, said the contractor, bowing low, It is, as you say. My name is Kino-Kunia-Bunza-E-E-Mon,

Starting point is 11:22:13 and I am a wood contractor, of whom perhaps your lordship has heard, for I have built and supplied the wood for many mansions and palaces. I come here craving assistance in the way of permission to cut trees in a small forest called Nekomamiogen, near the village called Yabuki-mura in the Sendai district. The contractor did not tell Fuji-ehaki, the shogun's retainer or agent, that he was to build a mansion for the Daimio-Date Tsunamune, and that the wood which he wanted to cut was within that Daimio's domains. for he knew full well that the Lord Date would never give him permission to cut a holy tree.

Starting point is 11:22:49 It was an excellent idea to take the D'aimio's trees by the help of the Shogun's agent, and charge for them fully afterwards. So he continued, I can assure you, sir, this recent fire has cleared the whole market of wood. If you will assist me to get what I want, I will build you a new house for nothing. And by way of showing my appreciation, I ask you to accept this small gift of yen 200, which is only a little beginning. You need not trouble with these small details, said the delighted agent, pocketing the money.

Starting point is 11:23:20 But do as you wish, I will send for the four local managers and headmen of the district wherein you wish to cut the trees, and I will let you know when they arrive in Yato. With them you will be able to settle the matter. The interview was over. The contractor was on the high road, he felt, to getting the trees he required, and the money-wanting agent was equally well-pleased that so slight an effort on his part should have been the means of enriching him by yen 200, with the promise of more and a new house. About ten days later, four men, the heads of villages, arrived in Yedo, and presented themselves

Starting point is 11:23:53 to Fujieda, who sent for the timber contractor, telling the four whose names were Mosuke, Magozaemon, Yohe, and Jinyemon, that he was pleased to see them, and to note how loyal they had been in their attendance on the Shogun, for that he, the Shogun, had had his palace burned down in the recent fire, and desired to have one immediately built, the great and only difficulty being the timber. I am told by our great contractor, to whom I shall introduce you presently, that the only timber fit for rebuilding the Shogun's palace lies in your district. I myself know nothing about these details, and I shall leave you gentlemen to settle these

Starting point is 11:24:31 matters with Kino Kunia, the contractor, so soon as he arrives. I've sent for him. In the meantime, consider yourselves welcome, and please accept of the meal I have arranged in the next room for you. Come along, and let us enjoy it. Fugida led the four countrymen into the next room, and ate with him at the meal, during which time Kino-Kunia the contractor arrived and was promptly ushered into their presence. The meal was nearly at an end. Fugida introduced the contractor, who in his turn said,

Starting point is 11:25:01 Gentlemen, we cannot discuss these matters here in the house of Lord Fugiaida, the shogun's agent. Now that we know one another, let me invite you to supper. At that I can explain to you exactly what I want, in the way of trees out of your district. Of course, you know my family are subjects of your feudal lords, and that we are therefore all the same. The four countrymen were delighted at so much hospitality. Two meals in an evening was an extraordinary dissipation for them, and that in Yato. My word, what would they not be able to tell their wives on their return to their villages? Kino Kunia led the four countrymen off to a restaurant called Campanaro in Rio Goku, where he treated them with the greatest hospitality.

Starting point is 11:25:44 After the meal, he said, Gentlemen, I hope you will allow me to hew timber from the forest in your village, for it is impossible for me otherwise to attempt any further building on a large scale. Very well, you may hew, said Mosuke, who is the senior of the four. Since the cutting of the trees in Nekoma-Mijan forest is, as it were, a necessity for our lord, they must be cut. It is, in fact, I take it an order from our Lord that the trees shall be cut, but I must remind you that there is one tree in the grove which cannot be cut amid any circumstances, whatever, and that is an enormous and sacred camphor tree, which is very much revered in our district,

Starting point is 11:26:23 and to which a shrine is erected. That tree we cannot consent to have cut. Very well, said the contractor. Just write me a little permit, giving me permission to cut any trees except the big camphor, and our business will be finished. Kino Kino Koukiya had by this time in the evening taken his measure of the countrymen, so shrewdly as to know that they were probably unable to write. "'Certainly,' said Mosuke. "'Just you write out a little agreement, Jinnyaman.' "'No, I'd rather you wrote it, Mago,' said Ginya Man.

