Japan monsters reading summary

11. (foiU.ItCT{O;N Q/i·r4:£a$1i:~foif .. t?)1 Now Zenchin had a long nose, five or six inches long, in fact, so

that it seemed to hang down beyond his chin. It was purply-red · colour, swollen and pimply like the peel of an orange. It itc d terribly, and he used to boil water in a kettle and put his nose i it, protecting his face from the fire by means of a tray in which e had cut a hole just large enough to allow the nose to pass through. e would give it a good boiling, and when he took it out it was a d p purple hue. Then he would lie down on his side, and puttin something underneath the nose, he would get someone to tread on "t, whereupon something like smoke oozed out from the hole in eac of the pimples. As the treading grew heavier, white maggots eme ged from each of the holes and were pulled out with a pair of .hJi:-tweezers-a white maggot about half an inch long from each hoy. You could even see the open holes they had come from. Then th!lf nose was put back into the same water and boiled up again, wh~h made it shrink until it was the size of an ordinary person's nose. )fot within two or three days it would swell up again to its former si~sl

This same process went on over anp over again, so that there were a great many days when it w~ollen. At mealtimes, therefore, Zenchin would get one of his ac ytes to sit opposite him and hold a strip of wood about a foot lon and an inch wide under his nose to keep it up, staying like that u.n'til the meal was over. When Zenchin got anyone else to hold~·s ose up, they were not gentle in the way they did it and he got so a oyed that he lost his appetite. Accordingly this one priest was given e job of holding his nose up at every meal. One day, however, he' was feeling unwell, and when Zenchin sat down to his breakfast ruel there was no one to support his nose. While he was wondering hat to do, a lad who was one of his servants volunteered to h d the nose up for him. 'I'm sure I shall do just as well as that pri t', he said. He was overheard by one of the acolytes, who reported 1is offer to Zenchin, and the boy, a good-looking lad in his midd teens, 1 was summoned to come and sit in front of his

w ere he took up the nose-supporter and, holding himself Uy and correctly, kept the nose at just the right height, not too

high a not too low, so that Zenchin could drink his gruel. As he drank Zenchin remarked how skilful the lad was, even better than the iest. But just then the boy turned aside to sneeze, and as he snee ed, his hand shook, the stick supporting the nose wobbled, and

1 Chii-dai.doji. Nomura suggests that this is a middle grade of 'big lad'. I prefer here to follow Konjaku, which has the reading chiidqji (though it is possible that the meaning is 'a lad somewhere between a chii- and a dai-doji) '.

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; .the nose slipped off and fell plop into the gruel, w · splashed up all over their faces. Zenchin was furious, and e wiped his head and face with paper, he ordered the boy o , ellowing, 'You confounded

,, idiot! A stupid lout, that's what are.Just you go and hold up some '.bigwig's nose, instead of mi , then I'll bet you wouldn't do this. You stupid great fool! Get , get out!' 'Certainly, I'll go and hold his n~se

( \IP', called the , as a parting shot, '-if there is anybody else with a nose like rs. You don't know what you're talking about, sir.' The

. acol all went where they could not be seen and had a good laugh.

26. ( 2 /8) How Seimei1 used his magic powers to protect an Archivist lvlinor Captain2

Seimei was once seated in his official place at the Palace, watching the high Court nobles arrive with their fine array of outriders, when he saw an elegant and very handsome young Archivist Minor Captain alight from his carriage and enter the Palace. Just at that moment, Seimei saw a crow fly over the officer's head and drop its dung on him. Seimei took a careful look at it and thought to himself, 'What a shame that such a handsome and very popular young man should have been attacked by an evil spirit! This crow is clearly some diviner's familiar.'3

Evidently it was not the officer's destiny to die yet, for Seimei felt so sorry for him that he went over and asked him, 'Are you having an audience of His Majesty? Forgive me ifl seem a little presumptuous, but why have you come to the Palace? I have seen signs that you will not live through the night. Fate willed that it should be revealed to me. Please come with me and let me see what I can do.' So saying, he got into the carriage together with the officer, who began shivering with terror and said, 'What a terrible thing to happen ! Please help me, then.' The two of them rode together to the officer's home. This had all happened at about four o'clock in the afternoon and by the time they arrived, it was already dark. With the Minor Captain clasped tightly in his arms, Seimei cast spells to protect him, and all night long, without a moment's sleep, he never once stopped reciting incomprehensible incantations and prayers.

