GREEN WILLOW

AND OTHER

JAPANESE FAIRY TALES

BY

GRACE JAMES

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR BY

WARWICK GOBLE

MACMILLAN AND CO^ LIMITED

ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON

1912
 COPYRIGHT

First EditioHt 4/0, 40 /UuttratumSf 1910.

JVhv Etiifwn, 8cv, z6 lUustraiionSt 1913.

178020
GOT -9 \m
"BUG7

TO

MISS ETSUKO KATO

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR

The Moon Maiden Frontispiece

FACE PACK

The Flute lo

The Peony Lantern 25

The Sea King and the Magic Jewels .

.* . . 45

The Star Lovers 65

Reflections 78
The Story of Susa, the Impetuous 99

The Bell of D6j6ji 127

The Singing Bird of Heaven 148

A Legend of Kwannon 165
The Espousal of the Rat's Daughter . . . .171

The Strange Story of the Golden Comb . . . . 191

The Matsuyama Mirror 228

The Nurse 243

The Beautiful Dancer of Yedo 250

Karma 270

zi
 NOTE

These talcs and legends have been collected from

many sources. Some of them have been selected

from the Ko-ji-ki^

or Record of Ancient Matters^
which contains the mythology of Japan. Many
are told from memory, being relics of childish

days, originallyheard from the lips of a fellow

school-

or a nurse. Certain of them, again, form

favourite subjects for representation upon the

Japanese stage. A number of the stories now

gathered together have been translated into English

long ere this, and have appeared in this country in

one form or another ; others are probably new to

an English public.
Thanks are due to Marcus B. Huish, Esq.,who
has allowed his story,
**
The Espousal of the Rat's

Daughter," to be included in this collection ;

and

to Mrs. T. H. James for permission to use her

version of "
The Matsuyama Mirror.'*

vii
 CONTENTS

PAGX

1. Green Willow i

2. The Flute lo

The Tea-Kettle
3. 17

4. The Peony Lantern 25

5. The Sea King and the Magic Jewels . . 37

6. The Good Thunder

50

7. The Black Bowl 56

8. The Star Lovers 65

9. Horaizan
71

10. Reflections 78

11. The Story of Susa, the Impetuous 89

...

12. The Wind in the Pine Tree loi

....

Flower of the Peony 108

13.

14. The Mallet 116

15. The Bell of Dojoji 127

16. The Maiden of Unai 134

ix
 CONTENTS

PACK

17. The Robe of Feathers 142

18. The Singing Bird of Heaven .... 148

19. The Cold Lady 153

20. The Fire Quest 161

21. A Legend of Kwannon 165

22. The Espousal of the Rat's Daughter . " 171

23. The Land of Yomi 180

24. The Spring Lover and the Autumn Lover . 185

25. The Strange Story of the Golden Comb . 191

26. The Jelly-Fishtakes a Journey . . 204

27. Urashima 209

28. Tamamo, the Fox Maiden 215

29. MoMOTARo 223

30. The Matsuyama Mirror 228

31. Broken Images 233

32. The Tongue-cut Sparrow 238

33. The Nurse 243

34. The Beautiful Dancer of Yedo . . 250

35. Hana-Saka-Jiji 258

36. The Moon Maiden 264

37. Karma 270

38. The Sad Story of the Yaoya's Daughter . 276

X
 GREEN WILLOW

ToMODATA, the samurai^ owed allegiance to

young
the Lord of Noto. He was a soldier, a courtier, and

He had a sweet voice and a beautiful face,

a poet.
noble form and a winning address. He was
a very
graceful dancer, and excelled in manly
a every
He wealthy and and kind.
sport. was generous
He was beloved by rich and by poor.
Now his daimyoy the Lord of Noto, wanted a

to undertake a mission of trust. He chose

man

Tomodata, and called him to his

presence.
"
" Are you loyal ? said the daimyo.
lord, you know it," answered Tomodata,
"
My
"
" Do love then ? asked the daimyo.
you me,
"
Ay, my good lord,'* said Tomodata, kneeling
before him.

"Then message,'* said the daimyo.

carry my
" Ride and do not beast. Ride straight,
spare your
and fear not the mountains nor
the enemies' country.
for other thing. Lose
Stay not storm nor any
life ;
but betray not your trust. Above all, do
your
look maid between the Ride, and
not any eyes.

bring me word again quickly.'*

 GREEN WILLOW i

Thus spokethe Lord of Noto,

So Tomodata got him to horse,and away he
rode upon his quest. Obedient to his lord's
commands, he sparednot his good beast. He rode
and
straight, was not afraid of the steep mountain
passes nor of the enemies' country. Ere he had
been three daysupon the road the autumn tempest
burst,for it was the ninth month. Down poured
the rain in a torrent. Tomodata bowed his head
and rode on. The wind howled in the pine-tree
branches. It blew a typhoon. The good horse
trembled and could scarcelykeep its feet,but
Tomodata spoke to it and urged it on. His own
cloak he drew close about him and held it so

that it might not l;)low

away, and in this wise he
rode on.

The fierce storm swept away many a familiar

landmark of the road,and buffeted the samurai so
that he became fainting.Noon-
weary tidealmost to

was as dark as twilight, twilight was as dark

as night,and when nightfellit was as black as the

night of Yomi, where lost souls wander and cry.

By this time Tomodata had lost his way in a wild,
lonelyplace, where, as it seemed to him, no human
soul inhabited. His horse could carry him no

longer, and he wandered on foot throughbogs and

marshes,throughrocky and thornytracks,until he
fell into deep despair.
"Alack ! '* he cried,
"must I die in this wilder-
ness
and the quest of the Lord of Noto be unful-
filled?''

At this moment the great winds blew away the

I GREEN WILLOW

clouds of the sky,so that the moon shone very

brightly forth,and by the sudden lightTomodata
saw a littlehill on his righthand. Upon the hill
was a small thatched cottage,and before the cottage

grew three green weeping-willowtrees.

Now,"
indeed, the gods be thanked !** said
Tomodata, and he climbed the hill in no time.
Light shone from the chinks of the cottage door,
and smoke curled out of a hole in the roof. The
three willow trees swayedand flungout their green
streamers in the wind. Tomodata threw his horse*s
rein over a branch of
of them, and called for
one

admittance to the longed-for

shelter.
At once the cottage door was opened by an old
woman, very poorlybut neatlyclad.
"
"
Who rides abroad upon such a night? she
asked," and what wills he here ? *'
"I am a weary lost
traveller, and benighted
upon your lonelymoor. My name is Tomodata*
I am a samurai in the service of the Lord of Noto,
upon whose business I ride. Show me hospitality
for the love of the gods. I crave food and shelter
for myselfand my horse.*'
As the young man stood speakingthe water
streamed from his garments. He reeled a little,
and put out a hand to hold on by the side-post
of
the door.
"
Come in,come in,young sir ! " cried the old
woman, full of pity. "Come in to the warm

fire. You very welcome.

are We have but coarse

fare to but it shall be

offer, set before you with

great good-will. As to your horse,I see you have

3
 GREEN WILLOW i

delivered him to my daughter; he is in good

hands."
At this Tomodata turned sharplyround. Just
behind him, in the dim stood a very young
light,
girlwith the horse*s rein thrown over her arm.

Her garments were blown about and her long

loose hair streamed out upon the wind. The
samurai wondered how she had come there. Then
the old woman drew him into the cottage and
shut the door. Before the fire sat the good
man of the house, and the two old people did
the very best they could for Tomodata. They
gave dry garments, comforted him with hot
him
rice wine, and quicklyprepareda good supper
for him.
the daughterof
Presently the house came in,
and retired behind a screen to comb her hair and
to dress afresh. Then she came forth to wait upon
him. She wore a blue robe of homespun cotton.

Her feet were bare. Her hair was not tied nor

confined in lay along her smooth

any way, but
cheeks,and hung,straight and long and black,to
her very knees. She was slender and graceful.
Tomodata judged her to be about fifteen years old,
and knew well that she was the fairestmaiden he
had ever seen.

At length she knelt at his side to

pour wine
into his cup. She held the wine-bottle in two
hands and bent her head. Tomodata turned to
look at her. When she had made an end of
pouring the wine and had set down the bottle,
their glances
met, and Tomodata looked at her full
4
I GREEN WILLOW

between eyes, for he forgotaltogether

the the
warning of his daimyoythe Lord of Noto.
"
Maiden/' he said," what is your name ? **
She answered :
"
They call me the Green
Willow/'
"The dearest name on earth,'*he said,and
again he looked her between the eyes. And
because he looked long her face grew rosy red,
so

from chin to forehead,and though she smiled her

eyes filledwith tears.
Ah me, for the Lord of Noto's quest !
Then Tomodata made this little song :

maiden^do
Long-haired you know
**

That with the red dawn I must go f

Do you wish me far away ?
Cruel maiden^say
long-haired "

maiden^if you know

hong-haired
That with the red dawn I must go^
'*
Why^ oh why do you blush so ?
J

And the maiden, the Green Willow, answered :

"
The dawn comes ifI will or no ;
Never leave me^ never go.
My sleeve shall hide the blush away.
The dawn comes ifI will or no ;
Never leave me^ never
go.
Lordy I liftmy longsleeve so. . .
.''

'*
"Oh, Green Willow, Green Willow . " .

sighedTomodata.
That night he lay before the fire " but
still,
5
 GREEN WILLOW i

with wide eyes, for no sleepcame to him though

he was weary. He was sick for love of the Green
Willow. Yet by the rules of his service he was
bound in honour to think of no such thing. More-
over,
he had the quest of the Lord of Noto that
layheavy on his heart,and he longedto keep truth
and loyalty.
At the firstpeep of day he rose up. He looked
upon the kind old man who had been his host,and
left a purse of gold at his side as he slept. The
maiden and her mother laybehind the screen.
Tomodata saddled and
bridled his horse,and
mounting,rode slowlyaway through the mist of
the earlymorning. The storm was quite over
and it was as still as Paradise. The green grass
and the leaves shone with the wet. The sky
was clear,and the path very brightwith autumn
flowers ; but Tomodata was sad.
When the streamed
sunlight across his saddle-
bow,
"Ah, Green Willow, Green Willow,'' he
sighed; and at noontide it was
"
Green Willow,
"
Green Willow ; and "
Green Willow, Green
Willow,'* when the twilightfell. That night
he lay in a deserted shrine,and the placewas so
holy that in spite from
of all he slept midnighttill
the dawn. Then he rose, havingit in his mind to

wash himself in a cold stream that flowed near by,

80 as to go refreshed upon his journey; but he was

stoppedupon the shrine's threshold. There lay

the Green Willow, prone upon the ground. A
slender thing she lay,face downwards, with her
black hair flungabout her. She lifted a hand and
6
 GREEN WILLOW i

loud and full of agony, and when she had uttered

the cry she failed,
and droppedher head upon her
love's breast.
Tomodata,'*she whispered,say prayer for
" "
a

me ; 1 die."
"
Oh, say not so, my sweet, my sweet ! You
are but weary ; you are faint.'*
He carried her to the stream's side,
where the
iris grew like swords, and the lotus-leaves like
fields,and laved her forehead with water. He
said : What
"
is it,my dear ? Look up and live."
The
"
tree,"she moaned, the tree they "
" " "

have cut down my tree. Remember the Green

Willow."
With that she
slipped,as it seemed, from his
arms to his feet ; and he, casting himself upon the
ground,found onlysilken garments, brightcoloured,
warm and sweet, and straw sandals, scarlet-thonged.
In after years, when Tomodata was a holy
man, he travelled from shrine to shrine,painfully
upon feet,and acquiredmuch
his merit.
Once, at nightfall,he found himself upon a

lonely
moor. On his righthand he beheld a little
hill,and on it the sad ruins of a poor thatched
cottage. The door swung to and fro with broken
latch and creakinghinge. Before it stood three
old stumps of willow trees that had long since
been cut down. Tomodata stood for a long time
stilland silent. Then he sang gentlyto himself:

"
maiden^do you
Long-haired know
That with the red dawn I must go ?
8
I GREEN WILLOW

Do you wish far away ?

me

maiden^say
Cruel long-haired "

Long-hairedmaiden^ifyou know
That with the red dawn I must go^
'*
Why^ oh why^do you blush so f

"Ah, foolish song ! The godsforgive

mc. . . .

I should have recited the Holy Sutra for the

Dead," said Tomodata.
 II

THE FLUTE

Long since, their lived in Yedo a gentleman of

good lineage and very honest conversation. His

wife was a gentle and loving lady. To his secret

grief,she bore him no sons. But a daughter she did

give him, whom they called 0'Yon6, which, being

interpreted, is Rice in the
"
ear." Each of them
loved this child more than life,and guarded her as
the apple of their eye. And the child grew up
red and white, and long-eyed, straight and slender
as the green bamboo.
When 0'Yon6 was twelve old, her mother
years
drooped with the fall of the sickened, and
year,
pined, and ere the red had faded from the leaves of
the maples she was dead and shrouded and laid in

the earth. The husband was wild in his grief.

He cried aloud, he beat his breast, he lay upon the
ground and refused comfort, and for days he neither
broke his fast nor slept. The child was quite
silent.

Time passed by. The man perforce went about

his business. The snows of winter fell and covered
his wife's grave.
The beaten pathway from his

10
(

The Flute.-/*, w.
11 THE FLUTE

house to the dwellingof the dead was snow also,

undisturbed save for the faint
printsof a child's
sandalled feet. In the spring-time
he girdedup his
robe and went forth to see the cherry blossom,
making merry enough, and writinga poem upon
gilded paper, which he hung to a cherry-tree
branch flutter in the wind/
to The poem was in
of
praise the spring and of saki. Later,he planted
the orange lilyof forgetfulness,
and thought of his
wife no more. But the child remembered.
Before the year was out he broughta new bride
home, a woman with a fair face and a black heart.
But the man, poor fool,was happy,and commended
his child to her, and believed that all was well.
Now because her father loved 0'Yon6, her
stepmotherhated her
jealousand deadlywith a

by the child,
hatred,and every dayshe dealt cruelly
whose gentleways and patience onlyangeredher
the more. But because of her father's presence she
did not dare to do 0'Yon6 any great ill ; therefore
she waited, bidingher time. The poor child passed
her days and her nightsin torment and horrible
fear. But of these thingsshe said not a word to

her father. Such is the manner of children.

Now, after some time, it chanced that the man

was called away by his business to a distant city.

Kioto was the name of the city,and from Yedo it
is many days'journeyon foot or on horseback.
Howbeit, go the man needs must, and stay there
three moons or more. Therefore he made ready,
and equippedhimself,and his servants that were

to go with him, with all thingsneedful ; and so

II
 THE FLUTE ii

came to the last nightbefore his which

departure,
was be very earlyin the
to morning.
He called 0'Yon6 to him and said :
"
Come
here, then,my dear little daughter.**
So 0'Yon6
went and knelt before him.
"What giftshall I bring you home from
"
Kioto ? he said.
But she hung her head and did not answer.
"
Answer, then, rude little one," he bade her.
** Shall it be a goldenfan,or a roll of silk,or
a new obi of red brocade, or a great battledore
with images upon it and many -feathered
light
**
shuttlecocks ?
Then she burst into bitter weeping, and he
took her upon his knees to soothe her. But she
hid her face with her sleeves and cried as if her
heart would break. And, "
O father,father,
father,"she said," do not go away "
do not go
"

away I
sweet, I needs must," he answered,
But, my
"

"
and soon I shall be back it will
so soon, scarcely "

seem that I am gone, when I shall be here again

with fair gifts
in my hand."
Father,take me with you,"she said.
"

"Alas,what a great way for a little girl! Will

you walk on your feet,my little pilgrim, or mount

a pack-horse
? And how
you fare in the inns would
of Kioto ? Nay, my dear,stay; it is but for a little
time, and your kind mother will be with you."
She shuddered in his arms.
"
Father, if you go, you will never see me

more."
13
 THE FLUTE ii

in his chest for certain brave silken hakama which

he intended to wear as an honour to the feast,
he
came upon the littleflute,which had lain hidden
all this time in the sleeve of his travelling
dress.
He drew it forth from its red and white chief,
handker-
and
he did so, felt strangely
as cold with an
icychill that crept about his heart. He hung over
the live charcoal of the hibachi as one in a dream.
He put the flute to his when
lips, there came from
it a long-drawnwail.
He dropped it hastilyupon the mats and
clappedhis hands for his servant, and told him he
would not go forth that night. He was not well,
he would be alone. After a long time he reached
out his hand for the flute. Again that long,
melancholycry. He shook from head to foot,
but he blew into the flute. "
Come back to

Yedo . . .
come back to Yedo. . . .
Father !
Father ! '* The quaveringchildish voice rose to a

shriek and then broke.

A horrible foreboding
now took of
possession
the man, and he was as one beside himself. He
flunghimself from the house and from the city,
and journeyedday and night, denying himself
sleepand food. So palewas he and wild that the
peopledeemed him a madman and fled from him,
or pitiedhim as the afflictedof the gods. At last
he came to his journey's end, travel-stained from
head to heel,with bleedingfeet and half-dead of
weariness.
His wife met him in the gate.
He said :
" Where is the child ? **
II THE FLUTE

"
The child " . .
? " she answered.
"
Ay, the child "

my child . . .
where is she ? "
he cried in an agony.
The woman laughed: "
Nay, my lord, how
should I know ? She is within at her books, or
she is in the garden,
or she is
asleep,
or mayhap
she has gone forth with her playmates,
or ." " "

He said : " Enough ; no more of this. Come,

"
where is my child ?
Then she was afraid. And, "
In the Bamboo
Grove," she said,lookingat him with wide eyes.
There the man ran, and sought 0*Yon6 among
the green stems of the bamboos. But he did
not find her. He called,'* Yon6 ! Yon6 ! '* and
'*
again," Yone ! Yon6 ! But he had no answer ;
only the wind dry bamboo leaves.
sighedin the
Then he felt in his sleeve and broughtforth the
little flute,and very tenderly put it to his lips.
There was a faint sighingsound. Then a voice
thin
spoke, and pitiful
:

"Father, dear father,my wicked stepmother

killed me. Three moons since she killed me.

She buried me in the clearingof the Bamboo

Grove. You may find my bones. As for me, you
will never see me any more "

^you will never see

me more. " "

"'*

With his own two-handed sword the man did

and
justice, slew his wicked wife, avenging the
death of his innocent child. Then he dressed
himself in coarse white raiment, with a great rice-
straw hat that shadowed his face. And he took a
15
 THE FLUTE ii

staffand a straw rain-coat and bound sandals on his

and
feet, thus he set forth upon a pilgrimage
to the
holyplacesof Japan,
And he carried the little flute with him, in
a fold of his garment, upon his breast.

i6
 Ill

THE TEA-KETTLE

Long ago, as Fvc heard tell, there dwelt at the

temple of Morinji, in the Province of Kotsuke, a

holy priest.
Now there were three things about this reverend
First, he was wrapped in meditations
man. up
and observances and forms and doctrines. He was

a great one for the Sacred Sutras, and knew strange

and mystical things. Then he had a fine exquisite
taste of his own, and
nothing pleased him so much

as the ancient tea of the Cha-no-yu ; and

ceremony
for the third thing about him, he knew both sides
of a copper coin well enough and loved a bargain.
None so pleased as he when he happened
upon
an ancient tea-kettle, lying rusty and dirty and half-
forgotten in a corner of a poor shop in a back
street of his town.
"
ugly bit of old metal," says the holy man
An

to the shopkeeper; "but it will do well enough to

boil humble drop of water of an evening. FU
my
give you three rin for it." This he did and took
the kettle home, rejoicing; for it was of bronze, fine

work, the very thing for the Cha-no^yu.

c
17
 THE TEA-KETTLE iii

A novice cleaned and scoured the tea-kettle,

and it came out as pretty as
you please.The
turned
priest it this way upside and that,and
down,
looked into it,tappedit with his finger-naiLHe
'*
smiled. "
A he cried, a bargain! and
bargain," "

rubbed his hands. He the kiettleupon a box

set

covered over with a purplecloth,and looked at it

so long that firsthe was fain to rub his eyes many
times, and then to close them altogether.His
head droppedforward and he slept.
And then, believe me, the wonderful thing
happened.The though no hand
tea-kettle moved,
was near it. A hairyhead, with two brighteyes,
looked out of the spout. The lid jumped up and
down. Four brown and hairypaws appeared, and
a fine bushy tail. In a minute the kettle was down
from the box and going round and round looking
at things.
"
A comfortable room, to be sure," says
very
the tea-kettle.
Pleased enough to find itselfso well lodged,it
soon began to dance and to caper nimbly and to
sing atthe top of its voice. Three or four novices
were studyingin the next room.
"
The old man

is theysaid ;
lively," only hark to him.
"
What
can he be at ?" And they laughed in their
sleeves.
Heaven's mercy, the noise that the tea-kettle
made ! Bang ! bang ! Thud ! thud ! thud !
The novices soon stoppedlaughing. One of
them slid aside the kara-'kami and peepedthrough.
"
Arah, the devil and all's in it ! " he cried.
i8
Ill THE TEA-KETTLE

"Here's the master's old tea-kettle turned into a

sort of a badger. The godsprotect us from witch-

craft,
"
or for certain we shall be lost !
"And I scoured it not an hour said
since,'*
another novice, and he fell to the Holy
reciting
Sutras on his knees.
A third
laughed. "
Fm for a nearer view of
the he said.
hobgoblin/'
So the lot of them left their books in a

twinklingsand gave chase to the tea-kettle to

catch it. But could they come up with the tea-
kettle

? Not a bit of it. It danced and it leapt

and it flew up into the air. The novices rushed
here and there, slipping upon the mats. They
grew hot. They grew breathless.
"
Ha, ha ! Ha, ha ! " laughed the tea-kettle ;
"
and "
Catch me if you can ! laughedthe wonder-
ful
tea-kettle.
the priest
Presently awoke, all rosy, the holy
man.
" And what's the meaning of this racket,"he
says,
"
disturbing
me at my holy meditations and
all?"
Master, master,"cry the novices,pantingand
"

mopping their brows, "your tea-kettle is bewitched.

It was badger,no less.
a And the dance it has
been givingus, you'dnever believe ! "
"
Stuflf and nonsense,"says the priest
;
"
witched
be-
? Not a bit of it. There it rests on its
justwhere I put it,"
box, good quietthing,
Sure enough, so it did, lookingas hard and
cold and innocent as you please. There was not a

19
 THE TEA-KETTLE iii

hair of a badgernear it. It was the novices that

looked foolish.
"
likelystory indeed," says the priest. I
A "

have heard of the pestle that took wings to itself

and flew away, partingcompany with the mortar.
That is easilyto be understood by any man. But
a kettle that turned into badger no, no ! To
a "

your books,my sons, and pray to be preserved

from
of illusion."
the perils
That very night the holyman filledthe kettle
with water from the springand set it on the
hibachi to boil for his cup of tea. When the water

began to boil "

Ai ! Ai ! " the kettle cried ; " Ai ! Ai ! The

"

heat of the Great Hell ! " And it lost no time at

all,but hopped oflfthe fire as quickas you please.
"
"
Sorcery! cried the priest. Black magic !
"

A devil ! A devil ! A devil ! Mercy on me !

"
Help ! Help ! Help ! He was frightened
out

of his wits,the dear good man. All the novices

came runningto see what was the matter.
"
The tea-kettle is bewitched," he gasped; "
it
was badger,
a assuredlyit was a badger " . .
it both
speaksand leapsabout the room."
Nay, master," said a novice, see
" "
where it
rests upon its box, good quietthing."
And sure enough,so it did.
"
Most reverend sir,"said the novice, "
let us

all pray to be preservedfrom the perilsof

illusion."
The sold
priest the tea-kettle to a tinker and
got for it twenty copper coins.
20
 THE TEA-KETTLE iii

**
Shall I keep you in a lacquerbox ?" says the
tinker.
"
Not bit of it, keep me
a with you ; let us
have a talk now and again. I am very fond of a
pipe. I like rice to eat, and beans and sweet

things."
"
A cup of saki sometimes says the tinker. ?
"

Well, yes, now you mention it.**

"

Fm willing," says the tinker.

"

Thank says the tea-kettle; and,

kindly,"
" "
you
as a beginning,would you objectto my sharing
your bed ? The nighthas turned a littlechilly."
" Not the least in the world," says the tinker.
The tinker and the tea-kettle became the best
of friends. They ate and talked together.The
kettle knew a thing or two and was very good
company.
"
One day : Are you poor ? says the kettle.
"

"
Yes," says the tinker, middlingpoor." "

"Well, I have a happy thought. For a tea-

kettle,

I am out-of-the-way
reallyvery " plished."
accom-

" I believe you," says the tinker.

"
My name is Bumbuku'-Chagama ; I am the
very princeof Badger Tea-Kettles."
"
Your servant, my lord,"says the tinker.
** If you'lltake my advice,"says the tea-kettle,
"
you'llcarry me round as a show ; I really am

out-of-the-way, and it'smy opinionyou'd make a

mint of money."
"
That would be hard work for you, my dear
Bumbukuj' says the tinker.
22
Ill THE TEA-KETTLE

Not all ; let says the

forthwith,'*
**
at us start
tea-kettle.
So theydid. The tinker bought hangingsfor
a theatre,and he called the show Bumbuku-
Chagama. How people flocked to see the
the
fun ! For the wonderful and most accomplished
tea-kettle danced and sang, and walked the tight

rope as to the manner born. It playedsuch

tricks and had such droll ways that the people
laughed tilltheir sides ached. It was a treat to
see the tea-kettle bow as gracefullyas a lord and

thank peoplefor their patience.

the
The Bumbuku-Chagama was the talk of the
country-side,and all the gentry came to see it as
well as the commonalty. As for the tinker,he
waved a fan and took the money. You may
believe that he grew fat and rich. He even went

to Court, where the great ladies and the royal

made
princesses much of the wonderful tea-kettle.
At last the tinker retired from and
business, to

him the tea-kettle came with tears in its bright

eyes.
"*
I'm much afraid it'stime to leave it says.
you,'*
"
Now, don't say that,BumbukUy dear,"says the
tinker. ** Well be so happy together now we are

rich."
**
I've come the end of my time," says the
to
tea-kettle. "You'll not see old Bumbuku any
more ; henceforth I shall be an kettle,
ordinary
nothingmore or less."
"
"
Oh, my dear Bumbuku^ what shall I do ?
cried the poor tinker in tears.
 THE TEA-KETTLE iii

" I think I should like to be givento the temple

of Morinji,as a says the
very sacred treasure,'* kettle.
tea-

It never spokeor moved again. So the tinker

it as
presented very sacred treasure
a to the temple,
and the half of his wealth with it.
And the tea-kettle was held in wondrous
fame for many a long yean Some persons even

it as
worshipped a saint.

^
The Peony Lantern.- P. 25.
 IV

THE PEONY LANTERN

In Yedo there dwelt a samurai called Hagiwara.

He was a samurai of the hatamoto^ which is of all

the ranks of samurai the most honourable. He

possessed a noble figure and a beautiful face,

very
and beloved of a lady of Yedo, both
was many
openly and in secret. For himself, being yet very
his thoughts turned
pleasure rather than to
young,
to love, and morning, noon and night he was
wont to disport himself with the gay youth of the

city. He was the prince and leader of joyous

revels within doors and without, and would often

parade the streets for long together with bands of

his boon companions.
One bright and wintry day during the Festival

of the New Year he found himself with a company

of laughing youths and maidens playing at dore
battle-

and shuttlecock. He had wandered far away

from his own quarter of the city, and was now in

a suburb quite the other side of Yedo, where the

streets were empty, more or less, and the quiet

houses stood in gardens. Hagiwara wielded his

heavy battledore with great skill and catching

grace,
25
 THE PEONY LANTERN iv

the gildedshuttlecock and tossingit lightly into

the air ; but at lengthwith a careless or an ill-
judged stroke,he sent it flyingover the heads of
the players, and over the bamboo fence of a garden
near by. Immediately he started after it. Then
his companionscried, Stay,Hagiwara ; here we"

have more than a dozen shuttlecocks."

"
Nay," he said, "
but this was dove-coloured
and gilded."
"
Foolish one ! " answered his friends ; " here
we have six shuttlecocks all dove-coloured and
gilded."
But he paidthem no heed, for he had become
full of very strange desire for the shuttlecock he
a

had lost. He scaled the bamboo fence and dropped

into the gardenwhich was upon the farther side.
Now he had marked the very spot where the
shuttlecock should have fallen,but it was not

there ; so he searched alongthe foot of the bamboo

fence but no, he could not find it. Up and down
"

he went, beatingthe bushes with his battledore,

his eyes on the ground,drawing breath heavilyas
if he had lost his dearest treasure. His friends
called him, but he did not come, and they grew
tired and went to their own homes. The lightof
day began to fail.
Hagiwara,the samurai^looked
up and saw a girlstandinga few yardsaway from
him. She beckoned him with her righthand, and
in her left she held a gildedshuttlecock with
dove-coloured feathers.
The samurai shouted and
joyfully ran forward.
Then the girldrew away from him, stillbeckoning
26

'""Digitized
by
 THE PEONY LANTERN iv

It was dark night when Hagiwara took his

leave. "
Come again, honourable lord, come
said
again," 0*Yone the handmaiden.
"
Yea, lord,you needs must come," whispered
the Lady of the Morning Dew.
The samurai laughed. '*And if I do not
"
come ? he said mockingly. What " if I do not
"
come ?
The and
ladystiffened, her child's face grew
grey, but she laid her hand upon Hagiwara's
shoulder.
"Then," she said, "it will be death, lord.
Death it will be for you and for me. There is no

other way." 0*Yon6 shuddered and hid her eyes

with her sleeve.
The samurai went out into the night,being
very much afraid.
Long, long he soughtfor his home and could
not find it,wanderingin the black darkness from
end to end of the sleeping
city. When at last he

reached his familiar door the late dawn was almost

come, and wearilyhe threw himself upon his bed.
Then he laughed. " After all,I have left behind
me my said Hagiwara the
shuttlecock," samurai.
The day Hagiwara sat alone in his house
next

from morning till evening. He had his hands

before him ; and he thought,but did nothingmore.
At the end of the time he said, It is a joke that "

a couple of geishahave sought to play on me.

but
Excellent,in faith, theyshall not have me !"
So he dressed himself in his best and went forth
to joinhis friends. For five or six dayshe was at

28
IV THE PEONY LANTERN

joustings and junketings, the gayest of the gay.

His wit was ready,his spirits
were wild.
Then he said, By the gods,I am deathly
"
sick
of this,"and took to walking the streets of Yedo
alone. From end to end of the great cityhe went.
He wandered by day and he wandered by night,
by street and alleyhe went, by hill and moat and
castle wall,but he found not what he sought. He
could not come upon the gardenwhere his shuttle-
cock
was lost,nor yet upon the Lady of the
Morning Dew. His spirithad no rest. He
fell sick and took to his bed, where he
neither ate nor slept,but grew spectre-thin.
This was about the third month. In the sixth
month, at the of niubai^the hot and rainy
time
season, he rose up, and, in spite of all his faithful
servant could say or do to dissuade him, he wrapped
a loose summer robe about him and at once went

forth.
"
"
Alack ! Alack ! cried the servant,
"
the
youth has the fever,or he is perchancemad."
Hagiwara faltered not at all. He looked
neither to the right nor to the left. Straight
forward he went, for he said to himself, "
All
roads lead past my love's house." Soon he came

to quietsuburb, and to a
a certain house whose
garden had a splitbamboo fence. Hagiwara
and scaled the
laughedsoftly fence.
"
The same, the very same shall be the manner

of our meeting,"he said. He found the garden

wild and overgrown. Moss covered the three
stone steps. The plum tree that grew there
29
 THE PEONY LANTERN iv

fluttered its green leaves disconsolate. The house

was its shutters
still, were all closed,it was forlorn
and deserted.
The samurai grew cold as he stood and
wondered. A soakingrain fell.
There came an old man into the garden. He
said to Hagiwara :
"
Sir,what do you do here ? "
"
The white flower has fallen from the plum
said
tree,** the samurai. *' Where is the Lady of
'*
the Morning Dew ?

^
'*
She is dead," answered the old man ;
"
dead
these five or six moons, of a strange and sudden
sickness. She lies in the graveyard on the and
hill,
0'Yon6, her handmaid, lies by her side. She could
not suflFerher mistress to wander alone through
the long nightof Yomi. For their sweet spirits*
sake I would still tend this garden,but I am

old and it is little that I can do. Oh, sir,they

are dead indeed. The grass grows on their
graves.**
Hagiwara went to his own home. He took a

slipof pure white wood and he wrote upon it,in

largefair characters,the dear name of his lady.
This he set up, and burned before it incense and
sweet odours, and made every that
oflFering was

meet, and did due observance,and all for the

welfare of her departedspirit.
Then drew near the Festival of Bony the time
of souls.
returning The good folk of Yedo took
lanterns andvisited their graves. Bringingfood
theycared for their beloved dead. On
and flowers,
30
IV THE PEONY LANTERN

the thirteenth day of the seventh month, which,

in the Boriyis the dayof days,Hagiwara the samurai
walked in his gardenby night for the sake of the
coolness. It was windless and dark. A cicala
hidden in the heart of a pomegranate flower sang
shrillynow and again. Now and again a carp
leapedin the round pond. For the rest it was still,
and never a leaf stirred.
About the hour of the Ox, Hagiwara heard the
sound of in the lane
footsteps that laybeyond his
gardenhedge. Nearer and nearer theycame.
Women's
"
geta^'said the samurai. He knew
them by the hollow echoingnoise. Looking over
his rose hedge,he saw two slender women come

out of the dimness hand in hand. One of them

carried a lantern with a bunch of peony flowers
tied to the handle. It was such a lantern as is used
at the time of the Bon in the service of the dead.
It swung as the two women walked, castingan
uncertain light. As they came abreast of the
samurai upon the other side of the hedge, they
turned their faces to him. He knew them at once,
and gave one great cry.
The girlwith the peony lantern held it up so
that the lightfell upon him.
"
Hagiwara Sama,**she cried, by all that is "

most wonderful ! Why, lord,we were told that

you were dead. We have dailyrecited the

"
Nembutsu for your soul these many moons !
'* Come in,come in, 0'Yon6," he said ;
"
and
is it indeed your mistress that you hold by the
hand ? Can it be my lady? . . .
Oh, my love ! "
31
 THE PEONY LANTERN iv

"
OTone answered, "
Who else should it be ?
and the two camein at the gardengate.
But the Lady of the Morning Dew held up
her sleeve to hide her face.
*'
"
How was it I lost you ? said the samurai ;
"
how was it I lost you, 0'Yon6 ? **
Lord," she said, we have moved to a little
" "

house, a very little house, in the quarter of the

city which is called the Green Hill. We were

suffered to take nothingwith us there,and we

are grown very poor. With griefand want
my
mistress is becomepale.''
Then Hagiwara took his lady's
sleeve to draw
it gentlyfrom her face.
"
Lord," she sobbed, you will "
not love me, I
am not fair."
But when he looked upon her his love flamed
up within him like a consuming fire,and shook
him from head to foot. He said never a word.
She drooped. Lord," she murmured,
" "
shall
"
I go or stay?
And he said, Stay."
"

A little before daybreakthe samurai fell into a

deep sleep, and awoke to find himself alone in the

clear light of the morning. He lost not an instant,

but rose and went forth,and immediatelymade
his way throughYedo to the quarter of the city
which is called the Green Hill. Here he inquired
for the house of the Lady of the Morning Dew,
but no one could direct him. High and low he
searched It seemed
fruitlessly. to him that for
the second time he had lost his dear and
lady, he
3*
IV THE PEONY LANTERN

turned homewards in bitter despair.His way led

him throughthe groundsof a certain temple,and
as he went he marked two graves that were side
by side. One was littleand obscure,but the other
was marked by a fair monument, like the tomb of
some great one. Before the monument there
hung a lantern with a bunch of peony flowers tied
to its handle. It was such a lantem as is used at
the time of Bon in the service of the dead.
Long, longdid the samurai stand as one in a

dream. Then he smiled a littleand said :

" *
We have moved to a littlehouse . . .
a very little
house . . . upon the Green Hill . . .
we were suffered
to with
take nothing us there and we are
grown very
poor . . .
with griefand want my mistress is become
pale. . .
.' A little house, a dark house, yet you
will make room for me, oh, my beloved,paleone
of my desires. We have loved for the space of
ten leave
existences, me not now . . .
my dear/'
Then he went home.
His faithful servant met him and cried :
'*
'*
Now what ails you, master ?
He said, "
Why, nothing at all. ...
I was

never merrier.*'
But the servant departedweeping,and saying,
"The mark of death is on his face . . .
and I,
whither shall I go that bore him as a child in
*'
these arms ?
Every night,for seven nights,the maidens
with peony lanternthe came to Hagiwara*s
dwelling. Fair weather or foul was the same to

them. They came at the hour of the Ox. There

33 D
 THE PEONY LANTERN iv

was mystic wooing. By the strong bond of

illusion the living and the dead were bound
together.
On the seventh night the servant of the
samurai^wakeful with fear and sorrow, made bold
to peer into his lord*s room througha crack in the
wooden shutters. His hair stood on end and his
blood ran cold to see Hagiwara in the arms of a

fearful thing,
smilingup at the horror that was its
face, strokingits dank green robe with languid
fingers.With daylightthe servant made his way
to a holy man of his acquaintance.When he had
told his tale he asked, "Is there any hope for
"

Hagiwara Sama ?
"
Alack," said the holy man, "
who can stand
with-
the power of Karma ? Nevertheless,there
is a little hope." So he told the servant what he
must do. Before this
nightfall, one had set a

sacred text above every door and window-placeof

his master's house, and he had rolled in the
silk of his master's girdlea golden emblem of
the Tathagata. When these thingswere done,
Hagiwara being drawn two ways became self
him-
as weak as water. And his servant took
him in his arms, laid him upon his bed and
covered him and
lightly, saw him fall into a deep
sleep.
At the hour of the Ox there was heard the
sound of in the lane,without
footsteps the garden
hedge. Nearer and nearer they came. They
grew slow and stopped.
" What means this,0'Yon6, OTon6 ?" said a

34
 THE PEONY LANTERN iv

fore bringme to my lord. Think of the love of

ten existences. Great is the power of Karma.
There must be a way. . .
."
"
Come, my beloved,"called Hagiwara with a

great voice.
"
Open, lord open . . .
and I come.'*
But Hagiwara could not move from his couch.
"
Come, my beloved,"he called for the second
time.
"
I cannot come, though the separation
wounds
me like a sharp sword. Thus we suffer for the
sins of a former life." So the lady spoke and
moaned like the lost soul that she was. But
O'Yone took her hand.
** See the round window," she said.
Hand in hand the two lightly
rosefrom the
earth. vapour Like they passed through the
unguarded window. The samurai called,
"
Come
to me, beloved,"for the third time.
He was answered, "
Lord, I come."
In the grey morning Hagiwara'sservant found
his master cold and dead. At his feet stood the
peony lantern burningwith a weird yellowflame.
The servant shivered,took up the lantern and blew
out the light; for '* I cannot bear it,"he said.

36
 THE SEA KING AND THE MAGIC

JEWELS

This is a talc beloved by the children of Japan,

and by the old folk " a tale of magical jewels and

a visit to the Sea King's palace.

Prince Rice-Ear-Ruddy-Plcnty loved a beautiful

and royal maiden, and made her his bride. And

the lady was called Princess Blossoming-Brightly-

as-the-Flowers-of-the-Trees, so sweetly fair was

she. But her father was augustly wrath at her

betrothal, for his Augustness, Prince Rice-Ear-

Ruddy-Plenty, had put aside her elder sister, the

Princess of the Rocks (and, indeed, this lady was

not fair), for he loved only Princess Blossoming-

Brightly. So the old King said, "
Because of

this, the offspring of these heavenly deities shall

be frail, fading and falling like the flowers of the

trees.'* So it is. At this day, the lives of their

Augustnesses, the Heavenly Sovereigns, are not

long.
Howbeit, in the fullness of time, the lady,
Blossoming-Brightly-as-the-Flowers-of-the-Trees,
37
 THE SEA KING v

bore two lovelymen children,and called the elder

Fire Flash and the younger Fire Fade.
Prince Fire Flash was a fisherman,who got
his luck upon the wide sea, and ran upon the
shore with his august garments girded. And
again,he tarried all the night in his boat, upon
the high wave-crests. And he caught things
broad of fin and thingsnarrow of fin,and he was
a deityof the water weeds and of the waters and
of the fishes of the sea.

But Prince Fire Fade was a hunter,who got

his luck upon the mountains and in the forest,
who
bound sandals fast upon his feet,and bore a bow
and heavenly-feathered arrows. And he caught
thingsrough of hair and thingssoft of hair,and
he knew the trail of the badger and the wild
cherry'stime of flowering.For he was a deityof
the woods.
Now Prince Fire Fade spoke to his elder
brother. Prince Fire Flash, and said, "Brother,
I am awearyof the green hills. Therefore let us

now exchangeour luck. Give me thy rod and I

will go to the cool waters. Thou mayest take my
great bow and all my heavenly-feathered
arrows

and try the mountains,where, trust me, thou shalt

see many strange and beautiful unknown
things, to

thee before."
But Prince Fire Flash answered, "
Not so . . .

not so."
And again,after not many days were past,
Prince Fire Fade came and sighed, I am
"
aweary
of the green hills . . .
the fair waters call me.
38
V AND THE MAGIC JEWELS
Woe to be ayounger brother !" And when Prince
Fire Flash took no heed of him, but angledwith
his rod,day and night,and caughtthingsbroad of
fin and thingsnarrow of fin,Prince Fire Fade
droopedwith desire,and let his long hair fall
untended upon his shoulders. And he murmured,
"
"
Oh, to try my luck upon the sea ! till at last
Prince Fire Flash,his elder brother,gave him the
rod for very weariness,and betook himself to the
mountains. And all day he hunted, and let fly
the heavenly-feathered arrows ; but rough of hair
or soft of hair,never a thing did he catch. And
he cried, Fool,fool,to barter the heavenlyluck
"

"
of the gods ! So he returned.
And his Augustness, Prince Fire Fade, took the
luck of the sea, and angledin sunshine and in
gloom ; but broad of fin or narrow of fin,never a

fish did he catch. And, moreover, he lost his

brother's fish-hook in the sea. So he hung his
head, and returned.
And Prince Fire Flash said, "Each to his
own, the hunter to the mountain, and the man
fisher-
to the sea . . .
for thou and I have
brought
nothing home, and this night we sleephungry.
We may not barter the luck of the gods. And
now, where is my fish-hook ? "
So Prince Fire Fade sayingsoftly,
replied,
"Sweet brother, be not angry . . . but, toiling
all day with thy fish-hook, broad of fin or
narrow of fin,not a fish did I catch ; and, at the
last,I lost thy fish-hook in the sea."
At this his Highness, Prince Fire Flash, flew
39
 THE SEA KING v

into a great rage, and stamping his feet,required

the fish-hook of his brother.
And Prince Fire Fade made answer,
"
Sweet
brother,I have not thy fish-hook,but deep the
sea, whose bottom
may no man search. Though I
should die for
thee,yet could I not givethee back
thy fish-hook."
But his elder brother it
required of him the
more urgently.
Then Prince Fire Fade burst the wild wistaria
tendrils which bound
his august ten-grasp sword
to his side. And he said,
"
Farewell,good sword."
And he broke it into many fragments,and made
five hundred fish-hooks to give to his brother.
Prince Fire Flash. But Prince Fire Flash would
have none of them.
And againPrince Fire Fade toiled at a great
furnace,and one made thousand
fish-hooks ; and
upon his knees he humbly offered them to his
brother.Prince Fire Flash. For he loved his brother.
Nevertheless Prince Fire Flash would not so much
as look at them, but sat moody, his head on his
hand, saying,"Mine own lost fish-hook will I
have, that and no other."
So Prince Fire Fade went grievingfrom the
palacegates,and wandered lamentingby the shore
sea-

; and his tears fell and mingledwith the

foam. And, when night came, he had no heart
to return homewards, but sat down, weary, upon a
rock amid the salt pools. And he cried,"Alas,
my brother,I am all to blame, and through my
foolishness has this come upon me. But oh, my
40
V AND THE MAGIC JEWELS
brother,together were we nursed upon the sweet
breast of our mother. Princess Blossoming-Brightly-
as-the-Flowers-of-the-Trees, for almost hand in
hand did we come into the world/'
And the moon rose so that the sea and the
Central Land of Reed Plains was light. But
Prince Fire Fade ceased not to lament.
Then Shiko-Tsuchi-no-Kami, the Lord of Sea
Salt,
came with the rising
tide,and spoke,"Where-
fore
"

weeps the Heaven's Sky Height ?

And Prince Fire Fade made answer :
"
I have
taken my and I have lost it in
brother's fish-hook,
the sea. And though I have given him many
other fish-hooks for compensation, he will have
none of them, but desires only the original
hook.
fish-
Truly, the gods know, I would give my
life to find it ; but how should that serve ?"
And Shiko-Tsuchi-no-Kami took him by the
sleeve to where a boat moved upon the water, and
set him in the boat and pushedit from the shore,
saying, My "
son, pursue the pleasantpath that
Tsuki-Yomi-no-Kami, His the Moon
Augustness,
Night Possessor,has made for thee upon the
waters. And, at the end, thou shalt come to a

palacemade of fishes' scales,which is the palace

of the great King of the Sea. Before the gate
there is a clear well, and by the well-side there
grows a cassia tree with many spreading branches.
Therefore climb thou into the branches of the
cassia tree, and there wait for the King'sdaughter,
who shall come to givethee counsel."
And Prince Fire Fade, standing up in the boat,
41
 THE SEA KING v

made obeisance,and thanked the Lord 6f Sea Salt.

But this one girdedhis august garments and pushed
the boat before him, tillhe was thigh-deep
in the
water. And he said, Nay, nay, fair youth,no
"

thanks,only do my bidding."
Prince Fire Fade, came
So his Augustness, to
the Sea King*spalace. And he forthwith climbed
the cassia tree and waited among its green branches.
At the day'sdawning came the handmaidens
of the Sea King'sdaughter,with their jewelled
to draw
vessels, water from the well. And as they

stoopedto diptheir vessels.

Prince Fire Fade leaned
and watched them from the branches of the cassia
tree. And glory of his august
the countenance
made a upon the waters
brightness of the well.
So all the maidens looked up and beheld his comeli-
ness,
and were amazed. But he spoke them fairly,
and desired of them a littlewater from their vessels.
So the maidens drew him water in a jewelledcup
(howbeitthe jewelswere clouded,because of the
coldness of the well water),and they presented it
to him with all drinking
reverence. the Then, not

water. Prince Fire Fade took the royaljewel from

his neck, and holdingit between his two lipshe
droppedit into the cup, and the cup he gave again
to the maidens.
Now
theysaw the great jewel shiningin the
cup, but theycould not move it,for it clung fast
to the gold. So the maidens departed,skimming
the water like the white birds of the offing.And
theycame to the Sea King'sdaughter, bearingthe
cup and the jewelin it.
4^
 THE SEA KING v

celebrated the betrothal of Prince Fire Fade to his

daughter,the fair Jewel Princess. And for very
many daysthere was held high revel and rejoicing
in the Sea King'spalace.
But one night, as they took their ease upon the
silken floor,and all the fishes of the sea brought
rich dishes,and sweetmeats in vessels of gold and
coral and jade to set before them, the fair Jewel
Princess herself sat at Prince Fire Fade's right
hand to pour the wine into his cup. And the
silver scales upon the palacewalls glittered
in the
moonlight. But Prince Fire Fade looked out
across thoughtof what had
the Sea Path and gone
before,and so heaved a deepsigh.
Then the Sea King was troubled,and asked
"
him, saying, Wherefore "
dost thou sigh? But
Prince Fire Fade answered nothing.
And the fairJewel his betrothed wife,
Princess,
came closer,and touched him on the breast,and
said softly, Oh, Thine
"
Augustness,my sweet
spouse, art thou not happy in our water palace,
where the shadows fall green, that thou lookest
so longinglyacross do our
the Sea Path ? Or
maidens not please thee, who move silently,
like the birds of the offing ? Oh, my lord,
despiseme not, but tell me what is in thine
heart."
Then Prince Fire Fade answered, "
My lovely
lady.Thine Augustness,let nothing be hidden
from thee, because of our love." And he told
them and of his
all the story of the fish-hook, elder
brother's wrath.
44
The Sea King and the Magic Jewels." P. 45.
V AND THE MAGIC JEWELS
" And now," he said, will the Jewel Princess
"

giveme counsel ? "

Then Princess smiled, and
the Jewel rose up
and her hair was
lightly, so long that it hung to
the edge and hem of her silken red robe. And
she passedto where the palacesteps led down
into the water. And standingupon the last step
she called the fishes of the sea, and summoned
to

them, great and small, from far and near. So

the fishes of the sea, both great and small, swam
about her feet,and the water was silver with their
scales. And the
King'sdaughtercried, "
O fishes
of the sea, find and bringme the august fish-hook
of Prince Fire Flash."
And fishes answered, "Lady, the Tat is
the
in misery,for somethingsticks in his throat so
that he cannot eat. Perchance this may be the

august fish-hook of his Augustness,Prince Fire

Flash."
Then the Princess stoopeddown and lifted the
Tai from the water, and with her white hand she
took the lost fish-hook from his throat. And after
she had washed and dabbled it for a little,
she took it
in to Prince Fire Fade. And he and said,
rejoiced
"
This is indeed my brother's fish-hook. I go to
restore it and
instantly, we shall be reconciled."
For he loved his brother.
But the fair Jewel Princess stood silent and
sorrowing, for she thought,
"
Now will he depart
and leave me lonely."
And Prince Fire Fade hastened to the water's
edge,and there bestrode a valiant crocodile,who
45
 THE SEA KING v

should bringhim journey's

to end.
his And ere

he went, the Sea King spoke: Fair youth,now "

listen to my counsel. If thy brother sow rice

upon the uplands, do thou sow thy rice low, in the

water meads. But if thy brother sow his rice in
the water meads, then do thou. Thine Augustness,
sow thy rice upon the uplands. And I who rule
the rains and the floods will continually prosper
the labours of Thine Augustness.Moreover, here
are two magic jewels. If thy brother should be
moved by envy to attack thee,then put forth the
Tide Flowing Jewel and the waters shall arise
to drown if thou shouldst have com-
him. But passion

upon him, then put forth the Tide Ebbing

Jewel,and all the waters shall subside,and his life
be spared."
And his AugustnessPrince Fire Fade
gave
thanks with obeisance. And he hid the fish-hook
in his long sleeve,and hung the two great jewels
about his neck. Then the fairJewel Princess came

near and bade farewell,with many

him tears.
And the Sea King charged the crocodile,
saying,
"While crossingthe middle of the sea, do not
alarm him.'*
So Prince Fire Fade sat upon the crocodile's
head ; day he came
and in one to his own place
and sprang lightlyto shore. And unsheathing
his dagger,he hung it upon the crocodile's neck
for a token.
Hereupon,Prince found his brother,
Fire Fade
and gave him back his own fish-hook that had
because of the two
been lost. Nevertheless, great
46
V AND THE MAGIC JEWELS
jewels,which he wore in the folds of his raiment,
he had everlasting dominion over his brother,and
flourished in all his doings.
And, after some time, there came to Prince
Fire Fade the daughterof the Sea King, the fair
Jewel Princess. And she came across the Sea
Path bearingin her arms a young child. And she,
weeping,laid down the child at the feet of His
Augustnessand said,"My lord,I have brought
thy son."
But Prince raised her up and made
Fire Fade
her welcome, and built for her a palaceon the sea-
shore,

at the limit of the waves. And the palace

was thatched with cormorant's feathers. So they
dwelt there with the August Child.
And the fair Jewel Princess besoughther lord,
saying," Sweet husband, look not on me in the
dark night,for then I must take my native shape;
with those of my land it is ever so. Howbeit,
look not on me, lest I should be ashamed and
misfortune should follow." So Prince Fire Fade
promised her, and spoke many fair words of
assurance.

Nevertheless,there came a nightwhen Prince

Fire Fade layawake, and could get no rest. And,
at length,when it was very dark, before the dawn,
he arose and struck a lightto look upon his bride
as she slept.And he beheld a great scaled dragon,
with translucent eyes, which was coiled up at the
couch's foot. And Prince Fire Fade cried out

aloudfor terror, and droppedthe light. Then

morning broke very grey upon the sea. And at

47
 THE SEA KING v

the instant the great dragonstirred,

same and from
its coils the Jewel Princess lifted up her lovely
head. And the green scales fell away from her
like a garment. So she stood,in a white robe,
with her child upon her breast. And she hung
her head and wept, saying,"O Thine August-
ness, my sweet spouse, I had thoughtto have made
the Sea Path
highway between thy land and
a

mine, that we might go and come at pleasure.

But now, though I warned thee,thou hast looked
upon me in the night. Therefore,my lord,between
me and thee it is farewell. I go across the Sea
Path, and of this going there is no return. Take
thou August Child/'
the
She spoke,and departed immediately upon the
Sea Path, weeping and covering her face with her
hair and lookingback to the shore. And she was

never more upon the Central Land of Reed

seen

Plains. Moreover, she shut the gates of the sea

and closed the way to her father's palace.But the

young she sent to be a nurse

maid, her sister, to her

babe, and because,for all that had been, she could

not restrain her lovingheart, she made a little
song, and sent it to her lord by the maid, her
sister. And the song said :

*'
Oh^fairare the red jewels^
And fairis the stringon which they
are strung . " .

Even so fairis my babe.

^

far^and more renowned are the white

But brighter
jewels^
The jewelsthat are like my lord^
48
 VI

THE GOOD 'thunder

Folks that Rai-den, the Thunder, is an loving

un-
say
spirit,fearful and revengeful, cruel to man.

These are folks who are mortally afraid of the

storm, and who hate lightning and tempest ; they

speak all the evil they can of Rai-den and of Rai-

Taro, his son. But they are wrong.

Rai-den Sama lived in a Castle of Cloud set

high in the blue heaven. He was a great and

mighty god, a Lord of the Elements. Rai-Taro

was his one and only son, a brave boy, and his
father loved him.

In the cool of the evening Rai-den and Rai-

Taro walked the ramparts of the Castle of

upon
Cloud, and from the ramparts they viewed the

doings of men the Land of Reed Plains.

upon
North and South and East and West they looked.
Often they laughed oh, often sometimes
"
very ;

they sighed. Sometimes Rai-Taro leaned far over

the castle walls to see the children that went to

and fro earth.

upon
One night Rai-den Sama said to Rai-Taro,
50
VI THE GOOD THUNDER

"
Child, look well this night upon the doingsof
men !"
Rai-Taro answered, **
Father, I will look
well."
From the northern
they looked, and rampart
saw great lords and men-at-arnis going forth to
battle. From the southern rampart theylooked,
and saw priests and acolytes servingin a holy
templewhere the air was dim with incense,and
images of goldand bronze gleamedin the twilight.
From the eastern rampart they looked,and saw a
lady's bower, where was a fair princess, and a troop
of maidens, clad in rose colour,that made music
for her. There were children there,too, playing
with a little cart of flowers.
"
"
Ah, the pretty children ! said Rai-Taro.
From the western rampart they looked, and
saw a peasant toilingin a rice-field. He was

weary enough and his back ached. His wife

toiled with him by his side. If he was weary,
it is easy to believe that she was more weary still.
They were very poor and their garments were

ragged.
"
Have they no children ? *' said Rai-Taro.
Rai-den shook his head.
"
Presently,Have you looked well,Rai-Taro ?
"

he said. Have you looked well this nightupon

"

the doingsof men ? '*

**
Father," said Rai-Taro, "indeed, I have
looked well."
"
Then choose,my son, choose,for I send you
to take up your habitation upon the earth."
SI
 THE GOOD THUNDER vi

" Must I go among men ? ** said Rai-Taro.

"
My child,you must.'*
"I will not go with the men-at-arms/* said
Rai-Taro ;
"
likes me
fighting very ill."
"
Oho, say you so, my son ? Will you go, then,
"
to the fair lady's
bower ?
"
No," said Rai-Taro, "
I am a man. Neither
will I have my head shaved to go and live with
priests."
"
What, then,do you choose the poor peasant ?
You will have a hard life and scanty fare,Rai-
Taro."
Rai-Taro said, "They have no children.
Perhapstheywill love me."
"
Go, go in peace,"said Rai-den Sama ;
"
for
you have chosen wisely."
"
shall I go, my father ? " said Rai-Taro.
How
"
Honourably," said his father, "
as it befits a
Prince of High Heaven."
Now the poor peasant man toiled in his rice-
which
field, was at the foot of the mountain Haku-
san, in the provinceof Ichizen. Day after day
and week after week the brightsun shone. The
rice-fieldwas dry,and
young rice was burnt up.
"
"
Alack and alas 1 cried the poor peasant man,
"
and what shall I do if my rice-crop fails? May
"
the dear gods have mercy on all poor people!
With that he sat himself down on a stone at
the rice-field's
edgeand fellasleep
for very weariness
and sorrow.

When he woke the skywas black with clouds.

It was but noonday,but it grew as dark as night.
52
VI THE GOOD THUNDER

The leaves of the trees shuddered togetherand the

birds ceased their singing.
"
A
storm, a storm ! ** cried the peasant. " Rai-
den Sama goes abroad upon his black horse,beating
the great drum of the Thunder. We shall have
rain in plenty, thanks be."
Rain in plentyhe had, sure enough,for it fell
in torrents, with blindinglightningand roaring
thunder.
"
Oh, Rai-den Sama,**said the peasant, "
saving
your greatness,this is even more than sufficient.**
At this the brightlightning flashed anew and
fell to the earth in a bdl of
livingfire,and the
heavens cracked with a mighty pealof thunder.
**
" Ai ! Ai ! cried the poor peasant man.
"
Kwannon have mercy on a sinful soul,for now
the Thunder Dragon has me indeed.** And he lay
on the ground and hid his face.
Howbeit the Thunder Dragon sparedhim.
And soon up and rubbed his eyes. The ball
he sat
of fire was gone, but a babe lay upon the wet
earth ; a fine fresh boy with the rain upon his
cheeks and his hair.
Oh, Lady, Lady Kwannon,** said the poor
"

peasant man, this is thy sweet

"
mercy.**And he
took the boy in his arms and carried him to his
own home.
As he went the rain still fell,but the sun

came out in the blue sky,and every flower in

the cooler air shone and lifted up its grateful
head.
The peasant came to his cottage door.
53
 THE GOOD THUNDER vi

Wife, wife/*he called,

** "
I have broughtyou
somethinghome.**
" What may it be ? ** said his wife.
The man answered, "
Rai-Taro, the little
eldest son of the Thunder.**
Rai-Taro grew up straight and strong, the
tallest,
gayest boy of all that country-side.He
was delightof his foster-parents,
the and all the
neighboursloved him. When he was ten years
old he worked in the rice-fieldslike a man. He
was the wonderful weather prophet.
" he said,
My father,** "
let us do this and that,
**
for we shall have fair weather ; or he said, My
"

father,let us the rather do this that,for to-night or

there will be a and whatever he had said,

storm,**
so, sureenough,it came to pass. And he brought

great good fortune to the poor peasant man, and all

his works prospered.
When Rai-Taro was eighteenyears old all the
neighbourswere bidden to his birthdayfeast.
There was plentyof good sakiyand the good folk
were merry enough ; only Rai-Taro was silent
and sad and sorry.
"
What ails you, Rai-Taro ? ** said his foster-
mother. "
You who are be the gayest of
wont to

the gay, why are you sad and sorry ? **

silent,
"It is because I must leave Rai-Taro
you,**
said.
Nay,**
"
said his foster-mother, never leave "
us,
**
Rai-Taro, my son. Why would you leave us ?
"
Mother, because I must,**said Rai-Taro in
tears.

54
VI THE GOOD THUNDER

"
You have been our great good fortune ; you
have givenus all things. What have I givenyou ?
**
What have I givenyou, Rai-Taro, my son ?
Rai-Taro answered, "Three thingshave you
taught me " to and
labour,to suffer, to love. I
am more learned than the Immortals."
Then he went from them. And in the likeness
of a white cloud he scaled heaven's blue height
till he gained his father's castle. And Rai-den
received him. The two of them
stood upon the
western rampart of the Castle of Cloud and looked
down to earth.
The foster-mother stood weeping bitterly, but
her husband took her hand.
"
My dear,'*he said, "
it will not be for long.
Wc grow old apace.**

55
 VII

THE BLACK BOWL

Long in a part of the country not remote

ago, very
from Kioto, the great city, there dwelt an
gay
honest couple. In a lonely place was their cottage,
upon
the outskirts of a deep wood of pine trees.

Folks had it that the wood was haunted. They

said it was full of deceiving foxes ; they said that

beneath the
mossy ground the elves built their

kitchens ; they said that long-nosed Tengu had tea-

parties in the forest thrice a month, and that the

fairies* children played at hide-and-seek there

every
morning before seven. Over and above all this

they didn't mind saying that the honest couple

were queer in their
ways, that the woman was a

wise woman, and that the man was a warlock "

which was as be. But sure it was that they

may
did no harm to living soul, that they lived as poor
as and that they had one fair daughter. She
poor,
was as neat and pretty as a princess, and her manners

were fine but for all that she worked as hard

very ;

as a boy in the rice-fields, and within doors she was

the housewife indeed, for she washed and cooked

56
 THE BLACK BOWL vii

"Alack, mother/* said the poor child,"it is

heavy/*
"It will you save from what is heavier to
said
bear,** the mother. "
If you love me, promise
me that you will not move it tillthe time comes.**
"
I promise! I promise! But how shall I
know when the time comes ? **
"That you shall know. And now .help. .

me outside,for the sweet morning dawns and Fve

a fancyto see the fairies*children once again, as they

run in the forest.**

So the child,havingthe black bowl upon her
head, held her mother in her arms in a grassy place
near the great trees, and presently they saw the
fairies*children threadingtheir way between the
dark trunks as theyplayed
at hide-and-seek. Their
brightgarments fluttered, and theylaughedlightly
as they went. The mother smiled to see them ;
before seven she died very sweetlyas she smiled.
When her little store of rice was done,the maid
with the wooden bowl knew well enough that
she must starve or go and find more. So firstshe
tended her father*sand mother's graves and poured
water for the dead,as is meet, and recited many a
holytext. Then she bound on her sandals, kilted
her grey skirts to show her scarlet petticoat, tied
her household gods in a blue printed handkerchief,
and set out all alone to seek her fortunes,
the brave
girl!
For all her slenderness and pretty feet she was

a rarelyodd sight,
and soon she was to know it.
The great black bowl covered her head and
58
VII THE BLACK BOWL

shadowed her face. she As througha village

went
two women looked up from washingin the stream,
stared and laughed.
"
It's a boggartcome alive/*says one.
"
Out upon her,"cries the other, for a shame-
less "

wench upon her false modestyto roam

! Out
the country thus with her head in a black bowl, as
who should cry aloud to every passing man,
*
Come
and see what is hidden !' It is enough to make a

wholesome body sick.**

On went the poor maid, and sometimes the
children peltedher with mud and pebblesfor
sport. Sometimes she was handled roughly by
village louts,who scoffed and caught at her dress
as she went ; they even laid hands upon the bowl
itselfand soughtto drag it from her head by force.
But theyonlyplayedat that game once, for the
bowl stung them as fiercely as if it had been a nettle,

and the bullies ran away howling.

The beggar-maidenmight seek her fortune,
but it was very hard to find. She might ask for
work ; but see, would she get it ? None were

wishful to employ a girlwith a black bowl on

her head.
At last,
on a fine day when she was tired out,
she sat her upon a stone and began to cry as if her
heart would break. Down rolled her tears from
under the black bowl. They rolled down her
cheeks and reached her white chin.
A wanderingballad-singer passedthat way, with
his biwa slung across his back. He had a sharp
eye and marked the tears upon the maid*s white
59
 THE BLACK BOWL vii

chin. It was all he could sec of her face,and,

"Oh, girlwith the black bowl on your head,'*
quothhe, "why do you sit weeping by the side
road-
''
?
" I weep,*'she answered, "
because the world
is hard. I am hungry and tired. . . "
No one

will giveme work or pay me money."

"Now that's unfortunate,"said the ballad-
singer,for he had a kind
heart ; " but I haven't a

m of my own, or it would be yours. Indeed I am

sorry for you. In the circumstances the best I can

do for you is to make you a little song." With

that he whips his Aiwa round, thrums on it with
his and
fingers starts as easy as you please. To "

the tears on your white chin," he says, and sings:

" TAe white cherry blooms by the roadside^

How black is the canopy ofcloud I
The wild cherry droops by the roadside ^

Beware ofthe black canopy ofcloud.

Harky hear the rain^hear the rainfall
From the black canopy ofcloud.
Alasy the wild cherryits sweet flowers are marred^
^

Marred are the sweet flowers forlorn on the sprayT* ^

"
Sir,I do not understand your song,"said the
girlwith the bowl on her head.
"
Yet it is plainenough,"said the ballad-singer,
and his way.
went He came to the house of a

passingrich farmer. he went, and theyasked

In
him to singbefore the master of the house.
"
With all the will in the world," says the
60
VII THE BLACK BOWL

ballad-singer.I will sing him a

"
new song that
I have just made." So he sang of the wild
cherryand the great black cloud.
When he had made an end, "Tell us the
of your song," says
interpretation the master of
the house.
"
With all the will in the world," quoth the
ballad-singer.The "
wildcherryis the face of a
maiden whom I saw by the wayside. She
sitting
wore a great black wooden bowl upon her head,
which is the great black cloud in my song, and
from under it her tears flowed like rain,for I saw
the dropsupon her white chin. And she said that
she wept for hunger,and because no one would
giveher work pay her money."
nor
"
Now I would I might help the poor girl
with the bowl on her head," said the master of
the house.
That you may if you wish," quoththe ballad-
"

singer. "
She sits but a stone's throw from your
gate."
The long and short of it was that the maid was
put to labour in the rich farmer's harvest-fields.
All the day long she worked in the waving rice,
with her grey skirts kilted and her sleeves bound
back with cords. All day long she pliedthe
sickle,and the sun shone down upon the black
bowl ; but she had food to eat and good rest at
night,and was well content.
She found favour in her master's eyes, and he
kept her in the fields till all the harvest was

gatheredin. Then he took her into his house,

6i
 THE BLACK BOWL vii

where there was plentyfor her to do, for his wife

was but sickly.Now the maiden lived well and
happilyas a bird, and went singingabout her
labours. And every nightshe thanked the august
gods for her good fortune. Still she wore the
black bowl upon her head.
At the New Year time, " Bustle,bustle,**
says
the farmcr*s wife ; scrub and cook and "
sew ; put
your best foot foremost, my dear, for we must
have the house look at its very neatest."
"
be sure, and with all my heart,"says the
To
and she put her back into the work ; " but,
girl,
she says, if I may be
mistress," "
so bold as to ask,
"
are we havinga party,or what ?
"
Indeed weof them," says the
are, and many
farmer's wife. "
My son that is in Kioto, the
great and gay, is coming home for a visit."
Presently home he comes, the handsome young
man. Then the neighbourswere called in, and
great wasmerry-making.They Feasted and
the
they danced, theyjestedand they sang, many a
bowl of good red rice theyate, and many a cup of
good saki theydrank. All this time the girl,with
bowl on her head, pliedher work modestlyin
the kitchen,and well out of the way she was " the
farmer's wife saw to that, good soul ! All the
same, one fine day the company called for more

wine, and the wine was done, so the son of the

house takes up the saki bottle and goes with it
himself to the kitchen. What should he see there
but the maiden sitting
upon a pileof faggots,
and
fanningthe kitchen fire with bamboo
a split fan !
62
VII THE BLACK BOWL

" but
My life, I must sec what is under that
black bowl," says the handsome young man to
himself. And sure enough he made it his daily
care, and peepedas much as he could,which was

notvery much ; but seeminglyit was enough for

him, for he thought no more of Kioto, the great
and gay, but stayedat home to do his courting.
His father laughedand his mother fretted,
the
neighboursheld up their hands,all to no purpose.
Oh, dear,dear maiden with the wooden bowl,
"

she shall be my bride and no other. I must and

will have her," cried the impetuousyoung man,
and very soon he fixed the wedding-day himself.
When the time came, the young maidens of the
village went to array the bride. They dressed her
in a fair and robe
costly of white brocade,and in
hakama
trailing of scarlet silk,
and on her shoulders
they hung a cloak of blue and purpleand gold.
They chattered,but as for the bride she said never

a word. She was sad because she brought her

and
bridegroomnothing, because his parentswere
sore at his choice of a beggar-maid. She said
nothing,but the tears glistenedon her white
chin.
"
Now off with the ugly old bowl," cried the
maidens ;
"
it is time to dress the bride's hair and
to do it with goldencombs." So they laid hands
to the bowl and would have lifted it away, but
theycould not move it.
Try again,"theysaid,and tugged at it with
"

all their might. But it would not stir.

There's witchcraft in it,"theysaid ;
"
try a
"

63
 THE BLACK BOWL vii

third time/* They tried a third time,and stillthe

bowl stuck fast,but it gave out fearsome moans
and cries.
"
Ah ! Let be, let be for pity's
sake,"said the
poor bride, for you make my head ache/*
"

They were forced to lead her as she was to the

bridegroom's
presence.
"
My dear, I am not afraid of the wooden
bowl," said the young man.

So theypouredthe saki from the silver flagon,

and from the silver cup the two of them drank the
mystic "
Three Times Three" that made them man

and wife.
Then the black bowl burst asunder with a loud
noise,and fell to the ground in a thousandpieces.
With it fell a shower of silver and gold,and pearls
and rubies and emeralds,and every jewel of price.
Great was the astonishment of the company as they
gazedupon a dowry that for a would
princess have
been rich and rare.

But the bridegroom looked into the bride's

face. "
My dear," he said, "
there arc no jewels
that shine like your eyes."

64
'
 VIII

THE STAR LOVERS

All that are true lovers, I beseech

you you pray
the gods for fair weather the seventh night
upon
of the seventh moon.

For patience' sake and for dear love's sake,

pray,
and be pitiful that upon that night there
be neither rain, nor hail, nor cloud, nor
may
thunder, nor creeping mist.
Hear the sad tale of the Star Lovers and give
them your prayers.
The Weaving Maiden was the daughter of a

Deity of
Light, Her dwelling was the
upon
shore of the Milky Way, which is the Bright
River of Heaven. All the day long she sat at
her loom and plied her shuttle, weaving the gay
garments of the gods. Warp and woof, hour
by hour the coloured web grew
till it lay fold on

fold piled at her feet. Still she never ceased her

labour, for she was afraid. She had heard a saying :

"
Sorrow, age-long sorrow, shall come the
upon
Weaving Maiden when she leaves her loom."

So she laboured, and the gods had garments to

spare. But she herself, poor maiden, was ill-clad ;

65 F
 THE STAR LOVERS viii

she recked nothingof her attire or of the jewels

that her father gave hen She went and
barefoot, let
her hair hang down unconfined. Ever and anon a

long lock fell upon the loom, and back she flung
it over her shoulden She did not play with the
children of Heaven, or take her pleasurewith
celestial youthsand maidens. She did not love
or weep. She was neither glad nor sorry. She
sat weaving,weaving . . .
and wove her being
into the web.
many-coloured
Now her father,the Deity of Light,grew
angry. He said, "Daughter, you weave too

much."
"
It is my duty," she said.
"
"
At your age to talk of duty! said her father.
"
"
Out upon you !
"Wherefore are you with me, my
displeased
father ? *' she said, and her fingersplied the
shuttle.
"
Are you a stock or a stone, or a pale flower
"

by the wayside?
Nay," she said,
" "
I am none of these."
"
Then leave your loom, my child,and live ;
take your be
pleasure, as others are."
"
"
And wherefore should I be as others are ?
she said.
"
Never dare to question
me. Come, will you
"
leave your loom ?
She said," Sorrow, age-long
sorrow, shall come

upon the Weaving Maiden when she leaves her

loom."
"A foolish saying,"cried her father,"not
66
VIII THE STAR LOVERS

worthy of credence. What do we know of age-

long
"
sorrow ? Are we not gods ? With that
he took her shuttle from her hand and
gently,
covered the loom with a cloth. And he caused
her to be very richly and
attired, they put jewels
upon her and garlandedher head with flowers of
Paradise. her father gave her for spouse the
And
Herd Boy of Heaven, who tended his flocks upon
the banks of the BrightRiver.
Now the Maiden
changed indeed. Her was

eyes were stars and her lipswere ruddy. She

went dancingand singingall the day. Long hours
she playedwith the children of Heaven, and she
took her pleasure with the celestial youths and
maidens. Lightly she went ; her feet were
shod with silver. Her lover, the Herd Boy,
held her by the hand. She laughed so that the
very gods laughed with her, and High Heaven
re-echoed with sounds of mirth. She was careless ;
littledid she think of duty or of the garments of
the gods. As for her loom, she never wept near

it from one moon's end to another.

"
I have my life to she said ;
live,*' *' 111 weave

it into a web no more."

And the Herd Boy, her lover,claspedher in
his arms. Her face was all tears and smiles,and
she hid it on his breast. So she lived her life.
But her father,the Deity of Light,was angry.
**
It is too much," he said. " Is the girlmad ?
She will become the laughing-stockof Heaven.
Besides,who is to weave the new springgarments
"
of the gods ?
67
 THE STAR LOVERS viii

Three times he warned his

daughter.
Three times she and shook
laughedsoftly her
head.
** Your hand openedthe door,my father,"she
said, but of
"
a surety no hand either of god or of
mortal can shut it.''
He said, You "
shall find it otherwise to your
cost." And he banished
the Herd Boy for
ever

and ever to the farther side of the Bright River.

The magpiesflew together, from far and near, and
theyspreadtheir wingsfor a frailbridgeacross the
river,and the Herd Boy went over by the frail
bridge. And immediately the magpiesflew away
to the ends of the earth and the Weaving Maiden

could not follow. She was the saddest thingin

Heaven. Long, long she stood upon the shore,
and held out her arms to the Herd Boy, who
tended his oxen desolate and in tears. Long, long
she layand wept upon the sand. Long, long she
brooded, lookingon the ground.
She arose and went to her loom. She cast
aside the cloth that covered it. She took her
shuttle in her hand.
"
Age long sorrow," she said, age long
-
"
-

"
sorrow ! Presentlyshe dropped the shuttle.
"
Ah," she moaned, the pain of it,"and she "

the loom.
leaned her head against
But in a little while she said, Yet
"
I would
not be as once I was. I did not love or weep, I
was neither gladnor sorry. Now I love and I
weep" I am glad,and I am sorry."
Her tears fell like rain, but she took up
68
viii THE STAR LOVERS

the shuttle and laboured diligently,

weaving the
garments of the gods. Sometimes the web was

grey with grief,sometimes it was rosy with

dreams. The gods were fain to strangely
go
clad. The Maiden's
father,the Deity of Light,
for once was well pleased.
"That is my good, diligent child," he said.
Now you are quietand happy."
"

The quietof dark despair,"

"
she said. Happy ! "

I am the saddest thingin Heaven."

" I am said the Deityof Light ;
sorry," "
what
shall I do?"
"
Give back my
me lover."
"
Nay, child,that I cannot do. He is banished
for ever and ever by the decree of a Deity,that
cannot be broken."
"
I knew it,"she said.
"
Yet something I can do. Listen. On the
seventh day of the seventh moon, I will summon
the magpiestogether from the ends of the earth,
and theyshall be a bridge over the Bright River
of Heaven, so that the Weaving Maiden shall
lightlycross to the waiting Herd Boy on the
farther shore."
So it was. On the seventh day of the seventh
moon magpiesfrom
came the far and near. And

theyspreadtheir wings for a frail bridge. And

the Weaving Maiden went over by the frail
bridge. Her eyes were like stars, and her heart
like a bird in her bosom. And the Herd Boy was
there to meet her upon the farther shore.
And so it is oh, true
still, lovers "
upon the
69
 THE STAR LOVERS viii

seventh day of the seventh moon these two keep

their tryst. Only if the rain fallswith thunder and
cloud and hail,and the BrightRiver of Heaven is
swollen and swift, the magpies cannot make a

bridge for the Weaving Maiden. Alack, the

drearytime !
Therefore,true lovers,pray the gods for fair
weather.

70
 HORAIZAN IX

your ways. Wise men arc cheap in China ; am I

"
one to be dishonoured ?
"
Ask me another thing,"said the Wise Man.
"
Well, then,scent me the peony with the scent
of the jessamine.The peony is brilliant,
imperial ;
the foolish. Nevertheless,
is small,pale,
jessamine
its perfumeis sweet. Scent me the peony with the
scent of the
jessamine."
But Jofuku stood silent and downcast.
"
By the gods,"cried the Emperor, "
this wise
man is a fool ! Here, some of you, off with his
head."
*'
Liege,"said the Wise Man, "
spare me my
lifeand I will set sail for Horaizan where
grows
the herb Immortality.I will pluck this herb and
bringit back to you again,that you may live and
reignfor ever."
The Emperor considered.
"Well, go," he said,"and lingernot, or it
will be the worse for you."
Jofuku went and found brave companionsto go
with him on the great adventure,and he manned a

junk with the most famous mariners of China, and

he took stores on board, and gold; and when he
had made all thingsreadyhe set sail in the seventh
month, about the time of the full moon.
The Emperor himself came down to the shore.
sea-

"Speed, speed.Wise Man," he said; "fetch

me the herb and
Immortality, see that you do it
presently.If you return without it,you and your
companionsshall die the death."
72
IX HORAIZAN

"
called Jofukufrom the junk.
Farewell,liege,"
So theywent with a fairwind for their white sails.
The creaked,the ropes quivered,
boards the water
splashedagainstthe junk'sside,the sailors sang as
they steered a course eastward, the brave com-
panions

were merry. But the Wise Man of China

looked forward and looked back, and was sad
because of the word written upon his heart "

Mutability.
The junk of Jofukuwas for many days upon
the wild sea, steering a course eastwards. He and
the sailors and the brave companionssuffered many
things.The great heat burnt them, and the great
cold froze them. Hungry and thirsty theywere,
and some of them fell sick and died. More were

slain in fightwith pirates. Then came

a the
dread typhoon,and mountain waves that swept
the junk. The masts and the sails were washed
away with the rich stores, and the gold was lost
for ever. Drowned were the famous mariners,
and the brave companions every one. Jofuku was
left alone.
In the grey dawn he looked up. Far to the
east he saw a mountain, very faint,the colour of
and
pearl, on the mountain top there grew a tree,
tall,with spreadingbranches. The Wise Man
murmured :

"The Island of Horaizan is east of the east,

and there is Fusan, the Wonder Mountain. On
the heightsof Fusan there grows a tree whose
branches hide the Mysteriesof Life."
Jofukulayweak and weary and could not lifta
73
 HORAIZAN IX

finger.Nevertheless,the junk glidednearer and

nearer to the shore. Still and blue grew the
waters of the sea, and Jofuku saw the brightgreen
grass and the many-coloured flowers of the island.
Soon there came troops of young men and maidens
bearinggarlandsand singingsongs of welcome ;
and they waded out into the water and drew the
junk to land. Jofuku was aware of the sweet and
spicyodours that clungto their garments and their
hair. At their invitation he left the junk,which
drifted away and was no more seen.

He said, "
I have come to Horaizan the
Blest." Looking up he saw that the trees were

full of birds with blue and golden feathers. The

birds filledthe air with delightful
melody. On all
sides there hung the citron,the
the orange and
persimmon and the pomegranate, the peachand the
plum and the loquat. The ground at his feet was
as arich brocade,embroidered with every flower
that is. The happy dwellers in Horaizan took him
by the hands and spokelovinglyto him.
" How strange it is,"said Jofuku,
"
I do not

feel my old age any more."

"
** What is old age ? theysaid.
"
Neither do I feel any pain."
"
"
Now what is pain? theysaid.
" The word is no longerwritten on my heart."
"
What word do you speakof,beloved ?
*'

"
is the
Mutability word."
"
"
And what may be its interpretation
?
"Tell me," said the Wise Man, "is this
"
death ?
74
IX HORAIZAN

"We have never heard of death,''said the

inhabitants of Horaizan.

The Wise Man of Japan was Wasobiobe. He

was full as wise as the Wise Man of China. He
was old but young.
not The peoplehonoured him
and loved him. Often he was happy enough.
It was his pleasureto venture alone in a frail
boat out to sea, there to meditate in the wild and

watery waste. Once as he did this it chanced that

he fellasleepin his boat,and he sleptall nightlong,
while his boat drifted out to the eastward. So,
when he awoke in the brightlightof morning,he
found himself beneath the shadow of Fusan, the
Wonder Mountain. His boat layin the waters of
a river of Horaizan, and he steered her amongst
the floweringiris and the lotus,and sprang on
shore.
**
"
The sweetest spot in the world ! he said. " I
think I have come to Horaizan the Blest."
Soon came the youths and maidens of the
island,and with them the Wise Man of China, as

young and as happy as they.

"
Welcome, welcome, dear brother,"theycried,
"
welcome to the Island of Eternal Youth."
When theyhad givenhim to eat of the delicious
fruit of the island,theylaid them down upon a
bank of flowers to hear sweet music. Afterwards
theywandered in the woods and groves. They
rode and hunted, or bathed in the warm sea-water.

They feasted and enjoyed

every delightfulpleasure.
So the and there was
long day lingered, no night,
75
 HORAIZAN IX

for there was no need of sleep,there was no

weariness and no pain.

The Wise Man of Japan came to the Wise Man

of China. He said :
"
I cannot find my boat.*'
"
What matter, brother ? said Jofuku.
" *'
You
want no boat here."
"
Indeed, my brother,I do. I want my boat
to take me home. I am sick for home. There's
the truth.'*
*'
you not happy in Horaizan
"
Are ?
"
No, for I have a word written upon my heart.
The word is Humanity.Because of it I am troubled
and have peace."
no
"
Strange,"said the Wise Man of China.
"
Once I too had a word written on my heart. The
word Mutability^
was but I have forgotten what it
means. Do you too forget."
"
Nay, I can never forget," said the Wise Man
of Japan.
He sought out the Crane, who is a great
traveller, and besoughther, "Take me home to

my own land."
"
Alas," the Crane said, if I "
did you would
so

die. This is the Island of Eternal Youth ; do you

know you have been here for a hundred years ? If
you go away you will feel old age and weariness
and pain,then you will die."
"
No matter," said Wasobiobe, "
take me

home."
Then the Crane took him on her strong back
76
IX HORAIZAN

and flew with him. Day and nightshe flew and

never tarried and never tired. At last she said,
"
"
Do you see the shore ?
And he said, ** I see it. Praise be to the
gods.*'
She said, Where
"
shall I carry you ? . . "
You
have but a littletime to live.**
**
Good Crane, upon the dear sand of my
country, under the pine,there
spreading sitsa poor
fisherman mending his net. Take me to him that
I may die in his arms."
So the Crane laid Wasobiobe at the poor man's
fisher-
feet. And the fisherman raised him in his
arms. And Wasobiobe laid his head againstthe
fisherman's humble breast.
"
I might have lived for ever,"he said," but
for the word that is written on my heart."
"
"
What word ? said the fisherman.
"
Humanity is the word," the Wise Man
murmured. "
I am grown old " hold me closer.
Ah, the pain. ""
gave a great cry.
. .
He
Afterwards he smiled. Then his breath left
him with a sigh,and he was dead.
"
It is the way of all flesh," said the fisherman.

77
 REFLECTIONS

Long enough ago

there dwelt within a day's
journey of the city of Kioto a gentleman of simple
mind and nianners, but good estate. His wife,
rest her soul, had been dead these and
many years,
the good lived in and quiet with
man great peace
his only son. They kept clear of women-kind, and

knew nothing at all either of their winning or

their bothering They had good steady

ways.
men-servants in their house, and never set on
eyes
a pair of long sleeves or a scarlet obi from morning
till night.
The truth is that they were as happy as the

day is long. Sometimes they laboured in the rice-

fields. Other days they went a-fishing. In the

spring, forth they went to admire the cherry flower

or the plum, and later they set out to view the iris

or the or the lotus, as the case might be.

peony
At these times they would drink a little sak^y and

twist their blue and white tenegui about their heads

and be as jolly as please, for there was no one

you
to them Often enough they came home
say nay.
78
X REFLECTIONS

by lantern light. They wore their oldest clothes,

and were mightyirregular at their meals.

of life are fleetingmore's the

But the pleasures "

pity! and presently

" the father feltold age creeping
upon him.
One night,
as he sat smoking and warming his
hands over the charcoal, "Boy," says he, "it's
high time you got married."
Now
"
the gods forbid ! " cries the young man.
"
Father,what makes you say such terrible things?
Or are you joking? You must be joking,"he
says.
"
Fm not joking at all,"says the father ;
"
I
never spoke a truer word, and that you'llknow
soon enough."
"
But, father,I am afraid of
mortally women."
"
And I not the ? says the father.
"
am same

Fm sorry for you, my boy."

"

"
Then what for must I marry ?"
says the son.
" In the way of nature I shall die before long,
and need
you'll a wife to take care of you."
Now the stood in the young
tears man's eyes
when he heard this,
for he was tender-hearted ; but
all he said was, "
I can take care of myselfvery
well."
"
That's the very thing you cannot,"says his
father.
The long and short of it was that theyfound
the young man a wife. She was young, and as

pretty as a picture.Her name was Tassel,just

that,or Fusa, as they say in her language.
After theyhad drunk down the "
Three Times
79
 REFLECTIONS x

"
Three and
together so became man and wife,they
stood alone, the young man lookinghard at the
girl. For the life of him he did not know what
to say to her. He took a bit of her sleeve and
stroked it with his hand. Still he saidnothing
and looked mighty foolish. The girl turned
red,turned pale,turned red again,
and burst into
tears.
"
Honourable Tassel,don't do that,for the dear
gods'sake,"says the young man.
I suppose you don't like me," sobs the girl.
"

"
I suppose you don't think I'm pretty."
"
than the
My dear," he says, " you'reprettier
bean-flower in the field; than the
you'reprettier
littlebantam hen in the farm-yard; you'reprettier
than the rose carp in the I
pond. hope you'll be
happy with my father and me."
laugheda little and dried her eyes.
At this she
" Get on another pairof hakama^^ she says, and "

give me those you'vegot on you ; there's a great

hole in them I was noticing
" it all the time of the
"
wedding !
Well, this was not a bad beginning, and taking
one thingwith another they got on pretty well,
though of course thingswere not as they had
been in that blessed time when the young man and
his father did not set eyes upon pairof long
a

sleeves or an obi from morning tillnight.

By andthe way of nature, the old man
by,in
died. It is said he made a very good end, and left
that in his strong-box which made his son the
richest man in the But
country-side. this was no

80
X REFLECTIONS

comfort all to the poor young

at man, who mourned
his father with all his heart. Day andnighthe
paid reverence to the tomb. Little sleepor rest
he got, and littleheed he gave to his wife,Mistress
Tassel,and her whimsies, or even to the delicate
dishes she set before him. He grew thin and pale,
and she, poor maid, was at her wits* end to know
what to do with him. At last she said, "My
dear, and how would it be if you were to go to
"
Kioto for a little?
"
"
And what for should I do that ? he says.
It was on the tip of her tongue to answer,
"
To enjoyyourself,"
but she saw it would never

do to say that.
"
Oh," she says,
'*
as a kind of a duty. They
say every man that loves his country should see

Kioto ; and besides,you might give an eye to

the fashions,so as to tell me what like theyare
when you get home. My things,"she says, " are
sadlybehind the times ! Fd like well enough to
"
know what peopleare wearing!
"
Fve no heart to go to Kioto," says the young
man,
'*
and if I had, it*s the planting-out time of
the rice,and the thing's
not to be done, so there's
an end of it."
All the same, after two dayshe bids his wife
get out his best hakama and haouriyand make up to

his bento for a journey. "

Fm thinkingof going
to Kioto,"he tells her.
Well, I
"
am surprised,"
says Mistress Tassel.
"
And what put such an idea into your head, if I
may ask ? "
8l G
 REFLECTIONS x

"
I've been thinkingit's a kind of duty,"says
the young man.
"
Oh, indeed,"says Mistrefes Tassel to this,and
nothingmore, for she had some grainsof sense.
And the next
morning as ever was she packs her
husband off brightand earlyfor Kioto, and betakes
herself to some little matter of house cleaning
she
has on hand.
The young steppedout along the road,
man

feeling a littlebetter in his spirits,and before long

he reached Kioto. It is likelyhe saw many things
to wonder at. Amongst temples and palaceshe
went. He saw castles and gardens, and marched

up and down fine streets of shops,gazing about

him his eyes wide open, and his mouth
with too,
very like,for he was a simplesoul.

At length, one fine day he came upon a shop

full of metal mirrors that glittered in the sunshine,
"
Oh, the pretty silver moons !" says the
simple soul to himself. And he dared to come

near and take up a mirror in his hand.

The next minute he turned as white as rice and
sat him down on the seat in the shop door, still
holdingthe mirror in his hand and lookinginto it.
"
Why, father,"he said, "
how did you come

here ? You are not dead, then ? Now the dear

gods be praisedfor that ! Yet I could have
sworn But no matter, since you are here alive
and well. You are somethingpale still,
but how

young you look. You move father,

your lips, and
seem to speak,but I do not hear you. You'll
come home with me, dear,and live with us justas
82
X REFLECTIONS

you used to do ? You smile, you smile,that is

well."
"
Fine mirrors,my young said
gentleman," the
shopman, "
the best that can be made, and that's
one of the best of the lot you have there. I see

you are a judge."

The young man clutched his mirror tightand
satstaringstupidlyenough no doubt. He trembled.
"
"
How much ? he whispered. Is it for sale ? " "

He was in a takinglest his father should be snatched

from him.
For sale it is,indeed,most
"
noblesir,"said the
shopman, " and the priceis a trifle,
only two bu.
It*s almost giving it away I am, as under-
stand."
you'll
"
Two ^//" only two bu ! Now the gods be
"
praisedfor this their mercy ! cried the happy
young man. He smiled from ear to ear, and he
had the purse out of his and
girdle, the money out
of his purse, in a twinkling.
Now it was the shopman who wished he had
asked three bu or even five. All the same he put
a good face upon it,and packedthe mirror in a fine
white and tied it up with
box green cords.
"
Father," said the young man, when he had
got away with it, before
"
we set out for home we

must buy some gaudsfor the young woman there,

my wife,you know."
Now, for the life of him, he could not have
told why, but when he came to his home the

young man never said a word to Mistress Tassel

about buyinghis old father for two bu in the Kioto
83
 REFLECTIONS x

shop. That was where he made his mistake,as

thingsturned out.
She was as pleasedas you like with her coral
and
hair-pins, her fine new obi from Kioto. "
And
Fm glad to see him so well and so happy,"she
said to herself; "
but I must say he's been mighty
quickto get over his sorrow after all. But men

are just like children." As for her husband,

unbeknown to her he took a bit of green silk from
her treasure-box and spreadit in the cupboard of
the toko no ma. There he placedthe mirror in its
box of white wood.
Every morning earlyand every evening late,
he went to the cupboard of the toko no ma and
spokewith his father.
Many a jollytalk they
had and many a heartylaugh together, and the
son was the happiest young man of all that country-
side,
for he was a simple soul.
But Mistress Tassel had a quick eye and a
sharpear, and it was not long before she marked
her husband's new
ways.
"
What for does he go so often to the toko no

ma^^ she asked herself,"and what has he got

there ? I should be gladenough to know." Not
beingone to suffer much she very
in silence, soon

asked her husband these things.

same

He told her the truth,the good young man.

"
And now I have
my dear old father home again,
I'm as happy as the day is long,"he says.
"
H'm," she says.
"
And wasn't two bu cheap,"he says, " and
?"
wasn't it a strange thingaltogether
84
 REFLECTIONS x

Herself she flungupon the mats, and cried and

sobbed as if her heart would break.
In comes her husband.
"
Tve broken the thong of my sandal,"says he,
"
"
and Fve come to But what in the world ?
and in an instant he was down on his knees beside
Mistress Tassel doing what he could to comfort
her, and to get her face up from the floor where
she keptit.
"
"
Why, what is it,my own darling
? says he.
"
"
Tour own darling! she answers very fierce
through her sobs ; and "
I want to go home," she
cries.
"
But, my sweet, you are at home, and with

your own husband."

"
Prettyhusband !" she says,"and prettygoings-
on, with a woman in the cupboard! A hateful,
ugly woman that thinks herself beautiful ; and she
has my green there
sleeve-linings with her to boot."
"
Now, what's all this about women and sleeve-
linings
? Sure you wouldn't grudgepoor old father
that little green rag for his bed ? Come, my dear,
ril buy you twenty sleeve-linings."
At that she jumped to her feet and fairly
danced with rage.
"
Old father ! old father ! old father ! " she
screamed ;
"
am I a fool or a child ? I saw the
woman with my own eyes."
The poor young man didn't know whether he
was on his head or his heels. " Is it possiblethat
"

my father is gone ? he said,and he took the mirror

from the toio no ma.
86
X REFLECTIONS

"
That's well ; stillthe same old father that I
bought for two bu. You seem worried, father ;

nay, then, smile as I do. There, that's well."

Mistress Tassel came like a little fury and
snatched the mirror from his hand. She gave but
one look into it and hurled it to the other end of
the room. It made such aclangagainst the wood-
work,
that servants and neighbourscame rushing
in to see what was the matter.
It is my
"
father,"said the young man.
"
I
bought him in Kioto for two bu.^^
"
He keepsa woman in the
cupboardwho has
stolen my green sobbed the wife.
sleeve-linings,"
After this there
great to-do. was a Some of
the neighbourstook the man's part and some the
woman's, with such a clatter and chatter and noise
as never was ; but settle the thingtheycould not,
and none of them would look into the mirror,
because they said it was bewitched.
They might have gone on the way theywere
till doomsday,but that one of them said, Let us "

ask the Lady Abbess, for she is a wise woman."

And off they all went to do what theymight have
done sooner.

The Lady Abbess was a piouswoman, the head

of a convent of holy nuns. She was the great one

at and meditations and at of

mortifyings
prayers
the and
flesh, she the clever one, none
was the less,
at human affairs. They took her the mirror, and
she held it in her hands and looked into it for a

long time. At last she spoke:

"This poor woman," she said, touchingthe
87
 REFLECTIONS x

mirror, "
for it's as that
plainas daylight it is a

woman " this poor woman was so troubled in her

mind at the disturbance that she caused in a quiet
house, that she has taken vows, shaved her head,
and become a holynun. Thus she is in her right
placehere. I will keep her, and instruct her in

prayers and meditations. Go you home, my

children ; forgive be friends."
and forget,
Then all the peoplesaid, "
The Lady Abbess
is the wise woman."
And she kept the mirror in her treasure.
Mistress Tassel and her husband went home
hand in hand.
"
So I was right,
you after all,"she said.
see,
"Yes, yes, my dear," said the simple young
man,
"
of course. But I wonderinghow
was my
old father would get on at the holyconvent. He
was never much of a one for religion."

88
 XI

THE STORY OF SUSA, THE IMPETUOUS

When Izanagi, the Lord who Invites, turned his

back
upon
the unclean place, and bade farewell to

Yomi, the World of the Dead, whither he had

journeyed upon a quest, he beheld once more the

Land of Fresh Rice Ears, and was glad. And he

rested by the side of a clear river that he might

perform purification.
And Izanagi-no-Mikoto bathed in the
upper
reach. But he said, "The water of the upper
reach is too rapid." Then he bathed in the lower

reach ;
but he said, "
The water of the lower reach

is too sluggish." So he went down for the third

time and bathed in the middle reach of the river.

And as the water dropped from his beautiful

countenance there were created three sublime

deities "
Ama Terassu,the Glory of High Heaven ;

Tsuki-Yomi-no-Kami, the Moon-Night-Possessor ;

and Susa, the Impetuous, the Lord of the Sea.

Then Izanagi - no -
Mikoto rejoiced, saying,
"
Behold the three august children that are mine,
who shall also be illustrious for ever." And,
taking the great string of jewels from his neck, he
89
 STORY OF SUSA, THE IMPETUOUS xi

bestowed it upon Ama Terassu, the Glorious, and

her, Do Thine Augustnessrule the Plain
said to "

of High Heaven, shiningin thy beautyby day/'

So she took the august jewelsand hid them in the
storehouse of the gods.
And the Lord of Invitation commanded Tsuki-
Yomi-no-Kami, saying,"Do Thine Augustness
rule the Dominion of the Night." Now this was
a youthof a fair and pleasant countenance.
And to the youngest of the deities, his August-
ness
the Lord Izanagi gave the Sea Plain.
So Ama Terassu ruled the day,and Tsuki-Yomi-
no-Kami softlyruled the night. But Susa, the
Impetuous,flung himself upon the ground and

wept, for he said, "Ah,

violently miserable,to
dwell for ever upon the confines of the cold sea !"
So he ceased not in his weeping, and took the
moisture of the valleyfor his tears, so that the

green placeswere withered and the rivers and

streams dried up.
were And evil deities increased
and as theyswarmed
and flourished, upon the earth
their noise was as the noise of flies in the fifth
moon ; and far and wide there arose portents of
woe.

Then father,the Lord of Invitation,

his came

and stood terribly by him and said, What is this "

that I do see and hear ? Why dost thou not rule

the dominions with which I charged thee, but
lie here, like a child,with tears and wailings ?
Answer."
And Susa, the Impetuous,answered, "
I wail
because I am in miseryand love not this but
place,
QO
XI STORY OF SUSA, THE IMPETUOUS

would departto my mother who rules the Nether

Distant Land, who is called the Queen of Yomi,
the World of the Dead."
Then Izanagi
was wroth and expelledhim with
a divine and chargedhim that he should
expulsion,
departand show his face no more.

And Susa,the Impetuous,answered, "

So be it.
But first I will ascend to High Heaven to take
leave of Her Augustness,my who
sister, is the
Glory of Heaven, and then I will depart."
So he went up to Heaven with a noise and a

great speed,and at his going all the mountains

shook and every land and country quaked. And
Ama Terassu, the Light of Heaven, she also
trembled at coming,and said, This coming
his "

of His Augustness, my brother,is of no good intent,

but to lay hold of mine inheritance,and to take
it by force. For this alone does he invade the
fastness of High Heaven."
And forthwith she divided the hair that hung
upon her shoulders and rolled it in two august
bunches to the left and to the a
right, nd adorned it
with jewels. So she made her head like the head
of a young warrior. And she slungupon her back
a great bow and a quiverof arrows, one thousand
and five hundred arrows, and she took in her hand
a bamboo staffand brandished it and stampedupon
the groundwith her armed feet,so that the earth
flew like powdered snow. So she came to the
bank of the TranquilRiver of Heaven and stood

valiantly,like unto a mighty man, and waited.

And Susa,the Impetuous, spokefrom the farther
9"
 STORY OF SUSA, THE IMPETUOUS xi

bank :
"
My lovelysister,Thine Augustness,
why
"
comest thou thus armed againstme ?
And she answered, "Nay, but wherefore
ascendest thou hither ? "
And Susa "There
replied, is nothing evil in

my mind. Because I desired to dwell in the Land

of Yomi, therefore has my father deignedto expel
me with a divine expulsion, and I thoughtto take
leave of thee, and so I have ascended hither. I
have no evil intention."
And she,bendingher great eyes on him, said
" Swear.*'
And he swore, by the ten-graspsword that was

girded on him, and after that he swore by the

jewelsin her hair. Then she suffered him to cross

over TranquilRiver of Heaven, and also to

the
cross over the FloatingBridge. So Susa, the
Impetuous,entered the dominions of his sister,
the
Sun Goddess.
But his wild spirit
never ceased to chafe. And
he pillagedthe fair lands
Terassu and of Ama
broke down the divisions of the rice-fieldswhich
she had planted,and filled in the ditches. Still
the Light of Heaven upbraidedhim not, but said,
"His Augustness, my brother,believes that the land
should not be wasted by ditches and divisions, and
that rice should be
everywhere,without
sown

distinction." But notwithstanding her soft words

Susa,the Impetuous,continued in his evil ways and
became more and more violent.
Now, as the great Sun Goddess sat with her
maidens in the awful Weaving Hall of High
92
 STORY OF SUSA, THE IMPETUOUS xi

stag of Mount Kagu, theyuprooteda sacred tree, a

sakakiyof five hundred branches. And theyhung

thejewelsupon the branches of the tree, and they
hung the mirror upon its branches. And all
the lower branches they covered with offerings,
streamers of white and streamers of blue,and they
bore the tree before the rock cavern where the Sun
Goddess was. And immediatelythe assembled
birds sang. Then a divine maiden of fair renown,
who for grace and skill in dancinghad no sister,
either in the Land of Rice Ears or upon the Plain of
High Heaven, stood before the cavern door. And
there was hung about her for a garlandthe club
moss from Mount Kagu, and her head was bound
with the leaves of the spindle
-tree and with
flowers of goldand flowers of silver,
and a sheaf of
green bamboo-grasswas in her hands. And she
danced before the cavern door as one for
possessed,
heaven and earth have not seen the like of her
dancing. It was more lovelythan the pine-tops
waving in the wind or the of sea foam, and
floating
the cloud race upon the Plain of High Heaven is
not to be
compared with it. And the earth
quaked and High Heaven shook, and all the Eight
Hundred Myriad Deities laughedtogether.
Now Ama Terassu, the Glory of Heaven, lay
in the rock cavern, and the brightlightstreamed
from her fair body in rays, so that she was as a

great jewelof price. And poolsof water gleamed

in the floor of the cavern, and the slime upon the
walls gleamed with many colours,and the small
flourished
rock-plants in the unwonted heat,so that
94
XI STORY OF SUSA, THE IMPETUOUS

the ladylayin a
heavenly slept.And shebower and
awoke because of the song of the Eternal Singing
Birds,and she raised herself and flungthe hair back
her shoulder,and said, Alack, the poor birds
"
over
"
that singin the
longnight! And there came to

her the sound of dancingand of high revel and of

the merriment of the gods,so she was still and
listened. And presentlyshe felt the Plain of High
Heaven shake, and heard the Eight Hundred
Myriad Deities as they laughed together.And
she arose and came to the door of the cavern, and
rolled back the great stone a little way. And a

beam of
lightfell upon the dancingmaiden where
she stood,panting, in all her array ; but the other
deities were yet in darkness, and they looked at
each other and were still. Then spoke the Fair
Gloryof Heaven : Methought that because I was
"

hidden the Plain of High Heaven should be dark,

and black dark the Central Land of Reed Plains.
How, then, doth the
Dancing Maiden go thus,
adorned with garlandsand her head tired ? And
why do the Eight Hundred Myriad Deities laugh
"

together ?
Then the Dancing Maiden made answer : O "

Thine Augustness, that art the sweet delightof all

the behold
deities, the divine maidens are decked
with flowers,and the
gods assemble with shouts.
We rejoiceand are glad because there is a goddess
more illustrious than Thine Augustness.**
And Ama Terassu heard and was wroth. And
she covered her face with her long sleeves,so that
the deities should not see her tears ; howbeit, they
95
 STORY OF SUSA, THE IMPETUOUS xi

fell like the falling

stars. Then the youthsof the
Court of Heaven stood by the sakaki tree, where
hung the mirror that was made by Ama-tsu-Mara,
the Divine Smith. And they cried, Lady,look "

and behold the new paragon of Heaven !"

And Ama Terassu said,"Indeed, I will not

behold." let slipthe

Nevertheless,she presently
sleeves that covered her countenance and looked
in the mirror. And as she looked, and beheld,and
was dazzled by her own beauty,that was without
peer, she came forth slowlyfrom the rocks of the
cavern. And the light of her flooded High
Heaven, and below the rice ears waved and shook
themselves,and the cherryrushed
wild into flower.
And all the deities joinedtheir hands in a ring
about Ama Terassu, the Goddess of the Sun, and
the door of the rock cavern was shut. Then the
Dancing Maiden cried, O Lady,Thine
**
August-
ness, how should any Deity be born to compare
"
with thee, the Glory of Heaven ?
So with joy they bore the goddess to her
place.
But Susa,the Swift,the Brave, the Impetuous,
the Long-Haired,the Thrice Unhappy, the Lord
of the Sea, him the deities arraignedto stand
trial in dry bed
the of the TranquilRiver of
Heaven. And they took counsel, and fined him
with a great fine. And, having shorn him of his
hair,which was his beautyand his pride(for it was
blue-black as an iris,and hung below his knee),
they banished him for ever from the heavenly
precincts.
96
XI STORY OF SUSA, THE IMPETUOUS

So Susa descended to earth by the Floating

Bridgewith bitterness in his heart,and for many
dayshe wandered in despair, he knew not whither.

By fair rice-fieldshe came, and by barren moors,

heedingnothing; and at last he stayedto rest by
the side of the river called Hi, which is in the
land of Izumo.
And as he sat, moody, his head on his hand,
and looked down at the water, he beheld a chop-
stick floating
on the surface of the stream. So
Susa, the Impetuous,arose immediately, saying,
"There are peopleat the river head." And he
pursuedhis way up the bank in quest of them.
And when he had gone not a great way, he found
an old man weepingand lamentingvery grievously,
among the reeds and willows by the water-side.
And there was with him a ladyof great state and
beauty,like unto the daughterof a deity; but her
fair eyes were marred with many tears, and she
moaned continuallyand wrung her hands. And
these twain had between them a young maid of
her face Susa
very slender and delicate form ; but
could not see, for she covered it with a veil. And
ever and anon she moved and trembled withfear,
or seemed to beseech the old man earnestly,
or

pluckedthe lady by the sleeve ; at which these

last but shook their heads and
sorrowfully, returned
to their lamentations.
And Susa, full of wonder, drew near and asked
"
the old man, " Who art thou ?

And the old man answered, " I am an earthly

deityof the mountains. This is my wife, who
97 "
 STORY OF SUSA, THE IMPETUOUS xi

weeps with by the water-side,

me and the child is

my youngest daughter."
And Susa inquired of him again, What is the "

"
cause of your weeping and lamentation ?
And he answered, "Know, sir,that I am an

earthlydeityof renown, and I was the father of

eightfairdaughters. But a horror broods over the
land,for every year at this time it is ravagedby
amonster, the eight-forked serpent of Koshi, that
delights in the flesh of young virgins.In seven
years have my seven sweet children been devoured.
And now the time of my youngest-born is at hand.
Therefore do we weep, O Thine Augustness."
Then said Susa,the Impetuous, "
What is the
"
likeness of this monster ?
And the deities of the mountain made answer :
"
His eyesfiery and red as the akakagachi
are (that
is,the winter cherry).He has but one body,with
eightheads and eightscalytails. Moreover, on
his body grows moss, together with the fir and the
cryptomeria of the forest. In his going he covers
eightvalleys and eighthills, and upon his under
side he is red and gory."
Then the Lord Susa, the Impetuous,cried,
"
My lord,giveme thy daughter."
And the earthly deity,seeinghis strength and
great beauty and the brightness of his countenance,
knew that he was a god,and answered, With all "

reverence do I offer her unto thee. Howbeit, I

know not thine august name."
And Susa said," I am Susa, the Sea God, the
exile of High Heaven."
98
a
a
 STORY OF SUSA, THE IMPETUOUS xi

eight heads with eightvaliant strokes. So the

serpent was slain with a great and
slaying, the
river Hi flowed on, a river of blood. And Susa
cut the tails of the serpent also,and as he struck
the fourth tail the edge of his august sword was
turned back. So he
probed with its point,and
found a great jewelledsword with a blade sharp
as no known smith could temper it. And he took
the sword and sent it for an offeringto the Sun

Goddess, his august sister. This is the herb-

sword.
quelling
And Susa,the Impetuous,
built him a palaceat
the placecalled Suga, and dwelt there with his
bride. And the clouds of heaven hung like a

curtain round about the palace. Then the Lord

Susa sang this song :

"
Many clouds arise.
The manifold
fenceofthe forth-issuing
clouds
Makes a manifoldfence ^

For the spousesto be within.

