There are many hundreds of poems in the three volumes of the Ky[=o]ka Hyaku-Monogatari; but the number of the ghosts and goblins falls short of the one hundred suggested by the title.  There are just ninety-five.  I could not expect to interest my readers in the whole of this goblinry, and my selection includes less than one seventh of the subjects.  The Faceless Babe, The Long-Tongued Maiden, The Three-Eyed Monk, The Pillow-Mover, The Thousand Heads, The Acolyte-with-the-Lantern, The Stone-that-Cries-in-the-Night, The Goblin-Heron, The Goblin-Wind, The Dragon-Lights, and The Mountain-Nurse, did not much impress me.  I omitted ky[=o]ka dealing with fancies too gruesome for Western nerves,—­such as that of the Obum[’e]dori,—­also those treating of merely local tradition.  The subjects chosen represent national rather than provincial folklore,—­old beliefs (mostly of Chinese origin) once prevalent throughout the country, and often referred to in its popular literature.

I. KITSUN[’E]-BI

The Will-o’-the-wisp is called kitsun[’e]-bi ("fox-fire"), because the goblin-fox was formerly supposed to create it.  In old Japanese pictures it is represented as a tongue of pale red flame, hovering in darkness, and shedding no radiance upon the surfaces over which it glides.

To understand some of the following ky[=o]ka on the subject, the reader should know that certain superstitions about the magical power of the fox have given rise to several queer folk-sayings,—­one of which relates to marrying a stranger.  Formerly a good citizen was expected to marry within his own community, not outside of it; and the man who dared to ignore traditional custom in this regard would have found it difficult to appease the communal indignation.  Even to-day the villager who, after a long absence from his birthplace, returns with a strange bride, is likely to hear unpleasant things said,—­such as:  “Wakaranai-mono we hippat[’e]-kita!...  Doko no uma no hon[’e] da ka?” ("Goodness knows what kind of a thing he has dragged here after him!  Where did he pick up that old horse-bone?”) The expression uma no hon[’e], “old horse-bone,” requires explanation.

A goblin-fox has the power to assume many shapes; but, for the purpose of deceiving men, he usually takes the form of a pretty woman.  When he wants to create a charming phantom of this kind, he picks up an old horse-bone or cow-bone, and holds it in his mouth.  Presently the bone becomes luminous; and the figure of a woman defines about it,—­the figure of a courtesan or singing-girl....  So the village query about the man who marries a strange wife, “What old horse-bone has he picked up?” signifies really, “What wanton has bewitched him?” It further implies the suspicion that the stranger may be of outcast blood:  a certain class of women of pleasure having been chiefly recruited, from ancient time, among the daughters of [’E]ta and other pariah-people.