Latest / Sandman Stories Presents / EP 307: Halloween- Shokuninki; Mujina (Hearn)

Transcript

EP 307: Halloween- Shokuninki; Mujina (Hearn) · Sandman Stories Presents

• 0:25
  Welcome back listeners to Sandman Stories Presents.
• 0:28
  We're on the 4th installment of the Halloween series with three
• 0:31
  stories. There's some talk of death and
• 0:34
  spookiness, so I'd be cautious with the easily spooked.
• 0:39
  The first story is about greed. The term at that time was Jiki
• 0:43
  Ninki, but the modern version is Shokun Ninki, so that's what I
• 0:47
  changed the story title to. And the second story warns about
• 0:51
  talking to crying women by rivers.
• 0:55
  OK, let's begin. Shokuninki.
• 1:02
  Once, when Musso Kokushi, a priest of the Zen sect, was
• 1:06
  traveling alone through the province of Mino, he lost his
• 1:08
  way in the mountain district, where there was nobody to direct
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  him. For a long time he wandered
• 1:14
  about helplessly, and he was beginning to worry about finding
• 1:18
  shelter for the night, when he saw on the top of a hill lighted
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  by the last rays of the sun, one of those little hermitages
• 1:26
  called an anjitsu, which are built for the solitary priests.
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  It seemed to be in ruinous condition, but he hastened to it
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  eagerly, and found that it was inhabited by an aged priest,
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  from whom he begged the favor of a night's lodging.
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  This the old man harshly refused, but he directed Musso
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  to a certain hamlet in the valley adjoining, where lodging
• 1:50
  and food could be obtained. Musso found his way to the
• 1:54
  hamlet, which consisted of less than a dozen farm cottages, and
• 1:59
  he was kindly received at the dwelling of the head man 40 or
• 2:04
  50 people were assembled in the main apartment at the moment of
• 2:07
  Musso's arrival, but he was shown into a small separate
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  room, where he was promptly supplied with food and bedding.
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  Being very tired, he lay down to rest at an early hour, but a
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  little before midnight he was roused from sleep by the sound
• 2:23
  of loud weeping in the next room.
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  Presently the sliding screens were gently pushed apart, and a
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  young man carrying a Lantern entered the room, respectfully
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  saluted him, and said, Reverend Sir, it is my painful duty to
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  tell you that I am now the head of the household.
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  Yesterday I was only the eldest son, but when you came in here,
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  tired as you were, we did not wish for you to feel embarrassed
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  in any way. Therefore we did not tell you
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  that our father had died only a few hours before.
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  The people who you saw in the next room are the inhabitants of
• 3:01
  this village. They all assembled here to pay
• 3:04
  their last respects to the dead, and now they are going off to
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  another village about 3 miles off.
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  For by our custom, none of us may remain in this village
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  during the night. After a death has taken place.
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  We make the proper offerings and prayers, then we go away,
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  leaving the corpse alone. Strange things always happen in
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  the house where a corpse has been left, so we think that is
• 3:28
  better for you to come with us. We can find you good lodging in
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  another village, but perhaps, as you are a priest, you have No
• 3:36
  Fear of demons or evil spirits, and if you are not afraid of
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  being left alone with the body, you'll be very welcome to use
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  this poor house. However, I must tell you that
• 3:47
  nobody except a priest would dare remain here tonight.
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  Musso answered. For your kind intention and your
• 3:55
  generous hospitality I am deeply grateful.
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  But I am sorry that you did not tell me of your Father's death
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  when I came, for though I was a little tired, I certainly was
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  not so tired that I would have difficulty in doing my duty as a
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  priest. Had you told me, I could have
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  performed the service before your departure.
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  As it is, I shall perform the service after you have gone
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  away, and I should stay with the body until morning.
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  I do not know what you mean by your words about the danger of
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  staying here alone, but I am not afraid of ghosts or demons.
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  Therefore please feel no anxiety on my account.
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  The young man appeared to be rejoiced by these assurances,
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  and expressed his gratitude in fitting words.
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  Then the other members of the family and the folks assembled
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  in the adjoining room, having told of the priest's kind
• 4:42
  promises, came to thank him, after which the master of the
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  house said. Now, Reverence, Sir, as much as
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  we regret to leave you alone, we must bid you for well.
