For the next nine years, until the incident at the hospital, Thkaminenever said a word about her, not even to me. Given his age and posi-tion in society, he could have married well. yer he never did. If any-thing, he became even more strict in matters ofpersonal conduct thanhe had been in his student days. But I have akeady said enough.Although their graves are in different places---rcne in the hills ofAoyama, one downtown in fanaka-the countess and Docror Thka_mine died togerher, one after the other, on rhe same day.

Religious thinkers of the world, I pose this question ro you.Should these two lovers be found guilty and denied entrance inroheaven?

l - t | rzf r Yi t

lzuml Kyika

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I 1 / '

2 t a

t " Az-v,,t Kyaf< ,J"fwse &"tr;ir-Talrs. (Aarle5Inouye.drra#l) U . of Hnddii Pont, rc%

r r rt*] z

Ihe Holy Man nf Mount K0ya(Kaya hijiri, 1900)

I

"I knew it wouldn't do much good to take anorher look. But because

the road had become unimaginably difficult, I lifted the sleeves of my

kimono, made hot to the touch by the sun's rays, and reached in for

the ordinance survey map that I had brought with me."There I was on an isolated byt"y, making my way through the

deep mountains between Hida and Shinsh[. Not a single tree offered

the comfort of its shade; and on both sides were nothing but moun-

tains, rising so close and so steeply that it seemed as though I could

reach out and touch them with my hand. Despite the towering

heights of these mountains there rode still others beyond them, each

raising its crest above the next, blocking both bird and cloud from

sight."Between earth and sky, I stood alone, the crystalline rays of the

blistering midday sun falling white around me as I surveyed the map

from beneath the brim of my sedge hat."

Saying this, the itinerant monk clenched both fists, placed them on

his pillow, bent forward, then pressed his forehead against his hands'

\7e had become traveling companions in Nagoya. And now, as wewere about to retire for the night in Tsuruga, it occurred to me thathe had mainsained this humility with perfect consistency, and that hehad shown none ofrhe airs ofthe self-righteous.

I remembered how we met on the train. I was traveling wesr onthe main line rhat connecrs the cities of the Pacific Coasr, when hegot on ar Kakegawa. He sat at the end of the car with his head bowed,and because he showed no more life than cold ashes, I paid him littleattention. Bur rhen the train reached Nagoya, and everyone else gotoff at once, as if by previous arrangement, leaving only rhe monk ancmyself to share rhe coach.

The train had departed from Tokyo at nine-rhirty the nighr beforeand was scheduled ro arrive in Tsuruga rhat evening. As it was noonwhen we reached Nagoya, I purchased from the srarion vendor a smallbox lunch of sushi, which happened to be whar the monk also boughr.\7hen I eagerly removed the lid, however, I was disappointed to findonly bits ofseaweed scatrered on rop ofrhe vinegar-flavored rice andknew immediarely rhar my lunch was sushi of the cheapesr kind.

"Nothing but carrots and gourd shavings," I blurted our. The

monk, seeing the look on my face, couldn't help bur chuckle.Since we were the only two passengers in the car, we naturally

began a conversation. Alrhough he belonged to a differenr sect, hetold me thar he was on his way ro visit someone ar Eiheiji, the greatZen monastery in Echizen, and planned ro spend the nighr in Tsu-ruga. I was rerurning home ro tVakasa; and because I also had ro sropover in the same rown, we decided to become traveling parrners.

He told me he was affiliated with Mount KOya, headquarters ofthe Shingon sect. My guess was thar he was abour forty-five or -six. Heseemed a genrle, ordinary likeable sort. Modestly dressed, he wore awoollen traveling cloak with ample sleeves, a white flannel scarf, apillbox hat, and knitted gloves. On his feet he had white socks andlow, wooden clogs. Though a man of the cloth, he looked more like apoetry master or perhaps someone of even more woddly interests.

"So where will you spend the night?" His quesrion prompted a

deep sigh from my lips as I contemplated the drearier aspects of stay-ing alone in a srrange place: the maids who doze offwirh their servingtrays still in hand; the hollow flamery of desk clerks; rhe way everyonestares at you whenever you leave your room and walk the halls; and,

U I lzumiKy0ka

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: lii

worst of all, how rhey snuff out the candles as soon as dinner is over

and order you ro bed in the dim shadows of lantern light. I'm the sort

who doesn't fall asleep easily, and I can't begin to describe the loneli-

ness of being abandoned like that in my room' And now that the

nights had gotten longer, ever since leaving Tokyo I had been pre-

occupied with how I was going to make it through that night in Tsu-

,rrgu. I suggested to the monk that, if it was no bother, we might

spend the night together.

He nodded cheerfully and added that whenever he traveled

through the North country he always rested his walking staff at a

place called the Katoriya. Apparenrly the Katoriya had been a trav-

elers' inn until the proprietor's only daughter, well liked by all who

knew her, suddenly died. After thar, the family took down their shin-

gle and, though no longer in business, were always willing to accom-

Lodure old friends. For such people, the elderly couple still provided

familylike hospitality. The monk suggested that if such a situation

were agreeable ro me, we would be welcome there. "But," he started

ro say, then paused for dramatic effect, "the only thing you might get

for dinner is carrots and gourd shavings"' \(ith that, he burst into

laughter. Despite his modest appearance' the monk had quite a sense

of humor.

2

In Gifu, the sky was still clear and blue, but once we entered the

North Country famous for its inclement weather, things began chang-

ing. Maibara and Nagahama were slightly overcast-the sun's rays

pe.,.tr"ted the clouds only weakly and a chill seeped into my bones'

bnt by the time we reached Yanagase it started to rain' As my win-

dow grew steadily darker, the rain mixed with something white'"It 's snowing.""So it is," the monk said, not even bothering to look uP at the sky'

If he found the snow uninreresting, neirher was he concerned with the

ancient battleground at Shizugatake or the scenery at Lake Biwa' As

I pointed them out, he onlY nodded.

\7e neared Tsuruga, and I prepared myself for the annoying' or

should I say frighrening, tenacity of the solicitors who lie in wait at

Ihe llaly lllan d lllount KiYa I Al

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:

the station for potential customers. As I expected, they were there indroves, waiting for us to step off the train. They lined the road thatled away from the srarion, forming an impenerrable wall around thetravelers. As they closed in on us wirh their lanrerns and umbrellas,all emblazoned with rhe names of the inns they represented, theycalled our and demanded we stay rhe night with them. The morebrazen ones even snatched up people's luggage and shouted out,"Thanks!

This way, please!" No doubt, those suffering headacheswould have found their heads pounding because of rhis inrolerablebehavior. Bur, as always, the monk kept his head bowed and calmlyslipped unnoticed through rhe crowd. No one bothered to srop him,and, luckily, I followed righc behind, emitting a sigh of relief once thestation was behind us.

The snow showed no signs of letting up. No longer sleer, its dry,light flakes brushed my face as they fell. Though ir was still early inthe evening, the people ofTsuruga had already bolted their doors forthe night, leaving the streers deserted and quier. r')(/e cut across twoor three wide intersecrions, then walked for anorher eight blocksthrough the accumularing snow unril we sropped beneath rhe eavesof an inn. \7e had arrived at the Karoriya.

The alcove and sirting room had no decoration to speak of. Butthe pillars were impressive, rhe tatami new, and rhe hearrh spacious.The pot hook dangling over the hearrh was decorated wirh a woodencarp so lustrous I wondered if it were made of gold. Set inro theearthen oven were rwo huge pots, each big enough to cook half abushel of rice. It was a solid, old house.

The master of the inn was a short-cropped, hard-to-read sort offellow, who had a habit of keeping his hands tucked inside his cottonjacket even when sitring in front of a brazier. His wife, in conrrasr,was charming, the kind of person who says all rhe right things. Shelaughed cheerfully when my companion told the story about carrotsand gourd shavings and prepared a meal of two kinds of dried fish andmiso soup with bits of seaweed. I could rell by the way she and herhusband acred that they had known the monk for a long time.Because of their friendship, I felt very much at home.

Eventually we were taken to our beds on the second floor. Theceiling was low, but the beams were huge, unmilled logs, two arm-

24 I lzumiKy0ka Ilre lldy ilan nl llluunt K0Ya I 25

spans in diamerer. The roof slanted down at an angle so you had to be

careful not to bump your head on the ceiling where the roof met the

walls along the edges of the room. Still, it was comforting to know

rhat even if an avalanche came tumbling down the mountain behind

us, it would not disturb such a sturdily built structure'

I jumped right into bed, happy to see that our bed warmer had

aheady been prepared for the night. In order to make the most of the

heated coals, our bedding had been laid out at right angles so we

could both take advantage of the warmer. The monk, however, pulled

his futon around beside mine, intending ro sleep without the comfort

of the smoldering fire.\i/hen he finally got inro bed, he didn't even bother to remove his

sash. much less his robe. Still wearing his clothes, he curled himself

into a ball and quickly backed feetfirst into his quilts. As soon as his

arms found rhe sleeves in his upper quilt, he pressed his hands to the

marrress benearh him and lowered himself onto his pillow. unlike

you or me, the holy man slept facedown.

Before long he stopped stirring and seemed to be falling asleep'

As I had rold him many rimes in the train, I find it hard to get to sleep

before the night grows late; and so I asked him, begging like a child,

ro take piry on me and tell me abour some of the interesting things

he had experienced on his many pilgrimages'

He nodded, and added that since middle age he had always slept

facedown bur rhat he was still wide-awake. Like me, he too had dif-

ficulty falling asleep. "So you wanr ro hear a story? Then Iisten to

what I'm about to tell you," he said' "And remember that what you

hear from a monk isn'r always a lecture of a sermon." It was only later

that I learned he was none orher than the renowned and revered Monk

Sh[chd of the Rikumin TemPle.

3

,.The owners of this inn mentioned that someone else might join us

here tonighr," the monk began. "A man from wakasa, salne as you.

He travels around and sells lacquerware. He's young, but I know him

to be a good, serious fellow, quite unlike a young man I once met

It

; L !r !

J;f

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when making my way through the mountains of Hida. This otherperson was a Toyama medicine peddler whom I happened to run intoat a teahouse in the foothills. \fhat a disagreeable, difficult fellow!"

I intended to make it all the way to the pass rhat day, and I had setout from my inn at abour three o'clock in the morning. I covered fif-teen miles or more while it was still cool. But by the time I made irto the teahouse, the morning mist had burned offand it was startingto get hor.

I had pushed myself at a fast pace and my throat was as parched asthe road beneath my feet. I wanted ro ger somerhing to drink rightaway but was told the kettle wasn'r boiling yet.

Ofcourse, there was no reason to expect the teahouse to be readyfor business as so few pass by on such mountain paths. In a place asisolated as thar, smoke from the hearth rarely rises while the morn-ing-glory blossoms are still blooming. As I waited, I noriced an invit-ing brook running in fronr ofrhe srool on which I had taken a sear. Iwas about to scoop up a handful ofwater from a bucket nearby whensomething occurred ro me.

Disease spreads quickly in the summer months, and I had just

seen powdered lime sprinkled over the ground at the village calledTsuji.

"Excuse me," I called to the girl in the teahouse. I felr a bit awk-ward asking, but forced myself to inquire. "Is this water from yourwell?"

"Its from the river," she said.Her answer alarmed me. "Down the mountain I saw signs of an

epidemic," I said. "I was jusr wondering if this brook comes from overby Tsuji."

"No, it doesn't," she replied simply, as though I had nothing toworry about.

I should have been happy to hear her answer, but lis6gn-5srng6nselse was already at the teahouse. The young medicine peddler I just

mentioned had been resting there for quite some rime. He was one ofthose vulgar pill salesmen. You've seen them dressed in an unlined,striped kimono, a cheap sash, and the obligatory gold watch danglingin front. Leggings and breeches, straw sandals, a square medicinechest tied to the back with a pale yellowish-green cotton cloth. Add an

28 I lzuml Kyfika Ihe lloly ltlan of Mount l(OYa t 27

umbrella or an oilskin slicker, fotded up and tied to the pack with a

flat sanada srring, and there you have it, the typical traveling salesman.

They all look the 5ams-gtra1 serious, knowing look on their faces.

But as soon as they get to their lodgings for the night, they change

into loud, large-patterned robes. And with their sashes loosely tied'

they sip cheap wine and try to get their feet onto the maids'soft laps."Hey, Baldy," he called, insulting me from the very start'

"Forgive

me for asking this, but I need to know something' Here you are' You

know you're never going to make it with the ladies, so you shave your

head and become a monk, right? So why worry about dying? That's a

little odd, don'r you think? The truth is, you're no better chan the rest

of us. Just like I thought. Take a look at him, miss. He's still attached

to this floating world." The two looked at each other and burst into

laughter.I was a young man at that time, and my face burned red with

shame. I froze there with the scoop of water still in my hands'"lwhat are you waiting for? Go ahead, drink till you drown' If you

come down with something, I'll give you some of my medicine'

That's why I'm here. Right, miss? It's going to cost you' though' My

Mankintan's three sen a packer. It may be 'the gift of the gods.' But if

you want it, you buy it. I haven't done anything bad enough to make

me want to give it away. But maybe we can fix that' How about it'

girl? Maybe I should have my way with you"' He pamed the young

woman on the back.

I was shocked by the man! lewd behavior and quickly got away

from there. Of course, someone of my age and profession has no busi-

ness going on abour the seduction of teahouse maids, but since it's an

important part of the story. . . .

4

I was so furious I rushed down the road that led through some rice

paddies in the foothills. I had gone only a short distance when the

p^th rose steeply. Looking to the side, I could see it going up the side

of.h. rrro,rrrtain like a rounded, earthen bridge' I had just started the

climb, my eyes fixed upward uPon my goal, when the medicine ped-

dler I had encountered earlier came hurrying along to overtake me'

He didn't have anything to say this time. Even if he had, I doubtI would have responded. Thoroughly accustomed ro looking down onother people, rhe peddler ,rr^d. u po;nt of giving _. " .onr'"_pruousglance as he passed by. He pr.rr.j fo*"rj to the top of a small hill,where he sropped, holding his opened umbrella in one hand. Then hedisappeared down the orher side.

I followed him, climbing the steep slope unril I made it to thetop. Then I proceeded ahead.The peddler had already made it down the other side and wasstanding on the road,.looking rhis way and that. I suspected f,. _igt,be planning some mischief and *u, on guard as I continued in hisfootsteps. Ifhen I reached rhe spot, t.o,rii,..,rr,ii. iJ;il.The road forked ar that poinr. One of rhe two parhs was e*rremely

steep and headed directly up the mounrain. Ir was overgrown wirhgrass on borh sides and, w3und-around a huge cypress tree fouq maybeeven five, spans around, then disappeured b"ehind a number of juctingboulders rhar were piled one on top of the orher. My guess was rharthis wasn'r the road to rake. The wide, genrly slopinj one that hadbrought me this far was, no doubt, rh. --uin road, and if I just stayedon it for anocher five miles or so, it would surely take me into themounrains and evenrually ro the pass.

Bur what was this? The cypress I menrioned arched like a rainbowover the deserted road, exrending into rhe endless sky above rhe ricepaddies. The earth had crumbled autay from its base, .*poring "nimpressive tangle ofcouncless eel-like roots; and from there a srreamof warer gushed out and flowed over the ground, right down themiddle of the road I had decided ro take,

"flooding ,-h. .n,ir. "r."before me.

Ir was a wonder rhe water hadn,r made a lake of the rice paddies.Thundering like rapids, the torrent formed a river thar stretched formore rhan two hundred yards, bordered on the far side by u grorr..-Iwas glad ro see a line of rocks thar crossed the warer like " io-"of srep-ping-stones. Apparently, someone had gone to a Ior of trouble ro purthem rhere.

The water w,rsn't so deep that I would have to strip down andwade. Still, it seemed a bit roo difficult to be rhe main road, as evena horse would have had a hard rime of it.The medicine peddleq too, had hesitated because of rhe siruation.

m t lzumi l(yikaIhc llulyMan ufilountKdya t 29

But then he made his decision and started climbing rhe hill tothe right, where he disappeared behind the cypress tree. \fhen he re-appeared he was five feet or so above me. "Hey, this is the road roMatsumoro," he called down, rhen sauntered another five or six steps.Half-hidden behind one of rhe huge boulders, he called out in a jeer-ing tone. "'Watch

our or the rree spirirs'll get you! They don't give adamn if it's still daylight!" Then he entered rhe shade of rhe bouldersand eventually disappeared into the grass growing farrher up theslope. After a while, the tip of his umbrella reappeared higher up themountain, bug rhen, just as ir reached the same level as the treerops,it disappeared again into the undergrowrh.

That was when I heard someone behind me. I rurned ro see afarmer hopping across the stones laid out across the flowing water,encouraging himself with a relaxed-sounding DoAkoisho. He had ashort reed skirr tied around his waisr and carried a shoulder pole inone hand.

5

Needless to say, from the rime I left the reahouse unril rhat momenr,I hadn't mer anyone but rhe medicine peddler. As the peddler wenthis way, I paused to consult my map-the one I was relling you aboutearlier. It occurred ro me thar even though rhe grass-grown parhseemed like the wrong road, the peddler, who was a professional trav-eler after all, ought to know his way around these mountains.

"Excuse me," I said to the farmer.

"Yes," he replied. "How

may I help you?" Mountain people areespecially polire when talking with monks, as you know.

"Sorry to borher you about such an obvious matrer," I said. "But

this is rhe main road, isn't it?""You're going to Matsumoto?" he asked. "Then yes, rhis is the

right road. 'We've had a lor of rain this year, and the whole place hasturned inro a river. But rhis is ir."

"Is it like this all the way?""Oh, no. Just what you see here. It's easy enough to cross. The

water goes over ro that grove there. On the other side, it's a regularroad. Up to the mounrains, it's wide enough for two carts to pass each

other with no problem. A doctor once had his mansion in rhat grovethere, and this place, believe ir or not, used to be a village. A floodcame through thirteen yearc ago and washed everything away. Manypeople died. Since you'r: L

monk, sir, maybe yo.r.or.ilj pr"1, i", ,r,.dead as you walk through.,,

- - th: good man gave me more information than I had asked for.Now that I had the details, Io,^ .o_f*t.d to know which was theright road' Yet at the same time, his instrucrions meanr that someoneelse had gone the wrong way."Then

may I ask where this other road goes?,, I inquired about theleft fork thar rhe medicine peddler h; .;"."That s the old road people used to take fifty years ago. It,ll geryou to ShinshD all right, and ir cuts offa good sevenreen miles overall.But you can't ger through anymore. y,ri, i*, year, a family on pil_grimage wenr rhar way by mistake. It-was terrible. They _;;;;^beggars. But since every soul is precious, we felt we should try ro findthem' sze got a search p^rry Lgeth.r-,h... locar consrables andtwelve people from che villageland -.rr. in,o the mounrains robring them back our' sir,

I *o-uta.r', r.. roo "-birious and decide rotake rhar shortcur. Even if rhe long.r"roJ is more tiring and makesyou spend a night under the ,.urr, I wouldn,t take the chance. Well,rake care now and have a good trip.,,

I said goodbye ro the farmer and started across the line ofstep_ping-srones thar had been set in the river. Buc then I stopped. $'harwould become of the medicine peddler?I doubred the old road was nearly as bad as the farmer had de_scribed' But if it were rrue' it wourd u. tt e retting the man die before

:nyvery eyes. Anyway, as one who had renounced the wodd, I had nobusiness worrying about whether I could find an inn before nighrfallor not. And so I decided to go and bring the medicine peddler back.Even if I didn't find him and end:d ,e ,j<;; the old road all the way,it wouldn't be as bad as all rhat. This *"s.r't"the season for wild dogsprowling or for forest spirits lurking about. .,So

why nor?,, I thought.$Zhen I turned around, I saw that Je kind farmer had already disap_peared from sight."I'll

do it," I said to myself and stamed up the steep path. Ir wasn,rthat I wanted ro be a hero or rhac I was g.*ing ahead of myself. Judg_

ing from what I've just told you, you might rhink I'm some sort ofenlightened saint. But the truth is that I'm really a coward. I didn'teven dare drink the river warer. So you're probably wondering why Idecided to take the dangerous path.

To rell the truth, I wouldn't have cared thar much about someonewith whom I'd exchanged only a few words of greeting. But becausethe peddler had been such a disagreeable person, I felt I would be pur-posely letting him take the wrong road. In short, my conscience mademe do it.

The Monk Sh[chd, still lying facedown, brought his hands rogetherin prayer. "I just didn'r think letting him die would be worthy of rhenenbutw I chant." he added.

s"So, l isten to this."

I walked past the cypress tree, rhen made my way through rhe boul-ders and ended up on the trail above them. Passing rhrough a standof trees, I entered a parh in the thick grass that seemed ro go onforever.

Before I knew it, I had climbed rhe mountain and was approach-ing another. For a while a meadow opened up, and rhe path slopedgently and became even wider than the main road I had just lefr-easily wide enough to accommodate a daimyo's procession. The tworoads were running parallel to each other. One was slightly to the eastand the other situated a bit ro rhe wesr. with rhe mountain in themiddle.

Even in this broad plain, though, I could see no sign of the med-icine peddler, not even a speck the size ofa poppy seed. Every once ina while, a small insect would fly across the baking sky. I felt evenmore insecure, walking in the open where everything was empty andunfamiliar! Of course, I had heard about travel in rhe Hida Mountainsbefore-how fey inns rhere were along the way, and how if you gotmillet-rice for dinner you were doing well. I was prepared for rhe

30 t Lurnil(yikaI[r llnly ilan ol ilount K0ya

worst, and because my legs were strong, I kept up the pace withoutflagging. As I made my way, the rnountains began closing in until Iwas walled in on both sides and rhe trail before".rre ,or. rr?.Off"From here I knew I'd be crossing the notorious Amd pass, and soI did what I could to prepare myself for the climb. Readjusting mystraw sandals, I gasped for breath in the blistering hear.Years larer I heard about a wind cave in the pass that sends air allrhe way to the Rendai Temple in Mino; brrr at th"t time, of course, Ihad no desire to go see it. I was so intenf on crimbing that I was obriv-ious to rhe scenery and to whatever narural wonders mighr lie alongrhe way. I didn't even know_if it was cloudy or sunny. Concenrratingonly on getting to rhe top, I crawled .rp .n" incline.

Now this is the parr I really want to tell you. you see, rhe trail gormuch worse. Not only did it seem i*porritf. fo, u ;;;;.;#r"climb, but there was somerhing .rr.., more horrible: snakes. Theywere buried in rhe grass, rheir heads on one side ofrhe trair and theirrails on rhe other, writhing like bridges across my parh. The first rimeI encounrered one, my breath ,urhJd fro_ _y lungs and my kneesgave way beneath me. I.crumpled to the ground, my sedge har srillon

Ty head and my walking staff still in riv hand.

I've always been afraid, or maybe I should say rerrified, of snakes.Thar first rime, the crearure did me the favor of slowly slitheringaway. It raised its head, then disappeared inro the grass.I gor to my feer and conrinued ahead another five or six hundredyards, only ro find anocher snake sunning irs belly, irs cail and headalso hidden in the grass on eirher side ofthe path.

, I.slloyted and jumped back, and rhis one, too, slithered away. Burthe third snake I encountered was in no h,r.ry to move. you shouldhave.seen how big around ir,was! I g.r.rJ.har if the thing srarredcrawling, it would take a full five minures before its tul fi;"i,appeared. Having no other recourse, I forced _rr.ii; r;^;;;:,thick body' My stomach turned and I felt as rhough my hair and allmy pores had turned into scales. I closed my eyes and imagined myface turning as pale as che creatures bellv.

I could feel myself breaking our in a cold swe"t. My legs losr theirstrengrh' Barely able to keep my feer under me, I stumbled down thetrail, my heart pounding with fear. And again, anorher snakeappeared.

u f humt t(yika lhc llnly l[an uf ilount Kdya : 33

This one had been cut in half. All that remained was the lengthfrom belly to tail. The wound was tinged with blue, and, as the snaketwitched on the path, a yellow fluid ran from where it had beensevered.

That was when I finally panicked and started running back theother way. But then I came ro my senses and remembered the othersnakes I had just passed. No doubt they were lying in wait for me.And yer I would rather be killed rhan jump over another one. I knewin my heart that if the farmer had said, even in passing, that therewere snakes like this on the old road, I wouldn'r have taken this waythough it might have meanr suffering in hell for abandoning themedicine peddler. Baked by the sun, I felt rears come ro my eyes."Save

me, Merciful Buddha!" Even now rhe thoughr of that experi-ence makes me shudder.

The monk pressed his hand to his florehead.

7

But losing conrrol wasn'r going to help, so I did my best to regain mycomposure. It was not the time to be turning back. I would only runinto the severed body of rhe dead snake, abour three feet long. Thistime I left the parh, deep into the grass, in order ro get around it. Andas I did, I panicked again, fearing thar the orher half would appearand coil imelf around me. My legs grew stiff and I stumbled over astone. Apparently, that's when I rwisred my knee.

From there I had to limp along the trail as best I could. I knewthat if I collapsed on rhe road, I would be killed by the steamy heat.So I made up my mind thar I was going to make ic and pressed on.

The hot stench of rhe grass was menacing. And underfoot I wasconstantly stepping on what felt like large birds' eggs strewn abour.

For the next five miles, the road twisted and turned up rhe moun-tain in a series of switchbacks. Reaching the heart of the mountain, Iturned the corner around a huge boulder and worked my way througha tangle of tree roots. This was when I stopped to look ar the map, forthe trail had become impossibly difficult.

It was the same road, all right-wherher you hear abour it or see

it on a map. There was no mistaking ir was the old road, thoughknowing this was no consolation. The map was reliable, but all itshowed was a sign for "wilderness

area" with a red line drawn over ir.Maybe ir was too much to ask for notations that would indicate

the true difficulties of the trail-the snakes, rhe insects, the birds'eggs, and rhe suffocating odors of the grass. I folded the map, stuffedit into my kimono, took a deep breath, and, with the nenbutsu on mylips, started off again. I had the best of intentions, but before I hadtaken another step, another snake crossed my path.