Ohy the mangoldfence. .'* . .

ICO
 XII

THE WIND IN THE PINE TREE

It was a Deity from High Heaven that planted the

Pine Tree.

So long that the crane cannot remember it,

ago
and the tortoise knows it only by hearsay from his

great-grandmother, the heavenly deity descended.

Lightly, lightly he came by of the Floating

way
Bridge, bearing the tree in his right hand. Lightly,
lightly his feet touched the earth.

He said, "I have come to the Land of the

Reed Plains. I have come to the Land of Fresh

Rice Ears. It is a good land ;

I am satisfied."

And he planted the Pine Tree within the sound of

the sea at Takasaga, which is in the Province of

Harima. Then he went again to High Heaven

up
by of the Floating Bridge.
way
But the Pine Tree flourished. So great it

there was not a greater in all the Land of

grew,
the Reed Plains. Its trunk was red, and
rosy
beneath it spread a brown carpet of fallen needles.

In the sweet nights of summer the Children of

the Woods came hand in hand to the Pine Tree by

lOI
 THE WIND IN THE PINE TREE xii

moonlight,slipping their slim dark feet upon the

moss, and tossingback their longgreen hair.
The Children of the Water came by moonlight,
all drenchingwet their sleeves,and the bright
dropsfellfrom their The
finger-tips. Children of
the Air rested in the Pine Tree's branches,and
made murmuring music all the live-long night.
The Children of the Sea Foam crept up the yellow
sands ; and from the confines of Yomi came the
the
Mysteries, Sounds and the Scents of the Dark "

with faces veiled and grey forms,theycame,

thin
and theyhung upon the air about the placewhere
the Pine Tree was, so that the placewas holy and
haimted.
Lovers the beach at Takasaga
wanderingupon
would hear the great company of Spiritssinging
together.
"Joy of my heart,"they said to one another,
"
" do you hear the wind in the Pine Tree ?
Poor souls lyingsick a-bed would listen,and
fishermen far out at sea would pause in their labour
to whisper,"The wind, the wind in the Pine
Tree ! How the sound carries over the water ! **
As for the coming of the Maiden, the crane

cannot remember it,but the tortoise has it of his

great-grandmotherthat she was born of poor parents
in Takasaga. The Maiden was brown and tall and
slender ; in face and form most lovely.Her hair
hung down to her knees. She rose at dawn to

help her mother ; she found sticks for the fire,

she
drew water the well.
at She could spinand weave
with the best ; and for long,long hours she sat
102
XII THE WIND IN THE PINE TREE

and pliedher wheel or her shuttle in the shade of

the great Pine Tree, whilst her ears heard the sound
of the wind in its branches. Sometimes her eyes
looked out over the pathsof the sea, as one who
waits and watches. She was calm, not restless,
more grave than gay, though she smiled not

seldom. Her voice was the voice of a Heavenly

Being.
concerningthe
Now Youth from the far
of him
province, the crane knows something,for
the crane is a great traveller. She was flying
over

the streams and the of

valleys the far province, so

she says, when she saw the Youth at work in the

green rice-fields. The crane lingered,circling

slowlyin the brightair. The stood up.
Youth
He looked round upon and streams
tlie valleys ; he
looked into the sky.
I hear the call,"he said. " I may
"
tarry no
longer. Voice in my heart,I hear and I obey."
With that he left the and
rice-field, bade well
fare-
to his mother and his father and his sistersand
his brothers and his friends. together, All
they
came down to the seashore,weeping and clinging
to each other. The Youth took a boat and went

away to sea, and the rest of them stood upon the

beach.
On sped the boat for many a day over the
unknown pathsof the sea. And the white crane

flew behind the boat. And when the wind failed,

she pushedthe boat forward with the wind of her
strong wings.
At last,
one eveningabout the hour of sunset,
103
 THE WIND IN THE PINE TREE xii

the Youth heard the sound of sweet singing.The

sound came to him from the land,and it travelled
over the pathsof the sea. He stood up in his
boat,and the crane beat her strong white wings
and guidedhis boat to the shore tillits keel touched
the yellowsand of the sea-beach of Takasaga.
When the Youth had come ashore he pushed
the boat out againwith the waves, and watched it
drift away. Then he turned his face inland. The
sound of music was still in his ears. The voice
was like the voice of a HeavenlyBeing,and strange
and mystical
were the words of the song :
"

^^
The lover brought to his mistress^
a love gift

yewelsofjadeupon a silken string ;

fFe/l-^arvedJewelsj
Well-roundedjewels,
Green as the grass ^

Upon a silken string.

The jewels know not one another y

The stringtheyknoWy
"
Ohy the strengthofthe silkenstring
!

The Youth went inland and came to the great

Pine Tree and to the Maid that sat beneath,weaving
diligentlyand singing. The crane came flying
with her strong white wings,and perched upon
the Tree^s topmost branches. The tortoise lay
below on the brown carpet of needles. He
watched and saw his little eyes, but
much with
beingvery silent by nature.
he said nothing,
The Youth stood before the Maiden, waiting.
104
XII THE WIND IN THE PINE TREE

**
"
Whence come you ? she said,lifting
up her
eyes.
"I have come across the sea path. I have
come from afar."
"
"
And wherefore came you ?
"
That you must know best,seeingit was your
voice that sang in my heart."
"
"
bringme the gift
Do you ? she said.
Indeed, I bringyou the completegift,
"
jewels
of jadeupon a silken string."
"
Come," she said,and rose and took him by
the hand. And theywent to her father's house.
So they drank the "
Three Times Three," and
were made man and wife, and lived in sweet

tranquillity
many, many years.
AH the time the crane dwelt in the Pine Tree's

topmost branches,and the tortoise on the brown

carpet of needles below.
At last the Youth and Maiden, that once were,
became white-haired,old, and withered, by the
swift,relentless passage of years.
Fair love,"said the old man,
" "
how weary I

grow ! It is sad to be old."

"
Say not so, dear delightof my heart,"said
the old woman ;
"
say not so, the best of all is to
come."
"
My dear,"said the old man, "
I have a desire
to see the great Pine Tree before I die, and to
listen once more to the song of the wind in its
branches."
"
Come, then,"she said,and rose and took him
by the hand.
105
 THE WIND IN THE PINE TREE xii

and faint and worn, with

Old feeble,
tottering
steps,and hand in hand theycame.
"
How faint I grow,"said the old man.
"
Ah,
I am afraid ! How dark it is ! Hold you my
hand. " "
."
"
I have it fast in mine. There, lie down, lie
down, dear love ; be stilland listen to the wind in
the Pine Tree."
He layon the soft brown bed beneath the Pine
Tree's boughs ; and the wind sang.
She who was his love and his wife bent over

him and sheltered him. And he suffered the great

change.
Then opened his eyes and looked at her.
he
She was tall and straight and slender, in face and
form most lovely, and each of them was young as
the gods are young. He put out his hand and
touched her. Your long black hair
"
." he . .

said.
Once more she bade him, "
Come." Lightly
theyleft the ground. To the sound of the wind's
music theyswayed,theyfloated, theyrose into the
air. Higher theyrose and higher. The branches
of the Pine Tree received them, and theywere no

more seen.

Still,in the sweet nights of summer, the

Children of the Woods come hand in hand to the
Pine Tree by moonlight,slippingtheir slim dark
feet upon the moss, and tossingback their long
green hair.
The Children of the Water by moonlight,
come

all drenchingwet their sleeves,and the bright

1 06
 XIII

FLOWER OF THE PEONY

Aya, sweet maid, was the only child of a daimyo of

the Province of Omi. Mother had she none, and

her father was a noble lord and a warrior. He

was at the Court of the Shogun, or he had weighty

affairs at the capital, or he went here and there

with armies and overcame his enemies. Aya saw

little of him.

Long years she dwelt with her nurse and her

maidens within the walls of her father's castle.

High walls were they and well-guarded, and at

their foot was a deep moat which was rosy with

lotus flowers all the seventh month.
When the Lady Aya was some sixteen old
years
her father the daimyo came home victorious from a

foray, and she went with her maidens to meet him

in the gate. She was dressed in her bravest, and

as became her rank.
"
My lord and father,'* she said, "
sweet is
your
honourable return."
"
"
Child, how have ! her father
you grown
"
said, astonished. "
How old are Aya f
you,
"
Sixteen
years old, lord," she said.

io8
XIII FLOWER OF THE PEONY

"
By all the
gods,you arc become a littlegreat
young lady,and I thought you were a baby and
broughtyou home a doll for a home-coming gift."
He laughed, but presentlyafterwards grew
grave, and in deep thoughthe went into the castle.
Soon after this he began to look about him, to
find a fittinghusband for his daughter.
"
Best it should be done now," he said,'* for a

wonder has come to pass, and I am at peace with

every daimyoin the land " and it will not last."
The Lord of Ako, in Harima, had three, tall
sons, fine young men and warriors all.
"
The eldest is over old,"said the Lord of Omi.
"
The youngest is a boy " but what of the middle
brother ? It seems to me that the middle brother
should do well. They say that- second thoughts
are best,"said the Lord of Omi.
So after messengers had come and gone, the
Lady Aya was betrothed to the young Lord of
Ako, and there was great rejoicing
in all the
for all
country-side, the man and the maiden had
never set eyes on one another.
The Lady Aya was very gladwhen she saw the
presents that came from her bridegroom's house.
She sat with the seamstress of the castle and fingered
the soft stuffsof her fine new robes. For the rest,
she playedwith her maidens the live-long day,or
took her broidery frame, plyingthe needle and
long silken thread. It was the month of May, and
very often they took the air in a gardengallery,
where Aya and her maids laughed together, and
sometimes they spoke of the young Lord of Ako
109
 FLOWER OF THE PEONY xiii

and how and beautiful he was, how

brave skilful in
art and in war, and how rich. When evening
came theyslipped down the gallerysteps and into
the garden,where they went hither and thither,
hand in hand, to enjoythe cool air and the sweet

scent of the flowers.

One
nightthe Lady Aya walked in the garden
to her wont.
according The moon rose, round and
silver.
"Ah mc," sighed one of the maidens, "the
moon is a love-lorn lady. Look how paleand wan
she goes, and even now she will hide her eyes with
her long sleeve of cloud."
"
You speaksooth,"returned Aya, "
the moon

is a love-lorn lady;
you seen her faint
but have
"
sister who is sadder and fairer than she ?
"
"
Who, then,is the moon's sister ? asked all
the maidens at once.
Aya said," Come and see come.** "

With along the pathsof

that she drew them
the gardento the stillpond,where were the dancing
fireflies
and the frogsthat sang musically.Holding
each other's hands,the maidens looked down into
the water, and one and all they beheld the moon's
and they laughed softly
sister, together. While
they playedby the water's brim, the Lady Aya's
foot slipped
upon a stone, and most
smooth assuredly
she would have fallen into the pond. But all of a
sudden youth leaptforward out of the sweet
a

secrecy of the night, and caught her in his arms.

For a moment all the maidens beheld the glimmer
of his garments. Then he was gone. Aya stood
no
XIII FLOWER OF THE PEONY

alone, trembling. Down gazed the moon, wide-

eyedand sorrowful ; and still more sorrowful and
sweet, upwardsgazedthe moon's palesister. They
saw a band of silent maidens who stood in a ness
wilder-
of
blossomingpeony flowers,that grew to the
water's edge. It was the Lady Aya who loved
them and had them planted
so.

Now lady turned without a word and

the
moved along the pathsof the gardenvery slowly,
hangingher head. When she came to the garden

gallery she left all her maidens save one, and went
silently to her bower.
There she was for a longspace, saying nothing.
She sat and traced the pattern on her robe with
the point of her finger.And Sada, her maiden,
was over againsther.
At length, He was "
said Aya.
a great lord,"
"
Truth, lady."
"
He was young.'*
"
He was well-favoured."
passing
"
Alas ! he saved my and I had
life, not time to

thank hini."
"
The moon shone upon the jewelled
mounting
of his sword."
"
And his robe that was broidered with peony
flowers "

my peony flowers."
Lady,the hour very late."
"
grows
"
Well, then, imtie my girdle."
''
You look pale,lady."
"
Small marvel, I am weary."
"
Lady,what of the young Lord of Ako ?"
"
What of him ? Why, I have not seen him.
Ill
 FLOWER OF THE PEONY xiii

Enough, let be "

no more of him. Alas ! I am

drowsy,I know say." not what I

After this Lady Aya, that had been
night the
so fresh and fair and dancinggay as a wave of the
sea, fell into a pale melancholy. By day she
sighed,and by night she wept. She smiled no
more as she beheld her rich wedding-garments,
and she would not playany more with her maidens

upon the garden gallery.She wandered like a

shadow, or layspeechless in her bower. And all
the wise men and all the wise women of that
country-side
were not able *

to heal her of her

sickness.
Then the maid Sada, weeping and hidingher
face with her sleeve,went to the Lord of the
House and told him of the moonlightadventure
and the fair youthof the peony bed.
"
Ah me," she said, "
my sweet mistress pines
and dies for the love of this beautiful young man."
"
Child,"said the daimyOy "
how you talk ! My
daughter's gardenis well guardedby walls and by
men-at-arms. It is not possible
that any stranger
should enter it. What, then, is this tale of the
moon and a samurai in peony garments and all
manner of other foolishness, and how will such a

tale sound in the ears of the Lord of Ako ? "

But Sada wept and said,"My mistress will
die."
"
fightin the field,
To to flatterat Court and
to speak in Council, all these are easy," said the
daimyOy but preserve me from the affairsof
"
my
women, for theyare too hard for me."
112
xiii FLOWER OF THE PEONY

With that he made a search of all the castle

and the castle grounds,but not a trace did he find
of any stranger in hiding.
That nightthe Lady Aya called piteously for
the cooler air,so they bore her out on to her

gardengallery, where she layin O Sada's arms. A

minstrel of the household took his biwa^ and to
soothe her he made this song :

"
Music ofmy lute "

Is it born^does it die^
Is it truth or a lie?
W hence y whence and where ^
Enchanted air ?
Music ofmy lute
Is mute.

**
Sweet scents in the night "

Do they floaty do theyseem^

Are theyessence ofdream^
Or thus are they said
The thoughts ofthe Dead?
Sweet scents in the night
Delightr

Now, while the minstrel sang and touched his

a fair youthstood up from
instrument, the rosy sea
of peoniesby the pond. All there saw him clearly,
his brighteyes, his sword, and his dress broidered
with flowers. The Lady Aya gave a wild cry and
ran to the edge of the gardengallery, holdingout
her white arms. And immediatelythe vision
"3 I
 FLOWER OF THE PEONY xiii

passedaway. But the minstrel took up his biwa

once more and sang :

Love strangethan death

"
more "

than
Is it longer life^
?
Is ithotter than strife
Strongs strongand blind^
kind
Transcending "

Love more strangethan death

Or breath:'

At this the mysteriousknightof the flowers

stood once againstraight and tall, and his shining
were fixed upon the Lady Aya.
eyes
Then a gentleman of the company of the daimyo^
who was a mighty man of war, drew his sword
forthwith and leaptdown amongst the peoniesto
do battle with the bold stranger that so gazedupon
his master's daughter. And at that a cloud drew
across the moon's face as if by faery,
and of a

sudden a great hot wind blew from the south.

The lightsdied upon the
garden gallery, the
maidens held their garments togetherwhile their
long gossamer sleeves floated out. Allthe peony
bed was tossed about like a troubled sea, and the
pink and petalsflew like foam. A mist,
white
damp and over-sweet, hung upon the wind, so that
all who were there grew faint and clung to one
another,trembling.
When they were recovered,they found the
nightstilland the moon undimmed. The soldier
of the daimyo^s company stood pantingand white as
114
 XIV

THE MALLET

There were once two farmer men who were

brothers. Both of them worked hard in seed-time

and in harvest-time. They stood knee-deep in
water to plant out the rice, bending their
young
backs a thousand times an hour ; they wielded the

sickle when the hot sun shone ; when the rain

poured down in torrents, there they were still at

their digging or such like, huddled up in their rice-

straw rain coats, for in the sweat of their brows did

they eat their bread.

The elder of the two brothers was called Cho.

For all he laboured so hard he was passing rich.

From a boy he had had a saving way with him,

and had put by mint of He had big
a money. a

farm, too, and not a but that he did well, what

year
with his rice, and his silk-worms, and his granaries
and storehouses. But there was nothing to show
for all this, if it will be believed. He was a mean,
"
sour man with not so much as a
"
good day and

of tea for a wayfarer, or a cake of cold rice

a cup
for a beggar man. His children whimpered when
ii6
XIV THE MALLET

he came near them, and his wife was much to be

pitied.
The younger of the two brothers was called
Kan^. For all he laboured so hard he
poor was as

as a church mouse. Bad

was his luck, his worms
silk-
died,and his rice would not flourish. In
spiteof this he was a merry fellow,a bachelor who
loved song and an honest
a cup of saki. His roof,
his pipe,his meagre supper, all these he would
share,very gladly, with the first-comer. He had
the nimblest tongue for a comical joke,and the
kindest heart in the world. But it is a true thing,
though it is a pityall the same, that a man cannot

live on love and laughter, and presently Kan^ was

in a bad way.
"There's nothing for it,''he says, "but to
"
pocketmy pride (forhe had some) and go "
and
see my brother Cho will do for me, and I'm
what
greatlymistaken if it will be much."
So he borrows some clothes from a friend for
and
the visit, off in very neat hakama^ looking
sets

quite the gentleman,and singinga song to keep

his heart up.
He sees his brother standingoutside his house,
and the first minute he thinks he is seeinga
boggart,Cho is in such raggedgear. But presently
he singsout, "
You're Cho."
early,
You're Kane,"
early, says Cho.
"

"
"
May I come in and talk a bit ? asks Kani.
"
Yes," says Cho, "
you can ; but you won't find
anything to eat at this time of day, nor yet to drink,
so let disappointments be avoided."
117
 THE MALLET xiv

"
Very well," says Kane ;
"
as it happens,it's
not food Fvc come for."
When they were inside the house and sitting
on the mats, Cho says, "That's a fine suit of
clothes you, Kane.
youVe got You must beon

doingwell. It'snot me that can afford to go about

the muddy roads dressed up like a prince. Times
are bad, very bad."
spiteof this not being a good beginning,
In
Kane plucks up his courage and laughs. And
he says :
presently
"
Look here, brother. These are borrowed
clothes,my own will hardlyhold together. My
rice crop was ruined,and my silk-worms are dead.
I have not a rin to buy rice seed or new worms. I
am at my wits' end, and
you I have come to

begging, now you have

so it. For the sake of the
mother that bore us both, give me a handful of
seed and a few silk-worms' eggs."
At this Cho made as if he would faint with
astonishment and dismay.
"
*'
Alack ! Alack ! he says.
"
I am a
poor
man, very poor man.
a
my Must I rob wife and
"

my miserable children ? And thus he bewailed

himself and talked for half an hour.
But to make a long story short,Cho
says that
out of filial and because of the blessed mother
piety,
of them both, he must make shift to giveKane the
silk-worms' eggs and the rice. So he gets a handful
of dead eggs and a handful of musty and mouldy
rice. "
These are no good to man or beast," says
the old fox to himself,and he laughs. But to his
ii8
XIV THE MALLET

own blood-brother says, "Here, Kani. he It's

the best silk-worms* eggs I am givingyou, and the
best rice of all my poor store, and I cannot afford
it at all ; and may the godsforgive
me for robbing
my poor wife and my children."
Kani thanks his brother with all his heart for
his great generosity,
and bows his head to the mats
three times. Then off he goes, with the silk-worms'
eggs and the rice in his sleeve,skipping
and jumping
with joy,for he thought that his luck had turned
at last. But in the muddy parts of the road he
was careful to hold up his hakama^ for theywere
borrowed.
When he reached home he gatheredgreat store
of green mulberryleaves. This for the silk-
was worms
that were going to be hatched out of the
dead eggs. And he sat down and waited for the
silk-worms to come. And come theydid,too, and
that very strange, because the eggs were
was dead

eggs for sure. The silk-worms were a livelylot ;

theyate the mulberryleaves in a twinkling, and
lost no time at all,but began to wind themselves
into cocoons that minute. Then Kan^ was the
happy man. He went out and told his good
fortune to all the neighbours. This was where he
made his mistake. And he found a peddlarman
who did his rounds in those parts,and gave him a

message to take to his brother Cho, with his com-

pliments

and
respectfulthanks,that the silk-worms
were doing uncommonly well. This was where
he made a biggermistake. It was a pityhe could

not let well done.

119
 THE MALLET xiv

When Cho heard of his brother's luck he was

not pleased.Prettysoon he tied on his straw

sandals and was off to Kane's farm. Kan^ was out

when he got there,but Cho did not care for that.

He went to have a look at the silk-worms. And
when he saw how they were beginning to spin
themselves into cocoons, as neat as you he
please,
took a sharp knife and cut every one of them in
two. Then he went away home, the bad man !
When Kanfe came to look after his silk-worms he
could not help thinkingtheylooked a bit queer.
He scratches his head and he
says, "It almost
appears as though each of them has been cut in
half. They seem dead," he says. Then out he
goes and gathersa great lot of mulberryleaves.
And all those half silk-worms set to and ate up the
mulberry leaves, and after that there were just
twice as many silk-worms spinningaway as there
were before. And that was very strange, because
the silk-worms were dead for sure.
When Cho heard of this he goes and chopshis
own silk-worms in two with a sharpknife ; but he
gainednothing by that,for the silk-worms never

moved again,but stayedas dead as dead, and his

wife had to throw them away next morning.
After this Kan^ sowed the rice seed that he had
from his brother,and when the young rice came

up green as you pleasehe plantedit out

as with
care, and it flourished wonderfully, and soon the
rice was formed in the ear.
One day an immense of swallows
flight came

and settled on Kane's rice-field.

120
XIV THE MALLET

"
Arah ! Arah !" Kane shouted. He clapped
his hands and beat about with a bamboo stick. So
the swallows flew away. In two minutes back
theycame.
**Arah ! Arah !*'Kane shouted,and he clapped
his hands and beat about with his bamboo stick.
So the swallows flew away. In two minutes back
theycame.
"
Arah I Arah ! '' Kane shouted. He clapped
his hands and beat about with his bamboo stick.
So the swallows flew away. In two minutes back
theycame.
When he had scared them away for the ninth
time, Kane takes his and wipes
tenegui his face.
"
This grows into a he says.
habit,** But in two
minutes back came the swallows for the tenth time.
"
"
Arah ! Kanfe shouted, and he chased
Arah !
them over hill and dale,hedge and ditch,rice-field
and mulberry-field,till at last theyflew away from
his sight,and he found himself in a mossy dell
shaded by spreading pine trees. Being very tired
with running he lies down his full lengthupon
the moss, and presently fallsfast asleep
and snoring.
The next thing was that he dreamed. He

thoughthe saw a troop of children come to the

for
mossy glade, in his dream he remembered very
well where he was. The children fluttered here
and there among the trunks. They
pine-trees* were

as pretty as flowers or butterflies. One and all of

them had dancingbare feet ; their hair hung down,
long,loose and black ; their skins were white like
the plum blossom.
121
 THE MALLET xiv

" For good for evil,"says Kan^

or to himself,
"
I have seen the fairies*children."
The children made an end of their and
dancing,
sat them upon the ground in a ring. Leader !
"

Leader !" theycried. Fetch us the mallet." Then

"

there rose up a beautiful boy, about fourteen or

fifteen years old,the eldest and the tallest there.
He lifted a mossy stone quiteclose to Kane's head.
Underneath was a plainlittlemallet of white wood.
The boy took
it up and went and stood within the
circle of children. He laughedand cried," Now
"
what will you have ?
"A kite, a kite," calls out one of the
children.
The boy shakes the mallet,and lo and behold
he shakes a kite out of it I a great kite with a tail
"

to it,and a good ball of twine as well.

"
"
Now what else ? asks the boy.
"Battledore and shuttlecock for me," says a

little girl.
And sure enough there theyare, a battledore of
the best,and meetly feathered
twenty shuttlecocks,
and gilded.
"
Now what else ? " says the boy.
"
A lot of sweets."
"
Greedy ! says the boy, but he shakes the
"

mallet,and there are the sweets.

"
A red crepe frock and a brocade c?^/."
"
Miss Vanity!" says the boy,but he shakes all
this gravelyout of the mallet.
"
Books, story books."
"That's better,"says the boy, and out come

122
 THE MALLET xiv

it to ripen,quitewild with impatience.It ripens

sure enough,and sure enough a flight of swallows
comes and settles upon the good grainin the ear.
"
Arah ! Arah I
"
shouted Cho, clappinghis
hands and laughing aloud for joy. The swallows
flew away, and Cho was after them. He chased
them over hill and dale, hedge and ditch,rice-
fieldand till at last they flew away
mulberry-field,
from and he found himself in a mossy
his sight,
dell shaded by spreadingpine-trees.Cho looks
about him.
"
This should be the place,"says he. So he
lies down and waits with one wily eye shut and
one wily eye
open.
who should
Presently tripinto the dell but the
fairies*children ! Very fresh they were as they
moved among the pine-treetrunks.
"
Leader I Leader ! Fetch
the mallet,"they us

cried. Up steppedthe leader and lifted away the

mossy stone. And behold there was no mallet
there !
Now the fairies*children became very angry.
They stampedtheir littlefeet,and cried and rushed
wildly to and fro,and were beside themselves
altogetherbecause the mallet was gone.
"
See," cried the leader at last, "
see this ugly
old farmer man ; he must have taken our mallet.
Let us pullhis nose for him."
With a shrill scream the fairies*children set

upon Cho. They pinched him, and pulledhim,

and buffeted him, and set their sharpteeth in his
flesh till he yelledin agony. Worst of all,they
124
XIV THE MALLET

laid hold of his nose and pulledit. Long it grew,

and longer. It reached his waist. It reached his
feet.
Lord, how theylaughed,the fairies'children I
Then theyscamperedaway like fallen leaves before
the wind.
Cho and
sighed, he and
groaned, he cursed,and
he swore, but for all that his nose was not an inch
shorter. So, sad and sorry, he gatheredit up in
his two hands and went to Kane's house.
Kanfe,I am very sick,"says he.
"

"
Indeed,so I see,"says Kane, "
a terrible sick-
ness
"
; and how did you catch it ? he says. And so
kind he was that he never laughedat Cho*s nose,
nor yet he never smiled,but there were tears in
his eyes at his brother's misfortunes. Then Cho's
heart melted and he told his brother all the tale,
and he never kept back how mean he had been
about the dead silk-worms' eggs, and about the
other thingsthat have been told of. And he asked
Kane to him
forgive and to helphim.
Wait you stilla minute," says Kan^.
"

He goes to his chest,and he bringsout the

mallet. And he rubs it very gentlyup and down
Cho's long nose, and sure enough it shortened up
very quickly.In two minutes it was a natural size.
Cho danced for joy.
Kane looks at him and says, " If I were you,
rd justgo home and try to be different."
When Cho had gone, Kan^ sat stilland thought
for a long time. When the moon rose that night
he went out and took the mallet with him. He
125
 THE MALLET xiv

came to the mossy dell that was shaded with

spreading pine trees, and he laid the mallet in its
old placeunder the stone.
**
Fm the last man in the world/* he said, "
to
be to the
unfriendly fairies*children/*

126
The Bell of Dojoji.-P. 127.
 XV

THE BELL OF DOJOJI

The monk Anchin

years but old in
was young in

scholarship. Every day for many hours he read

the Great Books of the Good Law and never

wearied, and hard characters were not hard to him.

The monk Anchin was
young in
years but old

in holiness ;
he kept his body under by fastingsand
watchings and long prayers. He was acquainted
with the blessedness of sublime meditations. His

countenance was white as ivory and as smooth ;

his were deep as a brown pool in autumn

eyes ;
his smile was that of a Buddha ;
his voice was like

an angel's. He dwelt with a score of holy men in

a monastery of the mountains, where he learned

the mystic "

Way of the Gods.'* He was bound

to his order by the strictest vows, but was content,

rejoicing in the shade of the great pine trees and

the sound of the running water of the streams.

Now it happened that on a day in spring-time,

the old man, his Abbot, sent the young monk

Anchin an errand of
mercy. And he said,
upon
"My bind sandals fast and tie
son, your spare
sandals to girdle, take hat and
your staff
your your
127
 THE BELL OF DOjOjI xv

and your rosary and begging bowl, for you have

far to go, over mountain and stream, and across the
great plain."
So the monk Anchin made him
ready.
"
My son," the Abbot said, if any wayfarer
"

do you a kindness,forget
not to commend him to
the gods for the space of nine existences."
"
I will remember," said the monk, and so he
set forth upon his way.
Over mountain and
passed,and as he stream he
went his spiritwas wrapped in contemplation, and
he recited the Holy Sutras aloud in a singing
voice.
And the Birds called and twittered from
Wise
branch to branch of the tall trees,the birds that
are beloved of Buddha. One bird chanted the
of
grandScripture the Nicheten,the Praise of the
Sutra of the Lotus, of the Good Law, and the
other bird called upon his Master's name, for he
cried :
"
O thou Mind
Compassionate ! O thou Com-
passionate
Mind !"
The monk smiled. "
Sweet and happy bird,"
he said.
And the bird answered, "
O thou passionate
Com-
Mind I " . .
O thou Compassionate
"
Mind I
When the monk Anchin came to the great
the
plain, sun was high in the heavens,and all the
blue and goldenflowers of the plainlanguishedin
the noon-tide heat. The monk likewise became
very weary, and when he beheld the Marshy
Mere, where were bulrush and sedge that cooled
128
 THE BELL OF DOJOJI xv

man in a dream. Once a rich traveller riding

on horseback threw a silver coin into Anchin*s
begging bowl ; once a woman gave him a piece
of cake made of millet ; and once a littleboy knelt

down and tied the fastening of his sandal that had

become loose. But each time the monk passedon
without a word, for he forgot to commend the
souls of these for the space of
compassionateones
nine existences. In the tree-topsthe Wise Birds
of Buddha sang for him no more, only from the
thicket was heard the cry of the HototqgisUy the
bird lovelorn and forsaken.
Nevertheless, well or ill,he performedhis
errand of mercy and returned to the monastery by
another way.
Howbeit, sweet peace left him from the hour
in which he had seen the lady of the Marshy
Mere. The Great Books of the Good Law sufficed
him no longer; no more was he with
acquainted
the blessedness of divine meditations. His heart
was hot within him ; his eyes burned and his soul
longedafter the ladyof the green and goldenrobe.
She had told him her name, and he murmured
it in his sleep." Kiohim^ Kiohime !" Waking,
"

he repeated it instead of his prayers to the great "

scandalof the brethren,who whisperedtogether

and said," Is our brother mad ?"
AtlengthAnchin went to the good Abbot, and
in his
ear pouredforth all his tale in a passionof
mingled love and grief, humbly askingwhat he
must do.
The Abbot said,"Alack, my son, now you
130
XV THE BELL OF DOJOJI
suffer for sin committed in a former life,for
Karma must needs be worked out."
Anchin asked him, " Then is it past help? "
"
Not that,"said the Abbot, " but you are in a

very great strait."

"
Are you angry with me ?" said Anchin.
"
Nay, Heaven forbid,
my poor son."
"
**Then what must I do ?
Fast and pray, and for a penance
"
stand in the
ice-cold water of our mountain torrent an hour at

sunrise and an hour at sunset. Thus shall you be

purged from carnal affection and escape the perils
of illusion."
So Anchin fasted and he scourgedhis
prayed,
body,and hour after hour he did penance in the
ice-cold water of the torrent. Wan as a ghost he
grew, and his eyes were like flames. His trouble
would not leave him. A battle raged in his
breast. He could not be faithful to his vows and
faithful to his love.
The brethren wondered, "What can ail the
monk Anchin, who was so learned and so holy " is
he bewitched by a fox or a badger,or can he have
a devil ? "
But the Abbot said, "
Let be."
Now on a hot night of summer, the monk
being sleeplessin his cell, he was visited by
Kiohim6, the magic lady of the mere. The
moonlightwas on her hands and her long sleeves.
Her robe was green and gold,interwoven ; golden
were her sandals. Her hair was braided with
scarlet and adorned with scarlet flowers.
131
 THE BELL OF DOJOJI xv

"
Long, long have I waited for thee on the
she said.
plains," The nightwind sighsin the "

sedge the frogs sing by the Marshy Merc.

"

Come, lord. " "

"'*
But he cried,"My that I have vowed
vows

" ^alas! the love that I love. I keep faith and

the
loyalty, bird in my bosom ...
I may not
come."
She smiled, May "
not ?" she said,and with
that she liftedthe monk Anchin in her arms.

But all his strength

he, gathering together,
tore
himself from her and fled from the place. Bare-
footed
and bareheaded he went, his white robe
through the
flying, darkhalls of the monastery,
where the air was heavy with incense and sweet
with prayers, where the goldenAmida rested upon
her lotus,ineffably smiling. He leapedthe grey
stone steps that led down from her shrine and
gained the pine trees and the mountain path.
Down, down he fled on the rough way, the nymph
Kiohim6 pursuing. As for her, her feet never
touched the ground, and she spread her green
sleeves like wings. Down, down they fled to-
gether,
and so close was she behind him that the
monk felt her breath upon his neck.
"
As a young she
goddess, is fleetof foot . "
."
he moaned.
At last they came to the famed temple of
Dojoji,which was upon the plains. By this
Anchin sobbed and staggered as he ran ; his knees
failed him and his head swam.
"
I am lost,"he cried," for a hundred exist-
132
XV THE BELL OF DOjOjI
ences.*' But with that he saw the great temple
bell of
Dojojithat hung but a littleway from the
ground. He cast himself down and crept beneath
it,and so deemed himself sheltered and secure.

Then came Kiohim6, the Merciless Lady,and

the moonlight shone upon her long sleeves. She
did not sigh,
nor cry, call upon
nor her love. She
stood still for a little space and smiled. Then
lightly she sprang to the top of the great bronze
bell of Dojoji, and with her sharp teeth she bit
throughthe ropes that held it, so that the bell
came to the ground and the monk was a prisoner.
And Kiohime embraced the bell with her arms.

She crept about it,she crawled about it and her

green robe flowed over it. Her

green robe glittered
with a thousand golden scales;long flames burst
from herlipsand from her eyes ; a huge and fear-
some
Dragon,she wound and coiled herself about
the bell of Dojoji. With her Dragon'stail she
lashed the bell,and lashed it tillits bronze was red
hot.
Stillshe lashed the bell,while the monk called
for
piteously mercy. And quietwhen he was very
she did not stop. All the night long the frogs
sang by the Marshy Mere and the wind sighedin
the sedges. But the Dragon Lady was upon the
bell of Dojoji,and she lashed it furiously with
her tail tilldawn.

133
 XVI

THE MAIDEN OF UNAI

The Maiden of Unai was fair as an earthly deity,

but the of man might not behold her. She
eyes
dwelt in a hidden place in her father's house, and

of what cheer she made the live-long day not a soul

could tell, but her father who kept watch, and her

mother who kept ward, and her ancient nurse who

tended her. The cause was this.

When the maid was about seven old,
years
with her black hair loose and hanging to her

shoulder, an ancient man, a traveller, came, sore

foot-
and to her father's house. He was made
weary,
welcome, served with rice and with tea, whilst
the master of the house sat by, and the mistress, to

do him honour. Meanwhile the little maid was

here and there, catching at her mother's sleeve,

pattering with bare feet over the mats, or bouncing
a great and scarlet ball in a corner. And the
green
stranger lifted his and marked the child.
eyes
After he had eaten, he called for a bowl of clear

water, and taking from his wallet a handful of fine

silver sand he let it slip through his fingers and it

134
XVI THE MAIDEN OF UNAI

sank to the bottom of the bowl. In a little he

spoke.
"My lord," he said to the master of the
house, "I was hungry and weary, and you have
fed me and refreshed me. I am a poor man and it
is hard for me to show my gratitude.Now I am

a by profession,
soothsayer very far-famed for the
skill of my divination. Therefore, in return for
your kindness I have looked into the future of
"
your child. Will you hear her destiny?
The child knelt in a corner of the room

bouncingher green and scarlet ball.