It was a long autumn night, but he concentrated all his efforts, and

1 A member of the Abe family and perhaps the most famous of all Masters of Divination or yin-yang practitioners. His exact dates are not known, but he lived in the second half of the tenth century. . . . .

• A Minor Captain of the Inner Palace Guards who was also an Arch ivist (a n official m the Sovereign's Private Office). 8 Shiki or shilcigami.

0.~ .. M;ll_r, fv-a~(,, ,4 Colic.~•') ~ ~ Uj1 l CC-l-M~t'\~e.'. C:t~\.,.).~ \.( '°"'"' en,..1) Prt!;5, t~iO)

' . .. · .. ' ~· .

towards dawn there camea kn~cki~g at the door~ At·Seimei's sugge$tion, someone was sent out to see what it was, and it now turned out that the familiar had been brought down on the Minor Captain by his brother-in-law, who held the Archivist's Fifth Rank.1 They lived . in different parts of the same house and the Minor Captain's brother~in­ law was jealous because their father-in-law had a poor opinion of him, while he was very pleased with the Minor Captain as a son-in-law and made a great fuss of him. The brother-in-law was so jealous, in fact, that he had engaged a diviner to bring this spirit familiar down on to his rival. The Minor Captain had thus been close to death when Seimei had observed him, and after Seimei's night-long praying, a messenger had come from the diviner who had brought down the evil spirit and announced in a loud voice, 'Foolishly, and without reason save that I had been commanded to do so, I brought down an evil spirit on you, but you had such strong protection that it has turned back on me and I have now been struck dead, as a result of the awful thing that I did.' 'Do you hear that, sir? ' said Seimei, 'If I had not discovered this last night, that is what would have happened to you.' The messenger was sent back in the company of a servant, who on inquiry was told that the diviner's death had been instantaneous. The son-in-law who had engaged the diviner to bring down the evil spirit was immediately sent packing by his father-in-law, who was overcome with tears as he thanked Seimei, and was scarcely able to reward him handsomely enough to express his gratitude.

The identity of this Minor Captain is not known, but they say he eventually became a Major Counsellor.

27. (2/g) How Suemichi nearly met disaster

There was once a certain Tachibana Suemichi,2 a former Governor of Suruga. On one occasion in his young days, when he was secretly having an affair with a lady-in-waiting at a nobleman's house, the retainers in the house got together to talk about him. 'It's shocking', they said, 'how this whipper-snapper of a Sixth-Ranker who doesn't

1 There were three posts as Archivists in the Sovereign's Private Office which carried the Fifth Court Rank, and their holders were known as Goi no kurodo. The lower officials, who held the Sixth Rank, were allowed to stay in their positions for only six y<',ars, and if at the end of this time there happened to be no vacancy as a Fifth Rank Archivist, they lost the position of Archivist altogether. It is true that they were then promoted to the Fifth Rank, but it was known as the Archivists' Fifth Rank, and was very much a consolation prize, since they had no further opportunity for advancement and lost the privilege of being admitted to the Audience Chamber of the Palace (tenjo no ma). 2 Died I06o.

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J<' ig. 8. Suemichi visiting his lady-love, much to the annoya nce of certain retainers in the household (Story 27)

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A COLLECTION OF TALES FROM UJI

old1 Sir Evergreen going?' The other courtiers crowded round, all talking to him at once. 'It's too bad of you to break your promise like this. Now you must do as we all agreed. Hurry up and send for some wine and fruit and pay forfeit.' He brushed their complaints aside and refused to do as they said, but they were so insistent that eventually he said, 'Very well, then, I'll pay my forfeit for saying "Aotsune"-let's say, the day after tomorrow. I want you all to be there then, all you gentlemen of the Court and Archivists.' And with that he walked out. When the day arrived there was not a single absentee, for everybody was anxious to see the Lord Middle Captain from Horikawa pay his forfeit, and the courtiers were all sitting in their places waiting when he appeared. He was in informal dress, his face radiant, his clothes exquisitely perfumed, and he fairly oozed charm. Below the beautiful long skirt of his robe could be seen the edge of a green under-robe, fulled to a lustrous sheen, while his trousers were also of green. He had dressed his three attendants2 in green hunting-coats and skirts. One carried a green-painted tray bearing ··•. celadon porcelain plates heaped with greenish-yellow koka fruit.3 Another brought in four or five wild pigeon attached to a stick of bamboo, while the third brought in sake in celadon porcelain jars, with green paper over the tops. At the sight of these three attendants coming one after another into the audience chamber with these things, the courtiers burst out together in one great shriek of laughter. The ; Emperor heard them and wanted to know the reason for such a commotion in the audience chamber. 'Kanemichi used the name "Aotsune", Your Majesty,' said one of the ladies, 'and he's paying . the forfeit that they insisted on. That is what they are laughing about.' ;\ Curious to see what the forfeit was, the Emperor went to his daytime •.·• apartment and took a look through the lattice-work screen. Now he . realized what the laughter was about, for Kanemichi, himself dressed ·· in green, was paying his forfeit with foods that were all green in. .; colour, brought in by servants who were likewise dressed in green •. His Majesty himself found it a harmless and very amusing joke.

From then on, since no one made any serious attempt to repriman ·. them, the courtiers made fun of Aotsune more than ever.

1 I have attempted by the use of this slang expression to convey the effect Ano Aotsune-111llru.

s Or escorts (zuijin). 8 A kind of pear.

TRANSLATION

125. (11/2) How Yasusuke was a thief

Long ago, the Governor of Tango, Yasumasa, 1 had a younger brother called Y asusuke who had been promoted to the Fifth Rank while still only a Lieutenant in the Military Guards.II He was the leader of a gang of thieves. Behind his house, which was south of Anegakoji Lane and east of Takakura Lane,3 he had had a storehouse built, with a deep well-like pit under it. Yasusuke used to call in vendors of all sorts of things such as swords, saddles, armour, helmets, silk and other cloth, and buy their wares at the price they asked, then he would instruct a servant to pay them. 'Please come with me to the storehouse at the back', the servant would say, and the vendor would go with him in the expectation of being paid. The servant would then invite the man inside the storehouse, push him into the pit and appropriate his goods. No one who took goods to Y asusuke's house ever came away again, and though other vendors were a little suspicious, there was no one to reveal the secret, since the victims were all dead and buried.

This was not the total of Yasusuke's crimes, for he used to go all over the capital committing robberies. Although vague rumours of this got around, for some reason Y asusuke always managed to avoid being arrested."

126. ( 1 I /3) How a prust put Seimei5 to the test

A white-haired old priest once came to Seimei's house in Tsuchimikado Street6 accompanied by two young lads of about ten. When Seimei asked him who he was, he replied, 'I came from the province of Harima, and I want to learn to be a master of divination. I heard that you are particularly expert in that art, sir, and I've come to you to learn a little about it.' 'The priest seems to be an astute fellow', thought Seimei. 'He's come here to test me. I musn't put on a bad show for him. I'll have a little fun with him.' He concentrated as hard as he could, and making mudras7 with his hands in his sleeves, he

1 For Yasumasa, see also US 28. s Literally 'who had received the cap'. His post was one which normally carried the Sixth

Rank. 8 AnegakOji was aneaat-west lane south of Second Avenue and Takakura was a north-south

lane Jn the eastern half of the city. 4 According to Sompi bum71!Yaku, he was arrested and committed suicide in prison.

