"Morning-Dew"
Tsuyu ("Morning Dew") was the only daughter of Iijima. When her father
married again she found she could not live happily with her stepmother,
and a separate house was built for her, where she lived with her
servant-maid Yoné.
One day Tsuyu received a visit from the family physician, Yamamoto
Shijō accompanied by a handsome young _samurai_ named Hagiwara
Shinzaburō. These young people fell in love with each other, and at
parting Tsuyu whispered to Shinzaburō: "_Remember! if you do not come
to see me again I shall certainly die_!"
Shinzaburō had every intention of seeing the fair Tsuyu as frequently
as possible. Etiquette, however, would not allow him to visit her
alone, so that he was compelled to rely on the old doctor's promise
to take him to the villa where his loved one lived. The old doctor,
however, having seen more than the young people had supposed, purposely
refrained from keeping his promise.
Tsuyu, believing that the handsome young _samurai_ had proved
unfaithful, slowly pined away and died. Her faithful servant Yoné also
died soon afterwards, being unable to live without her mistress, and
they were buried side by side in the cemetery of Shin-Banzui-In.
Shortly after this sad event had taken place the old doctor called
upon Shinzaburō and gave him full particulars of the death of Tsuyu and
her maid.
[Illustration: Shinzaburō recognised Tsuyu and her maid Yoné--228]
Shinzaburō felt the blow keenly. Night and day the girl was in his
thoughts. He inscribed her name upon a mortuary tablet, placed
offerings before it, and repeated many prayers.
The Dead Return
When the first day of the Festival of the Dead[2] arrived he set food
on the Shelf of Souls and hung out lanterns to guide the spirits during
their brief earthly sojourn. As the night was warm and the moon at
her full, he sat in his verandah and waited. He felt that all these
preparations would not be in vain, and in his heart he believed that
the soul of Tsuyu would come to him.
Suddenly the stillness was broken by the sound of _kara-kon_,
_kara-kon_, the soft patter of women's _geta_. There was something
strange and haunting about the sound. Shinzaburō rose and peeped over
the hedge. He saw two women. One was carrying a long-shaped lantern
with silk peonies stuck in at the upper end; the other wore a lovely
robe covered with designs of autumnal blossom. In another moment he
recognised the sweet figure of Tsuyu and her maid Yoné.
When Yoné had explained that the wicked old doctor had told them that
Shinzaburō was dead, and the young _samurai_ had likewise informed his
visitors that he, too, had learnt from the same source that his loved
one and her maid had departed this life, the two women entered the
house, and remained there that night, returning home a little before
sunrise. Night after night they came in this mysterious manner, and
always Yoné carried the shining peony-lantern, always she and her
mistress departed at the same hour.
A Spy
One night Tomozō, one of Shinzaburō's servants, who lived next door to
his master, chanced to hear the sound of a woman's voice in his lord's
apartment. He peeped through a crack in one of the sliding doors, and
perceived by the night-lantern within the room that his master was
talking with a strange woman under the mosquito-net. Their conversation
was so extraordinary that Tomozō was determined to see the woman's
face. When he succeeded in doing so his hair stood on end and he
trembled violently, for he saw the face of a dead woman, a woman long
dead. There was no flesh on her fingers, for what had once been fingers
were now a bunch of jangling bones. Only the upper part of her body had
substance; below her waist there was but a dim, moving shadow. While
Tomozō gazed with horror upon such a revolting scene a second woman's
figure sprang up from within the room. She made for the chink and for
Tomozō's eye behind it. With a shriek of terror the spying Tomozō fled
to the house of Hakuōdō Yusai.
Yusai's Advice
Now Yusai was a man well versed in all manner of mysteries; but
nevertheless Tomozō's story made considerable impression upon him, and
he listened to every detail with the utmost amazement. When the servant
had finished his account of the affair Yusai informed him that his
master was a doomed man if the woman proved to be a ghost, that love
between the living and the dead ended in the destruction of the living.
However, apart from critically examining this strange event, Yusai
took practical steps to rescue this young _samurai_ from so horrible
a fate. The next morning he discussed the matter with Shinzaburō, and
told him pretty clearly that he had been loving a ghost, and that the
sooner he got rid of that ghost the better it would be for him. He
ended his discourse by advising the youth to go to the district of
Shitaya, in Yanaka-no-Sasaki, the place where these women had said they
lived.
