The Haunted Temple

The Haunted Temple

Demon

The final storyteller came forward. Unlike the others, he tended to have a flair for the dramatic. He had won the contest for the past three years, and was certain that his winning streak would continue.

"There once was an old temple in the mountains near the village of Kisaichi in the province of Inaba. For as long as the village elders could remember, the temple had been haunted by the skeleton ghost of a priest who once lived there.

"The villagers believed that no one could spend a night there and live.

"One winter, a priest by the name of Jogen came to Kisaichi on a pilgrimage from the province of Kai. He had come to see the so-called "haunted" temple and prove that there was no such thing as a haunting or a ghost.

"He found his way to the village on a cold December night. Almost immediately, he began making inquires about the temple.

"'You must not consider going to the temple,for it surely means death,' one of the village elders told him.

"'But I wish to reopen the temple so that the people of the valley have a place to worship,' said Jogen.

"That much was true, but made up only a small segment of Jogen's mission. Not only did he hope to reopen the temple, but he wanted to make himself the high priest and prove that there was no such thing as ghosts.

"The village elders saw that Jogen could not be dissuaded from visiting the temple. They agreed that if Jogen could survive the night, he could be the high priest of the newly reopened temple. It was also decided that the innkeeper's son, Kosa, would accompany Jogen to the temple in the morning as a guide.

"Jogen woke Kosa early the next morning. The two prepared their provisions for the journey and headed up the mountain. As soon as the temple was in sight, Kosa turned back.

"'What are you doing?' asked Jogen. 'Are you frightened of the ghost? Have you ever seen it?'

"The boy shook his head. 'I have not, but I don't want to risk anything. You're on your own now.'

"With one last nervous glance, Kosa turned and fled down the mountain.

"Jogen looked at the temple. It was a very large building, but a lack of attention had forced it to lapse into serious disrepair. Grass had grown up the side of the building and half of the roof had fallen in. Jogen was now more afraid of the temple collapsing on top of him rather than of the ghost that supposedly haunted it.

"Jogen entered the temple, and saw a large, gilded figure of the Buddha sitting in the direct center. Right behind it he could see what was left of priests' living quarters. Supposedly, before the ghost had appeared, there had been six priests living there.

"Jogen took a seat near the figure of Buddha. He unpacked a collection of candles and placed them in a circle around him. He lit the candles and began work on a fire.

"He watched the sun set while he prepared his dinner. The night was silent and dark. There was no moon out that night, so Jogen had to rely solely on the light from his candles and his slowly diminishing fire. For several hours he heard nothing . The wind ripped through the deserted temple. An owl hooted from time to time, and bats occassionally flew in and out.

"Just after midnight, Jogen heard a rustling in the bushes just outside of the temple ruins. He thought it might have been a deer or a fox, but no animal appeared. Then, out of the bush, a walking skeleton emerged. It walked slowly toward the temple ruins. He wore the tattered remains of a priest's clothing. The skeleton jerkily walked into the temple and took a seat in front of the Buddha statue.

"Jogen's blood ran cold. It was true. The temple really was haunted! Cold beads of sweat exploded on the priest's forehead. The marrow froze in his bones.

"The priest watched the ghost for a time, waiting to see what it would do. The ghost simply sat there, silently praying. Jogen noticed, however, that as his candles went out, the ghost paid more attention to him. It looked in his direction and seemed to be deciding what to do with him.

"This continued for an hour. Jogen became paralyzed with fear. He remained rooted to the spot, uncertain what to do.

"When the last candle went out, the ghost attacked.

"The next morning Kosa and five men from the village came up to the temple. They found only a collection of bones and tattered clothing...but no sign of Jogen.

"Jogen and the ghost were never heard from again. The ghost, having been satisfied, no longer haunted the temple."

All of the stories had been told, and the Obon festival came to a close.

Sadako: "My, my, my. Here we see what happens to the non-believers. They had forgotten the power of the yurei, and thus had to pay for it. I liked the ghost's more direct approach, as violent as it might have been. Yet, this ghost had the right idea because he dealt with his offenders directly and made them pay for their disbelief and their disrespect!

"I hope you enjoyed our little journey back through time to the Obon festival and that you learned a few things about yurei. Be careful in the future and remember to always honor the dead!"