Akinari matsuno cause of death

TALES OF MOONLIGHT AND RAIN

Ueda Akinari

Columbia University Press New York

tales of moonlight and rain

Translations from the Asian Classics

Image has been suppressed

tales

of

moon l igh t

a n d

ra i n

Ueda Akinari

A Study and Translation by anthony h. chambers

C O L U M B I A U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S N E W Y O R K

Image has been suppressed

Columbia University Press

Publishers Since 1893

New York Chichester, West Sussex

Copyright © 2007 Columbia University Press

All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ueda, Akinari, 1734–1809.

[Ugetsu monogatari. English]

Tales of moonlight and rain : a study and translation by Anthony H. Chambers.

p. cm. — (Translations from the Asian classics)

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 0-231-13912-8 (cloth : alk. paper)

ISBN 0-231-51124-8 (electronic)

I. Chambers, Anthony H. (Anthony Hood)

II. Title. III. Series.

PL794.8.U3413 2006

895.6'33—dc22 2006015127

Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper.

Printed in the United States of America

c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Frontispiece: Tosa Hidenobu, portrait of Ueda Akinari (1786). (Tenri Central Library, Nara)

Acknowledgments vii

I n t ro du c t i o n 1

The Early Modern Period in Japan 2

About the Author 3

Bunjin, National Learning, and Yomihon 8

About Tales of Moonlight and Rain 11

About the Translation 34

Ta l e s o f M o o n li g h t a n d R a i n 45

pre fac e 47

B o o k O n e

Shiramine 51

The Chrysanthemum Vow 75

B o o k two

The Reed-Choked House 91

The Carp of My Dreams 110

contents

B o o k t h re e

The Owl of the Three Jewels 121

The Kibitsu Cauldron 139

B o o k f ou r

A Serpent’s Lust 155

B o o k five

The Blue Hood 186

On Poverty and Wealth 202

Bibliography 221

vi contents

Haruo Shirane provided the initial spark by asking me to translate three stories from Ueda Akinari’s Tales of Moon- light and Rain for his Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600–1900, and then suggesting that I translate the whole collection. Deborah Losse, Lawrence E. Marceau, and Donald Richie deserve special thanks for their encour- agement and suggestions. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University provided time for the work by giving me a year’s sabbatical. Even with time, the study and translation would have been impossible without the pathbreaking work of earlier scholars and the compilers of the marvelous reference works we all depend on. Thanks go also to my incomparable circle of friends and colleagues, who sustain me emotionally and intellectually.