cats were immediately taken out and tied with strings to the door post. Unable to move freely, they began a meowing chorus which immensely tortured the cat-hater. He was in a cold sweat and felt more dead than alive.
"Well, dear Kiyokado. Do you still wish to put off the payment?"
"Oh, help me, Governor! I will do anything you want me to do. Please take them away!"
"All right. I will have them taken away. But before doing that, I must request you to write a letter to your estate managers. Tell them to pay the taxes today. If you fail to meet my request, I must tell my guards to bring in the cats again."
"Oh, no! I'll surely die of shock to death if I see them again. I will be very happy to write a letter."
Whereupon the governor had brush and ink brought in for Kiyokado's use. The cat-hater, thus pressed, had no other choice but to write a letter telling his managers to tender immediately five hundred rice bags to the provincial government of Yamato.
This interesting story soon spread in the capital and people congratulated the witty governor on his splendid victory over the cat-hater.
17. The flying water jars
W ITH THE COMING of autumn, many hundreds of thousands of Kyotoites turn out on each holiday and visit noted maple-viewing resorts in the suburbs of the city.
One of these resorts is Takao, which lies several miles up the clear stream of Kiyotaki River. The deep valley is entirely covered with red leaves of maple trees in this season, and presents a fantastic view. On both sides of the stream are many improvised resting booths in a row, and visitors may open their lunch boxes, or have a maple-viewing party, merrily laughing and talking, or singing with the accompaniment of strolling musicians.
At some distance from the stream stands a Buddhist temple called Jingo-ji, which was founded in 824 by Kobo Daishi, one of the most revered Buddhist priests and the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism.
Now here is an interesting tale about this stream.
Long, long ago, there lived near this stream a priest who had been studying Buddhism for a long time. Through his continued self-imposed penance, he acquired such wonderful magic power that he could make a jar fetch water from the river. He was proud of being so great a priest.
One day, he saw another jar come flying from the upper reaches of the river, fill itself with water, and fly back. Several days later, he again saw the jar do the same work and fly back. He could hardly believe that anyone capable of such magic lived up the river. So he promptly ran for several miles up along the river after the jar, and saw it finally go into the hut of a small cloister. Its roof and the garden were covered with moss, and presented a kind of holiness. When he noiselessly stepped up to a window and looked into the room, he saw a sacred book left open on the desk and even smelled incense burning.
He carefully took another look around the room, and found an old noble-looking priest dozing over an elbow rest. To test his magic power, the younger priest drew close to him with stealthy steps and chanted a spell of fire evil. The old priest, even in his sleep, took up a cane, soaked it in holy water, which he sprinkled all around himself. Some drops fell on the younger priest and set his robe on fire.
Frightened, he ran out to the garden and tried to beat out the fire. The holy priest, awakened from his sleep by the noise, saw the younger one in trouble, so he sprinkled more water on him. This mysterious shower put the fire out in a moment, so he was saved from being burned to death.
Stepping up to him, the holy priest asked, "Why have you come here to meet such trouble?" The younger priest answered:
"I am a priest living several miles down the river. I was confident that I was the only priest capable of using magic, until I saw another jar drawing water from the river and realized that there was someone else who could do the same. To find out who he was, I came here following
"Well, dear Kiyokado. Do you still wish to put off the payment?"
"Oh, help me, Governor! I will do anything you want me to do. Please take them away!"
"All right. I will have them taken away. But before doing that, I must request you to write a letter to your estate managers. Tell them to pay the taxes today. If you fail to meet my request, I must tell my guards to bring in the cats again."
"Oh, no! I'll surely die of shock to death if I see them again. I will be very happy to write a letter."
Whereupon the governor had brush and ink brought in for Kiyokado's use. The cat-hater, thus pressed, had no other choice but to write a letter telling his managers to tender immediately five hundred rice bags to the provincial government of Yamato.
This interesting story soon spread in the capital and people congratulated the witty governor on his splendid victory over the cat-hater.
17. The flying water jars
W ITH THE COMING of autumn, many hundreds of thousands of Kyotoites turn out on each holiday and visit noted maple-viewing resorts in the suburbs of the city.
One of these resorts is Takao, which lies several miles up the clear stream of Kiyotaki River. The deep valley is entirely covered with red leaves of maple trees in this season, and presents a fantastic view. On both sides of the stream are many improvised resting booths in a row, and visitors may open their lunch boxes, or have a maple-viewing party, merrily laughing and talking, or singing with the accompaniment of strolling musicians.
At some distance from the stream stands a Buddhist temple called Jingo-ji, which was founded in 824 by Kobo Daishi, one of the most revered Buddhist priests and the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism.
Now here is an interesting tale about this stream.
Long, long ago, there lived near this stream a priest who had been studying Buddhism for a long time. Through his continued self-imposed penance, he acquired such wonderful magic power that he could make a jar fetch water from the river. He was proud of being so great a priest.
One day, he saw another jar come flying from the upper reaches of the river, fill itself with water, and fly back. Several days later, he again saw the jar do the same work and fly back. He could hardly believe that anyone capable of such magic lived up the river. So he promptly ran for several miles up along the river after the jar, and saw it finally go into the hut of a small cloister. Its roof and the garden were covered with moss, and presented a kind of holiness. When he noiselessly stepped up to a window and looked into the room, he saw a sacred book left open on the desk and even smelled incense burning.
He carefully took another look around the room, and found an old noble-looking priest dozing over an elbow rest. To test his magic power, the younger priest drew close to him with stealthy steps and chanted a spell of fire evil. The old priest, even in his sleep, took up a cane, soaked it in holy water, which he sprinkled all around himself. Some drops fell on the younger priest and set his robe on fire.
Frightened, he ran out to the garden and tried to beat out the fire. The holy priest, awakened from his sleep by the noise, saw the younger one in trouble, so he sprinkled more water on him. This mysterious shower put the fire out in a moment, so he was saved from being burned to death.
Stepping up to him, the holy priest asked, "Why have you come here to meet such trouble?" The younger priest answered:
"I am a priest living several miles down the river. I was confident that I was the only priest capable of using magic, until I saw another jar drawing water from the river and realized that there was someone else who could do the same. To find out who he was, I came here following
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