The Yotsuya Kwaidan or O'Iwa Inari Tales of the Tokugawa, Volume 1 (of 2)

It was the hour of the pig (9 P.M.) before Iémon reached the house in Yotsuya. To his surprise he found the _amado_ still open on the garden. Some one was lying face downward on...

Kibei was in great straits, financial and domestic. The death of Kwaiba had brought him anything but freedom. In Nippon the headship of a House is much more than the simple heir...

Tamiya Yoémon was stumbling home in all haste from the funeral of Ito[u] Kwaiba. He was full of news for the wife, O'Kamé. The neighbours could talk of nothing but the strange h...

The _chu[u]gen_ stood over the toilet dealer now coming out of his half-trance condition. The eyes of the two men met and showed mutual astonishment. "Naruhodo! Mobei San! In a...

It was Genroku 8th year (1695). O'Iwa, a girl of twelve years, could understand what came to her ears. In dealing with each other the Nipponese are very exact and exacting. The...

In his difficult mission Kondo[u] Rokuro[u]bei had hopes of Cho[u]bei; but not much more. It was with no small pleasure that he heard the announcement of his visit the next morn...

Iémo[u]n fared as badly at the hands of the Buddha as at those of the Kami. Shu[u]den Osho[u], as guardian of the sacred image of the Gyo[u]ran Kwannon, was a very great man ind...

Yotsuya is a suburb--at the extreme west of Edo-To[u]kyo[u]. Its streets are narrow and winding, though hilly withal; especially on the southern edge toward the Aoyama district,...

The presence of O'Iwa created an upheaval in the Samoncho[u] household. The wet nurse required brought with her a train of servants. With the child's growth this was maintained,...

Kwaiba was reported as ill; very ill. His friends and dependents who had to pay visits of condolence, spoke of this illness with awe and terror. To understand what follows somet...

O'Iwa did not move. The two women approached and laid hands on her. Her yielding made no difference in the roughness of their treatment. Dragged, hustled, shoved, with amplitude...

Inagaki Sho[u]gen received the news at dawn, just as he was leaving the castle on completion of his night watch. The old knight smiled gravely, thanked the bearer of the message...

Kondo[u] Rokuro[u]bei went direct to the council of the conspirators. He found them assembled in the house of Ito[u]. Kwaiba, Iémon, O'Hana, Cho[u]zaémon, Kibei, were drinking _...

For two days Iémon was maturing the preliminaries. He seemed unwell and out of sorts. The third day he did not get up at all. O'Iwa was properly anxious. Said she--"The change i...

Some means of support had to be found. Employed in a _kenin's_ house, and leaving it under such conditions, kindred occupation was out of the question. There was a sort of black...

O'Iwa's stay of nearly seven days at Cho[u]bei's house was one of the golden periods of her life. O'Taki received the Ojo[u]san with humble joy. Iémon could not drop Cho[u]bei o...

The following morning Iémon sat brooding, mind and tongue clouded by the drinking bout of the previous night. O'Iwa silently busied herself with his renovation. Rokuro[u]bei had...

Said a neighbour next day, on meeting his fellow-gossip--"Ah! Is it Goémon San? It is said the Go Inkyo[u] is to be congratulated." Kamimura Goémon sniffed. He was a long man; w...

Matazaémon's illness justified all the predictions of Cho[u]bei. In the course of the month it was plain that his last hold on life was rapidly weakening. In that time Iémon had...

Kwaiba was hard at it, practising his favourite arts. His _saké_ cup stood before him, and from time to time he raised the bottle from the hot water, testing its temperature wit...

This uncle of Densuké, Kawai Kyu[u]bei by name, was a rice dealer, with a shop in Matsudacho[u] of the Kanda district. The distance to go was far. As with all ladies, O'Mino kep...

Shouldering his pack Densuké made off down the broad space lined by the white walls of the _yashiki_. In this quarter of the _bushi_ the highway was not crowded with citizens an...

Many were the visits paid by Iémon to contest at _go_ with Ito[u] Kwaiba. Rapid was the progress of the love affair between a young man and a young woman, both inspired with a c...