by Ueda Akinari
Although Toyoo was now repelled by her affectionate tone, he replied, ‘I have heard tell of a proverb that says, “Even if a man does not intend to injure a tiger, the beast may still attack the man.” Your heart is not human. You've trapped me and brought me trouble again and again. It's frightful that our passing affair should lead you to be so vindictive. I understand that you love me the way a real person would, but why should we stay here and cause other people grief? You must at least spare Tomiko's life.489 Then you may take me anywhere.’ Full of joy at hearing such words, Manago nodded in assent.
Arising and withdrawing from the room, Toyoo said to his father-in-law, ‘The dreadful creatures will continue to follow me, and it would be heartless of me to remain here and bring you additional suffering. If you will let me go, I think that you will no longer find your daughter's life to be in danger.’
Shiba, however, was adamant in his refusal, saying, ‘My ancestors were warriors, I'll have you know, and I'd be ashamed of what your father's family would think, should I act so spinelessly. I have a better idea. In Komatsubara,490 at the Dōjōji temple, there lives a revered and venerated priest named Abbot Hōkai. I've heard that old age491 prevents him from going abroad, but should I ask him, he won't let me down,’ and the father-in-law hurried off at once on horseback.
Owing to the long way, it was already the middle of the night before Shiba reached the temple. The old abbot crawled out of the monastery's sleeping quarters, and after listening to the story, he said, ‘Yes, it does sound dreadful. I am now rather forgetful - I hardly remember how to work my cures, but I could never ignore a misfortune in your house! You go back now, and I'll come later.’ He brought out a monk's robe, which had been saturated in mustard-seed incense,492 and gave it to Shiba, saying, ‘Gently lure one of the beasts to you. Then take this cloak and throw it swiftly over her head and hold the garment down with all your might. If you show the slightest weakness, they are quite likely to escape. Keep your wits about you,’ he concluded, ‘and do your task well.’
Shiba was delighted as he mounted his horse and galloped home. Secretly, he called Toyoo and gave him the monk's robe and said, ‘Carefully do as Abbot Hōkai instructed.’ Hiding the garment inside his clothing, Toyoo went to the sleeping chamber.
‘Father has given us permission to leave. Come, let us depart at once,’ he said, and taking advantage of Manago's pleasure over the idea, he drew out the monk's robe, cast it over her and held it down with all his strength.
‘Stop! You're hurting me,’ Manago shouted. ‘How can you be so heartless. Let me go!’ But Toyoo pressed down even harder, exerting his full power, and soon afterward Abbot Hōkai arrived by palanquin. The servants helped him to alight and showed him to the chamber, where he intoned prayers in a solemn chant. At last, he told Toyoo to step back.
Abbot Hōkai removed the robe, and there lay Tomiko, unconscious, with a white serpent more than three feet in length493 coiled motionlessly on her breast. The old abbot picked up the snake and put it in an iron urn, which his disciple held. He recited additional prayers, and from behind the screen there crawled a small serpent about a foot long, which he also placed in the urn. Thereupon, he took the incensed robe, fastened it tightly around the urn, and departed in his palanquin as everyone clasped hands and wept profusely, paying their respects to the holy man.
After returning to the temple, Abbot Hōkai ordered a deep pit to be dug in front of the main hall, and he commanded that the urn be buried for all time494 to prevent the spirits’ further appearance on earth. It is said that the serpents’ mound remains to this day.
According to tradition, Shiba's daughter, Tomiko, never recovered and eventually died, but Toyoo lived on in good health.
VOLUME FIVE
VIII THE BLUE HOOD
(Aozukin)495
I
Long ago there lived a holy man of great virtue whose name was Kaian Zenji.496 While still young he studied the principles of Zen Buddhism,497 and he always loved to travel with the clouds and the water. One summer after fulfilling his devotions498 at the Ryūtaiji temple499 in the province of Mino, Kaian set out on a journey, deciding to spend autumn in the far north. He passed through the province of Shimotsuke along the way, and one evening he found himself in the hamlet of Tomita.500 He approached a large and obviously affluent house and intended to seek lodging for the night, when some men returning from the fields saw him in the gathering darkness.