The master of the house bade the soothsayer
speakon.
This one looked down into the bowl of water

where the sand was, and said :

"
The Maiden of
Unai shall grow up fairer than the children of
men. Her beautyshall shine as the beautyof an
earthlydeity. Every man who looks upon her
shall pinewith love and longing,
and when she is
fifteen years old there shall die for her sake a
mighty hero from near, and a valiant hero from
afar. And there shall be sorrow and mourning
because of her, loud and
grievous,so that the
sound of it shall reach High Heaven and offend
the peace of the gods.**
The master of the House said," Is this a true
"
divination ?
"
lord,"said the soothsayer,
Indeed, my it is "

too true." And with that he bound on his sandals,

and takinghis staffand his great hat of rice-straw,
he spokeno other word, but went his ways ; neither
135
 THE MAIDEN OF UNAI xvi

was he any more seen nor heard tell of upon that

country-side.
And the child knelt in a corner of the room,
bouncingher green and scarlet ball.
The father and mother took counsel.
The mother wept, but she said, Let be, for
"

who can alter the pattern setup upon the looms

of the weaving women of Heaven ? " But the
father cried, "I will fight. I will avert the
portent ; the
thingshall not come to pass. Who
am I that I should give credence to a dog of a
"
soothsayerwho lies in his teeth ? And though
his wife shook her head and moaned, he gave her
counsel no heed, for he was a man.

So theyhid the child in a secret chamber, where

an old wise woman tended her, fed her, bathed
her, combed her hair,taught her to make songs
and to sing,to dance so that her feet moved like
rosy butterflies over the white mats, or to sit at a

frame with a wonder of needlework stretched

upon it,drawingthe needle and the silken thread
hour after hour.
For eight years the maid set eyes upon no
human being save her father,her mother, and her
nurse, these three only. All the dayshe spent in
her distant chamber, far removed from the sights
and the sounds of the world. Only in the night
she came forth into her father's garden,when the
moon shone and the birds sleptand the flowers
had no colour. And with every season that passed
the maid grew more beautiful. Her hair hung
down to her knees and was black as a thunder-
136
 THE MAIDEN OF UNAI xvi

And she answered, "

I have read of it in a

book."
Then
theytook her, her mother and the wise
woman, and theytied her hair and pinned it high

upon her head with gold and coral pins, and held
it with a great lacquercomb. She said,"How
"

heavyit is !
While they dressed her in the robe of grey silk,
and tied the girdleof brocade,first she shuddered
and said,"I am cold." Then they would have
thrown over her a mantle broidered with plum
blossom and pine,but she would have none of it,
saying, No, no, I burn."
"

They paintedher lipswith beni^and when she

saw it she murmured, "
Alack, there is blood upon
"

my lips! But they led her down and out on

to balcony,
a where the men who were assembled
might see her. She was fairer than the children
of men, and her beauty shone like the beauty of
an earthly deity.And all the warriors who were
there looked upon her and were for already
silent,
theywere faint with love and longing. And the
maid stood with eyes cast down, and slowly the
hot blush rose to her cheek and she was lovelier
than before.
Three or four score men of name soughther
for love of her, and amongst
hand, beingdistraught
them were two braver and nobler than the rest.
The one came from afar and was the champion of
Chinu, and the other came from near, the champion
of Unai. They were young, strong, and black-
haired. They were equalin years, in and
strength,
138
XVI THE MAIDEN OF UNAI

in valour. Both
girdedwith were great swords,
and full-charged
quiverswere upon their backs,
and six-foot bows of white wood were in their
hands. Together they stood beneath the balcony
of the maiden of Unai, like twin brothers in beauty
and attainments. Together theycried aloud with
passionate
voices,tellingof their eternal love, and
biddingthe maiden choose between them.
She lifted up her eyes and looked fixedly
upon
them, but spokeno word.
Then theydrew their swords and made as if to
fightthe matter out there and then ; but the maid's
father spoke: your swords, fair sirs ; I
"
Put up
have devised a better way for the decision of this
thing. If it pleaseyou, enter my house.*'
Now part of the house of Unai was built out

upon a platformover the river that flowed past.

It was the fifth month and the wistaria was in
blossom upon the and
trellis, hung downwards
nearlyinto the water. The river was swift and
deep. Here the master of the house brought the
champions,and the maiden was there also. But
the mother and the wise woman stood a little way

apart, and hid their faces in their long sleeves.

a white
Presently water-bird droppedfrom the blue
sky,and rocked to and fro upon the water of the
river.
"Now, champions,"cried the father of the
maiden, "
draw me your bows and let flyeach of
you an arrow at yonder white bird that floats
upon the river. He that shall strike the bird
and prove himself to be the better marksman, he

139
 THE MAIDEN OF UNAI xvi

shall wed my Maiden

daughter,the peerless of
Unai."
Then immediatelythe two champions drew
their bows of white wood and let flyeach of them
an arrow. Each sped swift ; each arrow
arrow

struck true. The champion of Chinu struck the

water-bird in the head, but the champion of
Unai struck her in the tail so that the white
feathers were scattered. Then the champions
cried, "
Enough of this trifling.There is but
one way." And again their brightswords leapt
from their scabbards.
But the maid stood trembling,holding the
gnarledstem of the wistaria in her hands. She
trembled and shook the branches so that the frail
flowers fell about her. "
My lords,my lords,"she
cried,"oh, brave and beautiful heroes of fame, it
is not meet that one of you should die for such as
I am. I honour you ; I love you both therefore "

farewell." With that,stillholdingto

the wistaria,
she swung herself clear of the balcony
and dropped
into the deep and swift-flowing river. "Weep
not,"she cried, for no woman
"
dies to-day. It is
but a child that is lost." And so she sank.
Down sprang the champion of Chinu into the
flood,and in the same instant down sprang the
champion of Unai. Alack, theywere heavywith
the arms that they bore, and they sank and were
entangledin the long water weeds. And so the
three of them were drowned.
But at night when the moon shone, the pale
dead rose, floating to the surface of the water.

140
XVI THE MAIDEN OF UNAI

The champion of Unai the maiden*s

held right
hand in his own, but the champion of Chinu lay
with his head againstthe maiden's heart,bound
close to her by a tress of her long hair ; and as he
layhe smiled.
The three corpses they lifted from the water,
and laid them togetherupon a bier of fair white
wood, and over them theystrewed herbs and sweet
flowers,and laid a veil over their faces of fine
white silk. And they lightedfires and burned
incense. Gallants and warriors and men of note
who loved the maiden, alive or dead, stood about
her bier and made a hedge with themselves and
their brightswords. And there was sorrow and
mourning,loud and grievous, so that the sound of
it reached High Heaven and offended the peace of
the gods.
A grave was dug wide and deep,and the three
were buried therein. The maid they laid in the
middle, and the two champions upon either side.
Idzumo was the native placeof the champion of
Chinu, so they brought earth from thence in a
junk,and with this earth they covered him.
So the maid sleptthere in the grave, the
championsfaithfully guardingher, for they had
buried with them their bows of white wood and
theirgood armour and their spears and their
bright swords. Nothing was forgotten that is
needful for adventure in the Land of Yomi.

141
 XVII

THE ROBE OF FEATHERS

Mio Strand is in the Province of Suruga. Its

sand is yellow and fine, strewn with rose shells at

the ebb tide. Its pine trees are ancient and they
lean all one which is the that the wild
way, way
wind wills. Before Mio rolls the deep sea, and

behind Mio rises Fugi, the most sacred, the

mountain of mountains. Small marvel that the

Strange People should come to Mio.

Of the Strange People not much is known,

even at Mio, though it is sure they come there.

It seems they arc shy indeed, more's the pity.

They come through the blue air, or across the

mysterious paths of the sea. Their footprints are

never, never seen upon the wet beach, for they
tread too lightly. But sometimes in their dancing
they sweep their robes
upon
the sand and leave it

ribbed and rufHed ; so, often enough, it

may be

seen at Mio.
This is not all. Once a fisherman of Mio set

maiden of the Strange People, and

eyes upon a

talked with her and made her do his bidding. This

is a true thing, and thus it came about.

142
XVII THE ROBE OF FEATHERS

The fisherman was out in his boat all night.

He cast his net here and he cast his net there,but
he caughtnothingat all for his pains. It may be
believed that he grew weary enough before the
morning. In the cold of the dawn he broughthis
boat to shore and set foot on Mio Strand,shivering.
Then, so he
says, a warm wind met him and
blew through his garments and his hair,so that
he flushed and glowed. The very sand was full of
comfort to his feet. Upon
chilly the warm wind
a fragrance
was borne, cedar and vervain,and the
scent of a hundred flowers.
Flowers through the
droppedsoftly air like
brightrain. The fisherman stretched out his hands
and caught them, lotus and jessamine and pome-
granate.
And all the while sweet music sounded.
"
This is never Mio Strand,"cried the fisherman,
bewildered, where "
I have pulledmy boat ashore
a thousand times or flown kites upon a holiday.
Alack, I fear me I have sailed to the Fortunate
Isles unawares, or come unwilling
to the Sea King's
garden; or very like I am dead and never knew it,
and this is Yomi. O Yomi, Land of Yomi, how
like thou art to Mio Strand,my dear home !"
After he had said this,the fisherman looked up
the beach and down the beach, and he turned and
saw Fuji,the mountain of mountains, and then he
turned and saw the deep rollingsea and knew he
was at Mio and no other place,
and gave a long
sigh.
"
Thanks be," he his eyes he
said,and lifting
saw a robe of feathers hangingupon the branch of
H3
 THE ROBE OF FEATHERS xvii

a pinetree. In the robe were feathers of all the

birds that
fly,
every one ; the and
kingfisher the
the
goldenpheasant, bird,the swan, the crow,
love
the cormorant, the dove,the bullfinch, the falcon,
the plover, and the heron.
**
Ah, the pretty fluttering
"
thing! said the
fisherman,and he took it from the pinetree where
it hung.
"
"
Ah, the warm, sweet, fairy thing! said the
fisherman ; " TU take it home for a treasure, sure no
money could buy it,and FU show it to all the folk
of the village.'*And oflfhe set for home with the
feathers over
fairy his arm.

Now the maiden of the StrangePeople had

been playingall this time with the White Children
of the Foam that live in the salt sea. She looked
up throughthe cold clear water and marked that
her robe hung no longeron the pine-tree branch.
"
"
Alas, alas ! she cried,** my robe,my feather
"
robe ! Swifter than any arrow she sprang from
the water, and sped,fleet of foot,along the wet
sand. The White Children of the Foam followed
at her heels.
flashing Clad in the cloak of her long
hair,she up with the fisherman.
came

Give me my feather robe," she said,

and held
"

out her hand for it.

"
"
Why ? said the fisherman.
"
'Tis mine. I want it. I must have it.**
"
Oho," said the fisherman, "
finding's
keeping,'*
and he didn't giveher the feather robe.
"
I amFairy,"she said.
a
"
said the
Farewell,Fairy,'* fisherman.
144
 THE ROBE OF FEATHERS xvii

Ohy blessedflying clouds^ and happybirdsy

And golden dust in the wind^
And flying thoughts and flyingprayers !
^^
I have lostall joy.

"
Oh, stop,"said the fisherman, you "
may
have your robe."
"
Give," she cried.
"
Softly, softly,"said the fisherman. "
Not so

fast, I will give you your robe if you will dance

for me here on Mio Strand."
"
"
What must I dance ? she asked.
"
You must dance the mysticdance that makes
the Palace of the Moon turn round,"
She said, "Give me my feathers and I will
dance it. I my feathers."
cannot dance without
"
What if you cheat me, what if you break
your promiseand flyimmediately to the moon and
no dancingat all ? "
"Ah, fisherman,"she said,"the faith of a
"

Fairy!
Then he gave her the robe.
Now, when she had arrayedherself and flung
back her hair,the Fairybegan to dance upon the
yellowsand. In and out of the feather robe crept
feet. Slowly,
her fairy she went
softly, with folded
wings and sang :
**
Oh J
the goldand silvermountains ofthe Moon^
And the sweet Birds ofHeaven
Singing !
Theysingin the branches ofthe cinnamon tree^
To entertainthe thirty
kingsthat are there.
146
XVII THE ROBE OF FEATHERS

Fifteenkingsin white garments y

To reignforJif teen days.

Fifteenkingsin black garments j

To reignforff teen days.

I hear the music ofHeaven ;
Awayy away^ I flyto FairyPlaces^^

At this the Fairyspreadher rainbow-coloured

wings,and the wind that they made fluttered the
red flowers in her hair. Out streamed the robe of
feathers brightand gay.
The Fairylaughed. Her feet touched the
waves of the sea ; her feet touched the grass and
the flowers inshore. They touched the high
branches of the pinesand then the white clouds.
"
"
Farewell, fisherman ! the Fairycried,and
he saw her no more.

Long, long he stood gazing up into the sky.

At lengthhe stoopedand pickedup a little feather
from the shore,a grey dove's feather. He smoothed
it out with his fingerand hid it in his girdle.
Then he went to his home.

147
 XVIII

THE SINGING BIRD OF HEAVEN

Ama Terassu, the Glorious, the Light of High

Heaven, commanded,^ saying, "His Augnstness,
August Child, who is called the Conqueror,
my
shall descend to the land. For it is a Land of

Luxuriant Reed Plains, a Land of Fresh Rice Ears,

a Land of a Thousand Autumns. So of this land

he shall be king.*'
Now his Augustness, the August Child, the

Conqueror, stood the Floating Bridge of

upon
Heaven and looked down, and he saw that there

was a great unquietness upon the Land of the Reed

Plains. For earthly deities made strife,and blood

ran, and fearful sounds of war arose, even to High

Heaven. So the August Child, the heavenly born,
turned back across the Floating Bridge, and swore
he would not descend to rule the land until it

should be cleansed.
And Ama Terassu, the Light of High Heaven,
who had the sun set fast between her bound
eyes,
her head with jewels, and
gathered the deities

together in a divine assembly, to hold council in

the Tranquil River Bed. And she spoke and said,

148
The Singing Bird of Heaven. -P. 148
XVIII THE SINGING BIRD OF HEAVEN

"
Who shall subdue the land that I have givento
''
the August Child ?
And all the deities cried," O Thine August-
ness, send down the Lord of Spears.'* Therefore
the Lord
Spearswent of
lightlydown by the
FloatingBridge; and there were bound upon his
back eighthundred spears. Howbeit, he made a

truce with the Lord of the Reed Plains and tarried

there ; and for three years there was no report.
Therefore, once more the Queen of Heaven
called him whom
gods name Wonderful, and
the
she called the Lord of Deep Thoughts,and likewise
she called every deity of Heaven, and they came to

council in the TranquilRiver Bed, so that upon

the sand there was left the printof their august
feet. And Ama Terassu said, Behold
"
now the
Lord of Spearsis faithless. Whom shall we send
**
to rule the land ? And the Young Prince
answered, O "
Mother of Heaven, Thine August-
ness, send me.'' And all the deities assented with
one accord and cried," Send him, send him," till
there was a sound like thunder in the River Bed.
Young Prince bound on his sandals,
So the and
theybroughtto him the great bow that stands in
the Hall of High Heaven, and bestowed it upon
him, they gave him many heavenly-feathered
and
arrows. So theymade him ready, and theybrought
him to the Floating Bridge.And the Young Prince
descended lightly, while his garments shone with
the gloryof Heaven. But when he touched the
tops of the high hills, his heart beat fast and his
blood ran warm. Therefore he cut the fastening
149
 THE SINGING BIRD OF HEAVEN xviii

of his sandals and cast them behind him, and he

ran upon his bare feet,like an and
earthlydeity,
came to the palaceupon the Reed Plains.
Now, at the door of the palacethe Princess
Undershining stood,like a growing flower. So the
Young Prince beheld her and loved her, and he
built him a dwellingupon the Reed Plains,and
took the Princess for his bride.
And, because he
loved her and her earthly
children,he brought no
report to High Heaven, and he forgotthe waiting
deities. For Heaven was vague to him as a

dream.
But the gods were weary.
And Ama Terassu said,"Long, long tarries
our messenger, and bringsno again. My word
Lord, the August Child, waxes impatient; whom
"
now shall we send ? Thereupon,all the deities,
and the Lord of Deep Thoughts,replied,Send "

down the Singing Bird, the beloved of High

Heaven.**
So Ama Terassu took the
goldenSingingBird,
and said, Sweet music of the divine gods,spread
"

thou thy bright wings,and flyto the Land of Reed

Plains,and there search out the Young Prince, the
messenger of Heaven, and, when thou hast found
him, singin his ear this song : * Ama Terassu,the
Goddess of the Sun, has sent me saying.How fares
the quest of High Heaven, and how fares the
message ? is the report of the gods ? * "
Where
So the bird departed, singing. And she came
to the Land of the Reed Plains,and perchedupon
the branch of a fair cassia tree which grew hard
ISO
 THE SINGING BIRD OF HEAVEN xviii

sleeping.And the arrow fell, his heart

and pierced
that he died.
Yet the sweet SingingBird of Heaven returned
no more ; and the gods were sorrowful.
Howbeit, the Young Prince laydead upon his
bed ; and the wailingof his spouse, thePrincess
Undershining, re-echoed in the wind, and was heard
in Heaven. So the Young Princess father descended
with cries and lamentations,and there was built a

mourning house upon the Land of Reed Plains,

and the Young Prince was laid there.
And there came to mourn for him the wild
goose of the river,and the pheasant, and the king-
fisher.
And theymourned for him eightdaysand
eightnights.

152
 XIX

THE COLD LADY

Onc" old and a man left their village

an man young
in in order to make a journey into a
company,
distant province. Now, whether they went for
for
pleasure or for profit, matters of of love
money,
or because of some small or great vow that
or war,

they had laid upon

their souls, it is no longer
known. All these things were very long since

forgotten. It is enough to that it is likely

say
they accomplished their desires, for
they turned
their faces homewards about the setting-in of the
winter which is an evil time for wayfarers.
season,
Heaven knows.

Now as they journeyed, happened that they

it

missed their and, being in a lonely part of the

way,
they wandered all the day long and came
country,
upon no good soul to guide them. Near nightfall
found themselves the brink of broad
they upon a

and swift-flowing river. There was no bridge, no

ford, no ferry. Down came the night, with pitch-

black clouds and a little shrewd wind that blew

the dry and scanty reeds. Presently the snow came.

The flakes fell upon the dark water of the river.

153
 THE COLD LADY xix

"
How white, how white theyare ! " cried the
young man.

But the old man shivered. In truth it was

bitter cold, and they were in a bad case. Tired

out, the old man sat him down upon the ground ;
he drew his cloak round him and clasped his hands
about his knees. The young man blew upon his
fingers
to warm them. He went
up the bank a

and
little, at last he found a small poor hut,deserted
by a charcoal-burner or ferryman.
"
Bad it is at the best,"said the young man,
"
yet the gods be praised for any shelter on such a
night." So he carried his companion to the hut.
They had no food and no fire,but there was a

bundle of dried leaves in the corner. Here they

laydown and covered themselves with their straw

rain-coats ; and in spiteof the cold,they soon fell

asleep.
About midnightthe young man was awakened
by an icy air upon his cheek. The door of the
hut stood wide open, and he could see the whirling
snow-storm without. It was not very dark.
"
A
"
pest upon the wind ! said the young man.
"
It has
blown open the door,and the snow has drifted in
and covered my feet,"and he raised himself upon
his elbow. Then he saw that there was a woman

in the hut.
She knelt by the side of the old man, his panion,
com-

and bent low over him till their faces

almost met. White was her face and beautiful ;
white were her trailing
garments ; her hair was

white with the snow that had fallen upon it. Her
154
XIX THE COLD LADY

hands were stretched forth over the man that slept,

and brighticicles hung from her finger-tips. Her
breath was quite plainlyto be seen as it came
firom her partedlips. It was like a fair white
smoke. Presently she made an end of leaning
over the old man, and rose up very tall and
slender. Snow fell from her in a shower as she
moved.
"
That was easy,"she murmured, and came to

the young man, and sinkingdown beside him took

his hand in hers. If the young man was cold
before,he was colder now. He grew numb from
head to heel. It seemed to him as if his very
blood froze,and his heart was lump a of ice that
stood stillin his bosom. A deathlysleepstole over
him.
"
This is my death,'*he thought. "
Can this
be all ? Thank the
gods there is no pain." But
the Cold Lady spoke.
"
It is only a boy,"she said. A pretty boy," "

she said,stroking his hair ; I cannot kill him." ^^

"
Listen,"she said. The young man moaned.
"You must never speak of me, nor of this
night,"she said.mother, nor "
Not to father,nor
sister,nor brother,nor to betrothed maid, nor to
wedded wife,nor to boy child,nor to girlchild,
nor to sun, nor moon, nor water, fire,
wind, rain,
snow. Now swear it."
He swore it. "
Fire " ^wind " rain " snow . .
."
he murmured, and fell into a deep swoon.
When he came to himself it was high noon,
the warm sun shone. A kind countryman held
155
 THE COLD LADY xix

him in his arms and made him drink from a ing

steam-

cup.
"
Now, boy/*said the countryman, "
you should
do. By the mercy of the gods I came in time,
though what broughtme to this hut, a good three
ri out of my way, the August Gods alone know.
So you may thank them and your wondrous youth.
As for the good old man, your companion,it is a
different matter. He is past help. Already his
feet have come to the Partingof the Three Ways.'*
"
Alack ! *' cried the young man.
"
Alack, for
the snow and the storm, and the bitter night!
bitter,
My friend is dead."
But he said no more then,nor did he when a

day's broughthim
journey home to his own village.
For he remembered his oath. And the Cold Lady's
words were in his ear.
"
You must never speak of me, nor of this
night,not to father,nor
mother, nor sister,
nor

brother, nor to betrothed maid, nor to wedded

wife, nor to boy child,nor to girlchild,nor to

sun, nor moon, nor water, fire,wind, rain,snow. .*' . "

Some years after this, in the leafysummer time,

it chanced that the young man took his walks
abroad alone,and as he was returninghomewards,
about sundown, he was aware of a girlwalking in
the path a little way before him. It seemed as

though she had come some for

distance, her robe
was kilted up, she wore sandals tied to her feet,
and she carried a bundle. Moreover, she drooped
and went wearily. It was not strange that the
young man should presently
come up with her,nor
156
XIX THE COLD LADY

that he should pass the time of day. He saw at

once that the girlwas very young, fair,
and slender.
"
Young maiden," he said, whither
"
are you
''
bound ?
She answered, "Sir, I am bound for Yedo,
where I intend to take service. I have a sister
there who will find me a place.''
'*
"
What is your name ? he asked.
"
My name is OTuki."
"
O'Yuki,'*said the young man,
"
you look very
pale."
Alas ! sir,"she murmured, " I faint with the
*^

heat of this summer day." And as she stood in

the pathher slender body swayed,and she slid to
his feet in a swoon.

The
young man lifted her and
gently, carried
her in his arms to his mother's house. Her head
layupon his breast,
and as he looked upon her face,
he shivered slightly.
"
All the same," he said to himself," these
summer daysturn chillyabout sundown, or so it
seems to me."
When O'Yuki was recovered of her swoon, she
thanked young the man and his mother sweetly
for their kindness,and as she had little strength
to
continue her journey, she passedthe nightin their
house. In truth she passedmany nights there,
and the streets of Yedo never knew her, for the
young man grew to love her, and made her his
wife ere many moons were out. Dailyshe became
more beautiful " fairshe was, and white. Her little
hands, for all she used them for work in the house
157
 THE COLD LADY xix

and work in the fields,

were as white as jasmine
flowers ; the hot sun could not burn her neck,or her
paleand delicate cheek. In the fulness of time she
bore seven children,all as fair as she,and theygrew
up tall and strong with straight
noble limbs ; their
equalcould not be found upon that country-side.
Their mother loved them, reared them, laboured
for them. Inspiteof passingyears, in spiteof the
joys and painsof motherhood, she looked like a
slender maiden ; there line upon her fore-
came no head,
no dimness to her eyes, and no grey hairs.
All the women of the placemarvelled at these
things,and talked of them till they were tired.
But 0'Yuki*s husband was the happiest
man for
miles round, what with his fair wife and his fair
children. Morning and evening he prayed and
said, "
Let not the godsvisit it upon me if I have
too much joy."
On a certain eveningin winter,0*Yuki, having
put her children to bed and warmly covered them,

was with her husband in the next The

room.

charcoal glowed in the hibachi ; all the doors of the

house were closely shut, for it was bitter cold,and
outside the first big flakes of a snow-storm had
begun to fall. O'Yuki stitched diligently at little

bright-coloured garments. An andon stood on the

floor beside her, and its lightfell full upon her
face.
Her husband looked at her, musing. . . .

"
Dear," he said, when I look at you
"
to-night
I am reminded of an adventure that came to me

many years since."

158
 THE COLD LADY xix

folded her work togetherand laid it aside. Then

she went to where the children were, and bent her
face over each in turn.
The eldest murmured "
Cold . " .
Cold " .
.**
so she drew the quiltup over his shoulder.
*'
The youngest cried, Mother and threw
"
. . "

out his littlearms.

She said," I have grown too cold to weep any
more."
With that she came back to her husband.
"
Farewell,"she said. "
Even now I cannot kill

you for my little children's sakes. Guard them

well."
The man lifted up his eyes and saw her.
White was her face and beautiful ; white were her
trailing
garments ; her hair was white as it were

with snow that had fallen upon it. Her breath

wasquiteplainly to be seen as it came from her
partedlips. It was like a fair white smoke.
"
"
Farewell ! Farewell ! she cried,and her
voice grew thin and chill like a piercingwinter
wind. form grew
Her vague as a snow wreath or a

white vaporous cloud. For an instant it hung upon

the air. Then it rose slowlythrough the smoke-
hole in the and
ceiling was no more seen.

i6o
 XX

THE FIRE QUEST

The Wise Poet sat reading by the light of his

taper. It was a night of the seventh month. The

cicala in the flower of the pomegranate, the

sang
frog by the pond. The moon was out and all
sang
the stars, the air was heavy and sweet-scented.

But the Poet was not happy, for moths came by

the score to the light of his taper ; not moths only,
but cockchafers and dragon-flieswith their wings
rainbow-tinted. One and all they came the
upon
Fire Quest ; one and all they burned their bright
wings in the flame and so died. And the Poet was

grieved.
" Little harmless children of the night,'*he
said, "
why will
you still fly upon the Fire Quest ?
Never, never can you attain, yet you strive and die.
Foolish ones, have you never heard the story of the
''
Firefly Queen ?

The moths and the cockchafers and the dragon-

flies fluttered about the taper and paid him no

heed.
"
They have never heard it," said the Poet ;

yet it is old enough. Listen

"
:

l6l M
 THE FIRE QUEST xx

"The Firefly Queen was the brightest and

most beautiful of small things
that fly. She dwelt
in the heart of a
rosy lotus. The lotus grew on a
stilllake,and it swayed to and fro upon the lakers
bosom while the Firefly Queen sleptwithin. It
was like the reflectionof a in the water.
star
"
You must know, oh, little children of the
night,that the FireflyQueen had many suitors.
Moths and cockchafers and dragon-flies
able
innumer-
flew to the lotus on the lake. And their
hearts were filled with
love.
passionate *Have
pity,have pity,* they cried, Queen of the Fire-
flies, *

BrightLight of the Lake.' But the Firefly

Queen sat and smiled and shone. It seemed that
she was not sensible of the incense of love that arose

about her.
"
At last she said, Oh, you
*
lovers,one and
all,what make you here idly,
cumbering my lotus
house ? Prove your love,if you love me indeed.
Go, you lovers,and bring me and
fire, then I will
answer.'
"
Then, oh, little children of the night,there
was a swift whirr of wings,for the moths and the
cockchafers and the innumerable swiftly
dragon-flies
departedupon the Fire Quest. But the Firefly
Queen laughed. Afterwards I will tell the
you
reason of her laughter.
"
So the lovers flew here and there in the still
night,takingwith them their desire. They found
lightedlattices ajarand entered forthwith. In one
chamber there was a girlwho took a love-letter
from her pillowand read it in tears, by the lightof
162
XX THE FIRE QUEST
a taper. In another a woman satholdingthe light
close to a mirror, where she looked and painted
her face. A great white moth put out the
tremblingcandle-flame with his wings.
" *
Alack ! I am afraid/shrieked the woman ;
'
'
the horrible dark !
"
In another
placethere laya man dying. He
said, For pity'ssake lightme the lamp, for the
*

black nightfalls.'
We have lighted
" '
it,'theysaid, long since. '

It is close beside you, and a legionof moths and

dragon-fliesflutter about it.'
I cannot
*'
see anythingat all,'murmured
*
the
man.
"
But those that flew on the Fire
Quest burnt
their frail wings in the fire. In the morning they
lay dead by the hundred and were swept away and
forgotten.
The Firefly
"
Queen was safe in her lotus bower
with her beloved,who was as brightas she, for he

was a great lord of the Fireflies. No need had he

to go upon the Fire
Quest. He carried the living
flame beneath his wings.
Thus "
the FireflyQueen deceived her lovers,
and therefore she laughedwhen she sent them from
her on a vain adventure."

"
Be not deceived," cried the Wise Poet, oh, "

little children of the night. The Firefly

Queen
is alwaysthe same. Give over the Fire Quest."
But the moths and the cockchafers and the
dragon-flies
paid no heed to the words of the Wise
163
 THE FIRE QUEST xx

Poet. Still they fluttered about his taper, and

they burnt their brightwings in the flame and so

died.
Presentlythe Poet blew out the light. "I
must needs sit in the dark," he said ; "
it is the
only way."

164
A Legend of Kwannoii." /^. W5.
 A LEGEND OF KWANNON xxi

the he
Scriptures had by heart. When he was on

a pilgrimagehe came to Ama-no-Hashidate, and

he offered up thanks because the place was so

lovelyin his eyes.

He said,"The blind and ignoranthave it
that trees and rocks and the green sea-water are

not things,but the wise know that they

sentient
also sing aloud and praisethe Tathagata. Here
will I take up my rest, and join my voice with
theirs,and will not see my home again."
So Saion Zenji, the holyman, climbed Nariai-
San, the mountain over against Ama-no-Hashidate.
And when he had come to the placeof the Lone
Pine, he built him a shrine to Kwannon the
Merciful,and a hut to cover his own head.
All day he chanted the Holy Sutras. From
dawn to eventide he sang, till his very beingwas
exalted and seemed to float in an ecstasyof praise.
Then his voice grew so loud and clear that it was
a marvel. The blue campanula of the mountain
in reverence bowed its head ; the great white lily
distilled incense from deep heart; the cicala
its
shrilled aloud ; the Forsaken Bird gave a long note
from the thicket. About the hermit^s hut there
fluttered and
dragon-flies butterflies innumerable,
which are the souls of the
happy dead. In the far
valleys the peasant peoplewere comforted in their
toil,whether they plantedout the green young
rice,or gatheredin the ears. The sun and the
wind were tempered,and the rain fell softlyupon
their faces. Ever and again they climbed the
steep hillside to kneel at the shrine of Kwannon
i66
XXI A LEGEND OF KWANNON

the Merciful, and to speak with the holy man7

whose wooden theywould fillwith rice or
bowl
millet,or barley-meal or beans. Sometimes he
came down and went through the villages,
where
he soothed the sick and touched the littlechildren.
Folks said that his very garments shone.
Now in that country there came a winter
season the like of which there had not been within
the memory of man. First came the wind blow7
ing wildly from the north, and then came the
snow in great flakes which never ceased to fallfor
the period of nine days. All the folk of the
valleyskept within doors as warm as might be,
and those that had their winter stores fared none

so ill. But, ah me, for the bitter cold upon the

heightsof Nariai-San ! At the Lone Pine, and
about the hermit*s hut, the snow was piledand
drifted. The shrine of Kwannon the Merciful
could no more be seen. Saion Zenji,the holy
man, lived for some time upon the food that was
in his wooden bowl. Then he drew about him
the warm garment of thought,and passedmany
daysin meditation,which was meat and drink and
sleepto him. Howbeit, even his clear could
spirit
not utterlydispelthe clouds of illusion. At length
it came to earth and all the man trembled with
bodilyweakness.
Forgiveme, O Kwannon
"
the Merciful,"said
Saion Zenji; but verily
it seems "
to me that if I
have no food I die."
Slowlyhe rose, and he pushed
painfully open
the door of his hut. The snow had ceased ; it
167
 A LEGEND OF KWANNON xxi

was clear and cold. White were the branches

of the Lone Pine, and all white the Floating
Bridge.
Forgiveme,
"
O Kwannon the Merciful," said
Saion Zenji; I "
know not the reason, but I am
loath to departand be with the Shades of Yomi.
Save me O Kwannon
life, this the Merciful."
Turning, he beheld a dappledhind lying on
the snow, newly dead of the cold. He bowed his
head. Poor "
gentlecreature,"he said, never "

more shalt thou run and nibble the

in the hills,

grass and the sweet flowers." And he stroked the

hind's soft flank,sorrowing.
"
Poor deer, I would not eat thy flesh. Is it
not forbidden by the Law of the Blessed One ? Is
it not forbidden by the word of Kwannon the
"
Merciful ? Thus he mused. But even as he
mused he seemed to hear a voice that spoke to
him, and the voice said :
"
if thou
Alas, Saion Zenji, die of hunger and
cold, what shall become of my people,the poor
folk of the valleys? Shall theynot
be comforted

any more by the Sutras of the Tathagata? Break

the law to keep the law, beloved, thou that
countest the world well lost for a divine song."
Then presently Saion Zenjitook a knife,and
cut him a piece of flesh from the side of the
dappledhind. And he gatheredfir cones and
made a littlefireand cooked the deer's flesh in an

iron pot. When it was readyhe ate half of it.

And his strengthcame to him again,and he
opened his lipsand sang praises to the Tathagata,
i68
XXI A LEGEND OF KWANNON

and the very embers of the dying fire leaptup in

flame to hear him.
"Howbeit I must bury the poor deer," said
Saion Zenji. So he went to the door of his hut.
But look where he might no deer nor dappled
hind did he sec, nor yet the mark of one in the
deepsnow.
"
It is passing he
strange," said,and wondered.
As soon might be,
as up came the poor folk
from the valleyto see how their hermit had fared
throughthe snow and the stormy weather. "
The
gods send he be not dead of cold or hunger,"
they said one to another. But they found him
chantingin his hut, and he told them how he
had eaten of the flesh of a dappledhind and was

satisfied.
"
I cut but a hand's breadth of the meat," he
said, and half of it is yet in the iron pot."
"

But when they came to look in the pot, they

found there no flesh of deer,but a piece of cedar
wood gilded upon the one side. Marvelling
theycarried
greatly, it to the shrine of Kwannon
the Merciful,and when theyhad cleared away the
deep snow, all of them went in to worship. There
smiled the image of
heavenlylady, the sweet

golden among her golden flowers. In her right

side there was a gash where the gildedwood was

cut away. Then the poor folk from the valley

reverently brought that which theyhad found in
the hermit's pot, and set it in the gash. And
immediatelythe wound was healed and the smooth
goldshone over the place. All the peoplefell on
169
 A LEGEND OF KWANNON xxi

their faces, but the hermit stood singingthe high

praise of Kwannon the Merciful.
The sun set in glory. The valleyfolk crept
from
softly the shrine and went down to their
own homes. The cold moon and the stars shone

upon the Lone Pine and the FloatingBridge and

the sea. Through a rent in the shrine^s roof they
illumined the face of Kwannon the Merciful,and
made visible her manifold arms of love. Yet
Saion Zenji,her servant, stood before her singing
in an ecstasy,with tears upon his face :

O strongand beautiful^
wonder-womariy
"

Tender-hearted^ and thousand-armed!

pitiful^
Thou hast fed me with thine ownjlesh "

Mysteryofmysteries
!
Poor dead dappled hind thou cam'st to me ;
In the deepofmine own heart thou spoketo me
To keep^yet breaksand breakings keepthylaw "

Mysteryofmysteries !
Kwannon^ the Merciful Lady^staywith me^
Save me from the perils ofillusion;
Let me not be afraid ofthe snow or the Lone Fine.
Mysteryofmysteries "

Thou hast refused Nirvana^

Help me that I may losethe worldscontent y

And singthe Divine Song.''

