InGhostlyJapan 10020886

G H O ST J A PA N
BY LAFC A DI O H EA RN
-
e m am
us o n suc u su u rea/nu ns
in T H E I M PERI AL U N I V ER S I T Y T OKYO
.
B0ST ON
L I T TL E , BR OW N , A N D COMP A N Y
Copy righ t, 1899 ,
BY L ITT LE, O
BR W N , AND C MPANY O
‘
A ll n gb t: reserv ed
18m m“
8 J
. . P u u mx u . a Co .
, B o sr o n . U
'
. 8 .
FRAG MEN T
Fum sooi
I NCENSE
A S TOR I TO
Y OF D V I NA I N
SI LII WOEI I S
A PASSIO “ K R N . A MA
FOOT R T BUDDHA
q
P I N S OF
U I ON
T
BI S OP P E O TR Y
J APANESE BUDDI I I ST PROVEI uI s
SU GG ES TIO N
lNG WA BANASBI
-
STOR Y or A T ENG U
A T YAI DZI J
L i st of I llu stration s
l ull $19
M O T
U N AI N or q u s
MAG I GAI I NGENSE

.
O
PE NY LAN E N TR
L I G II T s OP TEE D EAD
S um mit in the dim
S R I pAnfi
’
'‘
- T R AC ING AT D ENTsu I N,
-
KOI snI w A,
SnO-Ex b HO KWAN
— -
SQ R
UA E AND TRI ANGLE
'
m c
)
lN GHOSTLY J APAN
Yo n I bakarl
Min n m ono m l to
0m cu-
m yo l
H iru sue yum é no
appears to a s M b day .
J AA
P NESE Po m .
G h o st ly J a pa n
3
Fragm ent
ND it w as at the hour of sunset th at they
Q came to the foot of the m ountain There

w
.
as in that pl ace n o sign of life

,
neither
token of w ater nor trace of plant nor sh adow
, ,
of flying bird nothing but desolation rising to

desol ation A nd the summit w
,
. as lost in h eaven .
Then the Bodhisattva said to his young com

panion Wh at you have ask ed to see w ill
be shown to you But the place of the Vision is
far ; and the w
.
ay is rude . Follow after me and ,
do not fear : strength will be given you .

”
Twilight gloomed about them as they climbed .
There w as no be aten p ath nor any mark of for .
m er hum an visitation ; and the w ay w

,
as over an
endless he aping of t um bled fragments th at rolled

4 ln G h ost ly Japan
or turn ed b eneath the foot Sometimes a mass
.
dislodged would clatter down with hollow echo

ings sometimes the substance trodden would
burst like an empty shell Stars pointed
.
and thrilled and the d ark ness deepened .
D o not fear my son said the Bodhisattv a

”
guiding : danger there is none though the w

, , ,
ay,
be grim .
”
U nder the stars they climbed fast fast , , ,
mounting by help Of power superhuman High

zones of mist they passed ; and they saw
.
below
them ever widening as they climbed a soundless
, ,
flood Of cloud like the tide of a milky sea

, .
Hour after hour they climbed and forms
invisible yielded to their tread with dull soft

crash ings and faint cold fires lighted and died
at every breaking .
And once the pilgri m youth laid hand on a

-
something smooth th at w as not stone and lifted
it and dimly sawthe cheek less gibe of death

,
L inger not thus my son , urged the voice

of the teacher ; the summit th at we must
“
gain is very far away ! ”
On through the dark they climbed and felt ,
contin ually beneath them the soft strange break .

Fragm ent 5
ings and sawthe icy fires worm and die till
, ,
the rim of the night turned grey and the stars ,
began to fail and the east began to bloom

, .
Yet still they climbed fast fast mounting

by help of power superhuman About them now
, , ,
w
.
as frigi dness of death and silence tremendous

, .
A gold flame k indled in the east .
Then first to the pilgrim s gaze the steeps t e

’
vealed their nakedness and a trem bling seized
him and a ghastly fear For there w

, . as not
any ground , neither beneath him nor about him

nor above him but a heaping only monstrous
, ,
and measureless of sk ulls and fragments of sk ulls

,
and dust of bone with a shimmer of shed teeth

,
strown through th e drift of it lik e th e shimm er ,
of scrags of shell in the wrack of a tide .
D o not fear my son l cried the v oice of the

only the strong of heart can w
,
Bodhisattva in
to the place of the Vision
Behind them the world had vanished Nothing .
remained but the clouds beneath and the sky ,
above and the heaping of sk ulls between

,
up ,
sl anting out of sight .
Then the sun climbed with the climbers ; and

there w as no warmth in the light of h im but ,
6 In Gh ost ly J apan
coldness sharp as a sword And the horror of .
stupendous height and the nightm are of stupen

,
dous depth and the terror of silence ever grew

, ,
and grew and weighed upon the pilgrim and held

, ,
h is feet so th at suddenly all power dep arted

,
from him and he moaned like a sleeper in dreams

,
.
H asten h asten my son ! cried the Bodhi

, ,
sattva : the day is brief and the summit is very

“
,
far away .
But the pilgrim sh rieked ,
1 fear ! I fear unspe ak ably and the power
h as dep arted from me !

T he power wi ll return my son m ade answer
L ook now
, ,
the Bodhisattva below you and

above you and about you and tell me wh at you ,
”
see .
“
I cannot cried the pilgrim trembling and ,
clinging I dare not look beneath ! Before

me and about me there is nothing but sk ulls of
men .
”
A nd yet my son said the Bodhisattva

, , ,
laughing softly and yet you do not know

,
of wh at this mount ain is made

”
.
The other shuddering repeated, ,
“
I fear 1 unutterably I fear !
—
there is
nothing but skulls of men
Fragm ent 7
A mountain of sk ulls it is res ponded the
,
”
Bod hisattva But know my son that all of

.
, ,
them A R E YO U R O W N ! Each has at som e

time been the nest of your dream s and del usions
and desires . Not even one of th em is the sk ull of
any other being All all without ex ception
.
, ,
have been yours in the billions of your former

,
li ves
.
”
Fu risod é
ECEN T LY, while passing through a little

street tenanted chiefly by de alers in old
wares I noticed a furisod é or long

, ,
sleeved robe of the rich purple tint called m e
It w
,
m sa k z h anging before one of the shops

’
, as.
a robe such as might h ave been worn by a lady
of rank in the t ime of the Tokugawa l stopped

.
to look at the five crests upon it ; an d in the

same moment th ere ca me to my recollection th is
legend of a similar robe said to have once caused

the destruction of Yedo .
Nearly two hundred and fifty years ago the ,
daughter of a rich merchant of the city of the

Shoguns while attending some temple festival
,
-
,
perceived in the crowd a young samurai of re

markable beauty and immediately fell in love
,
with him U nhappily for her he disappeared in

.
,
the press before she could learn through her at

tendants who he w as or whence he h ad com e .
12 In Gh ostly J ap an
But his im age remained vivid in her memory ,
even to the least detail of h is costume The holi

d ay attire then worn by sam urai youths w
.
as
scarcely less brilli ant than th at of young girls ;
and the upper dress of thi s h andsom e stranger
had seemed wonderfully beautiful to the en

am oured m aiden . She fancied th at by wearing
a robe of lik e qu ality and col or bearing the same
,
crest she might be able to attract h is notice on

,
some future occasion .
Accordingly she had such a robe made w ith ,
very long sleeves according to the fashion of the

,
period ; and she prized it greatly She wore it .
whenever she went out ; and when at home she

would suspend it in her room and try to imagine the
,
form of her unk nown beloved within it Some .
times she would pass hours before it dreaming ,
and weeping by turns And she would pray to

.
the gods and the Buddhas that she might win the
young man s affection often repeating the in
’
,
vocation of the Nichiren sect : N a m u my o bo

.
’
rengé 1
But she never sawthe youth again ; and she
pined with longing for him and sickened and
died and w
, ,
as buried After her burial the long

sleeved robe th at she had so m uch prized w
.
, ,
as
Furisodé 1}
given to the Buddhist temple of which her fam ily

were parishioners it is an old custom to thus
.
dispose of the garments of the dead

T he priest w
.
as able to sell the robe at a good
price for it w as a costly sil k and bore no trace of
it w
,
th e tears th at h ad fallen upon it as bought .
by a girl of about the same age as the dead lad y .
She wore it only one day Then she fell sick and
crying out that she w
.
,
began to act strangely , as
haunted by the vision of a beautiful young m an

and that for love of h im sh e w
,
as going to die .
And within a little while she died ; and the long

sleeved robe w as a second tim e presented to th e
temple .
Again the priest sold it ; and again it became

the property of a young girl w ho wore it only ,
once Then she also sickened and talk ed of a

beautiful shadow and died and w
.
,
as buried
, And
the robe w
.
,
as given a third time to the temple ;
and the priest w ondered and doubted .
Nevertheless he ventured to sell the luck less

garment once more Once more it w
. as pur
chased by a girl and once more worn ; and the

wearer pined and died And the robe w
. as gi ven
a fourth time to the temple
Then the priest felt sure that there w

.
as some
14 I n Gh ostl y J apan
evil influence at work ; and he told his acolytes to
make a fire in the temple court and to burn the -
,
robe
So they m ade a fire into which the robe w
.
, as
thrown But as the silk began to burn there

.
,
suddenly appe ared upon it da zzling characters of
flame the ch aracters of the invocation N a m u

, ,
my o bb rangé Ic
' '
y b and the
'
se one by one , ,
leaped like great sparks to the temple roof and

the temple took fire .
Embers from the burning temple presen tly

dropped upon neighbouring roofs ; and the whole
street w as soon ablaze Then a sea wind rising
. -
, ,
blew destr uction into further streets ; and the co n

fl agration spread from street to street and from ,
district into district till nearly the whole of the

city w
,
as consumed And this calamity which

.
,
occurred upon the eighteenth day of the first

month of the fi rst year of Meiréki ( 165 5 ) is still
remembered in Tokyo as the F urisod é Kw a i
j -
th e G reat Fire of the L ong sleeved Robe - .
According to a story book called K ibun -
the name of the girl w ho caused the robe to be

made w as O Same; and she w
-
as the d aughter of
H ikoyém on a w ine merchant of H yak ushO m achi

,
- -
,
Furisod é 15
in the district of Azabu Because of her beauty

she w
.
as also called Azabu Kom ach i or t he K omach i -

,
of Azabu The same book says that the temple

.
1
of the tradition w as a Nichiren temple called H on
m i i in the d istrict of Hongo ; and th at the crest
upon the robe w as a kiky o flow

,
er But there are - .
m any di fferent versions of the story ; and i dis
trust the K ibun D a zjzn because it asserts that the

-
‘ ’
beautiful sam urai w as not rea lly a m an but a ,
q
transformed dragon or water serpent that used to ,
-
,
inhabit the l ake at U yeno Sbinob u no lké ,

- - .
1Aft m tha th s d yea s the am f K m achi

er ore na o u an r n eo o
K m ach i is still l b t d i J pa She w

, .
or O no -no- o s ce e ra e n a n. a
th m st b a tif l wm
,
e o e uf h tim e nd s g eat
u o p etan o er a o r a o
th t sh c ld m ve h v by h r v ses d cause
,
a e ou o ea en e er , an
ai t f ll in tim e f d r ght
r n o a Ma y m en l Od her i ou n ove n
in ; a d m any e said t hav d i d fo lo v e f her B t

.
va n ar o e e r o u
s visited h w
.
m isf rt o e un h her y th had passed ; er d en ou an
ft hav i g be tt erm st w
,
a er d ced t th
n en re u a t sh e b o e u o n e
beggar a d di d t last p the p blic highwy

.
ca me a n e a u on u a
As it ws th ght sham ef l t b y her in th

, ,
n ear Kyoto a ou u o ur e
v w
.
f ul rags f und pon her s m e p

o o p eus g a o oo r r on a e orn
t s m m er ob (i m a ) t w p h
.
ou u -r eb dy i ; a d sh m o ra er o n n e
w i t d ea A ashiy m t pot still p int d t

as n erre n r r a a a a s o e ou
t t
o ell s as the Place of the Katabira
rav er (K t bi a a ra -no
I n ce n s e
SEE, rising out of dark ness a lotos in a vase

, .
M ost of the vase is invisible ; but 1 k now

that it is of bronze and that its glimpsing
,
handles are bodies of dragons Only the lotos is

.
fully illuminated : three pure white flowers and ,
five great leaves of gold and green gold above , ,
green on the upcurling under surface an arti

-
,
fi cial lotos
. It is bathed by a slanting stream of
sunshine the dark ness beneath and beyond is
the dusk of a temple chamber 1 do not see the
- .
opening through which the radi ance pours ; but 1
am aw are th at it is a sm all wind ow sh aped in the
outline form of a temple bell

- - .
The reason that 1 see the lotos one memory

of my fi rst visit to a Buddhist sanctu ary is th at
there has come to me an od or of incense Often .
when I smell incense this vision defines ; and

,
usually thereafter other sensations of my first day

20 In Gh ostly Japan
in Japan revive in swift succession with almost
painful acuteness .
lmost ubiquitous this perfume of in

I t is a ,
cense I t makes one element of the faint but

.
complex and never to be forgotten odor of the

- - -
Far East It haunts the dwelling house not less

.
-
th an the temple the home of the peasant not

,
less than the yashik i of the prince Shinto .
shrines indeed are free from it

, , incense being
an abomin ation to the elder gods But wherever .
Buddhism lives there is incense I n every house .
containing a Buddhist shrine or Buddhist tablets ,
incense is burned at certain times ; and in even

the rudest country solitudes you will find incense
smouldering before wayside images little stone
figures of Fudo J izo or K w
,
, annon M any ex
, .
p eriences of travel strange impre

, ssion s o f sound
as well as of sight remain associ ated in my
ow
,
n memory with th at fragrance vast silent

sh adowed avenues le ading to weird old shrines ;
mossed flights of worn steps ascending to tem

ples that moulder above the clouds joyous
tumult of festival nights sheeted funeral trains -
gliding by in glim mer of lanterns murmur of

household prayer in fi sh erm en s huts on far wild ’
I ncense 21
o t
c as s and visions of de solate little graves
marked only by threads of blue smoke ascending ,
graves of pet anim als or birds rem embered by

sim ple he ar t s in the hour of prayer to A mida the ,
Lord of lmmeasurable L ight .
But the od or of which l speak is that of cheap

incense only the incense in general use There
, .
are many other kinds of incense ; and the range
of q ua lity is amazing A bundle of common in

.
cense rods (they are about as thick as an or

-
d inary pencil lead and so mewhat longer)

-
, can
be bought for a few sen ; while a bundle of better
quality presenting to inexperienced eyes only
,
some difference in color m ay cost several yen

, ,
and be chea p at th e price Still costlier so rts of

.
incense verit able luxuries take the form of

, ,
lozenges wafers pastilles ; and a small envelope

, ,
of such m ateri al m ay be worth four or five
pounds sterling But the commercial and indus

—
.
trial questions relating to Japanese incense repre

sent the least interesting part of a rem arkably
22 I n G h ostly J apan
Curious indeed but enormous by reason of its

,
infinity of tradition and detail I am afraid even

.
to think of the size of the volume that would be

needed to cover it . Such a work would prop
erly begin with some brief account of the earliest
k nowledge and use of arom atics in J apan lt .
would nex t treat of the records and legends of

the first introduction of Buddhist incense from
Korea when K ing ShOm yo of Kudara in 5 5 1
, ,
A D sent to the island empire a collection of

. .
,
-
sutras an im age of the Buddh a and one complete

, ,
set of furniture for a temple Then something

.
would have to be said about those classifications

of incense which were m ade during the tenth cen
tury in the periods of Engi and of Tenryak u

, ,
and about the report of the ancient state coun -
cillor K im itak a Sangi who visited China in the

,
-
,
latter part of the thirteenth century and trans,
m itted to the Emperor Y ome l the wisdom of the
Chinese concerning incense Then mention should

.
be made of the ancient incenses still preserved in

various J apanese temples and of the famous
,
fragm ents of f a nja ta i ( publicly ex hibited at

I ncense 23
Nara in the tenth year of Meiji ) which furnished

supplies to the three gre at captains Nobunaga , ,
Hideyoshi and lyeyasu After this should fol

low
.
,
an outline of the history of mixed incenses
made in J apan with notes on the classifi ca

,
tions devised by the luxurious Tak au11 and on ,
the nomenclature established later by Ashik aga

Yosh im asa w ho collected one hundred and thirty
,
varieties of incense and invented for the more ,
precious of them names recognized even to this

such as Blossom Showering Smok e
”
day — -
Flower of the Pure L aw Ex

, ,
” ”
of Fup
- and ,
- - - - .
amples ought to be given li k ewise of traditions
attaching to historical incen ses preserv ed in sev
eral princely families ; together with Specimens of

those hereditary recipes for incense m ak ing which -
have been transmitted from generation to gen

cration through hundred s of years and are still ,
called after their august inventors as the ,
Method of Hina D ainagon the Method of

-
,
” “
Sento ln etc Recipes also should be given

”
- .
,
of those strange incenses m ade to im ita te tbe
p f
er um e o f the lotos, the sm ell o f the sum m er
breere, a nd the odor f

o the a utum n w
i d n .
”
Some legends of the great period Of incense

lux ury should be cited such as the story of ,
24 In G h ostly Japan
Sué Ow ri no K mi w
a - h - a him self a
, o built for
palace of incense woods and set fire to it on the
-
,
night of his revolt when the smoke of its bum

,
ing perfumed the land to a distance of twelve

miles . Of course the mere compilation of
materials for a history of m ixed incenses would -
entail the study of a host of documents treatises , ,
and book s particularly of such strange works

,
as the K un Sbu R u i Sbo or I ncense Collector s

‘
- - - -
’
,
Classifying M anual - containing the teachings

of the Ten Scho ols of the Art of Mixing In cen se ;
directions as to the best seasons for incense m ak -
ing ; and instructions about the d ifl erent k ind s '
o ffi re to be us ed for burning incen se ( one
k ind is called literary fire and another mili

“
,
”
tary fire together with rules for pressing the

ashes of a censer into v arious artistic designs cor
responding to season and occasion A special .
chapter should certainly be given to the incense

bags (kusad a m a ) hung up in houses to drive
away goblins an d to the sm aller incense bags
,
-
formerly carried about the person as a protection

against evil Spirits Then a very large part of the
.
work would h ave to be devoted to the religious

uses and legends of incense a huge subject in ,
itself There would also h ave to be considered th e

.
26 In Ghostly J apan
Th e common incense everywhere burned by

poor people before Buddhist icons is called a n
sok u ké
- This is very cheap G reat quantities
. .
of it are burned by pilgrims in the bronze cen

sers set before th e entrances of famous tem
ples ; and in front of roadside im ages you m ay

often see bundles of it These are for the use of
pious wayfarers w
.
ho p ause before every Buddh ist

,
image on their path to repeat a brief prayer and ,
when possible to set a fewrods smouldering at

,
the feet of the statue But in rich temples and

.
,
during great religious ceremonies much more ex ,
pensive incense is used Altogether three classes

.
of perfumes are employed in Buddhist rites : 1 16 ,
Or incense proper in many varieties (the word

-
,
literall y means only fragrant substance

d {uk5 an odorous ointment ; and m a kké a
’
, ,
fragrant powder K 6 is burned d zukb is rubbed

.
'
upon the hands of the priest as an ointment of

purification ; and m a kko is sprinkled about the
sanctuary This m a kk o is said to be identical
.
with the sandalwood powder so frequently men

-
tioned in Buddhist texts But it is only the true .

I ncense 27
incense w
hi h c bear an im portant
can be said to
relation to the religious service .
Incense declares the Sosbi Ryak u is the

”
,
-
,
‘
Messenger of Earnest D esire When the rich .
Sudetia wished to invite the Buddha to a repast

he made use of incense He w
,
as wont to ascend
.
to the roof of h is house on the eve of the day of

the entertainment and to remain st anding there
,
all night h olding a ce nser of precious incense

, .
And as often as he did thus the Buddha never ,
failed to come on the following day at the ex act

tim e des ired .
”
This tex t plainly implies that incense as a bum t ,
offering symbolizes the pious desires of the faith

,
ful But it symbolizes other things also ; and it

.
h as furnished m any remark able similes to Budd

hist literature Some of these and not the least
.
,
interesting occur in prayers of which the follow

, ,
ing from the book called H oji sa n is a striking

,
-
Let my body rem a in pure l ike a censer I

let my thought be ever a s a fi re of isd om , purely w
consum ing the incense of sil a a nd of d by dna ,
‘
1 Short [ or E tom zed ] pi i

story of Pr ests Hi i ”
O
.
3 i i
T he Pra se of P o us b servances ”
.
b
By silo is m eant the o servance of the ru es l of p urity
tha t so m ay I d o hom age to a ll the Bud d has in
the Ten D irections f
o the P a st , the P resent , a nd
the Future !
Sometimes in Buddhist sermons the destruction

of Karm a by virtuous effort is likened to the
burning of incense by a pure flame sometimes , ,
again the life of m an is compared to the smok e

,
of incense in h is Hundred Writings (Hy a k u

”
.
tsil k iri ka m i) the Sh insh ii priest MyOd en says

- -
, ,
quoting from the Buddhist work K ujikkajh or ‘
Ninety Articles
I n the burning of ince nse we see that so long
as any in cense rem ains so long does the burning
continue and the smok e mount Skyw Now

,
, ard .
the breath of this body of ours this impenn a ,
nent combination of Earth Water Air and Fire , , , ,
is like that smok e And the changing of the

.
incense into cold ashes when the flame expires is

an em blem of the ch anging of our bodies into
ashes when our funeral pyres h ave burnt them
sel ves Ou
He also tells us about that Incense Paradise of

which every believer ought to be reminded by the
i act and th ght D hy a ( ll d by J p
n ou . s B dd h ists
na ea e a ane e u
Z fl ) is
en e f th h igh
on of ms f ed itati
er or o me on.
I ncense 29
perfume of earthly incense I n the Th irty

Second Vow for the Attainment of the Paradise
of Wondrous Incense he says it is written :
,
”
,
“
Tha t P a rad ise is form ed f

o hund red s f
o thou
f d ifl erent k ind s f incense, of sub

'
sa nd s o o a nd
sta nces inea lcul a b ly p recious the bea uty of it

incompa ra bly ex ceed s a ny thing in the hea vens or
in the sphere of m an thefragra nce of it per
f um e s a l l t he w ld f
or s o the Ten D irections f
o
Space a nd a ll w
h p o erceive tha t odor p ractise
Bud d ha -
d eed s ncient times there were men
. In a
of superior wisdom and virtue who by reason of ,
their vow obtained perception of the odor ; but

we w
,
, ho are born with inferior wisd om and virtue

in these later days cannot obtain such perception
, .
Nevertheless it will be well for us when we smell ,
the incense k indled before the image of Amida ,
to imagine th at its odor is the wonderful fr agrance

of Paradise and to repe at the N em butsu in grati
,
tude for th e mercy of the Budd ha .

”
30 In Gh ostly J apan
But the use of incense in J apan is not con

fined to religious rites and ceremonies : indeed
the costlier k inds of incense are m anufactured
chiefly for social entertainments Incense bum .
-
ing has been an amusement of the aristocracy

ever since the thirteenth century Probably you .
have heard of the J apanese tea ceremonies and -

,
their curious Buddhist history ; and I suppose

that every foreign collector of J apanese bric
d brac k now
-
s something about the luxury to
which these ceremonies at one period attained ,
a luxury well attested by the quality of the
beautiful utensils formerly employed in them .
But there were and still are incense ceremonies

, ,
-
much more elaborate and costly than the tea

ceremonies and also much more interesting
, .
Besides music embroidery poetical composition

, ,
and oth er branches of the old fashioned female

-
education the young l ady of pre Meiji days w

, as-
expected to acquire three especially polite ac

com plish m ents the art of arranging flowers
,
—
,
(ik eba na
, ) the art of cerem oni al tea m ak ing -
I ncense 31
(chap no-y u or ch an d the etiquett

a no
- e of
incense parties (kb kw
- a i or lib e) Incense parties
- -
.
-
were invented before the time of the Ashik aga

shoguns and were most in vogue during the
,
peaceful period of the Tok ugawa rule With .
the fall of the shogunate they went out of fash

ion ; but recently they h ave been to so me ex tent
revived It is not lik ely however th at they will
.
, ,
again become really fashion able in the old sense ,
partly because they represented rare forms of

social refinement th at never can be revived and ,
partly because of their costliness .
ln translating lui k w a i as incense party i'
- -
,
use the word party in the meaning that it

takes in such compounds as card party -
”
for a kb kw
,
whist party -
chess party ,
”
ai - — -
is a meeting held only with the object of playing

a game a very curious game
, There are sev .
eral k inds of incense games ; but in all of them -
1 Gi lr s are st ill t i ra ned fl ws in the art of arranging o er
d i th t i q tt f th d i ty th gh
,
an n ee ue e o wh t t di
e a n ou so m e a e o us,
i t p i ts h v l g j y d p t ti
,
b -
c a no y B
u dd
. h u s r es a e on en o e a re u a o n
as t h
eac ers O f th l tt Wh e th p pil h
a er h d en e u as reac e a
v
.
t i d g
cer a n f p fi i
e ree o y h i gi d ipl
ro c en c s e s en a o m a or
i i p wd d
,
cer tifi tca eTh t d i th

e ea use n ese cerem on es s a o ere
th b t q liti s f w
.
t
ea o f m rek bl f g ar a e ra rance, hi h —
e es ua e O c
ft h
ec y h i gh p i
ver r ces .
32 In Gh ost ly Jap an
the contest depends upon the ability to remember
and to name different k inds of incense by the
perfume alone That variety of kd kw

. a i ca lled -
jitchii
-
kb ten
’
bum ing incense - is gener a lly -
conceded to be the most amusing ; and 1 shall

try to tell you howit is played .
The numeral ten I n the Japanese or rather

“
, ,
Chinese nam e of this diversion does not refer to ,
ten k inds but only to ten pack ages of incense ;

,
for jitchzl kb besides being the most amusing is

‘
-
, ,
the very simplest of incense games and is played -

,
with only four k inds of incense One k ind must .
be supplied by the guests invited to the party ;

and three are furnished by the pe rson who gives
the entertainment Each of the latter three sup

.
plies of incense usually prepared in pack ages

containing one hundred wafers is divided into
four parts ; and each part is put into a separate
paper numbered or mark ed so as to indicate the
quality Th us four pack ages are prepared of the
.
incense classed as No 1 four of incense No 2 .

, .
,
and four of incense No 3 or twelve in all .

,
—
.
But the incense given by the guests always ,
called guest incense is not divided : it is

- —
only put into a wrapper marked with an abbrevi

the fourth and so on When the censer has
, .
gone the round of the party it is returned to the ,
incense bum er One pack age of incense No 2

- . .
,
and one of No 3 are similarly prep ared an

.
, ,
nounced and tested

, But with the guest in
.
-
cense no experiment is made The player should .
be able to remember t h e different odors of the

incenses tested ; and he is expected to identify
the guest incense at the proper time merely by
-
the unfamiliar quality of its fragrance .
T he origin al thirt een p ack ages h aving thus by

experimenting been reduced to ten each player ,
is given one set of ten small t ablets usually of

gold lacq uer every set being differently om a
-
,
m ented . The backs only of these tablets are

decorated ; and the decoration is nearly always
a floral design of some sort thus one set might
be decorated with Chrysanthemums in gold ,
another with tufts of i ris pl ants an other with

-
,
a spray of plum blossoms etc - But the faces

, .
of the tablets bear numbers or m arks ; and
each set comprises three tablets numbered 1 “

,
three numbered three numbered 3 ,
and one m ark ed with the character sign ifying
gues After these tablet sets h ave been dis -
tributed a box called the tablet box is placed

,
-
I ncense 35
before the first player ; and all is ready for the
real game .
The incense hum er retires behind a little screen

-
,
shuffles the fl at p ack ages li ke so m any cards ,
tak es the upperm ost prepares its contents in the

,
censer and then returning to the party sends

, , ,
the censer upon its round This time of course .

, ,
he does not announce what k ind of incense he

has used A s the censer p asses from hand to
.
hand each player after inhaling the fume puts

, , ,
into the t ablet box one tablet bearing that mark

-
or number which he supposes to be the mark or

number of the incense he has smelled If for .
,
exam ple he thinks the incense to be guest

,
incense he drops into the box th at one of his

,
”
tablets mark ed with the ideograph meaning

gue st or if he believe s th at he h as inh aled
the perfume of No 2 he puts into the box a .
,
tablet numbered 2 When the round is over .

,
tablet box and censer are both returned to the

-
incense burner He tak es the six tablets out of

-
.
the box and wraps them up in the paper which

,
cont ained the ince nse guessed about The tablets .
themselves keep the person al as well as the gen

eral record since each player remembers the
w
,
p articul ar design upon h is o n set .

36 In Ghost ly J apan
T he remaining nine pack ages of incense are
consumed and judged in the same w ay accord ,
ing to the chance order in which the shuffl ing

h as placed them When all the incense has been
.
used the tablets are tak en out of their wrappings

, ,
the record is officially put into writing and the ,
victor of the day is announced I here offer the .
translation of such a record : it will serve to

explain al most at a glan ce all the complications
, ,
According to this record the player who used

the tablets decorated with the design called
“
Young Pine made but tw
,
”
o m ist ak es ; while
the holder of the White L ily set made only -
one correct guess But it is quite a feat to make

.
ten correct judgm ents in succession The ol .
factory nerves are apt to become somewhat

numbed long befor the gam e is concluded ; and
e
therefore it is customary during the K b kw a i to -
rinse the mout h at intervals with pure vinegar ,
by which Operation the sensitivity is partially

restored .
To the J apanese origin al of the foregoing

record were appended the n ames of the pl ayers ,
the date of the entertainment and the nam e of

the place where the party w
,
as h eld It is the .
38 In Ghost ly Japan
custom in some fam ilies to enter all such records
in a book especially made for the purpose and ,
furnished with an index which enables the

K o kw-
a i pl ayer to refer immedi ately to any in
teresting fact belonging to the history of any

past game .
The reader will have noticed that the four kinds

of incense used were design ated by very pretty
n ames The incense first mentioned for ex

.
,
ample is called by the poets nam e for the

’
,
gloaming Ta soga ré (lit

, W ho is there
or W ho is it ?
“
a word w h ich in this rel a
tion hints of the toilet perfume that reveals -
some ch arming presence to the lover waiting in
the dusk Perhaps some curiosity will be felt

.
regarding the composition of these incenses

I can give the Japanese recipes for tw
.
o sorts
but I h ave not been able to identify all of the

materials named .
R ecipe for Ya m aj i Tsuy u

‘
-
no .
P roportions .
a bout
Ji nko( l w d
a o es- ) oo 4 m om m l G oz )
C h oji ( l v )
.
c o es . 4
Kun ro k ( Olib
u ) an um 4
H kka ( t i i S h idti
a ar em s a c m ana) 4
J ko ( k )
a m us 1 bu oz .
)
4 m om ent (i
I ncense 39
Ba ik w a.
Ji
a b out
nk o (aloes) 20 m l (2; )oz.
v
.
ji l
Cho (c o es) 12 ( ; )
1 oz .
Kore ( r) 8r or. oz )
Byak ud an (san da -
lw
ood ) 4 oz ) .
pi
Ka nsho (s kena rd ) 2 bu (1 )
oz
w p w
.
K ak k o (Bish o s o rt
’ -
1 bu 2 sbu (f.
K unrok u (O an um )lib 3 3 (I I 0b )
Sh Om O kk O (P) 2 “
(i o n )
J ak o (m usk ) 3
R y ti
‘
no (re n efi
d Bo rn eo C a m ho r) p SM
The incense used at a K b kw a i ranges in v alue -

,
according to the style of the entert ainment from ,
to per envelope of 100 w afe rs
wafers usually not more than one fourth of an -
inch in diam eter Sometimes an incense is used

.
worth even more than $3 per envelope : this

contains ra nja ta i an aromatic of which the
,
perfume is compared to that of musk mingled

with orchid flow ers But there is some incense
- .
”
,
never sold which is much more precious

,
than ranja ta i incense valued less for its com

,
position than for its history : I mean the incense

brought centuries ago from China or from India
by the Buddhist missionaries and presented to ,
princes or to other persons of high rank Sev .

40 In Ghostly Japan
r l ancient J apanese temples also include such
e a
foreign incense among their treasures A nd very .
rarely a little of this priceless material is con

tributed to an incense party much as in
-
,
E urope on very extraordinary occasions some

, ,
banquet is glorified by the p rod uction of a wine

sever al hundred y ears old .
L i ke the tea ceremon ies the K 6 k w

-
a i ex act
,
-
q
observ ance of a very complex and ancient eti
uette . But this su bject could interest few

readers ; and I shall only mention some of the
rules regarding preparations and precautions .
First of all it is required that the person invited

,
to an incense p arty sh all attend the same in as

-
od orl ess a c ondition as possi ble a l ady for ,
instance must not use h ai r oil or put on any

,
-
,
dress th at h as been k ept in a perfumed chest of -
d rawers Furtherm ore the guest should prepare

.
,
for the contest by tak ing a p rolonged h ot bath ,
an d should eat only the lightest and least od orous
k ind of food before going to the rendezvous It .
is forbidden to leave the room during the game

or to Open any d oor or w
,
indow or to indulge in ,
needless conversation Finally I m ay observe

.
that w,
hile j udging the incense a player is ex ,
p ect e d to t ak e not l ess t h an three inhal ations or ,
more than five .

to influence the popular use of incense in
J apan Incense is still burned in the presence of
.
a corpse with the id ea that its fragrance shields
both corpse and newly parted soul from malev -
olent demons ; and by the peasants it is Often

burned also to drive away goblins and the evil
powers presiding over diseases But formerly it
w
.
as used to summon spirits as well as to banish
them Allusions to its employment in various

.
weird rites m ay be found in some of the old

dram as and rom ances One particular sort of
incense imported from China w
.
as said to h ave ,
the power of calling up hum an spirits This w

,
as .
the wizard incense referred to in such ancient

-
love songs as the following

-
W ould 1 had som e to burn , in the nights w

h en I wit
a
alone I
There is an interesting mention of this incense

in the Chinese book Sha ng ha i king It w as - -
.
called Pw
,
e u hwa n hia ng (by J apanese pronuncia

- -
tion H a ngon lw ) or Spirit R-

ec alling
'
lncen se - -
and it w
,
as m ade I n Tso Ch au or the D istrict of -

,
the Ancestors sit uated by the Eastern Sea To

,
.
summon the ghost of any dead person or

I ncense 43
even that of a living person according to some

it w
,
authorities as only necessa ry to kindle

,
some of the incense and to prono unce certain

,
words while k eeping the mind fixed upon the

,
memory of that person Then in the smoke of .

,
the incense the remembered face and form would

'
In many old J apanese and Chinese books

mention is made of a fam ous story about this
i ncense a story of the Chinese Emperor Wu
, ,
of the H an dynasty When the Emperor had

.
lost his bea utiful favorite the L ady L i he sor , ,
rowed so much that fea rs were entertained for

h is reason But all efforts made to divert his
.
mind from the thought of her proved unavail

ing O ne day he ordered some Spirit Recalling
.
-
Incense to be procured that he might summon ,
her from the dead l I is counsellors prayed him

.
-
to forego his purpose declaring that the vision ,
could only intensify his grief But he gave no .
heed to their advice and him self performed the

,
rite, k indling the incense and k eeping h is ,
mind fixed upon the memory of the L ady L i .
Presently within the thick blue smoke arising

,
from the incense the outline of a feminine form

,
becam e visible It defined took tints of life

.
, ,
slowly became luminous ; and the Emperor
recognized the form of h is beloved At fi rst
the apparition w
.
as faint ; but it soon becam e
distinct as a living person and seemed with each ,
moment to grow more bea utiful The Emperor .
whispered to the vision but received no answer , .
He called aloud and the presence made no sign , .
Th en un able to control himself he approached ,
the censer But the instant th at he touched the

.
sm ok e the ph antom trembled and v anished

, .
J apanese artists are still occasionally inspired

by the legends of the H a ngon Only last
year in Tokyo at an exhibition of new k ake
mono I sawa picture of a young wife kneeling
, ,
before an alcove wherein the smoke of the m agi

cal incense was sh aping the sh adow of the absent
husband .
11
Although the power Of m aking visible the

forms of the dead has been claimed for one sort
1 A Tokyo i v ti
m ong th e cur o us f 1898 w
i n en o ns o as a
ne w ie f ig tt
var ll d H g o o H b f
c are es ca e a an s -
. or er o
gg t i g th t th i
”
H g an on, m a na k p t d
e su es n a e r sm o e o era e
lik th Spi it
e e i gi r A
-
tt f f t
sum m on n n cense. s a ma er o ac
k w ld d fi
,
th h i l ti f th t b
e c em ca ac o n o e o acco- sm o e ou e ne,
p p p fi tt d i t th
u on a a er th pi fe h igarette
n o e m ou -
ece o eac c ,
th p h t g p h ic im g f d
e o o ra i g gi l a eO a anc n -
r.
I ncense 45
of incense only the burning of any k ind of in
,
cense is supposed to summon viewless spirits in

multitude These come to devour the smoke
. .
They are called jih i hé ki or incense eating

- —
,
-
goblins and they belong to the fourteenth of

the thirty six classes of Gak i (préta s) recognized
-
by J apanese Buddhism They are the ghosts of

men w
.
ho anciently for the sak e of gain made

, ,
or sold bad incense ; and by the evil k arma of
that action they nowfind them selves in the state

of h unger suffering Spi rits and compelled to seek
-
,
th eir only food in the smoke of incense .

A Sto ry of D i v i n atio n
P
O N CE knew a fortune teller w ho really be
-
lieved in the science that he professed He .
had learned as a student of the old Chinese

,
philosophy to believe in divination long before he

,
thought of practising it D uring h is youth he

.
had been in the service of a wealthy daimyo but ,
subseq uently lik e thousands of other samurai

, ,
found h im self reduced to desperate straits by the

social and political changes of Meiji It w as then
.
that he became a fortune teller an itinerant

-
w
,
ura na iya tr avelling on foot from to n to
tow
,
n and returning to his home rarely more than

once a year w
,
ith the proceeds of his journe y A s

a fortune teller he w
.
-
as tolerably successful ,
chiefly I think because of his perfect sincerity

, , ,
and because of a peculi ar gentle m anner that in
vited confidence H is system w

. as the old schol
arly one : he used the book k nown to English
4
50 In Ghostly Japan
readers as the V i K ing also a set of ebony
-
,
blocks which could be so arranged as to form

any of the Chinese hex agrams ; and he always
began his divination with an earnest prayer to

the gods .
The system itself be held to be infallible in

the h ands of a m aster He confessed that he
.
h ad made som e erroneou s pred ictions ; but he

said that these mistak es had been entirely due
to his ow n miscomprehension of cert ain texts
or di agrams T o do him justice I m ust men

.
tion that in my ow n case (he t old my fo rtune

four times) his predictions were fulfilled in
,
such wise th at I became afraid of them You

.
m ay disbelieve in fortune telling - intellectu ally

,
scorn it ; but something of inherited supersti
tious tendency lurk s within most of us ; and a

fewstrange experiences can so appeal to th at
inheritance as to induce the most unreasoning
hope or fear of the good or bad luck promised
y ou by so m e di in e
vr R eally.t o see o u r future
would be a misery Imagine the result of k now
.
ing that there m ust happen to you within the

next tw
,
o m onths some terri bl e misfortu n e which

,
y ou ca nn ot p ossib ly provid e ag a i ns t !
He w as already an old m an when I first saw
A Story of D i v i nat i on S1
h im in Izumo certainly more than sixty years
,
of age but look ing very much younger

, After .
wards I met him ln Osak a in Kyoto and in , ,
Kobe More than once I tried to persuade him

.
to pass the colder months of the winter se ason -
under my roof for he possessed an ex traor

,
dinary k nowledge of traditions and could have

been of inestimable service to me in a literary w
,
ay .
But partly because the habit of wandering had

become with him a second nature and partly ,
because of a love of independence as savage as a

g ipsy ’
s I w as never a ble to k eep him with me fo r
more th an tw
,
o d ays at a time .
Every year he used to come to Tokyo usu ,
ally ln the latter p art of autumn Then for .

,
several weeks he would flit about the city from

, ,
district to district and vanish again But during

,
.
these fugitive trips he never failed to visit me ;

bringing welcome news of Izumo people and
places bringing also some queer little present
, ,
generally of a religious k ind from some famous ,
place of pilgrimage O n these occasions I could

get a fewhours ch at with him Sometimes the
.
talk w
.
as of str ange things seen or heard during
h is recent j ourney ; som etimes it turned upon Old

legends or beliefs ; sometimes it w as about for
52 In G hostly Japan
tune telling The last time we met he told me of
-
.
an exact Ch inese scie nce of divination which he
regretted never having been able to learn .
Any one learned in that science he said ,

”
,
would be able for ex ample not only to tell you

, ,
the exact time at which any post or beam of this

house will yield to decay but even to tell you the
,
direction of the break ing and all its results I can

, .
best explain what I mean by relating a story .
The story is about the famous Chinese for

tune teller whom we call in J apan Shoko Setsu and
-
,
it is written in the book Ba ikw a Shin Ek i which

‘
- —
,
is a book of divination While still a very young

.
m an Shok o Setsu obtained a high position by

,
reason of his learning and virtue ; but he resigned

it and went into solitude that he might give h is
whole time to study For years thereafter he
.
lived alone in a hut among the mountains ; study

ing without a fire in winter and without a fan in
,
summ er ; writing h is thoughts upon the w all of
his room for lack of p aper ; and using only
a tile for h is pillow .
“
One day in the period of greatest sum m er
,
heat he found himself overcome by drowsiness ;

,
and he lay down to rest with his tile under h is

,
A Story of Di v i nati on 53
head . Sc rcely h d he f llen
a a l ep when a as e a rat
ran a cross his face and wok e him with a start .
Feeling angry he seized his tile and flung it at the

rat ; but the rat escaped unhurt and the tile w
,
as ,
brok en Shok o Setsu look ed sorrowfully at the

.
fragments of his pillow and reproached himself,
for his hastiness Then suddenly he perceived

.
,
upon the freshly exposed clay of the brok en tile ,
some Chinese ch aracters between the upper

and lower surfaces Think ing this very strange
.
,
he picked up the pieces and carefully examined,
them . He found that along the line of fracture

seventeen ch aracters h ad been written within the
clay before the tile had been baked ; and the

characters re ad thus : I n the Yea r of the H a re ,
in the fourth m o n th, on the seventeenth d ay , at
the H our f
o the Serpent , this t ile, a ft er serving a s
a pi ww
ll o ill b th w t e t d b k
ro n a a ra an ro en .
’
wthe predicti n h d re lly bee fulfilled t the

,
No o a a n a
Hour of the Serpent on the seventeenth day of the

fourth month of the Year of the H are G reatly .
astonished Shok o Setsu once again look ed at the

,
fragments and discovered the seal and the name

,
of the mak er At once he left h is but and tak

.
, ,
ing with him the pieces of the tile hun ied to the ,
'
neighboring town in search of the tilemak er He .

found the tilemaker in the course of the day ,
showed him the bro k en tile and ask ed him about ,
its history .
After having carefully examined the shards

This tile w
,
the tilemaker said as m ade in my
house ; but the characters in the clay were written

by an old m an a fortune teller w ho ask ed -
,
permission to write upon the tile before it w as
baked .
’
D o you k now where he lives ?
’
ask ed Shok o Setsu He used to live the tile ’

.
,
maker answered not very far from here ; and I

can show you the w
,
ay to the ho use But I do .
not know his name .

’
H aving been guided to the house Shoko ,
Setsu presented himself at the entrance and ask ed ,
for permission to Speak to the old m an A serv .
ing student courteously invited him to enter and

-
,
ushered him into an apartment where several
young men were at study A s Shok o Setsu took .
h is seat all the youths saluted h im Then the one

w
.
,
ho had first addressed him bowed and said .
‘
We are grieved to inform you that our master
died a fewdays ago But we h ave been wait .
ing for you because he predicted that you would

,
come to day to this house at this very hour Your

-
, .
name is Shok o Setsu And our master told us to.

56 In Ghostly Japan
tue
sta of rms folded and eyes closed as
ice a
Probably while waiting for the

,
storm to pass h e h ad yielded to the drowsiness of

,
cold and the drift had risen over him as he Slept

, .
Hearing of this strange death I remembered the

Old J apanese say i ng U ra na iya m inouy é shir
ad ru : The fortune teller know s not h is ow
,
“
- n
fate .
”
Si l k wo rm s
Sil k wo rm s
WAS puzzled by the phrase Silkw onn ,
moth eyebrow in an old Japanese or ”
The sil kw
, ,
rather Chinese proverb orm
m oth y
e wf w i th
ebro o th t at om a n s e ax e a cu s
d w th w
o n eid m f s o S I went t my o m an o o
friend Niimi w
.
h k e p Silk w rm t ask for

,
o e s o s, o
an explanation .
I s it possible he exclaimed that you never

” “
saw a Silk worm moth ? The Silk w

, ,
-
onn moth h as -
very beautiful eyebrows

Eyebrow
.
s ? I queried in astonishment , .
Well call them what you like returned

, ,
”
N rrm i the poets call them eyebrows

“
.
Wait a moment and I will show you

, .
”
He left the guest room and presently returned

-
,
with a white paper fan on which a si lk worm moth

- -
w
,
as sleepily reposing .
We always reserve a fewfor breeding he ,
said ; th is one is just out of the cocoon It

“
.
cannot fly of course : none of them can fly

, .
Now look at the eyebrows ”
I look ed an d saw
.
th at the antennas very short

, ,
and feathery were so arched b ack over the two

,
jewel specks of eyes in the velvety head as to give

-
,
the appearance of a really handsome pair of eye

brows .
Then Nrrm i took me to see his worms .
In Nrrm i s neighborhood where there are plenty

’
,
of mulberry trees many families k eep silk worms ;

-
,
the tending and feeding being mostly done by

women and children The worms are k ept in .
large oblong trays elevated upon light wooden ,
st ands about three feet high It is curious to see .
hundreds of caterpillars feeding all together in one

tray and to hear the soft papery noise which they
,
mak e while gnawing their mulberry leaves A s - .
they approach maturity the creatures need almost ,
const an t attention At brief intervals some ex

.
pert visits each tray to inspect progress picks up ,
the plumpest feeders and decides by gently roll , ,
ing them between forefinger and thumb which ,
are ready to Spin These are dropped into covered

.
S il kworm s 61
box es ,where they soon swathe themselves out of

sight in wh ite floss A few only of the best are
.
suffered to emerge from their silk y sleep the ,
selected breeders They h ave beautiful wings

.
,
but cannot use them They h ave mouths but

.
,
do not eat They only pair lay eggs and die

.
, ,
.
For thousands of years their race h as been so

well cared for that it can no longer take any
-
,
It was th e evolutional lesson of this latter fact
that chiefly occupied m e while Niimi and his

younger brother ( w h o feeds the worms) were
kindly explaining the methods of the industry .
They told me curious things about different

breeds and also about a wild variety Of silk worm
,
that cannot be domesticated it Spins splendid

Silk before turning into a vigorous moth which
can use its wings to some purpose But I fear
.
th at I did not act lik e a person who felt inter

ested in the subject ; for even while I tried to
,
listen I began to muse

, .
First of all I found myself think ing about a

,
delightful revery by M Anatole France in which

.
,
he says th at if he had been the D emiurge he ,
would h ave put youth at the end Of life instead

of at the beginning and would h ave otherwise so
,
ordered m atters that every hum an being Sh ould
have three stages of development somewh at cor ,
responding to those of the lepidoptera Then it

occurred to me th at this fant asy w
.
as in subst ance
scarcely more th an the delicate modification of a
most ancient doctrine common to nearly all the

,
higher forms of religion .
Western faiths especially teach th at our life on

e arth is a l arval state of greedy helplessness and ,
that death is a pupa sleep out of which we should

-
soar into everl asting light They tell uS that

.
during its sentient existence the outer body ,
Should be thought of only as a k ind of caterpil

lar and thereafter as a Chrysalis
,
and they
aver th at we lose or gain according to our be

,
havior as larvae the power to develop wings

,
under the mortal wrapping Also they tell us .
not to trouble ourselves about t h e fact t h at we

,
m ll wy
realization in a s a a of our imagined Para ,
dise ( I am not considering the fact that a vast

.
majority of the worms are predestined to torment

and the second death ; for my th eme is of heaven ,
not of lost souls I am speak ing of the elect

.
those worms preOrdained to salvation and rebirth ) .
Probably they can feel only very weak sensations

they are certainly incapable of prayer But if .
they were able to pray they could not ask for ,
anyt hing more th an they already receive from
the youth w h o feeds and t ends th em He is their .
providence a god of whose existence they can

be aware in only the vaguest possible w
,
ay but ,
just such a god as they require And we Should .
foolishly deem ourselves fort unate to be equally

w ell cared for in proportion to our more complex
-
wants D o not our com mon forms of prayer

.
prove our desire for lik e attention ? I s not the

asser t ion of our n eed of divine love an in
voluntary confession that we wish to be treated

lik e silk wonn s to live with out pain by the h elp
of gods ? Yet if the gods were to treat us as w
,
want we Should presently afford fresh evidence ,
in the w
,
ay of wh at is c alled the evidence from “
degeneration that the great evolutional lawis

,
”
far above th e gods .

