Produced by Clare Boothby and the Online Distributed
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| TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES |
| |
| Accents and diacritical marks have generally been |
| standardised. Where there is a single instance of a word |
| with an accent, and one without, no change has been made |
| to the original. (e.g. momme/mommé; murashite/murashité; |
| Kuramae/Kuramaé). |
| |
| The letter o with a macron is represented as o[u]. |
| The letter u with a macron is represented as u[u]. |
| |
| Kanji characters in the original book are shown |
| enclosed in square brackets: for example, [kami]. |
| |
| The italicisation of Japanese words has been standardised. |
| |
| Punctuation and obvious printer's errors have been |
| corrected. |
| |
| Hyphenation and capitalisation has been standardised. |
| |
| The symbol referred to in footnote 44, an X with a bar |
| across the top, has been represented as [=X]. |
| |
| Superscript numbers in square brackets are represented |
| as ^{[4]}. |
| |
| Punctuation and obvious printer's errors have been |
| corrected. For a complete list, please see the bottom |
| of this document. |
| |
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* * * * *
[Illustration]
LEGEND.
The outline of the map is that found in Volume I. of the Edo Sunago,
published Keio 2nd year (1866). The detail of district maps found in the
book is worked in, together with that from the sectional map of Edo
published Ansei 4th year (1857), and from the Go Edo Zusetsu Shu[u]ran
published Kaei 6th year (1853). The map therefore shows in rough outline
the state of the city just before the removal of the capital from
Kyo[u]to; the distribution of the castes.
The Pre-Tokugawa villages (Eiroku: 1558-1569) indicated on the map found
in the "Shu[u]ran" are:--
North and South Shinagawa: Meguro-Motomura: Gin-Mitamura: Mitamura:
O[u]nemura: Upper and Lower Shibuya: Harajuku-mura: Kokubunji: Azabu:
Kawaza Ichi: O[u]zawa-mura: Imai-mura: Sendagaya: Yamanaka-mura:
Ichigaya: Ushigome: Kobiko-mura: Upper and Lower Hirakawa-mura: Ochiya:
Sekihon: Ikebukuroya: Tomizaka-mura: Ishibukero-mura: Tanibaragaike:
Neruma-mura: Okurikyo[u]: Nakarai-mura: Koishikawa: Zoshigayatsu:
O[u]ji: Shimura: Takinogawa: Kinsoboku-mura: Harajuku-mura (II.):
Komegome-mura: Taninaka-mura: Shimbori-mura: Mikawajima-mura:
Ashigahara-mura: Haratsuka: Ishihama-mura: Senju[u]-mura: Suda-mura:
Sumidagawa: Yanagijima: Jujo[u]-mura; Itabashi: Sugamo-mura: Arakawa
(river): Kandagawa pool (_ike_); Kanda-mura: Shibasaki-mura:
Shin-Horima-mura: Yushima-mura: Shitaya-mura: Torigoe-mura:
Shirosawa-mura: Asakusa-mura: Harai-mura: Some-Ushigome: Ishiwara:
Kinoshitagawa: Ubagaike (pool): Negishi-mura: Kinsoki-mura: Kameido-mura
(near Ueno): Shinobazu-ike (pool).
From South to North circling by the West.
Shinagawa: Mita-mura: Takanawa: Near Imai-mura is a Myo[u]jin shrine,
close by the mouth of the present Akabane river.
Ikura: Hibiya: Tsukiji: Tsukuda: Tame-ike (pool): Tsukuda Myo[u]jin:
Ota's castle: Sanke-in: Hirakawa-mura: Sakurada-mura: Honju[u]-mura:
O[u]tamage-ike: Kametaka-mura. To the East.
77 villages, total.
Pronounce as in Italian, giving vowels full value: ch- as in "church."
THE YOTSUYA KWAIDAN
OR
O'IWA INARI
_BY THIS AUTHOR_
SAKURAMBO[U]
(THE FRUIT OF THE TREE)
Travel notes on thoughts and things Japanese, experienced
during a four years' sojourn in the country
Octavo. 339 pages.
MORE JAPONICO
A critique of the effect of an idea--communityism--on
the life and history of a people
Octavo. VI, 594 pages.
SAITO[U] MUSASHI-BO[U] BENKEI
(TALES OF THE WARS OF THE GEMPEI)
Being the story of the lives and adventures of
Iyo-no-Kami Minamoto Kuro[u] Yoshitsune and Saito[u]
Musashi-Bo[u] Benkei the Warrior Monk
Octavo. 2 Vols., XXI, 841 pages, with 69 full page
illustrations (frontispieces in color) and
three maps.
OGURI HANGWAN ICHIDAIKI
(TALES OF THE SAMURAI)
Being the story of the lives, the adventures, and the
mis-adventures of the Hangwan-dai Kojiro[u] Sukéshigé
and Ternte-hime, his wife
Octavo. XV, 485 pages, with 45 full page illustrations
(frontispiece in color) and three maps.
