Continuing the Story

The only person that could recognize Dalilah was the Layabout, as they lived in the same neighborhood. The Chief of Police gave the Layabout the charge of ten officers and together they searched the area. Eventually, they found Dalilah. She feigned innocence, but they took her to the Police Chief's house anyway. The five men, the ten officers, and Dalilah waited patiently outside the Police Chief's house, while the Chief was out on patrol. However the Police Chief did not return. Tired of waiting, they all fell asleep- all except for Dalilah. Instead of running away, she snuck into the Police Chief's house. She put on some of the jewelry and pretended to be a wealthy married woman; and demanded to speak with the Police Chief's Wife. Dalilah explained to the Police Chief's Wife, "My husband and I are moving to a different town, further away. Your husband offered to buy five of our slaves for a thousand dinars to help pay for our travel. I've brought them over as he requested." The Police Chief's Wife looked out the window, and there were in fact five men surrounded by her husband's officers. When the wife asked her servants if the five men had come with the old woman; they honestly answered "Yes". Thus the Police Chief's Wife saw no reason not to pay on behalf of her husband. Dalilah thanked the woman and made her escape, with another thousand dinars gained. When the police chief returned home, the con was quickly uncovered. Now the police chief had a personal grudge against Dalilah.

That's the end of Dalilah's third con.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Even though Dalilah was a wanted criminal, she couldn't stop herself from causing more chaos. She dressed up in servant's garb, and went to the house of the Harbormaster. The Harbormaster was a very wealthy man, blessed with a grown daughter and a small son. His daughter was being married today, so there was a massive celebration going on inside his house. Outside of the house, one of the servants was taking care of the Harbormaster's young son. Dalilah walked up and handed the servant some fake money. Dalilah said, "My Mistress Umm-Yeah sent me to give this to the lady of the house, as thanks for her help in the past and good fortune in her future. Could you please give it to her for me?" The servant didn't want to leave the little boy alone, but she had been ordered to keep him outside because he kept causing trouble for the bride. Dalilah offered to watch him until the servant returned. Though of course, the moment the servant went into the house, Dalilah spirited away the boy.

Come up here, O dusty feet! Here is fairy bread ready to eat. Here in my retiring room, Children, you may dine On the golden smell of broom And the shade of pine; And when you have eaten well, Fairy stories hear and tell.

Summer is a coming in/ Sumer is icumen in Summer has arrived, Loudly sing, cuckoo! The seed is growing And the meadow is blooming, And the wood is coming into leaf now, Sing, cuckoo!

The ewe is bleating after her lamb, The cow is lowing after her calf; The bullock is prancing, The billy-goat farting, Sing merrily, cuckoo!

Cuckoo, cuckoo, You sing well, cuckoo, Never stop now.

The "Hakutaku Amulet" has been worshipped as an amulet for warding off disease, evil, and ensuring safe travels. There are currently two woodblocks of Hakutaku remaining in Togakushi, and they are said to have been carved or acquired between 1763 and 1812. One of them is the woodblock you see here, which is in our possession, but a board has been attached to the back, so the original inscription on the back of the board is unknown. The Hakutaku Amulet has an explanation of the Yellow Emperor and how to avoid misfortune written at the top, and Hakutaku is depicted at the bottom. In

The era of Chinese mythology, when the Yellow Emperor traveled throughout the world and came to the shore of the East Sea, Hakutaku appeared. Hakutaku is a divine beast that appears when the ruler has great virtue, and it can speak, understands the truth of things, and has the power to remove harm. The appearance of Hakutaku is an auspicious sign of heaven and earth, a harbinger of good fortune. If strange phenomena occur, hang up a picture of Hakutaku, indicating the characteristics and name of the demon (the true nature of the strange phenomenon). If you encounter a strange phenomenon, chant the demon's name seven times, and the demon will self-destruct, burrowing three feet underground and disappearing, thus turning misfortune into good fortune.

The Wedding Veil of the Proud Princess

By Gabriela Mistral

    When I’m walking, everything on earth gets up and stops me and whispers to me, and what they tell me is their story.

   And the people walking on the road leave me their stories, I pick them up where they fell in cocoons of silken thread.

   Stories run through my body or sit purring in my lap. So many they take my breath away, buzzing, boiling, humming. Uncalled they come to me, and told, they still won’t leave me.

   The ones that come down through the trees weave and unweave themselves, and knit me up and wind me round until the sea drives them away.

   But the sea that’s always telling stories, the wearier I am the more it tells me...

   The people who cut trees, the people who break stones, want stories before they go to sleep.

Once, in the old days, there was a loving Husband and Wife. Their days were filled with joy- until the Husband left for war. When the Husband returned; he was like a different person. No longer warm and loving; he was cold and distant. His Wife was at a loss, so she went to a Mudang for help. The Wife asked if there was anything the Mudang could do to cure her Husband. The Mudang replied she could make a potion to heal him, but the Wife would need to gather whiskers from a living tiger to complete it. The Wife swore she would do anything to help her husband. The next day, the Wife went into the mountains with a large bowl of rice and meat sauce. When she found a tiger's cave, she placed the food in front of the cave opening. She left and came back the next day with more food. She did this for several days, not waiting for the tiger to eat; until she found the tiger waiting outside the cave for her. The Wife placed the bowl of food on the ground and sat herself far away while the tiger ate. As each day passed, she measured the tiger's mood. And when it seemed comfortable with her, she'd sit a little closer. Eventually, the Wife was able to sit right next to the tiger. The tiger now trusted her enough to allow her to cut some whiskers off. The Wife ran back to the Mudang with the whiskers. But when she handed them to the Mudang, the Mudang threw them into the fire. Before the Wife could get upset, the Mudang explained, "You have shown you have the patience to tame a tiger. You now know have gentleness and patience you need to help heal your husband's soul." The Wife returned home wiser. She must have succeeded for eventually the couple was seen as loving and happy as before.