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Updated: May 13, 2025
And a day came when they had nothing to eat; and the rent was not paid. The terrible Dai-kan had arrived, the season of greatest cold; and the snow had drifted too high that day for them to wander far from the little house. So they could only lie down under their one futon, and shiver together, and compassionate each other in their own childish way 'Ani-San, samukaro? 'Omae samukaro?
In very cold weather each person has one to himself; but this day it was just cold enough so the Twins loved to cuddle close up to their Mother beside the big hibachi. The Mother put on a square framework of iron over the fire-box. Then she brought a comforter she called it a "futon" from the cupboard. She put it over the frame, like a tent.
It was one covering only one which cried out. The rest were silent. He took the covering into his own room, and for the remainder of the night lay down beneath it. And the voices continued until the hour of dawn: 'Ani-San samukaro? 'Omae samukaro? So that he could not sleep. But at break of day he rose up and went out to find the owner of the furuteya at which the futon had been purchased.
Then at last it was found that the futon had belonged to a poor family, and had been bought from the landlord of a little house in which the family had lived, in the neighbourhood of the town. And the story of the futon was this: The rent of the little house was only sixty sen a month, but even this was a great deal for the poor folks to pay.
Entering alone softly, he perceived that the woman was lying there, wrapped in a single thin and tattered futon, seemingly asleep. On a rude shelf he recognised the butsudan of' forty years before, with its tablet, and now, as then, a tiny lamp was burning in front of the kaimyo.
Now, there is an old story the Story of the Futon of Tottori. But the danna-sama knows that story? Indeed, the danna-sama does not, and begs earnestly to hear it. And the story is set down somewhat as I learn it through the lips of my interpreter. 9 Many years ago, a very small yadoya in Tottori town received its first guest, an itinerant merchant.
So when the landlord was gone, they crept back behind the house. There the drowsiness of cold fell upon them, and they slept, embracing each other to keep warm. And while they slept, the gods covered them with a new futon ghostly-white and very beautiful. And they did not feel cold any more.
Wherefore that such things be spoken, right-there-is-none! Then the guest, getting into a passion, loudly said things much more evil; and the two parted in hot anger. But after the guest was gone, the landlord, thinking all this very strange, ascended to the empty room to examine the futon. And while there, he heard the voices, and he discovered that the guests had said only the truth.
And of course there are many kinds, from the servants' cotton futon which is no larger than a Western hearthrug, and not much thicker, to the heavy and superb futon silk, eight feet long by seven broad, which only the kanemochi can afford. Besides these there is the yogi, a massive quilt made with wide sleeves like a kimono, in which you can find much comfort when the weather is extremely cold.
Wondering, he lay down again, leaving the light still burning; and immediately the voices spoke again, complainingly, close to his pillow: 'Ani-San samukaro? 'Omae samukaro? Then, for the first time, he felt a chill creep over him, which was not the chill of the night. Again and again he heard, and each time he became more afraid. For he knew that the voices were in the futon!
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