[Illustration: THE O'IWA OF THE TAMIYA INARI JINJA OF ECHIZENBORI,
TOKYO]
_TALES OF THE TOKUGAWA_
THE YOTSUYA KWAIDAN
OR
O'IWA INARI
RETOLD FROM THE JAPANESE ORIGINALS BY JAMES S. DE BENNEVILLE
"The mainspring of human existence
is love (_nasaké_), for others or--oneself."
--SEISHIN
PRESS OF J.B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PHILADELPHIA, U.S.A. 1917
COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY JAMES SEGUIN DE BENNEVILLE
PRINTED AND COPYRIGHTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PREFACE
Tales of the Tokugawa can well be introduced by two "wonder-stories" of
Nippon. One of these, the Yotsuya Kwaidan,[1] is presented in the
present volume, not so much because of the incidents involved and the
peculiar relation to a phase of Nipponese mentality, as from the fact
that it contains all the machinery of the Nipponese ghost story. From
this point of view the reading of one of these tales disposes of a whole
class of the native literature. Difference of detail is found. But
unless the tale carries some particular interest, as of curious
illustration of customs or history--the excuse for a second
presentation--a long course of such reading becomes more than
monotonous. It is unprofitable. Curiously enough, it can be said that
most Nipponese ghost stories are true. When a sword is found enshrined,
itself the malevolent influence--as is the Muramasa blade of the
Hamamatsu Suwa Jinja, the subject of the Komatsu Onryu[u] of
Matsubayashi Hakuchi--and with such tradition attached to it, it is
difficult to deny a basis of fact attaching to the tradition. The ghost
story becomes merely an elaboration of an event that powerfully
impressed the men of the day and place. Moreover this naturalistic
element can be detected in the stories themselves. Nipponese writers of
to-day explain most of them by the word _shinkei_--"nerves"; the working
of a guilty conscience moulding succeeding events, and interpreting the
results to the subsequent disaster involved. The explanation is somewhat
at variance with the native Shinto[u] doctrine of the moral perfection
of the Nipponese, and its maxim--follow the dictates of one's heart; but
that is not our present concern.
Their theory, however, finds powerful support in the nature of the
Nipponese ghost. The Buddhist ghost does not remain on earth. It has its
travels and penalties to go through in the nether world, or its
residence in Paradise, before it begins a new life--somewhere. The
Shinto[u] ghost, in the vagueness of Shinto[u] theology, does remain on
earth. If of enough importance it is enshrined, and rarely goes abroad,
except when carried in procession at the time of the temple festival.
Otherwise it finds its home in the miniature shrine of the _kami-dana_
or god-shelf. There is a curious confusion of Nipponese thought on this
subject; at least among the mass of laity. At the Bon-Matsuri the dead
revisit the scene of their earthly sojourn for the space of three days;
and yet the worship of the _ihai_, or mortuary tablets, the food
offerings with ringing of the bell to call the attention of the resident
Spirit is a daily rite at the household Buddhist shrine (Butsudan).
When, therefore, the ghost does not conform to these well-regulated
habits, it is because it is an unhappy ghost. It is then the _O'Baké_ or
_Bakémono_, the haunting ghost. Either it has become an unworshipped
spirit, or, owing to some atrocious injury in life, it stays to wander
the earth, and to secure vengeance on the living perpetrator. In most
cases this is effected by the grudge felt or spoken at the last moment
of life. The mind, concentrated in its hate and malice at this final
crisis, secures to the Spirit a continued and unhappy sojourn among the
living, until the vengeance be secured, the grudge satisfied, and the
Spirit pacified. There are other unhappy conditions of this revisiting
of life's scenes; as when the dead mother returns to nurse her infant,
or the dead mistress to console a lover. In the latter case, at least,
the expressed affection has a malignant effect, perhaps purpose--as in
the Bo[u]tan Do[u]ro[u] of Sanyu[u]tei Encho[u], a writer most careful
in observing all the niceties called for by the subject.
In the Nipponese ghost story the vengeful power of the ghost acts
through entirely natural means. The characters involved suffer through
their own delusions aroused by conscience. In the old days, and among
the common people in Nippon to-day, the supernatural was and is believed
in, with but few exceptions. Such stories still are held to be fact,
albeit the explanation is modern. Hence it can be said that the "Yotsuya
Kwaidan" is a true story. O'Iwa, the Lady of Tamiya, really did exist in
the Genroku and Ho[u]rei periods (1688-1710); just ante-dating the
reforming rule of the eighth Tokugawa Sho[u]gun, Yoshimune Ko[u]. Victim
of an atrocious plot of her husband and others, she committed suicide
with the vow to visit her rage upon all engaged in the conspiracy. The
shrine of the O'Iwa Inari (Fox-witched O'Iwa) in Yotsuya was early
erected (1717) to propitiate her wrathful ghost; and the shrines of
Nippon, to the shabbiest and meanest, have their definite record. On the
register the name of the husband appears as Ibei; "probably correct," as
Mr. Momogawa tells us. With him the name of Iémon is retained in the
present story. Iémon is the classic example of the wicked and brutal
husband, on the stage and in the _gidayu_ recitation of Nippon. There
was but little reason to revert to the record. The shrine always
prospered. It appears on the maps of the district as late as Ansei
fourth year (1857); and the writer has had described to him by a friend
a visit to this shrine some twenty years ago. The lady in question
referred to it rather vaguely as beyond Samegafuchi: _i.e._, at Yotsuya
Samoncho[u]. It was particularly favoured by the hair dressers, and to
the eyes of a young girl was a gorgeous structure in its continually
renewed decoration. Inquiry of late in the district elicited the
information that the shrine had been removed. Many changes have been
made on the southern side of Yotsuya by the passage of the railway from
Iidamachi to Shinjuku. The Myo[u]gyo[u]ji, with other temples there
located, has been swept away. In fact the Meiji period handled all those
institutions established by deceased piety with great roughness.