"No use," I thought, wondering for the first time if rhis mighr not

be the doing of the mounrain spirirs. I threw down my staff, got onmy knees, and placed both hands on rhe baking earth. ,.I'm truly sorryto bother you," I fervently implored the gods. ..Bur please let me pass.I'll go quierly, I promise. I won't disturb your afternoon nap. Look,I've already thrown aw^y my walking stick." I was rruly at wit's end.

lVhen I raised my head, I heard a terrifiiing, rushing sound. Thistime, I thought, it must be a gigantis snaks-ghree, four, five feerlong, maybe more. Before my eyes, the grass moved in a straighr linethat gradually approached the ravine ro my left. Then rhe peak tower-ing above me, indeed rhe entire mounrain, began swaying back andforth. Sfith my hair smnding on end, I froze in my rracks as a coolnesspierced my bones. It was then that I realized ir was not a giant snakeat all but a mountain gale, and the sound I was hearing was rhe wind secho. It was as if a whirlwind had originaced deep in the mounrainsand had suddenly rushed our an opening it had created for itself. Hadthe mountain gods answered my prayer? The snakes were nowhere robe seen and the heat dissipared. Courage returned to my heart, andstrength to my legs. Before long I learned why the wind had suddenlygrown so chilly: just ahead was a deep foresr.

There is a saying abour the Am6 pass-that it rains there even ona cloudless day People also talk abour the remore forests that haven'rbeen touched by an ax since the age ofthe gods. up to this poinr therehadn'r been many trees, but noq/-

Scepping into the cold, damp woods, I thought about how rherewould be crabs rather than snakes crawling around now. As I walkedahead, it became dark. Cryptomeria, pine, Chinese nettle_there wasjust enough light ro allow me to tell rhe trees apaft. sflhere the shafts

of weak sunlight touched the earth, the mountain soil was pirchblack. Depending on how the sun pierced the canopy of treerops,though, the light was also mottled blue and red. Some of the placeswere textured and very beautiful.

Occasionally my toes would get caught in the threadlike rivuletsthat had formed from the water dripping from the leaves. These dropshad traveled from branch to branch, originating high up in the forestcanopy. They were joined by the steadily falling evergreen leaves andthe rustling of some other trees that I couldn't identify. Some leavesfell on my hat, and some landed behind me where I had just walked.They, too, had collected on the branches, and it was my guess thatsome had taken decades to reach the forest floor.

I

I don't have to tell you how despondent I was. But I suppose a darkplace like that is better than daylight for strengthening one's fairhand pondering the eternal truths, even for a coward such as myself. Acleast it wasn't as hoc as before. My legs were beginning to feel muchstronger, and so I walked much more quickly, thinking I was alreadythree-quarters of the way through the woods. But just then some-thing fell, apparently from rhe branches five or six feer above myhead, and landed on my hat.

It felt like a lead sinker. Perhaps it was the fruit ofa tree. I shookmy head once, twice. But it stuck to my hat. I reached up and grabbedit. \Thatever it was, it was cold and slimy.

In my hand it looked like a sliced-open sea slug with no eyes ormouth. It was alive, no question about that. And how repulsive! Itried to fling it away, but it only slid down and dangled from myfingers. \fhen it finally fell off, I noticed bright red drops of blooddripping. Surprised, I brought my hand up to take a closer look anddiscovered another creature, similar to the first, dangling from myelbow. It was about half-an-inch wide and three inches long. It lookedlike an enormous mountain slug.

As I examined the creature in stupefied amazement, it suckedblood from my arm, swelling larger and larger from the tail up. It had

34 I lzuniKyika Ile lloly ilan of illunt Kiya 3S

brown stripes on its dull black skin, like a cucumber with warts. NowI could see it for what it was-a blood-sucking leech!

There was no mistaking it for anything else, though it was sohuge that I hadn't recognized ir at first. No rice paddy, no swamp,however famous for its grotesqueries, had leeches like this.

I gave my elbow a vigorous shake, but the animal was firmlyattached and wouldn't let go. Even though it was the last thing I feltlike doing, I grabbed the leech with my other hand and pulled untilit finally came off with a sucking sound.

I couldn't bear the thought of the leech touching me a momentIonger and immediately flung it ro the ground. These dumb crearureshad taken over the woods by the rhousands, and the dank, sunless foresthad been prepared especially for that purpose. \fhen I rried ro squashthe thing under my foor, the ground was soft and rhe leech merelysank into the muck. It was impossible ro crush.

Already my neck had srarted to irch. There was anorher one! Itried to brush it off, bur my hand only slipped over irs body. Mean-while, another had worked its way into my kimono and was hidingoo my chest. I examined ir wirh horror and discovered still anotheron my shoulder.

I jumped up and down. I shook my entire body. I ran our fromunder the large branch in order ro ger away. As I ran, I franricallygrabbed at the ones that were sucking away at my blood. I was underthe impression thar rhe leeches had fallen from one particular branch,but when I looked back at rhe rree, I saw that the whole rhing wasswarming wirh them. On the righr, on the left, on rhe branch infront-they were everywhere!

I lost control and shouted our in terror. And then what do youthink happened? Even as I stood there watching, a shower of chin,black leeches began raining down on me.

They covered rhe tops of my sandaled feet and piled themselvesone on top of rhe other. They stuck to the sides of my feet and mademy toes disappear benearh their disgusting mass. As I watched thoseblood-sucking crearures squirming and pulsing and heaving, I srartedto feel faint. It was then that the strangesr rhought occurred ro me.

These terrifiring mountain leeches had been gathered there sincethe age ofthe gods, lying in wait for passersby. After decades and cen-

36 t lzumlKyfka lhellolyilanoftlountKiYa I

ruries of drinking unrold quantities of human blood, they would have

their fill and disgorge every ounce! Then the earth will melt. one by

one, the mountains will turn into vast, muddy swamPs of blood' And

ar the same time, all these enormous rrees, large enough to block out

even the midday sun, will break into small pieces that will then turn

into even more leeches. Yes. That's exactly what will happen!

s

The destruction of mankind will not come with the rupture of the

earth's fragile crust and with fire pouring down from the heavens.

Nor will it come when rhe waves of the ocean wash over the land.

Rarher, ir will begin wirh rhe forests of Hida turning into leeches and

end wirh the black crearures swimming in blood and muck. only

then will a new generation of life begin.

It was rrue rhar norhing had seemed so unusual about the forest

when I first entered ir. Bur once I had, conditions were as I've just

described. IfI conrinued on, I would discover that the trees were rot-

ting from the roots up and had rurned into leeches, every one' There

was no hope for me! It was my fate to be killed in the woods!

Suddenly it occurred to me that such are the thoughts of those

who sense the approach of death. If I was going to perish anyway' I

thought, I might:at least try to reach the shore of this vast swamp of

blood and muck, to see with my own eyes a place that ordinary PeoPle

couldn,t imagine in their wildest dreams. The decision made, I be-

came oblivious to the ghastliness of my situation. The leeches stuck

to my body like beads to a rosary; but my hands found them and

plucked them off one after anorher. \vith arms flailing and legs

marching, I made my way like a madman dancing through the forest'

At first my body swelled and the itching was unbearable' But

then I felt as though I'd been reduced to pain-racked skin and bone.

As I pressed on, rhe attack ofthe blood-sucking leeches continued.

My sight grew dim and I felt as though I was about to collapse'

But just as I reached the height of my tribulations, I caught a fa|nt

glimpse of the distant moon' as if I had reached the end of a tunnel'

At last, I emerged from the leech-infested forest'

tl

$Zhen I saw the blue sky above me, I threw myself down on theroad and began smashing the creatures to pieces. I wanted nothingmore than to reduce them to the dust of the earth. I rolled on rheground, not caring ifit were covered with gravel or needles; and afrerscraping off more than ten, I rumbled ahead another thirty feet beforeI stood up with a shudder. My friend, those creatures had had theirway with me. Here and there in the surrounding mountains, theevening cicadas were chirping against the backdrop ofthis foresrthatwas so intent on turning irself into a gre^tswamp of blood and muck.The sun was low in the sky. The bottom of the ravine was already darkwith shadows.

There was a chance I might become food for wild dogs, bur eventhar would be an improvemenr over being sucked to d.".i'by leeches.The road sloped gently downhill. Carrying my bamboo walking srickon my shoulder, I made a hasty escape.

If only I hadn't been suffering such indescribable rormenr_aronce so painful, irchy, and ricklish-I would have danced down rheroad through rhe Hida Mounrains, chanting a surra as my accompa-niment' But I had recovered enough to be able to think "tou, .h.*-ing one of my Seishinran pills and applying rhe paste to my wounds.I pinched myself. yes, I really had returneJ from the d."d. E.,r.n ,o, Iwondered what had become of the medicine peddler from Toyarna.My guess was thar he was in the swamp behind me, long since reiucedto blood, his corpse norhing bur skin and a skeleton,lying in somedark spot in the woods wirh hundreds of the filrhy, disguJri.,g .r."_tures srill sucking on his bones. It would be useless .o ,ry ,o dissolvethem with vinegar. \ilC/ith my mind filled with such thoughts, I con_tinued down the slope, which wenr on for some distance.

$Zhen I finally reached rhe bottom, I heard the sound of runningwater. There, in the middle of nowhere, I came upon a small earrhenbridge.

r$fith the music of the- warer in my ears, I immediately thought ofhow wonderful it would feel to throw my sucked_over Uoay n.inrrtinto the river below and to soak it there. If the bridge coliapsed as Itried to cross over, so be it.

- Giving no thought to the danger, I started across. The bridge was

a bit unsteady, but I made it. On rhe orher side, the trail ,or. sl".plyagain. Yer anorher climb. Is there no end to human suffering?

38 I lzumtKy0ka Ihe lloly ilan ol Mount lfiya t 3S

tI

Tired as I was, I didn't think I could make it over one more hill. Butthen, coming from up ahead, I heard the echoing sound of a neighing

horse.

\Vas it a packhorse driver on his way home? Or a horse passing by?

Not much time had passed since my chance meeting with the farmer

that morning, yet I felt as rhough I had been denied the company ofmy fellowmen for at least several years. If that was a horse I heard,

there should be a village nearby. Given new courage by the thought,

I pushed ahead.Before I knew ir, I was standing in front of a secluded mountain

cottage. As it was summer, all the sliding doors had been left open. I

couldn't locate a front gate, but directly before me was a dilapidaced

veranda. On it sat a man. \7hat kind of man, I couldn't really tell."Excuse me. Excuse me." I called out in a pleading voice, as if

imploring him to help me."Excuse me," I said again, but received no reply. He looked like a

child. His head was cocked to one side so that one ear almost touched

his shoulder. He stared at me with small, expressionless eyes. He was

so listless it seemed he couldn't even be bothered to move his pupils.

His kimono was short, the sleeves only coming to his elbows. His vest

was properly starched and tied in front, but his stomach protruded

from the kimono like a huge, smooth drum, and his belly button

stuck out like the scem of a pumpkin. He fingered it with one hand,

while waving the other in the air as if he were a ghost.

His legs were sprawled out as if he had forgotten he had them.

Had he not been seated squarely on the veranda, I'm sure he would

have toppled over. He appeared to be about twenty-two or -three

years old. His mouth hung open, his upper lip curled back. His nose

was flat and his forehead bulged. His hair had grown out and was

long like a cockscomb in front, flipped all the way back to his collar

and covering his ears. lJfas he a mute? An idiot? A young man about

to turn into a frog? I was surprised by what I saw. He presented no

real danger to me, but what a bizarre sight!"Excuse me," I said again.Despite his appearance, I had no choice but to try to communicate

with him. My words of greeting, though, made little difference. He

only stirred slightly and flopped his head over so it now rested on hisleft shoulder, mouth still agape.

I couldn't anticipare what he mighr do. But I did feel that if Iweren'r careful he might suddenly grab me, and then, while fiddlingwith his navel, lick my face instead of answering my inquiries.

I stepped back. But rhen I thoughr that no matter how our_of-the-way this place might be, no one would leave such a person alone.I stood on tiptoe and spoke a little louder.

"Is anyone home?"

I heard the horse whinny again. The sound came from behind thecottage.

"\Who is itZ" Ir was a woman's voice, coming from the srorage

room. My goodness! $/ould she come slirhering our, scales on herwhire neck, trailing a rail behind her? I fell back anorher step.

And rhen she appeared-a petite, atrracrive woman with a clearvoice and a gentle manner. "Honorable

Monk," she greeted me.I ler out a huge sigh and srood sri l l . ,.yes,"

I hnally said, andbowed.

She sar down on the veranda and leaned forward, looking ar me asI stood in rhe evening shadows. ,,Is rhere somerhing I can dffir you?,,

She didn't invire me ro sray the night, so I assumed her husbandwas our. Ir seems rhey had decided not ro take in any travelers.

