Tonight’s story deals with a common theme in Shokoku hyakumonogatari: obsession. The Japanese word used in these stories is 執心, and it refers to the kind of improper infatuation or devotion that comes from an attachment to worldly things–whether a person, or an object, or otherwise. It’s one of the worst sins in Buddhism; in fact, it is said to be the root cause of all suffering. It’s what powers the wheel of reincarnation and causes life forms to be reborn over and over again in an endless cycle of suffering. So it’s no wonder that it comes up in folklore a lot, and is blamed to be the cause of yokai or other supernatural phenomena.
In this book, obsessive attachment frequently takes the form of snakes or dragons, but it also frequently appears as a ghost of the deceased, or in the form of a mysterious illness. This story depicts it as a snake, and in an almost comical way. The visual of this snake leaping out of the bushes and wrapping itself around the man’s neck over and over made me laugh out loud the first time I read this story.
How a Woman’s Obsession Became a Snake in Tōsa Province
In Tōsa Province there was a man who made his living through hunting. He was 40 years old, and his wife was 45 or 46, but she was famously jealous and she always followed him whenever he hunted. One day when he went hunting, his wife followed him as usual, but she was annoying him so much that he grabbed her, pulled her close to him, and stabbed her to death. At that moment, a large snake came out from the roots of a big tree nearby and coiled itself around the man’s neck.
The man drew his sword and rapidly stabbed the snake, but it kept coming back and coiling itself around him. The man had no choice but to make a pilgrimage to Kōyasan. About halfway up the Fudōzaka slope, the snake let go of his neck and dropped into the grass. The man was so happy that he stayed on Kōyasan for one hundred days, and then, thinking that that was the end of it, he descended the mountain. Halfway down the Fudōzaka slope, the same snake creeped out of the grass and once again wrapped around the man’s neck.
The man was at his wit’s end, and decided to make a pilgrimage to Kantō. He set out immediately, boarded a boat at Ōtsu, and headed out to sea. However, the boat became stuck and would not budge forwards or backwards.
The boatman said, “If anyone among the passengers has any idea what is going on, whatever it may be, speak the truth! Many people are suffering for the sake of one man.”
The man had no choice. He removed the cloth from around his neck and showed the snake to everyone, saying, “Surely this is the problem.” He explained his story to the passengers and confessed his sin.
The passengers were shocked. They scolded the man and demanded, “Get off of the boat immediately!”
“That is all I can do now,” said the man, and he threw himself off of the boat and drowned. After that, the snake uncoiled from his neck and swam towards Ōtsu. The boat arrived safe and sound at Yabase, according to the boatman.
“…wrapping itself around the man’s snake over and over made…” >> “neck”
That’s an awkward typo! 🙂 Thanks.