There
once was a beautiful lady of exquisite beauty and grace who was the
most esteemed lady among the many women of the Prince of Hizen’s court
at Nabeschima and whom the prince loved above all others. One day
Otoyo (for that was her name) sat alone in her room working on her
embroidery with a big cat which had been in the palace for some time
lounging beside her. As Otoyo looked up briefly from her work she saw
the cat suddenly look at her with such hateful and evil eyes that she
let out an involuntary cry of fear. But no sooner had the cry escaped
her lips then the cat leapt upon the beautiful Otoyo’s throat and bit
deep into veins sucking the blood from her. Not
content with that one evil act the cat took the shape of Otoyo and
dragged the corpse into the garden where she buried it. All this
happened so quickly as the cat worked with such haste that no one had
any idea anything amiss had occurred. Thus the cats disguise worked and
everyone saw her as the sweet beautiful Otoyo, even the prince who
loved her so much did not notice the change. So the cat stayed close to
the prince so that when she was alone with him at night the cat bit his
neck and sucked his blood, just a little so the prince wouldn’t know
what was happening. So every night she took just a little more of his
life’s blood causing him to grow ever weaker and more ill until he was
so sick he couldn’t even stand. Realizing that some sort of evil spirit
might be the cause of the princes illness a hundred brave warriors were
given that task of the guarding the princes room. At ten-o-clock the
cat used her magic to put these warriors to sleep so that she could
continue to drain the prince of his life. Thus the prince continued to
get worse and all his followers grew ever more worried about his
illness. A
poor foot soldier by the name of Ito Soda who was not given the honor
of guarding the prince despite his many appeals turned at last to a
priest who he asked to intervene on his behalf. Thus with the priests
help he was given the honor of guarding the prince. As
he guarded the prince he realized that he and all those around him were
beginning to fall asleep. Despite his best efforts Ito Soda began to
drift away so he thrust his knife deep into his leg so that the pain
from the wound would keep him awake. In this way he managed to remain
awake even as everyone else around him fell asleep. Once everyone else
was asleep the cat came in still disguised as Otoyo. Despite her gentle
words and graceful beauty Ito Soda was suspicious of the girl so he
chased her as she fled to her room. Ito-Soda followed her and jumped at
her grabbing her several times with his strong hands but she was strong
as well and so she wrenched herself away from him. Eventually he began
to overwhelm her and so she took her cat form and bounded out of the
room and soon escaped. After
the cat fled the prince’s condition began to improve more and more
until he had his former strength back. Ito Soda was mightily rewarded
for his loyalty and steadfastness, and the prince was so generous and
gracious towards him. After
everything was taken care of and the prince recovered he went hunting
and in hunting he killed a large cat which Ito Soda confirmed was the
same one which had been draining his blood and so now with the monster
dead everyone rejoiced that they need not fear it any longer. And Ito
Soda was once more rewarded for his greatness.