170
 THE RATS DAUGHTER xxii

young green shoots,and in gatherinto his

autumn

storerooms of the
supplies ripenedgrainsufficient
for all his wants duringthe coming winter.
For his needs were not great. Entertainment
cost him but and, unlike his fellows,he had
little,
the smallest in fact a family
of families, of one only.
But, regardsthat one, qualitymore
as than
compensated for quantity, for it consisted of a
daughter,of a beautyunsurpassedin the whole
province. He himself had been the object of envy
for he had had the good fortune
in his married life,
to marry into a familyof a very select piebald
breed,which seldom condescended to mix its blood
with the ordinaryself-coloured tribe,and now his
daughterhad been born a peerless white, and had
received the name of Yuki, owing to her resem-
blance

to pure snow.

It is little wonder, then, that as she grew up

beautiful in form and her father^sambitions
feature,
were fired,and that he aspired
to marry her to the
highestin the land.
As it happened, the hamlet where he lived was
not very far removed from a celebrated temple,
and Mr. Rat, havingbeen broughtup in the odour
of had all his life long been accustomed
sanctity, to

make pilgrimages to the great shrine. There he

had formed the acquaintance of an old priest, who
was good enough to providefor him out of the
templeofferings in return for gossip as to the doings

of his village,which happenedto be that in which

the priest had been born and bred. To him the
rat had often unburdened his mind, and the old
172
 XXII THE RATS DAUGHTER

had
priest come self-importance
to see his friend*s
and his littleweaknesses,and had in vain impressed

upon him the virtues of humility.

Now Mr. Rat could find no one amongst his
village
companionsto inform him where to attain
what had now become an insatiable desire,
namely,
a fine
marriagefor his daughter. So he turned
to the templecustodian for advice, and one summer

morn found him hammering on the gong which

summoned his friend the priest.
"
Welcome, Mr. Rat ; to what am I indebted
'*
for your visit ? said the old priest,for experience
had shown him that his friend seldom came so far
afield unless he had some request to make.
Thereupon Mr. Rat unburdened himself of all
that in his mind, of his aspiration,
was and of the
he had in ascertaining
difficulty in what manner he
could obtain it.
Nor did the immediately
priest satisfy
him, for
he said the matter difficultone, and would
was a

requiremuch consideration. However, on the

third day the oracle gave answer as follows :
**
There is no doubt that apart from the gods there
is no powerful,
one so or who exercises so beneficent
a rule over us, as His Majestythe Sun. Had I a
daughter, and did I aspire to such heightsfor her
as you do, I should make my suit to him, and I
should take the opportunity of so doingwhen he
comes down to our earth at sundown, for then it is
that he decks himself in his most gorgeous apparel;
moreover, he is more readily
approachedwhen his
day'swork is done, and he is about to take his
173
 THE RAT'S DAUGHTER xxii

well-earned rest. Were I you I would lose no

time, but myselfin company with your

present
honourable wife and daughterto him this very
evening at the end of the great Cryptomeria
Avenue at the hour when he especially
honours it
by flooding it with his beams."
"A thousand thanks/' said Mr. Rat. "No
time is to be lost if I am to get my folk together
at the time and placeyou mention."
"
Good fortune to you,"said the priest
;
"
may
I hail you the next time I see you as father-in-law
to His Majestythe Sun."

At the appointedhour parents and daughter

were to be seen in the avenue, robed in their finest
clothes ; and as the sun came earthwards and his

rays illumined the

the great pines,
gloom under
Mr. Rat, noway abashed, addressed His Majesty
and at oncp informed him of his desire.
HisMajesty,evidently consideringthat one
business personage addressing another should not
waste time in beatingabout the bush, repliedas
follows : I am extremelybeholden to you for
**

your kind intention of allowingme to wed your

honourable and beautiful daughter,O Yuki San,
but may I ask your reason for selecting me to be

your honourable son-in-law ?"

To replied,We have determined
this Mr. Rat **

to marry our daughter to whoever is the most

powerfulpersonage in the world, and that is why
we desire to oiFer her to you in marriage."
Yes," said His Majesty, you are certainly
" "

not without reason in imagining me to be the

.
174
XXII THE RAT'S DAUGHTER

most august and

powerful person in the world ; but,
unfortunately, it has been my misfortune to discover
that there is one other even more powerfulthan
myself, againstwhose plottings I have no power.
It is to him that you should very certainly marry
your daughter."
"And may we honourably ask you who that
potentatemay be ? " said Mr. Rat.
"
rejoinedthe
Certainly,** Sun. "
It is the
Cloud. Oftentimes when I have set myselfto
illumine the world he comes across my path and
covers my face so that my subjects
may not see me,
and so long as he does this I am altogether in his

power. If, therefore,it is the most powerful

personage in the world whom you seek for your
daughter,the honourable O Yuki San, you must

bestow her on no one else than the Cloud.*'

It requiredlittle consideration for both father
and mother to see of the Sun's advice,
the wisdom
and upon his suggestion
they determined to wait
on the Cloud the very earliest opportunity,
at and
at an hour before he rose from his bed, which he
usuallymade on the slopesof a mountain some
leaguesremoved from their village.So theyset
out, and a longjourney theyhad, so long that Mr.
Rat decided that if he was to present his daughter
when she was lookingher best,the journeymust
not be hurried. Consequently, instead of arriving
at earlydawn, it was full afternoon when they
neared the summit where the Cloud was apparently
wrappedin slumber. But he roused himself as he
saw the family and bade them welcome
approaching,
175
 THE RATS DAUGHTER xxii

in so urbane a manner that the Rat at once ceeded

pro-
to layhis requestbefore him.
To this the Cloud answered, "I am indeed
honoured by your condescension
proposingthat in
I should marry your beauteous daughter, O Yuki
San. It is quitetrue, as His August Majestythe
Sun says, that when I so desire I have the strength
to stay him from exercising his power upon his
subjects,and I should much esteem the privilege
of wedding your daughter. But as you would
singleout for that honour the most powerful person
in the world, you must seek out His Majestvthe
Wind, againstwhom I have no strength,for as
soon he competes with me
as for supremacy I must

fain flyaway to the ends of the earth."

" You me,"
surprise said the Rat, "
but I take
your word for it. I would, therefore,
ask you
whether His Majestythe Wind will be this way
and
shortly, where I may best meet him."
"
I am afraid I cannot tell you at the moment

when he is likelyto be this way. He usually

announces his coming by harryingsome of my
who
subjects act as my outposts, but, as you see,
theyare now all restingquietly. His Majestyis
atthis moment, I believe,holdinga court far out
in the Eastern Seas. Were I you I would go
down to the seashore and await his coming. He
is often somewhat inclined to be short-tempered
by
the time he gets up into these mountainous parts,
owing to the obstructions he has met with on his
journey, and he will have had few of these vexatious

annoyances duringhis ride over the sea."

176
XXII THE RAT'S DAUGHTER

Now, althoughfrom the of

slopes the mountain
the sea looked not very far distant,
it was in reality
a longway for a young ladysuch
delicately-nurtured
as Yuki, and every mile of the journeythat she
had to traverse increased her querulousness.Her
father had often boasted of the journeysthat he
had taken down to the coast, free of cost, concealed
in a truck-load of rice,and she would take no

excuses that there was no railwayto the pointat

which they were to await His Highnessthe Wind,
althoughhad there been it would never have done
for a party engaged on such an embassyto ride in
a railway truck. Nor was her humour improved
by the time theyhad to wait in the very second-
rate accommodation afforded by a fishing
hamlet,as
none of them were accustomed to a fish fare. But
after many days there were signsthat the great
personage was arriving, and they watched with
some trepidation his passage over the sea, although
when, in due time, he neared the shore theycould
hardlycredit the Cloud^s assurance as to his strength,

for he seemed the personification of all that was

gentle; and Madame Rat at once interposed the
remark that you should never judge a person^s
character by what you hear, and that the Cloud
evidently owed the Wind a grudge.

So the Rat at once unburdened himself to the

Wind as it came over the water towards him,
making its face ripple with smiles. And the Wind
itselfwas in the fairestgood humour and addressed
the Rat as follows :
"
Mr. Cloud and
is a flatterer,
knows fullwell that I have no power againsthim
177 N
 THE RAT'S DAUGHTER xxii

when he really
comes up againstme in one of his
thunderous moods. To call me the most powerful
person in the world is nonsense. Where do you
come from ? Why, in that very villagethere is
one stronger than me, namely, thehigh wall that
fences in the house of your good neighbour. If
your daughtermust fain marry the strongestthing
in the world, wed her to the wall. You will find
him a very stalwart spouse. I wish you good day.
I am sorry I cannot oflFeryou a in my chariot,
seat
but I am not going in the direction of that wall
to-day,else I should have had much pleasurein
introducing your honourable self to my powerful
antagonist."
By this time the party was gettingmuch dis-
heartened,
and the journeyand the
stress of the
chagrinof so many disappointments were beginning
to tell on O Yuki San's beauty. But Mr. Rat said
there was nothing for it but to return home ; he
knew the wall in question very well, but had no
idea it stood so high in the world's estimation he "

had alwaysthoughtof it as somewhat of a dullard.

So theytrudgedhomewards, and it was weary
work, for the Cloud had hidden the Sun, and the
Wind had fretted the Cloud, who showed his ill-
humour by discharging a surplusage of moisture he
had in his pocket,and theyapproached their home
wet through,bedraggledand worn out. As luck
would have it,justas they gainedthe wall which
the wind had singled out for its power, a heavier
downpour than ever came on and they were glad
to take shelter under the lee of the wall. Now
178
 XXIII

THE LAND OF YOMI

From the glorious clouds of High Heaven, from

the divine ether, the vital essence, and the great
concourse of eternal deities, there issued forth the

heavenly pair " Izanagi, His Augustncss, the Lord

of Invitation, and with him, Izanami, Her August-

ness, Lady of Invitation.
the

Together they stood upon the Floating Bridge

of High Heaven, and they looked down to where
the mists swirled in confusion beneath their feet.
For to them had been given power
arid ment
command-

to make, consolidate and give birth to the

driftinglands. And to this end the august powers

had granted them a heavenly jewelled spear.
And

the two deities, standing upon the Floating Bridge

of Heaven, lowered the jewelled spear head-first
into chaos, so that the mists were divided. And, as

they waited, the brine dripped from the jewels

the spear-head, and there was formed an
upon
island. This is the island of Onogoro.

And His Augustness, the Lord of Invitation,

took by the hand Her Augustness, the Lady of
Invitation, his lovely Younger Sister, and together
1 80
xxiii THE LAND OF YOMI

they descended to the island that was created.

And they made the islands of Japan; the land of
lyo,which is called Lovely Princess ; the land of
Toyo, which is called Luxuriant Sun Youth ; the
land of Sanuki,which is called Good Prince Boiled
Rice ; and Great Yamato, the Luxuriant Island of
the Dragon Fly ; and many more, of which to tell
were weariness.
Furthermore, theygave birth to many myriads
of deities to rule over the earth,and the air,and
the deep sea ; and for every season there were

and every placewas

deities, sacred,for the deities
were like the needles of the pine trees in number.
Now, when the time came for the Fire God,
Kagu-Tsuchi,to be born, his mother, the Lady
Izanami, was burned, and suffered a change ; and
she laid herself upon the ground. Then Izanagi,
the Prince who asked, " What
Invites, is it that
'*
has come to thee, my lovelyYounger Sister ?
And she answered, weeping, "The time of

my draws
departure near ...
I go to the land
ofYomi.^'
And His Augustness Izanagiwept aloud,
droppinghis tears upon her feet and upon her
pillow. And all his tears fell down and became
deities. the Lady Izanami
Nevertheless, departed.
Then His the
Augustness, Prince who Invites,
was wroth, and lifted his face to High Heaven,
and cried, O Thine"
Augustness,my lovely
Younger Sister,that I should have given thee in
exchangefor this singlechild !"
And, drawingthe ten-grasp sword that was

i8i
 THE LAND OF YOMI xxiii

girdedupon him, he slew the Fire God, his child ;

and bindingup his long hair,he followed the Lady
Izanami to the entrance of Yomi, the world of the
dead. And she, the Princess who Invites,
ing
appear-
as lovelyas she was when alive,
came forth to

greet him. And she lifted up the curtain of the

Palace of Hades that
theymight speaktogether.
And the Lord Izanagisaid, I weary for thee, "

my lovelyYounger Sister, and the lands that thou

and I created togetherare not finished making.
Therefore come back."
Then the Lady made answer, saying, My "

sweet lord,and my spouse, it is very lamentable

that thou camest not sooner unto me, for I have
eaten of the baked meats of Yomi. Nevertheless,
as thou hast
dearly honoured me in thy coming
here.Thine Augustness, my lovelyElder Brother,
if it may be, I will return with thee. I go to lay

my desire before the Gods of Yomi. Wait thou

here until I come again,and, if thou love me,
seek look upon me
not to till the time." And so

she spokeand left him.

upon a stone at the entrance

Izanagisat of the
Palace of Hades until the sun set, and he was
weary of that valley of gloom. And because she
tarried long,he arose and plucked a comb from
the left tress of his hair,and broke off a tooth from
one end of the comb, and lighting
it to be a torch,
he drew back the curtain of the Palace of Yomi.
But he saw his beloved lying in corruption,and
round about her were the eight deities of
Thunder. They are the Fire Thunder, and the
182
xxiii THE LAND OF YOMI

Black Thunder, and theCleavingThunder, and

the Earth Thunder, and the Roaring Thunder,
and the Couchant Thunder, and the Young
Thunder. And by her terrible head was the
Great Thunder.
And Izanagi,being overawed, turned to flee
away, but Izanami arose and cried, "Thou hast
put me to shame, for thou hast seen my defilement.
Now I will see thine also."
And she called to her the Hideous Females of
Yomi, and bade them take and slayHis Augustness,
the Lord who Invites. But he for his life,
ran in
thegloom stumblingupon the rocks of the valley
of Yomi. And tearingthe vine wreath from his
long hair he flungit behind him, and it fell to the
groundand became many bunches of grapes, which
the Hideous Females stayedto devour. And he
fled on. But the Females of Yomi still pursued
him ; so then he took a multitudinous and close-
toothed comb from the righttresses of his long
hair,and cast it behind him. When it touched
the ground it became a groove of bamboo shoots,
and again the females stayedto devour ; and
Izanagifled on, panting.
But, in her wrath and despair, his Younger
Sister sent after him the Eight Thunders, together
with a thousand and five hundred warriors of
Hades ; yet he, the Prince of Invitation,
drew the
ten-grasp sword that
augustlygirded upon
was

him, and it behind him gained at last

brandishing
the base of the Even Pass of Hades, the black
mouth of Yomi. And he plucked there three
183
 THE LAND OF YOMI xxiii

peachesthat upon a tree, and smote

grew his
enemies that they all fled back ; and the peaches
were called Their Augustnesses, Great Divine
Fruit.
Then, last of all,his Younger Sister,the
Princess who Invites,herself came out to
pursue.
So Izanagitook a rock which could not have been
lifted by a thousand men, and placed it between
them in the Even Pass of Hades. And standing
behind the rock,he pronounceda leave-taking and
words of separation. But, from the farther side of
the rock, Izanami called to him, "My lovely
Elder Brother, Thine Augustness, of small avail
shall be thy making of lands,and thy creatingof
deities, for I, with my powers, shall strangle every
day a thousand of thypeople.**
So she cried, taunting him.
But he answered her, "My lovelyYounger
Sister,Thine Augustness, if thou dost so, I shall
cause, in one day, fifteen hundred to be born.
Farewell."
So Her Augustness, the Lady who Invites,is
called the Queen of the Dead.
But the great lord.His Highness,the Prince
who Invites, departed, crying, Horror ! Horror !
"

Horror ! I have come to a hideous and polluted

land.'* And he lay still by the river-side,

until
such time as he should recover to perform
strength
purification.

184
 XXIV

THE SPRING LOVER AND THE

AUTUMN LOVER

This is a story of the youth of Yamato, when the

gods still walked upon

the Land of the Reed Plains

and took pleasure in the fresh and waving rice-ears

of the country-side.
There was a lady having in her something of
earth and something of heaven. She was a king's
daughter. She was augustly radiant and renowned.
She was called the Dear Delight of the World, the

Greatly Desired, the Fairest of the Fair. She was

slender and strong, at once mysterious and gay,

fickle yet faithful, gentle yet hard to please. The

gods loved her, but men worshipped her.

The coming of the Dear Delight was on this
wise. Prince Ama Boko had a red jewel of one
of his enemies. The jewel was a peace-oifering.
Prince Ama Boko set it in a casket a stand.
upon
He said, "
This is a jewel of price.** Then the

jewel was transformed into an exceeding fair lady.

Her name was the Lady of the Red Jewel, and
Prince Ama Boko took her to wife. There was

185
 SPRING AND AUTUMN LOVER xxiv

born to them one only daughter,who was the

GreatlyDesired,the Fairest of the Fair.
It is true that eightymen of name came to
seek her hand. Princes theywere, and warriors,
and deities. They came from near and theycame
from far. Across the Sea Path theycame in great
ships, white sails or creakingoars, with brave and
lustysailors. Through the forestsdark and danger-
ous
they made their way to the Princess,the
Greatly Desired ; or lightly, lightly theydescended
by way of the FloatingBridge in garments of
glamour and silver-shod. They broughttheir gifts
with them gold,fair jewelsupon a string,
"

light
garments of feathers,singingbirds,sweet thingsto
eat, silk cocoons, oranges in a basket. They brought
minstrels and singers and dancers and tellersof tales
to entertain the Princess,
the Greatly Desired.
As for the Princess,she sat still in her white
bower with her maidens about
Passingrich her.
was her robe,and ever and anon her maidens spread
it afresh over the mats, set out her deep sleeves, or

combed her long hair with a goldencomb.

Round about the bower was a galleryof white
wood, and here the suitors came and knelt in the

presence of their liegelady.

Many and
many a time the carp leaptin the
gardenfish-pond. Many and many a time a scarlet
pomegranate flower flutteredand droppedfrom the
tree. Many and many a time the ladyshook her
head and a his way, sad and sorry.
lover went
Now it happened that the God of Autumn
went to try his fortune with the Princess. He
i86
 SPRING AND AUTUMN LOVER xxiv

"Well, brother,"said the God of Spring, "

I
take the wager. You'll have your saki like enough
indeed."
"And so I think," said the God of Autumn,
and went his ways.
Then the young God of Springwent to his

mother, who loved him.

"
"
Do you love me, my mother ? he said.
She answered, "More than a hundred
existences."
Mother," he said, get me for my wife the
" "

the Fairest of the Fair. She is called the

Princess,
GreatlyDesired ; greatly, do I desire
oh, greatly,
her."
"
You love her,my son ?" said his mother.
*'
More than a hundred he said.
existences,"
lie down, my
Then son, my best beloved,lie
"

down and sleep, and I will work for you."

So she spreada couch for him, and when he
was asleepshe looked on him.
"Your face,"she said,"is the sweetest thing
in the world."
There was sleepfor her the live-long
no night,
but she went swiftlyto a place she knew of,where
the wistaria droopedover a stillpool. She plucked
her sprays and tendrils and broughthome as much

as she could carry. The wistaria was white and

purple,and you must know it was not yet in
flower,but hidden in the unopenedbud. From it
she wove magicallya robe. She fashioned sandals
also,and a bow and arrows.

In the morning she waked the God of Spring.

i88
XXIV SPRING AND AUTUMN LOVER

"
Come, my son," she said,"let me put this
robe on you."
The God of
Springrubbed his eyes. " A sober
suit for courting,"he said. But he did as his
mother bade him. And he bound the sandals on

hisfeet,and slungthe bow and the arrows in their

quiveron his back.
"
Will all be well,my mother ? he said.
"

"All will be well, beloved," she answered

him.
So the God of Springcame before the Fairest
of the Fair. And one of her maidens laughedand
said :
"
See, mistress,there comes to woo you to-day
onlya little plainboy,all in sober grey."
But the Fairest of the Fair lifted up her eyes
and looked upon the God of Spring. And in the
same moment the wistaria with which he was

clothed burst into flower. He was sweet-scented,

white and purplefrom head to heel.
The Princess rose from the white mats.
"
Lord," she said, "
I am yours if you will
have me."
Hand in hand they went togetherto the
mother of the God of Spring.
"
Ah, my mother," he said, "
what shall I do
now ? My brother the God of Autumn is angry
with me. He will not give me the saki I have
won from him in a wager. Great is his rage.
He will seek to take our lives." ,

"
Be beloved," said his mother,
still, "
and fear
not."
189
 SPRING AND AUTUMN LOVER xxiv

She took a cane of hollow bamboo, and in the

hollowshe put salt and stones ; and when she had
wrapped the cane round with she hung it in
leaves,
the smoke of the fire. She said :

The green leaves fade and die. So you

"
must

do, my eldest bom, the God of Autumn. The

stone sinks in the sea, so you sink.
must You must

sink,you must like the ebb tide."

fail,
Now the tale is told,and all the world knows
why Spring is fresh and merry and young, and
Autumn the saddest thingthat is.

190
 XXV

THE STRANGE STORY OF THE

GOLDEN COMB

In ancient days two samurai dwelt in Sendai of the

North. They were friends and brothers in arms.

Hasunuma one was named, and the other Saito.

Now it happened that a daughter was born to the
house of Hasunuma, and upon the selfsame day,
and in the selfsame hour, there was born to the
house of Saito a son. The boy child they called

Konojo, and the girl they called Aiko, which means

the Child of Love.

Or ever a had passed over their innocent

year
heads the children were betrothed to one another.
And as a token the wife of Saito
gave a golden
comb to the wife of Hasunuma, saying : For the "

child^s hair when she shall be old enough." Aiko's

mother wrapped the comb in a handkerchief, and
laid it in her chest. It was of gold lacquer,
away
fine work, adorned with golden dragon-flies.
very
This was well but before long misfortune
very ;

came upon Saito and his house, for, by sad mischance,

he aroused the ire of his feudal lord, and he was

191
 STORY OF THE GOLDEN COMB xxv

fain to flyfrom Sendai and

by night, his wife was

with him, and the child. No man knew where

theywent, or had any news of them, nor of how
they fared,and for long,long years Hasunuma
heard not one word of them.
The child Aiko grew to be the loveliest ladyin
Sendai. She had longerhair than any maiden in
the and
city, she was the most dancer
graceful ever

seen. She moved as a wave of the sea, or a cloud

of the sky,or the wild bamboo grass in the wind.
She had a sister eleven moons younger than she,
who was called Aiyame, or the Water Iris ; and
she was the second loveliest ladyin Sendai. Aiko
was white, butAiyam6 was brown, quick,and
and
light, laughing. When theywent abroad in
the streets of Sendai, folk said,"There go the
moon and the south wind."
Upon an idle
day when all the air was
summer

and
languid, the cicala sang ceaselesslyas he swung

on the pomegranate bough, the maidens rested on

the cool white mats of their ladymother^s bower.
Their dark locks were loose,and their slender feet
were bare. They had between them an ancient
chest of red lacquer,
a Bride Box of their lady
mother's, and in the chest they searched and
rummaged for treasure.
"
said Aiyam6,
See, sister," "
here are scarlet
thongs,the very thing for my sandals . . .
and
what is this ? A rosary, I
crystal declare ! How
"
beautiful !
Aiko said, My "
mother, I pray you giveme
this lengthof violet silk,it will make me very fine
192
 STORY OF THE GOLDEN COMB xxv

and
silence, drew the scarlet sandal thongsthrough
and through her fingers.
"
Mother, what of this golden comb ?" said
Aiko at last.
"
My sweet, it is the love-token between you
and Konojo, the son of Saito, for you two were

betrothed in your cradles. But now it is full

fifteenyears since Saito went from Sendai in the
night,he and all his house, and left no trace
behind."
"
Is my love dead ? " said Aiko.
"Nay, that I know not " but he will never

come I beseech you, think no more

; so, of him, my
pretty bird. There, get you your fan,and dance
for me and for your sister."
Aiko first set the goldencomb in her hair.
Then she flungopen her fan to dance. She moved
like a wave of the sea, or a cloud of the sky,or the
wild bamboo grass in the wind. She had not danced
long before she droppedthe fan,with a long cry,
and she herself fell her length upon the ground.
From that hour she was in a piteousway, and lay
in her bed sighing,like a maid lovelorn and forsaken.
She could not eat nor sleep; she had no pleasure
in life. The sunrise and the sound of rain at night
were nothingto her any more. her father,
Not
nor her mother, nor her the Lady of the
sister,
South Wind, were able to giveher any ease.

she
Presently turned her face to the wall. "
It
is more than I can understand,"she said,and so

died.
When they had prepared
the poor young maid
194
XXV STORY OF THE GOLDEN COMB

for her grave, her mother came, crying,to look at

her for the last time. And she set the golden
comb in the maid's hair,saying:
"
My own dear littlechild,I pray that in other
lives you may know happiness.Therefore take
your goldentoken with you ; you will have need
of it when you meet the wraith of your lover."
For she believed that Konojo was dead.
But, alas,for Karma that is so pitiless,
one short
moon had the maid been in her grave when the
brave young man, her betrothed,came to claim her
at her father's house.
"
Alas and of Saito,alas,
alack,Konojo,the son

my brave young man, too late you have come !

Your joy is turned to mourning,for your bride lies
under the green grass, and her sister goes weeping
in the moonlightto pour the
water of the dead.*'
Thus spoke Hasunuma the samurai.
"
Lord," said the brave young man, there are "

three ways left, the sword, the strong girdle,and

the river. These are the short roads to Yomi.
Farewell."
held the young man
But Hasunuma by the arm.
"
Nay, then, thou son of Saito,"he said," but hear
the fourth way, which is far better. The road to
Yomi is short,but it is very dark ; moreover, from
the confines of that country few return. Therefore
stay with me, Konojo,and comfort me in my old

age, for I have no sons."

So Konojo entered the household of Hasunuma
the samurai^and dwelt in the gardenhouse by the
gate.
195
 STORY OF THE GOLDEN COMB xxv

Now in the third month Hasunuma and his

wife and the daughterthat was left them arose

earlyand dressed them in garments of ceremony,

and presentlywere borne away in kago^for to the
temple they were bound, and to their ancestral
tombs, where theyoffered prayers and incense the
live-long day.
It was brightstarlight when theyreturned, and
cold the nightwas, stilland frosty.Konojo stood
and waited at the garden gate. He waited for
their home-coming, as was meet. He drew his
cloak about him and gave ear to the noises of the
evening. He heard the sound of the blind man's
whistle,and the blind man's staffupon the stones.
Far off he heard a child laugh twice ; then he
heard men singingin chorus, as men who sing to
cheer themselves in their labour,and in the pauses
of song he heard the creak,creak of swingingkago
that the men bore upon their shoulders,and he
said, They come.'*
"

"
I go to the house ofthe Beloved^
Her plum tree stands by the eaves ;
It isfullofblossom.
The dew liesin the heart
of the flowers^
So theyare the drinking-cups
ofthe sparrows.
How do you go to your love's house ?
Even upon the wingsofthe night wind.
Which road leads to your love's house ?
All the roads in the world.*^

This was the song of the kagomen. First the

196
XXV STORY OF THE GOLDEN COMB

kago of Hasunuma the samurai turned in at the

garden gate, then followed his lady; last came
Aiyame of the South Wind. Upon the roof of
her kagothere laya blossomingbough.
Rest well, lady,"
"
said Konojo,as she passed,
and had no answer back. Howbeit it seemed that
some lightthing droppedfrom kago^and fell the
with a little noise to the ground. He stooped
and picked up a woman's comb. It was of gold
lacquer,very fine work, adorned with golden
dragon-flies.Smooth and warm it layin the hand
of Konojo. And he went his way to the garden
house. At the hour young of the
samurai rat the
threw down his book of verse, laid himself upon his
bed, and blew out his light. And the selfsame
moment he heard a wanderingstep without.
"
And maywhoit be that visits the garden
"
house by night? said Konojo,and he wondered.
About and about went the wanderingfeet till at
and
lengththey stayed, the door was touched with
an uncertain hand.
"
"
Konojo ! Konojo !
'*
"
What is it ? said the samurai.
**
Open, open ; I am afraid.*'
*'
** Who are you, and why are you afraid ?
" I am afraid of the night. I am the daughter
of Hasunuma the samurai. Open to me for . . .

the love of the gods."

Konojo undid the latch and slid back the door
of the gardenhouse to find a slender and drooping
lady upon the threshold. He could not see her
face,for she held her long sleeve so as to hide it
197
 STORY OF THE GOLDEN COMB xxv

from him ; but she swayedand trembled,and her

frailshoulders shook with sobbing.
"Let me in," .she moaned, and forthwith
entered the gardenhouse.
Half smiling and much perplexed,Konojo
asked her :
"
Are you Aiyam6,whom theycall the Lady
ofthe South Wind?"
"
I am she."
"
Lady,you do me much honour."
"
"
The comb ! she said, "
the goldencomb !"
she said this,she threw the veil from
As her
face,and takingthe robe of Konojo in both her
littlehands,she looked into his eyes as though she
would draw forth his very soul. The lady was
brown and
quick and light. Her eyes and her
lipswere made for laughing,and passingstrange
she looked in the guisethat she wore then.
" "
The comb
"
! she said, the goldencomb ! "

I have it here," said Konojo ;

"
only let go "

my robe,and I will fetch it you."

At lady cast herself down upon the
this the
white mats in a passion of bitter tears, and Konojo,
poor unfortunate,pressed his hands together, quite
beside himself.
"
Whatdo ? " he said ; " what to do ? "
to
At last he raised the lady in his arms, and
stroked her littlehand to comfort her.
"
Lord," she said,as simplyas a child, lord,
"

"
do you love me ?
And he answered her in moment,
a
"
I love you
more than many lives,O Lady of the South Wind."
198
XXV STORY OF THE GOLDEN COMB

"
Lord," she said," will you come with me
"
then ?
He answered her, "
Even to the land of
Yomi," and took her hand.
Forththeywent into the night,and theytook
the road together.By river-side they went, and
over plainsof flowers ; theywent by rockyways,
or through the whispering pines,and when they
had wandered far enough,of the green bamboos
they built them a little house to dwell in. And
theywere there for a year of happydaysand nights.
Now upon a morning of the third month
Konojo beheld men with kago come swinging
throughthe bamboo grove. And he said :
"What have they to do with us, these men
"
and their kago?
"
Lord," said Aiyam6, theycome to bear us
"

to my father's house."
He cried, "
What is this foolishness ? We
will not go."
"
Indeed, and we must go,"said the lady.
"
Go you, then," said Konojo ; "
as for me, I
stay here where I am happy."
"
Ah, lord,"she said, ah, my dear, do you "

then love me less,who vowed to go with me, even

"
to the Land of Yomi ?
Then he did all that she would. And he
broke a blossomingbough from a tree that grew
near by and laid it upon the roof of her kago.
Swiftly,swiftly theywere borne, and the kago-
men sang as they went, a song to make labour
light.
199
 STORY OF THE GOLDEN COMB xxv

'*
I go to the house ofthe Be loved ^
Her plum tree stands by the eaves ;
It isfullofblossom.
The dew liesin the heart
oftheflowers j

So they are the drinking-cups

ofthe sparrows.
How do you go to your lovers house ?
Even upon the wingsofthe night wind.
Which road leads your lovers house ?
to
All the roads in the world.^'

This was the song of the

kagomen.
About nightfall
they came to the house of
Hasunuma the samurai.
"
Go you in,my dear lord,"said the Lady of
the South Wind. "
I will wait without ; if my
father is very wroth with you, only show him the
goldencomb." And with that she took it from
her hair and gave it him. Smooth and warm it
lay in his hand. Then Konojo went into the
house.
"Welcome, welcome home, Konojo, son of
"
Saito ! cried Hasunuma. "
How has it fared
"
with your knightly adventure ?
"
"
Knightly adventure I said Konojo, and
blushed.
"
It is a year since your sudden departure,
and
we supposedthat you had gone upon a quest, or
in the expiationof some vow laid upon your soul."
Alas, my good lord,"said Konojo, I have
" "

sinned againstyou and againstyour house." And

he told Hasunuma what he had done.
When he had made an end of his tale :

200
 STORY OF THE GOLDEN COMB xxv

garments overshadowed him, and her eyes held

his.
"
Lord/# she said, "
I am the of
spirit Aiko
I with broken heart dwell
your love. went a to

with the shades of Yomi. The very dead took

pityon my tears. I was permittedto return, and
for one short year to inhabit the sweet body of
my sister. And now my time is come. I go my

ways the grey country. I shall be the happiest

to

soul in Yomi I have known "

you, beloved. Now
take me in your arms, for I grow very faint."
With that she sank to the ground,and Konojo
put his arms about her and laid her head against
his heart. His tears fell upon her forehead.
"
me," she said, that you
Promise *'
will take
to the Lady of
wife Aiyam6,my sister, the South
Wind."
**
"
Ah," he cried, my ladyand "
my love 1
"
she said.
Promise, promise,"
Then he promised.
After a littleshe stirred in his arms.
"
"
What is it ? he said.
So soft her voice that it did not break the
silence but floated upon it.
"
The comb," she murmured, "
the golden
comb."
And Konojo set it in her hair.

A Konojo carried
burden, pale but breathing,
into the house of Hasunuma and laid upon the
white mats and silken cushions. And after three
hours a young maid sat up and rubbed her sleepy
202
XXV STORY OF THE GOLDEN COMB

eyes. She was brown and quick and lightand

laughing. Her hair was tumbled about her rosy
cheeks, unconfined byany braid or comb. She
stared firstat her father,and then at the young
man that was in her bower. She smiled, then
flushed,and put her little hands before her face.
Greeting,O Lady of
"
the South Wind," said
Konojo.

203
 XXVI

THE JELLY-FISH TAKES A JOURNEY

Once a time the jelly-fishwas a some

hand-
upon very
fellow. His form was beautiful, and round

as the full moon. He had glittering scales and fins

and a tail as other fishes have, but he had more than

these. He had little feet as well, so that he could

walk the land as well as swim in the sea.

upon
He was and he was he was beloved and
merry gay,
trusted of the Dragon King. In spite of all this,
his grandmother always said he would come to a

bad end, because he would not mind his books at

school. She was right. It all came about in this

wise.

The Dragon King was but lately wed when

the Lady Dragon his wife fell sick.

young very
She took to her bed and stayed there, and wise

folk in Dragonland shook their heads and said her

last day was at hand. Doctors came from far and

near, and they dosed her and they bled her, but no

good at all could they do her, the young thing,

poor
nor recover her of her sickness.
The Dragon King was beside himself.

