The Red Oni Who Wept

The one sent to slay the oni was still only a young man. His only companions were a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant. No matter what he was asked, his answer was always the same: “I will defeat the oni.” He was far younger than he looked. Before anger could rise at the humans who had made him risk his life on such a reckless mission, an unbearable pity for the child before him welled up in the red oni’s heart. Why had they sent a child who should have been protected, alone and without a guard? With the arms he should have raised to strike, he embraced the child instead. And the red oni broke down and wept. The bewildered boy eventually stopped resisting and began to cry as well. His animal companions cried too. This child, too, had become someone who could no longer live among humans. How sorrowful—and how terrifying—is the nature of mankind.