Uguisu,[2] poet of the woods, sang in the plum tree near by. He sang the poet’s song to the plum tree which he loved:
“Send forth your fragrance upon the eastern winds,
Oh flower of the plum tree,
Forget not the spring because of the absence of the sun.”
Ruined though the temple was, it still held a shrine and hither came Wakiki Mononofu, a young Samurai.[3] He was a brave young soldier who was seeking his fortune in the wide, wide world. He had lost his way and wandered in the forest seeking the path, until at length he came to the little clear space where was the temple. A storm was coming up, and a palace could not have seemed more welcome to the young warrior.
“Here is all I want,” he said to himself. “Here I shall have a shelter from the storm god’s wrath, and a place to sleep and dream of glory and adventure. What more could be desired?”
Then he wrapped himself in his mantle, curled up in a corner of the sacred room, and soon fell asleep. But his slumber did not last long. His pleasant dreams were disturbed by horrid sounds, and waking, he sprang to his feet and looked out of the temple door.
There he saw a troop of monstrous cats which seemed in the weird moonlight like phantoms, marching across the clear space in front of the temple, and dancing a wild dance. As they danced they uttered horrid sounds, yells, and wicked laughs; and through these he could hear the words of a strange chant:
“Whisper not to Shippeitaro
That the Phantom Cats are near,