Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things
Nirvana.”
OSHIDORI
[1] From ancient time, in the Far East, these birds have been regarded
as emblems of conjugal affection.
[2] There is a pathetic double meaning in the third verse; for the
syllables composing the proper name _Akanuma_ (“Red Marsh”) may also
be read as _akanu-ma_, signifying “the time of our inseparable (or
delightful) relation.” So the poem can also be thus rendered:—“When
the day began to fail, I had invited him to accompany me...! Now,
after the time of that happy relation, what misery for the one who
must slumber alone in the shadow of the rushes!”—The _makomo_ is a
short of large rush, used for making baskets.
THE STORY OF O-TEI
(1) “-sama” is a polite suffix attached to personal names.
(2) A Buddhist term commonly used to signify a kind of heaven.
[1] The Buddhist term _zokumyō_ (“profane name”) signifies the
personal name, borne during life, in contradistinction to the _kaimyō_
(“sila-name”) or _homyō_ (“Law-name”) given after death,—religious
posthumous appellations inscribed upon the tomb, and upon the mortuary
tablet in the parish-temple.—For some account of these, see my paper
entitled, “The Literature of the Dead,” in _Exotics and
Retrospectives_.
[2] Buddhist household shrine.
(3) Direct translation of a Japanese form of address used toward young,
unmarried women.
DIPLOMACY
(1) The spacious house and grounds of a wealthy person is thus called.
(2) A Buddhist service for the dead.
OF A MIRROR AND A BELL
(1) Part of present-day Shizuoka Prefecture.
(2) The two-hour period between 1 AM and 3 AM.
(3) A monetary unit.
JIKININKI
(1) The southern part of present-day Gifu Prefecture.
[1] Literally, a man-eating goblin. The Japanese narrator gives also
the Sanscrit term, “Râkshasa;” but this word is quite as vague as
_jikininki_, since there are many kinds of Râkshasas. Apparently the
word _jikininki_ signifies here one of the
_Baramon-Rasetsu-Gaki_,—forming the twenty-sixth class of pretas
enumerated in the old Buddhist books.
[2] A _Ségaki_-service is a special Buddhist service performed on
behalf of beings supposed to have entered into the condition of _gaki_
(pretas), or hungry spirits. For a brief account of such a service,
see my _Japanese Miscellany_.
[3] Literally, “five-circle [or five-zone] stone.” A funeral monument
consisting of five parts superimposed,—each of a different
form,—symbolizing the five mystic elements: Ether, Air, Fire, Water,
Earth.
MUJINA
(1) A kind of badger. Certain animals were thought to be able to
transform themselves and cause mischief for humans.
[1] O-jochū (“honorable damsel”), a polite form of address used in
speaking to a young lady whom one does not know.
(2) An apparition with a smooth, totally featureless face, called a
“nopperabo,” is a stock part of the Japanese pantheon of ghosts and
demons.
[2] Soba is a preparation of buckwheat, somewhat resembling
vermicelli.
(3) An exclamation of annoyed alarm.
(4) Well!
ROKURO-KUBI
[1] The period of Eikyō lasted from 1429 to 1441.
[2] The upper robe of a Buddhist priest is thus called.
(1) Present-day Yamanashi Prefecture.
(2) A term for itinerant priests.
[3] A sort of little fireplace, contrived in the floor of a room, is
thus described. The _ro_ is usually a square shallow cavity, lined
with metal and half-filled with ashes, in which charcoal is lighted.
(3) Direct translation of “suzumushi,” a kind of cricket with a
distinctive chirp like a tiny bell, whence the name.
(4) Now a rokuro-kubi is ordinarily conceived as a goblin whose neck
stretches out to great lengths, but which nevertheless always remains
attached to its body.
(5) A Chinese collection of stories on the supernatural.
[4] A present made to friends or to the household on returning from a
journey is thus called. Ordinarily, of course, the _miyagé_ consists
of something produced in the locality to which the journey has been
made: this is the point of Kwairyō’s jest.
(6) Present-day Nagano Prefecture.
A DEAD SECRET
(1) On the present-day map, Tamba corresponds roughly to the central
area of Kyōto Prefecture and part of Hyogo Prefecture.
[1] The Hour of the Rat (_Né-no-Koku_), according to the old Japanese
method of reckoning time, was the first hour. It corresponded to the
time between our midnight and two o’clock in the morning; for the
ancient Japanese hours were each equal to two modern hours.
[2] _Kaimyō_, the posthumous Buddhist name, or religious name, given
to the dead. Strictly speaking, the meaning of the word is sila-name.
(See my paper entitled, “The Literature of the Dead” in _Exotics and
Retrospectives_.)
YUKI-ONNA
(1) An ancient province whose boundaries took in most of present-day
Tōkyō, and parts of Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures.
[1] That is to say, with a floor-surface of about six feet square.
[2] This name, signifying “Snow,” is not uncommon. On the subject of
Japanese female names, see my paper in the volume entitled
_Shadowings_.
(2) Also spelled Edo, the former name of Tōkyō.
THE STORY OF AOYAGI
(1) An ancient province corresponding to the northern part of
present-day Ishikawa Prefecture.
(2) An ancient province corresponding to the eastern part of
present-day Fukui Prefecture.
[1] The name signifies “Green Willow;”—though rarely met with, it is
still in use.
