Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things Part 14

(1) A kind of badger. Certain animals were thought to be able to transform themselves and cause mischief for humans.

[1] O-jochu ("honorable damsel"), a polite form of address used in speaking to a young lady whom one does not know.

(2) An apparition with a smooth, totally featureless face, called a "nopperabo," is a stock part of the j.a.panese pantheon of ghosts and demons.

[2] Soba is a preparation of buckwheat, somewhat resembling vermicelli.

(3) An exclamation of annoyed alarm.

(4) Well!

ROKURO-KUBI

[1] The period of Eikyo lasted from 1429 to 1441.

[2] The upper robe of a Buddhist priest is thus called.

(1) Present-day Yamanas.h.i.+ Prefecture.

(2) A term for itinerant priests.

[3] A sort of little fireplace, contrived in the floor of a room, is thus described. The ro is usually a square shallow cavity, lined with metal and half-filled with ashes, in which charcoal is lighted.

(3) Direct translation of "suzumus.h.i.+," a kind of cricket with a distinctive chirp like a tiny bell, whence the name.

(4) Now a rokuro-kubi is ordinarily conceived as a goblin whose neck stretches out to great lengths, but which nevertheless always remains attached to its body.

(5) A Chinese collection of stories on the supernatural.

[4] A present made to friends or to the household on returning from a journey is thus called. Ordinarily, of course, the miyage consists of something produced in the locality to which the journey has been made: this is the point of Kwairyo's jest.

(6) Present-day Nagano Prefecture.

A DEAD SECRET

(1) On the present-day map, Tamba corresponds roughly to the central area of Kyoto Prefecture and part of Hyogo Prefecture.

[1] The Hour of the Rat (Ne-no-Koku), according to the old j.a.panese method of reckoning time, was the first hour. It corresponded to the time between our midnight and two o'clock in the morning; for the ancient j.a.panese hours were each equal to two modern hours.

[2] Kaimyo, the posthumous Buddhist name, or religious name, given to the dead. Strictly speaking, the meaning of the word is sila-name. (See my paper ent.i.tled, "The Literature of the Dead" in Exotics and Retrospectives.)

YUKI-ONNA

(1) An ancient province whose boundaries took in most of present-day Tokyo, and parts of Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures.

[1] That is to say, with a floor-surface of about six feet square.

[2] This name, signifying "Snow," is not uncommon. On the subject of j.a.panese female names, see my paper in the volume ent.i.tled Shadowings.

(2) Also spelled Edo, the former name of Tokyo.

THE STORY OF AOYAGI

(1) An ancient province corresponding to the northern part of present-day Is.h.i.+kawa Prefecture.

(2) An ancient province corresponding to the eastern part of present-day f.u.kui Prefecture.

[1] The name signifies "Green Willow;"--though rarely met with, it is still in use.

[2] The poem may be read in two ways; several of the phrases having a double meaning. But the art of its construction would need considerable s.p.a.ce to explain, and could scarcely interest the Western reader. The meaning which Tomotada desired to convey might be thus expressed:--"While journeying to visit my mother, I met with a being lovely as a flower; and for the sake of that lovely person, I am pa.s.sing the day here... Fair one, wherefore that dawn-like blush before the hour of dawn?--can it mean that you love me?"

[3] Another reading is possible; but this one gives the signification of the answer intended.

[4] So the j.a.panese story-teller would have us believe,--although the verses seem commonplace in translation. I have tried to give only their general meaning: an effective literal translation would require some scholars.h.i.+p.

JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA

(1) Present-day Ehime Prefecture.

THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKE

(1) Present-day Nara Prefecture.

[1] This name "Tokoyo" is indefinite. According to circ.u.mstances it may signify any unknown country,--or that undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns,--or that Fairyland of far-eastern fable, the Realm of Horai. The term "Kokuo" means the ruler of a country,--therefore a king. The original phrase, Tokoyo no Kokuo, might be rendered here as "the Ruler of Horai," or "the King of Fairyland."

[2] The last phrase, according to old custom, had to be uttered by both attendants at the same time. All these ceremonial observances can still be studied on the j.a.panese stage.

[3] This was the name given to the estrade, or dais, upon which a feudal prince or ruler sat in state. The term literally signifies "great seat."

RIKI-BAKA

(1) Kana: the j.a.panese phonetic alphabet.

(2) "So-and-so": appellation used by Hearn in place of the real name.

(3) A section of Tokyo.

[1] A square piece of cotton-goods, or other woven material, used as a wrapper in which to carry small packages.

(4) Ten yen is nothing now, but was a formidable sum then.