chapter 4
the Zen sect was traveling only through the province of Mino until it was lost on a mountain in the sector. She started walking but then began to despair to get some shelter from the rain. At the top of a hill was a temple and headed. When I was an old man and asked him shelter but the old man refused but told him in a village q could find shelter and food.Muso found his way and when I came to the village welcomed him in the head housing fifty people very kindly. We had a room ready with food and comfortable clothing. Muso very fast but fell asleep before midnight he was awakened by a noise at the next floor, when suddenly a young man entered with a lantern and said:"Reverend Sir, it is my sad duty to tell you that I am now the commander of this house. Yesterday was only the eldest son. But when you came here, tired as they were, did not want you should feel ashamed in any way: for I did not say what the father had died only hours before. The people you saw in the next room are the inhabitants of this town, people gathered here to pay their last respects to the dead, and now go to another town, about three miles away - by our custom, none of us can stay in this village during the night after the place that has had the death. We make the proper offerings and prayers - then we'll go, leaving the body alone. Strange things always happen in the house where he was therefore a corpse left: what we think is best for you to go with us. We can find good accommodation in another town. But perhaps as you are a priest, who is not afraid of demons or evil spirits, and if they are not afraid of being alone with the body, it will be very welcome to the use of this poor house. However, I must tell anyone except to a priest, would dare to stay here tonight

700 years ago was a great figth in the sea, this place was called DA-no-ura.Here was a dangerous place for the ships because the persons that die in this place (the Heiké)pull them down under the water. The people in the coast (Akamagaséki) buil a buddhist temple to try to please the Heiké spirits; the temple was caled Amidaji. In this temple the Heiké spirits stay in a graveyard and were less trouble, but they did strange things at the time.
In that time there live a blind man her name was Hoïchi, he was a famous for play the biwa and her more famous performance has the history of the Heikí and the Genji.
at first hoïchi was vey poor, but the priest of the Amaji temple loved poems and music, so he often asked to hoïchi to perfom to him. The priest invited Hoïchi to lived at the temple, and Hoïchi accepted graterfully. Hoïchi had to perfom on two or three evenings each week, and retrun of this he had food and a bed.
One summer nught the priest go outside to the temple and Hoïchi stay here in the little garden, midnight passed and the priest did retrun, but Hoïchi stayed outside.
Hoïchi listened a voice that call him "Hoïchi" this voice was of a samurai, the samurai tould Hoïchi that his king like so much his songs and invited to his temple, Hoïchi accepted. Hoïchi had to walked so fast to stay with the samurai. that a little time he arrived to a large gateway. Hoïchi don´t remember this gateway, the samurai say "Kaimon" and the gateway opened.
Inside of "castle" he heard the people moaning and touch he too. A woman told he that told she the histiry of Da-no-urabut one thing nothing knows that our lord is here ok. He started to sing the history of Da-no-ura, the king loved this song; to the end of the song the woman told to Hoïchi "we nwd that you came tomorrow nigth and the next six nigths" the samurai went Hoïchi with te temple before that dawn.
The next nigth Hoïchi returned to the "castle" with the samurai only that this time the priest came early and Hoïchi didn´t in the temple, the priest serch to Hoïchi but no had news about him, the priest went to the graveyard and saw Hoïchi whit the Heiké spirits and told Hoïchi for returned to the temple.
The priest saw Hoïchi that he was in dangerous. The pries wrote a bbudhist prayers in the every part of the Hoíchi´s bodie.
The next nigth the samurai told Hoïchi but he don´t answer, the samurai only saw a ears and he cut this of the Hoïchi heat. The blond started to out but Hoïchi don´t saw anithing, the priest came to the temple and hoïchi was sit down in the garden but he didn´t had his ears.
Today you can see straing things along the coast, and the faces of the heiké spirits are in the back of a fishes. If you go into the water you can listen the sound of men killing men.

THE GREAT FIRE OF THE PURPLE ROBE

about 250 years ago, a rich wine-seller lived in tokyo, one day , he and his family were at their local temple.
the wine-seller's daughter noticed a young samurai in the crowd. he was very handsome and she inmediately fell in love with him. but he disappeared in the crowd. because she was in love , she remembered his face and his clothes very clearly, he wore a purple robe.
the wine-seller's thought that if she wear a robe of the same colour perhaps he will notice she at the next holiday, she ordered a bright purple robe, " please let me win his love", she prayed to the buddhas. she could think only of him. but she never saw him again. she fell ill, and died.

the purple robe was sold at a good price for a lady young. she only wore it for one day , then she fell ill and began to act strangely, and she died too; and again the robe was sold, a third young lady bought it, she wore it only once before she fell ill, she talked of a beautiful shadow, and she died, the robe was sold for third time, once more it was bought by a girl. once more it was worn . and the girl fell ill and died.

finally the priest was sure that there were bad spirits in the robe. he told his assistants to make a fire in the temple garden. the robe was burning house by house, street by street, and finally the whole city was in flames.
that terrible day is still remembered in tokyo, they called it " the day of the great fire of the purple robe".

THE FORTUNE-TELLER'S STORY

this is the story of a young samurai that learned to be a fortune-teller, he travaled around the country , he used a book called i-ching for fortune-telling , he learned many things and heard many stories . he had one favorite story that he often told:

"this story is about a young called shoko setsu, he was given a very important position at the emperor's court, but he only wanted to study and he gave up the position . he went to live in a hunt in the mountains and studied alone there.
one day of summer , he took a cup of water , then he lay down on the floor of his hut, he was just falling asleep when something ran across his face , he was angry so he picked up his cup and threw it at the animal , but the animal escaped and the cup was broken , he look more closely it . there were seventeen chinese characters along the line of the break this is what they said:
" in the year of the horse, in the fourth month, on the seventeenth day, at the fourteenth hour, this cup will fly across a hut in the mountain and break"
this day was the exact date, shoko setsu was very surprised. so he went to the place where he bought this cup, in this place a old man said" this cup was made here, but the characteres were written by an old man. he was a fortune-teller and he wanted to write on the cup before i put it in the oven, his house is not far from here.i can show you the way, but i do not know his name"
when shoko setsu arrive at the house, a student said: " we are very sorry to tell you that our teacher died a few days ago. but we are waiting for you, he knew that you would come to this house at this hour on this day. your name is shoko setsu, our teacher left this book for you.
shoko setsu acepted the book and he come back to his hut.
the book was many secrets about fortune-telling, the book senthim to a corner of the hut, great luuck was waiting for him there, it said. and under the earth in the corner of his little hut, he found a pot of gold."

our old japanese fortune-teller was not as lucky as shoko setsu. died in a snowstorm. when the people heard of his strange death, they remembered the old japanese saying: "the fortune-teller cannot see his own future"

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