. The mikado's empire. Presto ! ^^Kama-itachi ni kirare-ta ( cut by the sickle-weasel ). The invisible brute has passed andcut his victim on the cheek with his blade. I have myself knowncases where no cut appeared and no blood flowed, yet the stumblcrwho broke his clog-string fell to cursing the kama-itachi for tripping THE MYTHICAL ZOOLOGY OF JAPAN. 483 him. This creature is also said to be present in whirlwinds. It is amost convenient scape-goat for people who go out at night when theyought to stay at home, and who get cuts and scratches which they donot care to account for truly. A case rec
. The mikado's empire. Presto ! ^^Kama-itachi ni kirare-ta ( cut by the sickle-weasel ). The invisible brute has passed andcut his victim on the cheek with his blade. I have myself knowncases where no cut appeared and no blood flowed, yet the stumblcrwho broke his clog-string fell to cursing the kama-itachi for tripping THE MYTHICAL ZOOLOGY OF JAPAN. 483 him. This creature is also said to be present in whirlwinds. It is amost convenient scape-goat for people who go out at night when theyought to stay at home, and who get cuts and scratches which they donot care to account for truly. A case recently occurred in the port ofNiigata, which illustrates both the mythical and scape-goat phases ofthis belief. A European doctor was called to see a native woman,who was said to be suffering from the kama-itachi. The patient wasfound lying down, with a severe clean cut, such as might have beencaused by falling on some sharp substance; but to all questions as tohow she got the wound, the only answer was, Kama-itachi. By. Futen, the Wind-imp. (From a Japanese drawing.) dint of questioning the servants, it appeared that there was more inthe facts than had met the doctors ears. It seemed that, during thenight, she had risen and passed out of the house, and had been absentfor a considerable time. Whether there was a love-lorn swain inladys bower awaiting her coming was not developed during thepumping process she was subjected to by the student of imaginaryzoology, who was the catechist of the occasion. Japanese gardens arenearly always paved with smooth stones, which often have sharp might easily have inflicted just such a wound in case of a fall on 484 THE MIKADOS EMPIRE. their slippery surfaces, especially if the fall occurred in the reasons of her own, most probably, the blame was laid on the ka^ma-itachi. The wind and the thunder, to a Japanese child or peasant, are some-thing more than moving air and sound. Before many of the templesare figures, often c
Size: 1345px × 1859px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorgriffisw, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookyear1894
