Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things

...should make the temple his home, and he gratefully accepted this offer. Hōïchi was given a room in the temple building. In exchange for food and lodging, he was only required to perform music for the priest on certain evenings when he was not otherwise busy.

One summer night, the priest was called away to perform a Buddhist funeral service at the home of a deceased parishioner. He went there with his assistant original: "acolyte", leaving Hōïchi alone in the temple. It was a hot night, and the blind man went out to the veranda outside his bedroom to cool himself. The veranda overlooked a small garden at the back of the Amida-ji The Temple of Amida Buddha. There Hōïchi waited for the priest to return, trying to pass the lonely time by practicing his biwa a four-stringed Japanese lute. Midnight passed, yet the priest did not return. However, it was still too hot to be comfortable indoors, so Hōïchi stayed outside. Finally, he heard footsteps coming from the back gate. Someone crossed the garden, walked up to the veranda, and stopped directly in front of him—but it was not the priest. A deep voice called the blind man’s name—abruptly and rudely, like a samurai a member of the hereditary warrior class summoning someone of lower rank: