[_Though the Snow-Woman makes one shiver by her coldness,--ah, the
willowy grace of her form cannot be broken by the snow (i.e. charms us
in spite of the cold)._]

[Footnote 38: _Zotto_ is a difficult word to render literally: perhaps
the nearest English equivalent is "thrilling." _Zotto suru_ signifies
"to cause a thrill" or "to give a shock," or "to make shiver;"
and of a very beautiful person it is said "_Zotto-suru hodo no
bijin_,"--meaning! "She is so pretty that it gives one a shock merely
to look at her." The term _yanagi-goshi_ ("willow-loins") in the last
line is a common expression designating a slender and graceful figure;
and the reader should observe that the first half of the term is
ingeniously made to do double duty here,--suggesting, with the
context, not only the grace of willow branches weighed down by snow,
but also the grace of a human figure that one must stop to admire, in
spite of the cold.]


VII. FUNA-Y[=U]RÉÏ

The spirits of the drowned are said to follow after ships, calling for
a bucket or a water-dipper (_hishaku_). To refuse the bucket or the
dipper is dangerous; but the bottom of the utensil should be knocked
out before the request is complied with, and the spectres must not
be allowed to see this operation performed. If an undamaged bucket
or dipper be thrown to the ghosts, it will be used to fill and to
sink the ship. These phantoms are commonly called _Funa-Y[=u]réï_
("Ship-Ghosts").

The spirits of those warriors of the Héïké clan who perished in the