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  By the rule of our village, none of us can stay here after
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  midnight. We beg, kind Sir, that you will
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  take care of your honorable body while we are unable to attend
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  upon you, and if you happen to hear or see anything strange
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  during our absence, please tell us of the matter when we return
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  in the morning. All then left the house, except
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  for the priest, who went to the room where the dead body was
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  laying. The usual offerings have been
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  set before the corpse, and a small Buddhist lamp, Tomio was
• 5:23
  burning. The priest recited the service
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  and performed the funeral ceremonies, after which he
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  entered into meditation. So meditating he remained
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  through several silent hours, and there was no sound in the
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  deserted village. But when the hush of the night
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  was at its deepest, there noiselessly entered a shape,
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  vague and vast, and in the same moment Musso found himself
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  without power to move or speak. He saw the shape lift the corpse
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  as with hands devour it more quickly than a cat devours a
• 6:00
  rat, beginning at the head and eating everything, The hair and
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  the bones, and even the shroud. And the monstrous thing, having
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  thus consumed the body, turned to the offerings and ate them
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  also. Then it went away as
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  mysteriously as it had come. When the villagers returned the
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  next morning, they found the priest awaiting them at the door
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  of the head man's dwelling. All in turn saluted him, and
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  when they had entered and looked about the room, no one expressed
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  any surprise at the disappearance of the dead body
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  and the offerings. But the master of the house said
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  to Muso, Reverend Sir, you have probably seen unpleasant things
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  during the night. All of us were anxious about
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  you, but now we are very happy to find you alive and unharmed.
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  Gladly we would have stayed with you if it had been possible.
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  But the law of our village, as I told you last evening, obliges
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  us to quit our houses after our death has taken place, and to
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  leave the corpse alone. Whenever this law has been
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  broken, some great misfortune has followed.
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  Whenever it is obeyed, we find that the corpse and the
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  offerings disappear during our absence.
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  Perhaps you have seen the 'cause Then Musso told of the dim and
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  awful shape that had entered the death chamber to devour the body
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  and the offerings. No person seemed to be surprised
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  by his narration. And the master of the House
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  observed which you have told us, Reverend Sir, agrees with what
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  has been said about this matter from ancient times.
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  Musso then inquired, Does not the priest on the hill sometimes
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  perform the funeral service for your dead?
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  What priest? The young man asked.
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  The priest who yesterday evening direct me to this village,
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  answered Musso. I called at his anjutsu on
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  Yonder hill. He refused me lodging, but he
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  told me the way. Here the listeners looked at
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  each other in astonishment, and after a moment of silence the
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  master of the house said reverence, Sir, there is no
• 8:08
  priest and there's no anjitsu on that hill.
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  For the time of many generations there's not been any resident
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  priest in the neighborhood. Musu said nothing more on the
• 8:18
  subject, for it was evident that his kind host supposed him to
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  have been tricked by some goblin.
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  But after having bid them farewell and obtained all
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  necessary information to this road, he determined to look
• 8:28
  again at the Hermitage on the hill, and so to ascertain
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  whether he'd really been deceived.
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  He found the anjutsu without any difficulty, and this time its
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  age occupant invited him to enter.
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  When he had done so, the hermit humbly bowed before him, saying,
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  Ah, I am ashamed, I am very much ashamed, I am exceedingly
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  ashamed. You need not be ashamed for
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  having refused me shelter, said Musso.
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  You directed me over to the village over there, where I was
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  treated very kindly, and I thank you for that favour.
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  I can give no man shelter, the reckless answered, and it is not
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  for the refusal that I am ashamed.
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  I am ashamed only that you have seen me in my real shape, for it
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  was I who devoured the corpse and the offerings last night
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  before your eyes. No, Reverend Sir, that I am a
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  Shoku Jinki, an eater of human flesh, have pity upon me and
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  allow me to confess my mistake, which has reduced me to this
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  condition. A long, long time ago I was a
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  priest in this desolate region. There was no other priest for
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  many leagues around. So in that time the bodies of
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  the mountain folk who died used to be brought here, sometimes
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  from great distances, in order that I might repeat the holy
• 9:53
  service over them. But I repeated the service and
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  performed the rites only as a matter of business.
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  I thought only of the food and the clothes that my sacred
• 10:03
  profession enabled me to gain. Because of this selfish impiety,
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  I was reborn immediately after my death into the state of
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  Ashoka Jinki. Since then I've been obliged to
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  feed upon the corpses of the people who die in this district.
