Japanese life, love, and legend. A visit to the Empire of the "Rising Sun." From "Le Japon pittoresque" of Maurice Dubard

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JAPANESE
LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

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JAPANESE
LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

A Visit to the Empire of the "■Rising Sun."

From "Le Japon Pittoresque" of Maurice Dubard

BY

WILLIAM CONN.

LONDON :

WARD AND DOWNEY,

12, YORK STREET, COVENT GAkDEN, W.C.
1886.

\AU rights reserved.] ,' , .

CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS,
CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.

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CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

rAGB

VOYAGE FROM LORIENT TO YOKOHAMA ... I

CHAPTER II.
YOKOHAMA AND YEDO .

CHAPTER III.

YOKOHAMA— INTERESTING ACQUAINTANCES . .II

CHAPTER IV,

YEDO AND YOKOHAMA REVISITED . . . . 24

CHAPTER V.

ANOTHER EVENING " EN FAMILLE " . . . • 3^

CHAPTER VI.

THE THEATRE BEFORE AND BEHIND THE SCENES . 42

vi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

PAGE

MUSIC, COSTUME, COIFFURE, AND COURTSHIP . . 5^

CHAPTER VIII.

OLD CUSTOMS AND NEW IDEAS 68

CHAPTER IX.
A WEDDING IN THE OLD STYLE . . . . 8o

CHAPTER X.

THE STORY OF THE FORTY-SEVEN RONIN . . 87

CHAPTER XI.

AN EXCURSION TO NIKKO Ill

CHAPTER XII.

EXCURSION TO NIKKO CONTINUED . . . . I32

CHAPTER XIII.

RETURN TO YOKOHAMA 141

CHAPTER XIV.

A DAY WITH MITANI j.g

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XV.

PAGE

SOMETHING ABOUT SILK AND LACQUER, ETC. . . 163

CHAPTER XVI.

OUR PLEASURE PARTY TO KAMAKOURA . . .174

CHAPTER XVII.

OSAKA— DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA . . 185

CHAPTER XVIII.

A VISIT TO Ki6t0 and ITS TEMPLES . . .212

CHAPTER XIX.

AN EVENING AT THE THEATRE 228

CHAPTER XX.
LEGENDS AND FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY . . .234

CHAPTER XXI.

SOME WONDERFUL STORIES AND SIGHTS . . .256

CHAPTER XXII.

NAGASAKI— THE CAT OF NABESHIMA . , . .267

viii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXIII.

PAGE

AN UNEXPECTED VISIT 279

CHAPTER XXIV.

AN EXCURSION IN SEARCH OF THE FUGITIVE . . 297

CHAPTER XXV.

THE EXCURSION CONTINUED 32 1

CHAPTER XXVI.

FAREWELL INTERVIEW WITH O-HANA . . . 340

JAPANESE LIFE. LOVE,
AND LEGEND.

CHAPTER I.

VOYAGE FROM LORIENT TO YOKOHAMA.

Departure from Lorient — The Madonna of Larmor — Saigon
— Disagreeable Surprise — Expedition to Tonquin —
Agreeable Surprise — Shanghai — Yokohama.

When we slipped our moorings from Lorient and
put to sea, bound for Cochin-China, we had no idea
of a visit to the delightful country of Japan, and
naturally, still less of a visit that turned out to
be so memorable for its romantic incidents, which,
as the reader will perceive when he has followed
them to their d^noilment, could not have been anti-
cipated had we been ever so familiar with Japanese
life and character.

On parting from our native shores, the weather
was anything but propitious ; for unbroken cloud
darkened land and water and the roadstead was
hidden in mist, and as we passed close under the
headland of La Peirri^re, where our friends were

2 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

gathered — mothers, sisters, and others who had
become perhaps, still more interesting— we could
only dimly see the group waving with their
kerchiefs a final adieu. We soon steamed out of
sight, with heavy hearts and, indeed, some tearful
eyes. Then we turned the little islet of St. Michel,
ran past the hamlet of Kernevel on the right, and
coming in view of the village of Larmor, that spot
so highly venerated by all true Bretons on account
of its Madonna, we prepared to salute with three
guns the tutelary saint, in obedience to a duty
observed from time immemorial, the lady being
then bound to watch over the safety of the ship
and her crew till the voyage was completed — a
devotion in which every true seaman has implicit
faith so soon as he hears the booming of the
cannon.

