In my childhood, I often heard, “If you tell a lie, you will have to swallow 1,000 needles,” or “your tongue will be pulled out.” Actually, it’s been hard for me to live without telling any lies. Am I going to Hell? Will the Great King Enma of Hell, the judge of the afterlife, really judge me?
The people who read the story from Niigata’s Folk Tale Vol. 2 entitled “Hoin, a Physician, and an Acrobat” unanimously expressed their wonder.
One of them said, “The Honorable Hoin, the physician, and the acrobat must have thought that they would all be allowed to go to Heaven. Even though they may have lied, they were not such evil villains. Isn’t it too harsh for them to be thrown into Hell?”
Another commented, “Despite the tough punishments involving the iron pot of Hell, the demon’s mouth, and the Mountain of Swords, they managed to get out of these situations with their own skills. I think wisdom and skills are essential for human beings.”
One more stated, “I was a bit surprised that because the three were wild and out of control, the Great King Enma gave up and threw them out of Hell back into this world. I was wondering what Hell is like?”
Then, I interviewed Hoin, the greatest Buddhist priest and one of the three who returned to this world from Hell. Here is his story of visiting the other world.
I, Hoin, humbly disciplined myself day and night for many years. I would wake up early in the morning and stand under waterfalls to purify my spirit. I would have only a little food, just half a bowl. I would chant sutras all through the night without sleeping. I disciplined myself in these ways to attain higher spiritual enlightenment. I abandoned feelings of resentment and jealousy. I was released from material and sexual desires. I came to be known as a living Buddha.
But, where am I now? It looks like a path leading to the other world. A physician holding a medicine box and an acrobat with a pair of golden straw sandals hanging from his belt chased after me and begged me, “Honorable Hoin, please take us to Heaven with you.”
“Sure, let’s go there together. It’s good to travel with companions. Let’s go to Heaven together,” I replied.
We saw an imposing iron gate up ahead. That must be the entrance to the World of the Dead, which we have often heard about.
“Hey, welcome, welcome. It’s good to have you here. The Great King Enma’s mansion is this way.” Many red, blue, and mottled demons welcomed us.
“Dear red demons, blue demons, and mottled demons, thank you so much for your warm welcome.” We were escorted to the Great King Enma.
“You, Hoin. Where is your souvenir for me?” he shouted thunderously.
“Honorable Great King Enma, what do you mean by souvenir?”
“Isn’t it obvious? A souvenir for me from the World of the Living.”
“As I’m a humble priest, a servant of Buddha, I possess nothing but myself.”
“What did you say? You only brought yourself here to the World of the Dead, empty-handed, without any souvenirs? How stupid you are! I can’t believe that you, Hoin, don’t know the old saying that goes ‘Your souvenir determines your sentence in the World of the Dead.’ What kind of disciplines have you concentrated on? Since you haven’t brought me anything, your body itself is the souvenir. You will fall prey to the demons of Hell!”
“What?”
“Next!” The physician was brought before the Great King Enma.
“You came with a souvenir. You are thoughtful. What do you have in that box?”
“Honorable Great King Enma, I have some special medicine in this box. It’s effective as a cure-all. It can relieve any kind of pain. It can also make food sweet and delicious.”
“Splendid! Let me take a look. Hmm…What is it?” Sniff, sniff. “Aren’t these balls of snot? Are you trying to deceive me? You insolent fool! These are souvenirs for me? This is ridiculous! Present your own body as a souvenir. You will fall prey to the demons of Hell!"
“No!”
“Next!” The acrobat was brought before the Great King Enma.
“Acrobat, what have you got?”
“Honorable Great King Enma, I have a pair of golden straw sandals.”
“What do you do with them?”
“You should wear these sandals and go out to look for a new wife. I pray that you have a pleasant life with her. I especially recommend that you choose a wife older than you.”
“Heh, heh, heh. Is that so? They are very nice. Now, let me try them on. …Mmm, mmm. What’s wrong with these sandals? They’re too tiny for me! There’s no way I could wear such small sandals. Acrobat, you disgrace me! You made a fool of me! These are souvenirs for me? Never! Acrobat, present your body as a souvenir. You will fall prey to the demons of Hell.”
“Oh, no!”
“Demons, dump these three together into an iron pot and boil them!”
“Yes, master, as you wish.”
A red demon dragged us off to the huge iron pot of Hell. The water in the pot was boiling hot. I stepped toward the iron pot and recited an old saying, “Clear your mind of all mundane thoughts, and even fire will feel cool.”
“Here I go!” Kersplash! I jumped into the boiling water, chanting my prayer to Buddha.