I quickly stepped forward. If I didn't ask now, I mighr lose mychance.

I bowed polirely. "I'm on my way ro Shinsh[. Can you rell me how

far it is to the next inn?"

fl

"I'm afraid you srill have ninereen miles or more to go.,'"Then

perhaps you might know of a place nearby where I couldstay the night?"

"I'm afraid I don't." She stared into my eyes without blinking."I

see. \fell, actually, even if you were ro tell me that I could findlodging nearby, and that they'd put me up in their best room and fanme all night as an act ofpiety, I really don't think I could take anotherstep. Please, I beg you. Even a shed or the corner ofa horse stall would

4ll I lzurnt Ky0ka lhe lldy ilan nl ilum Kdya I

be fine." I said this because I knew that the horse I had heard couldn't

possibly belong to anyone else.

The woman considered my request for a moment. Suddenly she

turned, picked up a cloth bag, and started pouring rice from it into a

pot at her side. She emptied the bag as if it were filled with water.

\7ith one hand steadying the pot, she looked down and scooped up

the rice with the other."You can stay here tonight," she said at last. "\7e have just enough

rice. Mountain cortages like this get cold at night, but it's summer

and you should be fine. So, please. \Won't you come in?"

As soon as she said this, I plunked myself down on the veranda.

The woman got to her feet. "But, Sir. There is one thing I have to ask

of you."

She was so forthright that I expected her to set down some impos-

sible condition. "Yes," I said nervously. "\7hat is it?"

"Norhing that important. It's just that I have a bad habic of want-

ing to know what's going on in the city. Even if you're not in the

mood to talk, I'll keep asking you question after question. So you

mustn'r tell me anything, not even by a slip of the tongue. Do you

undersrand what I'm saying? I'll keep pestering you if you do. So you

mustn't say anything. Even if I beg you, you have to refi.rse. I just

wanted you to know that."

There seemed to be some hidden reason behind her request. It was

the soff of thing you might expect to hear from a woman living in an

isolated cottage where the mountains are tall and the valleys immea-

surably deep. As it seemed an easy enough request to fulfill, I nodded."That's fine. \Thatever you say."\With this, the woman immediately became friendlier. "The house

is a mess but please come in. Make yourself at home. Should I get you

some water so you can wash up?""No, that won't be necessary. But I could use a washcloth. And

would you mind geming it wet and wringing it out for me? I ran into

a little trouble along the way. I feel so sticky I'd like to wash up, if I

could trouble you for that.""You do look hot. It must have been hard traveling on a day like

this. If this were an inn, you could take a bath. They say that's what

travelers really appreciate most. I'm afraid, though, you won't get

even a cup of tea, let alone a tub of hot water. If you don't mind going

4t

down the cliff behind the house, though, there's a beautiful stream.

You could go there and wash."

Hearing those words, I was ready to fly to the river. "That sounds

perfect.""Then let me show you where it is. I have to wash the rice any-

way." The woman picked up the pot, placed it under her arm, then

put on her straw sandals. Stooping over, she looked under the veranda

and pulled out a pair of old wooden clogs, which she clapped together

to shake off the dust. She set them down on the ground for me'"Please, wear these. Leave your straw sandals here."

I pressed my hands together and thanked her. "That's very kind

of you.""Your staying here," she said, "must have been determined by a

former life. Don't hesitate to ask for what you need."

My friend, she was a most hospitable woman.

t2

"Please follow me." \7ith the rice pot in her hand, the woman tucked

a small towel into her narrow sash. Her rich, lovely hair was tied up

in a bun and held in place with a comb and an ornamental hairpin. I

noticed she had a beautiful figure.

I quickly removed my sandals and put on the old clogs. \fhen I

stood up from the veranda and looked around, there was Mr. Idiot

still staring in my direction and babbling some sort of nonsense."Sister, dis, dis." He slowly lifted his hand and touched his tousled

hair. "Monk. Monk?"A smile formed on the woman's face. She gave him quick nods.

The young man said "Mmm," then grew limp and started playing

with his navel again.

Out of sympathy for the two, I didn't raise my head but merely

stole a glance at the woman. She didn't seem to be bothered at all.

Just as I was about to follow her, an old man appeared from behind a

hydrangea bush.

He had come around from the back. A carved ivory netsuke dan-

gled from a long pouch string tied around his waist. Holding a pipe

42 I lzumil(yikaIhellulYilanoliluuntKdYa I 43

in his teeth, he came up to the woman and stopped'

a monk."The woman looked over her shoulder at the man'

it went?""Oh, you know. He's one stupid jackass' all right' Nobody but a

fox could ever ride that horse' But that's where I come in' I'Il do my

best to get a fairprice' A good deal should fix you up for two or three

months.""That would be nice"'"So where You headed?""Down to the water"'"Don't go falling ln with the young monk now' I'll be on the look-

out here." i{e leaned over and sat down on the veranda'

"Listen to him talk"' She looked at me and smiled'

"Maybe I should go by myself"' I stepped to the side and the old

man laughed"Hurry up and get going, You two'-

-."'We've already frad"twJvisitors today"' she said to the old man'

,,rirho knows? Maybe we'll have another. If somebody should come

whileJiro's here alone, they won't know.what to do' Maybe you could

,.uy und make yourself comfortable until we get back"'

"Sure." The man moved over to the idiot and whacked him on the

back with his ..,or-ot's fist' The idiot looked as if he might cry but

chen grinned

Horrified, I turned away' The woman didn't seem to be bothered

by ic at all ' r, , -^:^- -^ ..-.t t l .

The man laughed' "\X/hile you're away' I'm going to steal thrs

husband ofYours"'"Good for you," she said and turned to me'

"\fell then' Shall

we go?"

I had the feeling that the old man was watching us from behind

asl fo l lowedthewomanalongawal l leadingawayfrom.thehydran-geas. \(e reached *tt"t "t-J to be the back gate' To the left was a

horse stable. I couldhear the sound ofa horse kicking at the walls' It

was alreadY staffing to get dark'"\fe'tl take this putfr do*t'' It's not slippery' but it is steep' Please

be careful."

'\7ell, if it isn't

"May I ask how

t3

A grove of extremely tall, slender pine trees, their trunks clearof branches for about fifteen or rwenry feet from the ground,marked rhe path that we were apparently going to take down rothe river. As we passed through the rrees, I spotted something whitein the rreerops far above. It was the thirreenth night of rh. n.*month, and though it was rhe same moon I had always seen, tonightit made me realize how far from rhe world of human habirarion I iadcome.

The woman, who had been walking ahead of me, disappeared.$Zhen I looked down the hill, holding onto one ofrhe rrees, i rport.dher below.

She looked up at me. "It gets a lot steeper here so please be careful.Maybe I shouldn't have given you those clogs. rtrZould you like mysandals?"

She obviously rhought I was lagging behind because ofthe steep_ness of the path, but really, I was more than willing to tumble downthe slope to ger that leech filth offmy body."I'll

come down barefoot if I have ro," I said. ,,I'm fine. Sorry ro

make you worry Miss.""Miss?"

She raised her voice slighrly and laughed. It was a charm-ing sound.

"That s what I heard the man call you. Bur maybe you're married?,,"Eirher

wag I'm old enough to be your aunc. Now, come. euickly.I'd give you my sandals but you might srep on a rhorn. They,re soak_ing wet, anyway. You wouldn't like the way they felt on you, f..t.,,She turned away and quickly lifted rhe hem of her kimono. I couldsee her white ankles in the darkness. As she walked ahead they disap-peared like the frost at dawn.

Ye were making good progress down the hill when a toad slug_

gishly emerged from a clump of grass on the wayside."Disgusring!" she lifted her heels and jumped to the side. "can't

you see I have a guest? Let go of my feer. Back to your bugs!,,Sheturned to me. "Come

right along. Don't pay attention to him. In aplace like this, even the animars wanr arrention." She turned back tothe toad. "To

think I'd be flattered ro know you. Go awayt,,

The toad slowly moved back into the grass, and the woman

started ahead."You'll have to climb up here. The ground's too soft." In the grass

appeared the trunk ofa tree, round and huge. I got up on it and had

no trouble walking, even in my clogs. As soon as I had reached the

end, the sound of rushing water was in my ears, although the river

was still a distance awaY.'When

I looked up I could no longer see the pine trees. The moon

ofthe thirteenth night was low on the horizon, nearly half-covered by

the mountain. Yet it was so brilliant I thought I could reach out and

touch it, even though I knew its height in the heavens was immea-

surable."It s this way." She was waiting for me, just a bit farther down the

slope. There were boulders all around and pools created by the water

flowing over them. The stream was about six feet across. As I ap-

proached it, the flowing water was surprisingly quiet, and its beauty

was that of jewels broken from their string and being washed away.

From farcher downsrream came the terrifiiing echo of the water crash-

ing againsc ocher boulders.

On the opposice bank rose another mouncain. Its peak was hidden

in the darkness, but its lower reaches were illumined by the moon-

light spilling over the crest of the mountain across the way. I could

see boulders of various sizes and shapes-some like spiral seashells,

others angular and truncated, and still others resembling spears or

balls. They continued as far as the eye could see, forming a small hill

at the water! edge.

t4

"rVe're lucky the water's high today. lWe can bathe up here without

going down to the main stream." She dipped her snow-white feet into

the water rhat covered the top ofa boulder.

The bank on our side was much steeper than the other, and tight

against the river. \7e were apparently standing in a small, boulder-

filled cove. It was impossible to see either directly upstream or down-

stream, but I could make out some water winding tortuously up the

q I lzumtl(y0ka Ihe lloly lllan ol tlount (iya t 45

rock-strewn slope across from us. The stream gradually grew narrower,each bend bathed in moonlight so its water gleam.Jtik. plates ofsilver armor. closer to where we stood, its waves flutrered whire rikea shuttle being taken up ar the loom."tUThat

a beautiful srream.""It

is. This river begins at a waterfalL. people who travel throughthese mountains say they can hear a sound like the *irra uto*l.r!. Idon'r suppose you heard something along rhe way?,,

I had indeed, jusr before I entered ihe leech_filled forest. ,.youmean rhar wasn'r the wind in the trees?,,"That

s whar everyone thinks. Bur if you rake a side road fromylel fou were and go about seven miles, you come to a large warer_fall. People say it's the largest in Japan. Not .u.r, one in ten has evermade ir that far, rhough. The road is steep. So, as I was saying, thisriver flows down from rhere.

"There was a horrible flood about rhirteen years ago,,, she conrin_

ued' "E-ven rhese high places were covered with warefand the village

in the foorhills was swepr away_mountains, houses, everyrhing uLleveled' There used ro be twenty homes here at Kaminohora. But nowthey're gone' This srream was created then. See rhose boulders upthere? The flood deposited them."

Before I realized it, the woman had finished washing the rice. Asshe srood and arched her back, I caught a glimpse of the ourlines ofher breasrs, showing at rhe loosened iott"r"of trer kimono. St. g"r.ddreamily ar rhe mounrain, her lips pressed togerher. I could see a massof moonlit rocks thar rhe flood f,ui a.pori,.a halfway up rhe _or'rn_tainside.

"Even now just rhinking abour ir frighrens me,,, I said as I stooped

over and began washing my arms.It was then that she said, ..If you insist on such good manners,

your robes will get wet. That,s nor going to feel very good. Vhy nottake them ofP I'll scrub your b".k io, vlr.,,"I

wouldn't-"$Zhy

not? Look how your sleeve is getring in the warer.,,She sud_denly reached from behind and put her-hand lr -y sash. I squirmed,but she kept going until I -^s compl.tely naked.

My master was a strict man, and, as one whose calling it is to

,.. n8 I lznmi Xy0ka

L

recite the holy sutras, I had never taken offmy clothes, not even thesleeves of my robes. But now I was standing naked in front of rhiswoman, feeling like a snail without a shell. I was too embarrassedeven to talk, let alone run away. \fhile she tossed my clothes onto anearby branch, I hunched my back and stood with my knees together.

"I'll put your clothes right here. Now. Your back. Hold still. I'mgoing to be nice to you because you called me 'Miss.'

Now don't benaughty." She pulled up one ofher sleeves and held it between herteeth to keep it out of the way.

Without firrther ado, she placed her arm on my back. It was assmooth and lustrous as a jewel. For a moment, she only looked."Oh, my."

"Is something wrong?"

"These bruises all over your back."

"That's what I was saying. I had a terrible time in the woods." Justremembering the leeches made me shudder.

t5

She looked surprised. "So you were in the forest. How awfuM'veheard travelers talk about leeches falling from the trees. You musthave missed the detour and gone right through their nesringgrounds. You're lucky to still be alive. Not even horses and cowsmake it. It must really itch."

"Now it only hurts.""Then I shouldn't be using this cloth. It'll make your skin peel."

She touched me gently with her hands.She poured water over my body and stroked my shoulders, back,

sides, and buttocks. You would think the cold river water would havechilled me to the bone, but it didn't. True, it was a hot time of theyear, but even so. Perhaps it was because my blood was aroused. Ormaybe it was the warmth of her hand. Anyway, the water felt perfect

on my skin! Of course, they say that water of good quality is alwayssoothing.

