Sto guardando alcune storie giapponesi a cui ispirarmi e questa è molto interessante. Akinosuke potrebbe essere il nome del daimyo e potrebbe davvero essersi addormentato sotto un albero... magari dorme da anni lì sotto e non è mai stato spostato... magari un'intera abitazione è stata costruita intorno a lui per non disturbare il suo sonno. Non so se ti va bene di dare questo taglio favolistico alla situazione... del resto siamo nel Mondo dei Sogni!
The Dream of Akinosuke tells of Akinosuke, a gōshi (yeoman or land-holding farmer) living in feudal Japan. Akinosuke often takes a nap under a great cedar tree in his garden. One day, Akinosuke is sitting under this tree, eating and chatting with friends, when he suddenly becomes very tired, and falls asleep.
Upon waking, he finds himself still under the tree, but his friends have gone. Coming toward him, Akinosuke sees a great royal procession, full of richly dressed attendants. The procession approaches him, and informs him that the King of Tokoyo (a dream world that Hearn compares to Horai) requests his presence at his court. Akinosuke agrees to accompany the procession, and when he arrives at the palace, he is invited before the King. To his astonishment, the King offers Akinosuke his daughter in marriage, and the two are wed immediately.
A few days later, the King tells Akinosuke that he is being sent to be the governor of an island province. Together with his beautiful wife, Akinosuke goes to the island, and rules it for many years. The island is idyllic, with bountiful crops and no crime, and Akinosuke's wife bears him seven children.
However, one day, without warning, Akinosuke's wife becomes ill and dies. The grieving Akinosuke goes to great trouble to hold a proper funeral, and he erects a large monument in his wife's memory. After some time, a message arrives from the King, saying that Akinosuke will be sent back to where he came from, and telling him not to worry about his children, as they will be well cared for. As Akinosuke sails away from the island, it suddenly disappears, and he is shocked to find himself sitting under the cedar tree, his friends still chatting as if nothing has happened.
Akinosuke recounts his dream. One of his friends tells him that he was only asleep for a few moments, but while he was asleep, something strange happened: a yellow butterfly seemed to come from Akinosuke's mouth. The butterfly was grabbed by an ant and taken under the cedar tree. Just before Akinosuke awoke, the butterfly reappeared from under the tree. His friends wonder if the butterfly could have been Akinosuke's soul, and the group decides to investigate. Under the cedar tree, they find a great kingdom of ants, which Akinosuke realizes was the kingdom he visited in his dream. Looking for his island home, he finds a separate nest, and investigating further, he finds a small stone that resembles a burial monument. Digging beneath it, he finds a small female ant buried in a clay coffin.
Anche questo estratto da Wiki è interessante: potremmo mettere un baku che sia al limite... ossia se dovesse rimanere affamato dopo aver divorato l'incubo si trasformerebbe in un baku no oni... sarebbe da valutare se questo potrebbe coincidere con una piega "fulenghiana" o "non fuleghiana" della vicenda:
Legend has it, that a person who wakes up from a bad dream can call out to baku. A child having a nightmare in Japan will wake up and repeat three times “Baku-san, come eat my dream. Baku-san, come eat my dream. Baku-san, come eat my dream.” Legends say that the baku will come into the child’s room and devour the bad dream, allowing the child to go back to sleep peacefully. However, calling to the baku must be done sparingly, because if he remains hungry after eating one’s nightmare, he may also devour their hopes and desires as well, leaving them to live an empty life. The baku can also be summoned for protection from bad dreams prior to falling asleep at night. To this day, it remains common for Japanese children to keep a baku talisman at their bedside.
