Rescued in a cemetery from among the fires of the dead, Ho-ichi explains his behavior to his friend Osamu, the priest.

Ho-ichi looked at me with his unseeing eyes. “Jim, I was very upset about having my performance disrupted. But I told my friend everything. ‘Just one more night and I would have received a great reward. But your servants interfered. Now all is lost.’

“Osamu’s voice was filled with fright and concern. ‘My friend, you are in grave danger. You have not been telling the tale of the Heike to the living, but to the dead, to the ghosts of the Heike. Now that they know that you know who they are, when they come for you tonight they will destroy you. But they would have done that sooner or later.

“‘I cannot stay with you tonight. I must leave the temple on business that cannot be delayed. I will have my servants paint sacred words over your body that will make you invisible to the ghosts. then you must sit on your porch as you have in nights past and wait for the Heike to come for you. when they do, do not respond when they call you. Do not make any noise. Say nothing and sit in meditation. Be brave and do not call out because no one can save you. If you do precisely as I tell you the danger will pass and the ghosts will trouble you no longer.’”

Next time: “Painted with the Sacred Words”