Kwaidan Page #2

Come!

Your name is Yuki?

I see, I see.

Going to Edo alone

sounds very dangerous.

People are not always kind.

Young girls must be careful

not to be bothered by bad men.

Come eat while it's hot.

And Yuki bore him

three children.

handsome and very fair of skin.

She acquired a fame for being a

good wife among the villagers.

T ake a moment to reflect

on Grandma's grave.

Show her you've grown up.

Give her your flowers.

It seems she never gets old.

Really.

She's as young today as on the day

she first came into the village.

She's a wonder.

Were you at the grave?

Yes. It's my mother-in-law's

memorial day.

That's good.

She must be pleased to see her

nice grandchildren

praying for her.

She's happy.

She died praising

her son's wife.

It's not very common.

No.

Usually, a mother-in-law talks ill

of her son's wife.

No matter how good the wife is.

That's not true.

Thanks to you, I'm happy.

What a happy couple,

you and your husband!

He must be happy.

He has such a good and beautiful

woman for a wife.

Naturally.

What a young wife!

Most peasant women age early

after having three children.

She still looks like a girl.

She's a wonder.

Put them on.

Is it too small?

And the children's?

I made them.

How nice! All ready... the sandals

for the holiday season!

If the thongs are too tight,

I'll fix them.

Now try them on.

Yes.

How beautiful!

Why the red thongs?

You're still young.

I'm a mother of three children.

Red is still your colour.

Your feet look beautiful.

It fits well.

Not too tight, not too lose.

It's exactly my size.

Your sandals look beautiful

and sturdy

so people come to you

for special orders.

This pair is exceedingly good.

I made them so that

they'll match your kimono.

As if I were going away

on a journey!

I can't buy you a new kimono,

so at least you have sandals.

With your sandals and my kimono

our children will have

a wonderful holiday.

How is it going?

A few more stitches.

Why are you watching me

so intently?

I just remembered

that night ten years ago.

It's strange to recall it now

after so many years.

You're sewing with the light

on your face

and I'm looking up at you

like this.

That's why I remembered

that night...

What night?

A strange thing happened

that night.

I can remember it well as if it

happened yesterday.

I was eighteen then. I never

told anybody about that night.

I'm not sure it was real

or a dream.

It was the night that old Mosaku

was frozen dead

as if his blood were all gone.

I saw with my own eyes a woman

who was bending over him.

And she was blowing her breath

like a white smoke upon him.

Then he became stiff and

couldn't move.

That woman stooped over me, too.

And I got almost numb.

Then,

the eyes of the horrible woman

Iooked very, very beautiful.

She was so beautiful

and white like you.

Yes!

You looked exactly like her

just now.

That's why I remembered.

Once the memory haunted me

day and night.

I became sick after that.

I tell you, it was when I spent

the terrible snowstormy night

in the ferryman's hut.

I saw very clearly the weird

woman who killed old Mosaku.

I've never seen in my life

a woman as beautiful and white

as her except you.

Of course, she's not a human

being and I was afraid of her.

She was the Woman of the Snow

who was hungry for warm blood...

...or a dream.

...or a dream.

Not a dream.

I...

It was me.

Me!

Me!

It was Yuki.

You promised that night you'd

never tell anybody.

You finally broke the promise.

It was a pledge for life

for both of us.

I told you if you broke it,

I would kill you.

You betrayed me!

Ah, if it were not for those

children asleep there

I would kill you this moment!

From now on

you'd better take good care

of those children.

If they have any reason to

complain about you

I'll treat you as you deserve!

HOICHI, THE EARLESS

The time had come.

It was dawn on March 24th

in Year 1 of the Genryaku era (1185)

The armies of the Genji

and Heik clans were determined

to fight one last time at Dan-no-ura,

off Kyushu

in the Shimonoski Strait.

Procurator Kanzo from Kumano

had hoisted the Kongo-Doji flag

and placed on the frontline

the boats belonging to Kawanano Michinobu,

inhabitant of the Province of Lyo.

He'd decided to side with the Genji

with his warriors, on board

two hundred ships.

The Genji and their allies thus

created a mighty navy

comprising of three thousand warships

with the aim of encircling the Haik navy.

The Genji an Heik couldn't wait

for the hostilities to start.

Both armies flung themseves at each other.

It is a well-known fact that the Genji army

had been put under the high command

of General Yoshitsun from Genji.

At Dan-no-ura of

Shimonoseki Channel

the last battle was fought between

the Genji and the Heike clans.

The Heike were defeated in many

battles and escaped to the west.

And here. the clan perished

with the infant emperor.

Notonokami Noritsune knew

this was his last day.

The Genji samurai

were no match for him.

He wanted to cross swords with

Yoshitsune. the Genji commander.

"Come on. Yoshitsune!" he called.

The high waves prevented them

from landing the shore.

And the Genji ships blocked the

one possible escape to the sea.

They waited with arrows

in their bows.

The crew were all dead

and the Heike ships had

no where to go.

Some sank. some went adrift.

The long contest between

the two samurai clans

was reaching its end.

Lady Nii saw the end

of the battle.

She held the infant emperor

in her arms.

"Woman though I am. I won't let

my enemy kill me.

I'll escort His Majesty

to the next world.

If you have loyalty. follow me. "

And that sea and its shores

have been haunted for

seven hundred years.

Thousands of strange crabs

called Heike crabs

which have human faces

on their backs are found there.

After Amidaji temple was built

at Akamagahara

to console the dead

samurai's souls

many strange things took place.

Hoichi!

Hoichi!

Here you are.

Be careful not to fall

into the well, Hoichi.

Yes.

The Priest wants you to take care

while we're away.

We're going to perform a service

at the house

of a dead parishioner.

Yes.

There's a piece of watermelon

for you in the kitchen.

Eat it while it's cold.

Yes. Thank you.

All right.

I told him to take care.

He's new here. I'm afraid.

I think he'll be all right.

Who is it?

Are you back, Priest?

No one would visit here

at this hour of night.

Maybe I only imagined

I heard a sound.

Hoichi!

Hoichi!

Who's calling?

I'm blind.

I've not been living here long.

I thought somebody was in the

garden, but I was not sure.

Pardon me.

Forgive me.

Nothing to fear.

I'm stopping near this temple

and have been sent here

with a message.

My present lord, a person of

exceedingly high rank

is now staying at Akamagahara

with his numerous attendants.

He wanted to view a scene

of the battle of Dan-no-ura

so we went there today.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes