Immortal Pear of Himeji

AD 1616, Lord Honda of Himeji fell in love with Princess Sen, a granddaughter of the Shogun Ieqyasu Tokugawa.

“Whatever you wish,” Lord Honda told Princess Sen, “even the moon and the stars, I will fetch them for you.”

“Astronomical entities, I do not wish,” said Princess Sen, “I merely wanted to live forever and love you forever.”

Thus Lord Honda summoned his witch, “Find me immortality or be off with your head.”

Fear the wrath of her lord, the witch consulted the ancient Book of Death. Month she spent to decipher the scrolls and at last she found the spell to summon the Immortal Pears.

“Hala! Hala! Hala!” prayed the wretched witch, “come to me my Immortal Pear.”

Follow the prayer, came a immortal pear, materialized on the altar like a newborn baby.

Lord Honda and Princess Sen were both ecstatic, and they shared the pear together. “Blessed is our marriage by immortality,” they said together, “love forever, till the end of time do we separate.”

But their love lasted exactly three days, after three days, animosity grew between the two lovers. Their eternal life became an unbearable curse. Death never came and forever they quarrelled. Worst of all, was they forgot to ask for eternal youth. Even as their flesh withered, and their body weakened, they could not die, and their conflict never ended. At the end, they both decayed into two quarrelling mouths, shouting ill words and curses to each other, till the end of time.

Even today when you tour Himeji Castle, you may hear the bickering of Lord Honda and Princess Sen. But whatever you do, do not shout “Hala! Hala! Hala!” for it may summon the immortal pears and this time, they may destroy the Himeji Castle like some giant Godzillas.