: 6<See11lso .US.ri.6 and 184. . . • An east-west street just south of First Avenue. 7 9pglnally the hand and finger positions of BucJdbjst statues, each with its own signi-

1lcattce; here it means similar positions associated with Shingon magic.

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secretly cast a spell, praying, 'The lads with this priest must be his familiars. If they are, let them disappear.' Then, addressing the priest, he said, 'Please go away now. Later, on some auspicious day, I will teach you whatever you say you want to learn.' 'I am very honoured, sir', said the priest, joining his hands and raising them to his forehead respectfully. Then he hurried away.

Just as he was leaving, however, he stopped and began looking around in likely places such as the carriage-shelter, then he came up to Seimei and said, 'Both the lads who were with me have disappeared. I shall not go away until you give me them back.' 'My dear sir, what a queer thing to say! Why should I take away someone else's attendants?' 'You have every justification, my lord', said the crestfallen priest. 'But please let me have them back.' 'Very well, then', said Seimei. 'I took great exception to your bringing your familiars here to test me. You may put other people to this sort of test, but you can't treat Seimei like that.' He appeared to be reciting some incantation, and before long the two lads came running in from outside the gate and went up to the priest. The latter now admitted that it was true he had been testing Seimei. 'It is easy to make use of familiars,' he said, 'but to make the familiars that someone else is using disappear is a feat that is beyond me. From now on I wish to be your pupil.' And producing a name-tag from inside his robe, he gave it to Seimei.

127. (r 1/3 pt. ii) How Seimei killed some frogs

This diviner Seimei on one occasion visited the High Priest of Hirosa wa, 1 and in the course of the conversation some young priests asked him, 'It is said you can make use of familiars. Are you able to strike a man dead on the spot?' 'Not very easily, but I could do it if I really tried', : he replied. 'Now, things like insects I could certainly kill, without any elaborate magic. But it's a useless accomplishment, because I don' · know how to bring them to life again, so that it would be a sinfu thing to do.' Just then, five or six frogs hopped across the garde . toward the pond, and one of the priests said, 'Just kill one of thos¢ then we can see how it is done, sir.' 'What a wicke9 ige(:l.! ~µ11, sine · you're testing my powers, I will demonstrate kill one', 11af Seimei, and plucking some blades of grass, h.e appe<uc1(.l.

1 Died 998, aged eighty-fotxr. The son of ail pond in Saga, to the west of Kyoto. This same called the High Priest Kancho, ·of the f{enjt)..ji. .

TRANSLATION

some spell and then threw the grass at the frog. When the grass landed on it, the frog fell fiat and lay there dead. The sight made the priests blanch with horror. ·

I expect that when there were no servants in the house Seimei employed familiars, for even without any servants the shutters got raised and lowered and the gate closed.

128. (n/4) How the Governor ef Kawachi, Torinobu, 1 attacked Taira Tadatsune2

Long ago, when the Governor of Kawachi, Yorinobu, was Governor of Kozuke, there was a warrior in the Eastland named Taira Tadatsune who gave not the slightest heed to Imperial commands, and in order to bring him into submission Yorinobu raised a large force and marched on the place where Tadatsune was living. He found, however, that the house was built on the opposite side of a creek which extended far inland. To go round the creek would take seven or eight days, but if a direct crossing were made an attack could be mounted that same day. Tadatsune had had all ferry-boats taken away and concealed, so that there was no way to cross.