Teramachi--Temple Street--is now but a name. The temples of eastern
Yotsuya have nearly all disappeared. Have public institutions occupied
this "public land"? Of course: the sites were sold for the secular
purpose of profit, and poverty spread wide and fast over them. Yotsuya
got the shell of this oyster.
About the middle of Meiji therefore (say 1893) the shrine disappeared
from Yotsuya Samoncho[u]; to be re-erected in Echizenbori near the
Sumidagawa. Local inquiry could or would give but little information. A
fortunate encounter at the Denzu-In with an University student, likewise
bent on hunting out the old sites of Edo's history, set matters right.
Subsequent visits to the newer shrine were not uninteresting, though the
presence of the mirror of O'Iwa and of the bamboo tube inclosing her
Spirit (Mr. Momogawa) was strenuously denied by the incumbent. In the
presence of the very genuine worship at the lady's shrine much stress
need not be laid on the absence.
The present story practically is based on the "Yotsuya Kwaidan" of
Shunkintei Ryuo[u], a famous story-teller of the Yoshiwara, and an old
man when the "Restoration" of the Meiji period occurred. The sketch
given in the "O'Iwa Inari Yu[u]rei" of Momogawa Jakuen filled in gaps,
and gave much suggestion in moulding the story into a consistent whole.
Parts merely sketched by the older story-teller found completeness. This
collection of ghost stories--the "Kwaidan Hyaku Monogatari" published by
the Kokkwado[u]--is in the main written by Mr. Momogawa, and can be
recommended as one of the best of these collections, covering in shorter
form the more important stories of this class of the native literature.
The "Yotsuya Kwaidan" of Shinsai To[u]yo[u], one of the older and
livelier of the _ko[u]dan_ lecturers, gives the scene at the house of
Cho[u]bei, and his quarrel with Toémon. It is found in the
"Kwaidan-Shu[u]" published by the Hakubun-kwan. The _gidayu_ (heroic
recitation) and the drama handle all these stories for their own
peculiar purposes. The incidents of a tale are so distorted, for stage
use and dramatic effect, as to make these literary forms of small avail.
The letter of O'Hana, however, is practically that of the play of
Tsuruya Namboku (Katsu Byo[u]zo[u]). It has been thought well to append
to the story the _gidayu_ of this writer, covering the scene in Iémon's
house. Also the strange experience of the famous actor Kikugoro[u],
third of that name, is put into English for the curious reader.
Kikugoro[u] was the pioneer in the representation of the Namboku drama.
This life history of the O'Iwa Inari--the moving cause of the
establishment of her shrine--is no mere ghost story. It is a very
curious exposition of life in Edo among a class of officials entirely
different from the fighting _samurai_ who haunted the fencing schools of
Edo; from the men higher up in social status, who risked heads, or
rather bellies, in the politics of the day and the struggle to obtain
position, which meant power, in the palace clique. These latter were men
who sought to have a share in the government of the Sho[u]gun's person,
and hence of the nation. They strove to seat themselves in the high
posts of the palace. Here was a rapidly revolving wheel to which a man
must cling, or be dashed to pieces. To prevent being shoved off into
destruction they used every means of slander and intrigue, and fought
against such, that the life of a rich and luxurious court afforded. The
result, too often, was the present of a dagger from the suzerain they
sought to please. Trapped into some breach of the harsh discipline, or
even of mere form of etiquette, the gift was "respectfully received"
with the mocking face of gratitude, even from the hand of the successful
rival in office. At his home the defeated politician cut his belly open.
His obedience to the suzerain's will was duly reported. His family was
ruined or reprieved according to a capricious estimation of its power of
resentment--and it became a question of "who next?" to try for a place
on the wheel. On the contrary those lower officials,[2] engaged in the
dull routine of bureaucratic office, had a much less dangerous service
and etiquette to deal with. In insignificant ease they lived and
intrigued in their petty way, under no obligation to take sides in the
politics of the truly great. If they fell, it was largely their own
fault. Such was the position of those in immediate contact with the
working wheels of the Sho[u]gun's Government. The great _bugyo[u]_
(magistrates) were continually shifting. Their court staff was the solid
foundation of unyielding precedent in form. The one was a court officer;
the others court officers.
