As Okiku counts up to 18 plates, she is going to enter the well saying, 'That's all.', so one of the spectators says, 'It's the rule that Okiku's plates consist of nine.'
お菊は十八枚まで数えると「これでおしまい」と言って井戸の中に入ろうとするので見物人の一人が「お菊の皿は九枚と決まっているだろう。