The charming village where I had p'assed so
many happy days when sunbeams flooded its
dazzling white beach, and where I had often
lounged on f^te days, watching the lusty lads and
buxom lassies frolicking in their holiday garb, how
sad was its aspect to-day in cloud, in lifelessness,
and on parting !

Our voyage, now begun on the open sea, pre-
sented nothing worthy of remark. Life on board
a ship of war is too strictly in accordance with the
regulations of the service to admit of notable inci-
dents, and there were none to record. We put in at
Algiers, then at Port Said, Aden, Point-de-Galles
and Singapore, not as tourists do, but as officers'
bound to execute orders within a prescribed time

FROM LORIENT TO YOKOHAMA. 3

At the beginning of autumn we arrived at Saigon,
where we had to revictual, and here we were most
disagreeably surprised to find that we were ex-
pected for an expedition into Upper Cochin-China.
I do not desire to revive sad souvenirs, and shall
therefore say nothing of the tragic story of ten
months' duration, an expedition in which our ranks
were cruelly thinned by the enemy's balls and the
fiery climate. Then an order suddenly came to
proceed to Japan, and the sailors soon forgot their
sufferings • in their unbounded joy; for we were
going to see that interesting country so extolled
by all voyagers. And in truth, when once seen, it
is a land never to be forgotten.

But we were obliged to go first to the coast of
China and show our flag there. We passed some
time at Shanghai, where the French colony warmly
welcomed our officers, and we joined in some exhi-
larating sport on the banks of the Imperial Canal,
feeling all the pleasure of meeting our own country-
men at three thousand leagues from home, and,
after wonderful feats of sporting, we again put to
sea in the middle of November.

Our destination was Yokohama ; and we made
on passing a short call at Nagasaki, saluted the
Martyr's Rock, and paid a flying visit to the porce-
lain shops, where we were struck with admiration
on beholding the colossal specimens of ceramic art,
the productions of this province. But our atten-
tion was too much diverted by the bright eyes and
pretty faces of the fair dealers to appreciate then
at its just value a work of art.

B 2

4 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

But then it was quite natural that Art shouM
yield to Nature. Indeed, this " Land of the Rising
Sun " seems to attract one like a beautiful maiden.
The visitor feels himself drawn irresistibly towards
its smiling and varied landscapes. Everything
conduces to the attraction. The language even,
so harmonious and sonorous, is music compared
with the nasal Chinese, especially when warbled
by the lips of bright, lively maidens.

A young officer shared my enthusiasm. Find-
ing the language not difficult to learn, we quickly
resolved to master it, and at once began studying
together with the assiduity with which we had
always worked together, and were soon gratified to
find that we were making sensible progress ; still,
with a view to being more assured of the fact, we
tested our highly-esteemed acquisition in compli-
ments to the young ladies, who received them with
.shouts of laughter, replying in their silvery voices :

" Oki ni arignato, idjin-san." *

The experiment was amusing, but not con-
clusive.

We traversed the inland sea — a real lake
bordered with smiling villages along its banks —
passed before Shimonosdki, which recalled to my
mind the grievous incidents of the conflict of
1867, so fatal to us Europeans, stayed a few hours
at the delightful little port of K6b6, and, at last,
came to anchor in the roadstead of Yokohama.

* " Many thanks, foreign gentlemen."

CHAPTER II.

YOKOHAMA.

Situation and Aspect of Yokohama — Visit to Yedo — Meet-
ing an Old Comrade — The Ruins of the Tylcoon's
Palace — Varied Attractions of Yedo.

The name itself of Yokohama calls up in my
mind associations that dwell for ever in the
memory. To the stranger there is nothing very
remarkable in this city : there is neither in its
history nor in its present aspect anything that
would mark it out for special attention. It was
merely a fine village formerly on the Gulf of
Yedo, not far from the highway of the T6kaid6,
which divides Nippon into North and South. But
Europeans have availed themselves of its position
— advantageous from a geographical and topogra-
phical point of view — to make it the centre of their
political intercourse and commercial operations,
and have accordingly raised here a city without
much regularity, but, in being thus favoured by its
situation and the nature of the surrounding country,
one at least fanciful and attractive.

