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ON the Akasaka Road, in Tôkyô, there is a slope called Kii-no-kuni-zaka,--which means the Slope of the Province of Kii. I do not know why it is called the Slope of the Province of Kii. On one side of this slope you see an ancient moat, deep and very wide, with high green banks rising up to some place of gardens;--and on the other side of the road extend the long and lofty walls of an imperial palace. Before the era of street-lamps and jinrikishas, this neighborhood was very lonesome after dark; and belated pedestrians would go miles out of their way rather than mount the Kii-no-kuni-zaka, alone, after sunset.
All because of a Mujina that used to walk there.
The last man who saw the Mujina was an old merchant of the Kyôbashi quarter, who died about thirty years ago. This is the story, as he told it:--
One night, at a late hour, he was hurrying
up the Kii-no
Do not cry, I implore you I--only tell me how
I may be of some help to you!" Slowly she
rose up, but turned her back to him, and
continued to moan and sob behind her sleeve. He
laid his hand lightly upon her shoulder, and
pleaded:--"O-jochû!--O-jochû!--O-jochû!
. . . Listen to me, just for one little moment!
. . . O-jochû--O-jochû!" . . . Then that
O-jochû turned round, and dropped her sleeve,
and stroked her face with her hand;--and the
man saw that she had no eyes or nose or mouth,--and
he screamed and ran away.
Up Kii-no
"Koré! koré!" roughly exclaimed
the soba-man. "Here! what is the matter with
you? Anybody hurt you?"
"No--nobody hurt me," panted the
other,--"only . . . Aa!--aa!". . .
"--Only scared you?" queried the
peddler, unsympathetically. "Robbers?"
"Not robbers,--not robbers," gasped
the terrified man. . . . "I saw . . . I saw a
woman--by the moat;--and she showed me
. . . Aa! I cannot tell you what she showed
me!" . . .
"Hé! Was it anything like
THIS that
she showed you?" cried the soba-man, stroking his own
face--which therewith became
like unto an Egg.... And, simultaneously,
the light went out.
(End.)
(2) Soba is a preparation of buckwheat,
somewhat resembling vermicelli.