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dogs of hell upon his victim. . . . .
At last the awful gulf was reached and crossed. The poor insane martyr dropped into her dark, and now
welcome grave, leaving behind her, but for a few short months, her young, her first-born, daughter.
Consumption made short work of that tender girlish frame. Hardly a year after my arrival, I was left alone in
the whole wide world, my only surviving nephew having expressed a desire to follow his sea-faring career.
And now, the sequel of my sad story is soon told. A wreck, a prematurely old man, looking at thirty as
though sixty winters had passed over my doomed head, and owing to the never-ceasing visions, myself daily
on the verge of insanity, I suddenly formed a desperate resolution. I would return to Kioto and seek out the
Yamabooshi. I would prostrate myself at the feet of the holy man, and would not leave him until he had
recalled the Frankenstein he had raised, the Frankenstein with whom at the time, it was I, myself, who would,
not part, through my insolent pride and unbelief.
Three months later I was in my Japanese home again, and I at-once sought out my old, venerable Bonze,
Tamoora Hideyeri, I now implored him to take me without an hour's delay to the Yamabooshi, the innocent
cause of my daily tortures. His answer but placed the last, the supreme seal on my doom and tenfold
intensified my despair. The Yamabooshi had left the country for lands unknown! He had departed one fine
morning into the interior, on a pilgrimage, and according to custom, would be absent, unless natural death
shortened the period, for no less than seven years! . . . .
In this mischance, I applied for help and protection to other learned Yamabooshis; and though well aware
how useless it was in my case to seek efficient cure from any other "adept," my excellent old friend did
everything he could to help me in my misfortune. But it was to no purpose, and the canker-worm of my life's
despair could not be thoroughly extricated. I found from them that not one of these learned men could
promise to relieve me entirely from the demon of clairvoyant obsession. It was he who raised certain
Daij-Dzins, calling on them to show futurity, or things that had already come to pass, who alone had full
control over them. With kind sympathy, which I had now learned to appreciate, the holy men invited me to
join the group of their disciples, and learn from them what I could do for myself. "Will alone, faith in your
own soul-powers, can help you now," they said. "But it may take several years to undo even a part of the
great mischief," they added. "A Daij-Dzin is easily dislodged in the beginning; if left alone, he takes
possession of a man's nature and it becomes almost impossible to uproot the fiend without killing his victim."
Persuaded that there was nothing but this left for me to do, I gratefully assented, doing my best to believe in
all that these holy men believed in, and yet ever failing to do so in my heart. The demon of unbelief and
all-denial seemed rooted in me more firmly ever than the Daij-Dzin. Still I did all I could do, decided as I
was not to lose my last chance of salvation. Therefore, I proceeded without delay to, free myself from the
world and my commercial obligations, in order to live for several years an independent life. I settled my
accounts with my Hamburg partners and severed my connection with the firm. Notwithstanding considerable
financial losses resulting from such a precipitate liquidation, I found myself, after closing the accounts, a far
richer man than I had thought I was. But wealth had no longer any attraction for me, now that I had no one to
share it with, no one to work for. Life had become a burden; and such was my indifference to my future, that
while giving away all my fortune to my nephew -- in case he should return alive from his sea voyager --
should have neglected entirely even a small provision for myself, had not my native partner interfered and
insisted upon my making it. I now recognized, with Lao-tze, that Knowledge was the only firm hold for a
man to trust to, as it is the only one that cannot be shaken by any tempest. Wealth is a weak anchor in the
days of sorrow, and self-conceit the most fatal counsellor. Hence I followed the advice of my friends, and
laid aside for myself a modest sum, which would be sufficient to assure me a small income for life, or if I
VIII -- A TALE OF WOE 48
 Nightmare Tales
ever left my new friends and instructors. Having settled my earthly accounts and disposed of my belongings
at Kioto, I joined the "Masters of the Long Vision," who took me to their mysterious abode. There I remained
for several years, studying very earnestly and in the most complete solitude, seeing no one but a few of the
members of our religious community.
Many are the mysteries of nature that I have fathomed since then, and many secret folio from the library of
Tzionene have I devoured, obtaining thereby mastery over several kinds of invisible beings of a lower order.
But the great secret of power over the terrible Daij-Dzin I could not get. It remains in the possession of a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]