Translated from Edo Tokyo Kaii Hyakumonogatari

In Kanda, in the vicinity of the town of Mikawa, there was a man named Kichigoro.  One late, rainy night he was out running errands for his business when he passed by through the gate leading to Sujikai bridge.  There he saw a young boy, about five or six years old, shuffling along the path.

“That is a brave kid to be out like this in the middle of the night…Hey, were are you going?

He asked the young boy, and when the boy turned his face in answer, he saw a face with a swarthy completion, eyes the color of blood and a mouth that stretched across his face from ear to ear.

Kichigoro was generally a brave man and so even this was not enough to shock him.  But when he stretched his neck to take a closer look, the strange creature suddenly jumped into…