无耳芳一：和尚在他身上写满经，漏了两只耳朵

This is one of the stories Lafcadio Hearn wrote in *Kwaidan*, known to almost every Japanese person. Lafcadio Hearn was originally a writer born in Greece and raised in Ireland; he later became a Japanese citizen and wrote down old Japanese stories in English. This book was published in 1904.

The story takes place at Amida-ji Temple in Shimonoseki. A blind man named Hoichi lived in the temple; he was a biwa hoshi, most skilled at playing and singing *The Tale of the Heike*, especially the Battle of Dan-no-ura. In 1185, the Heike were defeated by the Genji at sea at Dan-no-ura; the young Emperor Antoku, held by his grandmother, sank into the sea, and nearly the entire Heike clan died there.

One summer night, while the abbot was away, Hoichi sat alone under the corridor when he suddenly heard the sound of armor clanking. A samurai walked up to him and said: My master wants to hear you play the biwa; please come with me. Hoichi could not see, and was led by the hand for a long way, through a large gate, where he heard many voices inside, the rustling of clothes and sighing. He was asked to sit down and began to play and sing; when he reached the part about Dan-no-ura, everyone in the room wept.

This happened for several nights in a row. The monks at the temple felt something was wrong and sent someone to follow him secretly. They discovered Hoichi sitting alone in the rain before the grave of Emperor Antoku, surrounded by will-o'-the-wisps, playing the biwa to a cluster of gravestones while singing.

Fearing Hoichi would be taken away by ghosts, the abbot wrote the *Heart Sutra* all over his body—his hands, feet, face, and chest—and told him to sit under the corridor, motionless and silent. The abbot went out on business and forgot to write on his ears.

That night, the samurai came again. He called out a few times, but no one answered; he only saw a pair of ears floating in midair. He said: Since that's all there is, I'll take this back as proof for my master. He tore both ears off.

Hoichi was in such pain he didn't make a sound; blood flowed all over the ground. After his wounds healed, his fame was greater than before, and from then on people called him "Hoichi the Earless."

Today's Akama Jingu in Shimonoseki is the former site of Amida-ji Temple. Inside there is a small Hoichi Hall enshrining a statue of him, next to the graves of the Heike clan.

#Ghosts #网络转载 #日本怪谈