S ilkw
orm s 65
An early stage of that degeneration would be

represented by total incap acity to help ourselves ;
then we Should begin to lose the use of our

higher sense organs later on the brain would
-
,
Shrink to a vanishing pin point of matter

-
still
later we Should dwindle into mere amorphous

sacs mere blind stomachs
, Such would be the
.
physical consequence of that k ind of divine love

which w e so l azily wish for The longing for
perpetual bliss in perpetual peace might well seem
a m alevolent inspiration from the L ords of D e ath
and D ark ness . All life that feels and thinks has
been and can continue to be only as the prod uct
, ,
of struggle and p ai n —
only as the outcome of
endless battle w
,
ith the Powers of the U niverse

And cosmic lawis uncompromising Whatever
.
org an ce ases to k now p ai n whatever faculty

,
ceases to be used under the stimulus of pain ,
must also cease to exist L et pain and its effort

.
be suspended and life must Shrink back fi rst

, ,
into protopl asmic Shapelessness thereafter into ,
dust.
Buddhism which in its ow

—
,
n grand w ay is a ,
doctrine of evolution rationally proclaims its

heaven but a higher st age of development through
5
pain and teaches th at even in paradise the cessa
,
tion of effort produces degradation With equ al .
reasonableness it declares th at the capacity for

pain in the superhuman world increases always
in proportion to the capacity for pleasure (There .
is little fault to be found with this teaching

from a scientific standpoint since we k now ,
that higher evolution must involve an increase

of sensitivity to pain ) In the Heavens of D e .
sire says the Shoho nen jb ky b the p ain of de ath

‘
- - -
, ,
is so great th at all the agonies of all the hells

united could eq ual but one Sixteenth part of such -
pain .
1
The foregorng comparison is unnecessarily

strong ; but the Buddhist teaching about he aven
is in substance eminently logical The suppression .
of pain mental or physical in any conceiv ,
able st ate of sentient existence would necessarily ,
involve the suppression also of pleasure ; and

certainly all progress whether moral or m aterial , ,
1 This statem ent refers o n ly t o th e H v

ea ens of Sensuous
P l easure, not to th e Para di i
se Of A m da, nor to th ose
h ea v i
ens nto wh ich o n e en ers t by th A pp i ti l Bi the ar o na r
v
.
But e en i
in the h gh est an d ti
m os t i l fb i g
m m a er a zo nes o en
v F
,
in the Hea en s Of o rm l th
essness, ti f ff t e cessa on O e or
and of th e pi
a n of eff o rt , i v lv th p lty f b i th i
n o es e ena o re r n
a o lw er state of ex isten ce .
Si l kworm s 67
depends upon the power to meet and to master
pain In a Silkworm paradise such as our mundane
.
-
instincts lead us to desire the seraph freed from the

necess ity of toil and able to satisfy h is every w
,
, ant
at will would lose h is wings at l ast and sink back

, ,
to the condition of a grub .
I told the substance of my revery to Nrrrn i H e .
used to be a great reader of Buddhist books

Well he said I w
.
as reminded of a q ueer
“ ”
, ,
Buddhist story by the proverb that you asked me

to explain The sil kw orm m oth e y ebrow of a -
w w th w
,
om a n is the ax e tha t cuts do id n e s om
f
o ma n Acc ording
. to our doctrine the saying ,
would be as true of life in heaven as of life upon

Th is is the story :
When Shak a dwelt in this world one of h is ,
disciples called Nanda w

,
as bewitch ed by the
,
beauty of a wom an ; and Shak a desired to save

him from t he results of this illusion So he took .
68 In G h ost ly J ap an
N anda to a wild place in the mountains w here
there were apes and show ed him a very ugly fe
,
male ape and asked him

,
Which is the more
beautiful N anda the wom an that you love or
, , ,
this fem ale ape ? Oh M aster ! exclaimed

’
how
,
N anda , can a l ovely wom an be compar ed

with an ugly ape ? Perh aps you will presently
’
find reason to mak e the comparison yourself ,

’
answered the Buddh a and inst antly by super
natural pow er he ascended w ith N anda to the Sa n

f il son T
‘
en which is,the Sec ond of the Six He aven s
of D esire There within a palace of jew el s
Nanda sawa multitude of heavenly maidens cele

.
, ,
brating some festival with music and d ance ; and

the beauty of the least among them incomparably
exceeded that of the fairest woman of earth 0 .
M aster cried N anda what wonderful festival is

,
’
,
this ?’
Ask so me of those people responded ,
’
Sh ak a .So N anda questioned one of the celestial

maidens ; and she said to him This festival
is to celebrate th e good tidings th at h ave been
brought to us There is nowin the human world
.
,
am ong the disciples of Sh ak a a most excell ent
youth called Nanda w

,
h o is soon to be reborn
,
into this heaven and to become our bridegroom

, ,
because of h is holy life We wait for him with .

S il kwm
or s 69
rejoicing This reply filled the heart of N anda

.
’
with delight Then the Buddha ask ed him :

.
I s there any one am ong these m aidens N anda

equal in be auty to the w
, ,
om an with whom you
have been in love ? Nay M aster ! answered ’

,
Nanda ; even as that woman surp assed in

beauty the female ape that we saw on the moun
tain so is she herself surpassed by even the least

,
among these
’
.
Then the Buddha immediately descended with

N anda to the depths of the hells and took him ,
into a torture chamber where myriads of m en and

-
women were being boiled alive in great cald rons

and otherw
,
ise horribly tormented by devils Then .
N anda found himself standing before a huge ves

sel which w as filled with molten metal and he
feared and wondered because this vessel had as

yet no occupant An idle devil sat beside it
.
,
yawning M aster N anda inquired of the Bud

.
,
’
dha for whom h as this vessel been prepared ?

,
‘
A sk the devil answered Sh ak a N anda did so ;

’
, .
and the devil said to him There is a m an

called N anda nowone of Sh ak a s disciples
,
—
’
,
about to be reborn into one of the heavens on ,
account of h is former good actions But after .
having there indulged him self he is to be reborn ,

in this hell ; and h is place will be in that pot I .
am waiting for him

’ 1
.
1 I gi v th t y b t ti lly it w t ld t ; b t I
e e s or su s an a as as o o me u
h v
a e no t b bl t p it with y p b li h d t t
een a e o co m are an u s e ex
My f i d ys th t h h tw C h i v i
.
r en sa a e as seen o nese ers o ns,
one in th e H ongyii ky o -
th e ot h er in the Z aichi a gon ky o - -
Ek
( Ottarfi gam as) . I n Mr H y l
. enr W
C ark e arren s Bud d hism in
’
Transla tion s (the m os n ti t ti g eres n l l i l l

and va uab e s ng e vo um e
Of its ki
nd that ha e e I v v er seen ), there i P li
s a i a vers o n of
the l egend , whi ch i

d ffers co ns id bly f
era ro m th e ab ove
W wk w
.
Th i s Nanda, acco rd i gt
n o Mr .
’
arren s as a p ince
or , r ,
and the yo unger h lf b

a -
roth er of sakyam un i.
A Pass io n a l Ka rm a
NE of the never failing attractions of the

-
Tokyo stage is the performance by the ,
famous K ik ugoro and his company of ,
the Baton D ara or Peony L antern

-
, . This
weird play of which the scenes are laid in the
,
m iddle of the last century is the dram atiz ation

,
of a rom ance by the novel ist Ench o written in

,
colloquial J apanese and purely J apanese in local

,
color though inspired by a Chinese tale I went

, .
to see the pl ay and K ik ugoro m ade me familiar

with a new variety of the pleasure of fear .
Why not give English readers the ghostly

part of the story ? ask ed a friend w
h o guides
”
m e betimes through the m azes of E astern philos
ophy .
“
It would serve to explain some popu
lar ide as of the supern atural which Western
people k now very little about A nd I could help
y ou with th e tr an slation .
”
I gl adly accepted the suggestion ; and we com
posed the following Summ ary of the more ex
traord in ary portion of EnchOS romance Here ’
and there w
.
e found it necessary to con dense the
origi nal n arrative ; and we tried to k eep close to
the text only in the conversational passages ,
so me of which h appen to possess a p articular
quality of psychological interest .
This is the stor

y f
o the Ghosts in the
R om a nce of t he P eo y La ntern
n -
There once lived in the district of U shigome ,
in Yedo a ba ta m oto called Iijim a H eizayém on

1
whose only daughter Tsuyu w

, ,
as be autiful as
Morning D ew
, ,
h er nam e which signifies

,
.
”
Iijima took a second wife when his d aughter

w as about Sixteen ; and finding th at O Tsuyu ,
-
Th b t
1 e t w m
a am o o i f i g th Sp i l ili
ere sa ura orm n e ec a m
t y f
ar f th Shog
o rce O Th
e m lit lly sig ifi
un e na e era n es
Th w th h igh t l
.
B S pp t
anner- u o r ers . ese f ere e es c ass O
sam urai t ly th i
no Ondi t as l f th Shogu
e m m e a e vassa s O e n,
ilit y i t y
,
b t
u as a m ar ar s ocrac .
A Passi onal K arm a 75
co uld be happy with her mother in lawhe

not - -
,
had a pretty villa built for the girl at Yanagijirn a ,
as a separate resid ence and gave h er an excellent

,
maidservant called O Yoné to wait upon her

-
O Tsuyu lived happily enough in her new

.
, ,
home until one day when the family physician ,
Yam amoto Shijo paid her a visit in company

,
with a young samurai named H agiwara Shin

zaburo w ho resided in the Nedzu quarter
Sh inzaburo w
.
,
as an unusu ally handsome lad and
very gentle ; and the tw

,
o young people fell in
love with each other at sight Even before the

brief visit w
.
as over they contrived, unheard ,
by the old doctor to pledge them selves to

,
ea ch other for life And at parting O Tsuyu

.
, ,
-
whispered to the youth Rem em ber ! if y ou

,
do no t com e to see m e aga in , I sha ll certa inly
d ie !
Sh inzaburo ever forgot those words ; and he

n
w as only too eager to see more of O Tsuyu - .
But etiquette forbade him to make the visit

alone : h e w as obliged to wa it for some other
chance to accompany the doctor w ho had prom ,
ised to tak e him to the villa a second time .
U nfortun ately the old m an did not keep this

promise . perceived the sudden affection
H e h ad
of O Tsuyu ; and h e feared
- that her father
would hold him responsible for any serious re
sults. Iijima H eizayem on h ad a reputation for
’
cutting off heads A nd the more Shijo thought

.
about the possi bl e co nseq uences of h is introd uc
tion Of Sh in za buro at the Iijim a villa the more ,
h e became afraid Therefore he purposely ah

.
stained from calli ng upon his young friend .
Months passed ; and O Tsuyu little imagining -

,
th e true cause of Sh inzaburO S neglect believed

’
,
th at her love had been scorned Then she pined .
away and di ed
, Soon afterward s the faithful
.
,
servant O Yon e also d ied t h rough gri ef at th e

’
-
,
loss of her mistress ; and th e tw o were bu ried
side by side in the cem etery of Shin Banzui I n - -

,
a temple which still st and s in th e n eighborhood
of D ango Z ak a where the famous Ch rysanthe

-
mum s how
,
s are yearly h eld .
Shinzaburo k new nothing of what h ad hap

pen ed ; but h is disappointment and his anxiety
had resulted in a prolonged illness He w as .
A Passi onal Karm a 77
l wly recovering but still very weak when he
so , ,
unexpectedly received another visit from Yama

moto Shijo The old m an made a number of
.
plausible excuses for his apparent neglect Shin.
zaburt) said to him

'
I have been sick ever since the beginning of

Spring even nowI cannot eat anything .
W as it not rather unk ind of you never to call ?

I thought that we were to m ake another visit to
gether to the house of the L ady Iijima ; and I
wanted to tak e to her some little present as a
return for our k ind reception Of course I could
.
not go by myself .
Shijo gravely responded ,
I am very sorry to tell you th at the young

lady is dea
D ead repeated Shinzaburo turning white
, ,
did you say that she is dead ? ”
The doctor rem ained Silent for a moment as ,
if collecting himself : then he resum ed in the ,
quick light tone of a m an resolved not to take
My great mistak e w as in h aving introduced
yo u to her ; for it seem s th at sh e fell in love

with you at once I am afraid that you must
.
have said something to encourage this affection

when you were in that little room together At
all events I saw
.
h ow
, She felt tow ards you ; and
then I became uneasy fearing that her father ,
might come to hear of the matter and lay the ,
whole blame upon m e So to be quite frank .

—
with you I decided that it would be better not

,
—
to call upon you ; and I purposely st ayed away

for a long time But only a few days ago
.
, ,
happening to visit I ijim a s house I heard to my ’

, ,
great surprise that his daughter had died and

, ,
that her servant O Yone h ad also died Then - .

,
remembering all that had tak en place I knew ,
that the young lady must have died of love for

y ou .
[ L a u h i
g g]n Ah yo u a re rea lly a s in ,
ful fellow ! Yes you are ! [ La ughing] I S n t it

,
’
a sin to have be en born so h and some th at the
girls die for love of you ? [ S eri ou sly]

1
Well w e ,must leave the dead to the dead .
It is no use to talk further about the matter ;

all th at you now can do for her is to repe at the
N embutsu G ood bye

1 -
.
”
P h p th i
1 er a s v ti m y S t ng t th
s con ersa on a eem s ra e o e
W t d ; b t it i t
es ern rea er t li f
u Th w h ls f th rue o e e o eo e
t i ti lly J p
.
s i h
cene s c arac er s ca a an ese
Th i v
.
3 ti
e N
n oca A id B ton H il t th
am u m a u su a o e
B ddh A itab h l
u a m p t d as p y f the s ke
a re ea e , a ra er, or a
of the d ead .
And on the first evening of the Bon after sun ,
dow n he k indled a small lamp before the tablet

,
Of O Tsuyu and lighted the lantem s

-
, .
The night w as clear with a great moon and , ,
windless and very warm Shinzaburo sought

, .
the coolness of his veranda Clad only in a .
light summer robe he sat there thin k ing dream -

, ,
ing sorrowing ; sometimes fanning himself ;

,
sometimes m ak ing a little smok e to drive the
mosquitoes aw ay Everything w as quiet It

w
. .
as a lonesome n eighborhood and there were ,
few passers by He could hear only the soft -

.
rushing of a neighboring stream and the shrilling ,
of night i nsects .
But all at once this stillness w as broken by
a sound of women s geta approaching

1
ka ra
’
kon ka ra ko n
, and the sound drew nearer
-
and nearer quick ly till it reach ed th e live hedge

, ,
-
surrounding the gard en Th en Shinzaburo feel .

,
.
ing curious stood on tiptoe so as to look over

the hedge ; and he sawtw
, ,
o women p assing
One who w
.
as carrying a be autiful l antern deco

,
1K g t i t h i
om a gi l T h
ea g t i n w d e or
en s d l
na e ea s a oo an a
l g f wh i h th y v i ti
.
,
or c o o c d id
ere are m an ar e es, so m e ec
y
,
ed ly l ga t T h h
ee g t n p get e is ll d
om a e a , o r on -
a so-ca e
f lik e ech w
.
b s f the so o
ecau e o s h h i h it
n ro u kes oo -
o c ma on
ln rd ground .
rated owith pe ny fl w pp red t
o ers a ea o be a ser -
1
the ther w l nd r girl

,
vant o as a s e e of about
seventeen wearing a long sleeved robe em broid

,
-
ered with designs of autumn blossoms Almost -

.
at th e same inst ant both women turned their
faces toward Sh inzaburO; and to h is utter

aston ishment he recognized O Tsuyu and her
,
-
serv ant O Yoné -

.
They stopped immediately ; and the girl cried

o ut,
Oh ,
ho wtr nge !
s a H agiwara Sam a !
Sh inzaburo simult aneously called to the
m aid
O Yoné l
-
Ah you are O YoneI I remem ,
- —
ber you very well .

”
H agiwara Sama ! exclaimed O Yone in a -
tone of supreme am azement Never could I .
h ave believed it possible ! Sir we were ,
told that you had died .
1Th t fl t
e so r o h f d t is
an ern l g md ; ere re erre o no on er a e
an d it h p
s s a e canb t b d st d by eslg t th e un er oo a ance a e
pi tc ure acco mp yi g thi t y I t ws t t lly lik th

an n s s or a o a un e e
p i t d with th w
.
d d ti h d l t
’
m o ern om es c an -
an ern , a n e e o ner s
cres t ; b t it w
u t lt g th lik
as no f f I
a o e er un e som e o rm s o an
t
erns s t ill f t d f t h F tiv l f th D d
m an u ac ure d or e es a o e ea an
ll d B dé a T h fl w ti g it w
,
ca e on -
r e t
o ers o rnam en n ere no
p i t d th y w tifi i l fl w s f ep ilk d we
.
a n e : e ere ar ca o er o cr e s -
, an er
a tta h d t th t p f th l t
c e o e o o e an ern .
6
82 In Ghostly Japan
How extraordinary cried Shinzaburo
Why I w
.
as told th at both of you were dead !

,
Ah wh at a hateful story !
,
returned ”
O Yon e
- Why repeat such unlucky words ?
.
W ho told you
Please to come in said Shinzaburo ; ,
here we can talk better The garden gate is .

-
Open .
”
SO they entered and exch anged greeting ; and

,
when Shinzaburo h ad made them comfortable he ,
said
“
I trust that you will pardon my discourtesy
in not h aving called upon you for so long a time .
But Shijo the doctor about a month ago told

, , ,
me th at you had both died ”
SO it w as he w
.
ho told you ? excl aimed ”
O Yoné
- It w as very wick ed of him to say
“
Well it w
.
such a thing as also Shij o who told

. ,
us th at y ou were dead I think that he wanted

which w
.
to deceive you as not a difficult thing

,
to do bec ause you are so confi ding and trustful

, .
Possibly my m istress betrayed her liking for you

in some words which found their w ay to her
father s ears ; and in th at case O K uni the

’
-
newwife
, ,
might h ave planned to make the

doctor tell you th at w e were dead so as to bring ,
A Passi onal K arm a 83
a bout a separation Anyhow when my mistress
.
,
heard th at you had died she wanted to cut Off ,
her h air immediately and to become a nun But

,
I w
.
as able to prevent her from cutting off her
hair ; and I persu aded her at last to become a

nun only in her heart Afterwards her father .
wished her to marry a certain young m an ; and

she refused Then there w
. as a great d eal of
trouble ,chiefly caused by O K uni ; and we -
went away from the villa and found a very ,
sm all house in Yan ak a no Sasak i There we are

- -
nowjust barely able to live by doing a little

.
private work My mistress has been con

.
stantly repeating the N em bu tsu for your sak e .
TO day being the first d ay of the Bon we went

-
e were on our w
,
to visit the t emples ; and w

,
ay
home thus late when this strange meeting

happened
Oh howextraordinary ! cried Shinzaburo
.
.
,
Can it be true or is it only a dream ? Here
I too have been constantly reciting the N em

, ,
butsu before a t ablet with h er n ame upon it !

L ook ! And he showed them O Tsuyu s ’
-
tablet in its place upon the Shelf of Souls .
We are more than grateful for your k ind

remembrance returned O Yoné smiling
,
”
-
, .
84 In Gh ostl y J apan
No w as for my m istress She continu s e
turning towards O Tsuyu w

, ,
ho h ad all the wh ile

-
,
remained demure and silent half hiding her face ,

-
with her sleeve as for m y mistress sh e

, ,
actu ally says th at She would not mind being dis
owned by her father for th e time of seven ex ist
ences or even being k illed by him for your sak e !

1
, ,
Come ! will you not allow her to stay here

to night
-
Sh inzaburo turned p al e for joy H e answered .
in a voice trem bling with emotion

“
Please remain ; but do not speak loud
because there is a troublesome fellow living close
by a n insom i called H ak uOdO Y usai w
,
1
ho tells
’
people s fortunes by look ing at their faces He

’
.
is incli ned to be curious ; and it is better that he

should not k now
”
.
1 F th ti or f
e v it
m eo th t i t
se en ex y s ences, —
a s o sa
v iv liv I J p se d
,
f th t i
or e f m e o se en success e es
. n a ane ram a
an d it i
ro m ance t s no t p t f th
unco m m o n o re resen a a er as
d i wi g hi
so n n h ild fs c th ti “
f v liv S h
or e me o se en e
s
”
uc
d i wi g i
.
a so n n ll d hi hi hb dl
s ca e s db e d i i h it
—
s
'
ma no m a n
’
a s n er
v liv ig ifyi g th t i i f t liv

,
ance f o r se en es, —
S n n a n sx u ure es
aft th p
er e t th resen ig e err nd ght will ti so n o r au er co n n ue
t f l th p
o ee t l d i pl
e aren a s eas ure .
9Th p f e i i t y t ti t T h i i
ro ess o n s no e ex nc e n nsom uses a
g y i g gl g ify i g ir
.
ki dn f o if ma n ( n ass or m a n n -
m ro r so m e
ti )
m es ll ,d t ca e
g k y o en i
an ig i o r n nsom an .
86 In Ghost ly Japan
to uffer He therefore resolved to watch ; and
s .
on the following night h e stole on tiptoe to
ShinzaburO s dwelling and looked through a

’
,
chink in one of the Sliding shutters By the .
glow of a night lantern within the sleeping room

- -
he w
,
as able to perceive that h is master and a
q
strange wom an were t alk ing together under the
mos uito net At first he could not see the

-
woman distinctly Her back w

.
as turned to him ;
he only observed th at she w

.
as very slim and ,
th at she appeared to be very young judging ,
from the fashion of her dress and hair Putting .

1
his ear to the chin k he could hear the conver ,
sation pl ainly The wom an said

And if I should be disow
.
ned by my father ,
would you then let me come and live with

”
you ?
Sh inzaburo answered
Most assuredly I would nay I should be ,
glad of the chance But there is no reason to

.
fear th at you will ever be disowned by your

father ; for you are his only d aughter and he ,
loves you very much What I do fear is that

some day w
.
e sh all be cruelly sep arated

”
.
1Th l d f
e co or an f th d d th sty l
orm o f e ress, an e e o
w i g t h h i by J p
ear n e a r, are t g l t d o d
a anese cus o m re u a e acc r
i g t th
n o g f th
ea e o w e o m an .
Sheresponded softly
N ever never could I even th in k of accepting
,
any other m an for my husband Even if our .
secret were to becom e k nown and my f at her ,
were to k ill me for what I have done still ,
after de ath itself I could never cease to thin k

—
of you And I am nowquite sure that you

.
yourself would not be able to live very long

without m e Then clinging closely to
.
”
him with her lips at h is neck she caressed him ;

, ,
and he returned her caresses .
Tom ozo wondered as he listened because

the language of the wom an w
,
as not the langu age
of a common wom an but the l angu age of a l ady ,
of ran k Then be determined at all hazards to

1
.
g et one glimp se of her fa ce ; an d h e crept ro und

the ho use back wards and forwards peering
, ,
through every crack and chink And at last he

w
.
as able to see ; but therewith an icy trem

bling seized him ; and the hair of his head
stood up
For the face w

.
as the face of a woman long
Th f m s f p
1 e or h d by th o i d th
s eec use e sam ura an o er
b ly f
,
p i l d iff d
su er o r c asses, id th
ere f th
co ns era ro m o se o e
p p l id i ; b t th d iff es ld t be ffec
o u ar om u ese erenc cou no e
ti ly
ve d ed i t E gli h
ren er n o n s .
dead and the fingers caressing were fingers of
,
naked bone and of the body below the waist

there w
,
as not anything : it melted off into thin
nest trailing shadow Where the eyes of the

lover deluded sawyouth and grace and beauty
.
there appeared to the eyes of the watcher horror

on ly and the emptiness of death
, Simultane .
ously another wom an s figure and a weirder

’
, ,
rose up from within the ch amber and swiftly ,
made toward the watcher as if discerning his

,
presence Then in uttermost terror he fled to

.
, ,
the dwelling of H ak uodo Y usai and k nock ing , ,
frantically at the doors succeeded in arousing

,
l lak ubd o Yusai, the

-
n insom i, w very
as a old
m an ; but in his time he had travelled much and ,
h e h ad heard and seen so m any things th at he

could not be easily surprised Yet the story of.
the terrified Tom ozo both alarmed and amazed

him He had read in ancient Chinese books of
.
love between the living and the dead ; but he had

never believed it possible Nowhowever he felt
.
, ,
90 I n G hostly Japan
When questioned nex t morn ing by Yusai Shin ,
zaburo at first attempted to deny that any women
had been visiting the house ; but fi nding this

artless policy of no avail and perceiving th at the
old m an s pu rpose w
,
as altogether unselfish he
’
w
,
as fin ally persu aded to ack nowledge wh at had
really occurred and to give his reasons for wish

,
ing to k eep the matter a secret A s for the lady.
Iijima he intended he said to mak e her his wife

, , ,
as soon as possible .
Oh madness ! cried Yusai losing all

, ,
patience in the intensity of his alarm Know

sir th at the people w
.
,
, ho have been coming here ,
night after night are dead ! Some frightful

,
delusion is upon you ! Why the simple ,
fact that you long supposed O Tsuyu to be dead -

,
and repeated the N em butsu for her and m ade ,
offerings before her tablet is itself the proof !

