In the Genroku period (1688–1703) Usugumo was one of the most popular of the Yoshiwara courtesans and ranked next to Taka-o in this respect. She was an exceedingly beautiful woman, graceful and slender as a willow-tree, and moreover she was versed in all those polite accomplishments the acquirement of which is necessary to a Japanese lady. On the 15th day of the 8th month of a certain year she was holding a “moon-viewing� party with her guest in the second story of an “age-ya� and was busily composing or reading Japanese and Chinese poems while enjoying the ravishing splendour of the full harvest moon which hung like a glittering silver mirror in the cloudless autumnal sky. Presently thin clouds appeared on the horizon, and gradually spreading themselves over the heavens screened the moon from view. In the adjoining room a K�shi-joro named Matsuyama (“Pine Mountain�) was also holding a moon-viewing party with her guest, and this woman, not being on good terms with Usugumo [“Thin (or ‘Faint’) Clouds�] maliciously remarked:—
“The thin clouds are insolently hiding the beauteous moon from public gaze.�
Hearing this but ill-veiled sneer directed at herself by means of a clever play upon the words “usu-gumo� [faint (or thin) clouds] Usugumo, unable to control her temper, replied with cruel directness:—
“Those thin clouds which now obscure the moon may appear to be blots on the sky above us, but after all they are but transient and will soon drift away. The pine-crowned mountain (Matsuyama) yonder on the contrary looms up dark and forbidding in the landscape and permanently obstructs the best view of the orb of night.�
Discomforted by this spontaneous and fitting answer, Matsuyama coloured up and immediately retired from the party. Usugumo was well-known for her ready wit and cleverness in repartee, and the above incident proves that her reputation was well deserved.
Usugumo possessed a beautifully furred cat which she was accustomed to take with her whenever she went out promenading, the animal being carried by one of her attendant kamuro. Strange to say, whenever Usugumo went to the lavatory her pet followed her without fail, and this fact having become well known among the inmates of the house it gave rise to an idle whisper to the effect that the cat was in love with its owner! The proprietor of the “Miura-ya� (to which establishment Usugumo belonged), hearing of this story, one day caused the cat to be fastened to a pillar and awaited the result. On seeing Usugumo going into the lavatory, however, the cat became desperate, and biting through the rope with which it had been fastened attempted to rush after its mistress, leaping clean over a pile of kitchen utensils which stood in the way. As it flew along, one of the cooks gave the animal a blow on the neck with a sharp kitchen knife, completely severing poor pussy’s head from her body. Usugumo, who had been in the lavatory, being frightened by the noise and commotion came hurriedly out and was much distressed to find her eat dead, but she noticed that although the body remained the head of the unfortunate animal had disappeared. On an examination of the lavatory being instituted, the missing head of the cat was discovered with its teeth tightly closed in a death grip on the throat of a great snake which was writhing in the throat of impending dissolution! Then the mystery of the cat’s constant attendance on its mistress was fully explained, as the people saw that the unhappy animal, knowing of the snake’s existence, had followed Usugumo for the purpose of protecting her from injury, and had died in her defence. When the story of the cat’s faithfulness became known everyone bewailed pussy’s sad fate, and in order to atone for the cruel treatment to which it had been subjected the animal was buried in the family cemetery of the house. Kikaku’s poem to the effect that:—
“The cat of Ky�machi was wont to play between it and Ageya-machi�
seems to refer to Usugumo’s pet.
In former days the grave of this loyal creature was pointed out at Ageya-ch�, but nowadays the site of the monument has been forgotten owing to the frequent occurrence of fires in the Yoshiwara.