6 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

The view from its capacious roadstead, con-
stantly filled with the busy shipping of Europe,
embraces a fine panorama, within which, a little
beyond the port, rise over the city the charming
villas of the Tobe hill ; and whilst in the distance
Fousi-yama rears its snow-capped head above the
clouds, representing in this grand picture the proud
and ancient Nippon, a long column of coal smoke,
an emblem of modern importations, wings its way
from the steam boilers towards the renovated capital
of civilised Japan.

I hardly knew what was the kind of loadstone
drawing my heart so powerfully towards these
enchanting shores; it was throbbing with impa-
tience, but, as is invariably the case, when we
have long cherished in our imagination a longed-
for object, the moment of realisation comes with a
disillusion :

All things that are.
Are with more spirit chased than enjoyed.*

But then it rained, and the gray sky cast a sullen
gloom over the roadstead and the city. Under
these inauspicious circumstances, a countryman of
ours, an old resident of Japan, came to look for us
and rescued us in time from our disheartening
mood.

Well knowing that a sojourn of many months

here would admit of my gratifying my curiosity at

my leisure, I did not, in the manher of modern

"globe-trotters," boil with impatience "to do" the

* Merchant of Venice.

YOKOHAMA. 7

whole in the shortest space of time possible, who,
like the heroes of Jules Verne, would, if they could,
compass the globe

Swifter than the wandering moon.*

I therefore traced out for myself a well-con-
sidered plan ; but without actually making an
itinerary, I intended visiting at first Yedo, then,
probably urged by a humour, to wander a little, I
thought I should like to make an excursion into
the interior and as far as the international treaty
would permit a foreigner; to see Nikkd, the
country of magnificent trees, venerable from age,
and of ancient forests, possessing all the attraction
of the mysterious unknown ; then Fousi-yama, one
of the highest mountains of the world, with its
vast imposing crater. Finally, I wished to see
Yokosta and its arsenal, Kamakura and its Dai-
bouts' — the colossal statue of Buddha in bronze —
all these enchanting spots so often pictured in my
imagination, reserving Yokohama for the final visit.

But what is the use, after all, of making plans .'
I have seen most of the places I had proposed to
visit and others besides, but I saw them all later,
and at a moment and under circumstances I was
far from anticipating on my arrival.

As soon as I had my liberty, I set out for
Yedo, the ancient city of the Tykoon.f the

* Midsummer Night's Dream.

■j- The military emperor who had usurped the power,
and from which he was driven by the Milcado in 1868, the
Mikado' being the hereditary emperor of Japan, " Son of the
Sun."

8 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

immense metropolis wherein was recently dis-
played all the pompous luxury of the usurpers,
and where every year all the nobility of the
" Empire of the Rising Sun " used to come in
grand state to render homage to the first subject of
the realm, whilst its legitimate sovereign, the heir
to all the glory of Japanese chivalry, the Mikado,
was obliged to hide his diminished head in the
shade of his own sacred palace at Ki6to.

Yedo, since raised to the capital of the empire,
the residence of his majesty the Mikado, where
through the influence of Europe he has been re-
instated after many centuries of exiled sovereigns,
is the centre of every reform and every novel insti-
tution introduced into the country by foreigners
and duly patronised by the new Government.

And here France is worthily represented by
a military mission composed of chosen officers,
charged with the creation of an army, the in-
struction of the troops, and military organisation.

The Japanese, happily prepared by their
national education, which is quite in a chivalrous
spirit, have most readily adapted themselves to the
numerous modifications so suddenly introduced
into the profession of arms. The results hitherto
obtained are surprising, and it is not without pride
that we see these brave little soldiers manoeuvring
in a manner that reflects credit on their instructors.
One of my comrades, one of the oldest members
of this mission, hospitably placed at my disposal
in the most cordial manner his house and his good
offices. We visited in company the curiosities of

