A Dead Secret

Comprehension questions (P1)

• What did O-Sono’s father think about the way O-Sono received education?

• Tell us something about O-Sono’s marriage life before her death.

• He thought his daughter should be taught by the teachers of the capital rather than country teachers.

• Giving birth to a child, she lived happily for nearly four years.

Grammar

• …, there lived a rich merchant who had a daughter called O-Sono.

…, a rich merchant who had a daughter called O-Sono lived there.

• …, he thought it would be a pity to let her grow up only having been taught by country teachers.

Comprehension questions (P2)

• Is there anything wrong with O-Sono’s son?• What happened to the decreased O-Sono?• Describe how the spirit of O-Sono looked.

• The son saw his decreased mother coming back to the room upstairs.

• She came back to her house, appearing in front of a chest of drawers in a room upstairs.

• Her head and shoulders could not be seen clearly, and the figure thinned into invisibility from the waist downward.

Comprehension questions (P3-4)

• Why did the spirit of O-Sono return to the room?

• How did the folk handle this haunting?• Did the handling work?

• She might be fond of her small things and attracted to her belongings.

• They emptied the drawers and took all of her ornaments and clothing to the temple.

• No, the spirit of O-Sono came back as before.

Grammar

• It was agreed that this (should) be done as soon as possible.

Comprehension questions (P5-10)

• About the haunting, what did the temple priest think?

• How did he help the spirit?• Was the haunting eventually solved?

• The priest thought that there must be something about which she was probably anxious, in or near that tansu.

• He thought there was something she felt anxious about in the tansu, so he opened and examined all drawers and found nothing inside.

• This haunting was finally solved by finding a letter under the lining of the fourth drawer and burning it in the temple.

Grammar

• There must be something about which she is anxious, in or near that tansu.

There must be something which she is anxious about, in or near that tansu.

• She kept her eyes fixed upon the tansu.

Comprehension questions (P11-12)

• What was written in the letter?

• It was a love letter written to O-Sono at the time of her studies in Kyoto. Only the priest knew what was in it, and the secret died with him.