Just then, as if the clouds had overturned a pot of ink, rain began to fall so hard that it might have crushed dwarf bamboo. The old man calmed the panicky group and led them down to the village where they cowered together under the eaves of a shabby house, feeling more dead than alive. The old man said to Toyoo, “Looking closely at your face, I see that you are tormented by that demon. If I do not help you, you will surely lose your life. Be very careful from now on.” Pressing his forehead to the ground, Toyoo related the affair from the beginning. “Please help me keep my life,” he pleaded fearfully and respectfully. The old man said, “It was just as I expected. That demon is a giant snake and very old. Having a lascivious nature, it is said to bear unicorns when it couples with a bull and dragon steeds when it couples with a stallion. It appears that out of lust, inspired by your beauty, it has attached itself to you and led you astray. If you do not take special care with one so tenacious as this, you will surely lose your life.” When the old man had finished, they were more terrified than ever and began to pay reverence to him as if he were a god in human form. The old man smiled. “I am not a god. I am an old man named Tagima no Kibito who serves at Yamato Shrine. I shall see you on your way. Let us go.” He started out, and they followed him until they reached home.
The next day, Toyoo went to the village of Yamato, thanked the old man, and gave him three bolts of Mino silk and twenty pounds of Tsukushi cotton. “Please perform a purification rite to protect me from the monster,” he asked respectfully. The old man accepted the gifts and divided them among the priests under him, keeping not a single measure for himself. Then he turned to Toyoo: “The beast has attached itself to you out of lust for your beauty. You, for your part, have been bewitched by the shape it took and have lost your manly spirit. If henceforth you summon your courage and calm your restless heart, you will not need to borrow an old man’s powers to repel these demons. You must quiet your heart.” Feeling as though he had awakened from a dream, Toyoo thanked the old man profusely and returned. To Kanetada he said, “It is because of the unrighteousness of my heart that I have been deceived by the beast these years and months. There is no reason for me to presume on your family, neglecting my duty to my parents and elder brother. I am deeply grateful for your kindness, and I shall come again.” So saying, he returned to the province of Kii.
When they heard of these dreadful events, Toyoo’s parents, Tarō, and Tarō’s wife felt even greater pity for him in his blamelessness and also feared the demon’s tenacity. “It is because he is single,” they said, and discussed finding a wife for him. In the village of Shiba lived a man known as the steward of Shiba. He had sent his daughter into service at the sovereign’s palace, but his request that she be relieved had been granted and, thinking that Toyoo would make a fine son-in-law, he approached the Oya family through a go-between. The talks went well, and in no time the two were engaged. An escort was sent to the capital for her, and so the palace lady, whose name was Tomiko, happily came back home. Having grown accustomed to her years in service at the palace, she surpassed other women in the beauty of her manners and appearance. When Toyoo was received in Shiba, he saw that Tomiko was a great beauty. Satisfied in every respect, he could barely remember the giant snake that had been in love with him. Nothing unusual occurred the first night, and so I shall not write about it. The second night, Toyoo was feeling pleasantly tipsy: “Considering your years of living in the palace, I suppose you have grown to dislike us rustics. I wonder which captains and councillors you slept with there. It is too late now, but I am quite provoked by you,” he said playfully. Tomiko looked up quickly: “And I am all the more provoked by you, who have forgotten your old vows and bestowed your favors on this undistinguished person.”57 The voice was unmistakably Manago’s, although her form had changed. Appalled, Toyoo felt his hair stand on end and was speechless with horror. The woman smiled: “Do not be startled, my husband. Even though you have quickly forgotten our vows of the sea and of the mountains,58 a bond from a former life ensured that I would meet you again. But if you believe what others say and try to avoid me, I shall hate you and take revenge. However tall the mountains of Kii may be, I shall pour your blood from the peaks into the valleys. Do not throw your precious life away.” He trembled with fear and felt faint, thinking he was about to be taken. Someone emerged from behind a folding screen, saying, “Master, why do you fret so? This is such an auspicious match.” It was Maroya. Aghast, Toyoo shut his eyes and fell face down. Manago and Maroya spoke to him by turns, now soothing, now threatening, but he remained unconscious until dawn.
Then Toyoo slipped out of the bedroom, went to the steward, and described to him these frightening events. “How can I escape? Please help me find an answer,” he said, keeping his voice low in case someone was listening behind him. The steward and his wife blanched at the news and were grief stricken. “What shall we do? There is a monk from Kurama Temple in the capital who goes on a pilgrimage to Kumano every year. Yesterday he took up lodgings at a temple atop the hill across the way. He is a wonderfully efficacious dharma master, revered by everyone in the village for his skill in exorcising plagues, evil spirits, and locusts. Let us call on him for help.” They sent for him quickly and, when he finally came, explained the situation. With his nose in the air, the monk said, “It should not be difficult to capture these fiends. You need not worry.” He spoke as if nothing could be easier, and everyone felt relieved. First he asked for some orpiment, which he mixed with water and poured into a small flask. Then he turned toward the bedroom. When everyone ran to hide, the monk said with a sneer, “All of you stay there, young and old. I shall capture this giant snake now and show it to you.” He advanced toward the bedroom. The moment he opened the door, a giant snake thrust out its head and confronted him. And what a head this was! Filling the door frame, gleaming whiter than a pile of snow, its eyes like mirrors, its horns like leafless trees, its gaping mouth three feet across with a crimson tongue protruding, it seemed about to swallow him in a single furious gulp. He screamed and threw down the flask. Since his legs would not support him, he rolled about, then crawled and stumbled away, barely making his escape. To the others he said, “Terrible! It is a calamitous deity; how can a monk like me exorcise it? Were it not for these hands and feet, I would have lost my life.” Even as he spoke, he lost consciousness. They held him up, but his face and skin looked as though they had been dyed black and red, and he was so hot that touching him was like holding one’s hand to a fire. He appeared to have been struck by poisonous vapors, for after he came to himself he could move only his eyes, and although he seemed to want to speak he could not produce a sound. They poured water over him, but finally he died. Seeing this, they felt as though their spirits had fled their bodies, and they could only weep in terror.
Toyoo becomes slightly intoxicated and discovers that the serpent’s jealous spirit has entered Tomiko’s body. (From SNKBZ 78, Hanabusa sōshi, Nishiyama monogatari, Ugetsu monogatari, Harusame monogatari, by permission of Shōgakukan)
Composing himself, Toyoo said, “Since it pursues me so tenaciously and cannot be exorcised by even such an efficacious monk, it will track me down and catch me as long as I am here between the heavens and the earth. It is false hearted of me to let others suffer for the sake of my own life. I shall not ask for help any longer. Please set your minds at ease.” With this he started toward the bedroom. The steward and his wife cried, “Have you lost your senses?” but he paid no attention and kept going. When he opened the door gently, all inside was calm and quiet. The two were seated facing each other. Tomiko turned to Toyoo: “What enmity has led you to enlist another to capture me? If you continue to treat me like an enemy, I shall not only take your life but also torment the people of this village. Be glad that I am faithful to you; forget your fickle thoughts.” As she spoke she put on coquettish airs, moving him to disgust. Toyoo replied, “It is as the proverb says: Although a man means no harm to the tiger, the tiger will hurt the man. Your inhuman feelin
gs have led you to pursue me and even to torment me time and time again, and what is more, you answer my playful words by speaking of a horrible revenge. You terrify me. Nevertheless, your love for me is in the end no different from the love that humans feel. It is cruel for me to stay here and cause these people to grieve. If only you will spare Tomiko’s life, you may take me anywhere you wish.” She nodded joyfully in agreement.
Toyoo went again to the steward and said, “Since I have been possessed by this wretched demon, it would be wrong for me to stay on here and torment everyone. If I may have your permission to depart right now, I am sure your daughter’s life will be spared.” The steward refused, saying, “I know one end of the bow from another, and the Oyas’ view of such an unavailing notion would put me to shame. Let us think some more. There is a priest named Hōkai at the Dōjōji in Komatsubara, a venerable prayer master.59 He is very old now and I have heard that he does not leave his room, but surely he will not reject an appeal from me.” He galloped off on horseback. Since the way was long, he reached the temple at midnight. The old priest crept out of his bedroom and listened to the story. “Indeed, you must be perplexed. Having grown so old and foolish I doubt that I will be of any use, but I cannot ignore a calamity in your family. You go ahead; I shall follow soon.” He took out a stole scented with the smoke of poppy seeds from previous exorcism rituals and gave it to the steward. “Trick the monster into coming close, throw this over its head, and press down with all your might. If you falter, it will probably escape. Pray well and do your best,” the priest instructed him carefully. Rejoicing, the steward galloped back.
