KOTTŌ
BEING JAPANESE CURIOS, WITH
SUNDRY COBWEBS
COLLECTED BY
LAFCADIO HEARN
Lecturer on Literature in the Imperial University of Tōkyō, Japan
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
GENJIRO YETO
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO. LTD.
1903
TO
SIR EDWIN ARNOLD
IN
GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE
OF
KIND WORDS
Contents
Old Stories:
The Legend of Yurei-Daki
In a Cup of Tea
Common Sense
Ikiryō
Shiryō
The Story of O-Kamé
Story of a Fly
Story of a Pheasant
The Story of Chūgorō
A Woman's Diary
Heiké-gani
Fireflies
A Drop of Dew
Gaki
A Matter of Custom
Revery
Pathological
In the Dead of the Night
Kusa-Hibari
The Eater of Dreams
Old Stories
The following nine tales have been selected from the"Shin-Chomon-Shū" "Hyaku Monogatari," "Uji-Jūi-Monogatari-Shō," andother old Japanese books, to illustrate some strange beliefs. They areonly Curios.
The Legend of Yurei-Daki
Near the village of Kurosaka, in the province of Hōki, there isa waterfall called Yurei-Daki, or The Cascade of Ghosts. Why itis so called I do not know. Near the foot of the fall there is asmall Shintō shrine of the god of the locality, whom the peoplename Taki-Daimyōjin; and in front of the shrine is a little woodenmoney-box—saisen-bako—to receive the offerings of believers. Andthere is a story about that money-box.
*
One icy winter's evening, thirty-five years ago, the women and girlsemployed at a certain asa-toriba, or hemp-factory, in Kurosaka,gathered around the big brazier in the spinning-room after their