perished utterly, with their women and children, and their infant emperor
likewise -- now remembered as Antoku Tenno. And that sea and shore have
been haunted for seven hundred years... Elsewhere I told you about the
strange crabs found there, called Heike crabs, which have human faces on
their backs, and are said to be the spirits of the Heike warriors [1]. But
there are many strange things to be seen and heard along that coast. On
dark nights thousands of ghostly fires hover about the beach, or flit above
the waves,-- pale lights which the fishermen call Oni-bi, or demon-fires;
and, whenever the winds are up, a sound of great shouting comes from that
sea, like a clamor of battle.


In former years the Heike were much more restless than they now are. They
would rise about ships passing in the night, and try to sink them; and at
all times they would watch for swimmers, to pull them down. It was in order
to appease those dead that the Buddhist temple, Amidaji, was built at
Akamagaseki [2]. A cemetery also was made close by, near the beach; and
within it were set up monuments inscribed with the names of the drowned
emperor and of his great vassals; and Buddhist services were regularly
performed there, on behalf of the spirits of them. After the temple had
been built, and the tombs erected, the Heike gave less trouble than before;
but they continued to do queer things at intervals,-- proving that they had
not found the perfect peace.



Some centuries ago there lived at Akamagaseki a blind man named Hoichi,
who was famed for his skill in recitation and in playing upon the biwa [3].
>From childhood he had been trained to recite and to play; and while yet a
lad he had surpassed his teachers. As a professional biwa-hoshi he became