And now we shall tell what became of Kane-uji.
The far-famed Yugyo Shonin, of the temple of Fujisawa in Kagami,
who traveled constantly in Japan to preach the law of Buddha in
all the provinces, chanced to be passing over the moor
Uwanogahara.
There he saw many crows and kites flitting about a grave. Drawing
nearer, he wondered much to see a nameless thing, seemingly
without arms or legs, moving between the pieces of a broken
tombstone.
Then he remembered the old tradition, that those who are put to
death before having completed the number of years allotted to
them in this world reappear or revive in the form called
_gaki-ami_.
And he thought that the shape before him must be one of those
unhappy spirits; and the desire arose in his kindly heart to have
the monster taken to the hot springs belonging to the temple of
Kumano, and thereby enable it to return to its former human
state.
So he had a cart made for the _gaki-ami_, and he placed the
nameless shape in it, and fastened to its breast a wooden tablet,
inscribed with large characters.
And the words of the inscription were these: "Take pity upon this
unfortunate being, and help it upon its journey to the hot
springs of the temple of Kumano.
"Those who draw the cart even a little way, by pulling the rope
attached to it, will be rewarded with very great good fortune.
"To draw the cart even one step shall be equal in merit to
feeding one thousand priests, and to draw it two steps shall be
equal in merit to feeding ten thousand priests;
"And to draw it three steps shall be equal in merit to causing
any dead relation--father, mother, or husband--to enter upon the
way of Buddhahood."
Thus very soon travelers who traveled that way took pity on the
formless one: some drew the cart several miles, and, others were
kind enough to draw it for many days together.
And so, after much time, the _gaki-ami_ in its cart appeared
before the joroya of Yorodzuya Chobei; and Kohagi of Hitachi,
seeing it, was greatly moved by the inscription.
Then becoming suddenly desirous to draw the cart if even for one
day only, and so to obtain for her dead husband the merit
resulting from such work of mercy, she prayed her master to allow
her three days' liberty that she might draw the cart.
And she asked this for the sake of her parents; for she dared not
speak of her husband, fearing the master might become very angry
were he to learn the truth.
Chobei at first refused, declaring in a harsh voice that since
she had not obeyed his former commands, she should never be
allowed to leave the house, even for a single hour.
But Kohagi said to him: "Lo, master! the hens go to their nests
when the weather becomes cold, and the little birds hie to the
deep forest. Even so do men in time of misfortune flee to the
shelter of benevolence.
"Surely it is because you are known as a kindly man that the
_gaki-ami_ rested a while outside the fence of this house.
"Now I shall promise to give up even a life for my master and
mistress in case of need, providing you will only grant me three
days' freedom now."
So at last the miserly Chobei was persuaded to grant the prayer;
and his wife was glad to add even two days more to the time
permitted. And Kohagi, thus freed for five days, was so rejoiced
that she at once without delay commenced her horrible task.
After having, with much hardship, passed through such places as
Fuhanoseki, Musa, Bamba, Samegaye, Ono, and Suenaga-toge, she
reached the famed town of Otsu, in the space of three days.
There she knew that she would have to leave the cart, since it
would take her two days to return thence to the province of Mino.
On her long way to Otsu, the only pleasing sights and sounds were
the beautiful lilies growing wild by the roadside, the voices of
the hibari and shijugara(1) and all the birds of spring that sang
in the trees, and the songs of the peasant girls who were
planting the rice.
But such sights and sounds could please her only a moment; for
most of them caused her to dream of other days, and gave her pain
by making her recollect the hopeless condition into which she had
now fallen.
(1) Hibari, a species of field lark; shijugara, a kind of
titmouse.
Though greatly wearied by the hard labor she had undertaken for
three whole days, she would not go to an inn. She passed the last
night beside the nameless shape, which she would have to leave
next day.
"Often have I heard," she thought to herself, "that a _gaki-ami_
is a being belonging to the world of the dead. This one, then,
should know something about my dead husband.
"Oh that this _gaki-ami_ had the sense either of hearing or of
sight! Then I could question it about Kane-uji, either by word of
mouth or in writing."
When day dawned above the neighboring misty mountains, Kohagi
went away to get an inkstone and a brush; and she soon returned
with these to the place where the cart was.
Then, with the brush, she wrote, below the inscription upon the
wooden tablet attached to the breast of the _gaki-ami_, these
words:--
"When you shall have recovered and are able to return to your
province, pray call upon Kohagi of Hitachi, a servant of
Yorodzuya Chobei of the town of Obaka in the province of Mino.
"For it will give me much joy to see the person for whose sake I
obtained with difficulty five days' freedom, three of which I
gave to drawing your cart as far as this place."
Then she bade the _gaki-ami_ farewell, and turned back upon her
homeward way, although she found it very difficult thus to leave
the cart alone.