He quietly summoned Toyoo, exhorted him to carry out the priest’s instructions carefully, and handed him the stole. Toyoo hid it inside his robes and returned to the bedroom. “The steward has just given me permission to go. Let us be on our way.” She was delighted. Pulling out the stole, he quickly threw it over her and pressed down with all his strength. “Oh! You’re hurting me! How can you be so heartless? Take your hands off me!” she cried, but he pressed down ever harder. Priest Hōkai’s palanquin arrived right away. Helped inside by the steward’s people, he mumbled incantations as he pushed Toyoo away and lifted the stole. Tomiko was lying prone, unconscious, and on top of her a white serpent, more than three feet long, lay coiled, perfectly motionless. The old priest picked it up and placed it in an iron bowl that one of his disciples held up to him. As he renewed his incantations, a little snake, about one foot long, came slithering out from behind the folding screen. He picked it up, placed it in the bowl, covered the bowl tightly with the stole, and entered his palanquin with it. The people of the household, tears streaming down their faces, held their hands together and paid reverence to him. Returning to the temple, he had a deep hole dug in front of the main hall, had the bowl buried there with all its contents, and forbade them ever to appear in this world again. It is said that a serpent mound stands there to this day. The steward’s daughter eventually fell ill and died. Toyoo’s life was spared. So the story has been handed down.
[Hanabusa soshi, Nishiyama monogatari, Ugetsu monogatari, Harusame monogatari NKBZ 48: 345–359, 360–375, 411–441, translated by Anthony Chambers]
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1. For an English translation of “Fan Juqing’s Eternal Friendship,” see John Lyman Bishop, The Colloquial Short Story in China: A Study of the San Yen Collections (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1956).
2. A Japanese adaptation (Yūjo miyagino) of the Chinese source also appears in Asai Ryōi’s seventeenth-century Hand Puppets (Otogi bōko, 1666).
3. For an English translation of “Bai niangzi,” the Chinese source for “A Serpent’s Lust,” see Diana Yu, trans., “Eternal Prisoner Under the Thunder Peak Pagoda” in Traditional Chinese Stories: Themes and Variations, ed. Y. W. Ma and Joseph S. M. Lau (New York: Columbia University Press, 1978), pp. 355–378.
4. Kako (on the Inland Sea in Hyogo Prefecture) is about sixty-five miles west of Kyoto, on the San’yo Highway.
5. Confucius, Analects (12:5): “Sima Niu appeared worried, saying, ‘All men have brothers. I alone have none.’ Zi Xia said, ‘I have heard it said: life and death are a matter of Destiny; wealth and honor depend on Heaven. The gentleman is reverent and does nothing amiss, is respectful towards others and observant of the rites, and all within the Four Seas are his brothers. What need is there for the gentleman to worry about not having any brothers?’” (The Analects, trans. D. C. Lau [Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1979], p. 113).
6. Matsue, Izumo, in Shimane Prefecture, is on the Japan Sea coast about 125 miles west-northwest of Kakogawa. “Akana” survives as a place- and family name in the region, but the chronicles make no mention of an Akana Sōemon. The impressive ruins of Toda (“Tomita” is Akinari’s unorthodox reading) Castle can still be seen in Shimane Prefecture.
7. En’ya Kamonnosuke, Sasaki Ujitsuna, and Amako Tsunehisa all lived in the fifteenth century. The attack on Toda Castle began on the last day of the Twelfth Month of 1485. ōmi today is in Shiga Prefecture.
8. This sentiment derives from one of the most famous passages in the Mencius (2.A.6.): “Mencius said, ‘No man is devoid of a heart sensitive to the suffering of others. . . . Suppose a man were, all of a sudden, to see a young child on the verge of falling into a well. He would certainly be moved to compassion, not because he wanted to get in the good graces of the parents, nor because he wished to win the praise of his fellow villagers or friends, nor yet because he disliked the cry of the child. From this it can be seen that whoever is devoid of the heart of compassion is not human, whoever is devoid of the heart of shame is not human, whoever is devoid of the heart of courtesy and modesty is not human, and whoever is devoid of the heart of right and wrong is not human’” (Mencius, trans. D. C. Lau [Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1970], pp. 82–83).
