14. Tsunenobu and the demon

One autumn night, as the courtier Tsunenobu (1016-1097 AD) watches the moon rise, he hears the sound of someone pounding cloth in the distance. Reminded of a famous Tang Chinese poem, he recites the following verse: “I listen to the sound of cloth being pounded as the moon shines serenely, and believe that here is someone else who has not yet gone to sleep." As Tsunenobu has finished a gigantic demon appears in the sky, and recites a couplet by the Tang poet Li Bo: “In the northern sky geese fly across Big Dipper - to the south cold robes are pounded under the moonlight.” (printed January 1886)