Page:Kwaidan; Stories and Studies of Strange Things - Hearn - 1904.djvu/27

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THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI
THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI


More than seven hundred years ago, at Dan-no-ura, in the Straits of Shimonoséki, was fought the last battle of the long contest between the Heiké, or Taira clan, and the Genji, or Minamoto clan. There the Heiké perished utterly, with their women and children, and their infant emperor likewise—now remembered as Antoku Tennō. And that sea and shore have been haunted for seven hundred years. . . . Elsewhere I told you about the strange crabs found there, called Heiké crabs,

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