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She was carrying some alarming, yellow flowers in her hand. Devil knows what they’re called, but for some reason they are the first to appear in spring. They stood out very vividly against her black spring coat. She was carrying yellow flowers! Not a good color. She turned down a side street from Tverskaya and then looked back. It was as if she were expecting someone to be following her. And what do you know? I was following her. I walked at her heels, and along the side street she kept glancing around at me, not frightened, no. I don’t know what it was. And I kept on following her along the side street, just as resolutely as I had followed her on Tverskaya. I followed her through the lane to Spiridonovka, and there she spoke. She said, ‘Do you like my flowers?’ Very strange, isn’t it? Naturally, I was quite overcome, and, like a fool, I said: ‘No.’ She looked at me in surprise, and suddenly, for some reason, she got angry and threw them in the gutter. Then she said to me: ‘I hate them.’ I was quite taken aback, and picked them up and handed them to her. Then she took them, smiled and threw them away again, and then we walked on side by side. Ensure the observer feels the atmosphere of first meeting. (A passage is from a novel by Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita) Early 1920s era, painting style

A sporty black Porsche rushed through the Malibu Canyon blur scenery and sporty atmosphere

MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF JAPAN

to form a mirror, and jewellery and musical instruments were eventually fashioned.

When all these things had been duly accomplished the Eighty Myriads of Gods came down to the rock-cavern where the Sun Goddess lay concealed, and gave an elaborate entertainment. On the upper branches of the True Sakaki Tree they hung the precious jewels, and on the middle branches the mirror. From every side there was a great singing of birds, which was only the prelude to what followed. Now Uzume (“Heavenly-alarming-female”) took in her hand a spear wreathed with Eulalia grass, and made a head-dress of the True Sakaki Tree. Then she placed a tub upside down, and proceeded to dance in a very immodest manner, till the Eighty Myriad Gods began to roar with laughter.

Such extraordinary proceedings naturally awakened the curiosity of Ama-terasu, and she peeped forth. Once more the world became golden with her presence. Once more she dwelt in the Plain of High Heaven, and Susa-no-o was duly chastised and banished to the Yomi Land.

Susa-no-o and the Serpent

With the usual inconsistency of myths and legends, we are not surprised to find that all reference to Susa dwelling in the Land of Yomi is entirely omitted. When we next see him it is apart from his usual mischievous disposition. Indeed, we find him in a rôle worthy of one of the Knights of the Round Table. Whether the sudden display of knight-errantry was a cunning move on his part for some ulterior motive, or whether his sister’s sudden withdrawal from Heaven had made him permanently reform his ways, we are left in entire ignorance.

 

The Story of Aoyagi

A samurai served his lord, and his first task was to deliver an important letter to the Ruler. He set off, but was caught in “bad weather.” Seeing a small hut in the distance, he decided to reach it and take shelter there. Inside, he found an old man, an old woman, and their daughter. The place was poor, but he noticed that the girl behaved as if she had been taught good manners; she was intelligent and beautiful. He fell in love with her immediately and asked for her hand in marriage. The elders responded that she was not of his rank since she was from simple people, but they would agree to give her to him as a servant. However, he insisted that he wanted to marry her.

The elders told him that their daughter also wished to be with him; she had already told them, and they consented.

At that time, a samurai could not marry without his lord’s permission. So, he took the girl and continued his mission to deliver the important letter. He tried not to reveal how beautiful she was, but the Ruler’s servants found out and informed him. The Ruler, who “loved beautiful women,” ordered that she be brought to his palace immediately.

The samurai was devastated by his foolishness, as he served a Lord who, in turn, answered to the Ruler. He could do nothing. Nonetheless, he decided to write a secret letter to his beloved, expressing his love and his wish to escape with her. He understood he was taking a risk.

Soon, the Ruler’s servants arrived and summoned him to the palace. When he arrived, the Ruler read out his letter in front of other samurai and high-ranking officials, and he thought it was the end for him.

But the Ruler said he was moved by the story and had decided to grant him permission to marry her. Everything was ready for the wedding—the guests were there, and the gifts were prepared.

The wedding took place, and the samurai lived happily with his wife for several years. One day, his wife felt unwell and told him she was dying. He assured her it was only temporary weakness and that she would recover. She then revealed to him that she was not human but a tree. Someone was cutting down the tree, and that was why she was dying. She passed away.

Afterward, the samurai left his service and became a wandering monk. One day, he returned to the valley where he had first met his future wife in the hut, but there was no sign of the hut.

There were only three stumps from the felled trees: two old ones and one young.