204
XXVI THE JELLY-FISH
Heart's Desire," he said to his
"
palebride, "
1
would givemy lifefor you/'
"
Little good would it do me,'* she answered.
"
Howbeit, if you will fetch me a monkey'sliver
I will eat it and live."
"
A monkey'sliver !" cried the Dragon King.
"
A monkey'sliver ! You talk wildly,O light
of mine eyes. How shall I find a monkey'sliver ?
Know you not, sweet one, that monkeys dwell in
the trees of the forest, whilst we are in the deep
"
sea ?
Tears ran down the Dragon Queen's lovely
countenance.
"
If I do not have the monkey'sliver,I shall
die," she said.
Then the Dragon went forth and called to him
the jelly-fish.
"
The Queen must have a monkey'sliver,"he
said, "
to cure her of her sickness."
"
What will she do with the monkey'sliver ? "

asked thejelly-fish.
Why, she will eat it,"said the Dragon King.
"

"
Oh ! said the jelly-fish.
"

"Now," said the King, "you must go and

fetch me a live monkey. I have heard that they
dwell in the tall of the forest. Therefore
trees

swim quickly,O and bring a monkey

jelly-fish,
with you back again."
"
How will I get the monkey to come back
"
with me ? said the jelly-fish.
"
Tell him of all the beauties and of
pleasures
Dragonland. Tell him he will be happy here and
^ 20S
 THE JELLY-FISH xxvi

that he may play with mermaids all the day

long/'
"Well," said the FU
jelly-fish, "
tell him
that."
Off set the ; and
jelly-fish he swam and he
swam, till at last he reached the shore where grew
the tall trees of the forest. And, sure enough,
there monkey sitting
was a in the branches of a
persimmon tree, eatingpersimmons.
The very thing,"
"
said the jelly-fish
to himself;
"
I'm in luck."
"
monkey," he said,
Noble "
will you come to
"

Dragonlandwith me ?
"
How should I get there ? " said the monkey.
"Only sit on my back," said the jelly-fish,
"
and 111 take you there ; have
you'll no trouble
at all."
"
"
Why should I go there,after all ? said the
monkey. I am very well off as I am."
"

"
Ah," said the jelly-fish, it's plainthat you
"

know little of all the beauties and pleasures of

Dragonland. There you will be happy as the day
is long. You will win great riches and honour.
Besides,you may play with the mermaids from
morn tilleve."
"
I'll come," said the monkey.
And he
slippeddown from the persimmon tree
and jumped on the jelly-fish's back.
When the two of them were about half-way
over to Dragonland, the jelly-fishlaughed.
"
"
why do you laugh?
Now, jelly-fish,
"
I laugh for joy,"said the jelly-fish. When "

206
XXVI THE JELLY-FISH

you come to master, the Dragon

Dragonland,
my
King,will get your liver,and giveit to my mistress
the Dragon Queen to eat, and then she will recover
from her sickness."
"
"
My liver ? said the monkey.
"
Why, of course,"said the jelly-fish.
**
Alas and alack," cried the monkey, Vm "

grievedindeed,but if it'smy liver you'rewanting

I haven't it with me. To tell you the truth,it
weighspretty heavy,so I justtook it out and hung
it upon a branch of that
persimmon tree where you
found me. Quick,quick,let's go back for it."
Back they went, and the monkey was up in the
persimmon tree in a twinkling.
"Mercy me, I don't see it at all,"he said.
"
Where can I have mislaid it ? I should not be
if some
surprised rascal has stolen it,"he said.
Now if the had
jelly-fish minded his books at

school,would he have been hoodwinked by the

monkey ? You may believe not. But his mother
grand-
alwayssaid he would come to a bad end.
"
I shall be some time findingit,"said the
monkey. "
You'd best be home to Dragon-
getting
land. The King would be loath for you to be
out after dark. You can call for me another day.

The monkey and the jelly-fish

partedon the
best of terms.

The minute the Dragon King set eyes on the

"Where's
jelly-fish, the monkey ?" he said.
"
I'm to call for him another day,"said the
And
jelly-fish. he told all the tale.
207
 THE JELLY-FISH xxvi

The Dragon King flew into a toweringrage.

He called his executioners and bid them beat the
jelly-fish.
"
Break every bone in his body,"he cried ;
"
beat him to a jelly."
Alas for the sad fate of the he
! Jelly
jelly-fish
remains to this very day.'
As for the young Dragon Queen, she was fain
to laughwhen she heard the story.
"
If I can't have a monkey'sliver I must needs
do it," she said.
without Give "
me my best
brocade gown and I will get up, for I feel a good
deal better."

208
 URASHIMA XXVII

Let go home," he said ; littlechildren

" "
me my
wait and are tired."
"
Nay, rather stay with me," she said :

"
Urashima^
Thou Fisherman ofthe Inland Sea^
Thou art beautiful;
Thy longhair is twisted round my heart ;
Go not from me^
Onlyforgetthyhome.'^
"
Ah, now," said the fisherman, let be, for the "

dear gods*sake. ...

I would go to mine own."
But she said again:
"
Urashima^
Thou Fisherman ofthe Inland Sea^
ril thycouch with pearl;
set
ril spread thycouch with seaweed and seafowers;
Thou shalt he King ofthe Deep Sea^
^^
And we will reign together.
"
Let me go home," said Urashima "
; my
littlechildren wait and are tired."
But she said :

"
Urashima :

Thou Fisherman ofthe Inland Sea,

Never he afraid
ofthe Deep Sea tempest;
We will rollrocks about our cavern doors ;
Neither be afraidofthe drowned dead;
Thou shalt not die''

"Ah, now," said the fisherman,"let be, for

210
XXVII URASHIMA

the dear gods' sake. ...

I would go to mine
own/*
"
Staywith me this one night."
"
Nay, not one."
Then the Daughterof the Deep Sea wept, and
Urashima saw her tears.
"
I will stay with you this night,"
one he said.
So after the nightwas she broughthim
passed,
up to the sand and the seashore.
"
Are we near your home ? " she said.
He told her, " Within a stone's throw."

"Take this,"she said,"in memory of me."

She gave him a casket of
mother-of-pearl; it was
rainbow-tinted and its clasps
were of coral and of
jade.
"
Do not open it,"she said ;
"
O fisherman,do
not open it." And with that she sank and was
no more seen, the Daughterof the Deep Sea.
As for Urashima, he ran beneath the pine trees
to come to his dear home. And as he went he
laughed for joy. And he tossed up the casket to

catch the sun.

"
Ah, me," he said, the "
sweet scent of the
"
pines! So he went callingto his children with

a call that he had taught them, like a sea-bird's

note. Soon he said, Are they yet asleep
"
? It is

strange they do not answer me."

Now when he came to his house he found four
lonelywalls, moss-grown. Nightshadeflourished
on the threshold, death lilies by the hearth,
dianthus and ladyfern. No living soul was there.
"
Now what is this ? " cried Urashima. "
Have
211
 URASHIMA XXVII

I lost my wits ? Have I left my eyes in the deep

"
sea ?
He sat down upon the grassy floor and thought
"
long. "
The dear gods help me ! he said.
"
Where is my wife, and where are my little
"
children ?
He went to the where
village, he knew the
stones in the way, and every tiled and tilted eave
was to him most familiar ; and here he found folk
walking to and fro, going upon their business.
But theywere all strange to him.
"Good
morrow," they said,"good morrow,
"
wayfarer.Do you tarry in our town ?
He saw children at their play,and often he
put his hand beneath their chins to turn their
faces up. Alas ! he did it all in vain.
Where my little children,"he said, O
" "
are

Lady Kwannon the Merciful ? Peradventure the

gods know the meaning of all this ; it is too much
for me:"
When sunset came, his heart was heavy as
stone, and he went and stood at the partingof the
ways outside the town. As men passed by he
pulledthem by the sleeve :
"
Friend," he said, I ask your pardon,did you
"

know a fisherman of this placecalled Urashima ?

"

And the men that passedby answered him,

"
We never heard of such an one."
There people from the
passedby the peasant
mountains. Some went a-foot,some rode on
patientpack-horses.They went singingtheir
country songs, and they carried baskets of wild
212
XXVII URASHIMA

strawberries or sheaves of lilies bound upon their

backs. And the lilies nodded as they went. grims
Pil-
passedby,all clad in white, with staves and
rice-straw hats,sandals fast boundgourds of and
water. Swiftly theywent, softly theywent, thinking
of holythings. And lords and ladies passedby, in
brave attire and great array, borne in their gilded
kago. The nightfell.
I lose sweet
"
hope,*' said Urashima.
But there passedby an old,old-man.
"
Oh, old,old man," cried the fisherman, you "

have seen many days; know you oughtof Urashima ?

In this placewas he born and bred."
Then the old man said,"There was one of
that name, but, sir,that one was drowned long
years ago. My grandfather could scarce remember
him in the time that I was a little boy. Good
stranger,it was many, many years ago."
"
Urashima said, "
He is dead ?
"
No man more dead than he. His sons are

dead and their sons are dead. Good even to you,

stranger."
Then Urashima was afraid. But he said, "
I
must go to the green valley where the dead sleep."
And to the valley he took his way.
He said, "
How chill the night wind blows
through the
grass ! The trees shiver and the
leaves turn their palebacks to me."
He said,^^ Hail, sad moon, that showest me all
the quietgraves. Thou art nothingdifferent from
the moon of old."
He said, "
Here are my sons* graves and their
213
 URASHIMA XXVII

sons* graves. Poor Urashima, there is no man

more dead than he. Yet am I lonelyamong the

ghosts. . .
.''
"'
Who will comfort me ? " said Urashima.
The nightwind sighedand nothingmore.
Then he went back to the seashore. "Who
**
will comfort me ? cried Urashima. But the sky
was unmoved, and the mountain waves of the sea

rolled on.

Urashima said,"There is the casket." And

he took it from his sleeve and opened it. There
rose from it a faint white smoke that floated away
and out to the far horizon.
"I grow very weary,"said Urashima. In a

moment his hair turned as white as snow. He

trembled, his body shrank, his eyes grew dim.
He that had been so
young and lustyswayedand
tottered where he stood.
"
I am old,"said Urashima.
He made to shut the casket lid,
but droppedit,
saying,"Nay, the vapour of smoke is gone for
"
ever. What matters it ?
He laid down his lengthupon the sand and
died.

214
 XXVIII

TAMAMO, THE FOX MAIDEN

A PEDLAR journeyed with his pack upon the great

high-road which leads to the city of Kioto. He

found a child sittingall alone by the wayside.

"Well, little girl," he said, "and what
my
"
make all alone by the wayside ?
you
"
What do you," said the child, "
with a staff
"
and a pack, and sandals outworn ?
**
I am bound for Kioto, and the Mikadoes

Palace, to sell gauds to the ladies of the

my
Court"
"
Ah," said the child, " take me too."
"
"
What is your little girl?
name, my
"
I have no name."
"
"
Whence come you ?
"
I come from nowhere."
"
You seem to be about seven years old."
"
I have no age."
"
"
Why are here ?
you
"
I have been waiting for you."
"
"
How long have you waited ?
"
For more than a hundred years."
The Pedlar laughed.
215
 TAMAMO, THE FOX MAIDEN xxviii

"
Take me to Kioto/' said the child.
"
You may come if you will,"said the Pedlar.
So they went their ways and
together, in time

they came to Kioto Palace.

and to the Mikado's
Here the child danced in the august presence of
the Son of Heaven. She was as lightas the sea-

bird upon a wave's crest. When she had made an

end of the
dancing, Mikado called her to him.
"
Little maid," he said, what "
guerdon shall I
giveyou ? Ask !"
"
O DivinelyDescended," said the child, "
Son
of the Gods ...
I cannot ask. ...
I am afraid."
"
Ask without fear,"said the Mikado.
The child murmured, Let me stay
"
in the
brightpresence of your Augustness."
**
So be it,"said the Mikado, and he received
the child into his household. And he called her
Tamamo.
Very speedily she became mistress of every
lovelyart. She could sing,and she could play
She had skill
upon any instrument of music. more

in paintingthan any painter in the land ; she was a

wonder with the needle and a wonder at the loom.

The poetry that she made moved men to tears and
to laughter.The many thousand characters were
child's playto her,and all the hard philosophies
she
had at her fingers'ends. She knew Confucius well
enough,the Scriptures of Buddha, and the lore of
Cathay. She was called the Exquisite Perfection,
the Gold Unalloyed, the Jewel without Flaw.
And the Mikado loved her.
Soon he clean forgothonour and duty and
216
 TAMAMO, THE FOX MAIDEN xxviii

wind tore throughthe Summer Palace and put out

every torch in the great Hall of Feasting.And

the rain came down in torrents. In thepitchy
darkness fear and horror fell upon the assembly.
The courtiers ran to and fro in a panic,the air was

full of cries,the tables were overturned. The

dishes and drinking-vessels crashed together,the
saki and soaked into the white mats.
spilled Then
a radiance was made visible. It came from the
placewhere Tamamo was, and it streamed in long
flames of firefrom her body.
The Mikado cried aloud in a terrible voice,
**
"
Tamamo ! Tamamo ! Tamamo ! three times.
And when he had done this he fell in a deathly
swoon upon the ground.
And for many dayshe was thus,and he seemed
either asleepor dead,and no one could recover him
from his swoon.

Then the Wise and Holy Men of the land met

together, and when they had prayed to the gods,

they called to them Ab6 Yasu, the Diviner. They
said :
"
O Ab6 Yasu, learned in dark find out
things,
for the cause, and if it may be, the cure, of our
us

Lord's strange sickness. Perform divination for us,

O Ab6 Yasu."
Then Ab6 Yasu performeddivination,
and he
came before the Wise Men and said :

"
The wine is sweety but the aftertaste
is bitter.
Set not your teeth in the golden
persimmon ^

It is rotten at the core.

218
XXVIII TAMAMO, THE FOX MAIDEN

Fair is the scarletflowerofthe Death Lily^

Pluck it not.
What ?
is beauty
What is wisdom ?
What is love ?
Be not deceived. Theyare threads in the fabricof
illusion!''

Then said,
the Wise Men "
Speak out, Ab6
Yasu, for your sayingis dark,and we cannot stand
under-
it."
"
I will do speak,"said Ab6 Yasu.
more than
And he spent three daysin fasting and in prayer.
Then he took the sacred Gohei from its placein the
Temple, and callingthe Wise Men to him he
waved the sacred Gohei and with it touched each
one of them. And theywent
together to Tamamo's
bower, and Ab6 Yasu took the sacred Gohei in his
righthand.
Tamamo was in her bower adorningherself,
and
her maidens were with her.
"
My lords,"she said, "
you come all unbidden.
"
What would you have with me ?
"My lady Tamamo," said Ab6 Yasu the
Diviner, "
I have made a song after the fiishionof
the Chinese. You who are learned in poetry, I

pray you hear and judge my song."

"
I am in no mood for songs," she said, "
with

my dear lord lyingsick to death."

'"
Nevertheless,my ladyTamamo, this song of
mine you needs must hear."
"
Why, then, if I must ..." she said.
219
 TAMAMO, THE FOX MAIDEN xxviii

Then spokeAh6 Yasu :

"
The wine is sweety the aftertasteis bitter.
Set not your teeth in the golden
persimmon ^

It is rotten at the core.

Fair is the scarletflowerofthe Death Lily^
Pluck it not.
What is beauty
?
What is wisdom ?
What is love ?
Be not deceived. Theyare threads in the fabricof
"
illusionI

When Ab6 Yasu the Diviner had spoken,he

came to Tamamo and he touched her with the
sacred Gohei.
gave a loud and terrible cry, and
She on the
instant her form was changedinto that of a great
fox having nine long tails and hair like golden
wire. The fox fled from Tamamo's bower, away
and away, until it reached the far plain
of Nasu, and
it hid itselfbeneath a great black stone that was

upon that plain.

But the Mikado was immediatelyrecovered
from his sickness.
Soon, strange and terrible thingswere told
concerning the great stone of Nasu. A stream of
poisonouswater flowed from under it and withered
the brightflowers of the plain. All who drank of
the stream died,both man and beast. Moreover,
nothingcould go near the stone and live. The
traveller who rested in its shadow arose no more,
and the birds that perched upon it fell dead in a

220
XXVIII TAMAMO, THE FOX MAIDEN

moment. People named it tl"eDeath Stone, and

thus it was called for more than a hundred years.
Then it chanced
Genyo, the High Priest, that
who was a holy man indeed,took his staBf
and his
beggingbowl and went upon a pilgrimage.
When he came to Nasu, the dwellers upon the
plainput rice into his bowl.
"
O thou Holy Man," they said, "
beware the
Death Stone of Nasu. Rest not in its shade."
But Genyo, the High Priest,havingremained
a while in thought,made answer thus :
Know, my children,what is written in the
"

Book of the Good Law :

*
Herbs, trees and rocks
"
shall all enter into Nirvana.*
With that he took his way to the Death Stone.
He burnt incense, he struck the stone with his
and
staff, he cried,"Come forth.Spiritof the
Death Stone ; come forth,I conjurethee.'*
Then there was a great flame of fire and a

rending noise, and the Stone burst and splitin

sunder. From the stone and from the fire there
came a woman.

She stood before the Holy Man. She said :

"
/ am Tamamo^ once called the Proud Perfection
;
I am the
golden-haired Fox ;
I know the Sorceriesofthe East;
I was worshipped by the Princes of Ind ;
I was great Cathay* s undoing ;
I was wise and beautiful^
Evil incarnate.
The power ofthe Buddha has ^me ;
changed
221
 TAMAMO, THE FOX MAIDEN xxviii

/ have dwelt in grief

for a hundred years ;
Tears have washed away my beauty and my sin.
Shrive me^ Genyo^shrive me^ Holy Man ;
^^
Let me have peace.

"
Poor
Spirit," said Genyo. Take my staff
"

and my priestly robe and my beggingbowl and set

forth upon the longjourney of repentance.**
Tamamo took the priestly
robe and put it upon
her ; in one hand she took the staff,
in the other the
bowl. And when she had done this,she vanished
for ever from
sightof earthly
the
men.

O *'
thou, Tathagatha,"said Genyo, and "

thou, Kwannon, Merciful Lady,make it possible

that one day even she may attain Nirvana."

222
 XXIX

MOMOTARO

If you'll believe me there was a time when the

fairies were none so shy as they are now. That

was the time when beasts talked to men, when

there were spells and enchantments and magic
day, when there was great store of hidden
every
treasure to be dug and adventures for the
up,
asking.
At that time, must know, an old man and
you
an old woman lived alone by themselves. They
were good and they were and they had no
poor
children at all.

One fine day, "What are doing this

you
'*
morning, good man ? says the old woman.

"Oh," the old "Fm off to the

says man,
mountains with
my billhook to gather a faggot of
sticks for our fire. And what are doing, good
you
"
wife ?
"
Oh," says the old woman,
"
Fm off to the

stream to wash clothes. It's washing day,"

my
she adds.

So the old man went to the mountains and the

old woman went to the stream,

223
 MOMOTARO XXIX

Now, while she washing the clothes,

was what
should she see but a fine ripepeach that came
down
floating the stream ? The peach was big
enough,and rosy red on both sides.
"Fm in luck this morning,"said the dame,
and she pulled the peach to shore with a split
bamboo stick.
when
By-and-by, her good man came home
from hills,she set
the the peach before him.
"
Eat, good man," she said ;
"
this is a
luckypeach
I found in the stream and broughthome for you."
But the old man never got a taste of the peach.
And why did he not ?
All of a sudden the peach burst in two and
there was no stone to it,but a fine boy babywhere
the stone should have been.
"
"
Mercy me ! says the old woman.
"
"
Mercy me ! says the old man.

The boy baby firstate up one half of the peach

and then he ate up the other half. When he had
done this he was finer and stronger than ever.
**
Momotaro ! Momotaro !" cries the old man ;
"
the eldest son of the peach."
"
Truth it is indeed,"says the old woman ;
"
he
was born in a peach."
Both of them took such good care of Momotaro
that soon he was the stoutest and bravest boy of all
that country-side. He was a credit to them, you

may believe. The neighboursnodded their heads

and theysaid,"Momotaro is the fine young man !"
Mother," says Momotaro
"
one day to the old
"
woman, make me
"
a good store of kimi-dango
224
 MOMOTARO XXIX

So Momotaro
gave a millet dumpling to the
monkey, and the two of them joggedon together.
They hadn't gone far when they fell in with a

pheasant.
"
Ken ! Ken !'' said the pheasant. "
Where
'*
are you off to, Momotaro ?
SaysMomotaro, "
Fm off to the Ogres*Island
for an adventure."
"What have you got in your wallet, Momo-
taro
'*
?
"
IVe got some of the best millet dumplingsin
all Japan."
"
Give me one," says the pheasant,
"and I will

go with you."
So Momotaro
gave a millet dumpling to the
and the three of them joggedon together.
pheasant,
They hadn't gone far when they fell in with
a dog.
"Bow! Wow! Wow! "saysthe dog. "Where
"
are you off to, Momotaro ?
SaysMomotaro, "I'm off to the Ogres'Island."
"What have you got in your wallet,Momo-
taro
"
?
I've got some
"
of the best millet dumplings
in all Japan."
"
Give me one," says the dog, "
and I will go
with you."
So Momotaro gave a millet dumplingto the
dog, and the four of them jogged on together.
theycame
By-and-by to the Ogres'Island.
"
Now, brothers,"says Momotaro, "
listen to

my plan. The pheasantmust flyover the castle

226
XXIX MOMOTARO

gate and peck the Ogres. The monkey must

climb over the castle wall and pinch the Ogres.
The dog and I will break the bolts and bars. He
will bite the Ogres,and I will fightthe Ogres."
Then the great battle.
there was

The pheasant
flew over the castle gate : "
Ken !
"
Ken ! Ken !
Momotaro broke the bolts and bars,and the
dog leapt into the castle courtyard. **
Bow !
Wow! Wow!"
The brave
companionsfoughttillsundown and
overcame the Ogres. Those that were left alive
they took prisonersand bound with cords a "

wicked lot they were.

"
Now, brothers,"says Momotaro, bringout *^

the Ogres'treasure."
So they did.
The treasure was worth having, indeed. There
were magic jewels there, and caps and coats to
make you invisible. There was gold and silver,
and jadeand coral,and amber and tortoise-shelland
mother-of-pearl.
"
Here's riches for all," says Momotaro.
"
Choose, brothers,and take your fill."
"
Kia ! Kia ! " says the monkey. "
Thanks,
my Lord Momotaro."
"
Ken ! Ken ! says the pheasant. Thanks,
" "

my Lord Momotaro."
"
Bow ! Wow ! Wow !" says the dog.
"
Thanks, my dear Lord Momotaro."

227
 XXX

THE MATSUYAMA MIRROR

A LONG, long time there lived in a quiet spot

ago
a man and his wife. They had one child, a
young
little daughter, whom they both loved with all

their hearts. I cannot tell

you their names, for

they have long since been forgotten ;

but the name

of the place where they lived was Matsuyama, in

the Province of Echigo.

It
happened once, while the little girl was still

a baby, that the father was obliged to go to the

great city, the capital of Japan, upon some business.
It was too far for the mother and her little baby to

go, so
he set out alone, after bidding them bye
good-
and promising to bring them home some

pretty present.
The mother had never been farther from home

than the next village,and she could not help being

a little frightened at the thought of her husband

taking such a long journey ;

and yet she was a little

proud too, for he was the first man in all that

country-side who had been to the big town where

the king and his great lords lived, and where there
228
XXX THE MATSUYAMA MIRROR

were so many beautiful and curious thingsto be

seen.

At last the time came when she might expect

her husband back, so she dressed the baby in its
best clothes,and herself put on a pretty blue dress
which she knew her husband liked.
You may fancyhow gladthis good wife was to

see him come home safe and sound, and how the
little girlclapped her hands, and laughed with
delightwhen she saw the pretty toys her father
had brought for her. He had much to tell of all
the wonderful thingshe had seen upon the journey,
and in the town itself.
"
I have brought you a
very pretty thing,"
said he to his wife ;
"
it is called a mirror. Look
and tell me you sec inside.'* He gave to her
what
a plainwhite wooden box, in which, when she
had opened it,she found a round pieceof metal.
One side was white, like frosted silver,and mented
orna-

with figures of birds and flowers ;

raised
the other was brightas the clearest crystal.Into
it the young mother looked with delight and
astonishment,for,from its depthswas lookingat
her with partedlipsand brighteyes, a smiling
happy face.
"
What
"
do you see ? againasked the husband,
pleased at her astonishment and gladto show that
he had learned somethingwhile he had been away.
I see a pretty woman
"
lookingat me, and she
moves her lipsas if she was speaking, and dear "

me, how odd, she has on a blue dress just like

mme 1
229
 THE MATSUYAMA MIRROR xxx

"
Why, you silly
woman, it is your own face
'*
that you said the husband,proudof knowing
see !
somethingthat his wife didn't know. "
That round
piece of metal is called a mirror. In the town

everybodyhas one, although we have not seen

before."
them in this country-place
The wife was charmed with her present, and
for a few dayscould not look into the mirror often
enough ; for you must remember that as this was

the firsttime she had seen a mirror, so, of course,

it was the firsttime she had ever seen the reflection
of her own pretty face. But she considered such
a wonderful thing far too preciousfor everyday
use, and soon shut it up in its box againand put
it away carefullyamong her most valued treasures.
Years passedon, and the husband and wife still
lived happily.The joy of their life was their
who
little daughter, grew up the very image of
her mother, and who was so dutiful and aflfectionate
that everybodyloved her. Mindful of her own
little passingvanityon findingherself so lovely,
the mother kept the mirror carefully hidden away,
fearing that the use of it might breed a spirit of
pridein her little girl.
She never spokeof it,and as for the father he
had forgotten all about it. So it happened that
the daughter grew up as simpleas the mother had
been, and knew nothing of her own good looks,
or of the mirror which would have reflected
them.
But by-and-bya terrible misfortune happened
to this happy little family. The good, kind
230
 THE MATSUYAMA MIRROR xxx

herlifetime,and careful alwaysto avoid whatever

might painor grieveher.
Her greatestjoy was to be able to look in the
mirror and say, " Mother, I have been to-daywhat
you would have me to be."

Seeing her look into the mirror every night

and morning without fail,and seem to hold
converse with it,her father at length asked her
the reason of her strange behaviour. "
Father,"
she said, "
I look in the mirror every day to see

my dear mother and to talk with Then her." she

told him of her mother's dyingwish, and how she
had never failed to fulfilit. Touched by so much
and
simplicity, such faithful,
lovingobedience,the
father shed tears of pityand affection. Nor could
he find it in his heart to tell the child that the
image she saw in the mirror was but the reflection
of her own sweet face,becoming by constant

sympathyand association more and more like her

dead mother's dayby day.

232
 XXXI

BROKEN IMAGES

Once there lived two brothers who were princes

in the land.
The elder brother was a hunter. He loved

the deep woods and the chase. He went from

dawn to dark with his bow and his arrows.

Swiftly he could run ;

he was strong and bright-
eyed. The brother was a dreamer his
younger ;

were gentle. From dawn to dark he would

eyes
sit with his book or with his thoughts. Sweetly
could he sing of love, or of war, or of the green
fields, and tell stories of the fairies and of the time

of the gods.
Upon a fair day of summer the hunter betook

himself early to the woods, as was his wont.

very
But the dreamer took his book in his hand, and,
musing, he wandered by the stream's side, where
the yellow mimulus.
grew
" It is the fairies* money,** he said ;
"
it will
**
buy all the joys of fairyland ! So he went on

his smiling.
way,
And when he had continued for some time, he
'came to a holy shrine. And there led to the

^33
 BROKEN IMAGES xxxi

shrine a hundred steps, moss-grown and grey.

Beside the steps were guardianlions,carved in
stone. Behind the shrine Fugi, the Mystic
was

Mountain, white and and all the lesser

beautiful,
hills softlyup like prayers,
rose

'*0 peerless Fugi,*'said the dreamer, "O

wonder
passionless mountain ! To see thee is to
hear sweet music without sound, the blessed
harmony of silence.*'
Then he climbed the steps,moss-grown and
grey. And the lions that were carved in stone

rose up and followed him, and they came with

him to the inner gates of the shrine and stayed
there.
In the shrine there was a hush of noonday.
The smoke of incense curled and hung upon the
air. Dimly shone the gold and the bronze, the
lights and the mysticmirrors.
There was a sound of singingin the shrine,
and turning, the dreamer saw a man who stood at
his right hand. The man was taller than any
child of earth. Moreover, his face shone with the
gloryof a youththat cannot pass away. He held
a year-old child upon his arm and hushed it to
sleep, singinga strange melody. When the babe
fell asleephe was and smiled.
well pleased,
'*
"
What babe is that ? said the dreamer.
"
O dreamer,it is no babe, but a spirit."
"
"
Then, my lord, what are you ? said the
dreamer.
"
I am Jizo,who guards the souls of little
children. It is most pitiful
to hear their crying
^34
XXXI BROKEN IMAGES

when they come to the

sandy river-bed, the
Sai'-no^kawara. O dreamer, they come alone, as
needs they must, wailingand wandering, stretching
out their pretty hands. They have a task,which
is to pilestones for a tower of prayer. But in the
nightcome the Oni to throw down the towers and
to scatter all the stones. So the children are made
afraid,and their labour is lost."
'*
What
"
then,my lord Jizo? said the dreamer.
"
Why, then I come, for the Great One
gives
me leave. And I call '
Come hither,wandering
souls.* And theyflyto me that I may hide them
in my long sleeves. I carry them in my arms and
on my breast,where they lie lightand cold, as "

lightand cold as the morning mist upon the

mountains.**
When he had spoken,the year-old
child stirred
and murmured : so he rocked it,and wandered to
and fro in the quiettemplecourt and hushed it as

he went.
So the swift moments flew and the noontide
passedaway.
Presently there came to the shrine a lady most
gentleand beautiful. Grey was her
robe,and she
had silver sandals on her feet. She said,"I am
called The Merciful. For mankind's dear sake,I
have refused eternal peace. The Great One has
givento me a thousand lovingarms, arms of mercy.
And my hands are full of gifts. O dreamer,
when you dream your dreams you shall see me in

my lotus boat when I sail upon the mystic

mere.'*
23s
 BROKEN IMAGES xxxi

"
Lady,Lady Kwannon . .
"'*said the dreamer.
Then came one clothed in blue,speakingwith
a sweet, deep,well-known voice.
"
I am Benten, the Goddess of the Sea and the
Goddess of Song. My dragonsare about me and
beneath my feet.
See their green scales and their
opaleyes. Greeting,O dreamer ! "
After her there came a band of bloomingboys,
laughingand holdingout their rosy arms. "
We
are the Sons of the Sea Goddess," they said.
"
Come, dreamer, come to our cool caves."
The God of Roads came, and his three
messengers with him. Three apes were the three

messengers. The first ape covered his eyes with

his hands, for he could see no evil thing. The
second ape covered his ears with his hands, for he
could hear no evil thing. The third ape covered
his mouth with his hands, for he could speak no
evil thing. Then came She, the fearful woman

who takes the clothes of the dead who are not

able to pay their toll,so that they must stand

shivering
at the entrance of the mysteriousThree
Ways. They are unfortunate indeed.
many and many a vision the dreamer
And saw

in that enchanted shrine.

And dark night fell,with storm and tempest
and the sound of rain upon the roof. Yet the
dreamer never stirred. Suddenlythere was a

sound of hurryingfeet without. A voice called

loud, My brother,my brother,my
"
brother ! . .
."
In sprang the hunter through the golden temple
doors.
236
XXXI BROKEN IMAGES

"
"
Where arc you ? he cried,** my brother,
my brother ! ** He had his swinginglantern in
his hand and held it high,as he flunghis long
blown hair back over his shoulder. His face was

brightwith the rain upon it,his eyes were as keen

as an eagle's.
'*0 brother " .
." said the dreamer, and ran

to meet him.
"
Now the dear gods be thanked that I have
you safe and sound," said the hunter. Half the
"

nightI have soughtyou, wandering in the forest

and by the stream's side. I was all to blame for
leavingyou . . . my little brother." With that,
he took his brother's face between his two warm

hands.
But the dreamer sighed,**I have been with
the he said,"and
gods all night," I think I see

them still. The placeis holy."

Then the hunter flashed his lightupon the
templewalls,upon the gildingand the bronze.
I see no gods,"
"
he said.
"
What you, brother ?
"
see
"
I see a row of stones, broken images,grey,
with moss-grown feet."
They grey because
theyare sad,theyare
"
are

sad because theyare forgotten,"said the dreamer.

But the hunter took him by the hand and led
him into the night.
The dreamer said, O brother,how
"
sweet is
the scent of the bean fieldsafter the rain."
"
Now bind your sandals on," said the hunter,
"
and I'll run you a race to our home."
3^37
 XXXII

THE TONGUE-CUT SPARROW

Once a time there was an old man who lived

upon
all alone. And there was an old woman who

lived all alone. The old man was and kind

merry
and gentle, with a good word and a smile for all

the world. The old woman was sour and sad, as

patch as could be found in all the

cross a side.
country-
She grumbled and growled for ever, and

would not so much as the time of day with

pass
respectable folk.

The old man had a pet that he kept

sparrow
as the apple of his The
sparrow could talk
eye.
and sing and dance and do all manner of tricks,
and was good So the old
very company. man

found when he came home from his work at night.

There would be the twittering on the
sparrow
doorstep, and "
Welcome home, master," he would

his head side, pert and

say, on one as pretty as you
please.
One day the old man went off to cut wood in

the mountains. The old woman, she stayed at

home for it was her washing day. She made some

238
 THE TONGUE-CUT SPARROW xxxii

children and his wife and his mother-in-law and

his mother and his grandmother. And they all
flew out to do the old man honour. They brought
him into the house andthey set him down upon
mats of silk. Then theyspreada great feast ; red
rice and daikon and fish^
and who knows what all
besides,and the very best saU to drink. The
sparrow waited upon the good old man, and his
brothers and sisters and his children and his wife
and his mother-in-law and his mother and his
with
grandmother him.
After sparrow danced, whilst his
supper the
grandmotherplayedthe samisen and the good old
man beat time.
It was merrya evening.
At last,"All good thingscome to an end,"
says the old man ;
"
I fear 'tislate and hightime I
was home."
getting
"Not without a littlepresent,"
says the sparrow.
"Ah, sparrow dear," says the old man, "Fd
sooner have than
yourself any present."
But the sparrow shook his head.
Presently theybroughtin two wicker baskets.
One
"
of them is heavy,"says the sparrow,
"and the other is light. Say, master, will you
"
take the heavybasket or the light?
"Fm not so young as I once was," says the
good old man.
"
Fd
Thanking you kindly, sooner

have the lightbasket ; it will suit me better to

carry " that is,if it'sthe same to you,"he says.

So he went home with the light basket.
When he opened it,wonderful to it was
tell, full
240
XXXII THE TONGUE-CUT SPARROW

of gold and silver and tortoise-shell and coral and

jade and fine rolls of silk. So the good old man

was rich for life.

Now, when the bad old woman heard tell of
all this,she tied on her sandals and kilted her
skirts and took a stout stick in her hand. Over
hill and over dale she went, and took the straight
road to the sparrow'shouse. There was the

sparrow, and there were his brothers and sisters

and children and his wife and his mother and his
mother-in-law and his grandmother. They were
not too pleased
to see the bad old woman, but they
couldn't do less than ask her in as she'd come so

far. They gave her red rice and white rice and
daikon and fish,and who knows what and
besides,
she gobbledit up in a and
twinkling, drank a good
cup of saki. Then up she got. "
I can't waste

any more time here," she says,

"
so you'd best
bringout presents."
your
They broughtin two wicker baskets.
"
One of them
heavy,"says the sparrow, is
"
and the other is light. Say,mistress, will you
"
take the heavy basket or the light?
I'lltake the heavy one," says the old woman,
**

quickas a thought. So she heaved it up on her

back and off she set. Sure enough it was as heavy

as lead.
When she was gone, Lord ! how the sparrows
did laugh !
No sooner did she reach home than she undid
the cords of the basket.
*'
Now for the gold and silver,"
she said,and
 THE TONGUE-CUT SPARROW xxxii

smiled "
though she hadn't smiled for a month.
twelve-
And she lifted up the lid.
''Ai! Ai! Kowai! Obaki da I Oiai^ r' she
screeched.
The basket was full ofuglyimps and elves and
pixiesand demons and devils. Out they came to

tease the old wqman, to pullher and to poke her,

to push her and to pinch her. She had the fine

of
fright her I warrant
life, you.

242
 XXXIII

THE NURSE

Id" the samurai was wedded to a fair wife and had

an only child, a boy called Fugiwaka. Ide was a

mighty man of war, and as often as not he was

from home the business of his liege

away upon
lord. So the child Fugiwaka was reared by his
mother and by the faithful woman, his nurse.