9. Alludes to a poem composed in 1171 by Priest Gen’yu: “The blossoms at Onoe will have scattered in the spring breeze—waves lap at the row of cherries here on Takasago shore” (Fuboku wakashō, vol. 25, no. 94).
10. This hyperbolic expression of filial devotion derives from a line attributed to Confucius in the Li Ji (Book of Rites): “To sip bean gruel and drink water, and to do so joyfully—this is what I call filial devotion.”
11. “Poor wine” is an expression of humility.
12. “Grass hut” signifies a humble dwelling and is not to be taken literally.
13. Alludes to a poem by Mansei: “To what shall I compare the world? Like a ship that rows out at dawn and vanishes, leaving no wake” (Man‘yōshū, no. 351).
14. Alludes to a poem by Sagami: “When I saw the bush clover’s lower leaves change color, I knew before all else the fickle heart of man in autumn” (Shinkokinshū, no. 1352).
15. In other words, he has not been a good Confucian, in either his public or his private life, except insofar as he loves learning.
16. Akinari based this account on chapter 68, “Biography of Lord Shang,” of the Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji) by Sima Qian (145?–190? B.C.E.). Gongshu Zuo was prime minister of the fourth-century B.C.E. kingdom of Wei. Shang Yang, or Lord Shang (d. 338 B.C.E.), one of the fathers of the Legalist school of Chinese thought, left Wei and eventually reorganized the state of Qin, paving the way for the unification of the Chinese empire about a century later by the first Qin emperor (259–210 B.C.E.).
17. The title of “The Reed-Choked House” alludes to chapter 137 of Yoshida Kenkō’s Tsurezuregusa: “Does the love between men and women refer only to the moments when they are in each other’s arms? The man who grieves over a love affair broken off before it was fulfilled, who bewails empty vows, who spends long autumn nights alone, who lets his thoughts wander to distant skies, who yearns for the past in a dilapidated house [asaji ga yado]—such a man truly knows what love means” (Donald Keene, trans., Essays in Idleness [New York: Columbia University Press, 1967], pp. 117–118).
18. Mama is now part of the city of Ichikawa, just east o
f Tokyo, in Chiba Prefecture.
19. Sasabe was a village northwest of Kyoto, later incorporated into the city of Fukuchiyama. Ashikaga, in Ibaraki Prefecture north of Tokyo, was noted for its dyed silk.
20. Alludes to an anonymous poem: “Though I know not how I will fare in the future, my heart is with you” (Man‘yōshū, no. 2985).
21. Alludes to a poem by Sosei: “Where shall I loathe this world? Whether in fields or in mountains my heart will surely wander” (Kokinshū, no. 947).
22. Alludes to a poem by Shirome, composed when parting from Minamoto no Sane at Yamazaki, as he set out for the hot springs of Tsukushi: “If only life obeyed the wishes of our hearts what pain would we feel in our partings?” (Kokinshū, no. 387).
23. Riding on a floating log signifies rootlessness and anxiety, as seen in “The Wind in the Pines” chapter in The Tale of Genji: “How many autumns have come and gone as I was dwelling here—why now should I return, riding on a floating log?”
24. There is a pun on kaeru, which means “to return” and “to turn over.” Arrowroot, being one of the “seven autumn grasses,” signifies autumn.
25. Tori ga naku (rooster’s crow) is a pillow word for Azuma, the East Country, an old name for the region now called Kantō, or greater Tokyo. The image is further enriched by the truism that roosters crow at dawn and by the fact that Azuma is often written with characters signifying “my wife.”
26. Cocks decorated with mulberry-cloth ribbons were occasionally sent to the barrier stations around Kyoto, including the Osaka Barrier, as part of a purification ritual. The Osaka Barrier, not to be confused with the city of Osaka, was in the mountains east of Kyoto. Since this “Osaka” means “meeting hill,” poets frequently used the name in a double sense.
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