‘Look! The mountain demon has come. Rise up everybody!’ they cried in alarm.
The house was immediately filled with tumult and shouting. The women and children screamed and wailed, falling over one another as they sought to hide. The master of the house took up a heavy staff501 and came running out, whereupon he saw the old mendicant, Kaian, who was almost in his fiftieth year, wearing on his head a blue-dyed hood. He was clothed in tattered black robes, and he carried a pack on his back.
‘Oh, patron of Buddha,’502 said Kaian, greeting the master with his Zen rod, ‘why have you armed yourself thus? I am a wandering priest, and I was expecting someone to appear so that I might beg for a night's lodging, but it's quite a surprise for me to find myself such an object of suspicion. A skinny teacher of the law is hardly apt to turn to banditry. You have no need to fear.’
The master threw aside his staff, clapped his hands, and laughed, ‘I threatened so holy a guest only because those peasants foolishly mistook you for someone else. I shall be happy to put you up for the night to make up for what I did.’ He apologised, and welcomed Kaian into the house, graciously offering him food and showering him with hospitality.
‘Earlier, when the peasants saw you and grew frightened, saying that you were a devil,’ the master of the house explained, ‘they did so with good reason. Although it involves a horrifying story, I might as well tell it to you.
‘On the mountain above this village503 there stands a temple that used to be the family chapel of the Oyama504 house, and for generations priests of great merit dwelt in it. The most recent abbot was the adopted son of an important person, and he had a wide reputation for being highly learned and virtuous. The people of this province took him incense and candles and showed their faith and trust; he was even a frequent visitor at my house, and his behaviour was always proper — that is until last spring, when he was invited to be the presiding priest at a baptism505 in Koshi.506 After staying there for more than a hundred days, he brought back with him as his companion day and night a young lad in his twelfth or thirteenth year. Because the youth was so good-looking, the abbot fell deeply in love with him, and as time went on he began to neglect his regular duties.
‘Then in about the Fourth Month of this year the boy came down with a minor illness. Within several days, however, his condition grew serious, and the distressed abbot summoned an eminent court physician from the provincial capital. It was useless - the boy finally died.507 The jewel of the abbot's heart had been snatched away, and he felt like a man whose headdress has been shorn of its flowers by the wind. He wept until tears failed him, and he wailed until his voice gave out. So great was his grief that instead of having the body cremated or interred he pressed himself to it day after day, cheek against cheek, hand intertwined with hand.
‘In the end he went mad. He played with the boy just as he had done while the youth was alive. Then, refusing to allow the body to rot and decay, he sucked the flesh and licked the bones until he utterly devoured it. “The abbot has turned into a devil,” the people in the temple said, and they all fled. From that time on the abbot began to terrorise the people by coming down night after night to dig up graves in search of fresh cadavers, which he eats. I've heard the old stories about demons, but just think of the problem that we are actually facing. As matters stand, every house is tightly boarded up at sundown, and word has already spread throughout the province. People are unwilling to venture this way. Now you can see why508 we mistook you for him. What can we do to stop him ?’
ix The Blue Hood: Men r
eturning from the fields flee from the sight of the demon monk
‘Such strange things that happen in this world’ exclaimed Kaian, upon hearing this story. ‘Some creatures though born as human beings never learn the greatness of the teachings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and dwell to the end of their days in malice and ignorance. Their salvation is prevented through personal greed and spite, and they assume forms from a previous existence. They then try to spend their fury by becoming demons or serpents or by placing curses on people. Since time immemorial there have been so many such instances that they are beyond count. There is no doubt that a person who is still living can indeed change into a demon. A lady in waiting to the King of Ch'u509 turned into a snake. Wang Han's mother became a ghoul and Squire Wu's wife, a moth.
‘Also, there was once a monk who stopped for the night in a lowly peasant's hut. It was raining and the wind howled while he lay awake without even a lamp to comfort him in his loneliness. As the night deepened he thought that he heard the bleating of a sheep, and soon afterwards something kept sniffing at him as if to test whether he was asleep. Disquieted, he took his Zen rod,510 which he had placed by his pillow, and struck hard, whereupon the creature screamed and fell on the spot. Because of the fuss the old mistress of the house lit a lamp and came to see what had happened, and they found a young woman lying there unconscious. The old woman, weeping, begged him to spare the girl. What could he do? He left and went on his way, but later, when he again chanced to pass through the same village, many people were gathered in the fields to watch something. “What's going on ?” asked the monk, advancing closer. “They've taken a woman who has turned into a witch,” replied a villager, and they're about to bury her alive.”
‘So goes the tale. But all of these cases are about women. Probably because of the malice in their nature females readily turn into vicious demons. I've never heard of any example involving a man. To be sure, there was Ma Shu-mou,511 minister to Yang Ti of Sui, who liked the flesh of children and secretly kidnapped youngsters in order to have them steamed and served as food. But his behaviour, however barbaric it was, differed from what you have described. In any case, if your monk has turned into a ghoul, it must be owing to his past karma. After all, his constant piety,512 his devotion, and his service to the Buddhas were the epitome of reverence, so he would certainly have been an ideal priest had he not taken in the youth. Quite likely, once he descended into the sinful path513 of lust and covetousness, he was changed into a demon, and he fell victim to the flames of the fires in the hell of delusion. This probably came to pass because of his self-righteous and arrogant nature. There is a saying, “A slothful mind creates a monster, a rigorous one enjoys the fruit of the Buddha.”514 This monk is an example. If I could transform his spirit and bring the man back to his original self,’ Kaian concluded with a fitting resolution, ‘it might be an appropriate way to repay you for tonight's hospitality.’
‘If you were to do that,’ said the master of the house, bowing his head low on the floor and weeping tears of joy, ‘it would mean the salvation of the people of this province.’ No bells or trumpets could be heard in the dwelling in the mountain village, and as the moon, which had passed its twentieth night, rose and shone through the crannies in the old door, Kaian's host realised how late it had grown. ‘It is time to say goodnight,’ he said, withdrawing to his room.515
II
At the mountain cloister there remained no sign of habitation. The towering gate was smothered with brambles and thorns.516 The sutra hall stood empty and covered with moss. Spiders had spread their webs across the Buddhist statuary, and the altar, where burnt offerings had once been made was overlaid with swallow droppings. The main chamber and the living quarters exuded an eerie sense of desolation. As the sun sank, around the hour of the monkey,517 Kaian Zenji entered the temple and knocked with his staff.
‘Please lend a night's lodging to a monk on a pilgrimage,’ he shouted repeatedly. But there came no reply. Then from the sleeping chamber a shrivelled monk emerged and advanced feebly.
‘Where are you on your way to, that you have come here ?’ croaked the monk in a hoarse murmur. ‘There is a reason why this temple has fallen into decay. It is now deserted, and I have no food518 whatsoever to give you to eat. Neither can I furnish you with a night's lodging. Return quickly to the village.’
‘I've come from the province of Mino,’ replied Kaian, ‘and I am travelling to Michinoku.519 As I passed through the village below, the charm of the mountains and the cascading water caught my fancy, and before I knew it here I was. The sun is already sinking and to go back now520 would take a long time. I beg of you, let me stay for the night.’
‘In desolate places like this evil things sometimes happen,’ said the monk. ‘I can't force you to remain. Nor can I compel you to leave. You may do as you please,’ and he spoke no more.
Kaian likewise asked no further questions, and he seated himself beside the monk. Presently, the sun set. Then the darkest part of the night came. Without a lamp it was impossible to distinguish even nearby objects, and the roar of the stream in the valley sounded close at hand. The local monk retired to his sleeping room, making no further sound.
As night deepened, the moon arose and shone with a pure, gem-like brightness that penetrated everywhere. At what Kaian took to be about half past the hour of the rat,521 the monk appeared from his room and frantically began to shout for his visitor. When he received no reply, he screamed in desperation,
‘Baldpate! Where are you hiding? You were right here before.’