But what an indescribable feeling! I wasn't sleepy, but I began tofeel drowsy. And as the pain from my wounds ebbed away, I gradually

fhe lluly tlan of ilount Kdya I 47

lost my senses, as if the woman's body, so close to mine, had enveloped

me in the petals of its blossom.

She seemed too delicate for someone living in the mountains'

Even in the capital you don't see many women as beautiful' As she

rubbed my back, I could hear her trying to stifle the sounds of her

breathing. I knew I should ask her to stop, but I became lost in the

bliss of rhe moment. \was it rhe spirit of the deep mountains that

made me allow her to continue? Or was it her fragrance? I smelled

something wonderful. Perhaps it was the woman's breath coming

from behind me.

Here Monk ShEch6 paused. "Young man' since the lamp's over there

by you, I wonder if you could turn uP the wick a bit' This isn't the

kind of story to be telling in the dark. I'm warning you' now' I'm

going to tell it just as it happened."

The monk's outline showed darkly beside me. As soon as I fixed

the lantern, he smiled and continued his story.

yes. it was like a dream. I felt as if I were being sofrly enveloped in

that warm flower with its strange, wonderful fragrance-my feet,

legs, hands, shoulders, neck, all the way uP to my head' \When the

blossom finally swallowed me completely I stanled and collapsed on

the boulder with my legs out in front of me. Immediately, the

woman's arms reached around me from behind."Can you tell how hot I am? It's this unbearable heat' Just doing

this has made me sweat."

\fhen she said that, I took her hand off my chest' I broke away

from her embrace and stood up straight as a stick. "Excuse me"'

"Not at all. No one's looking," she said coolly. That was when I

noticed she had taken offher clothes. lwhen, I don't know' But there

she was, her body softly shining like glossy silk.

Imagine my surprise."I suffer from the heat because I'm a little overweight' It's embar-

rassing," she said. "'When it gets hot like this, I come to the river two

or three times a day. If I didn't have this water, I don't know what I

would do. Here. Thke this washcloth." She handed me a wrung-out

towel. "Dry your legs."

Before I knew what was happening, she had wiped my body dry'

48 I lzumlKyfka Ihe llolY lllan uf ilouil K[Ya I 43

"Ha. ha"'The monk laughed' seeming a bit embarrassed' "I'm afraid

this is quite a story I'm telling you"'

ts

\7ith her clothes off, she looked very different' Her figure was volup-

tuous and full.'I had some business to take care of in the shed back there"' she

said, "and now I've got horse's breath all over me' This is a good chance

to wash up a bit." She spoke as if confiding in a brother or sister'

She raised on. huni to hold back her hair' and wiped under her

arm with the other' As she stood and wrung out the towel with both

hands, her snowy skin looked as if it had been purified by this

miracle-working water' The flowing perspiration of such a woman

could only be lighc crimson in color' the shade of mountain flowers'

She began.ornUitff't' hair' "I'm really being a tomboy' What if

I fell inro the river? $h"t *o.rld the people downstream think?"

"That you were a white peach blossom.'' I said what came to my

mind. Our eyes met'

She smiled, as if pleased by -y words' At that ,-ottn'' -11'

seemed seven or eight'yeun yo"ngt" looking down at the water wich

an innocent shyness' rit' ng"tt' lathed in the moonlighc and envel-

oped in che evening -i't, 'ti-'nered translucent blue before a huge'

smooth rock that ** iting moistened black by the spray from the

opposite bank.

It had grown dark, and I had trouble seeing clearly' But.there

musrhavebeena.u* ' ro* .* r rerenearby, for just thenanumberofbats, creatures as large as birds' began darting over our heads'

' ."Stop that. Cu"'i yot' see I have a guest?" the woman suddenly

cried out, and shuddered'"Is something -'ongl' I asked calmly' I had put my clothes

back on."No," she said as if embarrassed' and quickly turned away'

Just then a small, gray animal the size of a puppy came runnrng

toward us. Before r t"l"fa shout out' it jumped from the cliff' sailed

through the air, and landed on her back' Nfith the animal hugging

her like that, she seemed to vanish from the waist up'

"Beast! Can't you see my guest.,, Now there was anger in hervoice. "S7har

insolence!,' When the animal peered up at her, shestruck it squarely on the head. Ir let ouc a shriek, jumped backwardinro the air, and, dangled by its long "* fro- rhe branch where shehad hung my clothes' Then it did Jsomersaulr, flipped itself on copof rhe branch, and scampered up the tree. A monkey! The animaljumped from branch to br"nch, ihen clirnbed . ,f,. rr.ry.op?,n.tall tree, sharing the rreetops with the moon rhar had risen high inrhe sky and was showing through ,fr. t."rr"r.The woman seemed to be in a pour because of rhe monkey,s mis-behavior, or rather because ofthe pranks ofthe toud, the bats, and rhemonkey. The way her mood ,or.rr.d reminded _. of young _"rn.r,who get upset when their children misbeharre.As she put her clorhes back on, she looked angry. Iasked no ques_tions. I hid in the background "r,d trl.dto sray our of the wav.

l7

She was gentle yer srrong, lighthearted yer nor without a degree offirmness. She had a f.ienJly d"ispositio. d,rt t.. aigniry was unshak_able, and her confidenr manner gave me the impression rhac she wasa woman who could handle any situarion. Nothing good could comeof getting in her way if she *ere ""gt i k;;* that if I were unforru-nate enough ro get on her wrong side,i would be as helples, ;;;;;_key fallen from its tree. ril7ith 6ur "nd ,.._iting, I timidly kepr mydistance. But, as it turned out, things *.r"n], as bad as all that."You must have found ir odd,,,i.,"ij,-r*lling good_naturedly,as if recalling rhe scene. ,.Theret

not.nr.r.hi.an do about ic.,,Suddenly she seemed as cheerful as before. she quickry ded her sash."\Zell, shall we go back?" She tucked .t..1.. p* under her arm, puron her sandals, and quickly started up the.irg. -Ci*

me your hand.,,"No. I rhink I know the *"y noi.,, I thought I was prepared forthe ascent; but once we starred the crimb, it was a rot farther to thetop than I had expected.

Eventually we crossed over the same log. Lying in the grass, logshave an amazing resem_blance ,o ,.rp..rrr,?rie.iurty pine trees withtheir scalelike bark. $Zirh rhe .liff ;;;;;"uborr. us, it seemed as

*

.'':

though the fallen tree was indeed a slithering snake. Judging from irsgirth, the serpent's head would be somewhere in the grass on one sideof the path and its tail on the orher. There it was, its contours brightlylit by the moonlight. Remembering the road rhat had brought mehere, I felt my knees begin to quiver.

The woman was good enough to keep looking back to check onme.

"Don't look down when you cross over. Right there in the mid-dle, it s a long way to the bortom. You wouldn'r wanr to get dizzy."

"No, of course not."I couldn't stand there forever, so I laughed at my timidity and

jumped up on the log. Someone had cut notches into it for traction,and as long as I was careful I should have been able to walk on it evenwearing clogs. Neverrheless, because it was so like the back of a boa-unsteady, soft, and slithery benearh my clogs-I shoured our in fearand fell, straddling the log.

"SThere's your courage?" she asked. "Ir's those clogs, isn'r it?Here, put these on. Do as I say."

By that time I had already developed a sound respecr for her. Forbetter or worse, I decided to obey, no marrer what she wanted. I puton the sandals, jusr as she asked.

And rhen, lisren ro rhis, as she was purting on my clogs, she rookmy hand.

Suddenly I felt lighter. I had no trouble following her, and beforeI knew it we were back at the corrage.

As soon as we arrived the old man greeted us wirh a shout. "I

thought it'd take a little time. But I see the Good Brorher's comeback in his original form."

"\7hat are you talking about?" she said.

"Anything happen whilewe were gone?"

"Guess I've done my time here. If it gets too dark, I'll have rroubleon the road. Better get the horse and be on my way."

"Sorry to make you wait.""Not at all. Go take a look. Your husband's fine. It's going to rake

more than I've got to steal him away from you." Pleased by his owirnonsense, the old man burst into laughter and plodded off toward thehorse stall.

The idiot was sitting in the same place, just as before. It seemsthat even a jellyfish will keep its shape if kepr out of the sun.

,ii

i i jrii,ii

iii1

r l l

,iiii

50 I humifiydftaIhe lloly lllan d Mount K[ya I 5l

t8

I could hear neighing, shours, and rhe sound of the horse,s hoovesstomping rhe ground as rhe man broughr rhe animal around fronr.3:

tr::j wirh his tegs aparr, holding tie animal by irs halrer. .rJ7ell,Miss, I'll be off. Thke good care of rlie monk.,,

The woman had ser up a ranrern near rhe hearch and was on herknees, trying ro ger a fire scarred. She glanced up and placed her handon her leg while holding a pair of me-ral chopsricks.;Th"nk you fortaking care of everyrhing.""Ir's rhe least I could do. Hey!" The man jerked back on rhe ani-mal's rope.

-. Ir was a dappled horse, gray wirh black spocs. The muscurar srar_lion_w-irh a straggly mane srood there wich nothing on bur a halrer.

. I found nothing parricularly inreresring abour rhe animal. yer

when.the man rugged on rhe rope I qullHy moved ou., .o ,l*veranda from where I was sitring behini rhe idior and calred our"lfhere are you taking thar horse?""To an aucrion over by Suwa Lake. Tomorrow you,ll be raking thesame road."

"!Vhy do you ask?', rhe.woman suddenly inrerrupred. ..Are youplanning ro jump on and ride awav?""Not ar all," I said. ..Thar

would be a violarion of my vows_roresr my legs and ride while on pilgrimage.,,"I doubt you or anybody else iould-sc^y o(r tb;, animal,,, rhe old

, itfI t' :

iiil

#1.'1._,::ll:ti:you've had your share of close *u, "I,*d;;;d;

Yj:_o:i:J:'jT::esr easy und 1.,.,r,. young1"iil;.;J ffilconighr? rVell, I'd bener ger going."

The horse refrrsed ro move. Ir seemed ro be nervously rwirchingirs lips, poinring its muzzle in my direction, and looking a! me."Damned animal. Hey now!"

. The old rnan pulled rhe halter rope ro the left and righr, but thehorse stood as firm as if irs feer were ,oo..d in the ground.

- Exasperared by rhe crearure, the old -"., b.g"n ro bear ir. Heclosely circled around the horse rwo or three rimes, bur rhe animalstill rehued ro move forward. r*hen the man pur his ,ho.rld.r;;;;;

52 I humt t(ylka lhe lloly Man of Mourt Kdya ! 53

its belly and threw his weight against the horse, it finally lifted oneofirs fronr feer, but rhen planted all four again.

"Miss! Miss!" The man wailed for help.The woman stood up and riproed over ro a soot-blackened pillar,

where she hid herself from rhe horse's eyes.The man pulled our a dirry, crumpled sowel from his pocket and

wiped rhe swear from his deeply wrinkled brow. \With new derermi-narion on his face, he placed himself in front of the horse and, main_raining his calm, grabbed the rope wirh both hands. He planred hisfeer, leaned back, and rhrew his whole weighr inro ir. And guess wharhappened nexr?

The horse ler our a rremendous whinny and raised borh its fronrhooves inro rhe air. The old man srumbled and fell ro rhe ground onhis back; and the horse came down, sending a cloud of dusr inro rhemoonlit sky.

Even the idior saw che humor of rhis scene. For once and onlyonce, he held his head srraighr, opened his far lips, bared his bigteeth, and flucrered his hand as iffanning rhe air.

"!7har now?" rhe woman said, giving up. She slipped on her san-

dals and srepped inco che dirr-floored area ofrhe corrage."Don'r

ger ir wrong," rhe old man said to her. "Ir 's nor you. It 's

the monk. This horse has had irs eye on him from rhe srarr. Theyprobably knew each orher in a former life, and now rhe beast wanrsthe Holy Man ro pray for irs soul."

I was shocked ro hear rhe fellow suggesr I had any connecrionswith the animal. Ir was then thar rhe woman asked me, "Sir,

did youhappen ro meer anyone on your way here?"

ls"Yes.

Jusr before I reached Tsuji, I did meer a medicine peddler fromToyama. He starred our on rhe same rrail, a lirrle ahead of me."

"I see." She smiled as if she had guessed something righr, rhenglanced over ar the horse. She looked as if she couldn't help bursmirk.

She seemed to be in a berrer mood, so I spoke up. "perhaps hecame by this way."

3"No. I wouldn'r know anything about thar.', She suddenly seemed

to distance herself again, and so I held my rongue. she rurned ro rheman, who was standing meekly before the horse, dusting himself off."Then I guess I don't have much of a choice," she said in a resignedtone and hurriedly untied her sash. one end of it dangled in rhe dirr.She pulled it up and hesitated for a moment."Ah, ah." The idior husband ler our a vague cry. As he reached outwich rhe long, skinny arm rhac wzls constantly fanning rhe air, thewoman handed him her sash. Like a child, he placed ic on his lap, rhenrolled ir up and guarded ir as ifir were a precious rreasure.

she pulled rhe lapels of her kimono rogerher and herd rhem wirhone hand jusr below her breasc. Leaving rhe house, she quietlywalked over ro rhe horse.

