This week on myths and legends, it's two stories from Japanese folklore about finding the people that get you,

that care for you no matter how much kitchenware you stack on your head,

or if you can't stand to be around them for more than about two minutes at a time.

The creature this week is a real life bird who just wants to spread chaos and, worst of all,

talk in church. This is myths and legends episode 354, Cursed.

This is a podcast where we tell stories from mythology and folklore.

Some are incredibly popular stories you might think

you know but with surprising origins. Others are stories that might be new to you but

are definitely worth a listen. Today there are two stories from Japan during the Edo period, though the history doesn't super matter.

We'll jump into the first story with a family that lives in the dark forest, and the monsters

that don't. The young woman's father staggered in.

He fell through the door and hit the ground.

The mother and daughter screamed and rushed to him as the pool grew around his

torso. Well, they got me. The father gave them both a weak smile. Then he breathed his last. He was dead. The mother and daughter wept. The father was a warlock, or so the people said. The family of three lived outside of Kyoto. They lived

where they were welcome, which was to say, far, far away from people. In the forest,

with the foxes, the Tanuki, the tango that laughed and

danced in the forest twice a month in the fairies whose children will play each morning

before 7 a.m. The girl didn't know all children's parents weren't magicians but

she learned the first time she saw the looks her parents got in town. They avoided

going into town whenever possible because more often than not it turned violent with someone blaming them for their sick uncle or their dying niece.

Her parents forgave the people. The world was the scary, unpredictable place. They

just wanted whatever solace they could find. Wanted to do whatever they could to make sense of

...