Kwaidan : Stories and Studies of Strange Things

by Hearn, Lafcadio

• ISBN13: 9780804836623
• ISBN10: 0804836620
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-03-15
• Publisher: Tuttle Pub

Summary

Most of the following Kwaidan, or Weird Tales, have been taken from old Japanese books.... Some of the stories may have had a Chinese origin: the very remarkable "Dream of Akinosuke," for example, is certainly from a Chinese source. But the Japanese story-teller, in every case, has so recolored and reshaped his borrowing as to naturalize it.... One queer tale, "Yuki-Onna," was told me by a farmer of Chofu, Nishitama-gori, in Musashi province, as a legend of his native village. Whether it has ever been written in Japanese I do not know; but the extraordinary belief which it records used certainly to exist in most parts of Japan, and in many curious forms.

Author Biography

Lafcadio Hearn was one of the first great interpreters of things Japanese for Western readers. His keen intellect, poetic imagination and clear style have ensured him a devoted readership for more than a century.

Table of Contents

PUBLISHER'S FOREWORD	ix
INTRODUCTION	xi
KWAIDAN
THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HÖICHI	1	(20)
OSHIDORI	21	(6)
THE STORY OF O-TEI	27	(10)
UBAZAKURA	37	(6)
DIPLOMACY	43	(9)
OF A MIRROR AND A BELL	52	(11)
JIKININKI	63	(12)
MUJINA	75	(6)
ROKURO-KUBI	81	(20)
A DEAD SECRET	101	(8)
YUKI-ONNA	109	(10)
THE STORY OF AOYAGI	119	(18)
JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA	137	(6)
THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKÉ	143	(14)
RIKI-BAKA	157	(6)
HI-MAWARI	163	(8)
HÖRAI	171	(8)
INSECT-STUDIES
BUTTERFLIES	179	(26)
MOSQUITOES	205	(8)
ANTS	213