The Peony Lantern牡丹灯籠
"The Peony Lantern" is an old Japanese ghost story.
Long ago, a man lost his heart to a most ravishing woman. Every night she would visit him, and the two would embrace until the break of dawn, at which point the woman would invariably rise and take her leave.
Eventually, the man discovered that the woman was in fact a ghost, and fearing some terrible curse might befall him, procured a charm which he affixed to the gate of his house, thus preventing the spectral maiden from making any more of her nightly visitations.
But the man could not forget the feelings that his phantom love had stirred in his heart. So one day, he went to the temple where her remains had been interred, and what should he see but his beloved standing there, beckoning him to come closer...closer...ever closer...
The man's friends and relations realized he was missing and searched for him. But it was all in vain, for he had allowed himself to be dragged into the woman's grave, where only a jumble of white bones remained.
Legend has it that, ever since this tragedy, the spirits of the two lovers stalk the streets of Kyoto late at night, condemning all who encounter them to certain doom.
Pfft! Look at those two, walking together hand in hand so late at night. Why, he's pathetic-looking, a real drip, while she...well, she is like a delicate flower—the very picture of elegance and grace!
I've never seen such a spectacularly mismatched pair! Surely I have more to offer her than he! Yet never have I known the tender touch of a woman... Grr! It's not fair! The world's just not fair!
...I know! I'll give that fellow a little scare. And when she sees what a wimp he is, she's sure to come to her senses and realize that I'm the man she should be with.
ん、こんな夜更けに男女が手を組んで歩いてやがる。 ひょろひょろで、見るからに頼りがいのなさそうな男と、 可憐な顔立ちで、佇まいも上品なお嬢さん…。 なんて不釣り合いな連中だ！ どう考えても、あんな男より俺様の方がずっと 魅力的だろうが！ 俺様は生まれてこの方、女と手を繋げたことすらないと いうのに…。 そうだ。ちょいと男を脅かして情けない姿にしてやろう。 きっとお嬢さんも幻滅するだろうよ。
A man's corpse was discovered here this morning.
His name? I'm afraid I don't recall, but, here, he was that hotheaded scoundrel, the one who was always going about scaring young lovers. You know who I mean!
A loathsome man, that one, so I can't say I feel too sorry for him. Still, I can't quite believe that anyone managed to kill him. He was a mean bastard, the kind you wouldn't expect to go down without a fight. But it seems that's what happened. He was standing tall, and then—BAM! There's something odd about that. In fact, the whole thing gives me the chills!
Lord Magistrate, I saw everything! I saw how that man died!
It was late. A couple of lovebirds were out for a stroll when all of a sudden that scoundrel sidled up to them. Up to his dirty tricks again, no doubt, I thought... No, it wasn't the first time.
But then—well, I couldn't quite believe my eyes! The lovers vanished like a snuffed-out flame, and then the man just collapsed to the ground. That's what happened, I swear!
Are you telling me those two lovers vanished—poof!—into thin air? Surely you don't think that man was killed by a couple of ghosts? I mean, what do you take me for?
Ah, but I suppose I have to keep an open mind. After all, I'll be for the high jump if I don't resolve this matter.
Very well. I will see for myself if those lovers or ghosts or what have you decide to make another appearance tonight.
- Where
- East of Gojo Street - East
- Map
- Eastern Kyoto
- Region
- Eastern Kyoto
- Hand in to
- Lady Murasaki, Yasaka Shrine
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