YOKOHAMA. 9

this immense Japanese city, its temples, its yasi^i
(dwelling-houses), its gardens, its gay shops of
trinkets and fancy articles, its promenades, its
theatres, its innumerable petty tea-houses and
pleasure resorts, which might be likened to aviaries
of warbling and prattling birds, and of which we
have nothing in France that could give the least idea.
All these novelties well occupied us for a whole week.
Fearing to become wearisome to my obliging
companion by examining now everything minutely,
I wished to take a bird's-eye view at first and
return afterwards, to study alone and at my leisure,
as profitably as I could, what this admirable country
presented to my view. We therefore paid a flying
visit to the Shiro, a triple enclosure of granite, in
the centre of which stood the Palace of the Tykoon,
which was burnt in one of those terrible conflagra-
tions that consume entire cities in a few hours, the
most fearful scourge of Japan ; then the Shiba, the
tomb of the Shdguns* — those heroes who have
tyrannised over the country for centuries with an
iron hand ; then the temple of Asaksa, celebrated
for the miracles of its gods, its myriads of pigeons,
and the' archery-grounds surrounding ; and at last
the Wdno gardens, where still lie exposed the
blackened, charred remains, cribbled with ball and
grape-shot, of what was once the first sanctuary of
the empire, and where the long usurpation of the
Tykoons, those modern maires du palais, was .as

* The word Shogun signifies general-in-chief ; this was
the appellation of the Tykoons before they usurped the
power.

JO JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND' LEGEND.

completely demolished in the sanguinary drama of
1868.

This spot still presents to the eye a sinister
aspect, and the imagination easily conjures up a
picture of dire significance. The final bloody
assault seems to have ended only yesterday, and
as one glances around, he fancies he still sees, on
the fallen stones and mutilated trunks of fine old
trees, fearful evidence in gory stains of the for-
midable last struggle of the doughty da'fmios, in
which the ancient Japanese chivalry was annihi-
lated ; and yet within a few steps, there may be
said to be a continuous fete. If the Government
of the Mikado, immersed in the confusion of State
affairs, has not yet effaced everywhere the traces of
the convulsion, the Japanese, of all nations the
most light-hearted, have not long worn their
mourning, and the day after the calamity, began to
raise elegant little habitations by the hundred on
the ground recently encumbered by the fallen
warriors, where now attractive moui-m^* are con-
stantly entertaining loungers with tiny cups of tea
and the notes of their chainicen,-\ whilst these, pro-
bably for want of a more serious occupation, are
sipping the beverage and contemplating the
coquetry of the serving damsels.

* Mou^-md signifies a young girl,
t A three-stringed guitar.

CHAPTER III.

YOKOHAMA.

The Benten — The Courteousness of the Japanese Dealers —
Marcel — An Indulgent Father — An Amiable Family —
Interesting Acquaintances.

Before continuing uninterruptedly my excursions
and my studies, I was obliged to return to Yoko-
hama, to take orders from my commanding officer,
and settle some matters of the service. I learnt,
on arriving, that my presence would be required for
more than a week, and I availed myself of this in-
opportune interval to begin visiting the various
curiosity shops in my leisure moments, which, on
account of the great number of foreigners here, are
plentiful, and the best-furnished of Japan.

Two fine parallel streets — the one called Benten-
d6ri,* the other Hontcho-d6ri — are entirely occu-
pied by dealers. It is here where are seen in such
profusion the inexhaustible varieties of nicknacks
that cost so much, and which are, in due course,

* Dori signifies street.

12 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

seen displayed with so much pride in good houses
in France among certain collections.

The Japanese generally, and particularly the
Japanese dealers, are so affable that one may come
and go as often as he pleases in order to examine,
bargain, handle, and disturb the curiosities dis-
played, without ever buying anything or thereby
putting them in an ill humour. They will receive
you always, whatever amount of unprofitable
trouble you may give, with the same politeness
and the same smile ; they will offer you quite as
graciously the miniature cup of tea, a custom scru-
pulously observed by every respectable tradesman,
whether he is the richer or not for your visit.

When you have made your bargain with the
dealer — a proceeding often long and difficult — he
becomes your friend. You may then enter his
house at any hour of the day and make yourself
quite at home ; he will offer you his tobacco, and
pour out for you his tea ; he will talk with you about
your business, your family, your country, the news
of the day, and politics ; but he will rarely con-
descend to the obtrusive manner of a European
shopkeeper to praise his goods and press them on
you. His stock is exposed for sale •; you may ex-
amine it, buy what you like, and make the price if
you think proper to do so ; but he will hardly ever
say anything to induce you to open your purse.
He is often quite an artist, and sometimes a
philosopher.

