The Washington herald., 1912-10-27

o0fS OF doIIoWo' on OF tnelr own Wneu
the autumn leaves begin to drop OF the
trees. the children are told that witches
are throwing them down: and there Ii one
particular night. not far from October
q, when sort Of Congress Of demons
assemblies and II Il imprudent to VEN
ture abroad. lest mischief befail-
The worst Of all the Witches in the
Mikado's realm h Hannyan. She Is Q
kind Of witch-goddess. and 10 supposed
to be the arch-representative Of femtn-
Inc envy and jealousy. Sometimes. In
Japanese art, she appears holding In her
hand the head Of a murdered infant, and
grinning over the accomplishment Of the
dreadful deed.
Hatred and treachery. In Japan. md
their favorite symbol in the serpent.
which there assumes the character Of a
frst-class demon. Its silent and stealthy
mode Of getting about. coupled with the
poisonous character Of its venom. may
perhaps justify the choice Of this reptile
as the emblem Of malice. But there are
in that country other types Of fends and
COLLINS with which we are not acquainted.
For example. there are goblin cats. and
even goblin rats, which it Ii most unsafe
to encounter after nightfall. As In our
own land, the supematured creatures OF
Nippon do not venture abroad customar-
lily in the day time. the nocturnal hours
being more appropriate for the exercise
of their alarming activities.
Felix Lore story.
One of the most similar stories Ito
cUidren in Jaram is that Of a boy
named Kihachi. who was employed as
acolyte In temple. Unfortunately. he
was far from being a success in that
capacity. his inclination being to devote
practically all Of his time to the draw
ing Of cats. 1t Is true that the cats he
drew were wonderfully lifelike. but the
priests of the temple had engaged his
services for other purposes, and when ne
drew pictures of cats not only upon his
own clothing. but even upon the prayer
rolls. they decided that there was
nothing to do but to dismiss him.
Finding himself thus throwp upon the
world. he started of and Wandered on
until he came across a deserted temple.
1t was attended by neither priest nor
acolyte and everything in II was covered
with dust. Obeying mere habit. he dust
ed the altar and cleaned things up In
a general way: and then, the work be-
Ing finished. he discovered that there
was a screen with a big blank space, on
which. irresistibly tempted. he drew a
large number of cats
When he had filled the screen with
cats he went to sleep on the floor. But
in the middle of the night he was
awakened by screams and yells incon-
ceivably alarming. For a while he lay
trembling. not daring to move. and after
a while all was still, and again he
slept
After daybreak he awoke, and there
on the floor Of the temple was the body
of a terrible rata rat as big as
COW! 1t was nothing more or less than
the corpse of a monster rat goblin. But
the boy saw something more wonderful
Yet. The mouths Of all the cats he had
blood. They had come alive" in the
night and had eaten the demon rat,
Subsequent inquiry proved that the
monster rat goblin had haunted the
temple for q long time past-which was
his reason why II was deserted. Many
persons who visited the place had never
and the presumption was that
they had been devoured.
As for the boy. Kihachi. he became a
great and successful artist-especially
famous for his cats, which (as everybody
who knows anything Of art is aware)
are the most difficult Of all animals to
draw In a lHe-like manner.
An Eccentrie Goblin.
There Is in Japan. by the way. q
rather eccentric kind OF goblin which has
the head of an ape. the body of q turtle.
and the legs of a frog. 1t Is amphibious
and extremely quarrelsome-its custom
being to challenge to mortal combat any
traveller 1t may happen to meet. But, not
its malignancy. II is re-
polite.
This creature IL known as the Kappa
On encountering him, the prudent thing
to do is to bow very low. He will then
be compelled. out Of politeness, to re-
spond with an abesiance equally low. and
in doing SO he is lost For his strength
lies in . fluid which is contained in a
cup-shaped depression on the top. of his
head. When he bows. the liquid is
spilled. and he becomes at once SO weak
that he can be dispatched without din
Guilty.
Speaking Of goblin cats. however, re-
calls the story (told by Mary F. Nixon
Roulet. in her book OF japanese Fairy
Tales'O Of the young Samurai. WAIKIKI.
who. wandering In pursuit OF his fortune.
came upon a ruined temple in a forest.
He had lost his way. and. to escape an
oncoming storm. sought shelter In the
temple and went to sleep.
BY and by he was aroused by blood
o troop Of mons:rous cats dancing on
tho cleared space in front of the temple.
As they capered about they sang Vim
chorus
WHISPER II not to shipp<itaro
That the Phantom Cats near.
Lest he soon appear-lest he SION appear"
Next morning WAIKIKI journeying on
came to a hamlet in the midst Of green
fields. He met a sweet young girl. who
took him to a nearby cottage. where a
bowl Of rice was placed before him. He
perceived however. that the family was
in grief. and the damsers eyes were red
with weeping. Her father explained to
him that the neighborhood was AFFLICTED
by a demon which each year demanded
the fairest maiden in the village, on
pain Of destroying all its inhabitants.
1t was customary to put the maiden in
q cage, carry her to the ruined temple
in the forest at sunset. and leave her
there. On the following day the cage
would be found empty, with no trace of
the girl.
who is Shippeitaro?" asked the young
Samurai.
The father replied that Shippeitaro was
the name ola beautiful dog owned by a
daimyo In the neighborhood.
Borrows the DOG.
Telling the man to keep his daughter
1t home" WAIKIKI went to the daimyo's
castle and begged the dog for one night,
promising to return him in the morning
At evening he put the dog into the cage.
which was carried to the temple by
who Immediately ran away The
young soldier, however. hid in the tenn
ME- and soon afterward he saw the cats