Folk Gods and Monsters - Living Spirits

In the old days, there was a rich merchant named Kibei who ran a Seto store on Rinkan Island in Edo. For a long time, Kibei had employed an honest man named Rokubei to take charge of the store's affairs, both large and small.

Due to the diligence of Rokubei, the business of the store was flourishing, the number of customers coming and going, and the scope of business was expanding, but Rokubei was the only one who ran the business without other helpers, so it was not only tiring but also annoying. So Rokubei asked the boss to add a second boss to help with the business.

With his permission, Rokubei decided to recruit his nephew, a young man of twenty-two years old, to work at the Seto store in Osaka.

Although his business experience was not as good as his uncle's, he was actively learning, and his service attitude of making customers his priority won the approval of many customers, and the store became more prosperous than before.

However, seven months after the young man came to the store, he fell ill with a strange disease and was almost in a life-threatening condition. They called all the famous doctors in the Edo area, but they could not find out the cause of the disease. The doctor could not prescribe any medicine but said that it seemed to be caused by a sad event.

Rokubei thought that maybe his nephew had a crush on the daughter of one of the families, so he said to his nephew, who was sick, "I was thinking.

"I am thinking that you are young now and it is time for you to have a family, is it because you secretly like a woman whose name you don't know and you think about her all day long that you are suffering from lovesickness? If that's the case, you can tell me clearly what's bothering you. After all, you are far away from home to a foreign land, I am like your own father. If you have any troubles or pains, I will try to solve them for you, just like your father. If you need money, don't be shy, just tell me and I will raise it for you. Moreover, if you can regain your old glowing appearance, Boss Kibei will be very happy."

The young patient, feeling rather embarrassed by these kind and caring words, hesitated a little, and after a long silence, finally replied.

"Thank you very much for your care, and I shall never forget your words. However, I do not secretly desire any woman. It is difficult to cure my disease. It is the severe reprimands and a hundred tortures I am inexplicably subjected to from time to time here that makes me not want to live any longer."

The young man continued.

"No matter where I am, day or night, in the store or my bedroom, or alone or in a crowd, I am often haunted by an imaginary female figure, and feel miserable. Since a long time ago, I have never been able to sleep well at night. As soon as I closed my eyes, the woman's phantom would grab my throat and try to put me to death. Therefore, every night, I can not sleep well ......"

"Then why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" Rokubei asked.

"I think it is difficult to open up to you to mention this matter. The phantom I am talking about is not a dead ghost, but a person who is still in the human world. This person, as you know, uncle, I am afraid that if I talk about it, it will cause trouble." The nephew replied.

"Oh! Then who exactly is it?" Rokubei asked in persistent pursuit.

"It's the boss's wife. That is, the wife of Kibei's boss, Mrs. ...... often tries to strangle me." The young man replied in a soft voice.

Hearing this, Rokubei was very surprised, because he believed what his nephew said, and did not half question it. But why such a phantom had appeared was puzzling. After all, something like a living spirit can come out of unrequited love that cannot be realized, or extreme resentment towards someone. The cause of the matter is not understood by the person concerned, and then a daunting hideous face appears for no reason.

Thinking left and right, Rokubei still couldn't figure it out. Kibei's wife was already in her early fifties. Then again, from another point of view, this young second boss, could it be annoying people - inviting the disgust of the spirits anymore, to get this disease.

But then again, the young man's good character, no one can be blamed for the place, and polite to others, work hard and fast, faithful and reliable. This unexplained mystery, so Rokubei puzzled, finally decided to explain the original story to the boss Kibei.

After listening to the statement, Kibei's face looked difficult, for more than 40 years, he has always believed in his subordinates, in any case, in Rokubei's words, he does not have the slightest doubt.

Therefore, Kibei immediately sought his wife to come over, tossed around the patient's words, and gently asked the cause of the matter.

After hearing this, his wife's face immediately changed drastically, sobbing and not saying a word; only after a while did she tell the truth of the matter.

"What the new second boss said, about the matter of living spirits, is indeed true. I can't say why I resent him so much. As you know, that young man, very business maneuver, what he did, can not find the slightest error. At the same time, you also gave him a lot of authority, and even he can freely call the apprentice or servant under him."

Madam continued.

"Because of this, our only son Baomi - the one who should take over our business - could easily be stolen by the second boss, who is well-liked, and become undesirable. I was thinking that the eloquent second boss might have ambitions to take over our son's throne. So, no matter what time, as long as the second boss is present, although he is not at all pretentious, I always think, really do not want to see his sinister eyes, I always feel that he wants to hit our ideas, to destroy our son's position. In this way, I feel that this man is not only terrible but also hateful.

Therefore, I always want that man to die immediately, and even, I want to kill him with my own hands ...... I also know that I should not hate others so much, but I can not restrain my emotions, so I curse that second boss day and night every day. So, what he said to Rokubei is true."

Kibei gently rebuked his wife.

"Doing such foolish things, and suffering yourself! Until today, that second boss did not dare to reveal this matter. And you? And yet you made that child so miserable. ...... Okay! I'll transfer him and Rokubei, to a branch in another town, so that you might feel more relieved."

"In that case, I won't be able to see his face and hear his voice? If I can ask him to leave our house, I think I can suppress my emotions."

"All right! Let's do it. If you continue to loathe him and curse him, the boy will surely die, and in this way, you will become a murderer. Besides, then again, the boy is a good helper who can't be found even with a lantern."

After the truth was revealed, Kibei immediately raised money to set up branches in other towns, and Rokubei went to that branch with his nephew to do business and continue to work for Kibei.