



Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Ernest Schaal, and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net









                               SHADOWINGS

                           BY LAFCADIO HEARN
                   LECTURER ON ENGLISH LITERATURE IN
                 THE IMPERIAL UNIVERSITY, TOKYO, JAPAN

               _AUTHOR OF_ "EXOTICS AND RETROSPECTIVES,"
                   "IN GHOSTLY JAPAN," ETC., ETC.


                              [Decoration]


                                 BOSTON
                       LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
                                  1919




                           _Copyright, 1900_,
                     BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY

                       _All rights reserved_


                                Printers
                 S. J. PARKHILL & CO. BOSTON, U. S. A.




                                Contents


    STORIES FROM STRANGE BOOKS:

          I. THE RECONCILIATION                                5

         II. A LEGEND OF FUGEN-BOSATSU                        15

        III. THE SCREEN-MAIDEN                                23

         IV. THE CORPSE-RIDER                                 33

          V. THE SYMPATHY OF BENTEN                           41

         VI. THE GRATITUDE OF THE SAMEBITO                    57

    JAPANESE STUDIES:

          I. SEMI                                             71

         II. JAPANESE FEMALE NAMES                           105

        III. OLD JAPANESE SONGS                              157

     FANTASIES:

          I. NOCTILUCAE                                       197

         II. A MYSTERY OF CROWDS                             203

        III. GOTHIC HORROR                                   213

         IV. LEVITATION                                      225

          V. NIGHTMARE-TOUCH                                 235

         VI. READINGS FROM A DREAM-BOOK                      249

        VII. IN A PAIR OF EYES                               265




                          Illustrations


                                                   _Facing page_

    PLATE I                                                   72
        1-2, _Young Semi._
        3-4, _Haru-Zemi_, also called _Nawashiro-Zemi_.

    PLATE II                                                  76
        "_Shinne-Shinne_" also called _Yama-Zemi_, and
            _Kuma-Zemi_.

    PLATE III                                                 80
     _Aburazemi._

    PLATE IV                                                  84
        1-2, _Mugikari-Zemi_, also called _Goshiki-Zemi_.
        3, _Higurashi_.
        4, "_Min-Min-Zemi_."

    PLATE V                                                   88
        1, "_Tsuku-tsuku-Boshi_," also called
            "_Kutsu-kutsu-Boshi_," etc. (_Cosmopsaltria
            Opalifera?_)
        2, _Tsurigane-Zemi_.
        3, _The Phantom_.




STORIES FROM STRANGE BOOKS

    Il avait vu bruler d'etranges pierres,
    Jadis, dans les brasiers de la pensee...

                       EMILE VERHAEREN




                         The Reconciliation[1]

                              [Decoration]

    [1] The original story is to be found in the curious volume
        entitled _Konseki-Monogatari_

THERE was a young Samurai of Kyoto who had been reduced to poverty by
the ruin of his lord, and found himself obliged to leave his home, and
to take service with the Governor of a distant province. Before quitting
the capital, this Samurai divorced his wife,--a good and beautiful
woman,--under the belief that he could better obtain promotion by
another alliance. He then married the daughter of a family of some
distinction, and took her with him to the district whither he had been
called.

                   *       *       *       *       *

But it was in the time of the thoughtlessness of youth, and the sharp
experience of want, that the Samurai could not understand the worth of
the affection so lightly cast away. His second marriage did not prove a
happy one; the character of his new wife was hard and selfish; and he
soon found every cause to think with regret of Kyoto days. Then he
discovered that he still loved his first wife--loved her more than he
could ever love the second; and he began to feel how unjust and how
thankless he had been. Gradually his repentance deepened into a remorse
that left him no peace of mind. Memories of the woman he had
wronged--her gentle speech, her smiles, her dainty, pretty ways, her
faultless patience--continually haunted him. Sometimes in dreams he saw
her