of the roof), the Rokuro-Kubi laughs with the sound of
"kéta-kéta"--oh! the fearfulness of her face!_[34]]

[Footnote 34: It is not possible to render all the double meanings in
this composition. _Tsuka-no-ma_ signifies "in a moment" or "quickly";
but it may also mean "in the space [_ma_] between the roof-props"
[_tsuka_]. "_Kéta_" means a cross-beam, but _kéta-kéta warau_ means to
chuckle or laugh in a mocking way. Ghosts are said to laugh with the
sound of kéta-kéta.]

Roku shaku no
By[=o]bu ni nobiru
Rokuro-Kubi
Mité wa, go shaku no
Mi wo chijimi-kéri!

[_Beholding the Rokuro-Kubi rise up above the six-foot screen,
any five-foot person would have become shortened by fear (or,
"the stature of any person five feet high would have been
diminished")._[35]]

[Footnote 35: The ordinary height of a full screen is six Japanese
feet.]


VI. YUKI-ONNA

The Snow-Woman, or Snow-Spectre, assumes various forms; but in most
of the old folk-tales she appears as a beautiful phantom, whose
embrace is death. (A very curious story about her can be found in my