The story of the defeat of the legendary nue, pictured in the small inset, is humorously compared to the defeat of a common rat. The nue, which terrorized the Imperial palace in the twelfth century, was shot down by the famous warrior Minamoto Yorimasa and killed by his retainer I no Hayata Hironao. Here a woman with a taper plays the role of Yorimasa, as she lights the room so that a young boy, imitating Hironao, can trap the rat with a box. Perhaps the rat disturbed the family’s sleep by running across the rafters, just as the nue disrupted the emperor’s repose by flying over the palace.

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