With this encouragement, the promenade of the
Benten is quite attractive, and, so far as I was con-

YOKOHAMA. 13

earned, I took constant delight in lounging through
this immense museum of a kind full of novelty for
me, where, while satisfying my curiosity, I could
make such important progress in my knowledge of
the spoken language. As often as the regulations of
the service permitted, my fellow-student in the lan-
guage joined me in exploring the shops. He was
the most agreeable companion one could desire.
Young in years and spirits, well-informed, open-
hearted, and refined, a true son of the soil of wild
Brittany, there was in him something of the melan-
choly of his misty and poetic land. His name was
Marcel. A mutual sympathy had spontaneously
united us ; then the friendship, the growth of daily
intercourse and duties in common, had become so
cordial, that the sailors soon designated us among
themselves as " the Japanese brothers."

One day we haggled a long time over a little
box of gold lacquer. This object was exquisite ;
it strongly tempted my friend, who wished to Send
it to his sister ; but necessity compelled him to
weigh his generosity against the official instal-
ments of his pay, and the dealer being resolute in
not abating anything, we were obliged to leave
without striking a bargain.

We returned, however, in the evening ; for a
disappointed buyer, like a disappointed lover, often
returns to the proximity of the attraction, as if a
glimpse alone at the idol afforded some comforting
compensation.

A young girl, childlike in appearance, whom he
had not noticed in the morning, was putting in

14 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

order the articles displaced by the curious, as one
usually does before closing the shop.

On entering, after the usual salutation :

"Well now?" exclaimed Marcel to the old
dealer, with a look of inquiry.

The latter understanding the question, " It is
impossible, sir," he replied ; " the box you wish for
is very fine, and I would rather keep it than dispose
of it at a low price. Take this one ; it is bigger,
richer, and, at the same time, not so dear."

The object offered in exchange was certainly
very brilliant, but in execrably bad taste.

" I would not take it at any price," said Marcel
disdainfully. " I want to make a present to my
sister. I have already decided that it should be
the box chosen this morning, and not any other."

The young girl, during this altercation, had
suspended her occupation to listen to what was
going on.

"The sister of the idj'in-san* is a grand lady,"
she was heard to say, as if speaking to somebody
invisible to Marcel and myself.

The sound of this infantine voice made my
friend turn round just as he was going to open
his purse to avoid any more haggling.

"A grand lady.' No, my bonny lass, but a
darhng httle girl about your age, and almost as
pretty as you are."

Surprised by this compliment, the first perhaps
she had received, the young mous'-mS regarded

* The foreigner.

YOKOHAMA. 15

Marcel with astonishment, almost with a frightened
look; then taking the bone of contention in her hand,
she drew near her father. Then might be heard
a very animated conversation in suppressed voices
between the two actors in this private scene —
the daughter, with the discontented and rebellious
tone of a spoilt child, seemed to be remonstrating
with the father, who, with a slight shrug of the
shoulders, manifested his disapproval. The young
lady pouted and waited.

"O-Hana!" he exclaimed, in a tone of
reproach.

The young maiden was already before us with
bright colour mantling in her cheek.

" There it is," she said to my friend, holding
out to him the coveted object, " take it ! "

" How much, my dear young lady ? "

" I know nothing about it ; but the price you
have proposed to my father is quite fair — I am
sure of that."

Marcel looked first at the girl, and then at the
object, felt embarrassed, and hesitated.

" Take it now," she insisted decisively. " It is
for your sister."

The old man, noticing our astonishment, re-
assured us : " The bargain is made now, have no
scruples about it. 0-Hana would have it so in her
own way. She is my daughter, the child of my
old age ; it is she who orders, and I obey."

When we desired to express our thanks to the
amiable young lady, she had suddenly disappeared.