Hence the Kwaidan possesses value for the social lesson it conveys. The
admittance of a stranger to the ward, his evil bond with the Lady of
Tamiya, the previous passion for O'Hana and thereby the entanglement of
Kwaiba in the plot; all form a network in which the horror of the story
is balanced by the useful lessons to be drawn by the mind of Nippon from
its wickedness. Perhaps this belief in the effect of the curse of the
suicide acts both in deterring or bringing back the erring husband, and
in saving the wife from the extremities of her despair in abandonment.
The story of O'Iwa, the belief in her power, to-day has a strong
influence on a certain class of the Nipponese mind; especially among the
women. If the present writer might have felt momentarily an amused
feeling at sight of her worshippers, it was quickly lost at sight of the
positive unhappiness expressed in these faces of the abandoned. A visit
to the Tamiya Inari is not necessarily either one of idle curiosity or
without results. Some exceedingly painful impressions can be brought
away in the mind.
It is not entirely in jest therefore that apology is made for the
reproduction of the story. It is well in such matters to follow one's
predecessors. Moreover, public sentiment is not to be derided nor
disregarded. It has a certain title to respect, even when superstition
is involved. Hence the statement can be made, that in telling this story
of the "Yotsuya Kwaidan" no derogatory motive is involved--to people,
class, or person; least of all in reference to the dread Lady of Tamiya.
OMARUDANI--4th July, 1916.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER. PAGE
PROEM 15
I. O'MINO AND DENSUKÉ 17
II. KAWAI SAN OF KANDA KU 28
III. TAKAHASHI DAIHACHIRO[U] 35
IV. THE APPEARANCE OF O'IWA SAN 43
V. THE AFFAIR OF THE SHIBA KIRIDO[U]SHI 49
VI. NEGOTIATIONS: THE BUSINESS OF A NAKO[U]DO OR MARRIAGE BROKER 63
VII. IÉMON APPEARS 74
VIII. IF OLD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT 86
IX. LOVE KNOTS 93
X. THE PLOT AGAINST O'IWA 99
XI. THE PLOT DEVELOPS 106
XII. KWAIBA'S REVENGE 114
XIII. THE YO[U]TAKA (NIGHT-HAWKS) OF HONJO[U] 123
XIV. THE PUNISHMENT 131
XV. CHO[U]BEI GETS THE NEWS 141
XVI. NEWS REACHES KWAIBA 155
XVII. NEWS OF KWAIBA 162
XVIII. IN THE SHADOW OF THE GO INKYO[U] 173
XIX. TAMIYA YOÉMON: WITH NEWS OF KONDO[U] ROKURO[U]BEI AND
MYO[U]ZEN THE PRIEST 180
XX. KIBEI DONO 195
XXI. MATTERS ECCLESIASTICAL 212
XXII. THE RITES FOR O'IWA 222
XXIII. THE SANZUGAWA, BRIDGELESS; THE FLOWERLESS ROAD TRAVERSED
BY THE DEAD 233
APPENDICES 251
[The pronunciation of the Japanese vowels and consonants follows closely
the Italian; in diphthongs and triphthongs each vowel is given full
value.
a = a as in father, e = a as in mate, i = e as in meet, o = o as in
soap, u = oo as in fool.
g is always hard. In the To[u]kyo[u] district it has the sound ng.
ch has full value, as in church. It is _not_ k; c is only found as ch;
_i.e._ cha, chi, cho, chu.
The vowels also have long (continued) sounds, marked by the accent -.
At times a vowel is elided; or rather but faintly touched by the voice.
Thus Sukéshigé is pronounced Skéshigé; Sukénaga = Skénaga; Kuranosuké =
Kuranoské. _Bu_ and _mu_ at the end of word lose the vowel
sound--Shikibu = Shikib.
Kami used in connection with a man means "lord," Wakasa no Kami = Lord
of Wakasa province.
Reprinted from the "Oguri Hangwan."]
(Kami also means "God" or divinized person; including the spirits of
the dead. Even a living man can be regarded as a _kami_, in cases of
some very unusual service rendered to the public welfare. Professor Imai
recently--at Karuizawa--called attention to the fact that originally
_kami_ was written [kami], _i.e._ "superior." The divine attribute
[kami] was introduced with Buddhism.)
PROEM
Reader, pray take not the story of the O'Iwa Inari, the Yotsuya
Kwaidan, as a mere fairy tale or novel of the day. The shrine of the
Tamiya Inari stands now to attest the truth of the tradition. Let the
doubter but witness the faith of the believer in the powers of the
fearful lady; and, if doubt still continues to exist, the salutary fear
of others at least will inspire respect.