I was srruck wirh asronishmenr as she stood on tiptoe. She grace_fully raised her hand in the air, then srroked rhe horse's *"n. *o o,three rimes.

she moved around and stood direcrly in fronr of the horse's hugemuzzle, seeming ro grow raller as I watched. She fixed her eyes on ,h.animal, puckered her lips, and raised her eyebrows as if faling inro atrance. suddenly her familiar charm and coquertish air disappeared,and I found myself wondering if she were a god, or maybe " d.-on.

Ar rhar rnomenr, ir was as if the mouncain behind the conage andthe peak direcrly across rhe vailey-in fact, all rhe mountains rharsurrounded us and formed rhis world rhac was ser aparr from allothers-suddenly looked our way and benc over ro snre ar rhiswoman who srood facing rhe horse in rhe moonlighr. Turning everdarkeg rhe deep mounrains grew more lonely and inrense.

I felt myself being engulfed in a warm, moisr wind as rhe womanslipped her kimono offher left shourder. Then she took her right handout of irs sleeve, broughr ir around ro rhe fuilness of her boJom, andlifced her rhin undergarmenr. suddenry she was naked, wirhour evenso much as the mountain mist ro clothe her.

The skin on rhe horse's back and belly seemed to melr wich ecsmsvand drip with sweat. Even irs srrong legs became feeble and beg"n rotremble. The animal lowered in head to the ground and, brJwingfroth from irs mourh, bent im fronr legs as if paying obeisance ro he-rbeaury.

Ar thar momenr, rhe woman reached under rhe horse's jaw and

54 I lzumi l(yika Ilre lloly ilan d ilount Kdya I 55

nimbly tossed her undergarment over the animal's eyes. She leaped

like a doe rabbit and arched her back so she was looking up at the

ghasrly, hazy moon. Threading the undergarment between the horse's

front legs, she pulled it from its eyes as she passed beneath the belly

ofthe horse and stepped offto the side.

The old man, taking his cue from her, pulled on the halter. And

the rwo started walking briskly down the mountain trail and soon

disappeared into the darkness.

The woman put on her kimono and came over to the veranda. She

rried to take her sash from the idioc, who refused to give it back. He

raised his hand and tried reaching for her breasts. rVhen she finally

brushed offhis hand and gave him a scornfirl look, he shrank back and

hung his head.

All this I wirnessed in the phantasmal flickering of the dimming

lanrern. In the heanh, rhe faggots were now aflame, and the woman,

in order to rend to the fire, rushed back inro the cocrage. Coming to

us from the far side of the moon, che faint echoes of rhe horseman's

song reverberated in the night.

20

Ir was rime for dinner. Far from mere carrots and gourd shavings, the

woman served pickled vegerables, marinared ginger, seaweed, and

miso soup with dried wild mushrooms.

The ingrediencs were simple but well prepared, and I was pracri-

cally starving. As for the service, it couldn't have been berrer. With

her elbows resting on rhe tray in her lap, and her chin cupped in

her hands, she watched me eat, apparently gaining great sacisfaction

from it.

The idiot, tired of being lefc alone, started crawling limply

toward us. He dragged his potbelly over to where the woman was

seated and collapsed into a cross-legged posirion. He mumbled as he

kept pointing and staring at my dinner."\fhat is it?" she asked him.

"No. You can eat later. Don'c you see

we have a guest tonight?"

A melancholy look came over the idiot s face. He twisted his

mouth and tossed his head from side to side.

litl

{,i' i . .t:[:!i],t.1i: .'l;'

"No? You're hopeless. Go ahead, rhen. Ear with our guest.,, Sheturned ro me. "I beg your pardon."

I quickly ser my chopsticks down. ,.Nor at all. please. I've put youthrough roo much trouble already."

"Hardly. You've been no trouble at all." she rurned ro the idior."You, my deaq are supposed ro ear with me, afrer our guesr finishes.\fhat am I going to do with you?,' Saying rhis to pur me ar ease, shequickly ser up a rray idenrical to mine.

Good wife rhar she was, she served rhe food quickly, wirhour wasr_ing a single movement. yer rhere was also somerhing refined and gen_reel about her.

The idior looked up with dull eyes at rhe rray ser before him. "Iwanr rhar. Thar," he said while glancing goggle_eyed around theroom.

She looked ar him gently, in the way a morher mighr look ar herchild. "You can have rhar any time you wanr,', she said. ..Bur conighrwe have a guest."

"No' I wanr it now." The idior shook his enrire body. He sniveledand looked as ifhe was about ro bursr inro tears.

The woman didn'r know whar ro do, and I felr sorry for her. .Miss,I know nexr ro norhing abour your siruarion here," I said. ..Burwouldn r it be berrer jusc ro give him whac he wanrs? personallS I'dfeel berter if you didn'r rrear me like a guesr.'"so you don't wanr ro eat whar I've fixed?" she asked rhe idior."You don'r wanr rhis?"

She finally gave in ro him, as he looked as if he was abouc to cry.She went over ro her broken-down cupboard, rook somerhing from acrock, and pur ir on his rray, rhough nor withour givinj him areproachful look.

"Here you go." she prerended to be peeved and forced a smile.I warched from rhe corner of my eye, wondering whar kind of food

the idiot would be chewing in his huge mouth. A brue-green snakesrewed wirh vegerables in rhick soy and sugar? A monkey ferussceam-baked in a casserole? Or somerhing less groresque, like piecesof dried frog mear? wich one hand the idior held his bowl. wirrr trreother he picked up a piece of overpickled radish. Ir wasn't sliced intopieces eirher, just chopped inro a big chunk so rhe idior could munchon ir as ifeating a cob ofcorn.

The woman musr have been embarrassed. I caught her glancing

over at me. She was blushing. Though she hardly seemed like aninnocent-minded person, she nervously rouched a corner ofher rowelro her mouth.

I took a closer look at this young man. His body was yellow andplump, just like the pickled radish he had just devoured. By andby, satisfied with having vanquished his preS he looked the otherway, without even asking for a cup of tea, and panred heavily wirhboredom.

"I guess I've losr my apperire," rhe woman said. "Maybe I'll have

something later."

She cleared the dishes wirhout earing dinner.

2l

The mood was subdued for a while after rhar. "You musr be tired,"

she finally said. "Shall I make up your bed righr avray?""Thank you," I replied. "Bur

I'm nor rhe leasr bir sleepy. \Tashingin the river seems ro have revived me complerely."

"Thar stream is good for any illness you mighr have. \Whenever

I'm worn out and feel wirhered and dry all I have ro do is spend halfa day in the water and I become refreshed again. Even in rhe winrer,when the mountains rurn ro ice and all the rivers and cliffs are coveredwirh snow, the water never freezes in rhat spot where you were barh-ing. Monkeys with gunshor wounds, nighr herons wirh broken legs,so many animals come ro barhe in rhe warer thar rhey've made tharparh down rhe cliff. Ic s the warer rhat has healed your wounds.

"If you aren't tired, maybe we could ralk for a while. I get solonely here. It's strange, bur being all alone in rhe mountains likethis, I even forger how to ralk. Somerimes I ger so discouraged.

"If you get sleepy, don'r sray up on my account. rWe don't haveanything like a real guest room, but, on rhe orher hand, you won'tfind a single mosquito here. Down in the valley they rell a story aboura man from Kaminohora who srayed the nighr there. They pur up amosquito net for him, bur since he had never seen one before he askedthem for a ladder so he could get into bed.

"Even if you sleep lare you won'r hear any bells ringing, nor any

Sff I lzumt Ky0kaIhe llnly ilan of iluunt l$ya I 57

roosrers crowing at dawn. We don't even have dogs here, so you cansleep in peace."

She looked over ar rhe idiot. "That fellow was born and raised here

in the mounrains. He doesn'r know much about anything. Srill, he sa good person, so rherei no need ro worry on his account. He actuallyknows how ro bow polirely when a srranger visits, rhough he hasn'rpaid his respecrs ro you yet, has he? These days he doesn'r have muchstrength. He's gorcen lazy. But he's not stupid. He can undersrandeveryrhing you say."

She moved closer to the idior, looked into his face, and said cheer-fully, "Why

don't you bow ro the monk? you haven'r forgorren how,have you?"

The idior managed ro pur his rwo hands togerher on rhe floor andbowed wirh a jerk, as if a wound-up spring had been released in hisback. Srruck by che woman's love for the fellow, I bowed my head."The pleasure's mine."

Still facing down, he seemed ro lose his equilibrium. He fell over onhis side, and the woman helped him back up. "There.

Good for you."Looking as if she wanred ro praise him for what he had done, she

turned ro me and said, "Sir, I'm pretry sure he could do anything youasked of him. Bur he has a disease rhar neirher the docrors nor rheriver can heal. Borh of his legs are crippled, so ir doesn'r do muchgood to reach him new things. As you can see, jusr one bow is aboutas much as he can tolerare.

"Learning somerhing is hard work. Ic hurrs him, I know, so I don't

ask him ro do much. And because of thar he s gradually forgotten howto use his hands or even how ro ralk. The one thing he srill can do issing. Even now he srill knows rwo or three songs. \0fhy don'r you singone for our guesr?"

The idior opened his eyes wide and looked ar rhe woman, then arme. He seemed shy as he shook his head.

22

Afrer she encouraged and cajoled him in various ways, he cocked hishead to one side and, playing with his navel, began to sing.

58 I lzumlKyika Ihe lloly Man ol ilouil l0ya I 53

The woman

well, though."

Euen tbe sanmers are coldOn Moznt Ontake in Kiso.Ixt me giae yoaA dauble-lined himonoAnd tabi sochs as well.

listened intenrly and smiled. "Doesn't

he know ir

How strange it was! The idiors voice was norhing like you mightexpect, having heard his srory. Even I couldn'r believe ir. Ir was thedifference berween rhe moon and a rurrle, clouds and mud, heavenand earrh! The phrasing, the dynamics, the brearhing-everyrhingwas perfecr. You wouldn'r rhink thar such a pure, clear voice couldemerge from rhe rhroar of rhar young man. Ir sounded as rhough hisformer incarnarion was piping a voice from rhe orher world inro rheidior's bloared sromach.

I had been listening wirh my head bowed. I sar wirh my handsfolded in my lap, unable to look up ar rhe couple. I was so moved rhattears came to rny eyes.

The woman noticed I was crying and asked rne if somerhing waswrong. I couldn'r answer her righc away, bur finally I said, "I'm fine,thanks. I won'r ask any guestions abour you, so you musrn'r ask aboutme eirher." I menrioned no details, bur I spoke from my hean. I hadcome to see her as a verirable Yang Gui-fei, a volupcuous and alluringbeaury who deserved to be adorned with silver and jade pins for herhaig gossamer gowns as sheer as burrerfly wings, and pearl-sewn

shoes. And yet she was so open and kind to her idiot husband. Tharwas rhe reason I was moved to tears.

She was the sort ofperson who could guess rhe unspoken feelingsof another. She spoke up as if she immediately undersrood exactlywhat I was feeling. "You're very kind." She gazed ar me wirh a lookin her eyes that I cannot begin ro describe. I bowed my head andlooked away.

The lantern dimmed again, and I wondered if this perhaps was theidiot's doing; for just then, the conversarion lagged and a tired silenceovercame us. The mzrsrer of song, apparenrly bored, yawned hugely,as if he were about to swallow the lanrern before him.

: l I

t:lq'fii';tr;i .

He started to fidger. "ril(/ant sleep. sleep." He moved his body

clumsily."Are

you rired? Shall we go ro bed?" The woman sat up and, as ifshe had suddenly come ro her senses, looked around. The world out_side the house was as brighr as noon. The moonlight poured into rhecotrage through the open windows and doors. The hydrangezrs were avivid blue.

"Are you ready to retire?"

"Yes," I said. "Sorry

to inconvenience you.""I'll

pur him to bed first. Make yourseif comfonabre. you're righrour in the open here, bur in the summer rhis bigger room will be bet_

-te1 for you. !/e'll sleep in rhe inner room, so you can ger a good rest.lVair jusr a momenr," she srarred to say and stood up. She hurriedly

stepped down onro rhe earrhen floor. Because her movem.nr, *.r. rovigorous, her black hair, which had been rwisred inro a bun, fell downover rhe nape ofher neck.

Nfirh one hand rouching her hair and rhe ocher on rhe door, shelooked ourside and said ro herself, "I must have dropped my comb inall rhe exciremenr."

she was obviously ralking abour when she had passed benearh chehorses belly.

23

The monk paused as he rold his srory. The nighr was srill, and wecould clearly disringuish slow, quier sreps in rhe hallway downstairs.It sounded like sorneone going ro rhe barhroom. one of rhe rain shuc-ters opened wirh a rarrle; rhen came rhe sound of hands being washed."The snow s piling up," came a voice. Mosr surely, ir *.s rhe ownerof the inn.

