A Japanese Tale

A Japanese Tale

A Japanese Tale

A young man went into the forest. He had not gone far when he saw a maiden weeping under a wall. He said to her, 'maiden, why do you weep?'
But she answered nothing.
And he said again, 'maiden, why do you weep?'
But she answered nothing.
And he said a third time, 'maiden, who do you weep?'
And she passed her hand across her face and it became as smooth as the wall of an egg.
Then he knew that he was in the presence of one of the demons that haunt the forest. He was terrified. He ran and ran and ran, gasping for breath, not daring to stop. At last he came to a charcoal-burner’s. 'Hullo,' said the charcoal-burner, 'what’s the matter with you?'
'I – I –'
'Well, what is it, what is it?'
'I – I saw a – no, I –'
'Now now, come along, try, you are quite all right now, what was it?'
'I – saw – a – maiden – weeping under a wall – and she – no I can’t –
it’s too terrible –'
'Was it anything like this?' said the charcoal-burner, and he passed his hand across his face and it became as smooth as the wall of an egg.

Written down by Myfanwy Evans

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image

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