Showing posts with label boat. Show all posts

Saturday, 22 March 2025

KIYOHIME AND THE HEARTLES PRIEST

KIYOHIME AND THE HEARTLESS PRIEST

(A JAPANESE FOLKLORE REVISED BY BOST)

According to Japanese folklore Kiyohime (or simply Kiyo) was the daughter of a village headman named Shōji, on the Hidaka riverbank. The family was wealthy enough to entertain and provide lodging for traveling priests, who often passed by on their way to a shrine famous for ascetic practices.

One day a handsome visiting priest named Anchin, having arrived at dusk, accepted the gracious invitation to be Shoji’s guest for the night.

He was served a sumptuous meal and, was treated very well all during the evening with his needs generously provided for. He was even given the best bedroom. Unfortunately, during the course of the night his attention was taken by Shoji’s rather bashful, beautiful daughter Kiyo.

As Anchin was rather a debonair, handsome young priest with suave manners and eloquent tongue, Kiyo quickly became smitten by him.

Anchin had only recently joined the order of priesthood, besides, he’d always been a passionate, hot blooded young man; seeing that his feelings were reciprocated by this enchanting girl and so wanting more time to get to know Kiyo, he deferred his morning departure and instead made up a plausible excuse so as to extend his stay for a few more days.

It was a beautiful time of year, when the Earth wore the bright coloured cloak of spring and frolicking birds and insects filled the air with cheerful melody. A few surreptitious, fervent meetings led to intimacy and Anachin, having totally lost his head, fell deeply in love with Kiyo.

Unfortunately, Anchin, being a principled, devout individual, furthermore, being dedicated to his chosen vocation, he just as quickly regained his wits (right mind) and wished to extricate himself from this erroneous infatuation (obsession). His initial desire had been to let her down gently; nevertheless, seeing her as the temptress, his demeanor henceforth became icy cold towards her, and he refrained from any further covert meetings.

Poor Kiyo wracked her brains for any explanation for this sudden change in Anchin and, failing to do so, fell into deep dismay. In her view she’d been taken advantage of and most cruelly and reprehensibly victimized by Anachin; especially since until then she had been virtuous and proper. The rejection by this heartless rogue Priest fed the furies of her emotions fanning them into intense hatred.

When one afternoon Kiyohime was away visiting a neighbour, Anachin took advantage of her absence to escape this sticky situation. He quietly made his excuses to his host Shoji and quickly departed.

She was incensed when she returned and found him already gone without a word. Beside herself, she dashed out of the house leaving her baffled father behind.

Tears coursing down her cheeks she ran and ran in hot pursuit of the unfaithful lover, with her heart in a terrible grip of fiery rage. Kiyohime eventually caught up with Anchin at the edge of the Hidaka River.

Anchin, sighting her first, quickly hired the moored ferryman to help him across the river. Once on board, Anchin pressed the boatmen to gain speed. Paying him additional funds, he further cautioned the boatman not to let her cross after him.

Distraught Kiyohime was crushed when she saw Anchin’s icy, heartless glare before he turned his face away to urge the boatmen for speed. She was so incensed; she bit her lip until blood trickled down her chin. Oblivious to her pain she dove into the rapid flowing river and started to swim towards them. She wanted some explanation, even a feeble excuse for his breaking his promise to her. While swimming in the torrent of the Hidaka River, thrashing this way and that, her heart was so filled with rage that it literally burst. Suddenly pitch darkness engulfed the waters. At that same moment she underwent a transformation, growing scales, becoming misshapen, and stretching until she turned into a fierce Dragon.

When Anchin looked back and, this time, saw her in the altered state of a monstrous Dragon effortlessly gliding through the foamy tumultuous waters, his heart skipped a beat. Fortunately, the boat had just reached the other shore. Bypassing the boatman who was trying to moor his craft, he simply jumped onto the shore. His feet firmly planted on the ground; he raced towards the temple called Dōjō-ji. His heart still in his mouth, sweating profusely and panting heavily, he begged the priests of Dōjōji for their cooperation and help in escaping this monster, the terrible evil spirit scourge that had taken on the form of a Dragon. They believed in Anchin and quickly lowered the bell of the temple to hide him under it.

