Weeping Futon
Early Showa Era. In a certain rural town lived a man called N who ran a futon rental shop.
A long time ago, there were so many poor, struggling people that those of us who live in modern times can't imagine. There were people who couldn't even buy bedding, who would go rent a futon from N's shop when night came.
During the winter one year, there was gossip being whispered around the public concerning the futons in this shop of N's. They were saying that when they laid down on a futon from this shop, they'd hear a voice night after night... At first, there were a lot of people who intended to validate those rumours; many guests who came to rent out that futon. When they'd come back to return the futon after one night was over, each and every one of them would have a pale face and would not step over the threshold to that shop ever again.
It wasn't that N didn't know about those rumours too, but he made light of it as 'Hearsay of the people lasts 75 Days' and at first pretended not to hear any of it. However, as such a great amount of people who had been customers began to keep their distance, he couldn't ignore it any more. Finally, one night, N himself laid down on that very same futon...
Even N, who didn't believe in spiritual things whatsoever, was still fearful from the depths of his soul, and even after he got in the futon he couldn't get to sleep for a long time. But before he knew it, his consciousness receded and he went into a deep sleep.
However much time may have passed... N abruptly woke up, sensing a cold feeling in his leg. N came to his senses in an instant, but although this was the peak of a cold winter, his body was drenched thoroughly with sweat. What's more than that, his body couldn't move... When N swooned in full dread, even more dread assaulted him. The coldness that N felt in his legs from a while ago now seemed to have come alive, like it was coiling around him... Moreover, that was like a human leg. One, two, no, it seemed as though there were four. Those four cold legs were moving up and down, stroking and rubbing against N's legs...
Without feeling that it was something alive, N seemed to be at risk of going mad as now he heard a faint voice whispering at his ear. "Are you cold...? Yes, you, are you cold...?"
That voice, just like it seemed to be whispering into his ear, was like a child's. Furthermore, it wasn't one person... That is, the same words were being repeated many times and became steadily louder, and when the range was close enough that N could feel lips touching his earlobe, he had reached his limit...
The next day, N rushed out of his bedroom at dawn and went straight to investigate that futon's origin. It became clear that this was something he had purchased from a certain pawn shop. Thereupon N thought upon something. He quickly gathered up some supplies from his house, and was going to bring the futon to a temple in order to carry out a memorial service, so he made his way to the pawn shop and asked in detail about that futon.
According to the proprietor of the pawn shop, that futon was purchased from a certain lineage, and being that the original owners were young children who had lost both their parents, they had taken on the excess debt... They were a family who had lived in a rented house, a mother and father with two small children who, although they were poor, also got along happily. But one day the father died, and the mother who had to work hard at the father's share fell ill and passed away too... The siblings became orphans, they couldn't pay the rent, and they couldn't even make enough to eat. They got by begging like vagrants, but then the merciless landlady evicted the almost-bare children, and they sold all of their household belongings of their own volition... After that, these children had no place to go, so in a gloomy back alley under the freezing weather, they clung together as though protecting each other, and died that way...
Thereafter, N felt pity for those children, and built a memorial tower where two people who had passed away could go. He never missed a single day of memorial service...
A long time ago, there were so many poor, struggling people that those of us who live in modern times can't imagine. There were people who couldn't even buy bedding, who would go rent a futon from N's shop when night came.
During the winter one year, there was gossip being whispered around the public concerning the futons in this shop of N's. They were saying that when they laid down on a futon from this shop, they'd hear a voice night after night... At first, there were a lot of people who intended to validate those rumours; many guests who came to rent out that futon. When they'd come back to return the futon after one night was over, each and every one of them would have a pale face and would not step over the threshold to that shop ever again.
It wasn't that N didn't know about those rumours too, but he made light of it as 'Hearsay of the people lasts 75 Days' and at first pretended not to hear any of it. However, as such a great amount of people who had been customers began to keep their distance, he couldn't ignore it any more. Finally, one night, N himself laid down on that very same futon...
Even N, who didn't believe in spiritual things whatsoever, was still fearful from the depths of his soul, and even after he got in the futon he couldn't get to sleep for a long time. But before he knew it, his consciousness receded and he went into a deep sleep.
However much time may have passed... N abruptly woke up, sensing a cold feeling in his leg. N came to his senses in an instant, but although this was the peak of a cold winter, his body was drenched thoroughly with sweat. What's more than that, his body couldn't move... When N swooned in full dread, even more dread assaulted him. The coldness that N felt in his legs from a while ago now seemed to have come alive, like it was coiling around him... Moreover, that was like a human leg. One, two, no, it seemed as though there were four. Those four cold legs were moving up and down, stroking and rubbing against N's legs...
Without feeling that it was something alive, N seemed to be at risk of going mad as now he heard a faint voice whispering at his ear. "Are you cold...? Yes, you, are you cold...?"
That voice, just like it seemed to be whispering into his ear, was like a child's. Furthermore, it wasn't one person... That is, the same words were being repeated many times and became steadily louder, and when the range was close enough that N could feel lips touching his earlobe, he had reached his limit...
The next day, N rushed out of his bedroom at dawn and went straight to investigate that futon's origin. It became clear that this was something he had purchased from a certain pawn shop. Thereupon N thought upon something. He quickly gathered up some supplies from his house, and was going to bring the futon to a temple in order to carry out a memorial service, so he made his way to the pawn shop and asked in detail about that futon.
According to the proprietor of the pawn shop, that futon was purchased from a certain lineage, and being that the original owners were young children who had lost both their parents, they had taken on the excess debt... They were a family who had lived in a rented house, a mother and father with two small children who, although they were poor, also got along happily. But one day the father died, and the mother who had to work hard at the father's share fell ill and passed away too... The siblings became orphans, they couldn't pay the rent, and they couldn't even make enough to eat. They got by begging like vagrants, but then the merciless landlady evicted the almost-bare children, and they sold all of their household belongings of their own volition... After that, these children had no place to go, so in a gloomy back alley under the freezing weather, they clung together as though protecting each other, and died that way...
Thereafter, N felt pity for those children, and built a memorial tower where two people who had passed away could go. He never missed a single day of memorial service...