Tales of Old Japan

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Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford Redesdale. Tales of Old Japan

PREFACE

TALES OF OLD JAPAN

THE FORTY-SEVEN RÔNINS

THE LOVES OF GOMPACHI AND KOMURASAKI

KAZUMA'S REVENGE

A STORY OF THE OTOKODATÉ OF YEDO; BEING THE SUPPLEMENT OF

THE STORY OF GOMPACHI AND KOMURASAKI

NOTE ON ASAKUSA

NOTE ON THE GAME OF FOOTBALL

THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF FUNAKOSHI JIUYÉMON

THE ETA MAIDEN AND THE HATAMOTO

NOTE

FAIRY TALES

FAIRY TALES

THE TONGUE-CUT SPARROW

THE ACCOMPLISHED AND LUCKY TEA-KETTLE

THE CRACKLING MOUNTAIN

THE STORY OF THE OLD MAN WHO MADE WITHERED TREES TO BLOSSOM

THE BATTLE OF THE APE AND THE CRAB

THE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE PEACHLING

THE FOXES' WEDDING

THE HISTORY OF SAKATA KINTOKI

THE ELVES AND THE ENVIOUS NEIGHBOUR

THE GHOST OF SAKURA

THE GHOST OF SAKURA.60

NOTE

HOW TAJIMA SHUMÉ WAS TORMENTED BY A DEVIL OF HIS OWN CREATION

CONCERNING CERTAIN SUPERSTITIONS

CONCERNING CERTAIN SUPERSTITIONS

THE VAMPIRE CAT OF NABÉSHIMA

THE STORY OF THE FAITHFUL CAT

HOW A MAN WAS BEWITCHED AND HAD HIS HEAD SHAVED BY THE FOXES

THE GRATEFUL FOXES

THE BADGER'S MONEY

THE PRINCE AND THE BADGER

JAPANESE SERMONS

JAPANESE SERMONS

SERMON I

SERMON II

SERMON III

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

AN ACCOUNT OF THE HARA-KIRI

APPENDIX B

THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY

NOTE

ON THE BIRTH AND BEARING OF CHILDREN

FUNERAL RITES

NOTE

Отрывок из книги

The books which have been written of late years about Japan have either been compiled from official records, or have contained the sketchy impressions of passing travellers. Of the inner life of the Japanese the world at large knows but little: their religion, their superstitions, their ways of thought, the hidden springs by which they move—all these are as yet mysteries. Nor is this to be wondered at. The first Western men who came in contact with Japan—I am speaking not of the old Dutch and Portuguese traders and priests, but of the diplomatists and merchants of eleven years ago—met with a cold reception. Above all things, the native Government threw obstacles in the way of any inquiry into their language, literature, and history. The fact was that the Tycoon's Government—with whom alone, so long as the Mikado remained in seclusion in his sacred capital at Kiôto, any relations were maintained—knew that the Imperial purple with which they sought to invest their chief must quickly fade before the strong sunlight which would be brought upon it so soon as there should be European linguists capable of examining their books and records. No opportunity was lost of throwing dust in the eyes of the new-comers, whom, even in the most trifling details, it was the official policy to lead astray. Now, however, there is no cause for concealment; the Roi Fainéant has shaken off his sloth, and his Maire du Palais, together, and an intelligible Government, which need not fear scrutiny from abroad, is the result: the records of the country being but so many proofs of the Mikado's title to power, there is no reason for keeping up any show of mystery. The path of inquiry is open to all; and although there is yet much to be learnt, some knowledge has been attained, in which it may interest those who stay at home to share.

The recent revolution in Japan has wrought changes social as well as political; and it may be that when, in addition to the advance which has already been made, railways and telegraphs shall have connected the principal points of the Land of Sunrise, the old Japanese, such as he was and had been for centuries when we found him eleven short years ago, will have become extinct. It has appeared to me that no better means could be chosen of preserving a record of a curious and fast disappearing civilization than the translation of some of the most interesting national legends and histories, together with other specimens of literature bearing upon the same subject. Thus the Japanese may tell their own tale, their translator only adding here and there a few words of heading or tag to a chapter, where an explanation or amplification may seem necessary. I fear that the long and hard names will often make my tales tedious reading, but I believe that those who will bear with the difficulty will learn more of the character of the Japanese people than by skimming over descriptions of travel and adventure, however brilliant. The lord and his retainer, the warrior and the priest, the humble artisan and the despised Eta or pariah, each in his turn will become a leading character in my budget of stories; and it is out of the mouths of these personages that I hope to show forth a tolerably complete picture of Japanese society.

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When the Prince heard how his messenger had been treated, he was indignant, and summoning his councillors resolved, although he was suffering from sickness, to collect his retainers and attack Abé Shirogorô; and the other chief Daimios, when the matter became publicly known, took up the cause, and determined that the Hatamotos must be chastised for their insolence. On their side, the Hatamotos put forth all their efforts to resist the Daimios. So Yedo became disturbed, and the riotous state of the city caused great anxiety to the Government, who took counsel together how they might restore peace. As the Hatamotos were directly under the orders of the Shogun, it was no difficult matter to put them down: the hard question to solve was how to put a restraint upon the great Daimios. However, one of the Gorôjin,17 named Matsudaira Idzu no Kami, a man of great intelligence, hit upon a plan by which he might secure this end.

There was at this time in the service of the Shogun a physician, named Nakarai Tsusen, who was in the habit of frequenting the palace of my Lord Kunaishôyu, and who for some time past had been treating him for the disease from which he was suffering. Idzu no Kami sent secretly for this physician, and, summoning him to his private room, engaged him in conversation, in the midst of which he suddenly dropped his voice and said to him in a whisper—

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