The Story of the Ten Plates pt. 2
~*~
Hysterical screaming resounded through the Japanese mansion as a young servant girl writhed in agony on the floor. Her throat burned from her wailing and the poison in her tea. One hand clutched at her face. Large, sensitive boils and blisters began to form and press against her palm. The other, flailing hand toppled the tea cups and tea pot that sat near her. Above her, an older woman dressed in fine kimono watched happily. Frightened, other servant girls huddled together in a corner of the room.
“Oiwa-dono!” the writhing girl pleaded to the older woman above her. “I did not do it! I swear! I did not break the plate, Oiwa-dono!”
“You dare to question your Mistress, Okiku!” cried the older woman.
Oiwa snatched the servant girl by her hair and yanked her to her feet. Dragging Okiku to a small lacquered box with a mirror on top of it, she threw the young girl hard down on the tatami mat floor. With a gleeful smile on her face, Oiwa pulled the cover off the mirror and showed Okiku her now deformed face. The young girl let out another wail, seeing all the beauty that she possessed robbed from her with a simple cup of tea.
“This!” Oiwa sneered, pointing to all of the boils and blisters on Okiku's face. “is for trying to seduce my husband!”
“Oiwa-dono! Your husband and I have done nothing! What are you saying!” she wailed.
Tears began to stream down her face. Curling into a ball on the floor, she continued to cry. As she lay crying, Oiwa threw open the shouji doors. She snatched the girl again and pulled her out to the well in the yard.
“Oiwa-dono, no!” She begged.
“You know the rules, Okiku! The punishment for breaking the family's prized heirloom plates... DEATH!” exclaimed Oiwa as she pushed the young servant girl down into the cold depths of the well.
The other servant girls shivered with fear as her scream faded with her fall down the deep, dark well. Over as quickly as it had started and satisfied with the results, Oiwa stood over the well, beaming with pride. Gracefully, she walked back to the mansion and past the girls, ignoring their shocked looks.
“Now, let that be a warning to you all,” she smirked, before shuffling out of Okiku's room.
Slowly and afraid, one by one, they left. Yet, Oume still looked out at the well, with tears streaming down her face. Cautiously, she walked over and looked over the edge.
“Okiku?” she called out, her voice echoing off the stone walls.
Splash!
She hit the water. Her arms flailed. Painfully, her now blistered and boiled hands clawed for the walls.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
She let out a hoarse cry as her boils that spread over her hands and body burst at her attempts to cling to the slippery well walls. Gritting her teeth, and shutting her eyes, she tried to stand the pain as her raw hands clung to a small misplaced stone.
“Okiku?” a voice echoed down the walls from above.
“Oume...” her lips mouthed.
“Can you hear me?” the shadowed figure that looked down into the well asked.
Worriedly, Oume looked about her and picked up a roped bucket nearby.
“If you can hear me and if you're still all right, I'm going to lower this down, all right? Grab on, Okiku...”
Slowly, the bucket descended towards her. Hopeful, she looked up and grabbed on to the bucket securely as she could. With a great heave, the sunlight and blue sky slowly came into view. Her lips turned upwards in a tired smile.
Feeling the weight grow heavy on the other end, Oume smiled and began to slowly heave her friend from the well. I'll have you out of there soon, she hoped. And I'll have to sent to a good doctor and a nice family that I know. This will never happen again, Okiku...
“And might I ask, what are you are doing?” Oiwa's voice snapped, interrupting her hopeful thoughts.
Oume gasped. The two guards that stood at Oiwa's sides glared at her.
“You!” Oiwa commanded one guard. “Take this woman away, and send her to have a 100 lashings with a cane!”
“No!” She cried as she struggled with the guard.
With one smack to the face from the guard, Oume fell to the ground, with the rope pried from her hands. Quickly, the guard caught it before it could fall. Grinning sadistically down at her as she pushed herself up from the ground, he let the rope slip from his hand. The resounding splash from the bottom of the well made Oume's heart sink as the guard dragged her away.
“Okiku!” she screamed as waves of tears fell down her face.
She clung as tightly as she could with the commotion she heard above her. Her tabi continually slipped along the walls unable to get a grip. With one last upward look, she heard the rope zipping along the well and saw the blue sky flying farther away from her once more. As she hit the cold water once more, the last thing she heard was someone crying out her name in despair.
Okiku watched the clouds go by overhead, unaware of the time and the day. In the morning and the twilight, she watched bright orange and pink streaks race across the clouds. With it, the night brought glimmering stars that looked as though God had sewn them into a large deep blue blanket. Birds flew over head and chirped happily at the well's opening. Fatigue, hunger, and pain weakened her body. Sad and hurt eyes continually looked upward for any sign of Oume. Now and then, the shadowed figures of the guards strolled by.
