There was a city that acted as a gateway between that country and the rest of the world’s cities. It was a bustling city with many people coming and going. One woman made a living by renting out her house to travelers. One day, a man visited the woman’s house. The man came to the city on his way to fight in a war with a different country and said he wanted to stay there for a short while until he set off. She agreed to let the man stay. Before long, the two of them came to find it difficult to imagine leaving each other. The man left, promising to return to the woman after the war was over.
After the man departed, the woman had strange dreams. In the dream, the woman would realize someone was in her bedroom and they would sneak into her bed at night. For some reason she felt like it was the man who had left her, but at the same time she thought it was someone she didn’t know at all. The dream happened repeatedly and the woman’s stomach began to grow bigger. She was afraid. So, she bent the branch from the bladder cherry¹ tree growing in her garden, pushed it between her legs, and stirred it around and around inside her stomach. Her belly became flat as a white, clear ball fell out dripping from her legs. The woman smashed the ball completely, turning it into sap, disposing of it by throwing it out with the water. With that, the woman’s dream stopped.
1. Alkekengi officinarum