Text from Bungo Densetsu Shu, p. no.
Note: Kannon, a Buddhist bodhisattva, commonly known as the Goddess of Mercy.
LOOKING UP from a small village nestled at the foot of a certain mountain, one can see a little shrine of Kannon on the very top. A young couple used to live in that village. The wife, for all her youth, believed in Kannon with utmost sincerity. Every night, after she had finished her daily housework she visited the shrine to worship the image. Her husband did not know the reason for her going and became suspicious of the wife who went out and returned to the house every night at the same time. One day he finally lost patience with his wife and determined to kill her. So he hid in the dark woods by the roadside and waited for his wife to come back. At the usual time she returned. The husband watched her coming near and, carefully aiming at her shoulder, swung down his sword askance. At this moment the wife felt her blood run cold throughout her body.
The husband wiped the blood from his sword and put the sword back in its sheath. When he returned to his home, he was astonished to see his wife, whom he thought he had slashed to death. He marveled, and went back to see the place where he had struck his wife. Sure enough, there were the dots of blood on the ground. He retraced his steps homeward, and asked his wife: "Didn't you feel something strange at such and such a time in such and such a place?" Then the wife answered: "Just at that time something made my blood run cold." The husband could not but confess all that had happened.
The next morning he awakened early and was surprised to see blood dotted all the way from the entrance of his house to the shrine on top of the mountain. When he looked at the statue of Kannon, he was again surprised to see a scar on the statue's shoulder, on the place where he had struck his wife the night before.
Now this Kannon is still popular in the neighboring villages, and they celebrate a festival for her on January 24 every year.
THE STATUE OF BUDDHA AT SAIHO-JI
To the theme of the substituting Buddha are joined here motifs that fall under "Magic Statue" (D1268) and "Images" (V120), and the specific miracle of D1551, "Waters magically divide and close."
Text from Shimane-ken Kohi Densetsu Shu, Ohara-gun, pp. 8-9.
THE PRINCIPAL IMAGE of Saiho-ji at Iida, Sase-mura, Ohara-gun, is the seated statue of Amida Buddha, almost three feet in height. It has a burn on its left cheek. The following story tells the reason why.
A maidservant who worked in the house by the gate of this temple worshiped the image every morning and evening within the temple. For many years she had never failed to do this. Every time she cooked rice, in the morning and in the evening, she took some rice out of the pot and offered it to the image of Buddha. At last this became known to the mistress of the house, who grew enraged and pressed a heated iron rod on the pretty cheek of the maid. With a scream, the poor maid ran out of the house.
That night the master of the house had a strange dream. The shining golden Buddha stood by his pillow and spoke to him: "Your maid has been very pious and worshiped me for a long time. Therefore I substituted myself for her in the time of her disaster." As the master looked at the face of the Buddha, he saw blood running down his left cheek. As soon as he awakened from the vision, he arose and went to the temple. There he was astonished to see the appearance of the image, for blood was running down its cheek. Struck with awe, he returned home and talked with his wife. Greatly disturbed, they looked at the face of the maid, but it was as pretty as before, and bore no trace of injury. They asked her about the event of the previous day, but she answered that she knew nothing of it. At her words the master and the mistress realized that the image of Buddha was really injured in place of the pious maid. The mistress repented of her deed. People who heard of the occurrence were deeply moved by the grace of Buddha and worshiped the image more sincerely than ever.
In later days Lord Matsudaira of this province worshiped this image at Saiho-ji very earnestly. He decided to move the image to the newly built temple of Gessho-ji. According to his order, the holy statue was carried away by forty strong men. On the way they stopped over at Shigaraki Temple. While the image was resting there, it spoke to the priest in a dream: "I want to go back to Saiho-ji." And it shone brightly every night. All the priests thought this strange and reported the matter to the lord. Then the lord issued an order: "Have the sculptor make a statue just like that image and install it in Gessho-ji. As for that image, carry it back to Saiho-ji."
So the people started to take it back to Saiho-ji. Strangely, this time the holy statue became very light and was easily carried by only five or six porters. When they came to the river called Aka-kawa, a storm suddenly arose, and the skies began thundering and hailing. Rapidly the river rose to a great height and was soon impossible to cross. But the porters of the holy image boldly plunged into the water, firm in their belief that the image would protect them from drowning. Indeed, the angry waves immediately subsided and lowered to a heel's height. The porters could easily cross to the other side. But when the other travelers followed the porters and attempted to wade the river, the waters rose up again, and the raging waves overflowed the river banks.
People were filled with awe and spoke to one another about this miracle of Buddha, who, they thought, had subdued the dragon underneath the water.
THE EARLESS JIZO OF SENDATSUNO
The collector points out that Hearn published a similar legend under the title "Mimi-nashi Hoichi" in Kwaidan in 1904, taken from an old Japanese storybook Gayu Kidan (Strange Stories Told While Resting). In Hearn's tale the ghosts of the Heike listen to biwa music in places famed for Heike legends, and at the tomb of the Emperor Antoku.
The small village of Sendatsuno was named for Heike refugees fleeing from the Genji disguised as sendatsu, or guides for mountain pilgrims. The Heike are said to have turned on and killed their pursuers. Many families in the village claim to be Heike descendants. Tombs of the Emperor Antoku and his followers are on nearby hills, and none can approach unless they are barefooted.
Text from Tosa no Densetsu, II, pp. 8-13.
Notes: Jizo, a Buddhist bodhisattva, the guardian deity of children. Biwa, a four-stringed Japanese lute. Heike Monogatari, the tale of the Taira family (Heike) in their bitter struggles with the Minamoto family (Genji).
SOME STORIES MAKE such an impression that, once heard, they can never be forgotten. Such a tale is this.
There is a place called Sendatsuno in the suburbs of Ochi-machi, Takaoka-gun. It is on the way to Matsuyama, over the Ohashi bridge, along the Niyodo River. Long ago an earless Jizo by the name of Mimi-nashi Jizo [Earless Jizo] stood there. This is the legend concerning it.
Once on a time there came wandering into Ochi-machi from the direction of Matsuyama in Iyo a blind biwa-player named Joryo. In those days, that district of Ochi-machi was called Mio-mura, and it was far more lonely than it is today. The chief priest, Senei, lived at that time in the temple Yokokura-ji. He called Joryo to his temple and let him stay there. He asked him to play his biwa before the tablets of the deceased to console their spirits, and sometimes it pleased him to listen to the music himself
Gradually, however, one of the young priests of the temple became aware of a strange, repeated occurrence. Every night Joryo stole out of the temple on tiptoe and came back at dawn. A priest-official, hearing of this, summoned Joryo and asked why he went out nightly. Joryo said: "I am strictly forbidden to speak about this, but since you are a man of the temple from which I receive such great favors,