The Peony Lantern
: Japanese Fairy TalesIn Yedo there dwelt a samurai called Hagiwara. He was a samurai of
the hatamoto, which is of all the ranks of samurai the most
honourable. He possessed a noble figure and a very beautiful face, and
was beloved of many a lady of Yedo, both openly and in secret. For
himself, being yet very young, his thoughts turned to pleasure rather
than to love, and morning, noon and night he was wont to disport himself
with the gay y
revels within doors and without, and would often parade the streets for
long together with bands of his boon companions.
One bright and wintry day during the Festival of the New Year he found
himself with a company of laughing youths and maidens playing at
battledore and shuttlecock. He had wandered far away from his own
quarter of the city, and was now in a suburb quite the other side of
Yedo, where the streets were empty, more or less, and the quiet houses
stood in gardens. Hagiwara wielded his heavy battledore with great skill
and grace, catching the gilded shuttlecock and tossing it lightly into
the air; but at length with a careless or an ill-judged stroke, he sent
it flying over the heads of the players, and over the bamboo fence of a
garden near by. Immediately he started after it. Then his companions
cried, "Stay, Hagiwara; here we have more than a dozen shuttlecocks."
"Nay," he said, "but this was dove-coloured and gilded."
"Foolish one!" answered his friends; "here we have six shuttlecocks all
dove-coloured and gilded."
But he paid them no heed, for he had become full of a very strange
desire for the shuttlecock he had lost. He scaled the bamboo fence and
dropped into the garden which was upon the farther side. Now he had
marked the very spot where the shuttlecock should have fallen, but it
was not there; so he searched along the foot of the bamboo fence--but
no, he could not find it. Up and down he went, beating the bushes with
his battledore, his eyes on the ground, drawing breath heavily as if he
had lost his dearest treasure. His friends called him, but he did not
come, and they grew tired and went to their own homes. The light of day
began to fail. Hagiwara, the samurai, looked up and saw a girl
standing a few yards away from him. She beckoned him with her right
hand, and in her left she held a gilded shuttlecock with dove-coloured
feathers.
The samurai shouted joyfully and ran forward. Then the girl drew away
from him, still beckoning him with the right hand. The shuttlecock
lured him, and he followed. So they went, the two of them, till they
came to the house that was in the garden, and three stone steps that led
up to it. Beside the lowest step there grew a plum tree in blossom, and
upon the highest step there stood a fair and very young lady. She was
most splendidly attired in robes of high festival. Her kimono was of
water-blue silk, with sleeves of ceremony so long that they touched the
ground; her under-dress was scarlet, and her great girdle of brocade was
stiff and heavy with gold. In her hair were pins of gold and
tortoiseshell and coral.
When Hagiwara saw the lady, he knelt down forthwith and made her due
obeisance, till his forehead touched the ground.
Then the lady spoke, smiling with pleasure like a child. "Come into my
house, Hagiwara Sama, samurai of the hatamoto. I am O'Tsuyu, the
Lady of the Morning Dew. My dear handmaiden, O'Yone, has brought you to
me. Come in, Hagiwara Sama, samurai of the hatamoto; for indeed I am
glad to see you, and happy is this hour."
So the samurai went in, and they brought him to a room of ten mats,
where they entertained him; for the Lady of the Morning Dew danced
before him in the ancient manner, whilst O'Yone, the handmaiden, beat
upon a small scarlet-tasselled drum.
Afterwards they set food before him, the red rice of the festival and
sweet warm wine, and he ate and drank of the food they gave him.
It was dark night when Hagiwara took his leave. "Come again, honourable
lord, come again," said O'Yone the handmaiden.
"Yea, lord, you needs must come," whispered the Lady of the Morning Dew.
The samurai laughed. "And if I do not come?" he said mockingly. "What
if I do not come?"
The lady stiffened, and her child's face grew grey, but she laid her
hand upon Hagiwara's shoulder.
"Then," she said, "it will be death, lord. Death it will be for you and
for me. There is no other way." O'Yone shuddered and hid her eyes with
her sleeve.
The samurai went out into the night, being very much afraid.
Long, long he sought for his home and could not find it, wandering in
the black darkness from end to end of the sleeping city. When at last he
reached his familiar door the late dawn was almost come, and wearily he
threw himself upon his bed. Then he laughed. "After all, I have left
behind me my shuttlecock," said Hagiwara the samurai.
The next day Hagiwara sat alone in his house from morning till evening.
He had his hands before him; and he thought, but did nothing more. At
the end of the time he said, "It is a joke that a couple of geisha
have sought to play on me. Excellent, in faith, but they shall not have
me!" So he dressed himself in his best and went forth to join his
friends. For five or six days he was at joustings and junketings, the
gayest of the gay. His wit was ready, his spirits were wild.