THE YOTSUYA KWAIDAN OR O'IWA INARI
CHAPTER I
O'MINO AND DENSUKÉ
Yotsuya is a suburb--at the extreme west of Edo-To[u]kyo[u]. Its
streets are narrow and winding, though hilly withal; especially on the
southern edge toward the Aoyama district, still devoted to cemeteries
and palaces, sepulchres whited without and within. Echizenbori would be
at the other extremity of the great city. It fronts eastward on the bank
of the Sumidagawa. The populous and now poverty stricken districts of
Honjo[u] and Fukagawa beyond the wide stream, with other qualities,
deprive it of any claim of going to extremes. In fact Echizenbori is a
very staid and solid section of Edo-To[u]kyo[u]. Its streets are narrow;
and many are the small shops to purvey for the daily needs of its
inhabitants. But these rows of shops are sandwiched in between great
clumps of stores, partly warehouses and partly residences of the owners
thereof. These stores line the canals of Echizenbori, water courses
crowded with junks carrying their ten tons, or their hundreds of tons,
of freight--precious cargoes of rice to go into these stores in bulk, of
_shoyu_ (soy) by the hundred kegs, of sakarazumi (charcoal from Shimosa)
by the thousand _tawara_ (bale), of fish dried and fresh, of _takuan_ or
_daikon_ (the huge white radish) pickled in salt and rice bran, of all
the odds and ends of material in the gross which go to make up the
necessities of living in a great city. If Echizenbori then can make its
show of poverty, and very little _display_ of wealth, it is not one of
the poor quarters of this capital city of Nippon.
Crossing the Takabashi from Hacho[u]bori and plunging down the narrow
street opposite; a short turn to the right, a plunge down another narrow
street and a turn to the right; one comes to the high cement wall, in
its modernness of type a most unusual attachment to shrine or temple.
The gate is narrow and formal; almost like the entrance to a garden or
smaller burying ground. Within all is changed from the busy outside
world. The area inclosed is small--perhaps a square of a hundred and
fifty feet--but marked in lines by a maze of lanterns of the cheap iron
variety, set on cheap wooden posts. On the right is seen a minor shrine
or two dedicated to the Inari goddess. On the left is a small building
devoted to votive offerings, the crude and the more elaborate. The most
striking is the offering of a little _geisha_ lady, and portrays an
heroic scene of early days. There are other portraitures, in which
perhaps a wandering lover is seen as a hero, to the lady's eyes, of
these later times. On the outside of the structure are posted up by the
hundred pictures of once woebegone ladies, now rejoicing in the potent
influence of the Tamiya shrine to restore to them the strayed affections
of husband or lover. Next in line is an open, shed-like structure. It is
a poor chance if here the casual visitor does not encounter one or two
of the petitioners, patiently trotting round in a circle from front to
back, and reciting their prayers in this accomplishment of "the hundred
turns." Just opposite, and close by, is the shrine itself. This is in
part a massive store-house set back in the domestic structure, with the
shrine of the Inari facing the visitor. The floor space at the sides and
before it often is piled high with tubs of _shoyu_ and _saké_, with
bundles of charcoal, such negotiable articles as the wealthier
shopkeeper can offer to the mighty lady; and long tresses of hair of
women too poor to offer anything else, or wise enough to know that a
woman could make no greater sacrifice. And is not the object of their
worship a woman? Numerous are these severed strands. Entering the shrine
and passing the pleasant spoken warden at its entrance, peddling his
charms and giving advice where often it is sadly needed--perhaps the
more valuable of his two public duties--to the left within is the
Oku-no-In, the inner shrine containing the _ihai_ or memorial tablet of
O'Iwa. That the shrine is popular and wealthy; that the lady is feared,
venerated, and her dreadful powers much sought after; this is plain to
the eye in the crowded elaborateness of this inner holy place of the
larger sacred structure.
Now Echizenbori is not a particularly old quarter of the city. Long
after Edo was established, the city, step by step, fought its way down
to the river; filling in lagoons and swamps, and driving their waters
into the canals which were to furnish very largely the means of
communication for its traffic. Yotsuya on the contrary is old. Its
poverty is of later date. In the Edo days it was a favourite site for
the homes of _do[u]shin_, _yakunin_, and a whole herd of the minor
officials who had the actual working of the great Tokugawa machine of
government in their hands. In the maps of Ansei 4th year (1857) the
shrine of the O'Iwa Inari figures in Samoncho[u], in its Teramachi; a
small part of the great mass of red, indicating temples and shrines and
their lands, which then covered a large part of Yotsuya. How then did it
come to pass that the shrine was removed to this far off site in
Echizenbori, with such incongruous surroundings? The explanation must be
found in our story.