Bitter thoughts rushed through her head like the pink and orange that raced through the dawn and twilight sky. Why did someone do this to me? Who framed me? This couldn't have happened. Her memory replayed over and over that particular morning. Oiwa's words suddenly rung out as though it were the temple bells suddenly breaking the silence of the night.
This is for trying to seduce my husband!
This is for trying to seduce my husband!
This is for trying to seduce my husband!
This is for trying to seduce my husband!
This is for trying to seduce my husband!
This is for trying to seduce my husband!
This is for trying to seduce my husband!
This is for trying to seduce my husband!
This is for trying to seduce my husband!
As the realization set in, anger flowed through her veins. Despite her want to scream and her attempt to cry out, only a hoarse grunt escaped her throat.
Her eyes grew heavy, as sleep threatened to take over her. No! You mustn't sleep! She urged herself. Her head rested on her hands that still clung to the slippery misplaced stone. Her eyes continued to grow heavy.
Mustn't...
… sleep...
As her body began to relax, her eyes shut for what seemed like a brief moment. She was unaware that she had let go of her stone and slipped down into the depths of the water.
~*~
“So she's finally dead huh?” Oiwa smirked, as she watched happily as the guards fished the body from the well. “That's good to know...”
From around the corner, bandaged hands gripped the wall painfully. Another tear fell from one of Oume's eyes. Her other eye was swelled shut and black and blue.
“One... Two... Three...”
Sake and fine plum wine flowed gleefully through their veins. Iemon and Oiwa laughed loudly in their room. The moon shone bright above them, and they continued downing cups of sake while watching the moon slowly traverse across the sky.
She rested her head on his shoulder, her face red from the wine.
“It sure is a nice summer night, isn't it, Oiwa?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Four...”
She looked up.
“Did you hear something? I thought, someone just said 'four,'” she questioned.
“That must be the sake talking,” Iemon laughed. “How many cups are we on?”
“Five...”
He stopped. He looked around.
“Did someone just say 'five'?” He asked.
Worried, Oiwa nodded.
“Six...”
Oume looked up from the dishes in the sink, thinking she heard Okiku's voice. Other servant girls looked around worriedly, feeling shivers begin to travel up their spine.
“It's definitely the sake,” Iemon comforted, pulling his wife's head on his shoulder. “Let's just drink more and have a good night tonight...”
She smiled and poured him another cup.
“Seven... Eight...”
Along with the sake, romance seemed to start flowing through their veins. They clasped hands. With a free hand, Iemon reached up and pulled out the hairpins that held her hair up. Tousled hair fell down her back in gentle waves. Slowly, he inched his face toward hers.
Closer... Closer... Closer...
Okiku's boil ridden face and dead eyes seemed to be looking into her own. Her mouth opened.
“Nine.”
Oiwa backed away and reached for the tanto hidden in her kimono. Hysterical screaming echoed through the mansion once more, as Okiku's ghost thrashed about. With a loud cry, Oiwa charged in stabbing violently at the ghost, until it disappeared. She cowered, her eyes shut. Frighteningly panting, Oiwa looked back at where the ghost was. This time, as she stared at her husband's dead body, the hysterical screaming that rang through the mansion was her own.
~*~
“She tricked me! She possessed my husband and tricked me!” Oiwa wailed.
Mourning family and friends looked upon Oiwa with pity. Amongst the sweet smell of incense, Iemon's body laid.
“The servants keep saying something about a ghost... I think mother is just in mourning...” one of her sons whispered to his brother.
“It was probably a burglar, and he spooked father before he could properly react,” the brother replied, sadly. “I've sent the authorities to look into it...”
The two, handsome young men exchange agreeing glances and nodded.
~*~
Gardeners looked worriedly at the plants that adorned the expanse of the grounds. Amongst the leaves of the flowers and trees, several black and white, spiked caterpillars annoyingly munched away.
“I've found another one!” a gardener cried.
“And there's about twenty on this plant!” another cried.
With every plant and flower they examined, they continued to find the small, spiky bugs munching away at their plants. Looking closely, the spotted small boil-like dots on the ends of every spike.
“This cannot be natural...” a head gardener said worriedly. “Do you think...”
“Okiku's come back...” the first gardener gulped. “These caterpillars are her reincarnation...”
“Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not sticking around these Okiku-bugs any longer!” one of them cried, as he rushed back into the mansion to pack his things.
“I agree,” they chirped as they ran from the gardens.
~*~
As the nights passed, the screaming and counting continued, scaring away several of Oiwa's servants. In her own room in the almost deserted servants' quarters, Oume listened worriedly. She's looking for the tenth plate... She realized. She won't rest until whoever culprit and the plate are found...
She laid in her bed, uneasily closing her eyes. Messages in the form of dreams seemed to come to her as she slept.
“Oume! Oume!” Okiku's sad, hoarse voice cried out.
“Okiku!” Oume cried as she ran over to her friend's side. “Are you all right?!”
“I didn't break the plate... The Mistress did...” she wailed. “She was jealous of Master and I... We never did anything... He was just kind to me that's all. He was a friend!”
Angry tears fell down her disfigured face. Oume reached out her hands and gently took her swelled and misshapen hands in hers. She could feel her friend's anger in her cold fingers.
“Don't worry, Okiku,” Oume consoled her. “I'll talk with Mistress in the morning. Will you rest, if she admits it?”
She nodded.
In her room, Oiwa tossed and turned her futon as though fighting with a nightmare. Her eyes shot open. She tried to move, only to be paralyzed and suddenly mute. Her eyes widened in fear, seeing Okiku sitting on top of her chest glaring down on her.
Once more, Okiku's screaming pierced her ears.
~*~
Frazzled, Oiwa looked down her cup of tea, grimacing as Okiku's face flashed in and out of the depths of the warm liquid. Oume walked in carrying the breakfast tray. She set it down before Oiwa and looked at the woman worriedly. Restless nights had turned Oiwa's hair dull. Stress streaked several gray stripes throughout the strands. Dark circles pooled under her eyes.
“Oiwa-dono...” Oume called out quietly, as she set the breakfast dishes in front of her. “May I ask a question?”
“Sure...” was the barely audible reply.
“... Did you break the plate, and blame Okiku?” asked Oume after a slight hesitation.
The tears that formed in Oiwa's eyes answered the question.
“What did you do with the pieces? She's looking for the plate, and she won't rest until she finds it! If you want this to stop, you have to tell me, and admit your fault!” was Oume's desperate plea.
“My room... where my jewels are...”
As soon as she was finished setting the dishes down, Oume rushed off to her Mistress's room. She threw open Oiwa's jewelry chest and rummaged through the contest, frantically searching. In an unused drawer, Oume finally stumbled upon what she was looking for.
~*~
Oume and Oiwa watched the last rays of the sun desperately claw for the sky as it set in the horizon. Their heartbeats seemed to resound in their ears. With the last of the sun sinking below the horizon, shivers began to run up and down their spines. It began.
“One... Two...”
Footsteps slowly began stalking toward them.
“Three... Four...”
“I'm so sorry, Okiku...” Oiwa whimpered as Oume began chanting Buddhist scriptures to herself.
“Five... Six...”
Closer the footsteps grew.
“Seven... Eight...”
Closer... Closer... Closer...
Nine...”
“Ten!” Oume called out, holding the pieced together plate out in front of her. “Okiku! I found the plate! And Oiwa-dono admits her fault!”
“I did it!” Oiwa wailed, tears streaming. “I was jealous of your youth and beauty! I thought you would take my love away from me!”
Yet... in the end you did... she grieved. Has my petty jealousy done all this? Before them, Okiku stood, studying them and the plate that Oume still held in her hands. Oiwa continued to cry. With a resolved face, Oume reached out and placed the plate at Okiku's feet.
“Please, my dear friend, go rest now...” sadly sighed Oume. “It's over.”
Okiku knelt. Futilely, ghostly hands tried to grasp at the plate adorned with cherry blossoms and a night lit by a crescent moon. Ghostly tears began to fall down Okiku's face, washing away and healing the boils on her body as they poured, revealing the beautiful girl she was. Slowly, her ghost faded from view, and the house grew quiet.
A warm summer wind flew past them, in the direction of the well. Oume and Oiwa heard a quiet whisper amongst the breeze.
“Thank you...”
I pretty much combined 2 Japanese ghost stories for this entry for Bridgit's Flame. The stories are:
Yotsuya Kaidan is the story of Oiwa and her husband. They were in love once, but when poverty hit husband was willing to poision her off so he could marry a richer and prettier girl. Oiwa curses everyone around him, and her ghost ends up killing them in some manner. One example is how Oiwa cast an illusion or possessed Iemon's new wife and thus tricked him into killing her and his new father-in-law on the wedding night. Oiwa was beautiful, but the poision somehow disfigured her upon consumption.
Banchou Sarayashiki is about a beautiful servant girl who's framed for loosing one of her Masters' expensive 10 set heirloom plates. She commits suicide by throwing herself down a well, and it's said several "Okiku mushi" [Okiku bugs. So named for the sudden infestation after her suicide] devastated the family's crops. Then, every night everyone can hear someone counting 1 - 9. But when, she gets to ten, there is nothing but a hysterical screaming. Why was she framed? One version goes, it was because she refused her Master's amourous advances. Another was because the Master's wife was jealous of her beauty.
Both parts of the story are referenced at certain points as necessary.
Culture notes:
"-dono" - really old Japanese suffix that's attached to names of those who are high status. Unisex.Probably equvalent with "Lord" or "Lady"?
Shouji doors - sliding paper and wood doors, found in Japanese houses, even today
Tabi - Socks with one separation between the big and second toe to allow one to wear socks and sandals.
Tanto - a dagger, more or less, that samurai women and wives learned to use for self defense