great sea-fight at Dan-no-ura, in the year 1185, are famous among
Funa-Y[=u]réï. Taïra no Tomomori, one of the chiefs of the clan, is
celebrated in this weird rôle: old pictures represent him, followed by
the ghosts of his warriors, running over the waves to attack passing
ships. Once he menaced a vessel in which Benkéï, the celebrated
retainer of Yoshitsuné, was voyaging; and Benkéï was able to save
the ship only by means of his Buddhist rosary, which frightened the
spectres away....

Tomomori is frequently pictured as walking upon the sea, carrying
a ship's anchor on his back. He and his fellow-ghosts are said to
have been in the habit of uprooting and making off with the anchors
of vessels imprudently moored in their particular domain,--the
neighborhood of Shimonoséki.

Erimoto yé
Mizu kakéraruru
Kokochi seri,
"Hishaku kasé" ch[=o]
Funé no kowané ni.

[_As if the nape of our necks had been sprinkled with cold
water,--so we felt while listening_ _to the voice of the
ship-ghost, saying:--"Lend me a dipper!"_[39]]

[Footnote 39: _Hishaku_, a wooden dipper with a long handle, used to
transfer water from a bucket to smaller vessels.]

Y[=u]rei ni
Kasu-hishaku yori