History of Stone Lantern
In the south west of Shodoshima, there is a small village called Umaki.
There stands a temple called KAN'NON-DO which is designated one of 88 routes of Buddhism pilgrimage in the island.
Following tale (kwaidan) is from Mrs. Shizu Nagamatu (85 years old) who guards KAN'ON-DO.
The gurdian of deity of the temple surrounded by a stone wall since hundrds of years ago has been the Serpent.
In olden years, there lived hundreds of snakes among stone-walls.
A master of a hermitage disliked snakes.
(Nobody likes snakes, do you? Suzi dosn't like it at all. Do you think so? )
He always walks around to poke up snakes by a long rod, talking to himself like this, "Ah,I feel better, whenever I have got rid of snakes."
On the day, he puts a dead snake into a bamboo creel when the sun almost sets in the Inland Sea, soon the thick darkness will fall upon him.
He thinks, "Tomorrow morning I'll throw it away into the sea, for the darkness has come."
On getting up early in the morning, he was very surprised to look into the creel.
"Waaah, the dozens of snakes are wriggling.
What has happened to my creel?"
He was almost paralized with fright, and ran into the temple with a great difficulty.
As he was completely absorbed in praying for the Kan'on god asking what he should do, she appeared in front of him in saying severly,
"You have been bulling and killing snakes which are my messenger to you.
I cannot admit it."
She got angry with her eys upturned.
"P, please forgive me, Kan'non! I will donate a pair of stone-lanterns to appease you.
I promise you."
"OK. I will forgive you this time, take chance but only once.
You should remember it carefully."
Soon she disappeared.
He has changed his mind in carrying out the promise.
He started grugging the cost of two stone-lanterns.
"It is too expensive to offer a pair of it.
Let's stand one, for I've never killed snakes any more."
He erected only one lantern.
You can see it on your left, if you stand in front of the temple entrance.
On the lantern having been completed, he had a strange dream in which the Kan'non deity appeared with her hair standing on end.
"I will not forgive you any more because you don't keep your word.
Your offspring shall die out ."
As she predicted, his family line ceased to exist since the generation of children's children.
Mrs. Nagamatu has been guarding here since January in 1941, she is nothing to do with the master in this story.
Her only son, born in 1942, runs an inn at which many Buddism pilgrimages put up.
He drops in at this temple once a day to watch out his old mother.
Hundreds of years had passed since this lantern was set up.
Old farmer named Shirokichi, donated the other lantern.
It was beautiful day in May,1939.
When Suzi, born and raised at this village, casually visited this temple, she was very intrigued to see the name plate of Shirokichi's lantern.
One reason is because she was born in May of 1939.
Another reason is that 1939 fell to the year of Serpent according to the Japanese 60th charendar system.
This year of 1939 was deeply related to the Serpent.
Suzi felt inspired by this fact, and decided to offer this article to the deity.