"Please, finish your srory. $7hat happened nexr?" I urged Monk

Shlchd ro continue.

I7ell, the night grew late, he resumed. As you can understand, no

marrer how tired a person gets, when you're in an isolated corrage in

rhe middle of mountains like that, ir's hard to fall asleep. Besides, I

was borhered by something chat kepr me from dozing off. In fact, I

was wide awake. I kepr blinking my eyes, but,,rs you mighr expect,

by that time I was so exhausted thac my mind had become clouded.

All I could do was wait for dawn to brighren the night sky.

Ar firsr I lisrened, out of habit, for the morning temple bells. \Zill

they ring now? Are they abour to ring? Surely enough time had

passed since I had retired for the night. But then I realized there

wouldn't be any temples in a place as isolated as this, and suddenly I

became uneasy.

Then it happened. As they say, the nighr is as deep as a valley. As

soon as I could no longer hear the sound of the idioc's slovenly breath-

ing, I sensed the presence of somerhing ouside.

It sounded like the footsteps of an animal, one thac hadn't come

from very far avray. Ar firsr I tried to comfort myself, thinking that

rhis was a place where rhere was no scarcity of monkeys and roads.

Buc she rhoughr did lirrle ro rezrssure me.

A bir later, when ir seemed rhe animal had stepped up co the front

ofthe house, I heard the bleating ofa sheep.

My head was poinred in irs direccion, which meant chat rhe beast

musr have been standing righc beside my pillow! A bir later I heard

the sound of beating bird s wings just to my righr, under the spotwhere the hydrangea was blooming.

Then carne the sound of anorher animal crying Kii, kii on rhe roof-

top. I guessed it was a flying squirrel or some such thing. Next a huge

beast, as big as a hill, came so close I felt as though I were being

crushed by it. It bellowed like a cow. Then came anorher two-legged

creature that sounded as if it must have come running from far autay

with straw sandals on its feet. Now all kinds of creatures were circling

and milling around the house. Altogether, there must have been

twenty or thirry of them, snorting, beating theirwings, some of them

hissing. It was like a hellish scene from the Realm of Suffering Beasts.

In the light of the moon, I could see the silhouettes of their ghastly

figures cavorting and dancing in front of the house. \flere these the

evil spirits of the mouncains and rivers?

"I guess the merchanr from rWakasa

to spend the nighr," rhe monk said. ,.I

dreams."

found some orher placehope hes having sweer

l ., l i

l ,, l l

IS0 I lzurnt Kydka Ihe lldy ilan of ilmnt l$ya I El

, i

ii;i,: i r

t i 'I i

Il, i

ii,r ' i

i , i

iiirlli i ir'li'lit,';iiiiiil l li l l r' l :t ,

il,l iI

The leaves on the trees shuddered. I held my breath. From the

room where the woman and the idior were sleeping came ̂ moan and

then the sound of someone drawing a long breath. It was the woman,

overcome by a nightmare."\fe have a guest tonight," she cried out.A few seconds passed before she spoke again, this time in a clear,

sharp voice. "I said we have a guest."

I could hear the woman tossing in bed, and a very quiet voice that

said, "\7e have a guest." Then followed more tossing.

The beasts ourside srirred and the entire cortage began co shake

back and fonh. Frighcened our of my senses, I began reciting a

dharani.

He wbo dares resist tbe heaaens

And uainly tries to block trutb s route,

IvIay his head be split in samLihe tbe young arjahz sproat!His iln is uorse than parricidc,

His rnshing doom uithout relief,

His scala and measures telling lia

Like Dandatta, we dapise

Offendrs of belief!

I chanted the sacred words with heart and soul. And suddenly rhewhirlwind rwisring in the trees blew away to the south and every-

thing became srill. From the couple's bed came not a sound.

24

The nexr day ar noon, I ran into the old man who had gone off to sellthe horse. I was srandin I by a waterfall not far from a village, and he

was on his way back to the comage. 'We

came upon each other just ar

that moment when I had decided to give up my life as a monk, to go

back to the mountain cottag€ and spend the rest of my days with thewoman.

To tell the truth, ever since I had left her earlier that morning this

single idea dominated my thoughts. No snakes spanned my path, anc

t2 I lzuml Ky[ka Ilre lloly ilan of tlount K[ya I 63

I encountered no leech-filled forests. Still, though the way might con-

tinue ro be hard, bringing tribulation co my body and soul, I realized

rhar my pilgrimage was senseless. My dreams of someday donning a

purple surplice and living in a fine monastery meant nothing to me.

And to be called a living Buddha by others and to be thronged with

crowds of worshippers could only turn my stomach with the stench

of humanity.You can understand why I haven't given you all the details of my

srory but after the woman put the idiot to sleep, she came back out

ro my room. She told me shat racher than going back to a life of self-

denial, I oughr to scay by her side in the coctage by rhe river, there

where rhe summer is cool and the winter mild. Had I given in to her

for that reason alone, you'd probably say rhat I had been bewitched

by her beaury. Bur in my own defense ler me say that I truly felt sorry

for her. How would it be to live in that isolated mountain cottage as

the idior s bed partner, not able to communicare, feeling you were

slowly forgetcing how ro ralk?

Thar morning when we said goodbye in the dawning light, I was

relucrant ro leave her. She regretted never being able to see me again,

spending the rest ofher life in such a place. She also said that should

I ever see white peach petals flowing upon a stream, however small, I

would know that she had thrown herself into a river and was being

torn apart bit by bit. She was dejected, but her kindness never failed.

She told me to follow rhe river, that ir would lead me to the next vil-

lage. The water dancing and rumbling over a waterfall would be my

sign rhat houses were nearby. Poincing our the road, she saw me off,

walking along with me unril her conage had disappeared behind us.

Though we would never walk hand in hand as man and wife, I

kept thinking I could srill be her companion, there to comfort her

morning and night. I would prepare the firewood and she would do

the cooking. I would gather nuts and she would shell them. We

would work together, I on the veranda and she inside, talking to each

other, laughing together. The two of us would go to the river. She

would take offher clothes and stand beside me. Her breath uPon my

back, she would envelop me in the warm, delicate fragrance sf her

petals. For that I would gladly lose my life!

Staring ac the waterfall, I tortured myself with these choughcs.

Even now when I think back on it, I break out in a cold sweat. I was

:iii,il;ij

tocally exhausted, both physically and spirirually. I had set offat a fastpace and my legs had grown *eary. Erren if I was returning ro the civ_ilized wo,d, I knew rhat the besi I could expecr w,rs some old cronewirh bad breath offering me a cup of rea. I could care less abour mak_ing it ro the village, and so I sat down on a rock and looked over theedge at the warerfall. Afterward, I learned it was calred the Husbandand S7ife Falls.

A large jagged rock, like the gaping mourh of a black killer shark,scuck out from che cliff, dividing in t*o che quickly flowing srreamrhat rushed down upon it. The warer thundered and fell about fifteenyards, where ir reformed, whire againsr dark green, chen flowedsrraighr as an a*ow toward rhe village downsrream. The branch ofthe warerfall on the far side of rhe rock was abour six feer wide andfell in an undisrurbed ribbon. The one closesr ro me was narrower,abour rhree feer across, caressing and enrangling rhe huge shark rockin rhe middle. As ir rumbled, rhe warer sl"rrered inco a rhousandjewels, breaking over a nurnber ofhidden rocks.

25

The smaller srream was rrying ro leap over rhe rock and cling to rhelarger flow, bur rhe jurring ,.on. ,.p"r"red chem cleanly, pr""rr.rr,ingeven a single drop from making it to rhe orher side. The warerfall,rhrown abour and rormenred, wzrs weary and gaunc, irs sound likesobbing or someone's anguished cries. This was the sad yer genrlewife.

. . The husband, by contrast, fell powerfully, pulverizing rhe rocksbelow and penerraring rhe earrh. it pained me ro see rhe rwo fall

Separalely, divided by char rock. The brokenhearred wife was like abeauriful-woman clinging ro someone, sobbing and trembling. As Iwarched from rhe safety of rhe bank, I srarred io shake "na _"/ n.rtbegan ro dance. !7hen I remembered how I had barhed wirh rhewoman in the headwarers of rhis srream, my imaginarion picrured herinside the falling warer, now being sweprtrndq now rising again, herskin disinregraring and scamerinj likehower perars amid a thousandunruly srreams of warer. I gasped at the sighr, and immediarely shewas whole again-rhe same face, body, breits, arms, and legs, rising

E4 I hurntKyikaIhe lldy ilan nfilount X0ya I 65

and sinking, suddenly dismembered, rhen appearing again. Unablero bear the sight, I felr myself plunging headlong inro the fall andtaking the water inro my embrace. Reurning ro my senses, I heardrhe eanhshaking roar of rhe husband, calling ro the mounrain spiricand roaring on irs way. \Zith such srrengrh, why wasn't he trying torescue her? I would save her! No marcer whar the cosr.

Bur rhen I rhoughr rhar ir would be berrer ro go back ro rhe coc-cage than ro kill myself in rhe warerfall. My base desires had broughrme ro rhis, to this poinr of indecision. As long as I could see her faceand hear her voice, what did ir marrer if she and her idior husbandshared a bed? Ar leasr it would be berrer than enduring endless aus-teriries and living our my days as a rnonk.

I made up my mind to go back io her, bur jusr as I srepped backfrom the rock, someone rapped me on rhe shoulder. "Hey, Monk."

I had been caughr ar my weakesr momenr. Feeling small andashamed, I looked up, expecring ro see a messenger from Hell. !(/hatI saw insread was rhe old man I had mer ar the woman's corcage.

He must have sold rhe horse because he was alone. He had a smallstring of coins hanging from his shoulder and was carrying a carp.The fish had scales of brillianr gold and looked so fresh rhar ir seemedalive. Ir was abour three feer long and dangled from a small srraw cordthreaded rhrough irs gills. Unable ro think of a word ro say, I couldonly look ar rhe man while he srared into my eyes. Finally, he chuck-led to himself. Ir wasn'r a normal laugh buc a gruesome sorr ofsnicker.

"rVhat are you doing here?" he asked me. "You should be used rothis kind of hear, or did you srop for something else? you're onlyrwelve miles from where you were lasr night. If you'd been walkinghard, you'd be in the village giving thanks to Jiz6 by now.

"Or maybe you've been rhinking abour rhar woman. your earrhlypassions are stirred, aren'r they? Don't rry to hide ir. I may be ableary-eyed old man, but I can srill rell black from whire. Anyonenormal wouldn't srill be human after a barh with her. Take your pick.Cow? Horse? Monkey? Toad? Bar? You're lucky you're not going tobe flying or hopping around for the rest of your life. \7hen you cameup from the river and hadn'r been rurned inro some orher animal, Icouldn't believe my eyes. Lucky you! I guess your fairh saved you.

"Remember the horse I led off lasr nighr? You said you mer a

medicine peddler from Toyama on your way ro rhe comage, right?\fell, he s what I'm talking about. The woman had rhat lecher rurnedinto a horse long before you showed up. I took him to the auction andcashed him in. \7irh the money I bought this carp. Oh, she loves fish!She'll eat rhis one tonight! Tell me. \fho do you think she isanyway?"

"Yes. \U7ho was she?" I inrerrupred the monk.

2E

Monk Sh[ch6 nodded. "Lisren ro rhis," he murmured. "Ir musr have

been my face. Remember rhe farmer I mer ar rhe crossroads, where Itook thar rrail inro the haunred foresr? Remember how he rold methat a docror once had his house rhere where rhe warer was flowingover the road? IUfell, ir rurns our rhat the woman was his daughrer."

In rhe high mounrains of Hida, where life is always rhe same andnothing srrange ever happens, somerhing exrraordinary occurred. Tochis counrry docror was born a daughrer who, from rhe momenr of herbirrh, was as beauriful as a jewel.

Her morher had far cheeks, eyes thar slanred down, a flar nose, andbreasts of rhe mosr disgusring sorr. How could she raise a daughrerwho was so beauriful?

People used ro gossip, comparing their siruarion ro ancienr raleswhere a god desires someone's daughter and shoors a white-fearheredarrow inso the roof of a house, ora nobleman who is hunring in rhecountryside, sees a counrry maiden and demands her for his misrress.

Her farher, the docror, was a vain, arroganr man wirh jurtingcheekbones and a beard. During threshing season, farmers ofren gerchaffin their eyes; and because infeccions and orher diseases are com-mon, he had gained some proficiency as an eye docror. As an inrernist,though, he was an urrer failure. And when ir came ro surgery rhe besrhe could do was mix a lirtle hair oil wirh water and apply ir ro rhewound.

But you know whar rhey say abour how some can believe in any-thing or anybody. Those of his patients whose days were not already

$S I lzumlKyika lhe lloly Man ol lllount KDya I 67

b

L

I:.

numbered eventually recovered; and as there were no other quacksaround, her father's practice flourished.

\fhen his daughter came to be sixteen or seventeen, in the bloom

of her youth, the people in the area came to believe that she wasYakushi, Healer of Souls, and rhat she had been born inro the docror'sfamily in order ro provide help to the needy. And provide she did.Boch rnen and women came pleading for her healing rouch.

It all began when she started showing interest in her farhersparienrs. "So your hands hurt? Let me see." She pressed the sofr palm

of her hand to the fingers of a young man named Jisaku-he was rhefirc9 sng-aed his rheumatism was cured completely. She stroked rhebelly of anocher parient who had drunk ainted water, and his srom-

achache wenr away. At first ir was the young men who benefired fromher healing powers, but then the older men srarted going to her, roo,and larer womeo. Even if they weren'r cured completely, the pain was

always less than before. When someone had a boil ro be lanced, they

screamed and kicked as the docror cur with his rusty knife. Buc if his

daughter pressed her chesc up against rheir backs and held their

shoulders, rhey could bear the pain.

Now, near rhe grove where the doctor had his house there was an

old loquar tree; and in rhe rree, a swarm ofbees had built a frighten-

ingly huge hive. One day, a young man named Kumaz6, the doctori

apprentice, found ir. His duries were mixing medicine, cleaning rhe

house, taking care ofthe garden, and rransporting the doctor by rick-

shaw to the homes of patienc living nearby. He was rwency-four or-five at the time, and had stolen some syrup from the docror's medical

supplies. Knowing the doctor was cightfisted and would scold him if

he ever found out, Kumaz6 hid his own jar of the syrup on a shelf with

his clorhes and, whenever he had a few minutes of spare rime, would

sacis$r his sweet tooth by secrerly sipping from it.

Kumazd found rhe bees' hive as he was working in the yard and

came over to rhe veranda to ask che doctor's daughter if she wanted to

see something interesting. "Pardon me for asking, but if you could

hold my hand, I'll reach inro a bees' hive and grab some. \Therever

you touch me won't get hurt even if the bees sting. I could try driving'em away with a broom, bur they'd scatter and get all over me. It'd be

sudden death." She hesitated, but smiled and let him take her hand.

He led her to the hive, where rhe bees were making a horrifring

1,

iidrone. In wenr his lefr hand. And our it came unharmed, even wirhseven or eighr bees on ir, some fanning their wings, some movingtheir legs, others crawling berween his fingers.

\7ell, after that incident, her fame spread like a spider's web.People began saying rhar if she touched you, even a bullet wouldcause no pain. And ir was from about that rime thar she herselfbecame aware of her power. lJ7hen she wenr off ro live in rhe moun-tains with rhe idiot, her powers grev/ even more wondrous. As shegrew older, she became able ro summon the most astounding magicalpowers at will. In rhe beginning, she needed ro press her body againsryou. Then ir was a rouch of her foor or a caress of rhe fingerrips.Finally, she didn'r need to make physical conracr at all. ITith a puffof her brearh, she could rurn a losr rraveler inro rhe animal of herchoice.

The old man drew my arrenrion ro the crearures I had seen aroundthe cotrage-rhe monkey, the toad, rhe bars, rabbir, and snakes. Allof them were men who had bached in the river wirh her! rfirhen Iheard rhar, I was overwhelmed wirh memories of the woman and rhetoad, of her being embraced by rhe monkey and arracked by the bar,and of the evil spirir of rhe foresr and mounrains thar circled rhecottage thar nighr.

And rhe idior? The old man rold me abour him, roo. At a timewhen the daughrer's fame had spread throughour che region, he hadcome to her farher as a patient. He was srill a child, accompanied byhis farher-a brusque, racirurn man-and by his long-haired olderbrother, who carried him down the mountain on his back. The boyhad a bad abscess on his leg, and they had broughr him ro the docror'shouse for trearmenr.

At firsr they srayed in a room in the doccor's house, bur the boy'sleg rurned our ro be more serious rhan originally thought. Theywould have to ler his blood, and, particulady because rhe boy was soyoung, rhey would need ro build up his srrengrh before anythingcould be done. For the rime being, rhe docror prescribed that he eatthree eggs a day. And ro pur his fathers mind at ease, a plaster wasput over the infecrion.

\Thenever the plasrer had to be removed, wherher by his father orbrocher or by someone else, the scab would get pulled off, and the boy

ffi I lzuml(y0la lhe llolyilan ofilountlGya I S$

would cry out in pain. $?hen the doctor's daughrer did it, though, he

endured silently.

As a matter of practice, the doctor used the poor physical condi-

rion ofhis patients as an excuse to put things offwhenever he knew

he couldn't do anyrhing to help. After three days passed, the boy's

hardworking father left his older son to look after the younger one

and returned to rhe mountains. Bowing and scraping, he excused

himself and backed out to the entrance o[ the doctor's house. He

slipped on his scraw sandals, got down on the ground and bowed

again, imploring the doctor to do what he could to save his son s life.

The boy didn't get any berter, though. On the seventh day, the

older brorher also recurned ro the mountains, saying rhat rhis was

harvestrime and by far the busiest season of rhe year. Bad weather was

moving in, and if the storms continued for very long, the rice crop,

their very source of life, would rot in the fields and their family would

srarve. Because he was the oldest son and the strongesr worker in his

family, he couldn't afford to stay away any longer. "Don't cry now," he

said sofrly to his brotheq and left him behind.

After that, the boy was alone. According to official records he was

six years old, but acrually he was eleven. The army wouldn't drafr a

son whose parents were already sixty. And so the boy's parens had

waited five years before they registered his binh. Having been born

and raised in the mountains, he had difficulty understanding people

in the valley, but he was a bright and reasonable child, who under-

stood that his diet ofthree eggs a day was producing the extra blood

rhat was ro be drained. He would whimper from time to time. But

because his brocher had told him not to cry he bore his burden well.

The doctor's daughter felt sorry for the boy and invited him to eat

with chem, chough he preferred going over co a corner of the room to

chew on a pitiful chunk of pickled radish. On che night before the

operarion, afrer everyone had gone to sleep, the doctor's daughter got

up to use the bathroom and heard him weeping quietly. Out of piry,

she took him to her bed.

\7hen it came time for the bloodletring, she held him from

behind as she usually did for her father! patienrs. The boy perspired

profusely and bore rhe pain of the scalpel without moving, Sus-rvas

it because the doctor had cut the wrong place?-they couldn't sraunch

*

the flow of blood. As they warched, the boy losr his color and hiscondirion became crirical.

The docror himself grew pale and agimted. By the grace of rhegods, rhe hemorrhaging stopped afrer rhree days; and the boys lifewas saved. Srill, he lost rhe use of his legs and from that poinr on wasa cripple.

All rhe boy could do was drag himself around and look parheri-cally at his lifeless limbs. Ir was an unbearable sight, like seeing agrasshopper carrying irs rorn-off legs in its mouth. !7hen he cried,the docror, irriraced by rhe thoughr rhat his repuration mighr suffer,glared angrily at him, making rhe boy seek refuge in his daughrer'sarms. The docror had wronged his parients many rimes before. Butthis rime he admirted his mistake and, rhough feeling ir was inappro-priare for a woman his daughrer's age ro be lerring rhe boy bury hisface in her bosom, he jusr folded his arms and sighed deeply.

Before long, che boy's farher came ro ger him. He didn'r complainto the docror bur accepred whar had happened ro his son as fare.Because rhe boy refused ro leave the young woman's side, rhe docror,finding an oppoftuniry to make amends, sent his daughter ro accom_pany them home.

As ir rurns our, rhe boy's home is rhe very mounrain corrage rhacI've been relling you abour. Ar the tirne, ic was one of abour rwenryhouses rhar formed a small village. The docror's daughter intended cosray only one or rwo days, bur lingered because ofher affecrion for rhechild. On the fifrh day of her sray, the rain came pouring down in anunrelenring rorrenc, as if warerfalls had been unleashed on rhe moun-rains. Everyone wore srraw raincoars even inside rheir homes. Thevcouldn'r open their fronr doors, ler alone parch the holes in rheirtharched roofs. only by calling our ro each other from.inside werethey able ro know thar the last rraces of humaniry had nor been wipedoff the face of the earrh. Eight days passed as if they were eight hun-dred. On rhe ninth, in the middle of the nighr, a grsar wind began roblow; and when the srorm reached its peak, the mouncains and villagerurned into a sea of mud.

Srrangely enough, the only ones who survived rhe flood were rhedoctor's daughrer, the young boy, and the old man who had been sentfrom rhe village to accompany them.

The doctori household was also annihilated by rhe same deluge.

7n I humi Ky[ka Ihc lloly Man nf lllnunt lffiya I 71

People say thar the birrh of a beautiful woman in such an our-of-the-way place is a harbinger of a new era. Yer rhe young woman had nohome to which to return. Alone in rhe world, she has been living inthe mountains wirh rhe boy ever since. You saw for yourself, he said,how nothing has changed. From the dme of the flood thirteen yearsago, she's cared for him wirh urrer devorion.

Once the rale had been rold, the old man sneered again. "So nowthat you know her srory you probably feel sorry for her. You wanr togather firewood and haul warer for rhe woman, don'r you? I'm afraidyour lustfirl narure's been awakened, Brother. Of course, you don'tlike to call it lusr. You'd rarher call ir mercy or symparhy. I knowyou're thinking of hurrying back ro the mounrains. Bur you'd berrerthink rwice. Since becoming rhar idiot s wife, she's forgorren abourhow the world behaves and does only as she pleases. She cakes anyman she wanrs. And when she rires of him. she rurns him inro an ani-rnal, jusr like char. No one escapes.

"And the river rhar carved our rhese mounrains? Since the flood,iri become a strange and mysrerious srream rhat boch seduces menand restores her beaury. Even a wirch pays a price for casting spells.Her hair gers tangled. Her skin becomes pale. She rurns haggard andthin. But then she bathes in rhe river and is resrored ro rhe way shewas. Thar's how her yourhful beaury gers replenished. She says

'Come,'

and the fish swim ro her. She looks ar a rree, and ics fruir falls inro herpalm. If she holds her sleeves up, ir srarrs ro rain. If she raises her eye-brows, the wind blows.

"She was born wirh a lusrful narure, and she Iikes young men besrof all. I wouldn'r be surprised if she said somerhing sweer ro you. Buteven ifher words were sincere, as soon as she gem tired ofyou, a railwill sprout, your ears will wiggle, your legs will grow longer, andsuddenly you'll be changed into someching else.

"I wish you could see whar rhe witch is going to look like afrershe s had her fill of rhis fish-sircing there with her legs crossed,drinking wine.

"So curb your wayward rhoughts, Good Monk, and ger away as

quickly as you can. You've been lucky enough as it is. She must havefelt something special for you, orherwise you wouldn't be here. You'vebeen through a miracle and you're srill young, so ger on wirh yourduties like you really mean it." The old man slapped me on the back

l+l t

hri,t' '1",,:

again. Dangling the carp from his hand, he started up the mountainroad.

, . I watched him grow smaller in the distance unril he disappeared

behind the mass of a large mounrain. From the rop of rhat mounrain,a cloud rapidly blossomed inro the droughr_cleared sky. Over rhequiet rush ofrhe waterfall, I could hear the'rolling echoes of.t"pprngthunder.

Sranding there like a cast_offshell, I returned ro my senses. Filledwirh graritude for the old man, I took up my walking staff, adjustedmy sedge hat, and ran down the trail. ny tn. rime I reached rhe vil-lage, ir was already raining on rhe mo,rnrain. Ir was an impressivestorm. Thanks to rhe rain, che carp rhe old man was carrying probablyreached rhe woman,s corrage alive.

This, rhen, was che monk's story. He didn,r borher ro add a moral rorhe tale. \We went our separare ways rhe next morning, and I wasfilled wirh sadness as I warched him begin his ascenr inro rhe snow_covered mouncains. The snow was falling lighrly. a, h. gr"Juufiymade his way up rhe mounrain road, rhe holy man of Mounr K6vaseemed ro be riding on rhe clouds.

0ne lfay in $pring(Shuncbu and Sbuncbu gohoku, 1906)

Pad I

"I|fho, me?"

. The srill of che spring day no doubr, had made it possible for

rhe reply ro come so quickly, like an echo ro rhe wanderer,s ..Excuseme, sir." How else could ir be? The old man, wearing a loosely fit_ting headband on his wrinkled forehead, had a sleepy, "lrnoscdrunken expression as he carrnly worked rhe sofr grouii warmedby the sun. The damp and sweary plum blosso-r1."rby, a flamerelff to flurrer away inro rhe crimson sunser, swayed brillianclywirh the charrer of small birds. Their voices sounded like conver-sarion, bur the old man, even in his rapturous rrance, musc have

I^:":l rhar rhe sound of a human voice could only be calling

IOr ntm.

Had he known the farmer would answer so prompcly, rhe passerbymighr have rhought rwice abour saying anyrhing. Afier ad he wasjust our for a walk and could have decided the matrer by dropping hissrick on rhe road: if ir fell norrh, toward Kamakura, he-*o.rld teli th.old.man; and if ir toppled south he would conrinue his walk wichoursaying a word. Chances are the old man wouldn,t hear him anywav.

n I hrn|XyitaI n l