After a month had passed, one of the priests came to the tower. He opened the door and was astonished to see...
"Oh, the bell's gone!"
He found nothing but a straw mat left on the floor. Since the tower had been closed for a long time, the air was damp and the room was full of cobwebs. He ran back to report the incident to the abbot.
"Nonsense! Who could carry away the bell? It is too heavy to be moved," cried the chief priest. Thereupon all the priests came to the belfry and found the bell gone. They were amazed at the extraordinary strength of the thief.
"Who could carry it away?"
"Say, I suspect the mourners. They must have taken it."
"I see. But, what were they doing in the forest? Let us go to see the place."
The priests immediately went to the forest. Many trees had been cut down and apparently burned to melt down the bell, for the priests found pieces of melted metal scattered on the ground. They all admired the thieves' trick.
"The old priest pretended to be dead all day. I don't think any other thief could do it so well."
"No one else could pretend to weep so bitterly as the young men. They made us shed tears of sympathy."
"They were very clever indeed, in making noises overnight to divert our attention from their destruction of the bell."
"Anyway, they were good strategists."
The Koya-dera thus lost its treasure bell for good and all.
20. The monkey's gratitude
LONG, LONG AGO, in a fishing hamlet in Kyushu, there lived an honest fisherman with his wife and their baby.
One day, when the tide was out, his wife with the baby on her back went out with her neighbors to gather shells. As the weather was very fine, many persons were gathering shells on the beach.
The fisherman's wife put her baby on a huge rock, asked a neighbor's boy to look after it, and set to work. As she was gathering shells, she found a monkey playing on the beach. The animal apparently had come from a nearby mountain.
"Look! There is a monkey over there. I wonder what he is doing. Let us go and see," she said. They went together to see the monkey, but, strangely, the animal would not run away. At their approaching steps, the monkey looked about restlessly but still remained there. It appeared that he was unable to set himself free from something.
"What is the matter with him? It is very strange that he does not run away."
As they came to the monkey, they found his hand caught in a big closed shell.
"Ha, ha! It seems that as he tried to pull the flesh out of the open shell, it closed on his hand."
The monkey was desperately struggling to pull out his hand, while the shell tried to bury itself deeper into the sand. It was a very interesting sight indeed. One of the neighbors suddenly picked up a big stone and tried to kill him with it. She hated the monkey because he frequently damaged the farms. The fisherman's wife, however, took pity on the animal and asked the neighbor to spare his life.
Meanwhile, the tide began to rise and violent waves came dashing ashore. The monkey had great trouble battling with the shell, rolling about on the beach and splashing the water about him. The other shell-gatherers had already stopped their work and gone home.
The kind-hearted wife forced open the shell and freed the monkey's hand. She also pitied the shell. Instead of picking it up, she softly buried it in the wet sand.
"I warn you, monkey, not to destroy the farms any more," said the wife. The monkey appeared to have understood what she had said. next instant, however, he suddenly jumped onto the huge rock and, picking up her baby, ran away with it toward the mountain.
The woman was astonished at the animal's act and angrily cried that the animal had returned evil for good. She did not lose a second in chasing it in order to take back her baby. Her neighbors also ran after the monkey, saying that it did her no good to spare his life.
The monkey, with the baby in his arms, ran so fast that the mother could not catch up with him. She called out for the immediate return of her baby. But the monkey still kept running and finally climbed a tall tree. The mother and her neighbors soon arrived at the foot of the tree. The monkey was sitting on a branch, so the people could do nothing but look up at him. One of the neighbors went back to tell the incident to the baby's father.
In the meantime, the monkey, with the baby in his right arm, began to sway the branch with his left hand. The baby was surprised at his violent act and began crying. At this dangerous sight, the mother felt as if her heart were breaking.
Just then, a big eagle came swooping down from the top of the mountain beyond. The people feared that the bird would snatch the baby from the monkey and eat it. The baby's mother closed her eyes and earnestly prayed to Buddha for his help.