Matsu was her name, which is, in the speech of

the country, the Pine Tree. And even as the pine
tree, strong and was she, unchanging and
evergreen,
enduring.
In the house of Id^ there was a precious
very
sword. Aforetime a hero of Id6*s clan slew eight-
and-forty of his enemies with this sword in one

battle. The sword was Id6's most sacred treasure.

He kept it laid in a safe place with his hold

house-
away
gods.
Morning and evening the child Fugiwaka came

to make salutations before the household gods, and

to reverence the glorious of his ancestors.

memory
And Matsu, the nurse, knelt by his side.

Morning and evening, "

Show me the sword,
O Matsu, nurse," said Fugiwaka.
my
243
 THE NURSE xxxiii

And O Matsu made answer,

'*
Of a surety, my
lord,I will show you." it to
Then she brought the sword from its place,
wrapped in a coveringof red and goldbrocade. And
she drew off the coveringand she took the sword
from its golden sheath and displayed the bright
steel to Fugiwaka. And the child made obeisance
tillhis forehead touched the mats.
At bedtime O Matsu sang songs and lullabies.
She sang this song :

"
Sleepy
my little
child^ sleep
sweetly "

Would you know the secret ^

The secret of the hare o Nennin Tama ?

Sleepy
my littlechild^
sweetly
sleep-
Tou shall know the secret.
Ohy the august hare of Nennin Tama^
How longare
augustly his ears !
Why should this be^ohybest beloved?
Tou shall know the secret.
His mother ate the bamboo seed.
Hush! Hush!
His mother ate the seed.
loquat
Hush ! Hush !
Sleepy
my little
childy
sweetly
sleep "

Now you know the secret.^*

Then O Matsu said, "

Will you sleepnow, my
**
lord Fugiwaka ?
And the child answered, "
I will sleepnow,
O Matsu."
"
Listen,my lord,"she said, and, sleepingor "

^44
 THE NURSE xxxiii

"
I know nought of she
birthrights," said.
"
Go, make
your own fortune if you can. Your
brother Goro is chief of the House of Id6."
With that she bade them shut the door in his
face.
and
Fugiwaka departedsorrowfully, at the
cross-roads O Matsu, his nurse, met him. She
had made herself ready for a journey: her robe
was kilted,she had a staff in her hand and sandals
on her feet.
"
My she said, I
lord,'* '*
am come to follow
you to the world's end."
Then Fugiwaka wept and laid his head upon
the woman's breast.
"
Ah," he said, my my nurse ! And,"
"
nurse,
he said, what of my
"
father's sword ? I have
lost the precioussword of IdL The sword is

my treasure, the sword is my trust, the sword is

my fortune. I am bound to cherish it,to guard
it,to keep it. But now I have lost it. Woe
is !
me I am undone, and so is all the House
ofId6!"
"
Oh, say not so, my lord," said O Matsu.
"
Here gold; go you your way and I will return
is
and guard the sword of Id6."
So Fugiwaka went his way with the goldthat
his gave him.
nurse

As for O Matsu, she went straightway and took

the sword from its placewhere it lay with the
household gods, and she buried it deep in the
ground until such time as she might bear it in
safety
to her young lord.
246
XXXIII THE NURSE

But soon the Lady Sadako became aware that

the sacred sword was gone.
"
"
It is the nurse ! she cried. "
The nurse has
stolen it. . .
of you
.
Some bringher to me.'*
Then the Lady Sadako's peoplelaid their hands
roughly upon O Matsu and brought her before
their mistress. But for all they could do O
Matsu^s lipswere sealed. She spoke never a

word, neither could the Lady Sadako find out

where the sword was. She pressed her thin lips

together.
"
The woman is obstinate,"she said. "
No
matter ; for such a fault I know the sovereign
cure."
So she locked O Matsu in a dark dungeon
and gave her neither food nor drink. Every day
the Lady Sadako went to the door of the dark
dungeon.
"
Well," she said, where "
is the sword of Ide ?
"
Will you say ?
But O Matsu answered not a word.
Howbeit she wept and sighedto herself in the
darkness "
"
Alas ! Alas ! never alive may I come
to myyoung lord. Yet he must have the sword
of Id6, and I shall find a way."
Now after seven days the Lady Sadako sat in
the garden-house to cool herself,for it was
summer. The time was evening. Presently she
saw a woman that came towards her through the
garden flowers and trees. Frail and slender was

the woman ; as she came her body swayed and her

slow steps faltered.
247
 THE NURSE xxxiii

**
"
Why, this is strange ! said the Lady Sadako.
"
Here is O Matsu, that was locked in the dark
dungeon," And she sat still,
watching.
But O Matsu went to the placewhere she had
buried the sword and scratched atgroundwith
the
her fingers.There she was, weeping and moaning
and draggingat the earth. The stones cut her
hands and they bled. Still she tore away the
earth and found the sword at last. It was in its
wrapping of gold and scarlet,
and she it to
clasped
her bosom with aloud cry.
Woman,
"
I have you now," shrieked the Lady
"
Sadako, and "
the sword of Id6 as well ! And
sheleapedfrom the garden-house and ran at full
speed. She stretched forth her hand to catch
O Matsu by the sleeve,but did not have her or

the sword cither,for both of them were gone in a

and
flash, the ladybeat the empty air. Swiftly she
sped to the dark
dungeon,and as she went she
called her peopleto bringtorches. There laythe
body of poor O Matsu, cold and dead upon the
dungeon floor.
"
Send me the Wise Woman," said the Lady
Sadako.
So theysent for the Wise Woman. And the
Lady Sadako asked, "
How long has she been
"
dead ?
The Wise Woman said, She "
was starved to
death ; she has been dead two days. It were well
you gave her fitburial ; she was a good soul."

As for the sword

of Id6,it was not found.
Fugiwaka tossed to and fro upon his lowlybed
248
XXXIII THE NURSE

in a waysidetavern. And it seemed to him that

his nurse came to him and knelt by his side. Then
he was soothed.
O Matsu said, "
Will you sleepnow, my lord
"
Fugiwaka ?
And he answered, "
I will sleep now, O
Matsu."
"
Listen,my she said, and, sleeping
lord,'' "
or

waking,remember. The sword is your treasure.

The sword is your trust. The sword is your
fortune. Cherish it,guard it,keep it.*'
The sword was inwrapping of gold and
its
and
scarlet, she laid it by Fugiwaka'sside. The
boy turned over to sleep,and his hand claspedthe
sword of Id^.
"Waking or he
sleeping," said,"I will
remember."

249
 XXXIV

THE BEAUTIFUL DANCER OF YEDO

This is the tale of Sakura-ko, Flower of the

Cherry, who was the beautiful dancer of Yedo.

She was geisha^ born

a a samurais daughter, that

sold herself into bondage after her father died, so

that her mother might have food to eat. Ah,

the pity of it ! The money that bought her was

called Namida no Kani^ that is "the of

money
tears.*'
She dwelt in the narrow street of the geisha^
where the red and white lanterns swing and the

plum trees flourish by the low eves. The street of

the gets Aa is full of music, for they play the samisen

there all
day long.
Sakura-ico played it too ; indeed she was skilful
in
every lovely art. She played the samisen^ the
kottOy the bkoa^ and the small hand-drum. She
could make songs and sing them. Her were
eyes
long, her hair was black, her hands were white.

Her beauty was wonderful, and wonderful her

power to please. From dawn to dusk, and from

dawn she could
dusk to go smiling and hide her
heart. In the cool of the day she would stand

250
The Beautiful Dancer of Yedo. P. 250.
 THE DANCER OF YEDO xxxiv

He sent his servant to the street of the with

geisha
money in his girdle.Sakura-ko shut the door in
his face.
"
You are wrong, she said, you
fellow,** "
have
lost your way. You should have gone to the
street of the toy-shopsand bought your master a

doll ; let him know there arc no dolls here.**

After this the master came himself. "Come
to me, O Flower of the he said,
Cherry,** "
for I
must have you.**
**
"
Must ? she said,and looked down with her
long eyes.
"
he said,
Aye,** "
must is the word, O Flower
of the Cherry.**
"
What will you giveme ? ** she said.
"
Fine silk and brocade,a house, white
attires,
mats and cool galleries
; servants to wait on you,
goldhairpins what "

you will.'*
'*
"
What do I
giveyou ? she said.
"
Yourself,
justthat,O Flower of the Cherry.**
'*
"
Body and soul ? she said.
And he answered
her, Body and soul.'* "

Now, fare you well,**she said, I have a

" "

fancyto remain a geisha.It is a merry life,"

she
said,and she laughed.
So that was the end of the firstlover.
The second lover was old. To be old and
wise is very well, but he was old and foolish.
"
Sakura-ko,"he cried, ah, cruel "
one, I am mad
'*
for love of you !
"
My lord,"she said," I can believe
easily it."
He said, "
I am not so very old."
252
XXXIV THE DANCER OF YEDO

"
By the divine compassionof the gods,"she
told him, "
you may yet have time to prepare for
your end. Go home and read the good law."
But the old lover would hear nothing of her
counsel. Instead,he bade her to his house by
nightto a great feast which he had preparedfor
her. And when they had made an end of the
feast she danced before him wearingscarlet hakama
and a robe of gold brocade. After the dancinghe
made her sit beside him and he called for wine,
that they might drink together. And the geisha
who pouredthe saki was called Silver Wave,
When they had drunk together,Sakura-ko
and her old lover, he drew her to him and
cried :
"
Come, my love, my bride,you are mine for
the time of many existences ; there was poisonin
the cup. Be not afraid, for we shall die together.
Come with me to the Meido."

But Sakura-ko said,"My sister,the Silver

Wave, and I are not children,neither are we old
and foolish to be deceived. I drank no saki and no
poison. My sister, the Silver Wave, poured fresh
tea in my cup. Howbeit I am sorry for you, and
so I will stay with you till you die."
He died in her arms and was fain to take his
way alone to the Meido.
"
"
Alas ! alas ! cried the Flower of the Cherry.
But Silver
her sister. Wave, gave her counsel thus :

you will yet have cause for

"
Keep your tears,
for
weeping. Waste not grief such as he."
And that was the end of the second lover.
253
 THE DANCER OF YEDO xxxiv

The third lover was young and brave and gay.

Impetuous he was, and beautiful. He first set
eyes on the Flower of the Cherryat a festivalin
his father's house. Afterwards he went to seek
her out in the street of the geisha.He found her
as she leaned againstthe galleryrailingof her
mistress's house.
She looked down into the street of the geisha
and sang this song :

*'
My mother bade me finethread
spin
Out ofthe yellowsea sand "

A hard taskya hard task.

May the dear godsspeedme !
My fathergave me a basket ofreeds ;
He saidj Draw
*
water from the spring
'
And carry it a mile "

A hard task^a hard task.

May the dear godsspeedme !
My heart would remember^
My heart must forget;
Forgety my heartyforget "

A hard task^a hard task.

May the dear godsspeedme ! *'

When she had made an end of singing,the

lover saw that her eyes were full of tears.
**
Do you remember me,*'he said, O "
Flower
of the Cherry ? I saw you last night at
my
father'shouse."
young lord,"she answered him, I
"
"
Aye, my
remember you very well."
254
 XXXIV THE DANCER OF YEDO

He said, I "
am not so very young. And I love
you, O Flower of the Cherry. Be gentle,hear
me, be free,be my dear wife."
At this she flushed neck and chin,cheeks and
forehead.
"My dear," said the young man, "now you
are Flower of the Cherryindeed."
"
Child," she said, go home "
and think of me

no more. I am too old for such as you."

"
"
Old ! he said ; "
why, there lies*not a year
"
between us !
"No, not a year, but
year " no an eternity,"
said Flower of the Cherry. " Think no more of
me," she said ; but the lover thoughtof nothing
else. His young blood was on fire. He could
not eat, nor drink,nor sleep. He
pinedand grew
pale,he wandered day and his heart heavy
night,
with longing. He lived in torment ; weak he

grew, and weaker. One night he fell faintingat

the entrance of the street of the geisha.Sakura-ko
came home at dawn from a festival in a great
house. There she found him. She said
word, no

but she bore him to his house outside Yedo, and

stayedwith him there full three moons. And
after that time he was nursed back
ruddy to
health. the
swiftly,
Swiftly, glad days sped by
for both of them.
"
This is the happy time of all my life. I
thank the dear gods,"said Flower of the Cherry
one evening.
"
My dear,"the
young man bade her, "
fetch
hither your samisen and let me hear you sing."
255
 THE DANCER OF YEDO xxxiv

So she did. She said, '^

I shall sing you a

song you have heard already."

"
My mother bade me thread
spinjine
Out ofthe yellowsea sand "

A hara task^a hard task.

May the dear godsspeedme !
My fathergave me a basket ofreeds ;
He saidy Draw
'
water from the spring
*
And carry it a mile "

A hard task^a hard task.

May the dear godsspeedme !
My heart would remember y

My heart must forget;

ty my hearty
Forge forget "

A hard task^a hard task.

May the dear godsspeed me ! '*

"
Sweet," he said, what does this song
"
mean,
"
and why do you singit ?
She answered, "
Mv lord,it means that I must
leave you, and therefore do I sing it. I must

forgetyou ; you must forgetme. That is my

desire."
He said,"I will never forgetyou, not in a

thousand existences."
She smiled, " Pray the gods you may wed a

sweet wife and have children."

He cried, "
No wife but you, and no children
but yours, O Flower of the Cherry."
"
The gods forbid,
my dear,my dear. All the
world lies between us."
256
XXXIV THE DANCER OF YEDO

The next
gone. day she was High and low
the lover wandered, weeping and lamentingand
seekingher both near and far. It was all in vain,
for he found her not. The cityof Yedo knew her
no more "
Sakura-ko,the beautiful dancer.
And her lover mourned many many days.
Howbeit at last he was comforted, and they found
for him a very sweet fairladywhom he took to wife
willingly enough, and soon she bore him a son.
And he was glad,for time dries all tears.
Now when the boy was five years old he sat in
the gate of his father's house. And it chanced
that a wandering nun came that way begging for
alms. The servants of the house broughtrice and
would have put it into her begging bowl, but the
child said, Let me give." "

So he did as he would.
As he filled the begging bowl and patted
down the rice with a wooden spoon and laughed,
the nun caught him by the sleeve and held him
and looked into his eyes.
"
Holy nun, why do you look at me so ? *'
cried the child.
She said," Because I once had a little boy like

you, and I went away and left him."

"
Poor littleboy ! " said the child.
"
It was better for him, my dear, my dear "
far,
far better."
And when she
she had said this, went her way.

2S7
 XXXV

HANA-SAKA-JIJI

In the early days there lived a good old couple.

All their lives long they had been honest and

hard-working, but they had always been

poor.
Now in their old
age it was all they could do to

make both ends meet, the old creatures.

poor
But they did not complain, not a bit of it.

They were as the day is long. If they ever

merry
went to bed cold or hungry they said nothing about

it, and if they had bite or in the house

sup you
be sure they shared it with their dog, they for
may
were fond of him. He was faithful, good,
very
and clever. One evening the old man and the old

woman went out to do a bit of digging in their

garden, and the dog went with them.

While they were working the dog was sniflHng
the ground, and presently he began to scratch up
the earth with his
paws.
'*
"
What can the dog be about now ? the
says
old woman.

"
Oh, just nothing at all,*' says the old man ;
"
he's playing."
258
 HANA-SAKA-JIJI xxxv

his wife put a supper, of all manner of fine things

to eat, before the dog,and bade him fall to.
Honourable
*'
Dog,'*theysaid, you are good "

and wise, cat and afterwards find us treasure.**

But the dog would not eat.
"
All the more left for us,**
said the greedyold
couple,and they ate up the dog*ssupper in a
twinkling.Then theytied a stringround his neck
and draggedhim into the gardento find treasure.
But never a morsel of treasure he find,nor
did a

glintof gold,nor a shred of rich stuflF.

"
The devil's in the beast,**
cries the bad old
man, and he beat the dog with a big stick. Then
the dog began to scratch up the earth with his
paws.
V
"
Oho ! Oho ! ** says the bad old man to his
wife, "
now for the treasure.**
But was it treasure that the dog dug up ? Not
a bit of it. It was aheap of loathly rubbish,too
bad to tell of. But theysay it smelt most vilely
and the bad old couplewere fain to run away,
hidingtheir noses with their sleeves.
"
Arab, arah !**
theycried, the dog has deceived "

us.** And that very nighttheykilled the poor dog

and buried him at the foot of a tall pinetree.
Alack for the good old man and the good old
woman when they heard the dog was gone ! It
was theythat wept the bitter tears. They pulled
flowers and strewed them on the poor dog*sgrave.
They burned incense and they spreadout good
thingsto eat, and the vapour that rose from them
comforted the poor dog*s spirit.
260
XXXV HANA-SAKA-JIJI
Then the good old man cut down the pine
tree, and made a mortar of its wood. He put
rice in the mortar and pounded the rice with a

pestle.
"
Wonder of wonders," cried the old woman,
who was lookingon, " wonder of wonders, good
"
man, our rice is all turned into broad goldpieces!
So it was sure enough.
in
Presently, comes the bad old man to ask for
the loan of the mortar.

"For Fm needing a mortar somethingvery

special,"
says he.
"
Take it,"says the good old man ;
"
Fm sure

you'rewelcome."
So the bad old man took away the mortar under
his arm, and when he had got it home he filled it
with rice in a twinkling. And he pounded away
at it for dear life'ssake.
"
"
Do
you see anygold coming ? he says to

his wife, who was lookingon.

"
Never a bit," she says, "
but the rice looks
queer."
Queer enough it was, mildewed and rotten, no

use to man or beast.

"
"
Arab, arah ! they cried, the "
mortar has
deceived us." And they didn't let the grass grow
under their feet, but lit a fire and burnt the
mortar.

Now the good old couplehad lost their fairy

mortar. But theynever said a word, the patient
old folk. The good old man took some of the
ashes of the mortar and went his way.
261
 HANA-SAKA-JIJI xxxv

Now it was mid-winter time, and all the trees

were bare. There was not a flower to be seen, nor

yet a little green leaf.

What does the good old man do but climb into
a cherrytree and scatter a handful of his ashes over

the branches ? In a moment the tree was covered

with blossoms.
It will do,'*says the good old man,
"
and down
he gets from the tree and off he sets for the Prince's
where
palace, he knocks at the gate as bold as

brass.
**
"
Who are theyask him.
you ?
**
I am Hana^saka-jijij*
says the old man, "
the
man who makes dead trees to blossom ; my business
is with the Prince.**
Mighty pleasedthe Prince was when he saw

his cherrytrees and his peach trees and his plum

trees rush into blossom.
'*Why,**he said,"it is mid-winter, and we
have the joysof spring.** And he called forth his

ladywife and her maidens and all his own retainers

to see the work of Hana^saka-jiji. At last he sent
the old man home with a passingrich reward.
Now what of the bad old couple? Were they
content to let well alone ? Oh no.

all the
They gatheredtogether ashes that were

and when
left, theyhad put them in a basket they
went about the town crying:
**We are the Hana^saka-jiji.We can make
dead trees blossom.**
Presently
out comes the Prince and all his

company to see the show. And the bad old man

262
XXXV HANA-SAKA-JIJI
climbs up into a tree forthwith and scatters his
ashes.
But the tree never blossomed,never a bit. The
ashes flew into the Prince's eyes, and the Prince
flew into a rage. There was a prettyto-do. The
bad old couplewere caughtand well beaten. Sad
and theycrept home at night. It is to be
sorry
hoped that theymended their ways. Howbeit the
good people,their neighbours,grew rich and lived
happy all their days.

263
 XXXVI

THE MOON MAIDEN

There was an old bamboo cutter called Tak6

Tori. He was an honest old man, very poor and

hard-working, and he lived with his good old wife

in a cottage on the hills. Children they had none,
and little comfort in their old age, poor souls.

Tak^ Tori rose early upon a summer morning,

and went forth to cut bamboos as was his wont,
for he sold them for a fair price in the town, and

thus he gained his humble living.

Up the steep hillside he went, and came to the
bamboo grove quite wearied out. He took his blue

teneguiand wiped his forehead, "

Alack for my old
**
bones ! he said. "
I am not so young as I once

was, nor the good wife either, and there's no chick

nor child to help us in our old

age, more's the

pity." He sighed as he got to work, poor Tak6

Tori.
Soon he saw a bright light shining the
among
stems of the bamboos.
green
"
"
What is this ? said Tak6 Tori, for as a rule

it was dim and shady enough in the bamboo grove.

"Is it the sun?'' said Tak6 Tori. "No, that

264
XXXVI THE MOON MAIDEN

cannot well be, for it comes from the ground."

Very soon he pushedhis waythrough the bamboo
stems to see what the brightlightcame from.
Sure enough it came from the root of a great big
green bamboo. Tak6 Tori took his axe and cut

down the great big green bamboo, and there was

a fine shininggreen jewel,the size of his two

fists.
"
Wonder of wonders !" cried Tak6 Tori.
"
Wonder of wonders ! For five-and-thirty
years
IVe cut bamboo. This is the very first time
Fve found a great big green jewel at the root
of one of them." With that he takes up the jewel
in his hands,and as soon as he does that,it bursts
in two with a loud noise,if you'llbelieve it,and
out of it came a young person and stood on Tak6
Tori's hand.
You must understand the young person was
small but very beautiful. She was dressed all in
green silk.
"
Greetingsto you, Tak6 Tori," she says, as

easy as you please.

"

Mercy me ! says Tak6 Tori.

"
Thank you
**

I
kindly. suppose, now, you'll be a fairy,"he
"

says, if I'm not making too bold in asking

"
?
You're
"
right,"she says, it's a fairyI am, "

and I'm come to live with you and your good wife

for a little."
"
Well, now," says Take Tori, beggingyour
"

pardon,we're very poor. Our cottage is good

enough,but I'm afraid therc'd be no comforts for
a ladylike you."

265
 THE MOON MAIDEN xxxvi

''
** Where's the big green jewel? says the fairy.
Take Toripicksup the two halves. " Why,
it'sfull of he says.
goldpieces,"
"
That will do to go on with,**says the fairy
;
"
and now, Tak6 Tori, let us make for home."
Home they went. "
Wife ! wife ! " cried
Tak6 Tori, fairy "
come here's
to live with us,a

and she has broughtus a shining jewelas big as a

persimmon,full of goldpieces."
The good wife came running to the door.
She could hardly believe her eyes.
What
"
is this,"she said, about a persimmon "

and gold pieces? Persimmons I have seen often

enough moreover, " it is the season but gold "

piecesare hard to come by."

"
Let be, woman," said Take Tori, "
you are

dull." And he broughtthe fairy

into the house.
Wondrous fast the fairygrew. Before many
dayswere gone she was a fine tall maiden, as fresh
and as fair as the morning,as
brightas the noon-
day,

as sweet and still as the evening, and as deep

as the night. Tak6 Tori called her the Lady
Beaming Bright, because she had come out of the
shining jewel.
Take Tori had the goldpieces out of the jewel

every day. He grew rich,and spent his money

like a man, but there was always plenty and
to spare. He built him a fine house, he had
servants to wait on him. The Lady Beaming
Brightwas lodged like an empress. Her beauty
was famed both near and far,and scores of lovers
came to seek her hand.
266
 THE MOON MAIDEN xxxvi

"
How long and brighta beam ! ** quoth Take
Tori, "It is like
highway from the moon
a

reachingto this gardengallery/'

O dear foster-father,"
"
cried the Lady Beaming
Bright. You speaktruth,it is a highwayindeed.
"

And along the highway come countless heavenly

beingsswiftly, swiftly, to bear me home. My
father is the King of the Moon. I disobeyedhis
behest. He sent me earth three years to dwell
to

in exile. The three years are past and I go to mine

own country. Ah, I am sad at parting."
**
The mist descends,"said Tak6 Tori.
"
Nay," said the Mikado, " it is the cohorts of
the King of the Moon."
Downtheycame in their hundreds and their
thousands, bearing torches. Silently they came,
and lighted round about the garden gallery.The
chief among them brought a heavenly feather
robe. Up rose the Lady Beaming Brightand put
the robe upon her.
"Farewell, Tak6 Tori," she said, "farewell,
dear foster-mother,I leave you my jewel for a
.

remembrance. As for you, my lord,I would

...

you might come with me but there is no feather "

robe for you. I leave you a phial of the pure

elixir of life. Drink, my lord,and be even as the
Immortals."
Then spreadher bright wings and the
she
cohorts of Heaven closed about her. Together
they passedup the highwayto the moon, and were
no more seen.

The Mikado took the elixir of lifein his hand,

268
XXXVI THE MOON MAIDEN

and he went to the top of the highestmountain in

that country. And he made
a great fire to con-
sume

for he said," Of what profit

the elixir of life,
shall it be to me to live for ever, beingpartedfrom
"
the Lady Beaming Bright?
So the elixir of life was consumed, and its blue

vapour floated up to Heaven. And the Mikado

said, Let message float up with the vapour
"
my
and reach the ears of my Lady BeamingBright/*

269
 XXXVII

KARMA

The man, Ito Tatewaki, returning

young was

homeward after a journey which he had taken to

the city of Kioto. He made his

way alone and

on foot, and he went with his bent the

eyes upon
ground, for cares weighed him down and his mind

was full of the business which had taken him to

Kioto. Night found him upon a lonely road ing

lead-

across a wild moor. Upon the moor were

rocks and stones, with an abundance of flowers, for

it was summer time, and here and there a
grew
dark pine tree, with gnarled trunk and crooked

boughs.
Tatewaki looked up
and beheld the figure of

a woman before him in the

way.
It was a slender

girl dressed in a simple gown of blue cotton.

Lightly she went along the lonely road in the

deepening twilight.
" I should she was the serving-maid of
say
some gentle lady," Tatewaki said to himself.
" The
way is solitary and the time is dreary for
such a child as she."

So the man quickened his and came

young pace
270
/"

s
u
Id
XXXVII KARMA

up with the maiden. "

Child," he said
very
gently, since "
we tread the same lonelyroad let
us be for now
fellow-travellers, the twilight
passes
and it will soon be dark/*
The pretty maiden turned to him with bright
eyes and smilinglips.
"Sir," she said, **my mistress will be glad
indeed."
"
**
Your mistress ? said Tatewaki.
**
Why, sir,of a suretyshe will be gladbecause
you are come."
"
Because I am come ? '*
"
Indeed,and indeed the time has been long,"
said the serving-maid
;
"
but now she will think no

more of that."
"
Will she not ? " said Tatewaki. And on he
went by the maiden's side,walking as one in a

dream.
Presentlythe two of them came to a little
house, not far from the roadside. Before the
house was a small
garden,with a stream fair
runningthroughit and a stone bridge. About the
house and the garden there was a bamboo fence,
and in the fence a wicket-gate.
"
Here dwells my said
mistress," the serving-
maid. And
they went into the garden through
the wicket-gate.
Now Tatewaki came to the threshold of the
house. He saw a ladystandingupon the threshold
waiting.
She said, "
You have come at last,
my lord,to
giveme comfort."
271
 KARMA XXXVII

And he answered, "

I have come."
When he had said this he knew that he loved
the lady,and had loved her since love was.
"
O love, love," he murmured, "
time is not
for such as we."
Then she took him by the hand, and theywent
into the house togetherand into a room with
white mats and a round latticed window.
Before the window there stood a lilyin a

vessel of water.

Here the two held converse together.

And after some time there *was an old ancient
woman that came with
flagon; saki in a silver
and she and all things
broughtsilver drinking-cups
needful. And Tatewaki and the
ladydrank the
"Three Times Three" together.When theyhad
done this the ladysaid," Love, let us go out into
the shine of the moon. See,the nightis as green
as an emerald. . .
."
they went and left the house and the small
So
fair gardenbehind them. Or ever theyhad closed
the wicket-gate the house and the gardenand the
wicket-gate itself all faded away, dissolving in a
faint mist, and not a signof them was left.
"
"
Alas ! what is this ? cried Tatewaki.
"
Let be, dear love,"said the lady,and smiled ;
"
they pass, for we have no more need of them."
Then Tatewaki saw that he was alone with
the ladyupon the wild moor. And the tall lilies

grew about them in a ring. So they stood the

live-longnight,not touching one another but
lookinginto each other's eyes most steadfastly.
272
 KARMA XXXVII

Staywith us. Last nightwas the Night of

*'

Souls. They came to earth and wandered where

theywould, the kind wind carried them. To-day
theyreturn to Yomi. They go in their boats of
flowers, the river bears them. Stay with us and
bid the departing Souls good speed."
And Tatewaki cried, May the Souls have "

sweet passage. I cannot

... stay."
So he came to the plains at last,but did not
find his lady. Nothing at all did he find,but a
wilderness of ancient graves, with nettles overgrown
and the waving green grass.
So Tatewaki went to his own place,and for
ninelong years he lived a lonely man. The
happinessof home and little children he never

knew.
"Ah, love," he said, "not patiently,not
I wait
patiently, for you. . . .
Love, delay not
your coming."
And when the nine years were past he was in
his gardenupon the Night of Souls. And looking
up he saw a woman that came towards him,
threadingher way through the paths of the
garden. Lightlyshe came ; she was a slender
girl,dressed in a simple gown of blue cotton.
Tatewaki stood up and spoke:
"
Child," he said very gently,since "
we tread
the same lonelyroad let us be fellow-travellers,
for now the twilightpasses and it will soon be
dark."
The maid turned to him with brighteyes and
smilinglips:
274
XXXVII KARMA

"
Sir,"she said, my "
mistress will be glad
indeed."
"
"
Will she be glad? said Tatewaki.
"
The time has been long."
**
Long and very weary,"said Tatewaki.
"
But now you will think no more of
that. . .
."
"Take me to your mistress,"said Tatewaki.
"
Guide me, for I cannot see any more. Hold me,
for my limbs fail. Do not leave go my hand, for I
am afraid. Take me to your mistress," said
Tatewaki.
In themorning his servants found him cold
and lyingin the shade of
dead, quietly the garden
trees.

27s T2
 XXXVIII

THE SAD STORY OF THE YAOYA'S

DAUGHTER

There was a wandering ballad-singer who came to

house in Yedo where they wished to be

a great
entertained.
"
"
Will have dance a ? said the
you a or song
"
The
ballad-singer ;
"
or shall I tell
you a story ?
people of the house bade him tell a story.
'*
" Shall it be a tale of love or a tale of war ?

said the ballad-singer.

"
Oh, a tale of love,** they said.
"
"
Will have sad tale a ? asked
you a or merry
the ballad-singer.
all agreed that they would hear
They were a

sad tale.

"Well, then," said the ballad-singer, "listen,

and I will tell the sad story of the Yaoya*s
you
daughter."
So he told this tale-

The hard-working but

Yaoya was a poor man,

his daughter was the sweetest thing in Yedo.

276
XXXVIII THE YAOYA'S DAUGHTER

You must know she was one of the five beauties of

the city,that grew like five cherry-trees
in the
time of the springblossoming.
In autumn the hunters lure the wild deer with
the sound of the flute. The deer are deceived,for
they believe that they hear the voices of their
mates. So are theytrappedand slain. For like
calls to like. Youth calls to youth, beauty to
beauty,love to love. This is law, and this law
was the undoingof the Yaoya'sdaughter.
When there was a great fire in Yedo, so great
that more than the half of the citywas burned,
the Yaoya'shouse was ruined also. And the
Yaoya and his wife and his daughterhad no roof
over them, nor anywhere to laytheir heads. So
they went to a Buddhist temple for shelter and
stayedthere many days,tilltheir house should be
rebuilt. Ah me, for the Yaoya's daughter! Every
morning at sunrise she bathed in the springof
clean water that was near the temple. Her eyes
were bright and her cheeks ruddy. Then she
would put on her blue gown and sit by the water-
side

to comb her long hair. She was a sweet and

slender thing,scarce fifteen years old. Her name

was O Schichi.
"Sweep the temple and the temple courts,"
her father bade her. *'
*Tis well we should do so

much for the who

good priests give us shelter."
So O Schichi took the broom and swept. And as

she laboured she

merrily,and sang the grey
of the templegrew bright.
precincts
Now there was a
young acolytewho served in
277
 THE YAOYA^S DAUGHTER xxxviii

the holy place. Gentle he was and beautiful.

Not a day passedbut he heard the singingof
O Schichi ; not a day passedbut he set eyes upon
her, going her ways, so lightand slender,in the
ancient courts of the temple.
It was not long before he loved her. Youth
calls to youth,beautyto beauty, love to love. It
was not long before she loved him.

Secretlythey met together in the temple

grove. Hand in hand theywent, her head against
his arm.

"Ah," she cried,"that such a thing should

be ! I am happy and unhappy. Why do I love
"

you, my own ?
"
Because of the power of Karma," said the
acolyte. Nevertheless,we
"
sin,O heart's desire,
grievously
we sin,and I know not what may come

of it."
"
Alas," she said, "
will the gods be angry
"
with us, and we so
young ?
"
I cannot tell,"he said ;
"
but I am afraid."
Then the two of them ling
tremb-
clungtogether,
and weeping. But they pledgedthemselves
to each other for the space of many existences.
The Yaoya had his dwellingin the quarter of
the citycalled Honjo,and presently his house was

rebuilt which had been destroyedby the fire. He

and his wife were glad,for they said, Now "
we

shall go home."
O Schichi hid her face with her sleeve and
wept bitter tears.
"
"
Child,what ails you ? said her mother.
278
XXXVIII THE YAOYA'S DAUGHTER

"
Schichi wept.
O "
Oh ! oh ! oh ! she cried,
and swayedherself to and fro.
**
"
Why, maid, what is it ? said her father.
Schichi wept.
Still O "
Oh ! oh ! oh j ** she
cried,and swayedherself to and fro.
That nightshe went to the grove. There was

the very pale and sorrowful,

acolyte, beneath the
trees.

They will part us," she cried, O my dear

" "

heart's desire. The dear gods are angry with us,

and we so young."
"
Ah," he said, I was afraid. "
. . . Farewell,
dear maid, O little maid, sweet and
slender.
Remember we are pledgedto one another for the
space of many existences."
Then the two of them ling
tremb-
clungtogether,
and weeping, and they bade farewell a

thousand times.
The next day they bore O Schichi home to

Honjo. She grew languid and listless. White

she grew, white as the buckwheat flower. She
drooped and she failed. No longer was she
numbered with the five beauties of Yedo, nor

likened in the time of the spring

cherry-treeto a

blossoming. All the day long she brooded

At nightshe layawake
silently. in her low bed.
"
"
Oh ! oh ! she moaned, "
the weary, weary
night! Shall I never see him ? Must I die of
longing? Oh ! oh ! the weary, weary night. . "
."
Her eyes grew largeand burningbright.
"
Alas ! poor maid," said her father.
**I am afraid . "
." said her mother. "She
279
 THE YAOYA'S DAUGHTER xxxviii

will lose her wits. . " .

She does not weep any
more."
At last O Schichi arose and took straw and
made it into a bundle ; and she put charcoal
in the bundle and laid it beneath the gallery
of her father's house. Then she set fire to
the straw and the charcoal,and the whole burnt

merrily. Furthermore the wood of her father's

house took lightand the house was burnt to the
ground.
"
*^
I shall see him ; I shall see him ! shrieked
0 Schichi,and fell in a swoon.

Howbeit all the cityknew that she had set fire

to her father's house. So she was taken before the
judge to be tried for her wrong-doing.
"
Child," said the judge, "
what made you do
"
this thing?
"
I wassaid, I did it for love's sake.
mad," she "

1 said,'I will burn the house, we shall have

nowhere to lay our heads, then we shall take
shelter at the temple; I will see my lover.'
Lord, I have not seen him nor heard of him these

many, many moons."

"
"
Who is your lover ? said the judge.
Then she told him.
Now as for the law of the city,it was hard
and could not be altered. Death was the penalty
for the crime of the Yaoya'sdaughter. Only a

child might escape.

"
My little maid," the judge said, "
are you
"
perhapstwelve years old ?
Nay, lord,"she
"
answered.
280
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