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:
“I tell it stories now and then
and feed it images like honey.
I will not speculate today
with poems that think they’re money.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“But stories that live longest
Are sung above the glass,
And Parnell loved his country
And Parnell loved his lass.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Reporters are not paid to operate in retrospect. Because when news begins to solidify into current events and finally harden into history, it is the stories we didn’t write, the questions we didn’t ask that prove far, far more damaging than the ones we did.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)