OCR Text |
Show CURSE THAT WAS EFFECTIVE. Lafcadlo Hearn Tells Story of Japanese Japa-nese Superstition. In ono of his recent stories Lnfcadto Hearn deals with a slrgu'ar superstition supersti-tion in Jnpan. A woman had, according accord-ing to a very common custom In Ju-pan, Ju-pan, given her mirror to go Into tho melting pot to mnko a bell for a Buddhist Bud-dhist temple. Aflor hho had given It sho remembered that it had been her mother's nnd hor grandmother's, and thnt It must havo relleeted a good many happy smiles. So sho regrottoij giving It. Sho longed for "tho ciianco of stealing It back, but it never camo. As tho mirror was given grudgingly it would not molt. Sho was suro that everybody miiBt know who hnd dono such a dreadful thing as to grudge a gift to a temple, so sho drowned herself, her-self, leaving a farewell letter containing contain-ing these words: "When I nm dead, It will not bo dlfllctilt to melt tho mirror mir-ror nnd to cast tho hell. But, to tho person who breaks that hell by ringing ring-ing It, great wealth will bo taken bv tho ghoat of mo." This wns n magnificently magni-ficently effective curse, hecnuso everybody every-body tried to ling tho boll till It should break. Tho priests wero driven to the vergo of madness by tho ringing and throw It into a swamp, so that nobody could ring It nny moro. |