"So she went with them to the temple Zendōji, and showed them Riki's grave; and they took some of the grave-clay away with them, wrapped up in a furoshiki.[1] … They gave Riki's mother some money,—ten yen."…
"But what did they want with that clay?" I inquired.
"Well," the old man answered, "you know that it would not do to let the child grow up with that name on his hand. And there is no other means of removing characters that come in that way upon the body of a child: you must rub the skin with clay taken from the grave of the body of the former birth." …
- ↑ A square piece of cotton-goods, or other woven material, used as a wrapper in which to carry small packages.
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