The cruel old wife's basket is full of demons, instead of treasure!
This fairy tale is considered to be the Japanese equivalent of the story of Pandora's Box, in which a curious young lady opened a trunk and let evil out into the world.
The story of "The Tongue-Cut Sparrow" has been translated into English a number of times.
This print and the preceding one are from Yoshitoshi Taiso's series Shinkei sanju rokkaisen, or "36 Hair-raising Transformations."