When the Tenwa year period (1681-83) opened, long resident at Yotsuya
Samoncho[u] had been Tamiya Matazaémon. By status he was a minor
official or _do[u]shin_ under the Tokugawa administration. These
_do[u]shin_ held highest rank of the permanent staff under the
bureaucratic establishment; and on these men lay the main dependence for
smoothness of working of the machinery of the Government. Matazaémon was
the perfect type of the under-official of the day; smooth, civilly
impertinent to his equals, harsh to his inferiors, and all unction and
abjectness to his superiors. Indeed, he laid more stress on those
immediately above him than on the more removed. To serve the greater
lord he served his immediate officer, being careful to allow to the
latter all the credit. No small part of his function was to see that
ceremonial form and precedent were carried out to the letter. It was the
accurate and ready knowledge of these which was of greatest import to
his chief, indeed might save the latter from disaster. Matazaémon's
readiness and conduct rendered him deservedly valued. Hence he enjoyed
the double salary of thirty _tawara_ of rice, largely supplemented by
gifts coming to him as teacher in _hanaiké_ (the art of flower
arrangement) and of the _cha-no-yu_ (tea ceremony). He had a more than
good house, for one of his class, facing on the wide Samoncho[u] road,
and with a garden on the famous Teramachi or long street lined with
temples and which runs eastward from that thoroughfare. The garden of
Tamiya almost faced the entrance to the Gwansho[u]ji, which is one of
the few relics of the time still extant. It was large enough to contain
some fifteen or twenty fruit trees, mainly the _kaki_ or persimmon, for
Matazaémon was of practical mind. Several cherry trees, however,
periodically displayed their bloom against the rich dark green foliage
of the fruit trees; and in one corner, to set forth the mystic qualities
of a small Inari shrine relic of a former owner, were five or six
extremely ancient, gnarled, and propped up plum trees, sufficient in
number to cast their delicate perfume through garden and house in the
second month (March).
Such was the home of Matazaémon; later that of O'Iwa San. It was
pretentious enough to make display with a large household. But the
master of Tamiya was as close-fisted and hard and bitter as an unripe
_biwa_ (medlar). His wealth was the large and unprofitable stone which
lay within; the acid pulp, a shallow layer, all he had to give to
society in his narrow minded adherence to official routine; the smooth,
easily peeled skin the outward sign of his pretentions to social status
and easily aroused acidity of temper. With most of his neighbours, and
all his relatives, he had a standing quarrel. Secure in his lord's
favour as an earnest officer, so little did he care for the dislike of
the ward residents that he was ever at drawn swords with the head of his
ward-association, Ito[u] Kwaiba. As for the relatives, they were only
too ready to come to closer intimacy; and Matazaémon knew it.
His household consisted of his wife O'Naka, his daughter O'Mino, and the
man servant Densuké. The garden Matazaémon would allow no one to attend
to but himself. The two women did all the work of the household which
ordinarily would fall to woman-kind, with something more. Densuké
performed the heavier tasks, accompanied his master on his outings, and
represented his contribution to the service of the ward barrier, the
O[u]kido[u], on the great Ko[u]shu[u]-Kaido[u] and just beyond the
O[u]bangumi. The barrier cut off Yotsuya from the Naito[u]-Shinjuku
district, and, as an entrance into Edo, was of considerable importance.
When the time of service came Densuké appeared in full uniform and with
his pike. A handsome young fellow of nineteen years, the women,
especially O'Mino, saw to it that his appearance should be a credit to
the House. His progress up the wide Samoncho[u], up to his disappearance
into the great highway, was watched by O'Mino--and by the neighbours,
who had much sharper eyes and tongues than Matazaémon and his wife. They
marvelled.
With ground for marvel. In the eyes of her parents O'Mino was the most
beautiful creature ever created. Occasionally Matazaémon would venture
on criticism. "Naka, something is to be said to Mino. Too much powder is
used on the face. Unless the colour of the skin be very dark, the use of
too much powder is not good. Mino is to be warned against excess." Thus
spoke the official in his most official tone and manner. Wife and
daughter heard and disobeyed; the wife because she was ruled by her
daughter, and the daughter because she would emulate the fair skin of
Densuké and be fairer in his eyes. O'Mino had suffered both from fate
and fortune. She had been born ugly; with broad, flat face like unto the
moon at full, or a dish. Her back was a little humped, her arms
disproportionately long, losing in plumpness what they gained in
extension. She seemed to have no breasts at all, the chest forming a
concavity in correspondence to the convexity of the back, with a
smoothness much like the inner surface of a bowl. This perhaps was no
disadvantage--under the conditions. So much for fate. But fortune had
been no kinder. "Blooming" into girlhood, she had been attacked by
smallpox. Matazaémon was busy, and knew nothing of sick nursing. O'Naka
was equally ignorant, though she was well intentioned. Of course the
then serving wench knew no more than her mistress. O'Mino was allowed to
claw her countenance and body, as the itching of the sores drove her
nearly frantic. In fact, O'Naka in her charity aided her. The result was
that she was most hideously pock-marked. Furthermore, the disease cost
her an eye, leaving a cavity, a gaping and unsightly wound, comparable
to the dumplings called _kuzumanju_, white puffy masses of rice dough
with a depression in the centre marked by a dab of the dark-brown bean
paste. The neighbours used to say that O'Mino was _nin san baké
shichi_--that is, three parts human and seven parts apparition. The more
critical reduced her humanity to the factor one. The children had no
name for her but "Oni" (fiend). They had reason for this. They would not
play with her, and treated her most cruelly. O'Mino, who was of no mild
temperament, soon learned to retaliate by use of an unusually robust
frame, to which was united by nature and circumstances her father's
acidity of character. When the odds were not too great all the tears
were not on O'Mino's side; but she suffered greatly, and learned with
years that the Tamiya garden was her safest playground.
