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Page 28
Tomoshibi no
Kag� ayashig� ni
Miy�nuru wa
Abura shiborishi
Furu-tsubaki ka-mo?
[_As for (the reason why) the light of that lamp appears to be
a Weirdness,[63]--perhaps the oil was expressed from (the nuts
of) the ancient tsu-baki?_]
[Footnote 63: _Ayashig�_ is a noun formed from the adjective _ayashi_,
"suspicious," "strange," "supernatural," "doubtful." The word _kag�_
signifies both "light" and "shadow,"--and is here used with double
suggestiveness. The vegetable oil used in the old Japanese lamps
used to be obtained from the nuts of the _tsubaki_. The reader should
remember that the expression "ancient tsubaki" is equivalent to the
expression "goblin-tsubaki,"--the tsubaki being supposed to turn into
a goblin-tree only when it becomes old.]
* * * * *
--Nearly all the stories and folk-beliefs about which these _ky[=o]ka_
were written seem to have come from China; and most of the Japanese
tales of tree-spirits appear to have had a Chinese origin. As the
flower-spirits and hamadryads of the Far East are as yet little
known to Western readers, the following Chinese story may be found
interesting.
* * * * *
There was a Chinese scholar--called, in Japanese books, T[=o] no
Busanshi--who was famous for his love of flowers. He was particularly
fond of peonies, and cultivated them with great skill and
patience.[64]
[Footnote 64: The tree-peony (_botan_) is here referred to,--a flower
much esteemed in Japan. It is said to have been introduced from China
during the eighth century; and no less than five hundred varieties of
it are now cultivated by Japanese gardeners.]
One day a very comely girl came to the house of Busanshi, and begged
to be taken into his service. She said that circumstances obliged
her to seek humble employment, but that she had received a literary
education, and therefore wished to enter, if possible, into the
service of a scholar. Busanshi was charmed by her beauty, and took her
into his household without further questioning. She proved to be much
more than a good domestic: indeed, the nature of her accomplishments
made Busanshi suspect that she had been brought up in the court of
some prince, or in the palace of some great lord. She displayed
a perfect knowledge of the etiquette and the polite arts which
are taught only to ladies of the highest rank; and she possessed
astonishing skill in calligraphy, in painting, and in every kind of
poetical composition. Busanshi presently fell in love with her, and
thought only of how to please her. When scholar-friends or other
visitors of importance came to the house, he would send for the new
maid that she might entertain and wait upon his guests; and all who
saw her were amazed by her grace and charm.
One day Busanshi received a visit from the great Teki-Shin-Ketsu, a
famous teacher of moral doctrine; and the maid did not respond to her
master's call. Busanshi went himself to seek her, being desirous that
Teki-Shin-Ketsu should see her and admire her; but she was nowhere to
be found. After having searched the whole house in vain, Busanshi was
returning to the guest-room when he suddenly caught sight of the maid,
gliding soundlessly before him along a corridor. He called to her, and
hurried after her. Then she turned half-round, and flattened herself
against the wall like a spider; and as he reached her she sank
backwards into the wall, so that there remained of her nothing visible
but a colored shadow,--level like a picture painted on the plaster.
But the shadow moved its lips and eyes, and spoke to him in a whisper,
saying:--
"Pardon me that I did not obey your august call!... I am not a
mankind-person;--I am only the Soul of a Peony. Because you loved
peonies so much, I was able to take human shape, and to serve you.
But now this Teki-Shin-Ketsu has come,--and he is a person of dreadful
propriety,--and I dare not keep this form any longer.... I must return
to the place from which I came."
Then she sank back into the wall, and vanished altogether: there was
nothing where she had been except the naked plaster. And Busanshi
never saw her again.
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