,
T he lips of th e dead h ave touched you I the

hands of the dead have caressed you ! Even
at this moment I see in your f ace the sign s of
death and you will not believe !

to me nowsir , I beg of you
,
—
if you wish to
,
save yourself : otherwise you have less than

twenty days to live They told you those
.
people that they were residing in the district

of Sh itaya in Yan ak a no Sasaki
,
D id you ever
- -
.
visit them at that place ? No of course you
did not ! Then go to d ay as soon as you can

-
, ,
to Yanak a no Sasak i and try to find their

- -
,
home !
And having uttered this counsel with the most
vehement earnestness H ak nodo Yusai abruptly
,
took h is departure .
Shinzaburo, t rtled though not convinced re

sa ,
solved after a moment s reflection to follow the

’
advice of the n in som z and to go to Sh itaya It

‘
w
,
as yet e arly in th e mo rning when he reached the
quarter of Yanak a no Sasak i and began his search

- -
,
for the dwellin g of O Tsuyu -

He went through .
every street and side st reet read all the n ames

-
,
q
inscri bed at the various entrances and made in ,
.
uiries whenever an oppo rt unity presented itself .
But he could not find anything resembling the

little house mentioned by O Yone; and none of -
the people whom he q uestioned k new of any

house in the quarter inh abited by two single
women Feeling at last certain that further
.
research would be useless he turned homew
ard
by the shortest w
,
ay which happened to lead ,
through the grounds of the temple Shin Ban -
zui- ln
ttention w as attracted by tw
.
Suddenly his a o
new tombs placed side by side at the rear of

the temple One w
, ,
.as a common t omb such as ,
might have been erected for a person of humble

ran k : t he other w as a large and handsome mon
um ent ; and hanging before it w as a be autiful
peony lantem which had probably been left there

-
,
at the time of the Festival of the D ea d Shinza .
burr) remembered th at the peony lante m carried

“
-
by O Yone w
-
as ex actly similar ; and the coin
cidence im pressed him as strange He looked .
ag ain at the tombs ; but the tombs explained
nothing Neither bore any personal name

.
,
only the Buddhist ka imy a or posthumous appel ,
lation Then he determined to seek information

.
at the temple An acolyte stated in reply to h is

.
,
ques tions that the large tomb had been recently

,
erected for the daughter of Iijima H eizayem on ,
the ba tam oto of U shigome; and that the small

tomb next to it w as th at of her servant O Yoné -
,
who had died of grief soon after the young lady s ’
funeral .
94 In Ghostly Japan
very great danger nowthreatens you be
A ,
cause of an error committed in one of your

former states of existence The k arma that .
binds you to the dead is very strong ; but if

I tried to explain its character you would not ,
be able to underst and I shall therefore tell you

.
only this th at the dead person has no desire

,
to injure you out of h ate feels no enmity to ,
wards you : she is influenced on the contrary , ,
by the most passionate affection for you Prob .
ably the girl has been in love with you from a
time long preceding your present life from ,
a time of not less th an three or four p ast exist
ences ; and it would seem th at although neces ,
sarily ch anging her form and c ondition at e ach
succeeding bi rth sh e h as not been able to cease

,
from following after you Therefore it will not be .
an easy thing to esc ape from her influ ence .
But nowI am going to lend you this powerful

m a m ori It is a pure gold im age of th at Buddha
1
1 Th e J a p
anese wd or m a m ori has s i g i f ti
n ica o ns at east l
as n um ero us as th o se attach n g to our o i w te m
n r am u e l
It would i p ib l i
be m f
o ss e, n a m ere o o tno te, e en v to sug
g t
es th v ei ty f
ar e J p ligi o a anese re o us o b ects j to wi
h ch th e
i gi v
nam e s I th i i t
en th n s n s ance, e m a m ori is a v y er sm a ll
i g p b b ly l d i i i t l q
.
m a e, ro a enc ose n a m n a ure sh r ne of ac uer i

wk or t l
or m e a whi h ilk
, over c a s co erv is d ra w S n . uch
A Passi onal Karm a 9;
called the Sea Sounding
Tathagata K a i Ou
- -
Ny ora i because h is preaching of the L aw

,
sounds through the w orld li k e th e sound of the
sea A nd th is little image is especi ally a sbiry o

.
y ok e which
,
1
pr ot ect s th e living fr om the de a d .
This you must wear in its covering next to , ,
your body under the girdle , Besides I .

,
sh all presently perform in the temple a sega k i ,
service fo r the repose of the troubl ed spirit .
And here is a holy sutr a called U bo D a ra n i Ky o ,

- -
,
or Treasure Raining Sutra -

y o u mu st be
littl i g w ft w by
e m a es ere o i th p en o rn sa m ura on e erso n
Iw tly h w i i t f g f Kw
.
as recen s o i
n a m n a ure i ure o ann o n, n an
iro n case, wh i h h d b i d by
c affi th gh
een carr e an o cer ro u
th S t
e w H b vd w
a sum a ar ith g d e o th t itser e oo reaso n , a
h d p b b ly v d h is li f ; f
.
,
a ro a it h d t pp d b ll t f
sa e e or a s o e a u e o
wh i h th d t w plai ly vi ib l
c e en as n s e
.
F 1 bi y o
ro m g h st d y l
r t a l d Th os an o m u, o ex c u e. e
Jp h v tw k i d
, ,
a anese a e f gh ts p p o i th i f l k
n s o os ro er n er o
lo re : th Spi it i th d d bi y a ;
e r s o d th Spi it e f th ea s r an e r s o e
y
,
li i g ikiryo A h se
v n p y b ouh t d b or a erso n m a e a un e an
wll by biry o
.
,
iki y o r as e as a s
vi p yi g ff i g f f d
.
A p i l s ec a ser ce, —
acco m an n o er n s o oo
d d h vi g livi g l tiv
,
ect t th o o se ea af i d t n no n re a es o r r en s o
h w v
.
,
ca re f th m or i th e t d i th i s us erm e n s case, o e er,

vi w ld b f p ti l d pti l ki d
.
,
th e ser ce ou eo a a r cu a r an ex ce o na n
w ld b tly wi tt
.
Th8 e nam e ou U bo e m o re co rrec r en
D aram Ky o It is th J p
-
p i ti f th titl
e a anese ro nun c a on o e e
y h t t t l t d t f S it i t Chi se
.
o f a ver s o r su ra rans a e ou o anscr n o ne
by th I d i e p i st A gh j a p b bly d i g the
n an re mo ava r , ro a ur n
96 in Gh ostly Japan
careful recite it every night in your house
to
Furthermore I shall give you
this pack age of o fud a you mu st p aste
-
one
1
of them over every Opening of your house ,
no matter how sm all If you do this the power .

,
of the holy texts will prevent the dead from en

tering But wh atever m ay happen do not
.
fail to recite the sutra .

”
Shinzaburb humbly thank ed the high priest ; -
and then taking with him the image the sutra

, , ,
and the bundle of sacred texts he m ade all h aste ,
to reach his home before the hour of sunset .
eighth t y T h Ch i ese t t
cen ur tai s t
e slit ti s
n ex con n ran era on
yste i s S it w d pp tly t lism i

.
f
o so m e m r ou anscr or s, a aren a an c
w d like th se t b
o r s, i K
o s t o slati f
e seen n ern
’
ran on o
the S dd ha m P d ik
a r h vi
a- un ar a, c . x x .
1O f d i t he g
- u a l m gi t eligi s te ts
s enera na e ven o r ou x
use d h rm s
as c a tali Th y s m etim es st m m d
or sm ans e are o a
b d p wd b t ly witt
.
or urne u on m
oo u m o re com on r en or
wt ip f p p O f d
.
pi td p
rn e u o n narro s r p st d s o a er -
u a are a e
b v h se e t th w
.
a o e ou -
alls f
n rances, o n ms p t bl ts e o roo , u on a e
pl d i h h ld h i
ace n ouse o t t Som ki ds
s r nes , e c, e c e n are
w b t th p
. .
orn a o u th s
e m ad
erson i t p ll ts o er are e n o e e
d sw all w
,
an d as Spi it l
o e di i T h te t f th
r ua me c n e. e x o e
la g f d is ft
r er o- u a mp i d by i s pict s
o en acco an e cur o u ure or
y b li ill st ati
s m o c u r ons .
It ceased ; and Shinzabu ro suddenly heard the
sound of geta approaching from th e old di
rection but this time more slowly : ka ra n

,
boron ka ra n k oron ! ,
At once a cold sweat -
broke over h is forehead Opening the sutra .
hastily with trembling hand he began again to

, ,
recite it aloud T he steps came nearer and .
nearer reached the live hedge stopped !

, ,
Then strange to say Shinzaburo felt unable

, ,
to remain under h is mosquito net : something -
stronger even than h is fear impelled him to

look ; and instead of continuing to recite the
,
U bo D a ra n i Ky o he foolishly approached the

- -
,
shutters and through a chink peered out i nto
the night Before the house he sawO Tsuyu

,
-
.
standing and O Yone with the peony lantem ;

,
- -
and both of them were gazing at the Buddhist
texts pasted above the entrance N ever before .
not
—
even in wh at time she lived had —
O Tsuyu appeared so beautiful ; and Shinza

-
buro felt h is heart drawn towards her with a

power almost resistless But the terror of death .
half -
past i
n ne to o ur one l
o c o ck
’
ight
e to o ur t wo
’
o c ock l T w o o c ock
’
l in th e m o rn ing, a lso ll
ca ed
“
the
w
.
H our o f th e Ox ,
”
as th e J a p anese ho ur of gh o st s and
g b
o li ns .
and the terror of the unk nown restrained ; and
there went on within him such a struggle between
h is love and h is fear that he becam e as one
su ffering in the body the p ain s of th e Sh o netsu -
hell .
1
Presently he heard the voice of the m aid ser - .
vant saying
My dear mistress there is no w
,
ay to enter
,
.
Th e heart of H agiwara Sama must h ave changed .
For the promise th at he m ade l ast night h as been

brok en ; and the d oors h ave bee n m ade fast to
k eep us out We cannot go in to night
.
-
.
I t will be wiser for you to m ak e u p y our mind

n ot to thin k any more abo ut him bec ause his
feeling to w
,
ards you h as certainly ch anged It .
is evident th at he does not w ant to see you So .
it will be better not to give yourself any more

trouble for the sake of a m an whose heart is
so un k ind
”
.
But the gi rl answered weeping ,
Oh to think that this could happen after

,
the pledges which we made to each other !

1 Eu -netsu or Sbo-netsu (Sa nscr t i Tp a ana is th e sx i th
of th e Eight H t H ll f J p o e s o a anese Bud d h i sm One day
q li d
.
of lif i t h i h ll i
e n s e s e ua n i
urat o n to th o usands (som e
a
s y illi ) f h m y
m o ns o u an ears .
100 In Ghostly Japan
O ften l w t ld th t th h t f
as o a e ear o a m an change
s
as quickly th ky f utumn ;
as e s o a yet surely
the heart of H agiwara Sama cannot be so cruel
that he should really intend to ex clude me in this
w ay ! D ear Yoné please find som e means
U nles s you do I w
,
of tak ing me to him . ill ,
never ne ver go home again

, .
T hus she continued to ple ad veiling her face ,
with her long sleeves and very bea utif ul she

,
w t o g upon her lover

as s r n .
O Yone at last made answer

-
,
My dear young lady why will you trouble

your m ind about a m an w
,
ho seem s to be so
Well let us see if there be no w
ay
to enter at the back of the house : com e w

,
ith
me1
n
taking O Tsuyu by the hand she led her

A nd -
,
away toward t he rear of t he dwelling ; and t here
the two d isappeared as suddenly as the light dis
appears w
h
en the flam e of a lam p is blow n out.
102 I n G h ostly Japan
howy trifle with
ou If by to m orrow night
us ! ,
-
,
you do not tak e away that text you shall learn

h owI can hate !
,
And she made her face so

”
frightful as she spok e that Tom ozo nearly died of

terror .
O Miné the wife of T om ozo h ad never till

-
, , .
then k nown of these visits : even to her h usband

they h ad seemed lik e had dreams But on this .
particular night it chanced that wak ing suddenly , ,
sh e heard the voice of a wom an t al k ing to
Tom ozo Almost in the same moment the tal k

.
ing ceased ; and when O Miné look ed about her -
sh e sawby the light of the n ight lamp only her

,
-
, ,
husband shuddering and whit e with fear
The stranger w
, .
as gone ; the doors were fast : it
seemed impossible that any body could h ave eu
tered . Nevertheless the jealousy of the wife had

been aroused ; and she began to chide and to
question Tom ozo in such a manner that he
thought himself obliged to betray the secret and ,
to expl ain the terrible dilemma in which he had

been placed .
T hen the p assion of O Mi né yielded to wonder

-
and alarm ; but she w as a subtle wom an and sh e ,
devised immed iately a plan to save her husband

by the sacrifice of her master And she gave .
A Passional Karm a 10;
Tom ozo cunning counsel

a telling him , to
m ak e conditions with the dead .
They came again on the following night at the

Hour of the O x ; and O Miné hid herself on -
hearing the sound of their coming ba ron kar ,

-
ou ka ra n koron !
, But Tom ozo went out to
-
meet them in the dark and even found courage

,
to say to them wh at h is wife h ad told h im to
It true that I deserve your blame

is but
I h ad no wish to cause you anger The reason .
that the o fud a h as not been taken away is that

-
m y wife and l are able to live only by the help
of H agiwara Sam a and th at we cannot expose

,
him to any danger without bringing misfortune

upon ourselves But if we could obtain the sum
.
of a hundred r y o in gold we should be able,to
please you because we should then need no help

,
from anybody Therefore if you will give us a

.
hundred ry o I can tak e the o fud a away with

,
-
out being afraid of losing our only means of
support
”
.
When he had uttered these words O Yone ,

-
and O Tsuyu l ook ed at e ach other in silence for

-
a moment T hen O Yone said

.
-
Mistress I told you th at it w
,
as n ot right to
trouble this m an as we have no just cause of

,
ill will against him But it is certainly useless to

.
fret yourself about H agiwara Sama because h is

heart h as changed towards you N owonce again
,
.
,
my dear young lady let me beg you not to think ,
any more about him !
But O Tsuyu weeping m ade answer

-
, ,
D e ar Yon e wh atever m ay h appen I cannot

, ,
possibly keep myself from think ing about him !

You k now th at you can get a h undred ry o
to h ave the o fud a tak en off
- Only once more .
,
I pray dear Yone only once more bring m e

,
'
—
face to face with H agiwara Sama I beseech ,
you ! A nd hiding her face with her sleeve she ,
thus continued to plead .
Oh ! why will you ask me to do these

things ? responded O Yone You k now very
” -
.
well that I have no money But since you will .
persist in this whim of yours in spite of all that ,
I can say I suppose that I m ust try to find the

,
money somehow and to bring it here to morrow

,
-
night . Then turn ing to the faithless To

,
mozo she said Tom ozo I mu st tell you

that H agiwara Sam a nowwears upon h is body a
, ,
ma m ori called by the n ame of K a i Ou Ny ora i - -

,
of c opper ; and he had buried the K a i Ou Ny - -
ora i in a desolate field So the visitan ts found

.
n othing to Oppose their entering Veiling their .
faces with their sleeves they rose and passed like ,
a streaming of v apor int o the little wind ow from

,
over which the holy text had been torn away .
But what happened thereafter within the house

Tom ozo never k new
The sun w
.
as high before he ventured ag ain to
approach h is maste r s dwelling and to k nock

’
upon the sliding doors For the first time in

- .
years he obtained no response ; and the silence

made him afraid Repeatedly he called and
.
,
received no answer Then aided by O Miné

.
,
-
,
he succeeded in effecting an entrance and mak ing

his w ay alone to the sleeping room where he -
,
called again in vain H e rolled back the rum

.
bling shutters to admit the light ; but still within

the house there w as no stir At last he dared to
.
lift a corner of the mosquito net But no sooner

-
.
had he look ed ben eath than h e fled from the

house with a cry of horror
Sh inzaburo w
.
,
as dead hideously dead and
h is face w as the face of a m an who h ad died in
the uttermost agony of fear ; and lying beside

him in the bed were the bones of a woman !
And the bones of the arms and the bones of the

,
h ands clung fast about his neck

, .
H ak uodo Yusai, the fortune teller went to view -

,
the corpse at the prayer of the faithless Tom ozo .
T he old m an w as terrified and astonished at the
spectacle but look ed about him with a k een eye

, .
He soon perceived that the o fud a had been tak en -
from the little window at the back of the house ;

and on se arching the body of Shinzaburo be dis ,
covered th at the golden m a m ori had been taken

from its wrapping and a copper image of Fudo
,
p ut in pl ace of it He suspected T om ozo of th e
theft ; but the whole occurrence w

.
as so very ex
traordinary that he thought it prudent to consult

with the priest Ryosek i before tak ing further
action. Therefore after having m ade a careful
,
ex amination of the prem ises he betook himself ,
to the temple Shin Banzui ln as q uick ly as h is

- -
,
aged limbs could be ar him .
Ryosek i ,without waiting to hear the purpose

of the old m an s visit at once in vited him into a
’
,
private apartment .
now that you are always welcome here
You k ,
said Ryosek i Please seat yours elf at ease

. .
Well I am sorry to tell you that H agiwara Sam a

,
is dea
Yusai wonderingly exclaimed
Yes he is dead
, but howdid you learn of
it
priest responded
T he
Hagiwara Sama w as suffering from the results
of an evil k arma ; and his attendant w as a bad
m an What happened to H agiwara Sama w

. as
unavoidable h is destiny h ad been determined

from a time long before his last birth It will be .
better for you not to let your mind be troubled

by this event .
”
Yusai said
I h ave heard that a priest of pure life m ay
gain power to see into the future for a h undred
years ; but truly this is the first time in my exist
ence that I have had proof of such power .
Still there is another m atter about which I am

,
very anxious .
You mean interrupted Ryoseki the steal “

, ,
ing of the holy m a m ori the K a i On Ny ora i But

,
- - .
you must not give yourself any concern about

Thus it came to pass that Shinzaburow
as buried
beside O Tsuyu in the cemetery of Shin Banzui

-
,
-
I n in Yanak a no Sasak i
,
- - .
H ere end s ibe story o f tbe Ghosts in the

Rom a nce f
o tbe P eony -L a ntern .
i
fl
t
My friend asked me whether the story had ln

terested me ; and I answered by telling him th at I
wanted to go to the cemetery of Shin Banzui I n - -
,
so as to reali ze more definitely the local color
of the author s st udies

’
.
I sh all go with you at once he said , .
what did you think of the personages

To Western thinking I made answer Shin
”
, ,
zaburo is a despicable creature I have been men .
tally comparing him with the true lovers of our

old ballad literature They were only too glad
-
to follow
.
a dead sweet heart into the grave ; and
nevertheless being Christians they believed that

, ,
they had only one human life to enjoy in this

world But Shinzaburo w
. as a Buddhist with ,
a million lives behind him and a million lives be
fore him ; and he w as too selfish to give up even
one miserable existence for the sak e of the girl

A Passronal Karm a 11!
that came back to him from the dead Then he

w
.
as even m ore cowardly than selfish Although .
a sam urai by birth and t raining he h ad to beg a
priest to save him from ghosts In every w

,
ay he .
proved himself contemptible ; and O Tsuyu did -
q uite right in chok ing him to death

From the J apanese point of view likew
.
ise , ,
”
my friend responded Shinzaburo is rather con ,
tem ptible But the use of this weak character

.
helped the author to develop incidents that could

not otherwise perhaps have been so effectively
, ,
managed To my thinking the only attractive

.
,
character in the story is that of O Yoné : type of -
the old time loyal and loving servant intelli

-
,
gent shrewd full of resource faithful not only

, , ,
unto death but beyond death

, Well let us go .
,
to Shin Banzui I n
- - .
”
We found the temple uninteresting and the ,
cemetery an abominatio n of desolation Spaces .
once occupied by graves h ad been turned into
potato patches Between were tombs leaning at

- .
all angles out of the perpendicular tablets made ,
illegible by scu rf empty pedestals shattered water

, ,
tanks and statues of Buddhas without heads or

,
hands Recent rains had soaked the black soil

.
,
l eaving here and there small pools of slime about

112 In Ghost ly
J apan
which swarms of tiny frogs were hopping Every .
thing excepting the potato patches seemed -
to h ave been neglected for years I n a sh ed just.
within the gate we observed a wom an cook ing ;

,
and my comp anion presumed to ask her if she
k new anything about th e tombs described in the
Romance of the Peony L antern - .
“
Ah ! the tombs of O Tsuyu and O Yone
- -
she responded smiling y o u will find th em

near the end of the first rowat the back of the
,
temple next to the statue of J izo .

”
Surprises of this k ind I h ad met wit h elsew here

in J ap an
We pick ed our w
.
ay between the rain pools and -
between the green ridges of young potatoes ,
whose roots were doubtless feeding on the sub

st ance of m any an other O Tsuyu and O Yone;
- -
and we reached at last tw o lich en eaten tombs -
of which the inscriptions seemed almost obliterated
Beside the larger tomb w

.
as a statue of J izo with ,
a brok en nose .
“
The characters are not easy to make out ,
said my friend but wait He drew from

h is sleeve a sheet of soft white p aper l aid it over ,
the inscription and began to rub the paper with a

,
lump of clay A s he did so the characters ap

. ,
p ea red in white on the bl ack ened surface .

Foot pri n t s of t h e Bu dd h a
118 In G h ost ly J apan
not s een There is one at the temple of EM
.
In near Ryogoku bashi ; one at the temple of

-
D entsu I n in K oishik aw
,
-
, a ; one at the temple of
D enbo ln in A sak usa ; and a beautiful ex am ple

-
,
at l ojoji in Sh iba These are not cut out of a

.
single block but are composed of fragments cc

,
m ented into the irregular traditional sh ape and ,
capped with a heavy slab of Nebukawa granite ,
on the polished surface of which the design is
engraved in lines about one tenth of an inch in -
depth I should judge the average height of

these pedestals to be about tw
.
o feet four inches ,
and their greatest di ameter about three feet .
Around the footprints there are carved (in most

of the ex amples) twelve little bunches of leaves
and buds of the Bod a i jil Bodhidrum a -

or
Bodhi tree of Buddhist legend In all cases the

- .
footprint design is abo ut the same ; but the

monuments are different in quality and finish .
That of ZOjoji with figures of divinities cut in

lowrelief on its sides
,
is the most orn ate and

,
costly of the four The specimen at Eko ln is

.
-
very poor and plain .
The first Butsu

‘ -
sok u -sék i made in J apan was
that erected at Todaiji, in N ara . It w

as designed
Foot pri nts of the B udd h a 1 19
after a similar monument in China said to be ,
the faithful copy of an Indian original Con .
cerning this Indian original the following tradi ,
tion is given in an old Buddhist book In a “
temple of the prov ince of M akada [Magbad a ]

there is a great stone The Buddha once trod .
upon this stone ; and the prints of the soles of

his feet remain upon its surface The lengt h of .
the impressions is one foot and eight inches and ,

’
the width of them a little more than six inches .
On the sole part of each footprint there is the

-
impression of a wheel ; and upon each of the

prints of the ten toes there is a flow
er like design -
,
wh ich sometimes radiates light When the Buddha

felt that the time of h is Nirvana w
.
as appro ach
ing he went to Kush ina [Ka sinara] and there

, ,
stood upon th at stone He stood with his face .
to the south Then he said to his disciple

.
An an [A na nd a ] In this place I leave ‘
the impression of my feet to rem ain for a last ,
1 The Ch i nese il
t t e is ronounced p J a anese as Sei by p
iki lu
-
'
.
-
y
Sei I k i (the Co untr of th e Wes t ) as the o ld
”
w
Ja p anese i
nam e fo r I nd a ; and t h us t he title m ght b e ren i
d ered , T he Boo k a out nd ia b su I
ose th s is th e
”
ork I pp i w
w W
.
k no n to estern scho lors as Su n-hi
Jp
.
One sbak u and e ght sun i

But th e a anes e foot and
.
i bl l
inch are cons dera y onger than the English .
tok en A lthough a king of thm corm try w
. ill try
'
to des troy th e im pression it can never be entirely

,
des troyed ) A nd indeed it has not been destroyed

unto t his day Once a king w
. ho hated Bud dhism
ca used the tOp of the stone to be pared off, so as
had been rem oved the footprints reappeared upon

,
the stone .
”
the footprints of the Buddha there is sometimes

quoted a text from the Kw
,
a n but su sa nm a i ky o - - -
Buddha dhyana samadhi sagara sutra

- -
thus- -
tra nsl ated for m e : I n th at time Shak a

lifted up h is foot Wh en .
the Buddha lifted up his foot all could perceive

upon the sole of it the appearance of a w
h l ee
of a thousand Spok es And Shaka said.
Whosoever beholds the sign upon the sole of

my foot shall be purified from all his faults
Even he w
.
ho beholds the Sign after my death

shall be delivered from all the evil results of all
h is errors Various other tex ts of J apanese

.
’
Buddhism affirm that whoever looks upon the

footprints of the Buddha Shall be freed from
the bonds of error and conducted upon the Way
,
of Enlightenment
”
.
Footpri nts of the Budd h a 12 3
An outline of the footprints as engraved on

one of the J apanese d l hould h ve 1
p e esta s s a
some interest even for pe r sons familiar with
Indian sculptures of the S ripada The double ’

.
page drawing accompanying this paper and

, ,
showing bot h footpri nts h as been m ade after

,
the tracing at D entsu I n where the footprints

-
,
have the full legendary dimension It will be .
observed that there are only seven emblems :

these are called in J apan the Shichi Sé or -
,
Seven A ppearances I got some information

about them from the Sho Eko H é Kw
.
an a - - -
,
book used by the Jodo sect This book also .
contains rough woodcuts of the footprints ; and

one of t h em I reproduce here for the purpose
of calling attention to the curious form of the
emblems upon the toes They are said to be

.
modifications of the m a nj i or svastik a but,
I doubt it I n the Butsu soku séki tracings the

- - -
corresponding figures suggest the flow

.
,
er like -
design mentioned in the tradition of the

Maghada stone ; while the symbols in the book
print suggest fire Indeed their outline so much
.
1 A m onum ent at Nara ex h ibit s the s ame. in a fo rm

i
d iffer ng cons id bly
era fro m the d es gn i p
u on th e Tokyo
124 In G hostl y J apan
resembles the conventional flam elet design of -
Buddhist decoration that I cannot help thinking

,
them originally intended to indicate the tradi .
tional luminosity of the footprints Moreover .