Starting point is 11:26:57 "'And I should like Yo-hai to write it,' said Mago. "'But I can't write at all,' said Yo-hai, turning to Jiniaman again. "'Well, never mind, never mind,' said Kino-Kun-Kin-Kin-Kin. Kunia, will you gentlemen sign the document if I write it? Why, of course, they all assented. That was the best way of all. They would put their stamps to the document. This they did, and after a lively evening, departed, pleased with themselves generally.

Starting point is 11:27:25 Kino Kunia, on the other hand, went home fully contented with his evening's business. Had he not, in his pocket the permit to cut the trees, and had he not written it himself so as to suit his own purpose, He chuckled at the thought of how neatly he had managed the business. Next morning, Kino Kunia sent off his foreman, Chogoro, accompanied by ten or a dozen men. It took them three days to reach the village called Yabukimura, near the Nekoma Miogin Grove. They arrived on the morning of the fourth day, and proceeded to erect a scaffold round the camphor tree, so that they might the better use their axes. As they began chopping off the lower branches, Hamadatsushima, the keeper of the shrine, came running

Starting point is 11:28:07 to them. Here, here. What are you doing? Cutting down the sacred camphor. Curse you. Stop, I tell you. Do you hear me? Stop at once. Chogoro answered, You need not stop my men in their work. They're doing what they've been ordered to do, and with a full right to do it. I am cutting down the tree at the order of my master, Kino Kunia, the timber contractor, who has permission to cut the tree from the four headmen sent to Yato from this district. I know all that, said the caretaker, but your permission is to cut down any tree except the sacred camphor. Well, there you're wrong, as this letter will show you, said Chogoro. Read it yourself. And the caretaker, in great dismay, read as follows.

Starting point is 11:28:56 To Kino Kunia Bunzaemon, Timber Contractor Yedo. In hewing trees to build a new mansion for our lord, all the camphor trees must be spared except the large one, said to be sacred in the Nekomamiogen grove. In witness whereof we set our names. Jinyeemon, Magozaemon, Mosukei, representing the local county officials. The caretaker, beside himself with grief and astonishment, sent for the four men mentioned.

Starting point is 11:29:30 On their arrival, each declared that he had given permission to cut anything except the big camphor. But Chogoro said that he could, could not believe them, and in any case he would go by the written document. Then he ordered his men to continue their work on the big camphor. Hamara Tsushima, the caretaker, did Harakiri, disemboweling himself there and then, but not before telling Chogoro that his spirit would go into the camphor tree, to take care of it, and to wreak vengeance on the wicked Kynokunia.

Starting point is 11:30:04 At last the efforts of the men brought the stately tree down with a crash. But then, they found themselves unable to move it. Pull as they might, it would not budge. Each time they tried, the branches seemed to become alive. Faces and eyes became painful with the hits they got from them. Pluckily, they continued their efforts, but it was no use. Things got worse. Several of the men were caught and nearly crushed to death between the branches.

Starting point is 11:30:32 Four had broken limbs from blows given in the same way. At this moment, a horseman rode up and shouted, My name is Matsumai Tetsunosuke. I am one of the Lord of Sendai's retainers. The board of counselors in Sendai have refused to allow this camphor tree to be touched. You have cut it, unfortunately. It must now remain where it is. Our feudal lord of Sendai, Lord Date Tsunamune, will be furious.

Starting point is 11:30:59 Kynokunia, the contractor, planned an evil scheme and will be duly punished, while as for the Shogun's agent, Fujiya Degaki, he also must be reported. You yourselves return to Yedo. We cannot blame you for obeying orders. But first, give me that forged permit signed by the four local fools, who, it is trusted, will destroy themselves. Chogoro and his men returned to Yato. A few days later, the contractor was taken ill,

Starting point is 11:31:28 and a shampooer was sent to his room. A little later, Kino Kunia was found dead. The shampooer had disappeared, though it was impossible for him to have got away without being seen. it is said that the spirit of hamara tsushima the caretaker had taken the form of the shampooer in order to kill the contractor chogoro became so uneasy in his mind that he returned to the camphor tree where he spent all his savings in erecting a new shrine and putting in a caretaker this is known as the kusunoki zuka the camphor tree tomb the tree lies there my story-teller tells me at the present day the end of chapter fifty seven end of ancient tales and folk-lore of japan by richard gordon smith

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