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Japanese fairy tales Vampiric Cat There once was a beautiful lady of exquisite beauty and grace who was the most esteemed lady among the many women of the Prince of Hizen’s court at Nabeschima and whom the prince loved above all others.  One day Otoyo (for that was her name) sat alone in her room working on her embroidery with a big cat which had been in the palace for some time lounging beside her. As Otoyo looked up briefly from her work she saw the cat suddenly look at her with such hateful and evil eyes that she let out an involuntary cry of fear. But no sooner had the cry escaped her lips then the cat leapt upon the beautiful Otoyo’s throat and bit deep into veins sucking the blood from her. Not content with that one evil act the cat took the shape of Otoyo and dragged the corpse into the garden where she buried it. All this happened so quickly as the cat worked with such haste that no one had any idea anything amiss had occurred. Thus the cats disguise worked and everyone saw her as the sweet beautiful Otoyo, even the prince who loved her so much did not notice the change. So the cat stayed close to the prince so that when she was alone with him at night the cat bit his neck and sucked his blood, just a little so the prince wouldn’t know what was happening. So every night she took just a little more of his life’s blood causing him to grow ever weaker and more ill until he was so sick he couldn’t even stand. Realizing that some sort of evil spirit might be the cause of the princes illness a hundred brave warriors were given that task of the guarding the princes room. At ten-o-clock the cat used her magic to put these warriors to sleep so that she could continue to drain the prince of his life. Thus the prince continued to get worse and all his followers grew ever more worried about his illness. A poor foot soldier by the name of Ito Soda who was not given the honor of guarding the prince despite his many appeals turned at last to a priest who he asked to intervene on his behalf. Thus with the priests help he was given the honor of guarding the prince. As he guarded the prince he realized that he and all those around him were beginning to fall asleep. Despite his best efforts Ito Soda began to drift away so he thrust his knife deep into his leg so that the pain from the wound would keep him awake. In this way he managed to remain awake even as everyone else around him fell asleep. Once everyone else was asleep the cat came in still disguised as Otoyo. Despite her gentle words and graceful beauty Ito Soda was suspicious of the girl so he chased her as she fled to her room. Ito-Soda followed her and jumped at her grabbing her several times with his strong hands but she was strong as well and so she wrenched herself away from him. Eventually he began to overwhelm her and so she took her cat form and bounded out of the room and soon escaped. After the cat fled the prince’s condition began to improve more and more until he had his former strength back. Ito Soda was mightily rewarded for his loyalty and steadfastness, and the prince was so generous and gracious towards him. After everything was taken care of and the prince recovered he went hunting and in hunting he killed a large cat which Ito Soda confirmed was the same one which had been draining his blood and so now with the monster dead everyone rejoiced that they need not fear it any longer. And Ito Soda was once more  rewarded for his greatness.