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  Every one of them I must devour in a way that you saw last
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  night. Now Reverend Sir, let me beseech
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  you to perform a Segaki service for me.
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  Help me by your prayers, I entreat you, so that I might be
• 10:34
  able to escape from this horrible state of existence.
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  No sooner had the hermit uttered this petition that he
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  disappeared and the Hermitage also disappeared at the same
• 10:44
  instant, and Musso Kukushi found himself kneeling alone in the
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  high grass beside an ancient and Moss grown tomb of the form
• 10:53
  called Gorinishi, which seemed to be the tomb of the priest.
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  The and spooky.
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  All right and story #2 Mujina. On the Akasaka Rd. in Tokyo,
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  there's a slope called Ki Nokuni Zaka, which means the slope of
• 11:29
  the province of Ki. I do not know why it's called
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  the slope of the province of Ki. On one side of the slope you'll
• 11:37
  see an ancient Moat, very deep and wide, with high banks rising
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  up to some of the place of the gardens, and on the other side
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  of the road extend the long and lofty walls of an imperial
• 11:49
  palace. Before the air of St.
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  Lamps and generic Kishas, this neighborhood was a very lonesome
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  place after dark, and belated pedestrians would go miles out
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  of their way rather than mount the key.
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  No Kunizaka alone after sunset. All because of a Mugina that
• 12:05
  used to work there. The last man who saw the mujina
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  was an old merchant from the Kobayashi quarter who died about
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  30 years ago. This is his story as he told it.
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  One night at a late hour he was hurrying up Key St. when he
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  perceived a woman crouching by the Moat, all alone and weeping
• 12:27
  bitterly. Fearing that she intended to
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  drown herself, he stopped to offer her any assistance or
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  consolation in his power. She appeared to be a slight and
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  graceful person, handsomely dressed, and her hair was
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  arranged like that of a young girl of a good family.
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  Oh, Jo Chu, he exclaimed, approaching her.
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  Oh, Jo Chu, do not cry like that.
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  Tell me what the trouble is, and if there's any way to help you,
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  I would be glad to help you. He really meant what he said,
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  for he was a kind man. But she continued to weep,
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  hiding her face from him with one of her long sleeves.
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  Oh, Jo Chu, he said again, as gently as he could.
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  Please, please listen to me. This is no place for a young
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  lady at night. Do not cry, I implore you.
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  Just tell me how I may help you. Slowly she rose, but turned her
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  back to him and continued to moan and sob behind her sleeve.
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  He laid his hand lightly upon her shoulder and pleaded, Oh
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  Jochu, oh Jochu, oh Jochu, listen to me just for one little
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  moment, oh Jochu, oh Jochu. Then that Oh Jochu turned around
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  and dropped her sleeve and stroked her face with her hand.
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  And the man saw that she had no eyes or nose or mouth, and he
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  screamed and ran away. He ran up Key St. and he ran and
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  he ran, and all was black and empty before him.
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  On and on he ran, never daring to look back.
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  And at last he saw a Lantern so far away that it looked like the
• 14:08
  gleam of a Firefly, and he made for it.
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  It proved only to be the Lantern of an itinerant soba cellar who
• 14:15
  had set down a stand by the roadside.
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  But any light and any human companionship was good after
• 14:20
  that experience. He flung himself down at the
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  feet of the soba cellar, crying out.
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  Corey. Corey roughly exclaimed the soba
• 14:32
  man. Here, what is the matter with
• 14:34
  you? Somebody hurt you.
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  Nobody hurt me, Panted the other.
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  Only, only scared you. Queried the peddler
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  unsympathetically. Robbers.
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  Not, not robbers. No, not, not robbers, Gasped the
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  terrified man. I saw a woman by the Moat and
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  she showed me. Oh, I cannot tell you what she
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  showed me. Was it anything like this that
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  she showed you? Cried the sober man, stroking
• 15:09
  his own face, which then became like an egg, and simultaneously
• 15:15
  the light went out. The end.
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  Woo, thanks Lafkadi O'hearn for these creepy Japanese tales.
• 15:42
  I hope you're enjoying the spooky season.
• 15:44
  If you want more spooky Japanese stuff, go listen to Uncanny
• 15:46
  Japan. Thank you and happy Halloween.