Then he said, "By the gods, I am deathly sick of this," and took to
walking the streets of Yedo alone. From end to end of the great city he
went. He wandered by day and he wandered by night, by street and alley
he went, by hill and moat and castle wall, but he found not what he
sought. He could not come upon the garden where his shuttlecock was
lost, nor yet upon the Lady of the Morning Dew. His spirit had no rest.
He fell sick and took to his bed, where he neither ate nor slept, but
grew spectre-thin. This was about the third month. In the sixth month,
at the time of niubai, the hot and rainy season, he rose up, and, in
spite of all his faithful servant could say or do to dissuade him, he
wrapped a loose summer robe about him and at once went forth.
"Alack! Alack!" cried the servant, "the youth has the fever, or he is
perchance mad."
Hagiwara faltered not at all. He looked neither to the right nor to the
left. Straight forward he went, for he said to himself, "All roads lead
past my love's house." Soon he came to a quiet suburb, and to a certain
house whose garden had a split bamboo fence. Hagiwara laughed softly and
scaled the fence.
"The same, the very same shall be the manner of our meeting," he said.
He found the garden wild and overgrown. Moss covered the three stone
steps. The plum tree that grew there fluttered its green leaves
disconsolate. The house was still, its shutters were all closed, it was
forlorn and deserted.
The samurai grew cold as he stood and wondered. A soaking rain fell.
There came an old man into the garden. He said to Hagiwara:
"Sir, what do you do here?"
"The white flower has fallen from the plum tree," said the samurai.
"Where is the Lady of the Morning Dew?"
"She is dead," answered the old man; "dead these five or six moons, of a
strange and sudden sickness. She lies in the graveyard on the hill, and
O'Yone, her handmaid, lies by her side. She could not suffer her
mistress to wander alone through the long night of Yomi. For their sweet
spirits' sake I would still tend this garden, but I am old and it is
little that I can do. Oh, sir, they are dead indeed. The grass grows on
their graves."
Hagiwara went to his own home. He took a slip of pure white wood and he
wrote upon it, in large fair characters, the dear name of his lady. This
he set up, and burned before it incense and sweet odours, and made every
offering that was meet, and did due observance, and all for the welfare
of her departed spirit.
Then drew near the Festival of Bon, the time of returning souls. The
good folk of Yedo took lanterns and visited their graves. Bringing food
and flowers, they cared for their beloved dead. On the thirteenth day
of the seventh month, which, in the Bon, is the day of days, Hagiwara
the samurai walked in his garden by night for the sake of the
coolness. It was windless and dark. A cicala hidden in the heart of a
pomegranate flower sang shrilly now and again. Now and again a carp
leaped in the round pond. For the rest it was still, and never a leaf
stirred.
About the hour of the Ox, Hagiwara heard the sound of footsteps in the
lane that lay beyond his garden hedge. Nearer and nearer they came.
"Women's geta," said the samurai. He knew them by the hollow echoing
noise. Looking over his rose hedge, he saw two slender women come out of
the dimness hand in hand. One of them carried a lantern with a bunch of
peony flowers tied to the handle. It was such a lantern as is used at
the time of the Bon in the service of the dead. It swung as the two
women walked, casting an uncertain light. As they came abreast of the
samurai upon the other side of the hedge, they turned their faces to
him. He knew them at once, and gave one great cry.
The girl with the peony lantern held it up so that the light fell upon
him.
"Hagiwara Sama," she cried, "by all that is most wonderful! Why, lord,
we were told that you were dead. We have daily recited the Nembutsu
for your soul these many moons!"
"Come in, come in, O'Yone," he said; "and is it indeed your mistress
that you hold by the hand? Can it be my lady?... Oh, my love!"
O'Yone answered, "Who else should it be?" and the two came in at the
garden gate.
But the Lady of the Morning Dew held up her sleeve to hide her face.
"How was it I lost you?" said the samurai; "how was it I lost you,
O'Yone?"
"Lord," she said, "we have moved to a little house, a very little house,
in the quarter of the city which is called the Green Hill. We were
suffered to take nothing with us there, and we are grown very poor. With
grief and want my mistress is become pale."
Then Hagiwara took his lady's sleeve to draw it gently from her face.
"Lord," she sobbed, "you will not love me, I am not fair."
But when he looked upon her his love flamed up within him like a
consuming fire, and shook him from head to foot. He said never a word.
She drooped. "Lord," she murmured, "shall I go or stay?"
And he said, "Stay."
