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Speaker 1: A dead secret by Leafkatio Herne. A long time ago,

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in the province of Tamba, there lived a rich merchant

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named Inamuriya Gensuke. He had a daughter called Osuno. As

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she was very clever and pretty, he thought it would

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be a pity to let her grow up with only

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such teaching as the country teachers could give her, so

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he sent her in care of some trusty attendants to Kiyoto,

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that she might be trained in the polite accomplishments taught

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to the ladies of the capital. After she had thus

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been educated, she was married to a friend of her

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father's family, a merchant named Nagaraya, and she lived happily

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with him for nearly four years. They had one child,

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a boy, but Osno fell ill and died in the

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fourth year after her marriage. On the night after the

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funeral of O Sono, her little son said that his

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mamma had come back and was in the room upstairs.

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She had smiled him, but would not talk to him,

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so he became afraid and ran away. Then some of

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the family went upstairs to the room which had been

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O Sono's, and they were startled to see by the

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light of a small lamp which had been kindled before

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a shrine. In that room the figure of the dead mother.

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She appeared as if standing in front of a tansu

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or chest of drawers that still contained her ornaments and

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her wearing apparel. Her head and shoulders could very distinctly

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be seen, but from the waist downwards the figure thinned

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into invisibility. It was like an imperfect reflection of her,

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and transparent as a shadow on water. Then the folk

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were afraid and left the room below. They consulted together,

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and the mother of o Sono's husband said, a woman

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is fond of her small things, and o Sono was

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much attached to her belongings. Perhaps she has come back

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to look at them. Many dead persons will do that

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unless the things be given to the parish temple. If

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we present Osno's robes and girdles to the temple, her

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spirit will probably find rest. It was agreed that this

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should be done as soon as possible, so on the

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following morning, the drawers were emptied and all of Osuna's

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ornaments and dresses were taken to the temple. But she

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came back the next night and looked at the tansu

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as before, and she came back also on the night following,

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and the night after that, and every night, and the

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house became a house of fear. The mother of Osuno's

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husband then went to the parish temple and told the

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chief priest all that had happened, and asked for ghostly counsel.

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The temple was a zen temple and the head priest

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was a learned old man known as daigen oshoal he said,

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there must be something about which she is anxious in

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or near that tansu, but we emptied all the drawers,

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replied the woman, there is nothing in the tansu. Well,

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said daigen Osho. To night, I shall go to your

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house and keep watch in that room and see what

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can be done. You must give orders that no person

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shall enter the room while I am watching unless I

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call after sundown. Dagon Osho went to the house and

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found the room made ready for him. He remained there

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alone reading the sutras, and nothing happened until after the

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hour of the rat. Then the figure of O Sono

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suddenly outlined itself in front of the tansu. Her face

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had a wistful look, and she kept her eyes fixed

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upon the tansu. The priest uttered the holy formula prescribed

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in such cases, and then, addressing the figure by the

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kind yo of O Sono, said, I have come here

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in order to help you. Perhaps in that tansu there

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is something about which you have reason to feel anxious.

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Shall I try to find it for you? The shadow

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appeared to give consent by a slight mane of the head,

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and the priest rising opened the top drawer. It was empty.

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Successively he opened the second, the third, and the fourth drawer.

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He searched carefully behind them, and beneath them, he carefully

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examined the interior of the chest. He found nothing, but

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the figure remained gazing as wistfully as before. What can

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she want? Thought the priest. Suddenly it occurred to him

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that there might be something hidden under the paper with

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which the drawers were lined. He removed the lining of

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the first drawer. Nothing. He removed the lining of the

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second and third drawers, still nothing. But unto the lining

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of the lowermost drawer he found a letter. Is this

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the thing about which you have been troubled? He asked?

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The shadow of the woman turned toward him, her faint

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gaze fixed upon the letter. Shall I burn it? For you,

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he asked. She bowed before him. It shall be burned

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in the temple this very morning, he promised, and no

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one shall read it except myself. The figure smiled and vanished.

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Dawn was breaking as the priest descended the stairs to

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find the family waiting anxiously below. Do not be anxious,

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he said to them. She will not appear again, and

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she never did. The letter was burned. It was a

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love letter written to O Sono in the time of

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her studies at Kuiyoto. But the priest alone knew what

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was in it, and the secret died with him. And

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of a dead secret,