“Oh, my goodness! This feels nice. What a wonderful bath! You two should join me. Come on in.”
The physician and the acrobat agreed and joined me in the pot.
“Oh, my goodness. This is such a good bath. Ha, ha, ha, ha, it’s been a while since I took my last bath,” said the physician.
“What a privilege to be able to take such a heavenly bath in Hell,” the acrobat exclaimed.
“I feel revived. Ha, ha, ha! I feel so good. This is a bath of rejuvenation.”
We immersed ourselves in the boiling water and washed off the dirt.
“Dear Red Demon, the bath is getting lukewarm. Could you put more wood on the fire?”
The red demon’s face reddened as he heaped more wood on the fire.
“It’s still not hot enough. Dear Red Demon, more wood, please.”
No matter how much wood the red demon threw on, the water would not get hot enough and the flames burned lower and lower.
The red demon went to the Great King Emma in despair. “Honorable Great King Enma, they are acting so carefree, saying that they are enjoying a heavenly bath, a bath of rejuvenation. No matter how much wood I add, the water doesn’t seem to get hot enough. I cannot boil them properly!”
“Hmph! What a troublesome bunch. It doesn’t matter if they are not fully cooked. Eat them right away!”
“Yes, My Lord.”
A blue demon opened his big drooling mouth.
We got out of the bath with our skin lustrous just like that of a newborn baby.
The physician calmly opened his medicine box and liberally applied medicine all over me and the acrobat. The physician also put the medicine all over his own body from head to toes. Then he jumped into the blue demon’s wide-open maw. The acrobat and I followed right after.
The blue demon shouted “Yum!” and tried to bite down on us. What do you know? The blue demon’s teeth started to melt away and crumble. His ruined teeth fell out of his mouth one after another.
“Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey! That hurts! So bitter! They taste awful! Help me!” The blue demon’s blue face turned bluer and he spit us out. “Urgh.”
Gasping for breath, the blue demon cried and pleaded with the Great King Enma.
“Honorable Great King Enma, my teeth have all melted away and my mouth is on fire! I’m in a lot of pain! Help me!”
“What’s wrong with you all? Can’t you idiots even eat these mere humans? You think you are demons? Send these fools to the Mountain of Swords and mince them. Hurry up and cook them. I, the Great King Enma, will eat them.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
At the Mountain of Swords, innumerable wicked blades were pointing angrily to the sky. The acrobat put on his golden straw sandals and started walking. “This way, my friends, this way.” Trampling down the swords, he escorted us, hopping and jumping all over the mountain.
Led by his golden straw sandals, we reached the summit of the Mountain of Swords. “Ho, ho! What a wonderful view!”
“The glittering swords are beautiful,” noted the physician.
“Over there, we can see the Sanzu no Kawa, the River of Three Crossings (the River Styx). Look, there’s the pot of Hell, and the roasting pit of Hell. Where is Heaven?”
We were impressed and looked over the World of the Dead.
Then, all the demons started crying out. “Honorable Great King Enma, they reached the summit of the mountain, jumping all around, unhurt despite the blades. They are enjoying the view of Hell from the top of the mountain. We cannot mince them and cook them.”
“Haven’t you cooked them yet? I’m too hungry. You useless demons!” The Great King Enma stamped his feet in frustration.
Suddenly, a mottled demon rushed in. “Great King Enma, we have a huge problem. They found the stairs leading to Heaven. They are trying to climb them.”
“What? They are trying to climb up to Heaven without presenting souvenirs to me? Unforgettable!”
The Great King Enma took a deep breath.
“Take this!”
Whoosh! There came a tremendous gust of wind.
“You stupid human beings! Come back with souvenirs next time.”
The Great King Enma’s voice thundered out. The blast from his nose sent us back to World of the Living.
Whoomp! We crashed down.
Finally, I found myself in the land of my birth, a hell filled with heavy snowfalls, the land of Echigo. The three of us were covered with snow. We tumbled around in the snow.
“What fun! What fun! Ha, ha, ha, ha. We seem to have somehow been rejuvenated. I will discipline myself again as a priest. Physician and acrobat, both of you also should improve your skills. Why don’t we try to get to Heaven together again?”
In later days, many stalls lined up in front of Hoin’s temple. It is said that his village prospered with the business of selling cloth handballs, paper balloons, folkcrafts such as dolls, sasadango (rice dumpling wrapped in sasa bamboo grass), sake rice dumplings, persimmon-seed-shaped rice crackers, etc. as souvenirs to Heaven.
The End
Written by Yoko Tate
February 2021 In the Interval between the Cold Wave Seasons
Translated by Masako Hayakawa
Illustrated by Makiko Lockhart
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