The Mystery is Revealed
Shinzaburō carried out Yusai's advice, but nowhere in the quarter of
Yanaka-no-Sasaki could he find the dwelling-place of Tsuyu. On his
return home he happened to pass through the temple Shin-Banzui-In.
There he saw two tombs placed side by side, one of no distinction, and
the other large and handsome, adorned with a peony-lantern swinging
gently in the breeze. Shinzaburō remembered that this lantern and the
one carried by Yoné were identical, and an acolyte informed him that
the tombs were those of Tsuyu and Yoné. Then it was that he realised
the strange meaning of Yoné's words: "_We went away, and found a very
small house in Yanaka-no-Sasaki. There we are now just barely able to
live by doing a little private work_." Their house, then, was a grave.
The ghost of Yoné carried the peony-lantern, and the ghost of Tsuyu
wound her fleshless arms about the neck of the young _samurai_.
Holy Charms
Shinzaburō, now fully aware of the horror of the situation, hastily
retraced his steps and sought counsel from the wise, far-seeing
Yusai. This learned man confessed his inability to help him further
in the matter, but advised him to go to the high-priest Ryōseki, of
Shin-Banzui-In, and gave him a letter explaining what had taken place.
Ryōseki listened unmoved to Shinzaburō's story, for he had heard so
many bearing on the same theme, the evil power of Karma. He gave the
young man a small gold image of Buddha, which he instructed him to wear
next his skin, telling him that it would protect the living from the
dead. He also gave him a holy _sutra_, called "Treasure-Raining Sutra,"
which he was commended to recite in his house every night; and lastly
he gave him a bundle of sacred texts. Each holy strip he was to paste
over an opening in his house.
By nightfall everything was in order in Shinzaburō's house. All the
apertures were covered with sacred texts, and the air resounded with
the recitation of the "Treasure-Raining Sutra," while the little
gold Buddha swayed upon the _samurai's_ breast. But somehow or other
peace did not come to Shinzaburō that night. Sleep refused to close
his weary eyes, and just as a temple bell ceased booming he heard the
old _karan-koron, karan-koron_--the patter of ghostly _geta_! Then
the sound ceased. Fear and joy battled within Shinzaburō's heart. He
stopped reciting the holy _sutra_ and looked forth into the night. Once
more he saw Tsuyu and her maid with the peony-lantern. Never before had
Tsuyu looked so beautiful or so alluring; but a nameless terror held
him back. He heard with bitter anguish the women speaking together.
He heard Yoné tell her mistress that his love had changed because
his doors had been made fast against them, followed by the plaintive
weeping of Tsuyu. At last the women wandered round to the back of the
house. But back and front alike prevented their entry, so potent were
the sacred words of the Lord Buddha.
The Betrayal
As all the efforts of Yoné to enter Shinzaburō's house were of no
avail, she went night after night to Tomozō and begged him to remove
the sacred texts from his master's dwelling. Over and over again, out
of intense fear, Tomozō promised to do so, but with the coming of
daylight he grew brave and decided not to betray one to whom he owed
so much. One night, however, Yoné refused to be trifled with. She
threatened Tomozō with awful hatred if he did not take away one of the
sacred texts, and in addition she pulled such a terrible face that
Tomozō nearly died of fright.
Tomozō's wife Miné happened to awake and hear the voice of a strange
woman speaking to her husband. When the ghost-woman had vanished Miné
gave her lord cunning counsel to the effect that he should consent to
carry out Yoné's request provided that she would reward him with a
hundred _ryō_.
Two nights later, when this wicked servant had received his reward, he
gave Yoné the little gold image of Buddha, took down from his master's
house one of the sacred texts, and buried in a field the _sutra_ which
his master used to recite. This enabled Yoné and her mistress to enter
the house of Shinzaburō once more, and with their entry began again
this horrible love of the dead, presided over by the mysterious power
of Karma.
When Tomozō came the next morning to call his master as usual, he
obtained no response to his knocking. At last he entered the apartment,
and there, under the mosquito-net, lay his master dead, and beside him
were the white bones of a woman. The bones of "Morning Dew" were twined
round the neck of one who had loved her too well, of one who had loved
her with a fierce passion that at the last had been his undoing.
[Footnote 1: This story, though inspired by a Chinese tale, is Japanese
in local colour, and serves to illustrate, in an extremely weird way,
the power of Karma, or human desire, referred to in Chapter X. We have
closely followed Lafcadio Hearn's rendering, to be found in _In Ghostly
Japan_.]
[Footnote 2: See Chapter XVII.]