As the eagle swooped down upon the monkey, the monkey suddenly released his left hand which had pulled the branch hard, as if to draw a bow to the full. The branch sprang back with strong force, striking the head of the eagle. The big bird was instantly killed and dropped headfirst to the ground. Then the monkey pulled the branch again. As another eagle came swooping down the wise monkey again counterattacked it, knocking it down instantly. The people anxiously watched this peculiar battle. In a short while, five eagles were successively struck down to the ground.
It seems that as the monkey struggled with the shell on the beach, he had noticed the eagles watching for an opportunity to snatch away the baby on the rock. So, after he was released from the shell, he protected the baby from the eagles' attacks in return for the woman's kindness.
The danger gone, the monkey quickly came down from the tree and gently placed the baby on the ground, then went up again. The people could now understand the monkey's motivation. The baby's father soon came and was given a complete account of what had happened. After this the villagers happily went home together.
It is said that the fisherman later obtained much money by selling the beautiful wings of the dead eagles to a rich man in town.
21. The lost dinner
IN THE NORTHWESTERN part of Kyoto, there rise in a line three hills named Narabi-ga-Oka, or Triple Hills. Their tops are covered with pine trees. At some distance from the foot of the hills stands Ninna-ji Temple, one of the famous temples of the Shingon sect of Buddhism.
About these hills an interesting tale is still told. Many a hundred years ago a page was serving at the temple. He was so cute that some priests planned one day to take him out to the hills on a picnic and play a trick on him.
Before starting for the picnic, they fixed some dinner, which they put in a picnic box and secretly buried at a certain spot on one of the hills.
"Say, dear boy. You are serving us very well every day. Now and then you need some recreation. It's a very fine day so we are planning to go to Narabi-ga-Oka for some fun. How about coming with us?" they said to the little one.
The boy accepted their offer at once. They all went out together after obtaining permission from the chief priest.
They walked around on the hills, enjoying the nice view and the fresh air of the fine autumn weather, and came to the spot where the priests had previously buried the picnic dinner box.
"Oh, I'm tired. Let's rest here," said one of them, and the others, as planned, agreed to his idea. Another one said, "I'm hungry. If any one of you have the magic power to dig up a dinner by simply chanting a prayer, I'd appreciate it."
"All right. I'll try. You just watch," said the third one instantly, and began to recite something loudly, rubbing the beads of his rosary, as if to chant a prayer to Buddha.
Several minutes later, he finished his sham prayer and said with an air of importance, "During my prayer, I received a divine revelation. I was told to dig here to find a dinner for us."
At this, the other priests started digging up the spot to take out their previously buried dinner box. The innocent page watched what they did with curiosity and doubt.
Contrary to their expectation, however, they did not find the box there. They wondered if t
hey might have dug in the wrong spot, so they, with many pains, dug here and there all over the place. But they could not find anything that resembled the box at all.
Quite exhausted with hard labor, they sat down on the ground, struck dumb with the unexpected turn of events. With the coming of darkness, they made their way back to the temple, quite downcast by the failure of their trick and the loss of their dinner. It is said that someone who had seen them put the dinner box into the ground mischievously took it away during their absence.
22. Reunion with death
LONG, LONG AGO, there lived in the capital a master less samurai and his wife. In those days things were so bad that he could not easily get a livelihood—that is, he could not find a master to serve. Therefore, the couple lived in dire poverty.
One day he was told that his closest friend had fortunately been appointed as a local administrator and was busy making preparations for departure to his new post. So he set out at once to the friend's residence to tender greetings on his promotion. The friend, though quite busy giving instructions to his retainers for the departure, was glad to see this samurai and had a little talk with him.
Toward the end of their friendly conversations, the friend said, "By the way, my dearest friend, what are you going to do from now on? I know you have long been seeking a position here in the capital. But as you know, times are hard now. So I am afraid nobody will give you a position easily. As your closest friend, I sincerely recommend that you come with me. I am sure I can help you somehow at my new post. I have been hoping to help you but until now I was not in a position to do so. Now I have fortunately been promoted to the post of local administrator. So I think I can help you. You can't go on like this— without getting any position. So, think it over."
"Thank you very much for your kind offer, my dear friend. To tell you the truth, we are badly off now, though my wife does not complain about our hard living. I should be much obliged if you would give me any position under your command." Expressing his deepest gratitude to the friend, this samurai accepted the kind offer on the spot.
