[Illustration]
Mijika-yo ya!
Baku no yumé kū
Hima mo nashi!
--"Alas! how short this night of ours! The Baku will not even have time
to eat our dreams!"--Old Japanese Love-song.
The name of the creature is Baku, or Shirokinakatsukami; and its
particular function is the eating of Dreams. It is variously
represented and described. An ancient book in my possession states that
the male Baku has the body of a horse, the face of a lion, the trunk
and tusks of an elephant, the forelock of a rhinoceros, the tail of a
cow, and the feet of a tiger. The female Baku is said to differ greatly
in shape from the male; but the difference is not clearly set forth. In
the time of the old Chinese learning, pictures of the Baku used to be
hung up in Japanese houses, such pictures being supposed to exert the
same beneficent power as the creature itself. My ancient book contains
this legend about the custom:--
"In the _Shōsei-Roku_ it is declared that Kōtei, while hunting on the
Eastern coast, once met with a Baku having the body of an animal,
but speaking like a man. Kōtei said: 'Since the world is quiet and
at peace, why should we still see goblins? If a Baku be needed to
extinguish evil sprites, then it were better to have a picture of the
Baku suspended to the wall of one's house. Thereafter, even though some
evil Wonder should appear, it could do no harm.'"
Then there is given a long list of evil Wonders, and the signs of their
presence:--
"When the Hen lays a soft egg, the demon's name is Taifu.
"When snakes appear entwined together, the demon's name is Jinzu.
"When dogs go with their ears turned back, the demon's name is Taiyō.
"When the Fox speaks with the voice of a man, the demon's name is
Gwaishū.
"When blood appears on the clothes of men, the demon's name is Yūki.
[Illustration]
"_When the rice-pot speaks with a human voice, the demon's name is_
Kanjo.
"_When the dream of the night is an evil dream, the demon's name is_
Ringetsu...."
And the old book further observes: "Whenever any such evil marvel
happens, let the name of the Baku be invoked: then the evil sprite will
immediately sink three feet under the ground."
*
But on the subject of evil Wonders I do not feel qualified to
discourse: it belongs to the unexplored and appalling world of Chinese
demonology, and it has really very little to do with the subject of the
Baku in Japan. The Japanese Baku is commonly known only as the Eater
of Dreams; and the most remarkable fact in relation to the cult of the
creature is that the Chinese character representing its name used to
be put in gold upon the lacquered wooden pillows of lords and princes.
By the virtue and power of this character on the pillow, the sleeper
was thought to be protected from evil dreams. It is rather difficult to
find such a pillow to-day: even pictures of the Baku (or "Hakutaku," as
it is sometimes called) have become very rare. But the old invocation
to the Baku still survives in common parlance: Baku kuraë! Baku
kuraë!--"Devour, O Baku! devour my evil dream!"... When you awake from
a nightmare, or from any unlucky dream, you should quickly repeat that
invocation three times;--then the Baku will eat the dream, and will
change the misfortune or the fear into good fortune and gladness.
*
It was on a very sultry night, during the Period of Greatest Heat, that
I last saw the Baku. I had just awakened out of misery; and the hour
was the Hour of the Ox; and the Baku came in through the window to ask,
"Have you anything for me to eat?"