Smrtonosno prekletstvo

Besedilo

Smrtonosno prekletstvo

Long ago there lived a man named Otsuki no Masahira, head of the Bureau of Accounts. He had a son, a doctor of mathematics, whose name was Shigesuke. This was the father of Tadaomi, head of the Bureau of Accounts, and the grandfather of Tomochika, governor of Awaji and senior secretary. If Shigesuke lived, he was certain to rise to high office, and there were those who thought, “If only he might somehow be done away with! Once he advances, no one else will have a chance at becoming head or deputy head of the Bureau of Accounts or the Bureau of Taxation, or senior secretary.” These offices were hereditary in his family, and besides being a man of keen intelligence, he was astute in his dealings. Though still of the sixth rank, he was steadily gaining a great reputation in the world, and so there were people who felt they could well do without him. Now an ominous sign appeared at his house, and when he consulted a diviner, the man wrote out the days on which he must observe especially strict seclusion and gave him the list. Shigesuke accordingly barred his gate securely and remained within, observing the prescribed abstinence. But an enemy secretly engaged a diviner to work a spell that would kill him. The diviner who was to perform the sorcery said, “If he is keeping to his house, it must be a day on which he has been warned to take care. A curse cast to coincide with that day is sure to take effect. Take me with you to his house and call him out. If he is in seclusion, he will surely not open the gate, but if I can so much as hear his voice, the curse is certain to work.” So the man took the diviner to Shigesuke’s house and pounded loudly on the gate. A servant came out and asked, “Who is knocking at the gate?” The visitor had him convey this message: “It is I. I have come on urgent business. However strict your seclusion may be, please open the gate just a crack and let me in. This is a matter of the greatest importance.” The servant went back inside and reported his words, but Shigesuke said, “This is quite unreasonable. Does he imagine that a man living in this world has nothing to concern him? I cannot admit him. There is absolutely no point in his staying. Tell him to go home at once.” When this answer was brought to him, the visitor said, “Then even if you will not open the gate, at least show your face through the sliding door. I will speak to you myself.” Perhaps it was his destiny to die, for Shigesuke put his face out through the sliding door and asked, “What is it?” The diviner heard his voice, saw his face, and cursed him with all the power at his command. As for the man who had asked to see him, though he had claimed to have something of the utmost importance to say, he could think of nothing. “I am just leaving for the country,” he said, “and came to let you know. Please go back inside now.” “You call a man out like this over something of no importance at all! What a senseless fellow you are!” Shigesuke said, and went in. Immediately afterward his head began to ache, and on the third day he died. Thus, when observing a period of seclusion, one must not speak loudly or meet people from outside. Those who practice such sorcery seize upon these opportunities to work their spells, and it is a truly frightening thing. Yet the man who had commissioned the curse also met with calamity and died before very long. Perhaps the curse had recoiled upon him. A dreadful affair indeed—or so the tale was told.