Instead of continuing his promenade with me

i6 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

as in the preceding evening, instead of wandering
hour after hour among the motley crowd, so merry
and jocular and babbling, animating the streets
under a constellation of paper lanterns that give
so picturesque an aspect to Japanese cities at
night. Marcel separated from me without ex-
planation. At midnight, when I came on board,
I found the port-light of his cabin still lighted.
From all appearances^ sleep seemed to have been
very slow in coming to weigh down my friend's
eyelids, and when this was accomplished his senses
were by no means " steeped in forgetfulness," for
fantastic dreams danced in his head with delightful
confusion till morning. In the indistinct interval
between dreams and contemplation, he clearly saw
an admirable youthful head, the delicate, smooth
profile of a young girl, whose image, on rising,
haunted his imagination, and this he quite naturally
associated with the recent impression of the pretty
little dealer. A few lines in writing which, on
getting up, I found upon my table, enlightened
me on the interesting situation.

" I am ashore, come and join me," was the end
of this hastily- written note.

"Join him ! But where on earth was I to find
him.' Howthoughtlesslysimple! Whydidn'thegive
himself the trouble to inform me .' He knew well
enough where he was going, without the incon-
venience of hesitating, no doubt. Every one was
expected to know ; a lover thinks it superfluous
to explain what is to him so obvious."

I anticipated the hour at which people are astir

YOKOHAMA. 17

generally on the promenade of the Benten. I
entered in passing a few shops, inquiring for the
little Japanese brother : no one had seen him, I
was certain of that. Then I proceeded without
delay to the quarters of the old dealer. On ap-
proaching the shop, sure enough, he was in its
vicinity.

" I have been waiting here for you," he said.
We were within a few paces of the shop.
0-Hana, coquettishly dressed out, was showing
with childlike grace to the wondering eyes of
a few recently-arrived foreigners, the treasures of
her glass cases.

As soon as she saw us, she called out to the
dealer : " Father, these are the foreigners that were-
here yesterday."

Then with a gracious smile she turned to
salute us :

" Konnitchi-wa idjin-san" (good morning tO'
the foreign gentlemen).

The old man, occupied apparently in making
up his accounts of the preceding evening, raised
his head, looked at us under his large spectacles,
gave us a slight bow with a peevish air, and re-
sumed his work without saying a word. Marcel
stood embarrassed with a feeling of being intrusive,
and under the impression that, though he had a
friend in Mademoiselle 0-Hana, he had, at the
same time, in the master of the house an irrecon-
cilable enemy.

O-Hana, pensive and absent, hardly replied to
the questions of the customers ; a nervous and

c

i8 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

abrupt movement in the demeanour of the young
girl indicated a growing ill-humour ; she glanced
anxiously with her black eyes at the placid counten-
ance of the dealer and then at my friend with an
expression of slight melancholy. Then, as if irri-
tated at her father's silence, the maiden suddenly
came up and, taking us by the hand, led us to the
old man.

"Gomen nasaimashi" (pray excuse me), she
said. " Seat yourselves here and wait a moment."
Then calling her mother :

" Okka-san, Okka-san (mother, mother), bring
the tea."

During this attention, the amateurs of bibelots,
offended, no doubt, at being so unceremoniously
abandoned, had taken their departure.

" Sayo-nara " (au revoir), said merrily the young
girl. " They are English. There is nothing in my
father's shop good enough for them."

The indulgent mother had quickly appeared to
her daughter's summons. Holding in one hand
the tea-pot, a doll's tea-pot in fact, and such as is
used by the Japanese, she presented us with the
other, bowing very low, a tiny cup resting on a
delicate tray of plaited rice-straw.

The Japanese houses, perfect jewels of cabinet-
work, are delightfully clean ; the walls are hung
with pretty paper, stretched on frames of white
wood ; the floor is covered with soft, fresh-looking
mats, at least three inches thick, called tatami,
whereon no one would ever venture to put a muddy
boot. In the shops frequented by foreigners, the

YOKOHAMA. 19

tatami are replaced by planks, scrupulously clean,
after having been washed and scrubbed every
morning. There is, however, a reserved space in
the apartment, raised about a foot above the level
of the floor, where the tatami are symmetrically
arranged together, covering about three or four
square yards. It is here, around the tchibatchi, a
kind of brasero, where pipes are lighted and water
continuously kept hot for tea-making, that the mem-
bers of the family seat themselves with their neigh-
bours and friends till the close of the day. It is
here where 0-Hana had led us by the hand, giving
us thus to understand that she wished to consider
us as friends of the family.