He repeatedly ran past the spot where Kaian was seated, but he was apparently unable to see him. The monk then dashed off, as if toward the main hall, but he stopped in the garden.522 He circled there frantically until he collapsed, as if in exhaustion from a dance, unable to rise.
When daybreak came and the morning sun rose, the monk awoke as if from a drunken stupor. Seeing Kaian in the very place he left him, the monk was overcome with astonishment. He leaned against a pillar and gave a deep sigh, unable to speak.
‘What is grieving you ?’ said Kaian, as he approached him. ‘If you are hungry, use my flesh to fill your stomach.’
‘Do you mean to tell me that you have been here all night ?’ the monk finally asked.
‘I stayed here, and I did not sleep,’ replied Kaian.
‘Disgraceful though it is to say,’ said the monk, ‘I devour human flesh. But I have never touched a Buddha's body, and you are in truth a Buddha. With the dim eyes of a fiendish beast, how natural it was that I could not see you or recognise the coming of a living Buddha. I am struck with awe.’ He lowered his head and stood there in silence.
‘According to what I have heard from the villagers,’ said Kaian, ‘one encounter with lust was enough to poison your heart and make you fall into the ways of demons and beasts. Your condition is disgraceful523 and lamentable and points to an evil fate of unusual magnitude. Because you have gone down to the village night after night and caused the people harm, no one in the local community feels safe. I learned what was going on, and feeling obliged to do something, I came here to persuade you to try to change back to your former self. Will you pay attention to my instructions or not ?’
‘You are in truth a living Buddha,’ said the monk. ‘Teach me without delay how I can escape my horrible fate.’
‘If you want to listen, then come here,’ said Kaian.
He made the abbot sit on a flat rock in front of the veranda, and he removed the blue-dyed hood that he himself wore, placing it over the monk's head. From The Songs of Experience he gave him the following stanza:
Upon the bay the moonlight glows,
Among the pines the breezes sough.
Through the night pure darkness flows,
And who among us can tell how?524
‘Without leaving this spot you must meditate quietly,’ he said, and when you have the meaning of the verse, you will of your own accord rediscover the true mind of a Buddha.’ And af
ter he had thus gently instructed the monk, Kaian went down the mountain.
From this time on, the villagers, it may be said, were free from serious misfortune. They remained suspicious and afraid, however, because no one knew whether the monk was living or dead,525 and they forbade anyone to climb the mountain.
One year soon elapsed, and during the following winter, at the beginning of the Godless Month,526 Kaian again passed by, this time on his return from the far north. He called at the house where he had previously received a night's lodging and asked for news about the monk.
‘Because of your great virtue,’ the master said, rejoicing to see him again, ‘the devil no longer comes down here, and we all feel as though we have been reborn in paradise. Nevertheless, we are still afraid to go up the mountain, and no one so much as tries it; we really don't know what has happened. But surely, he can't be still alive. While you're staying here tonight, please pray for the salvation of his soul, and all of us will join you.’
‘In the event that the monk has been transfigured and gained salvation for himself,’ said Kaian, ‘I must respect him as a master who has preceded me in finding enlightenment. On the other hand, as long as he lives, he remains one of my disciples. I must find out what has happened.’
So Kaian once again climbed the mountain. Every sign marked527 the way as untravelled, and he could hardly believe that this was the same route he had followed the year before. Within the temple grounds the grass and weeds stood taller than Kaian himself, and the dew drenched him as though autumn rains were falling.528 It was impossible to tell which way the path led,529 and here and there doors had been blown from the buildings and lay broken. Along the veranda that encircled the scullery and the monks’ quarters, water had formed puddles, pieces of floorboard had begun to rot, and moss was growing.
When he looked by the side of the veranda where he had ordered the abbot to sit, Kaian saw the shadow-like wraith of a man, so covered with unkempt beard and tangled hair that one could scarcely tell if he were priest or layman. Motionless amid the clumps of burdock and grass that bent beneath him, the man was murmuring in a thin voice, no louder than the buzzing of a mosquito, almost inaudibly, but Kaian could intermittently recognise the chant: