Page:Anthology of Japanese Literature.pdf/426

422 “Oh, it’s Yaji, is it?” said Kita. “Ugh! Ugh! How beastly!” and he began spitting.

At the sound of their voices the witch into whose bed Kita had crept woke up.

“What are you doing?” she said. “Don’t make such a noise. You’ll wake my daughter up.”

This was another surprise for Kita, for it was the old witch’s voice. Cursing himself for his stupidity he got out of the bed and crept away softly into the next room. Yaji was going to do the same when the old witch caught hold of him.

“You mustn’t make a fool of an old woman by running away,” she said.

“No, no,” stuttered Yaji. “You’ve made a mistake. It wasn’t me.”

“You mustn’t try to deceive me,” said the old woman. “I don’t make a regular business of this, but when I meet a traveler on the road and sleep with him I like to get a little just to help me along. It’s a shame to make a fool of me by running away. There, just go to sleep in my bosom till dawn.”

“What a nuisance you are,” said Yaji. “Here, Kitahachi, Kitahachi.”

“Take care,” said the old woman. “You mustn’t call so loud.”

“But I don’t know anything about it,” said Yaji. “It’s that Kitahachi that’s got me into all this mess.”

Thus saying Yaji struggled out of her grasp, only to be caught again and thrown down. But at last, after a good deal of kicking, he managed to get away into the next room, where he repeated to himself