The troops stood on the beach, convinced that they would have to follow the shoreline round till they reached the other side. :But the Governor of Kozuke said, 'Going right round by the seashore to attack the enemy will take several days. Meanwhile he may get away or prepare some good defence against our attack. If we attack before today is out, he will be taken by surprise and thrown into confusion. But all the boats have been removed and hidden. What can we do?' His men replied, 'There is no way for you to cross, sir. You will have to go round before you can attack.' 'Surely there must be someone among my troops who knows a way', said Yorinobu. 'This is the very first time I have been in the Eastland. But in my family tradition there is some mention of a path that leads straight across under this creek, some kind of dike about ten feet wide. The water is said to be no deeper than would come up to the underbelly of a horse. This path must be situated somewhere in this area. But surely there must be someone among all these troops who knows it. If so, let him go first and I win follow him over.' So saying, he urged his mount on toward

,~ §qp. ()f.'.I;aga, l'vf.i\SlUlab, (see US 44) . .He is variously said to have died at the age of sixty i~::··~9 P~~ I\~' ~~ . ~$¢ qf ei$hty,.o~~ ii); 1046. , .; ,

:Us:~~ . t~~~ll#4, m '.1~~ aq.4 Wil#' lief~te<J µ..· IJ;i3H dying in tile same yea~.

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made up a couplet to finish that'. The young priests sat watching his face, waiting to hear what he would say. The line he added went:

All he can look forward to Is services at Gion.1

Everybody furtively consulted his neighbour to ask what this couplet · could mean. Chuin overheard them and said, 'There, you see, I added ' that couplet to prove to you that it couldn't be done'. The priests who caught what he said burst out all together in roars of laughter, they say.

183. ( 14/9) About ritual precautions for the Captains of the Inner Palace Guard

Again, long ago an astrologer reported to the Court that the moon · was impinging upon the constellation of the General. As a result the. Captains of the Inner Palace Guard were advised to take strict ritual precautions, and the Captain of the Right Guards, Lord Ononomiya,2 had all manner of prayers said on his behalf at such places3 as th Kasuga Shrine and the Yamashina-dera.

The Captain of the Left Guards at the time was the gentlema known as the Biwa Captain of the Left Guards Nakahira.4 Now th Assistant High Priest H6zo6 of the TOdai-ji, who was this gentleman' officiating priest, waited expectantly for instructions to hold prayers but when no word came from the Captain of the Left, he was s worried that he went up to the capital and presented himself at th Biwa Mansion. When Lord Nakahira received him and asked his reaso for coming to the capital, Hozo replied, 'According to what I hear . in Nara, a Doctor of Astrology6 has forecast that the Captains oft Inner Palace Guard need to take ritual precautions, and as a res the Captain of the Right Guards is having all manner of prayers s •

1 There is here an untranslatable pun on the word Goe (referring to the services held d • the Gion Festival in the sixth month) and Goi meaning 'Fifth Rank(er) '.The meaning 0 verse is that a temple lad may go on to high priestly rank but a page cannot normally ex to achieve more than (the Archivists') Fifth Rank.

• Fujiwara Saneyori. See also US 97. I have preferred to retain here my usual translati his rank in the Guards ( taishii) as 'Captain' and not 'General', even though this o~cur · connection with the constellation named taishfi. . · .

• The Kasuga Shrine, the family shrine of the Fujiwara, ls of cours~·.a Sh.int<> shrift¢, 94 very closely associated with Buddhism. The Yamashina-dera or ~6fuku-ji was th<i6 (Buddhist) temple of the Fujiwara.

4 875-945· Also a Fujiwara, son s Became AJ>bot of Taqaj-jiin s T emmon hakase, officials qf the

TRA.NSLA TIO.N

at places like the Kasuga Shrine and the Yamashina-dera. I therefore thought that you too, my Lord, would surely have prayers said, but when I made inquiries, everyone said he had heard no word of it. This was very disturbing, and that is why I have come to see you, sir. It would certainly be best for you to have some prayers said.' 'You are quite right,' said the Captain of the Left Guards, 'but my idea was that, although I understand both Captains of the Guard were advised to take precautions, for me to do so would perhaps be harmful to the Captain of the Right. Not only is he a brilliant man, but he's young, too, and likely to serve the Emperor for a long time to come. I, on the other hand, am neither particularly distinguished nor young, and I felt that it didn't matter what happened to me. That's why I have not had any prayers said on my behalf.' His eyes brimming with tears, Hozo said, 'That is better than any number of prayers. If that is how you feel, you have nothing to fear at all.' And with that, he went away.