O'Mino grew into a woman. Affection had to find some outlet. Not on the
practical and very prosaic mother; not on the absorbed and crabbed
father; but on Densuké, on the _samurai's_ attendant or _chu[u]gen_, it
fell. All manner of little services were rendered to him; even such as
would appropriately fall within his own performance. At first O'Mino
sought out little missions for him to perform, out of the line of his
usual duties, and well rewarded in coin. This was at his first
appearance in the house. Then she grew bolder. Densuké found his
clothing undergoing mysterious repairs and replacement. His washing,
even down to the loin cloths, was undertaken by the Ojo[u]san. Densuké
did not dare to question or thwart her. Any trifling fault O'Mino took
on herself, as due to her meddling. She became bolder and bolder, and
sought his assistance in her own duties, until finally they were as man
and maid employed in the same house. Matazaémon noted little increases
in the house expenses. O'Mino took these as due to her own extravagance.
The father grunted a little at these unusual expenditures. "What goes
out at one end must be cut off at the other end. Densuké, oil is very
expensive. At night a light is not needed. Be sure, therefore, on going
to bed to extinguish the light." Densuké at once obeyed his master's
order; and that very night, for the first time, O'Mino boldly sought his
couch. Confused, frightened, overpowered by a passionate woman, Densuké
sinned against his lord, with his master's daughter as accomplice.
Henceforth Densuké had what O'Mino was willing to give him. On
Matazaémon's going forth to his duties, O'Mino, and O'Naka under her
orders, did all his household work. The only return required was
submission to the exigencies of the Ojo[u]san. This was no slight
obligation. Densuké at times thought of escape, to his home at To[u]gané
village in Kazusa, to his uncle Kyu[u]bei in the Kanda quarter of Edo.
O'Mino seemed to divine his thoughts. She would overload him with
favors; or openly express her purpose of following wherever he went in
life. Kanda? Kyu[u]bei was a well-known hanger-on at the Tamiya.
Matazaémon entered him up in his expense book at so much a year.
To[u]gané? He could not get there except through Kyu[u]bei. Matazaémon
had farms there, and the _nanushi_ or village bailiff was his servant.
Besides, he would be a runaway. Matazaémon surely would come down on
Kyu[u]bei as the security. So the months passed, and matters were
allowed to drift. Perhaps it was some gossip of the quarter which
reached the deaf ears of Matazaémon. As he was about to go forth one day
he followed the figure of O'Mino sharply with his little eyes all
screwed up. "Naka, there seems change in the figure of Mino. Surely the
gossip of the neighbours as to Densuké is not true? Mino is said to
harbour a child by him. In such case it would be necessary to kill them
both. Warn Mino in time; a _chu[u]gen_ is not one to become the adopted
son (_muko_) of the Tamiya. He is an excellent lad, and costs but
little. His habits are not riotous. To dismiss him thus causelessly
would not only be unjust, but to no profit. Mino giving heed to the
warning, all will be well." With this the lord of the household stalked
forth to the house entrance. Receiving his clogs from O'Mino, he stalked
forth to his official attendance. The two women, prostrate in salutation
at his exit, raised their heads to watch him stalk.
It was a frightened face that O'Naka turned to her daughter. In
whispering voice--"The honoured father's words have been heard? If not,
it is to be said that gossip of the neighbourhood has come to his ears
as to relations with Densuké. He notices that an _obi_ is not often
worn; and when worn is soon discarded. However, a man's eye is not so
apt in such matters. Even in this Naka cannot speak positively.
Doubtless the report is not true." O'Mino, if ugly, was anything but
obtuse. Her mother must know; and yet not know. "My honoured father does
not consider the difference of age and status in Densuké. Densuké is but
a boy. This Mino has passed her twenty-third year. Moreover, surely she
deserves a better husband than a _chu[u]gen_. Least of all would she
give her father cause for regret or painful thoughts. Can a woman be
pregnant otherwise than by a man?" O'Mino, respectfully prostrate, with
this raised her head. The two women looked each other in the face.
Finally O'Naka said--"With joy is the answer heard. But Matazaémon San
is of hasty temper. In his suspicions even he is to be avoided. However,
the business of the house is to be performed. This will take the time
until late in the day. Tradesmen may come for payments of the month. In
the closet ten _ryo[u]_ in silver will be found. Here are the keys to
the chests. It would be well to take an inventory of the effects. The
winter is at hand. It is time to make warmer provision for it. Be sure
to observe circumspection." With these words, and a sad look at her
erring daughter, O'Naka donned street garb, threw a _haori_ (cloak) over
her shoulders, climbed down into her clogs, and their patter soon
disappeared down the street.