The Dragon at first hesitated to enter the temple. But then her icy breath blew open the enormous doors in a miasmic cloud of fog, dust and debris and she manifested inside.

“Where is he?” She roared. But no one was there to answer her as all the priests had taken flight and hid. Her fiery breath could have razed the temple to the ground, but she still retained some benevolence and instead forcefully restrained her wrath.

She looked about her for a time, and then her keen sense picked up the frightened odor of Anchin quaking terribly, though well hidden, inside the giant bell.

Seething, the Dragon sliced through the air right across the room and coiled her enormous tail around the bell. She thrashed the bell loudly for several times. Anchin was nearly driven insane with all the noise and vibration. However, he was trapped and deep down he knew he would pay for his momentary lapse of judgement and sin. So resigned to his fate, he started to pray quietly for absolution.

Too late!

For just then the Dragon having tired of this fruitless torment, gave a gigantic belch of fire that engulfed and quickly melted the bell with Anchin inside.

The End.

Saturday, 22 August 2015

What's in a Name

What’s in a Name?

This year summer has been bonny with plenty of clear, sunshiny days and record hot temperatures. Drawn to water, there are plenty of things to do on the wonderful beaches and in the countless harbors situated close by. Ha! The cool breeze of the lake, there is nothing like it on the hot summer’s day.

Have you ever taken notice of the names of the various water vessels, these second homes for the water loving natives? They tell a lot about their owners and some of them are a hoot!

Here are some examples, and I didn’t need to go far, only to Port Credit, to obtain this sample. Lastly, for fun, you can ponder your preference for the name of your own water escape.

Have a nice day.

Saturday, 29 December 2012

Ushering in the New Year 2013

At the conclusions of the old year after the seconds are counted down and the stroke of midnight resounds there is always one song: Auld Lang Syne that is loudly sung by people of all ages, races and creeds to usher in the New Year.

Usually everyone joins hands with the person next to them to form a great big circle. At the beginning of the last verse, everyone crosses their arms across their breast, so that the right hand reaches out to the neighbour on the left and vice versa. When the song ends, everyone rushes to the centre while still holding hands, shrinking the circle, and then everyone turns under their arms to end up facing outwards with their hands still joined. Sounds like loads of fun, right?

Join me by clicking on the Link to sing along the Auld Lang Syne, as you view seasonal pictures of the last year:

More info about Auld Lang Syne:

Did you know that Auld Lang Syne is actually a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788? The poem later on was set to the tune of traditional folk song. From its humble beginnings it was always deemed an appropriate song for New Year, for it symbolizes “endings and new beginnings”. It is therefore also sung at graduations, funerals and as a farewell to persons leaving on a journey. The literal English interpretation of the title “Auld Lang Syne” can be any one of these: “Old long since” or, more idiomatically, “Long long ago”, “Days gone by” or “Old times.” The song begins with a rhetorical question as to whether it is right that the old times be forgotten, and encourages one to be mindful of long-standing friendships. In the publication of “Select Songs of Scotland”, by Thomson in 1799, the second verse of “Old Lang Syne” about greeting and toasting, was moved to its present position at the end.

Robert Burns had sent the copy of the original song to the Scots Musical Museum with the remark, “The following song, an old song, of the olden times, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript until I took it down from an old man”. Suffice to say some of the lyrics were indeed “collected” rather than composed by the poet. The ballad “Old Long Syne” printed in 1711 by James Watson shows incredible similarity in the first verse and the chorus to Burn’s later poem, and is almost certainly copied from the same “old song”. The rest of the poem can be attributed to Burns himself; however, there is some speculation as to whether the melody widely used in Scotland and the rest of the world today is the same one Burns had originally used. One thing is for certain it is a very contagious song. The song sang on Hogmanay or New Year’s Eve quickly became a Scots custom that soon spread like wildfire to other parts of the British Isles. As Scots, including English, Irish and Welsh immigrants, settled around the world they took with them this old tradition. In America, the Canadian band leader Guy Lombardo in 1929 used it in his New Year’s Eve celebrations through his annual broadcasts on radio and television. The song soon became his trademark and the rest, as they say, is history.