Tokyo nichinichi shinbun Story translation (partial)One night, a certain farmer in Susuki village in the Chichibu district of Bushu, shut up in his home, grieving the death from illness of his wife, with whom he had been affecionately living, as the bell of a mountain temple faintly sounded, raised his pillow to see, by his side, the hazy visage of his deceased wife. . . . She said she missed her hair accessories and kimono, and other things she had usually treasured . . . . and putting her things by his pillow he slept, and the following morning they were gone. He was overjoyed . . . and told some close friends . . . who were suspicious and stayed with him that night . . . and again his wife's ghost appeared, this time asking for money . . . and his friends caught the ghost . . . who turned out to be the wife of his neighbor. [Unsigned] [Translated by William Wetherall] |
Commentary
Bushu reflects 武州 (Bushū), otherwise known as the province of Musashi (武蔵国 Musashi no kuni). Susuki village (薄村 Susukimura) was absorbed into what is now the town of Oganomachi (新小鹿野町) in Chichibu county of Saitama prefecture.