Her departure was almost coincident with the reappearance of Densuké.
His attendance on the master to the offices of the palace stables
accomplished, for the time being he had returned. Thus did Matazaémon
effect an outward state and an household economy. None too willing was
the presence of Densuké. He was faithful in his way to O'Mino, and much
afraid of her. Even in the most private intercourse to him she was the
Ojo[u]san, the daughter of the House; but he had no other recourse than
the Tamiya. Once assured of him, O'Mino had cut off all the previous
flow of coin, and with it the means of his rare indiscretions at the
Shinjuku pleasure quarter. Besides, their interviews took place in the
darkness of night. In the daytime O'Naka usually was present, who,
lacking other company, sought that of her daughter, and moreover was
unwilling to be too complacent in the intrigue she saw going on. As soon
as the sound of Densuké's steps was heard, O'Mino called him. There was
a sharpness in her tone, a note of alarmed decision, that frightened and
chilled him. Humbly he sought her presence. A glance showed the absence
of O'Naka, yet as usual he prostrated himself in salutation. In that
position he did not see her face. She said impatiently--"For salutation
there is no time nor occasion. It is no longer the Ojo[u]san who speaks;
it is the wife. My father knows all concerning this Mino and Densuké. On
his return he is sure to take the occasion of the presence of both to
kill us. It is his right and our duty to submit to his punishment. But
to do so consigns the infant in the womb from darkness to darkness. This
is too dreadful to contemplate. Unfilial though it be, we must run away.
Make up your mind to do so." Densuké looked up. She was bent in
meditation over this flight. The corners of the mouth widened out, the
eyelid drooping more conspicuously than ever and forming a heavy fold
over the empty socket, the bald brow, the scanty hair at the sides in
disordered whisps and strands, all these made her a hideous mask. He
could not endure the sight. Timidly he said--"Terrible news indeed! How
has it happened? Surely, honoured lady, you have been very rash; nay,
somewhat clumsy withal. Cannot women take their pleasure with whom they
please without such dire results? Ah! Such luxury, such pleasant
surroundings! All must be abandoned. This Densuké will seek his native
village in Kazusa. And the Ojo[u]san whither will she go; what will she
do?"
Was the question asked in innocence, or in deepest guile? O'Mino could
not have answered, well as she thought she knew Densuké. He felt a hand
on his shoulder. He sprang up in fright, hardly knowing whether it was a
demon, or O'Mino turned demon, who confronted him. Her mouth half open,
her large, white, shining, even teeth all displayed, her single eye
darting malignant gleams, and the empty socket and its fold quivering
and shaking, she was a frightful object. "To speak of pleasure without
the consequences, such talk is that of a fool. Densuké was taken for the
relationship of the two worlds. Now you would abandon me. Very well--do
so. But this Mino does not perish by her father's sword. The well is at
hand. Within three days I shall reappear and hunt you out. Torn to
pieces the wretched man shall die a miserable death. Better would it be
now to die with Mino. A last salutation...." Two vigorous arms seized
his neck. Densuké gave a cry of anguish as the sharp teeth marked the
ear. Letting him go, she sprang to the _ro[u]ka_ (verandah). Frightened
as he was, Densuké was too quick for her. He grasped her robe. "Nay! The
Ojo[u]san must not act so desperately. Densuké spoke as one clumsy, and
at a loss what to do ... yes ... we must run away ... there is the
uncle, Kawai, in Kanda. To him Densuké will go, and there learn the will
of Tamiya Dono." O'Mino's tragic attitude lapsed. At once she was the
practical woman of the house. She gave thanks for her mother's
foresight. "The escape is not as of those unprovided. Here are ten
_ryo[u]_ in silver. A bundle is to be made of the clothing and other
effects. This is to be carried by Densuké. And the uncle: Mino
presenting herself for the first time as wife, a present is to be
brought. What should it be?" She talked away, already busy with piling
clothes, quilts (_futon_), toilet articles onto a large _furoshiki_ or
square piece of cloth. Then she arrayed her person with greatest care,
and in the soberest and richest fashion as the newly-wed wife. With time
Densuké managed to get his breath amid this vortex of unexpected
confusion into which he had been launched. "The uncle's teeth are bad.
Soft _takuan_[3] is just the thing. For long he has eaten little else.
Four or five stalks are sufficient." He went to the kitchen to secure
this valued gift. Then he collected his own possessions. With the huge
bundle of the _furoshiki_ on his shoulders; with straw raincoat, sun
hat, clogs for wet and dry weather, piled on the top, and the stalks of
the _takuan_ dangling down; "it was just as if they were running away
from a fire." As Densuké departed O'Mino closely observed him. He was
too subdued, too scared to give her anxiety. Later she left the house to
join him at the Hanzo[u]-bashi, far enough removed from Yotsuya. It was
then Tenwa, 2nd year, 11th month (December, 1682).