A little before daybreak the samurai fell into a deep sleep, and awoke
to find himself alone in the clear light of the morning. He lost not an
instant, but rose and went forth, and immediately made his way through
Yedo to the quarter of the city which is called the Green Hill. Here he
inquired for the house of the Lady of the Morning Dew, but no one could
direct him. High and low he searched fruitlessly. It seemed to him that
for the second time he had lost his dear lady, and he turned homewards
in bitter despair. His way led him through the grounds of a certain
temple, and as he went he marked two graves that were side by side. One
was little and obscure, but the other was marked by a fair monument,
like the tomb of some great one. Before the monument there hung a
lantern with a bunch of peony flowers tied to its handle. It was such a
lantern as is used at the time of Bon in the service of the dead.
Long, long did the samurai stand as one in a dream. Then he smiled a
little and said:
"'We have moved to a little house ... a very little house ... upon the
Green Hill ... we were suffered to take nothing with us there and we are
grown very poor ... with grief and want my mistress is become pale....'
A little house, a dark house, yet you will make room for me, oh, my
beloved, pale one of my desires. We have loved for the space of ten
existences, leave me not now ... my dear." Then he went home.
His faithful servant met him and cried:
"Now what ails you, master?"
He said, "Why, nothing at all.... I was never merrier."
But the servant departed weeping, and saying, "The mark of death is on
his face ... and I, whither shall I go that bore him as a child in these
arms?"
Every night, for seven nights, the maidens with the peony lantern came
to Hagiwara's dwelling. Fair weather or foul was the same to them. They
came at the hour of the Ox. There was mystic wooing. By the strong bond
of illusion the living and the dead were bound together.
On the seventh night the servant of the samurai, wakeful with fear and
sorrow, made bold to peer into his lord's room through a crack in the
wooden shutters. His hair stood on end and his blood ran cold to see
Hagiwara in the arms of a fearful thing, smiling up at the horror that
was its face, stroking its dank green robe with languid fingers. With
daylight the servant made his way to a holy man of his acquaintance.
When he had told his tale he asked, "Is there any hope for Hagiwara
Sama?"
"Alack," said the holy man, "who can withstand the power of Karma?
Nevertheless, there is a little hope." So he told the servant what he
must do. Before nightfall, this one had set a sacred text above every
door and window-place of his master's house, and he had rolled in the
silk of his master's girdle a golden emblem of the Tathagata. When these
things were done, Hagiwara being drawn two ways became himself as weak
as water. And his servant took him in his arms, laid him upon his bed
and covered him lightly, and saw him fall into a deep sleep.
At the hour of the Ox there was heard the sound of footsteps in the
lane, without the garden hedge. Nearer and nearer they came. They grew
slow and stopped.
"What means this, O'Yone, O'Yone?" said a piteous voice. "The house is
asleep, and I do not see my lord."
"Come home, sweet lady, Hagiwara's heart is changed."
"That I will not, O'Yone, O'Yone ... you must find a way to bring me to
my lord."
"Lady, we cannot enter here. See the Holy Writing over every door and
window-place ... we may not enter here."
There was a sound of bitter weeping and a long wail.
"Lord, I have loved thee through the space of ten existences." Then the
footsteps retreated and their echo died away.
The next night it was quite the same. Hagiwara slept in his weakness;
his servant watched; the wraiths came and departed in sobbing despair.
The third day, when Hagiwara went to the bath, a thief stole the emblem,
the golden emblem of the Tathagata, from his girdle. Hagiwara did not
mark it. But that night he lay awake. It was his servant that slept,
worn out with watching. Presently a great rain fell and Hagiwara,
waking, heard the sound of it upon the roof. The heavens were opened and
for hours the rain fell. And it tore the holy text from over the round
window in Hagiwara's chamber.
At the hour of the Ox there was heard the sound of footsteps in the lane
without the garden hedge. Nearer and nearer they came. They grew slow
and stopped.
"This is the last time, O'Yone, O'Yone, therefore bring me to my lord.
Think of the love of ten existences. Great is the power of Karma. There
must be a way...."
"Come, my beloved," called Hagiwara with a great voice.
"Open, lord ... open and I come."
But Hagiwara could not move from his couch.
"Come, my beloved," he called for the second time.
"I cannot come, though the separation wounds me like a sharp sword. Thus
we suffer for the sins of a former life." So the lady spoke and moaned
like the lost soul that she was. But O'Yone took her hand.
"See the round window," she said.
Hand in hand the two rose lightly from the earth. Like vapour they
passed through the unguarded window. The samurai called, "Come to me,
beloved," for the third time.
He was answered, "Lord, I come."
In the grey morning Hagiwara's servant found his master cold and dead.
At his feet stood the peony lantern burning with a weird yellow flame.
The servant shivered, took up the lantern and blew out the light; for "I
cannot bear it," he said.