And so the Captain of the Left Guards did indeed remain unharmed, and became a Minister, living to the age of more than seventy.

1 84. ( 14/ IO) About an uncanrry incident involving Seimei1 and a dog belonging to the Chancellor

of the Buddha Hall2 Long ago, after the Chancellor of the Buddha Hall had built the HojO-ji, he used to go there every day. Now he had a particular pet, a white dog, which would go along with him and never leave his side. One day it was with him as usual, and just as he was about to go through the gate it ran round and round in front of his carriage, blocking his path and refusing to allow him in. Wondering what was the matter, he alighted from the carriage and was about to walk in when the dog seized the hem of his robe in its teeth and tried to hold him back. 'There is more in this than meets the eye', he thought, and calling for the shaft-stand, he sat down and sent a messenger to Seimei with instructions that he must come at once. In no time, Seimei was on the scene.

When the Chancel1or explained what had happened and asked what it meant, Seimei spent a few minutes divining, and then reported, 'There is something buried in the road which bears a curse on you,

1 See also US 26 and 126-7. .9 Fujiwara Michinaga, see note 7 on p. 230.

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my lord. If you pass over it, you will suffer harm. The dog posseS&es supernatural powers and was warning you.' 'Find out where it is buried, then', said the Chancellor. 'That will be no problem, sir', said Seimei, and after a few minutes of divining, he said, 'Here it is.' The Chancellor had a hole dug at that spot and sure enough something was found .· about fifteen feet down. There were two earthenware vessels, fitted . together and tied crosswise with yellow paper twisted into a string. When the vessels were opened up, they were found to contain nothing but a figure I written in vermilion on the bottom. 'There is no one besides myself who understands this sort of thing,' said Seimei. ' I wonder if it can be the work of the priest Doma.1 Let me test and see.' Taking some paper from his robe, he twisted it in the shape of a bird, put a spell on it and flung it into the air. Immediately, it turned into ;:I: white heron and flew off southwards. He ordered a servant to run after the bird and observe where it settled. It came down and wen through the double-doored entrance to an old house near the junctio of Madenokoji Lane and Rokujobomon Lane.11 The owner, an ol priest, was at once arrested and brought before the Chancellor Questioned about his reason for the curse, he confessed that he ha done it at the instigation of the Horikawa Minister of the Left, Lo ·· Akimitsu.3 'For such a crime you should suffer banishment to som ·. island,' he was told, 'but it is not your fault.' And with the stri injunction never to do anything of the kind again, he was sent awa to his native province of Harima. ·

This Lord Akimitsu after his death became a vengeful spirit a11.: haunted the area of the Buddha Hall, being known, they say, as · ·' Malicious Minister.4 It is said that the dog was treated as more . a pet than ever after this incident. '

1 A pupil of Seimci, and evidently a bad lot, since he is reputed to have committ' adultery with Seimei's wife while his master was away, to have stolen a secret text belon · to him-and finally to have killed him.

' In some versions of the story, the house is identified as the Kawam no in, the Palace by' River. (See US 151.) ·

3 944-1021. Son of Fujiwara Kanemichi (who is referred to as L.o.rd Horilcawa in US 4 Literally 'Evil Spirit Minister (of the Left)'. He is said to hav~ borne a grudge

Michinaga because Prince Atsuakira (Ko-ichijO-in), son of the Emperor Sanjo, transl; his affections from Akimitsu's daughter to the daughter ofMichiIJaga.

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