Poor as he was, he had been enjoying a happy life with his beloved wife, who was young and beautiful and had a tender heart. They did not let poverty pull out the wedge of love between them. Therefore he found it very hard to depart for the local post alone because of financial difficulty.
Just before his departure, however, in secret he immorally married another woman, who had vast property and had offered to help him financially. He left the capital with her—leaving his devoted wife behind, alone.
In the remote province, he was set free from the feelings of poverty for many years and indulged in luxury with the second wife, forgetting to send even a single letter to the wife left behind in the capital. In this way, many a year passed.
However, he sometimes in a quiet hour thought about his present mode of life and felt guilty for enjoying a luxurious life with another woman while his poor wife was left alone at home without getting any allowance from him. As time went by, his heart ached more and more with longing for her. So anxious was he to see her again that he could not settle to his work even for a single moment, just hoping for the early arrival of the day to return to the capital. And that day came at long last!
On his way back home, feeling deep guilt for having lived a double life with another woman, he made up his mind to humbly apologize to his wife by confessing everything, and though poor, to enjoy life with her again. Upon his arrival in the capital, he parted from the second wife and went straight back to his old home.
The house was precisely at the place where it had stood before. The gate was wide open. One weather-beaten door hung from a rusty hinge; the other had been carried away somewhere. The roof was covered with weeds and moss, and ridge tiles had fallen to pieces on the ground.
With a glimpse of the desolate building, a sense of gloom pervaded his spirit. Once through the gate, he found the garden utterly neglected and all the doors of the house closed. There was no sign of human habitation.
It was the night of the twentieth day of the ninth month. The moon was casting her soft, silvery light upon everything, weeds were swaying in the autumn breeze, and crickets were chirping here and there.
Pushing off one of the sliding doors, he stepped into the dark house and examined the rooms one after another, and lo! there in the living room sat his beloved wife looking toward him. "Welcome home, my dear husband! I have been expecting your return every day. I missed you very much," she said faintly, showing a sweet smile on her beautiful face.
Received in such an unexpectedly warm manner, he felt relieved and told her how anxious he had been to see her, saying, "Now that we are together again in this house I never wish to part from you. I don't want anything except you. You are everything to me."
As night was far advanced, they went to bed together. "By the way, my darling, did you live here all by yourself during my absence?" asked the samurai.
"Yes, I lived alone, as you say. I did not have any source of income, so I had to cut down the cost of living as much as possible. To employ a servant was far beyond my means."
Poor thing! How sadly she had lived in such a lonely house! The more he felt pity for her, the wider he was kept awake. It was around dawn when he finally fell asleep. When he awoke, it was broad daylight and the sun was streaming into the dark room through the chinks in the doors.
"Now, let us get up, darling," said the samurai, and turned toward the wife. Behold! There beside him lay—a dead body, now a mere bag of bones! Springing to his feet with a shriek, he rushed out into the garden, breaking down a sliding door. When once again he looked into the room, there still lay the dead body! He stood in dismay for a moment. But soon he came to his senses and went to a neighbor's house and asked, "Excuse me, but may I ask something about the house over there? Would you tell me who lives in that house?"
The neighbor gazed at his face for a moment and then said, "That house! Don't you know anything about that house? All right, I will tell you a story. Many many years ago, a poor samurai and his beautiful wife lived a happy life in that house. One day the samurai left to take a position in a local administrative office, leaving his beloved wife behind. Many months and years passed and yet not a single letter came from him. However, the faithful wife led a life of misery, vainly waiting day after day for a call from her husband.
"Some time ago, a rumor spread in the neighborhood that the samurai was indulging in luxury, living with another woman far away at his post, and not giving a thought to his poor wife at home. Oh, what a wretch! Hearing this, the wife grieved so deeply over her ill fate that she passed away this summer after a long illness. Poor woman! As she had neither relatives nor friends to hold a funeral service for her, her dead body has been lying untouched in that gloomy house."
People of those days told one another that the dead wife must have returned from beyond the grave to attain a long-cherished desire to see her dear husband again.
—THE END —
Legends of Japan Page 6
