The Broken promise
Japanese
1
"I'm not afraid of dying," a seriously ill woman in bed said,"But I have only one thing that I am worrying about. I want to know who'll take my place in this house after my death."
"I'll never remarry, so no one will enter this house," a samurai, her husband, said as he loved her so much.
"Do you swear it as a samurai?" she asked him smiling weakly.
"I swear it as a samurai," he answered stroking her pale face.
"If you say so," she said, "would you mind burying me in our garden?.....you don't mind, do you?.....by the plum tree we planted together. I've thought of telling you my wish for a long time, but if you would get remarried, I thought you'd not want to have my grave in such a place. You promised me you'll never remarry......so I could ask you about it. Then I'll hear your voice and enjoy seeing flowers in spring. But...... would you really mind burying me in the garden?"
"I'll promise you to do so," the husband answered, "But please stop talking about your death. I think you can recover."
"No, I know I'm dying...would you mind burying me in the garden?"
"Of course not. Under the plum tree we planted together...and I'll set up a tombstone there."
"Would you give me a small bell?"
"A bell?"
"Yes, I'd like you to put a small bell into my coffin...It's like the bell that pilgrims carry. Do you have the kindness to do so?"
"I'll give you a small bell...Do you have anything else you want?"
"No, nothing but the bell," she continued, "You've always been kind to me, so I'll have a happy death."
Saying so, she closed her eyes in peace like a tired child. There was even a smile on her beautiful dead face. With a small bell she was buried under the tree she liked and a fine tombstone was set up with the family crest on it.
However, before a year had passed, he was persuaded to remarry by his relatives and friends. They said to him,
"You're still young. What's more, you're the only son and have no children. As a samurai, you have to have a wife. If you die without your child, who on earth will hold your funeral and take care of your ancestors' grave?"
He at last agreed to get remarry with a seventeen-year-old girl and loved the new young wife so much.
2
Nothing, which disturbed their happiness, had happened for seven days. On the night of the seventh day after their marriage, however, the samurai had to be away from the house for a few days, leaving his new wife alone. She felt so uneasy and scared that she couldn't fall asleep.
About two o'clock at night, she heard something like a small bell. She wondered who on earth was walking outside. It seemed to her that it came from the garden and it came nearer and nearer until at last she noticed a woman in white with a small bell standing near her at her bedside. She tried to get up and cry, but she couldn't do so.
The woman with long hair had no eyes and no tongue, but whispered to the wife,
"You must not be here in this house. I was the one to be here. You must leave now. But never tell anybody about me. If you tell my former husband about me, you'll be torn apart to death."
She had lost consciousness because of fear until the crack of dawn.
She didn't talk to her husband at all about it.
The next night, around the same time the woman in white with the bell came to the room again and said,
"You must leave here now. But never tell anybody about me. If you tell your husband about me, you'll be torn apart to death."
As soon as the samurai returned home, his young wife groveled before him and begged,
"I'm so sorry, but I'd like to return to my parent's home."
"Aren't you satisfied with your life here?" he was so surprised, "Did anyone get tough with you while I was away?"
"No. Everyone is so kind to me, but it is not allowed that I'm your wife. You must leave me," she answered, sniffling.
"What on earth has happened to you? Does it mean that you want to get divorced?" he cried, so surprised.
"If I won't leave here, I'll be killed," she insisted.
After he thought for a while, he said,
"If you tell me the reason, I can give you your freedom. But if you can't do so, I'll never divorce you for fear that it brings disgrace on my family."
Hearing this, she confessed everything and added,
"Now that I've told you, she'll surely come to kill me."
"You're so nervous now. I feel so sorry for you, but maybe you had a nightmare. I don't want to divorce you. But I have to leave you alone tonight again. I'm going to make two men of mine watch you in front of your room so that you can sleep well."
As he was so considerate and kind, she decided to stay home.
3
The two guards were both brave, sincere and strong. They were playing go while the young wife was sound asleep. But about two o'clock, she woke up because she heard the sounds of the bell, which came nearer and nearer to her. She jumped up at her bed and screamed. But in the room, there was no stir. She ran away to the guards, who were petrified, sitting at a go board. She cried and shook them. But they never awoke.
---Later they said, "We heard a bell tinkliing and her screaming. We noticed her shake us. Nevertheless we couldn't move nor speak."---
At dawn when her husband came back and entered the room, he found his young wife's body lying in a bloodbath without its head. The two men were still sleeping, sitting at a go board.
"Hey!"
Hearing the samurai's loud voice, they came to themselves and were stunned at the terrible scene.
They couldn't find the body's head in the room. Blood was dripping from the room to the garden. And to their great surprise, the ghost of the former wife was standing in front of the grave with a bell in one hand and the head in the other.
One of the two men slashed at the ghost with his sword. It fell down in pieces on the ground.(2014.1.1 With Itaya)
Original by Lafcadio Hearn