,
S rlpa da
'
s o hw in g th e S va stlld
( F ro m tb c ( F t h S H O E K O H O KW A N)
wZ
-
ro m e - -
Bux v -
H va x x a- a us u o )
there is a text in the book called H o K a i Sbid a i - -
th at l ends support to this supposition : The

sole of the foot of th e Buddha is fl at lik e the ,
—
base of a toilet stand U pon it are lines

- .
126 In G h ostly Japan
III . 7be D ia m ond Mace (J ap K ongo -
.
Sansc . Vadjra Explained as signifying

the
divine force that strik es and breaks all the lusts
(bo n no) of the
‘
w orld .
”
IV The Concb Sbell (J ap H ora

.
‘
or - .
Trumpet Emblem of the preaching of the

.
L aw The book Sbin rok u butsu ji ben ca lls it

.
- — - -
the symbol of the voice of the Buddha The .
D a i bi ky o ca lls it the tok en of the prea ching

- -
and of the power of the M ah ayana doctrine .
The D a i N iabi Ky o says

-
At the sound of
-
‘
the blowing of the shell all the hea venly deities

are filled w
,
ith delight and come to hear the

w
,
”
La .
V I be Flow
. er V a se ( J ap
‘
H a naga m e -
.
Emblem of m uro a mystical word which ‘
might be literally rendered as not lea k ing -

,
signify ing th at condition of supreme intelligence
triumphant over birth and death .
VI Tbe W beel of a Thousa nd Spokes (Sansc

.
—
‘
- - -
‘
- .
Tchak ra This emblem ca lled in Japanese ,
Senf uk u rin so is curiously expla ined by various

'
- -
,
quotations The H okké Monk u says :

. The -
effect of a wheel is to crush something ; and the

effect of the Buddha s preaching is to crush all ’
delusions errors doubts and superstitions There

, , ,
.
Footpri nts of the B udd h a 12 7
fore preach ing the doctrine is called turning the ,
Whee The Sei R i R on says Even as - -
the common wheel has its spok es and its hub ,
so in Buddhism there are many branches of the
H a sshi Shodo Eight fold Path or eight rules

-
,
’
of
VII The Crow n of Bra hm d U nder the heel

of the Buddha is the Treasure Crown ( H o K w
. .
an ) - -
of B rahma ( Bon Ten O) in symbol of the

‘
- -
,
Buddha s supremacy above the gods

’
.
ButI think that the inscriptions upon any of

these Butsu sok u sék i will be found of more sig
- -
nifi cance than the above impe rfect attempts at an
explanation of the emblems The inscriptions .
upon the monument at D entsu In are typical .
On different sides of the structure near the ,
top and placed by rule so as to face certa in

,
points of the compass there are engraved five

,
Sanscrit characters which are symbols of the

Five Elemental Buddhas together with scriptural ,
and commemo rative te x ts These latter have .
been tra nslated for me as follows :

The H O-K O- H ON - NY O - KY O sa s y I n t ha t
tim e, from benea th his feet , the Bud d ha rad ia ted
a l ight ha ving the app ea ra nce o f a w

h l
ee of a
thousa nd s ok es
p . A nd a ll w
h wth o sa a t ra d i
a nce beca m e st rictly upright , a nd obta in ed the

”
Suprem e Enl ighten m ent .
The K wB au -
ursu sm m r- x ro say s
-
W ho
soever l ook s upon the footprint s of t he Bud d ha
sha ll befreed f rom the resul ts even o f in n um er
”
a ble t housa nd s of im perfect ions .
The BU SU S T -
ETSU -
M U RYO J U K YO say s
- — -
In
the l a nd tha t t he Bud d ha t rea d s in journey ing,
t here is not even on e p erson in a ll the m ul t it ud e
f
o the vill ages wh o is not benefi ted . Then
t hroughout t he wld or there is p eace a n d good
w
ill . The sun a nd the m oon shine cl ea r a nd
brigh t . W ind a nd ra in com e only a t a suita bl e
t im e . Cal a m ity a nd
p est il ence cea se . The coun
try p p
ros ers t he peopl e a re f ree f rom ca re.
W eapons becom e usel ess . A ll m en reverence
rel igion , a nd regul a te their cond uct in all m a t
ters w
ith ea rnestness a nd m od esty .
”
[ Com m em o ra tiv e T ex t ]
f
.
T h e Fi th Mont h
th e Elgh teenth Y ea r of Me ijl. a ll th e rie sts of
of p
h d h pd l
—
t is tem ple m a e a n d set u p t is e e sta - stone . b ea rin g th e lik ene ss of

th e footprlnts of th e Bu a . a nd a e th e sa m e ddh pl c d wh
it in th e m a in ou rt c
d h d hl l h
f
De nts u - I n I n
of t at th e see of
y en ig ten m en t m lgh t be
d c d
or e r o
wf
.
so n or uture tim e . a n d for th e sa k e of th e a va n e m en t of Bud h ism
h ch f p
.
Op cc ession of
p c f ll c p d
T A IJ rie st b ein g th e six ty s ix t ie riest by
pl
-
su
h
— -
,
t is te m e. —
ha s re s e t u y om ose .
J U NYU . th e m inor p rie st, l c

ha s reverentia l y Ins ribed .
and the might of Islam nations arose and
vanished cities grew and were not ; the
children of another civilization vaster than ,
Rome s begirdled the earth with conquest and

’
, ,
founded far off empires and came at last to rule

-
,
in the land of th at pilgrim s birth And these’

.
,
rich in the wisdom of four and twenty centuries ,
wondered at the beauty of his message and ,
caused all that he h ad said and done to be written

down anew in languages unborn at the time
when he lived and taught Still burn his foot
.
prints in the East ; and still the great West ,
marvelling follows their gleam to seek the Su

,
preme Enlightenment Even thus of old Mi

linda the k ing follow ed the w
.
, ,
ay to the ho use of
N agasena ,at first only to question after the ,
subtle method of the G ree ks ; yet later to , ,
accept with noble reverence the nobler method
of the M aster .
U l u latio n
and tease her at will but although she has been
k nown to make strange men feel uncomfortable ,
she never growls at a child The reward of her .
patient good nature is the friendship of the com

-
munity When the dog k illers come on their

.
-
bi annual round the neighbors look after her

-
interests Once she w

,
. as on the very point of
being officially executed when the wife of the

smith ran to the rescue and pleaded successfully
,
with the policeman superintending the mass acres .
Put somebody s name on the dog said the

’ ”
,
latter : then it will be safe Whose dog is it ?

“
.
That question proved h ard to answer The dog

w
.
as e verybody s and nobody s welcome every

’ ’
w here but owned nowhere But where does .
it stay ? asked the puzzled constable lt .
stays said th e smith s wife in the house of

” ’ “
, ,
the foreigner ”
Then let the foreigner s name
.
’
be put upon the dog suggested the policeman

,
”
.
Accordingly I had my name painted on her

back in big Japanese characters But the neigh
bors did not think that she w
.
as sufficiently safe
guarded by a single name So the priest of

Kobudera painted the n ame of the temple on her
left side in beautiful Chinese tex t ; and the smith
,
p ut th e name o f hi
s shop on h er right side ; and
U l ulat i on
'
135
th e vegetable seller put on her breast the ideo

-
g raphs for eight hundred

-
which represent,
the c ustomary abbreviation of th e word y aoy a

(veget able
- seller) a
,ny y aoy a being suppo sed
to sell eight hundred or more di fferent things .
Consequently she is now a very curious look -
ing dog ; but she is well protected by all that

calligraphy.
l have only one fault to fi nd with her she :
howls at night Howling is one of the few

.
pathetic pleasures of her ex istence At first I .
tried to frighten her out of the habit ; but fi nd

ing that she refused to tak e me seriously I con ,
cluded to let her howl It would have been .
m onstrous to beat her .
Yet I detest her howl It always gives me a

.
feeling of vague disquiet lik e the uneasiness that

,
precedes the horror of nightmare It makes .
me afraid indefi nably superstitio usly afraid

Perhaps what I am writing w
.
, ,
ill seem to you

absurd ; but you would not think it absurd if
you once heard her howl She does not howl .
lik e the common street dogs She belongs to-
some ruder Northern breed much more w

.
olfi sh , ,
and retaining wild traits of a v ery peculi ar k ind .

136 In G host ly Japan
And her howl is also peculiar It is incom par . .
ably weirder th an the howl of any European dog;
and I fancy th at it is incomp arably older It .
m ay represent the origin al primitive cry of her
species totally unmodified by centuries of

,
domestication .
It begins with a stifled moan lik e the moan ,
of a bad dream mounts into a long long

wail like a wailing of w
, ,
, ind sin k s qu avering
into a chuck le rises agarn to a wail very

, ,
m uch higher and wilder than before breaks,
suddenly into a k ind of atrocious l aughter and ,
fi n ally sobs itself out in a plaint lik e the crying

of a little child The ghastliness of the perform
.
ance is chiefly though not entirely in the

goblin mock ery of the laughing tones as con
trasted with the piteo us agony of the wailing
ones : an incongruity th at makes you think of
m adness And I imagine a corresponding in
.
congruity in the soul of the creature I k now .
that she loves me that she would throw way

, a
her poor life for me at an instant s notice I am ’

.
sure th at she would grieve if I were to die But .
sh e would not thin k about the matter li k e other
dogs like a dog with hanging ears for ex

, ,
ample . She is too savagely close to Nature for

138 In G hostly J apan
sible by duller human sense impulses also
, ,
impulses without name bestirred in ghosts of

,
dogs by the light of great moons .
Could we know the sensations of a dog the ,
emotions and the ideas of a dog we might dis

,
cover some strange correspondence between their

character and the character of that peculiar dis
quiet which the how l of the creature evokes .
But since the senses of a dog are totally unlike

those of a m an we shall never really k now .
And we can only surm ise in the vaguest w

,
, ay the ,
meaning of the uneasiness in ourselves Some .
notes in the long cry and the weirdest of

,
them oddly resemble those tones of the h u

,
m an voice th at tell of agony and terror Again .

,
we have reason to believe that the sound of the

cry itself bec ame associ ated in h um an im agin ation ,
at some period enormously remote with p articular

,
impressions of fear It is a remark able fact that

.
in almost all countries (including Japan) the howl

ing of dogs h as been attributed to their perception
of th ings viewless to m an and awful
, especially
,
gods and ghosts and this unanimity of super

stitious belief suggests th at one element of the
disq uiet inspired by the cry is the dread of the

U l ul at i on 139
supernatural To day we have ceased to be con

.
sciously afraid of the unseen knowing that

we ourselves are supernatural that even the ,
physical m an with all his life of sense is more

, ,
ghostly than any ghost of old imagining : but

som e dim inheritance of the primitive fear still
sl umbe rs in our being and w akens perh aps like

, ,
an echo to the sound of that w ail in the night

,
.
Whatever thing invisible to human eyes the

senses of a dog m ay at times perceive it can be ,
nothing resembling our idea of a ghost Most .
probably the mysterious cause of start and whine

is not anyth ing seen There is no an atomical rea
.
son for supposing a dog to possess exception al
powers of vision But a dog s organs of scent

.
’
proclaim a faculty immeasurably superior to the

sense of sm ell in m an The old universal belief
.
in the superh uman perceptivities of the creature

w as a belief justifi ed by fact ; but the percepti vit ies
are not vrsual Were the howl of a dog really

. ,
as once supposed an outcry of ghostly terror ,
the m eaning might possibly be I sm ell Them !

,
but not I see Them !

, No evidence exists
”
to support the fancy th at a dog can see any forms

of being which a m an cannot see .
140 Ghostly Japan
In
But the night h wl f the white c e t
- o re in my
o r a u
close forces me to wonder whether she does not

m entally see something really terrible some ,
thing which we vainly try to k eep out of moral

consciousness : the ghoulish lawof life N ay .
,
there are tim es when her cry seems to me not the

mere cry of a dog but the voice of the lawitself
, ,
the very speech of that Nature so inex plicably

called by poets the loving the merciful the , ,
divine ! D ivine perhaps in some unk nowable

ultim ate w
, ,
ay but certainly not merciful and

, ,
still more certainly not loving Only by eating .
each other do beings exist ! Beautiful to the

poet s vision our world m ay seem w
’
ith its ,
loves its hopes its memories its aspirations ; but

, , ,
there is nothing beautiful in the fact that life is

fed by contin ual murder that the tenderest ,
affection the noblest enthusi asm the purest ideal

, ,
ism must be nourished by the eating of flesh and

,
th e drinking of blood All life to sustain itself

.
, ,
must devour life You m ay imagine yourself

.
divine if you please but you have to obey that

law Be if you w
,
.
, ill a vegetari an : none the less
,
y ou mu st eat fo m rs th at h ave feeling an d des ire .
Sterilize your food ; and digestion stops You .
c a nn ot even drin k without swallowing life L oathe .

Monstrous the l w e
a s em s because we h ave
,
developed ideas and sentiments which are 0p

posed to this demoniac N ature much as vol ,
untary movement is opposed to the blind power
of gravitation But the possession of such ideas

.
and sentiments does but aggravate the atrocity
of our Situ ation without lessening in the least

,
the gloom of the fi nal problem .
A nyhow the faith of the Far East meets that

problem better than the faith of the West To .
the Buddhist the Cosmos is not divine at all

quite the reverse It is Karma it is the crea
.
tion of thoughts and acts of error it is not

governed by any providence it is a ghastli
ness a nightm are L ik ewi se it is an illusion
, . .
I t seems real only for the same reason th at the

shapes and the p ains of an evil dream seem real
to the dreamer . O ur life upon eart h is a state

of sleep. Yet we do not sleep utterly There .
are gleams in our darkness faint auroral

,
wak enings of L ove and Pity and Sympathy and

Magnanimity : these are selfless and true ;
these are eternal and divine these are the
Four Infinite Feelings in whose after glow all -
forms and illusions will vanish lik e mists in the

light of the sun But ex cept in so far as w
,
.
, e
U l ul at i on 143
wke t
a these feelings we are dreamers indeed
o , ,
moaning unaided in dark ness tortured by ,
shadowy horror A ll of us dream ; none are

fully awake ; and many w
.
ho p ass for the wise ,
Of the world know even less Of the truth than

,
my dog that howls in the night .
Could she Speak my dog I think that she

, ,
might ask q uestions which no philosopher would

be able to answer For I believe that she is tor
.
m ented by the p ain Of existence Of course I .
do not mean that the riddle presents itself to her

as it does to us nor that she can have reached
,
any abstract conclusions by any m ental processes
lik e our own The extern al world to her is a

.
continuum of smells She thinks compares re.

”
, ,
m embers reasons by smells By smell sh e m akes

, .
her estimates Oi character : all her judgm ents

are fou nded upon smells Smelling thousands of .
things which we cannot smell at all she must ,
comprehend them in a w ay of which we can
form no idea Whatever she know

. s h as been
learned through mental Operations Of an utterly

unimagin able k ind But we m ay be tolerably
.
sure th at she thi nk s about most things in some
odor rel ation to the experi ence Of e ating or to

-
the intuitive dread of being eaten Certainly she .
k nows a great deal more about the ea rth on

which we tread th an would be good for us to
k now ; and probably if capable O f speech she
, ,
could tell us the strangest stories of air and

water G ifted or afflicted as she is with such
.
, ,
terribly penetrant power of sense her notion Of ,
apparent realities must be worse th an sep ulchral .
Smal l wonder if she howl at the moon that

shines upon such a world !
A nd yet she is more awake in the Buddhist ,
meaning than many of us She possesses a

, .
rude moral code inculca ting loyalty subm is ,
sion gentlene ss
, gratitude and maternal love ;
, ,
together with various minor rules of conduct ;

-
and this simple code she h as alw ays Observed .
By priests her state is termed a state of dark ness

of mind because she cannot learn all that men
,
should le arn ; but according to her light sh e h as
done well enough to merit some better condition

in her next rebirth SO think the people w
. ho
k now her When she dies they will give her
.
an h umble funeral and h ave a sutra recited on

,
beh alf of her spi rit The priest will let a grave
.
be m ade for her somewhere in the temple garden -

,
and w ill place Over it a little sotoba bearing the

Bit s of Po etry
A s for a udible poetry wherever there is work ,
ing there is singing The toil of the fields and .
the labor of the streets are performed to the

rhythm Of chanted ve rse ; and song would seem
to be an expression Of the life of the people in
about the same sense th at it is an ex pression Of
the life of cicada A s for visible poetry

it appears everyw
.
,
here written or graven in , ,
Chinese or in J apanese characters as a form ,
Of decoration I n thousands and thousands Of

.
dwellings you might Observe that the sliding

,
screens sep arating rooms or closing alcoves

, ,
have Chinese or J apanese decorative texts upon

them ; and these texts are poems I n houses .
Of the better class there are usually a number Of
g a k u ,o r suspended t ablets to be seen ea ch ,
bearing for all design a beautifully written

, ,
verse But poems can be found upon almost

.
any k i n d O f d omestic utensil for ex ample ,
upon braziers iron k ettles vases wood en trays

, , , ,
lacquer ware porcelains chopsticks Of the finer

, ,
sort, even tooth pick s l Poems are p ainted upon
sh op signs p anels screens an d fans

-
, , Poems are , .
printed upon towels draperies curtains keichiefs , , ,

'
silk lin ings an d w omen s crepe silk underwear

’
- - .
,
Poems are stamped or worked upon letter

B i t s of Poetry 15 1
paper envelopes purses mirror cases travelling

, , ,
-
,
.
bags Poem s are inlaid upon enamelled ware

.
,
cut upon bron zes graven upon metal pipes em

, ,
broidered upon tobacco pouches It were a -

.
hopeless effort to enumerate a ti the Of the arti

cles decorated with poetica l texts Probably .
my readers k now of those social gatherings at

which it is the custom to compose verses and to ,
suspend the compositi ons to blossoming trees ,
also Of the T anabata festival in hon or Of cert ain
astral gods when poems inscribed On strips Of

,
colored paper and attached to thin bamboos are

, ,
to be seen even by the roadside all fluttering

,
in the wind like so m any tiny flags Per

haps you might find your w
.
ay to some J ap anese
h amlet in which there are neither trees nor

flowers but never to any hamlet in which there
,
is no visible poetry You might wander

. as I ,
have done into a settlement so poor that you

,
could not Obtain there for love or money even

, ,
a cup Of re al tea ; but I do not believe t hat you
could discover a settlement in which there is

nobody capable of making a poem .
Recently w hile look ing over a manuscript

collection Of verses mostly short poems of an
,
emotional or descriptive ch aracter it occurred ,
to me that a selection from them might serve to

illustrate certain J apanese qualities Of sentiment
as well as some little k now
,
n J apanese theories of
-
artistic expression and l ventured forthwith

,
upon this essay The poem s which had been

.
,
collected for me by different persons at many

different times and places w ere chiefly of the
k ind w
,
ritten on particular occasions and cast ,
into forms more serried if not also actually

,
briefer than anything in Western prosody

Probably few of my readers are aware of tw
, .
curious facts relating to this order of composition .
Bot h facts are exemplified in the history and in

the texts of my collection though I cannot,
hope in my renderings to reproduce the orig

, ,
inal effect whether of imagery or of feeling

, .
Th e first curious fact is th at from very ancient ,
times the writing Of short poems has been prae

,
tised in J apan even more as a moral duty t han

154 I n G h ostly J apan
even upon a bed of death and if t he verses
did not display any ex traordinary talent they at

,
least afforded extraordinary proof of self mastery

-
under pain . Surely this fact of composition

as ethical practice h as larger interest th an all the
treatises ever written about the rules of J apanese

prosody .
The other curious fact is only a fact of aesthetic

theory Th e common art principle of the class
.
-
of poems under present consideration is identical
with the com mon pri nciple of Japanese pictorial

illustration By the use of a few chosen words
.
the composer of a short poem endeavors to do

ex actly wh at the pai nter endeavors to do with a
few strokes of the brush to evoke an image

,
or a mood to revive a sensation or an emotion

, .
A nd the accomplishment Of this purpose ,by

poet or by picture mak er depends altogether
-
,
upon capacity to suggest and only to suggest

, .
A J apanese artist would be condemned for at .
tempting elaboration of detail in a sketch intended

to recreate th e memory of some l andscape seen
through the blue haze of a spring morning or ,
under the great blond light of an autumn after
noon . Not only would he be false to the tradi

B its of P oetry 15 5
tions of his art : he would necessarily defeat his

ow n end thereby In the sam e w
. ay a poet would
be condemned for attempting any completeness

of utterance in a very short poem : his object
should be only to stir im agin ation without satis
tying it So the term itta hhiri

. meaning all
gone or entirely vanished in the sense of
,
” ”
,
all told is contemptuously applied to verses

”
,
in which the vers e mak er has uttered his whole

-
thought ; praise being reserved for composi

tions that leave in the mind the thrilling of
a someth ing unsaid L ik e the single strok e of
.
a temple bell the perfect Short poem should

-
,
set m unn uring and undulating in the mind of ,
the bearer many a ghostly aftertone of long

,
But for the same reason t hat Japanese Short

poems m ay be said to resemble J apanese pictures ,
a full comprehension of them req uires an inti
mate knowledge of the life which they reflect .
And this is especially true of the emotional class

of suc h poems a literal translation of which
, ,
in the majority of cases would signify almost ,
nothing to the Western mind Here for ex .

,
.
amme is a little verse pathetic enough to J ap an

, ,
ese comprehension :
C hocho ni l
Kyo nen sh ish ita ru
T i i sum a k o sh l
Translated this would appear to mean only

w b tt
, ,
T o u erfl ies ! La st y ea r my dea r

wf d i d !
i e e U nless
you happen to k now the
pretty J apanese symbolism of the butterfly in
relation to h appy marriage and the old custom ,
of sending with the wedding gift a l arge pair of
paper butterflies (ochd

- the verse might
well seem to be less than commonplace Or .
tak e this recent composition by a U niversity ,
student which has been praised by good

,
judges
F t i urusa o n
Fb i sh i u o ar mu no
K oe g e
o I 1 -
In my na tive pl ace the old f ol k s [ or, my
p a ren ts ] a re cl a m o r o f insect -
voices I
1 I m ust o ser e, b v ho wever that the praise w

as esp ecially
v by h lit lly
,
e ok ed t e use Of t he term h oe goe-

( era m ean ng i
vi f vi
o ce a ter o ce o r a cr yi ng of m an yvi ) o ces —
and
h
t p ilvl
e s ec a a ue of th e yll bl
s a es here can b pp
e a reciated
on ly by J p a a anese p o et .
through the little holes that were made by the
fi ngers of her dead child .
T he impossibility of preserving the inner quality

of suc h poems in a literal rendering will now be ,
Obvious Whatever I attempt in this direction

.
must of necessity be itta kkiri for the un

spo k en h as to be expressed ; and what the
J apanese poet is able to say in seventeen or

twenty one syllables m ay need in English more
-
than double that number of words But perhaps .
this fact will lend additional interest to the fol

low ing atoms of emotional expression
AM ora n
’
s Rm znnx m ce
Swt ee and clea r in the night, the voice of b

aa r a t stud
y,
I a lso once had a bg r ’ .
A ME M OR Y rn Spam s
She w
ho, depa rting hence, lef t to the fl o w ers of the l
p um
Bloom ing beside our eaves, the cha rm of hery outh a nd beauty
AhI w
h ere d oes she dwlle to day ,
-
our dea r little va nished
sister
Pancres or Anornert Fa m
r
( )
1 I sou ght in the pla ce f
o graves the tom b of my var
nished
B i ts of Poetry 159
(3 ) P erhaps a frea k f th w
o i d y tp h p
e n e er a s a sign o f re
m em brance,
Th is f all f
o a single lea f on the wt a er I pourf or the dead .
(3 ) I w
hi p
s ered a pray er at the grave : a butterfly rose and
fluttered
q
I n A Cem renv A I Nrcnr
‘ ‘
Th is light f the m ean that play s on the wt a er I pour f or the

dead ,
D iflers nothing at all f rom the m oonlight of
'
othery ears.
An na L ONG Ab sence
Th e garden that once I loved , and even the hedge of the gar
do! .
A ll is changed and strange the m oonlight only is f a ithf ul

Th e m oon a lone rem em bers the cha rm of the tim e gone by !
MOONLI GHT ON TH E SEA
Could win m e rene wl of lif

a e as a p a rt o f thy light on the
wta ers !
A m ar
a FAREWELL
W hither nowsh ould I look w
h ere is theplace f
o parting
H APPY O
P V ERTY
W af ted into my room the scent of theflow f ers o the p um tree

l -
i d w
w
,
Changes my broken i t
n o n o a source of delight .
A UTU M N Fm es
fi elds ?
( )
2 St rang el
y sa d I thought soun d ed the hel l of evenin
g;
w
, ,
H aply that tone procla im ed the night in hich aut um n dies !
w
(3) Vie ing this autunm m oon,
-
I d rea m f
o my na tive villa ge
U nder the sa m e so f g .
t li ht and the shad o wbs a out my
hom e .
in T ime or G EP, R em us A Si m RI (CI CAD )A

” ”
Only I, I, the cry o f the f oolish sim i 1
ON m e C S
A T— OFF
Sueu or . A Slim
W heref ore thus consum e a ll thy boy in song
Sunu m rv or im eu ec ruu . O
P W R E
The m ind that, und im m ed , a bsorbs the f oul and the pure to
gether
Ca ll it ra ther a sea one thousand f a thom s deep I
1 A i
m us cal cr ck et — i ca l; t
p yp
otr hus m arm ora tus
qi vl wy
.
Th i
s is u te no e in its a ,
— a p rod uct of th e
varsity : the ii l
o r g na runs th us :
Nigoréru m o
Sum éru mo tom o ui
iruru k oso
i
Ch i h re no um i no
-
Kok oro nar k eré l i -

g ive ple asure by reca lli ng impressions of nature ,
by reviving happy incidents of travel or pilgrimage ,
by evok ing the memory of beautiful days And .
when this pl ain fact is fully understood the per ,
sistent attachment of modern J apanese poets
not w it hstanding their U niversity training to the

ancient poetical methods will be found re ason able
,
enough .
I need offer only a very few specimens of the

purely pictori al poetry The follow . ing mere
thumb nail sk etches in verse are of recent date
-
.
Lonesomeness
F d y
r
u u—
era a
Ka é m
n iw
ono azu ;
S k
a urach i ru .
Old temple bell voicel ess cherr

y f low ers
Mom ma A w
n enm c. Arren A
’
Nicur s Rest in A
T emm
Yam ad era no
Sh ichb ak éy uk u
T i
q
ak no oto .
I n the m oun ta in tem ple the paper

-
m os uito
curt a in is l ighted by the d a w n sound of w

a ter
B i ts of Poetry 163
W I TNE
R SC
- EN E
Yu kino m um
Nim to ri natté ;
A k e sh i rosh i .
da w n .
me conclude this gossip on poetry by citing

L et
from another group of verses also pictorial in a ,
certain sense but chiefly remark able for ingenuity

,
two curiosities of im promptu The first is old .

,
and is attributed to the famous poetess Chiyo .
H aving been challenged to make a poem of seven

teen syllables referring to a square a triangle and , ,
a circle sh e is said to h ave immedi ately re

,
sponded ,
Kaya no té w o
H itotsu hazush ité,
qthe
Tsuld i kana l
’
-
m
D etaching one corner o f the m os uito-net ,
lo ! I behold The top of

the m oon !
”
mosquito net suspended by cords at each of its

-
,
four com ers represents the sq uare

, letting
down the net at one com er converts the sq uare
into a tri angle ; and the moon represents the
circle .
164 Ghostly Japan
In
The other curio ity i re ent impromptu effort

s sa c
to portray in one verse of seventeen syllables the

, ,
last degree of dev il m ay care poverty

- - perhaps
-
,
SQ U A RE TRI ANGLE
the brave misery of the wandering student ;
and i very much doubt whether the effort could
be improved upon
Nusundaru
Kagash i no k
asa ni
A m é ky fi nar i .
H eavily pours the ra in on the hat tha t I

stole from the sca recro ! w
J a pa n e s e Bu dd hi st Proverbs
T
8 representing that general quality of
moral experience which remains almost
unaffected by social modifications of any
sort the proverbial sayings of a people must
alw
,
ays possess a speci al psychological interest

for thinkers . In this k ind of fol klore the oral
and the written literature of J ap an is rich to a
degree that would req uire a large book to ex

em plify. To the subject as a whole no justice
could be done within the limits of a single essay .
But for certain classes of proverbs and proverbial

phrases something can be done within even
a few pages ; and saying s rel ated to Buddhism ,
either by allusion or derivation form a class

,
which seems to me particularly worthy of study

Accordingly w
.
ith the help of a J apanese friend

I have selected and translated the follow
, ,
ing series
of examples , choosing the more sim ple and
familiar where choice w as possible and pl acing ,
the originals in alphabetical order to facilitate ref

erence Of course the selection is imperfectly
.
representative ; but it will serve to illustrate

certain effects of Buddhist teaching upon popular
thought and speech .
1 .
—
A h nj i m i n i tom a ru .
All evil done clings to the body ‘

.
2 . A ta m a soru y ori hokoro w o sore .
Better to shave the heart than to shave the

head .
2
3 .
—
Au wwh a a a ré no haj zm e
'
Meeting is only the beginning of separation .

‘
1 T he q
conse uence of any e vil act o r th o ught never,
l
so o ng as karm a end ures, will cease to act u o n p t he ex
istence of th e gu t of it p erso n il y .
9 i
Budd h st nuns and r ests have the pi i r h eads co m pl t ly
e e
v
sha en T he p v
ro er b sig ifi n es t hat it is b etter to co rrect
q
.
th e h eart, to con uer all va n regrets and i i

d es res, than
to b eco m e a re ligi o us In co m m on p l a r a nce th e ph rase
v
.
“
to sha e th e h ea d m eans to b eco m e a m o nk o r a nun
q lly v i hi w ld f i
.
3 Rg e ret and d es i re are e ua a n in t s or o m
p erm an enc ; y fo r all j i h b gi i

oy s t e e nn ng f p i o an ex er ence
that m ust ha v e its p i Th i p v b

a n. s ro er f s d i ctly t re er re o
t he sutra tex t , -
Shoja hitsum etsu h h j i
-
s a -
A ll that li
or ve
t w
,
m ust sure y l d ie ; and all t hat m ee ill ly pa t sure r .

170 Gh ostly J apanIn
E lwg t k i w t to
'
n a sn o ora n suru o
g
ike monkeys trying to snatch the moon s

L ’
reflection on water .
1
10 . En na k i shu o
j wd a oshi ga ta shi .
To save folk having no k ann a- relation would

be difficult indeed I “
11 Fnj o se ppo
‘
snru hoshi
'
w hia, ra ta ke n i
'
um a ru.
The priest w ho preaches foul doctrine sh all be

reborn as a fungus .
co m es to us Ev y g er ood tho ught and act co nt r b utes i to

vl i withi
.
t he e o ut on of t he Bud d ha-nature n ea ch of us
v
.
A nother p ro erb [ No . En n a hi shu

jo w a d oshi
ga tasbi — furth er ill ust rates th e i
m ean ng of i
th s o ne
v
, .
ll i t
1 A us o n o a p arab e, sa l id t o ha e b een l
re ated b y th e
B d dh h im lf
u a se ab o ut so m e m onk e s y wh o fo und a wll e
lity th i g f th
,
und er a tree, i
and m stoo k fo r rea e ma e o e m oo n
i th w
n t
e Th y l v d t i th b ight pp iti
a er e reso e o se ze e r a ar on
k y
. .
O ne m o n e p d d h im lf by th tail f
sus en e b h se e rom a ran c
v h gi g th wll
o er an n d k y l g t th fi t
e e , a seco n m on e c un o e rs ,
a th i d t t h
r od f th t th th i d
e seco n d a o ur o e r an so o n ,
h d th w
, ,
till th l g h i e on f b di h d l
c a n o t t o es a a m os reac e e a er
d wight
.
S d d ly th b
u en hb k e d th ranc t ro e un er e unaccus o m e e
an d ll th a k y w d wd
e m on e s ere ro ne
l ti w ld
.
N k o arm a re a -
tt b f on ou m ean an u er a sence o
m erit as wll as f d m it
e o e er .
Japanese B udd hi st Proverbs 17 1
12 . Ga ki m o n in ru .
Even gaki (prétas) can m a ke a crowd .

‘
13 . Ga k i no m i ui m id ru m zeru .
To the eyes of gaki water is viewless .

’
14 . Goshb
'
wd a ai ji .
Th e future life is the all important thing - .

‘
15 . Gun -
m o no ta i -
{b
’
w o saguru ga ga ta shi .
L ike a lot of blind men feeling a great elephant .

‘
3 L iterally : Even ga ki are a m u t tud e li (or p0pula

yi i y
,
i
Th s is a pp o ular sa n g used in a var et of
wys Th di y m i g i t th ff ct th t m tt
a e or nar ean n s o e e e a no a er
h w
.
o p o m i
o r orbl t h i d i i d l
sera p i g me l e n v ua s co m os n a u
tit d th y
u e, ll tiv ly p es t
e co ec p t bl f e re r en a res ec a e o rce
J sely th yi g i m tim s sed f w

.
oco e sa n d f
s so e e u o a cro o
wt h d ti d l k i g p pl s m tim es f
re c e or re -
oo sn eo e, o e o an a
s m bly i wk b y d i i g t
e o ee m ak s m o sdem t es r n o e o e ons ra
ti
on, s m t im f o m ise bl l
e es o ki g m p ny f a ra e- oo n co a o
s ld i s
o Am g th l wes t class s f th p pl it i
er on e o e o e eo e s
ll d f m d g edy p s
.
no t u mm ncot on o ca a e or e or re er o n a
M
”
ee
i
w
.
3 ii
Som e auth or t es state that those prTta s ho suffer ‘
p y i
es eciall fro m th rst, as a conse uence of faults com m tted q i
in form er liv
es, are una e to see ater his prover is bl w T b
vi
.
used in s eak ng of p i p
ersons too stu d o r ic ous to per pi
ceive a m ora truth l .
3 T he co m m o n p pl
eo e often use the cur o us ex re
s s on i p i
gosho daiji
-
qi l
as an e u va ent fo r ex trem e ly i p m ortant
”
se w
.
Sa d i of tho h ig o norant y criticise l th e d octrines of

16 . G wi a -
m en ny o -
Bosa tsn na i shin ny o .
Yasha .
In outward aspect a Bodhisattva ; at n i nermost

heart a demon .
1
17 . H a na w a ne n i
'
ka eru .
The flower goes back to its root .

’
18 . H ibik i no 1 2 ni oruru
10 2 ga ga ta shi.
E ven as the echo answers to the voice .

‘
19 . H ito wt o a suh éru ga sha k he no y uk u

'
The task of the priest is to save mankind .
Buddh sm i Th e p v
ro erb a ud es ll to lb
a ce e rated bl fa e in
wh t i d
.
t he A vad anas , ab o ut
‘
bli d a num t b er of n m en o re o
d id t h f
ec e ef l ph t by f li g th i l O
o rm o an e e an ee n e an m a . ne,
f li g th l g d cl
ee n e d th
e l ph t t b lik t ;
e are e ee an o e ea ree an
k ly d l d th l ph t t b
,
o th er,f li g th t
ee n e run on ec are e ee an o e
p t ; th i d wh f lt ly th id id th t th
,
lik e a ser en a r o e on e s e, sa a e
l p h t w lik wll ; f th g pi g th t il id
,
ee an as e a a a o ur ras n e a sa
l ph t w lik
, ,
th t t h
a eee an p t as e a ro e, e c .
1
Y h (S as a it Y k b )
anscr d uri g d ma s a a m an- evo n e on
T hi p v b i
.
9 s ro t fter d i efe
s m os o t d th en use n r rence o ea
ig ifyi g th t ll f
. ,
g b k i t th
a a th i g ess
o rm s
‘
- s n n o ac n o e no n n
t f w h i h th y Sp i g B t it m y als b
.
ou o c e rn s d i u a o e u e n te
l ti t th l w f
.
a on o e a d ff cto cause- an -
e e .
3R f i g t th d t i f
e err n o d ff t T he
e o c r ne o cause an - -
e ec
y w
.
p h il o so
ph i l b t f
ea t h ea up i ill b e
o pp i ted
e co m ar so n a rec a
on ly if wb i i d th te ear the t
n m n f th h a even one o e ec o re
p s
e t s th t f th
e one o e i c vo e.
no naga ré,
'
I chiju kage, i
ich ga ta sho
'
26 .
-
no -
no en .
Even [the experience of] a single shadow or a

single flowing of wat er is [ made by] the kann a ,
relations of a former life .

1
27 . I chi - m o shz
Z mo -
'
whil m
o .
One bli n d m an leads many blind men .

’
28 I ng w a na I to .
A ka rma ch ild -
!
th e cond uct of wh d tak t d s m w k d

t hose o un er e o o o e or an
l v th m t ti l p rt f t h w k
,
ea e e os essen a fi ish d
a It o e or un n e
y c lled K i g
.
t i s
co n a n ll i t th i
an a us on m
o e cur o us cere on a a -
en .
Eye O p i g Thi K i g i ki d f c ti
”
or -
en n s a -
en sa n o onsecra on ,
by i t f which wly m d im g is pp d t
.
v r ue o a ne -
a e a e su o se o
b m i m t d by t h
eco e an a e l p f th d i v i ity
e rea resence o e n
p ese t d
re r n e
E v s t ifli g sti g w
.
1 en o r n that f
an occurrence as ith o re n
ano th erpe son d th h d w f t ee d i k i g

r un er e s a o o a r or rn n
p i g with an th per is s d by th
,
f m the sam
ro e s rn o er son, ca u e e
k m
ar -
lati ns f
a re o m p vi s ist c
o so e re ou ex en e
F m the B dd hist w k D i hi dJ
.
3 ro u Th
or ead a -
c o -ron . e r er
w ill fi d a sim i lar p v b i Rhy D vi d s B dd hi t S tt

’
n ro er n s- a u s u as
( S
acre d B k s oof t h E ot ) p 1 7 3e t g t
ash with a v y o e er er
i p abl cit d i f t t whi h an I d i

.
, ,
cur ous ar e, e n a m
o o no e, c n an co
m t t
en a or g i v e s i p l t i
n ex an a on
yi g g th l w lass i f ce
.
3 A co m m o n sa n am on e o er c es n re eren
t f t t
o an un o r una e o r cr ippl d h ild H th w d i gw e c ere e or n e
d esp ecially i th t i b ti v I t s ally si g ifies

.
i
s u se n se e re r u e sen u u n
ev il ka m a ; I
.
r bo b i g the te m sed i p eak ing f m e i

nva en r u ns o r
Japanese B udd h i st Proverbs 17 5
29 .
—
I gww In m w o a, mru a no a .
Cause and -
- effect is like a wheel .
1
30 . I nnen ga f u ha i .
The karm a relation is deep - .

’
3 1 .
—
I nochi wfit (
a -
en no tom oshibi .
32 . I ssa n no m ushi ui m o , gobu
a shii
Even a w
.
orm an inch long has a soul half an -
inch long .
‘
t i s kar
or ou d its es lt Whil
m a an f t at h ild r u s e an un o r un ec
ch ild f i gw a v y l ky p s i
.
is p k
”
f as
s o en o a o n a, er uc er on s
ll d W M
ca e a th t i t say i ta e "
a s o an ns nc or
f hwh b
, , ,
ex am pl eo a
t the w wg
.
1Th m pa is
e co f k h l f
r on o a rm a o ee o a a on
will b fam ilia t st d ts f B dd hism Th
e r o i g f
u en o u e m ean n o
this p o e b is ide ti l w
.
r v r ith th t f th D h p d n ca a o e am m a a a
ver se I f a m an speaks t w ith n vil th ght o r ac s a e ou
pai follow s him as the w he l f ll w

,
n s th f t f th e o o e oo o e ox
3 A saying v y er com m only used in p king

s ea of the at
tach m ent of lo vers, o r of t he unfortunate resu ts of any l
l
c ose re ation l b et wee tw
o perso ns
n
wi d
.
3
Or, “
lik e flm
th e a e of a lam p p ex osed
to the n
q Wi d
.
A fre uent ex p i i
ress o n n Budd h st i lit erature is t h e
“
n
q
”
of D eath .
4 Lit lly h s a l f fi
era a so u o ve bu , fi ve bu b e ng e i l ua
h lf f th J p ese i ch
,
to a o e a an n . Budd h ism bi
for ds all tak i ng
33 .
—
I whi as
1
no a ta m a m o shinj zn ka ra .
Eventhe head of an iw a shi by vi rtue , of faith ,
[will hav e power to sav e o r heal] , .
34 .
—
i
jg j
6 itok u
-
.
’
Th e fruit of one s ’
o w de d n e s [ in a previous
35 .
—
jg t ohu d é hotoké .
ike meeting with a Buddha in hell

L .
‘
of lif d lass s as li i g th i gs ( Ufi ) all f m s ha l g

e, an c e vn n or v n
se ti
n y T h p v b h w er as the f the w d
enc . e ro er , o ev ,
—
use o or
hii) i pli fl ects p p l b li f ther

”
l (t
so u am a s m es, -
re o u ar e e ra
th an B ddh i t p h il s p hy
u I t si g ifi s t hat
s o o
y li f h w . n e an e, o
ever sm a ll m ean i titl d t or cy s en e o m er
Th iw hi is v y
, .
1 e ll fi sh ch
as a bli g sar
er sm a mu s em
re n a
bj t f w h ip sig
,
di ne Th p e b im pli s th t th
e rov r e a e o ec o o rs
littl so l g as th p y is m d w
.
nifi es e, on ith p f t f ith e ra er a e er ec a
a d p
n i t ti
ure n en on
F wp p l
.
1 e B dd hi t p h ases
o u ar m fte
u sed s r are o re o n u
tha th i f igosignifi s wacts th ghts ; jit h

’
n s es one o n or ou a u,
ly lw ay i th se se of m is
.
to b i g p
rn neselfu on o near a s n e n
wh th w d is d i th B ddhist w
,
f t
o r une, en e ayor use n e u
p pl will bse ve
.
W ll it i m tt
e , f f igojit l
s a a er o o -
o eu ,
”
eo e o r on
seei g n b i gt k
a m an t p i ; m
en i g li is eap
a en o r so n ean n e r
q f h i w f lt
-
,
”
i g th
n e conse uence o s o n au s .
3R f t th j y f t i g g d f i d i tim f
e ers o e o o m ee n a oo r en n e o
if t
m s o r une Th b i bb i ti Th f ll pr
. e a o ve s an a rev a on . e u ov
erb is, f g i ohu dl hotohl ui 6ta y o da .

J apanese B udd hi st Prov erbs 179
EMMA D A 6
I -
180 I n G h ostly Jap an
K a ra toki -
no i
jr g ;
b ao -
na su -
tok i no
Borrowing time the face -

, of J izo ; repaying
time the face of Emma
, .
1
K iite Gok ura k u

'
42 .
, m ité jigok u .
Heard of only it is Paradise ; seen it is Hell

, , .
“
43 .
—
K 6ji m on w id ér
o u a k a : sen ri
] w o
ha shiru .
G ood ctions go not outside

a of the gate : bad
deeds travel a thousand ri .
44 . K ok oro no kom a ni ta d runa wy o um
suna .
Never let go the reins of the wild colt of the

heart .
45 . K okoro no on i ga m i wo sem éru

'
The body is tortured only by the demon of the

heart .
3
1 E i th C h i
m ma s d J p e Y i B d
nese an a anese am a, —
n u
d hi
sm t h L d f H ll e ord th J d g
o f th D d
e Th an e u e o e ea e
p v b i b t pl i d by th p yi g d wi g
, .
ro er s es ex a ne e a cco m an n ra n s,
whi h will
c t gi v id f t h
serv e o p t
e an ea o e co m m o ner re resen a
ti
o ns o f b th d i v i itio n es
v t tw thy
.
3 R i um o r s n e er rus or
i d Th t i t y th t w ff ly f th
.
”
3
O r m n a s o sa a e su er o n ro m e
q w f lt T h d
.
co nse uen ces o f o ur o t t i n au s —

e m
e o n-
o r urer n
th B dd h i t h ll y t h i v i t i
e u s e sa sBl m t m Io s c m a e no e
la m on ly th ti f y w d d d th ghts
e crea o n o o ur o n ee s an ou
you m d m fa e t h i i C
e or mp wi t h N 3
s6 o are o . .
have been my father ; it m ay have been my
mother .
‘
50 . K0 wS a a nga i no k u bilta se .
A child is a neck s hack le for the Three States

of Existence .
’
51 . K ucbi wwr wi
a a e a no kad o .
The mouth is the front gate of all misfortune - .

‘
1 Th i s verse- ro er p v b i it d i th B d dh ist w k s c e n e u or
W 616 Ybsha with th f ll wi g t

e o o Wh k w n com m en : o no s
wh th th
,
e er e an m a i l i t h fi ld th bi d i th
n e et i or e r n e m oun a n
wd h s
,
oo , a no tb ith h i f th
een e hi th
er i ms a er o r smo er n so e
fo rm er state of i t ? Th h t t gi is k i d f
ex s ence
” — e oo o su a n o
cuck oo .
3
Th t i t y T h l
a s o sa fp t f th i h ild m y
e ove o aren s o r erc a
i p d th i Spi it l p g s t ly i this w ld b t
,
m e e er r ua ro re
s no on n or , u
thro u gh ll th i f t a st t f b i g
e r u ure j t k bih l a es o en us as a u as
Jp im p d th m v t f th p
, ,
or a an ese can ue,

g e es e o em en s o e erson
p wh m it i pl d P t l ff ti b i g th
u on o s a ce aren a a ec o n, en e
th ly tt h m t i p ti l ly pt t
.
t g st f
s ro n e o ear a ac en s, s ar cu ar a o
th w h m it l t it w gf l cts i
th h w
cause ose o ens aves o co m m ro n u a n
e o f b fi t i g th i
o ff p i g
ene Th t m S g i
n e r o s rn —
e er an a
i g i fi t h t h w ld f D i F
.
here s n es e d F
ree or s o es re, o rm an orm
b l wNi a a B t
,
l
essness, — ll th t t
a f it e s a es o ex s ence eo rv n u
th w d i ig ify th P t th P s t
.
e or ti d t
s so m e m es use o s n e as , e re en ,
an d th F t e u ure .
3 Th t i t a y Th hi f
s o sa ft bl is g d d e c e cause o ro u e un uar e
Sp h Th w d K d m ea s alw
,
eec . e orays the i t a

a o n m a n en r nce
t
o a re
s iden e c .
J apanese B udd hi st Prov erbs 183
Kw a ba w
'
52 a n été m a te , .
If you wish for good luck sleep and w

.
ait
1
.
,
53 Ma ka n u ta ne
'
wh e a a nu .
Nothing will grow if the seed be not sown ,

.
‘
Ma teba , ka nrb biy ori

'
54 . no .
If you wait ambrosial weather will come

, .
‘
55 . Meida
'
no m ichi n i O w a na shi .
There is no K ing on the Road of D ea th .

‘
56 . Meh a ra hebi n i Oj t { u .
The blind m an does not fear the snak e .

‘
1 K who p aly B dd hi t t m sig ifyi g g d f t

a ure u s er n n oo or une
p vi lif h m t
, ,
as th es lt f g
e r d ti
u i
o oo ac o ns n a re o us e, as co e o
i
m ean n co m m o n pa l g d f t f y ki d r ance Th oo o r une o an n e
p v b is ft
.
ro er d i o im il t th t f th E g
en use n a sense s ar o a o e n
li h sayi g W t h d p t v b il
s n I
a c e t i tl y o ne er o s n a s rc
it w ld
.
B dd h i t
u s sense D tb t oug f th m ean, o no e oo ea er o r e
re wd f g d d d
ar o oo ee s
p t h t l s y wth s d With
.
3 D t o no ex ec arves , un e s o u so e ee .
ou t est ff t
ea rn it b g i d
e o r no m er can e a ne
wt d w f H v
.
3 K o th A ll g d
‘
anr e s eet e o ea en, o r a m n a . oo
t hi w h wit
,
th i g
n s co m e o m o a s
Lit lly
.
4 era t h R d f M iao on T h M id o i t h
e oa o e e e s e
Jp d w ld t w
, .
a anese Hd th d ka es, hi h ll th
e ar un er- or o c a e
d d
ea t j
m us y o u rne
d th v i i
.
3 T h ig e t n o ra n t d t d i g th
an e c o us, no un ers an n e
lwf d fl t d t i es lts f
’
a o cause an -
t f th-
e ec , o no ear e cer a n r u o
th i f lly
er o .
Mitsureha ka k uru
'
57 . , .
Having wax ed wanes , .

1
58 . Mon {en no ha rd na ra w a nu ky b
The shop boy in front of the temple ga te

- re
peats the sutra which he never leam ed .

‘
59 . Muj o no m e wt a, ok i era ha ru .
The Wind of Impermanency does not choose a
1 No sooner has th e w d f ll th it b gi
m oon ax e u an e ns to
m So th e he ght
e
. i o f p p ity i l th b gi i
ro s er s a so e e n n ng of
fo rtune s d ec n e
’
li
lyt wll
.
3
K aro m eans aco e as e as sho pb
-
oy,
”
errand
b oy, "
or a pp i
b ut in th s case it refers to a b oy
rent ce ; i
em pl y
o ed in a sho p it
s uated near or efo re the gate of a b
i
Bud d h st tem ple By co nstant hear ng t he sutra chanted ly i
w
.
pl
in th e tem e th e b oy earns to re eat th e o rd s A pro l p
v b i
.
,
er o f k nd red m ean ng is, K an ga ku I n no sur i

um l a M ogya —
w
w
,
w o say i uru
r T h e Sp
arro s of Kangak u I n [ an anc ent seat -
i
l i
o f earn n g] ch r t he Mb gyfi
”
ip
a C h nese tex t fo rm er
'
i ly
y v
,
taught to o ung st ud ents T h e teach n g of e th er ro er i i p b

ll ly p
.
is ex ce ent ex ressed by a th rd N ara u y ori a narlro i w

R
at her than stud [ an art] g et accusto m ey
d to t hat i
ly i with it
,
is to say, k p
ee co nstant n co ntact
”
Ob servat o n i
v b y
.
and ract p i ce are e en ett er th an stud

i wy
.
3 D eath and C hange d o not co nfo rm th e r a s to h um an

ex pecta t o n i .
186 in Ghostly J apan
65 . Oni m o yi n hachi - .
Even a devil [is pretty] at eighteen .

‘
66 . Oni m o m i, n a rét a ru ga y oshi .
Even a devil when you become accustomed to ,
the sight of him m ay prove a pleasant acq uaint ,
ance .
67 On i ni ka na bb
'
. .
An iron club for a demon .

‘
w ldor of m an p i lly
ki g p pl p f
nd , and es ec a ig am o n a eo e ro ess n
B dd h i
u i v y g t p ivil g H wv i bl
sm s a er rea r e e o e er m sera e
t t i w k w
, .
h u m an exit it i t l
s en ce, t hi h sa l
eas a s a e n c so m e no
e dg f d iv i
eo t th y neb b
rut i d ; w hma t h b i
eo g a ne ereas e en s
i
n o th dl wer an d iti
o f lif
er con l ti v ly i p bl
ons o e are re a e n ca a e
o f pi it l p g
s r ua ro ress
y i yi g d p v b b t
.
Th
1 ere are m an cur o us sa n s an ro er s a ou
th e oni B d d h i t d iI
or u h s O i ev i i —
suc as n no m n m o na
ii v d v il y ;
, ,
“
O i
’
m id t
a, ea rs i e en a e k h s e es n no a uran ,
d v il s h l ( i d f t h p t d i k f
’
e c o era sa o e unex ec e s c ness o som e
v y t g d h lthy p ) t t Th l f
er s ro n an ea erso n e c, e c —
e c ass o
ll d O t p p ly b l g t th B d dhi t h ll
. .
,
d m e s on ca e n ro er e on o e u s e s,
wh th y t t t Th y
,
ere e ac as d j il o r urers an tt b a ers e are no o e
d d w
.
f
co n o un e ith th M Y h K iji d th l e a, f
as a , n , an o er c asses o
e vil Spi its I B dd hi t t th y p t d b i g

r n u s ar e are re resen e as en s
w
.
o f t
eno rm o us s ren gt h i th t h h d f ,
b ll d f e ea s o u s an o
h o rses T h b ll h d d d
. e u -
ll d G m ; th
ea e em o ns are ca e o -
e e
ho se h ead ed
r -
M et ( u
-
pw ld b giv
.
3
Mean ng that greati o er sh o u e en on y l to th e
strong.
Japanese B udd h ist Proverbs 187
68 Oni no ny bbo ni h ijin

‘
—
. .
A devil takes a goblin to wife .

’1
69 . Onna no hé ni wd a a i-{b m o
'
tsunaga ru .
With one hair of a woman you can tether even

a great elephant .
70 .
—
0n na wS a a nga i n i iy é na shi .
Women have no homes of their own in the

Three States of Existence .
71 .
—
(b 'a no ing wg a a I to n i m uk ntl .
The k arm a of the parents is visited upon the

chfld
?
72 . R a kk wd '
a e a ni kaera ru .
The fallen blossom never returns to the branch .

‘
1 i
Mean ng that a wi k d c e m an usua lly m i arr es a wi k d
c e
wm
o an .
3 Sa d i of th e p arents of cr ippl d d f d h ild

e or e o rm e c ren .
But th e p p l id h o u ar ea i ere ex p d is t lt g th
resse no a o e er n
accord w it h t h t h i g e eac n s o f th h igheB d d hi m er u s
Th t wh i h h b d
.
3 a c ca b
as d een th one n ever n e un one : e
p t ca t b
as nno ll d Thi p bi
e reca e bb vi s rover s an a re a
f th l g B dd h i t t t R hl w id
.
ti
on o e on er ui h r ; s ex : a e a a n aera u
h hy of t t bi t
a —
r
u a aT h f ll bl s s
erasa u : v t e a en o o m ne er re urns
t th e b d mi er ag i fle ts ”
o h ; th shatt
ranc e ere rro r n ev a n re c .
188 In Ghostly J ap an
73 .
—
Ra ku w1 a t m no a ne ;
'
kn w a ra l m n o
Pleasure is the seed of pain ; pain is the se e d of
74 . R okud b wm a,
'
e no m a é .
The Six Roads are right before your eyes ‘

.
75 . Sa nga i m a - an .
There is no rest within the Three States of
Existence .
76 Sa nga i ni k a hi na shi R okud b ni

'
hotori na shi .
There is no fence to the Three States of Ex ;
istence there is no neighborhood to the Six

Roads .
‘
1 Th t is t
a o say, Y o ur future lif e de p ends u o n p y our
cond uct i li
in th s fe ; and you are th us free to ch oose fo r
yo urself t h e a cepl
of y our nex t rth bi
iv
.
3
With i th Th n e i ree f
States (Sanga ) , o r un erses, o
D i F
es re, d F orm l , an wi i th Si W ld
o rm essness ; and th n e x or s,
or co nd iti s f b i g on f g
i k od o (H enll ) G l id o (P t ) o u e a e re as
Chil hodo (A i l Lif ) Sh do (W ld f Fighti g d

, , ,
eus n ma e ura or o n an
ly Spi it )
,
Sl ght ) N i g d o (M k i d) T jodo ( H
au er n en an n en eaven r s
i t i i l d d B y d th i ly Ni va
, ,
—
ll a ex s ence s nc u e . e on ere s o n r na .
“
Th is f ere no ighb h d th t i t
en ce,
”
no ne or oo
” —
a s o
y w
,
say li i
not b d m h i h t p
e on id d l p t h
c o esca e, —
no m e- a
b tw y tw f th t t W h ll b b i t
,
e een an o o ese s a es. e s a e re o rn n o

Shind a réba , hoso ik ita re
'
82 . .
Only by re ason of having died does one enter

into life .
‘
83 .
—
Shira n u ga , hotok é m in u a
g , Gok u
ra k u .
to k now
Not is to be a Buddha ; not to see is
Paradise .
84 . Shd bo ni h id a k a na shi.
There is no miracle in true doctrine .

‘
85 . Shh chi c
-
wB d
a o a i no sa m a tage.
A little wisdom is a s tumbling block on the -
w
ay to Buddhahood .
‘
1 I never l p v b with t b i g
h ear th is si ngu ar ro er ou en re
i dd f t i H l y f m y O th ’
m n e o a sen ence n ux e s a o us essa n e
T h li v i g p t pl ly
,
P hy i l B i f L if
s ca as s o et e n ro o asm no on
ult im t ly d i d i
a e lv d i t it i l d lif l
es an s reso e n o s m nera an e ess
co ns tit t b t is lw
uen s, y dyi g d t g th p
u a a s n , an , s ran e as
”
e ar
ad ox m ay soun d , coul d not l ive unl ess it d ied .
3
Noth i g h pp
n can a en ex ce pt as a resu lt of eterna l and
i v
rre o ca bl l w
e a
wd
.
3
Boda i is th e sam e or t he Sanscr t Bod hi, s gn fy
as i i i
ing th e su p rem e en li ghtenm ent , t he k no ed ge that ea d s wl l
to Budd ha hood ; b ut it is o ften used by J a a nese u p B d d hi t s s
iv i b i
in the sense o f d ne l ss, o r th e Budd ha s a e se
-
t t it lf .
J apanese B udd h i st Proverbs 19 1
86 . Shoshi no k uka i beta ri na shi .
T here is no shore to the bitter Sea of Birth and

D eath .
‘
87 .
—
Sod e
'
no furi a -
w '
a se m o ta shd n o en .
Even
the touching of sleeves in passing a
caused by some relation in a former life .
88 . Sun ( en ; sha k n m a .
An inch of virtue ; a foot of demon .

‘
89 . Ta noshim i wk a a na shim i no m o toi.
All joy is the source of s orrow .
90 . Tond é hi ni iru na t su no m ushi .
So the insects of summer fly to the flam e ‘

.
91 . Tsuchi hotok é - no m iaza -

a sobi .
Clay Buddha s water playing

-
’
- .
‘
O 1 th P i S f Lif
r, d D th
“
e a n-
ea o e an ea
giv
.
M (Sa s it M a hdy ih ) I s th
3 a m n crt a ra as e na e en o
p ti l l f Spi it wh t pt vil B t i
,
ar cu ar c ass o t r s o em m en o e u n
J pa es f lkl th M h v p t m h
.
a n e o b li g
ore e a a e a ar uc resem n
th t
a pi d i West p p l p titi by g bli s
occu e n ern o u a r su ers on o n
and f i i a r es
S id sp i lly i
.
3 a f t th
e lt f s l i
ec a n re erence o e resu o ensua n
d ulgence
l y B dd h t
.
4
Th t is t y A d ga o sa s an ero us as fo r a ca u a o
pl y with wt lv by
,
C h ild
”
a a er ren o ft en a m use th em se es
d w
.
ma k i g littl B d d h i t i
n g e u s m a es o f m u hi h lt i t c me n o
wt
,
h p l f
s a e essn ess, o if p l co u rse, aced in a er .
92 . Tsuk i n i m nra k um o, ha na ni ha re .
Cloud wrack to the moon ; wind to flowers

-
.
‘
93 . Tsuy u no inachi .
H uman life is lik e the dewof morning .
94 . U ki -
wka, oko ro ui a ri .
J oy and s orrow exist only in the mind .
95 . U ri no t snru n i na subi w a na ra n u.
Egg pl ants
-
do not grow upon melon vines - .
96 U so bb ben
‘
. mo .
Even an u ntruth m ay serve as a device .

‘
97 . W aga y a no hotok é ta ttoshi .
My family a ncestors were all e xcellent

Buddhas .
‘
1 T he b eaut y of th e m oo n is o b scured by m asses of
l
c o uds ; th e trees n o soo n er b l osso m t han t h e i flwr o ers are
scatt ered by th wi d A ll b ty i e tn ea u s evanescen
Th t i pi d vi f ff ti g v i
. .
3 con ers o n
a s, a ous e ce or e ec n
S h d vi p i lly by th f
.
uc a i j ti fi d
e ce s us p bl e es ec a e am o us ara e
o f th th i d h pt
e rf th S d d h
c a P d ik er o e a a rm a un a r a.
M
3 i g th t
ean n t v th h t ki th
a o ne m os re eres e o o e
Spi it f th d d g d d B d d h
r s o e eai w
re ar e as u as n o ne s o
’
n
h h ld h i
o use o Th i -
s r ne i i l pl y p th ere s an ro n ca a u on e
w d h t hi w y
.
or hi h
o o y i t h d d p
c i
ma pl m ean e er a ea erson s m
P h p th Spi it f th i p v b
, ,
or a B ddh u a . er a s y b e r o s ro er ma e
b tt pl i d by th h lp f th N igil k i
e er ex a ne e e o ano er : a sa a na n
fo rtune, p
u o n sud d en d eath, etc I t is p i lly i
used es ec a n
v
.
i
rek t on to shinjie,
'
l
or o ers su c d e
’
ii S h i id i p p
uc su c e s c u
l ly lty i p vi
.
ax tho ught to b e a result o f crue n so m e re ous
state of i
b e ng, o r the conse uence o q f h vi g b k
a n iro en , n a
fo rm er li p
fe, the m utual ro m se to i b h b d
eco m e us and an
wif e.
Su gge stio n
D o you mean I ask ed that a m an would
, ,
“
be reborn as a woman and a woman as a man ,
Yes he replied because desi re is creative

” “
, , ,
and the desire of eith er sex is towards the other

”
And howmany m en l said would want

.
” “
, ,
to be reborn as women ?
”
Probably very few he answered But the

,
”
.
doctrine th at desire is creative does not imply that

the individu al t onging creates its ow n satisfaction ,
quite the contrary The true teaching is that

.
the result of every selfish wish is in the n ature of

a pen alty and th at wh at the wish cre ates m ust
,
prove to higher k nowledge at least the folly —
of wishing .
There you are right I said ; but I do not ,

”
y et und erst and y o ur th eory .

”
Well he continued if the physical con

,
”
,
“
ditions of hum an rebi rth are all determin ed by

the k arm a of the will relating to physical condi
tions then sex would be determined by the will
in relation to sex Nowthe will of either sex
,
is towards th e oth er Above all things else

.
,
excepting life m an desires woman and wom an

, ,
m an . Each individ ual moreover independently , ,
of any person al rel ation feels perpetu ally you , ,
say the influence of some inborn feminine or

,
S uggest i on 199
masculine ideal which you call a ghostly reflex

,
of countless att achments in countless p ast lives

’
.
And the insatiable desire represented by this ideal

would of itself suffice to create the masculine or
the feminine body of the next existence ”
But most w
.
l observed would like

”
om en , ,
to be reborn as men ; and the accomplishm ent of

that wish would scarcely be in the nature of a
penalty .
”
Why not ? he returned ”

The h appiness .
or un happiness of the new ex istence would not
be decided by sex alone : it would of necessity

depend upon many conditions in combination .
Your theory is interesting I said but I ,

”
do not know how far it could be made to accord

with accepted doctrine And what of the
.
person able through k nowledge and practice of

the higher lawto remain superior to all weak
,
nesses of sex I
Such a one he replied ,would be reborn
,
neither as m an nor as woman providing there ,
were no pre existent karma powerful enough to

-
check or to weak en the results of the self con -
quest.
”
Reborn in some one of the heavens ? I

”
q ueried ,by the Apparition al Birth ?

necessarily be said
Not Such a one ,
”
.
might be reborn in a world of desire like ,
this but neither as m an only nor as woman

, ,
Reborn then in wh at form ? I ask ed

, ,
”
.
In th at of a perfect being he responded ,

”
.
A m an or a woman is scarcely more t han half

a being
-
because in our present imperfect state
,
either sex can be evolved only at the cost of the

other In the mental and the physical composition
.
of every m an there is undeveloped wom an ; and

,
in the composition of every woman there is unde

veloped m an But a being complete would be
.
both perfect m an and perfect woman possessing ,
the highest faculties of both sex es with the ,
weaknesses of neither Some humanity higher

than our ow
.
n in other worlds might be

, ,
thus evolved .
”
But you know I observed that there are , ,
Buddhist tex ts in the Sad d ha rm a P und a rika

, ,
for example and in the V inay a s

, which ,
Those tex ts he interrupted refer to im

, ,
perfect beings less than m an and less than

wom an : they could not refer to the condition
that I have been supposing But remember .
, ,
w ban as hi
I ng a —
My dea r wife said the daimyo you have
,
”
,
suffered very much for three long years We .
have done all that we could to get you well ,
watching beside you night and day praying for ,
y o u
, and often fasting for yo ur sa k e But in .
spite of our loving ca re nd in spite of the sk ill

a ,
of our best physicians it would now seem that

,
the end of your life is not far off Probably we .
shall sorrow more t han you will sorrow beca use
of your having to lea ve wh at the Budd ha so truly
termed this bum ing house of the world

‘
-
1 .
’
shall order to be pe rformed no matter what

the cost every religious rite that can serve you
in regard to your ne x t rebirth ; and all of us will
pray without ceasing for you that you m ay not
,
have to wander in the Black Space but m ay ,
quickly enter Paradise and attain to Buddha

,
hood .
He spoke with the utmost tenderness caressing ,
her the while Then with eyelids closed she

.
, ,
answered him in a voice th in as the voice of an
I am grateful most grateful for your

k ind words . Yes it is true as you say that
, , ,
l have been sick for three long yea rs and t hat l ,
have been treated with all possible care and at

ln g wb
a —
anas hi 207
fection . Why indeed should I turn away, ,
from the one true Path at the very moment of my

death ? Perhaps to think of worldly matters
at such a time is not right but I have one last
request to mak e only one , Call here to
—
.
me the L ady Yuk iko yo u k n ow th at I l

,ove
her lik e a sister I want to speak to her about

.
the affairs of th is household .

”
Yuk iko cam e at the summons of the lord and , ,
in obedience to a sign from him k nelt down be ,
side the couch The daimyo s wife opened her ’

.
eyes and looked at Yuk iko and Spoke

, ,
Ah here is Yuk iko !

,
I am so pleased to
see you Yu k i ko !
, Come a little closer so ,
—
that you can hear me well : I am not able to speak

loud Yukiko I am going to die I hope that
w
.
.
,
y ou i ll be faithf ul in all things to our dear lord ;
for I want you to tak e my place when I am

gone . I hOpe that you will alw
x
ays be loved by
him yes even a hundred times more than I

have been and that you w
, ,
,
ill very soon be
promoted to a higher rank and become h is ,
And I beg of you always to

cherish our dea r lord : never allow another wom an
to rob you of h is affection This is what I .
wnted to
a to you dear Yuk iko
say Have you , .
been able to understa nd ? ”
Oh my dear L ady protested Yuk iko do

, , ,
not I entreat you say such strange things to me !

, ,
You well k now that I am of poor and mean con

dition howcould I ever dare to aspire to
become the wife of our lord !
Nay nay ! returned the wife h uskily
, , ,
this is not a tim e for words of ceremony : let

us spea k only the truth to each other After my .
death you will ce rtainly be promoted to a higher

place ; and I nowassure you again that I wish
,
y o u to b e come the wife of our lord yes I wish ,
this Yuk ik o even more than I wish to become

, ,
a Buddha ! Ah I had almost forgotten l I ,

—
want you to do something for me Yuk i ko You , .
k now that in the garden there is a y a é za k um -

‘
which w
,
as brought here the year before last , ,
from Mount Yoshino in Yamato l have been .
told that it is now in full bloom and I w anted —
so much to see it in flow er ! In a little while I

shall be dead I m ust see that tree before I d ie
—
.
Now I wish you to ca rry me into the garden

at once Yu k i k o
, so that I can see it
,
—
Yes .
,
1
Y z{ ka -
w e k
a uf a i ty
a f—
J p h
no sa ura , a var e
ese c-
e y o a an rr
t ee that b ea d bl bl s
r rs ou e -
os om s .
2 10 In Gh ostly Japan
I have my wish she cried I have m y
wish for the cherry bloom but not the cherry
-
,
l
bloom of the garden ! I could not die before

I got my wish NowI have it oh what a
.
—
,
delight !
And with these words she fell forward upon the
crouching girl and died ,
.
The attendants at once attempted to lift the

body from Yuk iko s shoulders and to lay it upon
’
,
the bed But strange to say this seemingly

.
—
easy thing could not be done The cold hands .
had atta ched themselves in some unaccountable

w ay to the breasts of the girl appea red to h ave ,
grown into the quick flesh Yuk ik o became .
senseless with fea r and pain .
Physicians w ere called They could not under .
stand what had tak en place By no ordinary .
methods could the hands of the dead woman be

unfastened from the body of her victim they —
so clung that any effort to remo ve them b ro ught
blood This w
. as not beca use the finge rs held
1 In Jp
a anese p o etry and p ro er v bi l ph a l
raseo o gy, th e
phy i l b ty f w
s ca eau o a o m an is co m p
ared to th e y
ch err
fl w ; w
o er h il f ii e em n ne m o ral b eaut y is com pared to the
pl
um fl w
-
o er
.
lng wb a
-
anas hi 2 11
it w as because the flesh of the p alms had united
itself in some inexplicable manner to the flesh of

the breasts !
At that time the most sk ilful physician in Yedo
w as a foreigner a D utch surgeon , It w as .
decided to summon him After a careful exam .
ination he sa id that he could not understand the

case and that for the immediate relief of Yuk i k o
there w
,
as n othing to be done except to cut the
hands from the corpse He declared that it would .
be dangerous to att empt to detach them from the

breasts H is advice w . as accept ed ; and the h ands
were amputated at the wrists But they rem ained .
clinging to the breasts ; and there they soon

dark ened and dried up li ke the hands of a ,
—
pe rson long dead .
Yet this w as only the beginn ing of the horror .
Withered and bloodless though they seemed ,
those bands were not dead At intervals they .
would stir stealthily lik e great grey spiders , .
And nightly therafter beginn ing always at the ,
Hour of the O x they would clutch and ,

l —
i tJ p
1 n anc en
I ti th H f th O w th
a anese m e, e o ur o e x as e
p i lh
s ec a f gh t It b g
o ur o t2 M d l t d
os s til e an a A an as e un
w d bl th l gt h
. . .
,
4 M A . f th. ld J p
— or h e o a anese o ur as ou e e en
o f th d h
e m o ern Th H f th Tig b g
o ur . t 4 AM e o ur o e er e an a .
2 12 In G h ostly J apan
compress and torture Only at the H our of the
.
Tiger the pain would cease .
Yuk iko cut off her hair and became a mendi

,
cant nun tak ing the religious na me of D assetsu

-
, .
She had an iba i (mortuary tablet ) made bea ring ,
the ka imy é of her dead mistress Myd K o ln

,
- -
D en Cbiza n Ry d Fu D a isbi
- -
and this she
ca rried about with her in all her wanderings ; and

every day before it she humbly besought the dead
for pardon and pe rformed a Buddhist service in
,
order that the jea lous spirit might find rest But .
the evil karma that had rendered such an affliction

possible could not soon be exha usted Every .
night at the Hour of the O x the hands never failed

,
to torture her during more than seventeen years

, ,
accordin g to the testimony of those persons to
whom she last told her story when she stopped

,
for one evening at the house of Noguchi D engo

zayém on in the village of Tan ak a in the district
of Kaw
,
ach i in the p rovin ce of Shirnotsuk é This

w
.
as in the third ye ar of K ok wa There

after nothing more w as eve r hea rd of her .
‘
Sto ry of a Te n gu
the days of the Emperor Go Reizei there

N -
w
,
as a holy p riest living in the temple of
Sait o on the mountain called H iyei Zan

,
-
,
near Kyoto O ne summer d ay this good priest

after a visit to the city w
.
,
as returnin g to h is temple
by w ay of K ita no Oji when he saw

,
- some boys
-
,
ill treating a k ite They had ca ught the bird in

- .
a sn are an d were beating it with sticks

,
Oh .
,
the poor creature ! compassionately exclaimed ”
Thi t y y b f d i th c i
1 s s or ma ld J p
e oun n e ur o us o a anese
b k ll d j kk Sba T h
oo ca e z
'
l g d h f i h d th
un -
e sam e e en as urn s e e
bj t f i t esti g N 5 pl y ll d D i b ( T h G t
.
"
“
su ec o an n er n —
a ca e a -
e rea
bly
,
Assem
I J p
n p p l t th T g
a anese o u ar a r
c ly p e en u are om m o n re re
wi g d with b k sh p d
,
s t d ith
en e e er as n e m en ea -
a e no ses, o r as
bi d
r s o fp y Th re d iff. t k i ds f T g ; b t ll
ere are eren n o en u u a
are s ppu d t b
ose t i h ti g pi i t
o e m n
ou a p bl f
n -
aun n s r s, ca a e o
assum ni g yf d
m an i lly pp i g as w
o rm s, an o ccas ona a ear n cro s,
lt s
vu ure , gl B dd h is
or ea ppe t lass th T gu
es. u m a ars o c e en
am o ng th e Marakayikas .
2 16 In G h ostly J ap an
the priest why do you torment it so ,
children One of the boys m ade answer

We want to k ill it to get the feathe rs Moved
by pity the priest persuaded the boys to let him
,
have the k ite in exchange for a fan that he w as
ca rrying ; and he set the bird free It had not

been seriously hurt and w as able to fly aw
.
, ay .
Happy at having performed this Buddhist act

of merit the priest then resumed h is wal k He
h ad not proceeded very far when he saw
, .
a st range
monk come out of a bamboo grove by the road -
side and hasten tow

, ards him The monk respect .
fully saluted him and said , Sir through ,
your compassionate k indness my life has been

saved ; and I now desire to express my gratitude
in a fitting manner Astonished at hea ring

.
”
himself thus addressed the priest replied ,
Really I cannot remember to have ever seen

w
,
y ou before : ple ase tell me ho you a re It i

s .
”
not wonderful that you cannot recogn ize me in
this form returned the monk : I am the k ite

,
” “
that those cruel boys were tormenting at K ita no -
Oji You saved my life ; and there is nothing in

this world more precious than life So I now
.
wish to return your k in d ness in som e w

.
ay or
218 I n G h ostl y J apan
well remember the assembly on the V ulture Peak ;
and I can cause eve rything that happened there to
reappear before you exactly as it occurred It is

, .
our gre atest delight to represent such holy matte rs
Come this w
.
ay with me !
”
And the priest suffered himself to be led to a

place am ong pines on the slope of a hill Now
, ,
”
said the Tengu you have only to wait here for

,
awhile with your eyes shut

, D o not Open them
.
until you hear the voice of the Buddha prea ching

the L aw Then you can look
. But when you .
see the appea rance of the Buddha you must not ,
allow your devout feelings to influence you in any
w ay you must not bowdown nor pray nor , ,
utter any such exclam ation as Even so Lord ! , ,
or 0 t ha n Bl essed One I You must not speak

’
at all. Should you m ak e even the least sign

of reverence something very un fo rt un
, ate might
happen to me The priest gladly prom ised to

.
”
follow these injunctions ; and the Tengu hurried

aw ay as if to prep are the spectacle .
The day w aned and passed and the dark ness

,
came ; but the old priest waited patiently beneath

a tree k eeping h is eyes closed
, At last a voice
.
suddenly resounded above him a wonderful ,

S tory of a Tengu 2 19
voice deep and clear lik e the pealing of a mighty

,
bell the voice of the Buddha Sakyamuni pro

,
claiming the Perfect W ay Then the priest .

,
Opening his eyes in a great radiance perceived

that all things had been changed : the place w
,
as
indeed the Vulture Pea k the holy Indian

mountain G ridhrak uta ; and the time w
,
as the
time of the sum of the L otos of the Good L aw .
Now there were no pines about him but trange ,

s
shining trees m ade of the Seven Precious Sub
stances with foliage and fruit of gems and -
the ground w
,
as covered with Mand arava and
Manjushaka flowers showered from heaven

and the night w as filled with fragrance and splen
dour and the sweetness of the great Voice And .
in mid air shining as a moon above the world

-
, ,
the priest beheld the Blessed One seated upon the

L ion throne with Sam antabh ad ra at h is right
-
,
hand and Maiijusri at his left and before them

, ,
assembled immeasurably spreading into Space ,
like a flood of stars the hosts of the Mahasatt

vas and the Bodhisattvas with their countlesss
following gods demons N agas goblins m en

sariputra he sawand
, , , , ,
and beings not human

”
.
,
Kasyapa and Ana nda with all the disciples of the

, ,
Tathagata and the K ings of the D evas

, and ,
the Kings of the Four D irections like pillars of ,
fire
, and the great D ragon K ings and the -
,
—
Gandharvas and G arudas and the Gods of

,
the Sun and the Moon and the Wind and the ,
shining myriads of Brahma s heaven And ’

.
incomparably further than even the measureless

circling of the glory of these he saw made ,
visible by a single ray of light that shot from the

forehead of the Blessed One to pierce beyond
uttermost Tim e the eighteen hundred thousand
Buddha fi elds of the Eastern Q uarter with all
-
their habitants and the beings in each of the

,
Six Sta tes of Ex istence and even the shapes

,
of the Buddhas extinct that had entered into

,
Nirvana These and all the gods and all the

,
demons he sawbow down before the L ion

.
,
.
,
throne ; and he heard that multitude incalculable

of beings praising the SOtra of the L otos of the
G ood L aw lik e the roar of a sea before the

,
L ord .Then forgetting utterly his pledge fool ,
ishly dreaming that he stood in the very presence

of the very Buddha he cast himself dow
, n in
wors hip with tears of love and thanksgiving ;
crying out with a loud voice 0 than Blessed ,
One !
I nstantly with a s hock as of eart hq uake the
ma rking the place of a temple court Seaw ard -
.
,
over leagues of water there is a grand view , ,
a j agged blue range of peaks crowding sh arply
into the horizon like prodigious amethysts

, ,
and beyond them to th e left the glorious spectre

, ,
of Fuji towering enormously abo ve everything

, .
Between sea wall and sea there is no sand only

-
,
a grey slope of stones chiefly boulders ; and ,
these roll with the surf so that it is ugly work

trying to pass the break ers on a rough day I f .
y ou once get struck by a stone wav e as I ,
did several tim es you will not soon forget the

,
ex perience .
At certain hours the greater part of th is rough

slope is occupied by rank s of strange look ing -
craft fi sh ing boats of a form peculiar to the

,
-
locality They are very large capable of carry

.
,
ing forty or fifty men each and they h ave
q ueer high prows to which Buddhist or Shinto

,
ch arms (m a m of i or sbugo) are usually attached
A common form of Shintow

.
ritten charm (sbugo)

is fu rnished for this purpose from the temple of
the Goddess of Fuji : the text reads Fuji son -
cb6i6 Sengen gu d a i gyo m a ngol m

- -
meaning
'
that the owner of the boat pledges himself in case ,
of good fortune at fishing to perform great

-
,
At Yaidzu 22 7
u terities in honor of the divinity whose shrine

a s
is upon the summit of Fuji .
In every coast province of J apan and even

-
,
at different fi shing settlements of the same prov

-
ince the forms of boats and fi sh ing implements

,
-
are peculi ar to the district or settlement Indeed .
it will som etirnes be found that settlements ,
within a few miles of each other respectively ,
manufacture nets or boats as dissimilar in type

as might be the inventions of races living thou
sands of miles ap art This amazing variety m ay

.
be in some degree due to respect for local tradi

tion to the pious conservatism that preserves
,
ancestral teaching and custom unch anged throug h
hundreds of years : but it is better explained by

the fact that different communities practise dif
ferent k inds of fishing ; and the shapes of the
nets or the boats made at any one place are
, ,
lik ely to prove on investigation the inventions

, ,
of a special experience The big Yaidzu boats

.
illustrate this fact They were devised according

.
to the particular req uirements of the Yaidzu fi sh -
ing industry which supplies dried ha tsuo ( bonito)

-
to all parts of the Empire ; and it w

,
as necessary
that they should be able to ride a very rough

sea. them in or out of the w
To get ater is a
heavy job ; but the whole village helps A k ind .
of slipway is improvised in a moment by laying

flat wooden frames on the slope in a line ; and
over these frames the flat bott omed vessels are
-
hauled up or down by means of long ropes You .
will see a hundred or more persons thus engaged

in moving a single boat men women and , , ,
children pulling together in time to a curious

,
melancholy chant At the coming of a typhoon

.
,
the boats are moved far back into the streets .
There is plenty of fun in helping at such work ;

and if you are a stranger the fi sher fol k wi ll
,
-
perhaps reward your pains by showing you the

wonders of their sea : crabs with legs of aston
ish ing lengt h balloon fi sh th at blow th emselves
,
-
up in the most absurd m anner and various ot her ,
creatures of shapes so extraordinary that you can

scarcely believe them n atural without touch ing
them .
The big boats with holy texts at their prows are

not the strangest obj ects on the beach Even .
more remark able are the bait baskets of split -
bamboo bask ets six feet high and eighteen

,
feet round with one small hole in the dome

,
2 30 In Gh ostly J apan
the third and last day In many parts of J apan
.
,
the ghosts are furnished with miniature ships for

their voyage little models of junks or fi sh ing
,
craft each containing offerings of food and water

,
and k indled incense ; also a tiny lantern or l am p ,
if t he ghost sh ip be despatched at night But at

-
Yaidzu lanterns only are set afloat ; and I w

.
as
told that they would be launched after dark .
Midnight being the customary hour elsewhere I

supposed t hat it w
,
as the hour of farewell at
Yaidzu also ; and I rashly indulged in a nap after

supper expecting to wak e up in time for the
,
spectacle But by ten o clock when I went to

’
the be ach again all w

.
,
as over and every body
Over the water I sawsome

, ,
h ad gone home .
.
thing like a long swarm of fi re flies the lan -

,
terns drifting out to sea in procession ; but they

were already too far to be distinguished except
as points of colored light I was much disap
.
pointed : I felt that I had lazily missed an Oppor

tunity which might never again return for ,
these old Bon customs are dying rapidly But

- .
in another moment it occurred to me that I could

very well venture to swim out to t he lights .
They were moving slowly I dropped my robe

on the beach and plunged in The sea w
.
,
as calm. ,
w
ritten upon any of the transparencies Inside
the lantern there w
.
as only the flick ering candle .
I watched those frail glowing shapes drifting

through the night and ever as they drifted
,
scattering
, under impulse of wind and wave ,
more and more widely apart Each with its.

,
quiver of color seemed a life afraid trembling

on the blind current that w
, ,
as hea ring it into the
outer black ness . Are not we ourselves as

lanterns launched upon a deeper and a dim er
sea and ever separating further and further one
,
from another as we drift to the inevitable disso

lution ? Soon the thought light in each bu rns
-
itself out : then the poor frames and all that is,
left of their once fair colors must melt forever

,
into the colorless Void .
Even in the moment of this musing I began to

doubt whether I w as really alone to ask myself
,
w hether there might not be something more than

a mere shuddering of light in th e thing t hat
rock ed beside me : some presence that haunted

the dying flame and w, as watching the w atcher .
A faint cold thrill passed over me perhaps ,
some chill uprising from the depths perhaps ,
the creeping only of a ghostly fancy Old super .

At Yaidzu 2 33
stitionsof the coast recurred to me old vague

w
,
am ings of peril in the time of the p assage of
Souls I reflected that were any evil to befall

.
me out there in the night meddling or seem , ,
ing to meddle with the lights of the D ead I

, ,
—
sho uld myself furnish the subject of some future
weird legend I whispered the Buddhist for

.
mula of farewell to the lights and made ,
speed for shore .
As I touched the stones agam l w as st artled by ,
seeing two white sh adows before me ; but a
k indly voice ask ing if the water w as cold set me
It w
, ,
at ease as the voice of my old landlord
Otok ichi the fi shseller w

.
,
ho had com e to look

,
for me accompan ied by his wife

, .
“
Only pleasantly cool I made answer as I ,
”
,
threw on my robe to go home with them .
Ah said the wife it is not good to go out

,
”
,
there on the night of the Bon

“
I did not go far I replied ; ,
”
wanted to look at the lantern s .
Even a K appa gets drowned sometimes ”
protested Otok ich i There w

,
as a m an of this
.
The Ka ppa is a w
at er gob n,
-
li i
haunt ng rivers especia y ll .
2 34 In Gh ostly Japan
villag e w
h w m hom e di t
o s a a s ance of s v n ri, e e
in bad weather after his boat had been broken
But he w as d row ned afterw
, .
ards
”
.
Seven ri m eans a trifle less t han eighteen miles

I asked if any of the young m en nowin the
.
settlement could do as much .
Probably some might the old m an replied

“ ”
, .
There are many strong swimme rs A ll swim .
here even the little children But when fi sher

folk sw
.
,
im lik e that it is only to save their lives

, .
”
Or to mak e love the wife added ,

”
lik e ,
the H ashirna girl

”
.
W ho ? queried I .
A fi sherm an s daughter said Otok ichi

'
, .
She had a lover in Ajiro several n distant ; and

’
she used to swim to him at night and swim back ,
in the morning He kept a light burning to gu ide

her But one dark night the light w
.
as neglected
or blown out ; and sh e l ost her w ay and w

.
as ,
drowned . The story is famous in ldzu .

”
I said to myself in the Far East it

So,
is poor Hero that does the sw
, ,
imming And what .

,
under such circumstances would have been the ,
Western estimate of L eander

2 36 In G hostly J apan
And probably no mortal ever watched the
ocean roll or heard its thunder without feeling
-
serious .I have noticed that even animals ,
horses and cows become meditative in the

,
presence of the sea : they stan d and stare and

listen as if the sight and sound of that immensity
m ade th em forget all else in the world .
There is a folk saying

the co ast
-
of Tbc
Sea ha s a soul a nd bea rs And the meaning is
.
”
thus ex plained : Never speak of your fear when

y ou feel afra id at sea if yo u say th at you are
afraid the w aves will suddenly rise higher

,
.
Nowthis imagining seems to me absolutely

natural I must confess that when I am either
.
in the sea or upon it I cannot fully persuade

, ,
myself t hat it is not alive a conscious and a

,
hostile power Reason for the tim e being avails

.
, ,
nothing against this fancy I n order to be able

to think of the sea as a mere body of w
.
ater ,
I must be upon some height from whence its

hea viest billow ing appears but a lazy creeping of
But the primitive fancy m ay be roused even

more strongly in darkness than by daylight
H ow
.
li ving seem the smoulderings and the flash

At Yaidzu 2 37
Ings Of the tide On nights Of phosphorescence !

howreptilian the subtl e shifting Of the tints
Of its chilly flame ! D ive into such a night sea ; -
Open your eyes in the black blue gloom an d -
w
,
atch the weird gush Of lights that follow your
every motion : each luminous point as seen ,
through the flood like the opening and closing

,
Of an eye ! At such a moment one feels indeed

,
as if enveloped by some monstrous sentiency ,
suspended within some vital substan ce th at feels
and sees and wills alik e in every p art an ih ,

—
finite soft cold Ghost .
L ong I lay wake that night and listened to

a ,
the thunder rolls and crashings Of the mighty

-
tide D eeper than these distinct shocks Of noise

and all the storm ing Of the nearer w aves w
.
,
as the ,
bass Of the further surf a ce aseless abysmal

,
muttering to which the building trembled a ,
sound th at seemed to im agin ation li k e the so und
Of the trampling Of infinite cavalry the massing ,
Of incalculable artillery some rushing from the

, ,
Sunrise Of armies wide as the world

,
.
T hen I found myself thinking Of the vague
terror with wh ich I had listened when a child , ,
to the voice Of the sea ; and I remembered th at
in after years on different coasts in different

-
,
parts Of the world the soun d Of surf had

,
always revived t he childish emotion Certainly

this emotion w
.
as Older than I by thousands Of
thousands Of centuries the inherited sum Of

,
numberless terrors ancestral But presently there

.
came to me the conviction that fear Of the sea

alone could represent but one element Of the
multitudinous aw e aw ak ened by its voice For .
as I listened to t hat wild tide Of the Suru g a coas t ,
I could distinguish nearly every sound Of fear

known to m an : not merely noises Of battle tre .
m endous , Of interminable volleying Of im ,
measurable charging but the roaring Of be asts

, ,
the crackling and hissing Of fire the rumbling Of

,
earthquake the thunder Of ruin and above all

, , ,
these a clamor continual as Of shrieks and

,
smot hered shoutings the Voices that are said

,
to be the voices Of the drowned Awfulness .
supreme Of tumult , combining all imaginable

echoings of fury and destruction and desp air !
And to myself I said I s it wonderful th at

the voice Of the sea should make us serious ?
tones that resurrect all dead sensa tions Of m aj
esty and might and glory , all expired ex ulta
the influence Of music seem inexplicable to the

m an w ho idly dreams that his life began less
than a hundred years ago ! But the mystery
lightens for whomsoever learn s that the substance
Of Self is Older than the sun He finds that music
.
is a Necromancy he feels that to every ripple

Of melody to every billow Of h arm ony there an
sw
, ,
ers within h im out Of the Sea Of D eath and

,
Birth some eddying im measurable Of ancient

,
pleasure and pain .
Pleasure and pain : they com mingle always in

great music ; and therefore it is that music can
move us more profoundly than the voice Of
ocean or than any other voice can do But in .
music s larger utterance it is ever the sorrow that

’
makes the undertone the surf mutter Of the

,
-
Sea Of Soul . Strange to think how vast the

sum Of joy and w oe that must h ave been ex e
p
rienced before the sense Of music could evolve in
the brain Of m an !
So mewhere it is said that human life is the

music Of the G ods that its sobs and laughter
, ,
At Yaidzu 241
its ongs and shrieks and orisons its outcries Of

s ,
delight and Of despair rise never to the hcaring

,
Of the Immortals but as a perfect harmony .
Wherefore they could not desire to hush the

tones Of p ain it would spoil their music ! The
combination without the agony tones would
,
-
,
prove a discord unendurable to ears divine

And in one w ay w
.
e ou r s elves are as G ods ,
since it is only the sum Of the pains and th e joys
Of past lives inn umerable that makes for us ,
through memory organic the ecstasy of music

, .
All the gladness and the grief of dead generations

come back to haunt us in countless forms Of
harmony and Of melody Even so a million
.
,
years after we shall have ceased to view the sun

will the glad ness and the grief Of our ow
,
lives pass with richer music into other hearts

there to bestir for one m ysterious moment some
, ,
deep and exq uisite t hrilling Of voluptuous pain .

WO RKS OF L AFCA D I O H EARN
E! OT I CS A ND RETROS P ECTI V ES
l
I l ustra ted . t 6m O .
-
B eeroep ecum
I uj No Yam a
'
i- -
Fi rst I p
m ress ons i
Beaut yi s Mem ory
A Q i
s t o n in
ue th e Zen T ex ts Sad n ess in Beauty
i
Buddh st L itera ture Of th e Parfum d e J eunees e
A zure Psych o ogy l
A Serenad e
A Red Sunset
Fi r sson
V es p ertina Cognitio
H
qiv
Th e Eternal aunters
If one w ere to a tte m pt an y ad e q u a te uota tion , he

w ld ou q uo te th e en t ire b ook . I t is on e t o be l ed w
it h .
L rn u r
t W n rrnro , in t h e Ch ica go I nt er- Ocea n .
I t h as th e d eep a zu re co oring of l i
F uj -S an , t h e sacred
m ou n ta in i
; t ut t ers th e ch irp ing n ote Of Suzum ush i, th e
caged wt ; it i
in cl di K ji k th
s as m e o o us as a a, e singin g
f g
ro d i
,
lt g th l ly L it y W ld
an s a o e e r ove . era r or .
F ll f t h t w d f l p w f i id p t
q
u O a on er u o er O v v or ra ya l a nd
Of p ti foe y thc t k anch i w k lwy a ma es s or a a s uni ue
The essays in th e la t te r port ion Of th e b ook , w

hi h c a re
grou ped un d er th e h ea d i n g of R et rospect ives, ”

a re
p y
s ch ologica l an d m sth otic
cacy a n d a su b tlety th a t a re
in
d e igh l q
ch aracte r, a n d h a ve
Brooklyn L tfe
a d e ll
.
WORKS OF L A FCAD I O H EA RN
S H A DO WI NG S
Ill ustrated : i 6m o . i i l d i ti
Or g na e on . i 2m o .
C ON T E N T S
S TORIES FROM STRA NGE BOOKS

i T h Rec e ili ti
o nc a on4 Th C p Rid e o r se -
er
2 A L g d fF g 5 T h Sy p thy f B t
. .
. e en o u en . e m a O en on
B tosa su 6 T h G t it d f th . e ra u e O e
3 Th S
. e cr M id
een -
a en Sa b it me o
JA PANESE ST UD IES
a S . i (Cicada )
em e 3 Old J p So g . a an e
se n s
2 J p ese F m al N m
. a an e e a es
FANTASIES
1 N t il aoc uc e 5 Ni ght T h m are o uc
2 A My t y f C w
. .
. s er O ds 6 R di g f m
ro D eam . ea n s ro a r
3 G thi H
. o c o rro r B k oo
4 L itati
. ev on 7 i P i f Ey . n a a rO es
J p a d
a n , un th per f th i b illi t wi t
e en o b s r an r e r, ecom es
a l d f w d f h t i g ti y t y h i g
an o on er, o a un n ex o c m s er av n
with h J p f d i y p fi i l
,
li ttl i e n com m on t e a an o or na r su er c a
N w
,
p t
re or . B lt i a m ore e s .
C t
ons ant d il y a i t i with th J p
assoc a on d e a a n ese, an
s m
y p th at i e t d y
c s u f th i lit t
o h e r g i v M era ure , a ve en r.
H earn ani igh t i t th f lk l

ns n o f th p p l t h t
e o o re o e eo e a no
o th f
er ig o re hn er bt i d as o S F a ne i Ch . i l an ra nc sco ron c e.
Th b k e oo w h l
as a i t p d wi
o e t h th Js s am
p e e a a n ese
sens iti ven esst b ty o d iea u y gg t i f f ili

an s ver su es ve O am ar
ity w l O tl k N wY k
,
ith th t i d e eso er c a n un usua . u oo , e or .

WO RKS OF L AFCADIO H EA R N
A J APA NESE MI SC ELL A NY

Ill ustrated . 16m o . Origina l diti
e on . 121110 .
CON TE N T S
S TRANGE STORIES
I Of P i K pt
. a ro m se V T h St y f U m t
e . e or O e su
II Of P m i B k
. a ro se Ch b i
ro en u e
III B f th S p m C t V I Th St y f K gi th
e ore e u re e o ur e or O o e
I V T h St y f Kwhi
. .
. e or O P iest as n r
K ji o
FOLKLORE GLEANINGS
I D g Fli
. ra o n - es
II B ddhi t N
. u lat f Pla ts d A im als
s o m en c ure O n an n
III S g f J p
. on s o C h ild a anese ren
ST UD IE S HERE A ND THERE
I O B id g
. n a r I V D ift i g
e . r n
II T h C f O M
. e ase o V Ot k i hi s Da m . o c
’
ru a
III B id th S
. s
e e e VI I
ea J p H pit l . n a a an ese os a
A b k w hi h b
oo th f c it y p g th lif f
rea es rom s e ver a e e e o
th l e d w i t h wh i h it d l N w k N w
an c ea s . e ar e s
It t ih h
as on s es as m u c it d ligh t b y th p t i t d as e s e a en an
h l ly
sc o a r h ldi
rese arc yp g L
reve a e A g l n eve r a e .
-
oe n e as '
E x p ress .
T h e d e ica te l a tm osph ere of m yst ery as e usive as th e l

wiligh t
,
su nset m s it of a n I nd i a n sum m er t , p ervad es th is

as a ll o th er O f Mr H earn.
’
s i
fasc n a t ing J a pan ese st ory
L I TTL E B RO W N C O P u élzs/zer s
’
, , .
,
2 5 4 W A S H I N G T O N S T R E E T BO S T O N M A S S , , .
T h e b orro wm er ust return this item on or be fore
th e la st d a te sta m ped b e lo wI f an o th er u se r
w will
.
pl a ce s a rec al l fo r th i s ite m th e b
, orr o e r
be no ti fi e d of th e n eed for an e arli er re turn .
N on -
re ce ip t o f ove rd ue n o ticesd oes n ot e x em p t
th e b o rro wf
e r rom ove rd u e fi n e s
.

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G H O ST J A PA N

J APANESE BUDDI I I ST PROVEI uI s

MAG I GAI I NGENSE

S um mit in the dim

ND it w as at the hour of sunset th at they

Q came to the foot of the m ountain There

as in that pl ace n o sign of life

of ﬂying bird nothing but desolation rising to

Then the Bodhisattva said to his young com

ay is rude . Follow after me and ,

do not fear : strength will be given you .

Twilight gloomed about them as they climbed .

There w as no be aten p ath nor any mark of for .

m er hum an visitation ; and the w ay w

endless he aping of t um bled fragments th at rolled

dislodged would clatter down with hollow echo

and thrilled and the d ark ness deepened .

D o not fear my son said the Bodhisattv a

guiding : danger there is none though the w

U nder the stars they climbed fast fast , , ,

mounting by help Of power superhuman High

ﬂood Of cloud like the tide of a milky sea

Hour after hour they climbed and forms

invisible yielded to their tread with dull soft

And once the pilgri m youth laid hand on a

something smooth th at w as not stone and lifted

it and dimly sawthe cheek less gibe of death

L inger not thus my son , urged the voice

gain is very far away ! ”

On through the dark they climbed and felt ,

contin ually beneath them the soft strange break .

the rim of the night turned grey and the stars ,

began to fail and the east began to bloom

Yet still they climbed fast fast mounting

as frigi dness of death and silence tremendous

A gold ﬂame k indled in the east .

Then ﬁrst to the pilgrim s gaze the steeps t e

vealed their nakedness and a trem bling seized

him and a ghastly fear For there w

any ground , neither beneath him nor about him

and measureless of sk ulls and fragments of sk ulls

and dust of bone with a shimmer of shed teeth

strown through th e drift of it lik e th e shimm er ,

of scrags of shell in the wrack of a tide .

D o not fear my son l cried the v oice of the

Behind them the world had vanished Nothing .

remained but the clouds beneath and the sky ,

above and the heaping of sk ulls between

sl anting out of sight .

Then the sun climbed with the climbers ; and

stupendous height and the nightm are of stupen

dous depth and the terror of silence ever grew

and grew and weighed upon the pilgrim and held

h is feet so th at suddenly all power dep arted

from him and he moaned like a sleeper in dreams

H asten h asten my son ! cried the Bodhi

sattva : the day is brief and the summit is very

But the pilgrim sh rieked ,

1 fear ! I fear unspe ak ably and the power

h as dep arted from me !

the Bodhisattva below you and

clinging I dare not look beneath ! Before

A nd yet my son said the Bodhisattva