[2] The poem may be read in two ways; several of the phrases having a
double meaning. But the art of its construction would need
considerable space to explain, and could scarcely interest the Western
reader. The meaning which Tomotada desired to convey might be thus
expressed:—“While journeying to visit my mother, I met with a being
lovely as a flower; and for the sake of that lovely person, I am
passing the day here... Fair one, wherefore that dawn-like blush
before the hour of dawn?—can it mean that you love me?”
[3] Another reading is possible; but this one gives the signification
of the _answer_ intended.
[4] So the Japanese story-teller would have us believe,—although the
verses seem commonplace in translation. I have tried to give only
their general meaning: an effective literal translation would require
some scholarship.
JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA
(1) Present-day Ehime Prefecture.
THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKÉ
(1) Present-day Nara Prefecture.
[1] This name “Tokoyo” is indefinite. According to circumstances it
may signify any unknown country,—or that undiscovered country from
whose bourn no traveler returns,—or that Fairyland of far-eastern
fable, the Realm of Hōrai. The term “Kokuō” means the ruler of a
country,—therefore a king. The original phrase, _Tokoyo no Kokuō_,
might be rendered here as “the Ruler of Hōrai,” or “the King of
Fairyland.”
[2] The last phrase, according to old custom, had to be uttered by
both attendants at the same time. All these ceremonial observances can
still be studied on the Japanese stage.
[3] This was the name given to the estrade, or dais, upon which a
feudal prince or ruler sat in state. The term literally signifies
“great seat.”
RIKI-BAKA
(1) Kana: the Japanese phonetic alphabet.
(2) “So-and-so”: appellation used by Hearn in place of the real name.
(3) A section of Tōkyō.
[1] A square piece of cotton-goods, or other woven material, used as a
wrapper in which to carry small packages.
(4) Ten yen is nothing now, but was a formidable sum then.
INSECT STUDIES
BUTTERFLIES
(1) Haiku.
[1] “The modest nymph beheld her God, and blushed.” (Or, in a more
familiar rendering: “The modest water saw its God, and blushed.”) In
this line the double value of the word _nympha_—used by classical
poets both in the meaning of fountain and in that of the divinity of a
fountain, or spring—reminds one of that graceful playing with words
which Japanese poets practice.
[2] More usually written _nugi-kakéru_, which means either “to take
off and hang up,” or “to begin to take off,”—as in the above poem.
More loosely, but more effectively, the verses might thus be rendered:
“Like a woman slipping off her haori—that is the appearance of a
butterfly.” One must have seen the Japanese garment described, to
appreciate the comparison. The haori is a silk upper-dress,—a kind of
sleeved cloak,—worn by both sexes; but the poem suggests a woman’s
_haori_, which is usually of richer color or material. The sleeves are
wide; and the lining is usually of brightly-colored silk, often
beautifully variegated. In taking off the haori, the brilliant lining
is displayed,—and at such an instant the fluttering splendor might
well be likened to the appearance of a butterfly in motion.
[3] The bird-catcher’s pole is smeared with bird-lime; and the verses
suggest that the insect is preventing the man from using his pole, by
persistently getting in the way of it,—as the birds might take warning
from seeing the butterfly limed. _Jama suru_ means “to hinder” or
“prevent.”
[4] Even while it is resting, the wings of the butterfly may be seen
to quiver at moments,—as if the creature were dreaming of flight.
[5] A little poem by Bashō, greatest of all Japanese composers of
_hokku_. The verses are intended to suggest the joyous feeling of
spring-time.
[6] Literally, “a windless day;” but two negatives in Japanese poetry
do not necessarily imply an affirmative, as in English. The meaning
is, that although there is no wind, the fluttering motion of the
butterflies suggests, to the eyes at least, that a strong breeze is
playing.
[7] Alluding to the Buddhist proverb: _Rakkwa éda ni kaërazu; ha-kyō
futatabi terasazu_ (“The fallen flower returns not to the branch; the
broken mirror never again reflects.”) So says the proverb—yet it
seemed to me that I saw a fallen flower return to the branch... No: it
was only a butterfly.
[8] Alluding probably to the light fluttering motion of falling
cherry-petals.
[9] That is to say, the grace of their motion makes one think of the
grace of young girls, daintily costumed, in robes with long fluttering
sleeves... And old Japanese proverb declares that even a devil is
pretty at eighteen: _Oni mo jiu-hachi azami no hana:_ “Even a devil at
eighteen, flower-of-the-thistle.”
[10] Or perhaps the verses might be more effectively rendered thus:
“Happy together, do you say? Yes—if we should be reborn as
field-butterflies in some future life: then we might accord!” This
poem was composed by the celebrated poet Issa, on the occasion of
divorcing his wife.
[11] Or, _Taré no tama?_
[12] Literally, “Butterfly-pursuing heart I wish to have
always;”—_i.e._, I would that I might always be able to find pleasure
in simple things, like a happy child.
[13] An old popular error,—probably imported from China.
[14] A name suggested by the resemblance of the larva’s artificial
covering to the _mino_, or straw-raincoat, worn by Japanese peasants.
I am not sure whether the dictionary rendering, “basket-worm,” is
quite correct;—but the larva commonly called _minomushi_ does really
construct for itself something much like the covering of the
basket-worm.
(2) A very large, white radish. “Daikon” literally means “big root.”
[15] _Pyrus spectabilis_.
[16] An evil spirit.
(3) A common female name.
MOSQUITOES
(1) Meiji: The period in which Hearn wrote this book. It lasted from
1868 to 1912, and was a time when Japan plunged head-first into
Western-style modernization. By the “fashions and the changes and the
disintegrations of Meiji” Hearn is lamenting that this process of