Now it is long ago. A man came up to the capital from around Settsu to steal, and since it was still light, he hid and stood under Rashomon. Along Suzaku Avenue people kept coming and going, so he waited under the gate for the traffic to die down. Then he heard a crowd of people coming from the direction of Yamashiro, and not wanting to be seen by them, he quietly climbed up into the upper story of the gate.
He saw a light burning dimly. Wondering at it, the thief peered through the lattice window and saw a young woman lying dead. A light was lit by her pillow, and a very old white-haired woman was sitting there, roughly pulling out the dead woman's hair.
The thief, not understanding, thought, "Could this be a demon?" and was frightened; but thinking, "Maybe it's a ghost. I'll try to scare it," he quietly opened the door, drew his sword, and rushed at her crying, "You! You!" The old woman panicked and rubbed her hands together in terror. When the thief asked, "Old woman, who are you? What are you doing?" she said, "This was my mistress, who has died, and there is no one to bury her, so she has been left here like this. Her hair is longer than she is tall, so I am pulling it out to make a wig. Please spare me."
The thief took the clothes the dead woman wore, the clothes the old woman wore, and even the hair she had pulled out, ran down and fled.
On that upper story there were many skeletons of the dead. People who could not be buried were left on top of this gate. This tale was told by that thief to others, and handed down like this. Akutagawa Ryunosuke's "Rashomon" is based on it.