Oiwa and Iemon

Long ago in Yotsuya, an area of Tokyo, there lived a beautiful young woman named Oiwa. She wished to marry a samurai, Tamiya Iemon. Iemon had lost his master’s favour and presently was unemployed. But still, Oiwa loved him very much and married him. Oiwa didn’t care that Iemon was poor. But, as time went on, he became angry and depressed and was forced to do lower work to support his family. Soon, Iemon started hating his happy young wife. He fell in love with Oume, the daughter of a rich doctor. One day, Oume’s father came to see Iemon. The father said to Iemon that he could marry his daughter and have all her wealth. After he had left, Iemon spent a lot of time thinking about what Oume’s father had told him. He began to plot. He decided that to marry Oume he had to get rid of Oiwa and her unborn child.

The Poison

Iemon planned to murder his wife. He gave her the medicine stating that it would strengthen her but it was actually poison. One evening, when Oiwa and Iemon were having dinner, she noticed that Iemon was very quiet and nervous. She encouraged him to eat his dinner, but he did not touch his food. He screamed at Oiwa and told her to stop bothering and eat her own dinner. She started eating. Soon, she felt very sick. Iemon watched her coldly as the poison did its work. Her face began to disfigure, her eyes sagged and her skin started bleeding. Then she slipped into unconsciousness. So, he put Oiwa’s lifeless body in bed. In due course, Oiwa woke up from her coma. She knew nothing about the poison. She had lost her baby, and her face was ugly and terrible.

The Betrayal

One evening, Iemon and Oiwa went for a long walk. When they were at the top of the cliff, Iemon pushed Oiwa off the ledge. After some days, her body was recovered and Iemon gave her the best funeral. Iemon and Oume started preparing for their wedding. The night before the marriage, Iemon noticed that his bedside lamp was dimming. He looked at it inquisitively as it seemed to be changing. Suddenly, he saw that the lamp was replaced by the disfigured face of Oiwa. It began to grow larger and larger in the room. “Betrayal!” the face spoke. Iemon picked up a stick and swung at the face, but the face disappeared and the lamp shattered and fell to the floor. Iemon heard Oiwa laughing outside. Shaken, he convinced himself that it was simply the result of drinking too much alcohol. He went to bed.

The Death

The next day, Iemon had forgotten all about the previous night. He and Oume were married. To his horror, when he lifted her veil, he saw the disfigured face of Oiwa. “Betrayal!” she said. He, quickly, took out his sword and killed her. But, when the vision cleared, he realised that he had killed his new wife, Oume. He again heard Oiwa laughing outside. Scared, he ran to hide himself. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. It was Oume’s father screaming to open the door. But when Iemon opened the door, he saw Oiwa standing there. “Betrayal!” she said. Once again, Iemon tried to kill her and this time he killed Oume’s father. Iemon ran to the mountains but Oiwa’s laughter followed him. He stopped at the edge of the cliff and looked down. People said that a woman pushed him off the cliff and then jumped after him.

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