Page:Things Japanese (1905).djvu/132

120 To this may be added that in the Oki Islands, off the coast of Izumo, the superstition is modified in such wise that dogs, not foxes, are the magic creatures. The human beings in league with them are termed inu-gami-mochi, that is, "dog-god owners." When the spirit of such a magic dog goes forth on an errand of mischief, its body remains behind, growing gradually weaker, and sometimes dying and falling to decay. When this happens, the spirit, on its return, takes up its abode in the body of the wizard, who thereupon becomes more powerful than ever. Our informant was a peasant from the Oki Islands,—the best authority on such a point, because himself a believer and with no thesis to prove.

Oddly enough, we ourselves once had to submit to exorcism at the hands of Shintō priests. It was in the summer of 1879, the great cholera year, and we were accused by the authorities of a certain village at which we desired to halt, of having brought the demon of cholera with us. For, true to human nature, each town, each village, at that sad season, always proclaimed itself spotless, while loudly accusing all its neighbours of harbouring the contagion. Accordingly, after much parley, which took place in the drenching rain, with night approaching and with the impossibility of finding another shelter for many miles, some Shintō priests were sent for. They arrived in their white vestments and curiously curved hats, and bearing branches of trees in their hands. They formed in two lines on either side of the way, and between them our little party of two Europeans and one Japanese servant had to walk. As we passed, the priests waved the dripping branches over our heads, and struck us on the back with naked swords. After that, we were sullenly accorded a lodging for the night. To the honour of the Japanese government, let it be added that when we returned to Tōkyō and reported the affair, the village authorities were at once deposed and another mayor and corporation set to reign in their stead. Perhaps we ought to apologise for thus obtruding our own personal adventures on the reader. We have only hesitatingly done so,