Page:Anthology of Japanese Literature.pdf/421

Rh They went in and washed their feet, and were soon conducted to a room at the back next to the one where they had seen the women….

Then the supper trays were brought in and they set to work to eat, uttering all sorts of jokes.

“By the way,” said Yaji to the maid, “the guests in the back room are women, aren’t they? Who are they?”

“They’re witches,” said the maid.

“What, witches?” said Kita. “That’s interesting. Let’s call up somebody.”

“It’s too late, isn’t it?” said Yaji. “They won’t come after four o’clock.”

“It’s only a little past two,” said the maid.

“Well, just ask them,” said Yaji. “I’d like to have a talk with my wife.”

“Fancy wanting to do that!” said Kita.

“I’ll ask them afterward,” said the maid.

So when the meal was finished she went into the next room to ask the witches. They agreed, and Yaji and Kita were conducted into their room. There the witches produced the usual box and arranged it, while the maid, who knew what was wanted, drew some water and brought it.

Yaji, with his mind fixed on his departed wife, poured some water over the anise leaves and the younger witch began to invoke the gods.

“First of all,” she chanted, “I reverently call upon Bonten and Taishaku and the four gods of Heaven, and in the underworld the great Emma and the five attendants who wait on him. Of our country’s gods I invoke the seven gods of Heaven and the five gods of Earth, and of the gods of Ise, Amaterasu Ōmikami, and the forty descendants of the Outer Shrine and the eight descendants of the Inner Shrine. I invoke the God of Rain, the God of Wind, the God of the Moon and the God of the Sun, the God of the North Shrine of the Benku Mirror, and the spirit of the great Sun Goddess of Ama no iwato, and Kokuzō, the God of Ten Thousand Good Fortunes of Asama ga dake, and the others in the sixty provinces