Stories
Hearn declares in his introduction to the first edition of the book, which he wrote on January 20, 1904, shortly before his death, that most of these stories were translated from old Japanese texts. He also states that one of the stories — Yuki-onna — was told to him by a farmer in Musashi Province, and his was apparently the first record of it, both by his own account and according to the research of modern folklorists. Riki-Baka is based on a personal experience of Hearn's. While he does not declare it in his introduction, Hi-Mawari — among the final narratives in the volume — seems to be a recollection of an experience in his childhood (it is, setting itself apart from almost all the others, written in the first person and set in rural Wales).
- The Story of Mimi-nashi Hōichi
- Oshidori
- The Story of O-Tei
- Ubazakura
- Diplomacy
- Of a Mirror and a Bell
- Jikininki
- Mujina
- Rokurokubi (description of folktale)
- A Dead Secret
- Yuki-Onna
- The Story of Aoyagi
- Jiu-Roku-Zakura
- The Dream of Akinosuke
- Riki-Baka
- Hi-Mawari
- Hōrai
Read more about this topic: Kwaidan: Stories And Studies Of Strange Things
Famous quotes containing the word stories:
“There have been many stories told about the bottom, or rather no bottom, of this pond, which certainly had no foundation for themselves. It is remarkable how long men will believe in the bottomlessness of a pond without taking the trouble to sound it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Young man, there is America, which at this day serves for little more than to amuse you with stories of savage men and uncouth manners.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)
“the tide lays down its wet throat
and alters the land to island—even as I watch
I say there is no shore
apart from stories of it,
no smoke, no hut, no beacon ...”
—Lynn Emanuel (b. 1949)