Once upon a time, in the eastern part of Anji Village, Toichi District, Yamato Province (present-day Anji, Tenri, Nara Prefecture), there lived a man whose family was very wealthy. His surname was Kagamitsukuri, and he had a daughter. She was exceptionally beautiful and elegant, and no one would have thought she was a country girl.
Since she was unmarried, suitable men from the surrounding area came to court her, visiting her at night as was customary. But she firmly refused them and would not marry.
Then one man, who was particularly persistent in seeking her hand, sent three carts loaded with treasures. When her parents saw them, they were dazzled by the wealth and gave their permission for the marriage.
The man came on an auspicious day. He entered the girl’s sleeping quarters and had intercourse with her. Around midnight, the girl’s voice rang out:
“It hurts. It hurts.”
Hearing this, her parents talked together.
“The first time a woman has sex, it is bound to hurt because she isn’t accustomed to it.”
When dawn came, their daughter did not get up. Her mother called to her loudly. When there was no answer, she called even louder, but still there was no response.
Thinking that something was wrong, she went into her daughter’s room. There she found only her daughter’s head and a single finger. Nothing else of her body remained. A great quantity of blood had flowed there. When the parents saw this, they wept and grieved beyond measure.
All the treasures the man had sent were actually bones of cattle and horses. The three carts loaded with the treasures were actually trees of the oleaster species.
the oleaster species
“Was it a demon that transformed itself into a man and came here? Or have we incurred the wrath of a god and suffered a divine punishment?”
The parents could do nothing but lament and grieve. When the people in the area heard what had happened, they gathered and spoke among themselves in astonishment.
Afterward, Buddhist memorial rites were performed for the girl. Her head was placed in a box and set before the Buddha, where memorial services and a Buddhist feast were held until the seventh-day memorial.
It is said that this happened because the girl’s parents had been blinded by their desire for wealth. They regretted what they had done and mourned their daughter.
[Translation]
Shinichi Kusano / Siro Inuzuka
This text was created by using chatGPT and Gemini to translate a modern Japanese translation into English, and then making some modifications. There may be errors in the English expressions. Please correct any mistakes.
[Commentary]
Shinichi Kusano / Siro Inuzuka
Because this was a system of marriage in which the husband visited the wife’s home, it was normal for the man not to be there in the morning.
To the girl and her parents, the man was an inexplicable presence.
The parents’ remark, “The first time, it hurts,” has an oddly vivid and unsettling realism.
●Japanese
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