much more because it will afford some glimpses of a supernatural world
which still remains for the most part unexplored. Without knowledge
of Far Eastern superstitions and folk-tales, no real understanding of
Japanese fiction or drama or poetry will ever become possible.

* * * * *

There are many hundreds of poems in the three volumes of the _Ky[=o]ka
Hyaku-Monogatari_; but the number of the ghosts and goblins falls
short of the one hundred suggested by the title. There are just
ninety-five. I could not expect to interest my readers in the whole
of this goblinry, and my selection includes less than one seventh
of the subjects. The Faceless Babe, The Long-Tongued Maiden,
The Three-Eyed Monk, The Pillow-Mover, The Thousand Heads, The
Acolyte-with-the-Lantern, The Stone-that-Cries-in-the-Night,
The Goblin-Heron, The Goblin-Wind, The Dragon-Lights, and The
Mountain-Nurse, did not much impress me. I omitted _ky[=o]ka_ dealing
with fancies too gruesome for Western nerves,--such as that of the
_Obumédori_,--also those treating of merely local tradition.
The subjects chosen represent national rather than provincial
folklore,--old beliefs (mostly of Chinese origin) once prevalent
throughout the country, and often referred to in its popular
literature.


I. KITSUNÉ-BI

The Will-o'-the-wisp is called _kitsuné-bi_ ("fox-fire"), because
the goblin-fox was formerly supposed to create it. In old Japanese
pictures it is represented as a tongue of pale red flame, hovering