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AN ASS climbed up to the roof of a building, and frisking about there, broke in the tiling. The owner went up after him and quickly drove him down, beating him severely with a thick wooden cudgel. The Ass said, "Why, I saw the Monkey do this very ... The Playroom Wedding
Paper Doll had been the maid of honor, but she did not at all approve of the match. "It will never be a happy marriage," she told Teddy Bear the night of the wedding. "Such marriages never are. How I should feel married to a man who wore dress... The Pleiades That Orion Fired At The Bull
<div> <img src="/images/i151.png" alt="The Pleiades" title="The Pleiades" height="248" width="300" /> The Pleiades </div> <p>When late autumn comes the Pleiades (Ply'-a-dees) appear in the evening sky to the eastward. These are the seven shots in the ... The Poet And His Patron
Why, CELIA, is your spreading waist So loose, so negligently lac'd? Why must the wrapping bed-gown hide Your snowy bosom's swelling pride? How ill that dress adorns your head, Disdain'd and rumpled from the bed! Those clouds, that... The Pomegranate, Apple-Tree, and Bramble
THE POMEGRANATE and Apple-Tree disputed as to which was the most beautiful. When their strife was at its height, a Bramble from the neighboring hedge lifted up its voice, and said in a boastful tone: "Pray, my dear friends, in my presence at least... The Poor Boy
Once upon a time something happened. If it hadn't happened, it wouldn't be told. There was once a poor widow, so poor that even the flies would not stay in her house, and this widow had two children, a boy and a girl. The boy was such a brave fell... The Poor Devil
Once upon a time there was a peasant, who led his cow to pasture in the spring, and prayed God to have her in His care. The evil one was sitting in a bush, heard him, and said to himself: "When things turn out well, they thank God for it; but if... The Poor Sick Mother
There was a poor woman, a widow, who lived alone with her little son Henry. She loved him tenderly and she had good reason to do so, for no one had ever seen a more charming child. Although he was but seven years old, he kept the house while his g... The Poor Soldier
Children form a half-circle, first choosing one of their number to represent the poor soldier. The chief regulation is that none of the players may use the words, yes, no, black, white, or gray. The poor soldier traverses the semicircle, thus addres... The Poor Woman Of Babylon
One child stands in the middle of a ring formed by the other children joining hands round her. They sing-- Here comes a poor woman from Babylon, With three small children all alone: One can brew, and one can bake, The oth... The Pope's Game Of Chess
Nearly a thousand years ago in the town of Mayence, on the bank of the Rhine, there dwelt a pious Jew of the name of Simon ben Isaac. Of a most charitable disposition, learned and ever ready to assist the poor with money and wise counsel, he was r... The Poplar Tree
One night, just at sunset, an old man found the pot of gold which lies under the end of the rainbow. His home was far beyond the dark forest, through which he was passing. The pot of gold was heavy, and he soon began to look for a safe place i... The Portrait
A spreading contagion, defacing our tongue With phrases outlandish, our critics bemoan. But some fools have their notions of purity hung Upon obsolete terms superseding our own. Living words they despise as a vulgar intrusion, ... The Portuguese Duck
A DUCK once arrived from Portugal. There were some who said she came from Spain, but that is almost the same thing. At all events, she was called the Portuguese duck, and she laid eggs, was killed and cooked, and that was the end of her. The du... The Pot Of Gold
BY MARY E. WILKINS FREEMAN The Flower family lived in a little house in a broad grassy meadow, which sloped a few rods from their front door down to a gentle, silvery river. Right across the river rose a lovely dark green mountain, and when the... The Pot-herb That Sailed With The Pilgrims
<p>"Come," said the Guide, "to-day I am going to show you a Pot-herb that came from England with the Pilgrim Fathers and spread over the whole of America. There is a story about it that will keep it ever in your memory."</p> <div>... The Prairie-girl With Yellow Hair
<div> <img src="/images/i025.png" alt="The Prairie-girl" title="The Prairie-girl" height="400" width="268" /> The Prairie-girl </div> <p>Tall and fair was the Prairie-girl. She was not very pretty, but her form was slender and graceful, and her head w... The Pride Of The Regiment
BY HARRY M. KIEFFER (ADAPTED) "Old Abe" was the war-eagle of the Eighth Wisconsin Volunteers. Whoever it may have been that first conceived the idea, it was certainly a happy thought to make a pet of an eagle. For the eagle is our national bird, ... The Prince And Princess In The Forest
There were, once upon a time, a king and queen of Denmark who had an only son, a handsome and clever lad. When he was eighteen, his father, the old king, fell very ill, and there was no hope that he would ever get well again. The queen and the pri... The Prince And The Dragon
Once upon a time there lived an emperor who had three sons. They were all fine young men, and fond of hunting, and scarcely a day passed without one or other of them going out to look for game. One morning the eldest of the three princes mounted h...