to be the head of a murdered man who,
in the moment of being killed, had caught the murderer's sleeve in his
teeth. As the Kwairyo, he only smiled and said nothing when they
questioned him. So, after having passed a night in prison, he was
brought before the magistrates of the district. Then he was ordered to
explain how he, a priest, had been found with the head of a man
fastened to his sleeve, and why he had dared thus shamelessly to parade
his crime in the sight of people.

Kwairyo laughed long and loudly at these questions; and then he said:--

"Sirs, I did not fasten the head to my sleeve: it fastened itself
there--much against my will. And I have not committed any crime. For
this is not the head of a man; it is the head of a goblin;--and, if I
caused the death of the goblin, I did not do so by any shedding of
blood, but simply by taking the precautions necessary to assure my own
safety."... And he proceeded to relate the whole of the
adventure,--bursting into another hearty laugh as he told of his
encounter with the five heads.

But the magistrates did not laugh. They judged him to be a hardened
criminal, and his story an insult to their intelligence. Therefore,
without further questioning, they decided to order his immediate
execution,--all of them except one, a very old man. This aged officer
had made no remark during the trial; but, after having heard the
opinion of his colleagues, he rose up, and said:--

"Let us first examine the head carefully; for this, I think, has not
yet been done. If the priest has spoken truth, the head itself should
bear witness for him... Bring the head here!"

So the head, still holding in its teeth the koromo that had been
stripped from Kwairyo's shoulders, was put before the judges. The old
man turned it round and round, carefully examined it, and discovered,
on the nape of its neck, several strange red characters. He called the
attention of his colleagues to these, and also bad them observe that
the edges of the neck nowhere presented the appearance of having been
cut by any weapon. On the contrary, the line of leverance was smooth as
the line at which a falling leaf detaches itself from the stem... Then
said the elder:--

"I am quite sure that the priest told us nothing but the truth. This is
the head of a Rokuro-Kubi. In the book Nan-ho-i-butsu-shi it is written
that certain red characters can always be found upon the nape of the
neck of a real Rokuro-Kubi. There are th