We cordially thanked Okka-san, sipped the
fragrant beverage she had offered us, compliment-
ing her at the same time on the pleasing ways of
her charming little daughter, and I declared to the
head, of the family that, after having visited all
the shops in the Benten, there was not one that I
liked so well as his.

Every one seemed to be highly pleased, and
yet a look of distrust still lingered, I fancied,
in the dealer's countenance.

" Show us all your fine things," I exclaimed.
" I will begin buying a lot of bibelots at once, and
you can fix the price yourself, without fearing I
shall offer anything less."

This declaration quite brightened the merce-
nary old man's face, and he began setting about
showing us his treasures.

0-Hana, kneeling before the tchibatchi, with

c 2

20 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

her hands spread over the burning fuel covered
with a layer of cinder, watched all our movements
with a dreamy, preoccupied air. The father,
mounted on a stool, was handing to me various
objects I pointed out to him, which, on examining, I
laid down on the tatami, by the side of the young
girl. I noticed that she scrutinised some of them
very attentively and put them aside. As soon as
I had made a preliminary selection, I saw that it
would be necessary to reject at least the half, unless
I would empty my purse at one stroke ; then,
whilst her father was occupied at the other end of
the shop, O-Hana took some of- them up and
pointed out to me the defects that had escaped my
notice, and then withdrew them from the lot I had
at first chosen,

" Korewa mina ikoura ? " (how much the lot .'')
I demanded of the proprietor.

He raised leisurely his enormous spectacles to
his nose, surveyed this portion of his artistic trea-
sures which he was going to part with, and ex-
claimed :

" Ta¥ san I " (there are a great many of
them).

Then taking the calculating instrument, the
soroban, which every Japanese uses, he began going
through a course of the most grotesque panto-
mime ; he first held up the instrument, passed his
fingers through his gray hair, sighed deeply again
and again, looked at his daughter with an air of
resignation, and then growled out some price in a

YOKOHAMA. 21

tone that rendered it unintelligible, but which
seemed to signify he was prepared to march to the
gallows.

" Torochii!" joyfully screamed out the maiden,
clapping her hands with childish delight. "Very
well, it is settled : San djou go mat, ni bou isskiou,*
thirty-five rio, two bou and a quarter."

I thought we were going to have another scene
similar to that of the preceding evening. I was
going to speak, when the shopkeeper, with a serious
face, interrupted.

" Listen," he said. " 0-Hana may say what
she likes, but I shall not bate a tempo.'' f

I then understood that he had named the very
lowest price, and that the daughter had simply
taken the father at his word.

After this time. Marcel and I hardly ever
bought anything of consequence elsewhere. When
O-Hana's father could not supply us with what
we wanted, the good man procured it from his
fellow-dealers, and disposed of it to us at cost
price. We became henceforth friends of the house.
Marcel, who was younger and more enthusiastic
than I, was particularly appreciated ; rarely a day
passed without his calling to while away a few
hours with these good people.

" Why didn't you come here yesterday } "
anxiously demanded 0-Hana, when he had one

* About £2 14s. t,d.

t Copper money ; a tempo is rather less than a half-
penny.

23 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

day failed in his customary visit. " I was sad the
whole evening, and the night seemed as if it would
never end. You promised you would teach me.
the French language, and tell me everything that
was going on in your fine country, and now I am
ready to begin."

His dear little friend was so pretty and so naive,
and her name — which signified flower in Japanese
— was so melodious to pronounce, that Marcel
found her invitations irresistible. He came there
every day ; he came in the morning and in the
evening, without taking thought that, however
delightful it was to find himself there, he was
creating a habit that would be, at some future time,
painful and inconvenient to suppress. Already
deep in love, he had quite forgotten his projects of
exploring the country. Sd far as I was concerned,
not having the same motive to remain at Yoko-
hama, I did not abandon my excursions ; but,
wearied with the defection of my travelling com-
panion, I put off from day to day the execution of
my plan.

The whole family was presented to us in due
course : 0-Sada-san, the elder sister of 0-Hana,
lately married ; Ouyeno, her husband, an employ d
in the Japanese custom-house, playfully called by
his sister-in-larw Danna-san (the gentleman), be-
cause he affected European manners in a way
exaggerated and ridiculous. They took us all over
the house and the little interior garden — a decided
mark of confidence. One Sunday they took us to

YOKOHAMA. 23

the little yasiki of the Mississippi* The kind at-
tention of this amiable family quite moved us, and
the intimacy favoured an attachment to them that
became stronger every day.

* A remarkably fertile valley in the neighbourhood of
Yokohama named thus by the Americans.

CHAPTER IV.

YEDO AND YOKOHAMA REVISITED.

A Trip to Yedo and Return to Yokohama — The Family in
the Benten — How 0-Hana learnt French and Marcel
Japanese — Effect of the Revolution — Pleasant Evenings
enfamille.

Notwithstanding the agreeable society I en-
joyed in the Benten of Yokohama, I was obliged
to return to Yedo ; for many invitations called
me there, as well as my recently- found friend. A
grand review was to take place, in the course of a
few days, before the Mikado in person, and then a
presentation of colours to the regiments of the
guard. This military parade, however attractive
generally to Europeans, was not sufficiently so, to
induce Marcel to follow me. After having at-
tempted to persuade him, but to no purpose, I was
obliged to set off alone.

When I came back at the end of a week, I
found the Breton madcap plunged deeper than
ever in the study of Japanese. O-Hana was his
tutor, bien entendu, and he taught her French at

YEDO AND YOKOHAMA REVISITED. 25

the same time : he was satisfied with the progress,
but a little piqued at discovering that she advanced
much quicker than he in their studies.

Winter was now approaching ; the days were
becoming short and the evenings long. It began
to feel cold already, and the perambulating dealers,
with their innumerable stores al fresco, which gave
so much animation to the street during the fine
summer nights, now began shivering at sunset,
and took it into their heads to retire at this early
hour to the shelter of their homes ; the tcka-ya,*
installed along the houses, had finished their busi-
ness and their owners had packed up their tea-
pots and their tchibatchi ; and our promenades
becoming daily less attractive, we found we could
not pass the evenings more agreeably than with
our friends of the Benten.

Now and then, whilst 0-Hana was occupied in
copying, under the vigilant eye of her master, the
lesson written out for her, I used to enter into
conversation with members of the family; with
O-Sada-san, who had also become one of our
friends ; with the old father, and the good old
mother, Okka-san, whenever the cares of the
household did not absorb her attention. We
talked about the customs and habits of their
country, and they questioned me a great deal
about France, of which they had heard so much
that excited their curiosity.

0-Hana would occasionally raise her head and

* Tea-houses.

26 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

forget entirely her task in the subject of conversa-
tion, or merely pretend to be occupied with it, but
clearly in a way that showed she was ill at ease,
and arrested our attention by whimsical movements
and remarks, in which our fair countrywomen were
not spared. The subject that had begun to interest
her so much took another turn, and seemed all at
once to throw her into a state of nervous excite-
ment. Marcel, perceiving this, accordingly changed
the subject as quickly as possible to something
relating to Japan ; one, besides, not only more
interesting, but more instructive for us. He led
them to describe the various details of their daily
life, their traditions, and their customs, which
differed so widely from ours.

At this epoch of transition in Japan from so
many terrible revolutions, which have overturned
the stability of the social state, as the long dormant
soil of a field has been thrown up and turned up-
side down by the ploughshare, it is not at all rare
to meet with families completely changed in social
status ; families, indeed, who, after having occupied
the most brilliant position, are now plunged by
consequent circumstances into a precarious situa-
tion verging on destitution. The family of O-Hana,
not being of the noble class, had been more fortu-
nate than others, and had, by virtue of its medio-
crity, steered clear of the shoals of disaster, and
saved itself from wreck without having been badly
bruised even against the destroying rocks.

The old nobles, the great dal'mios, in the height
of their splendour, among the numerous personnel

YEDO AND YOKOHAMA REVISITED. 27

of their house, had workers of every class and of all
kinds, artists, painters in silk, sculptors of ivory and
wood, designers, architects, and others, who lived in
the princes' j/«j2,^z with their family, and were highly
esteemed, and the liberal gratuities and favours
they enjoyed through the generosity of their lord
enabled them to accumulate considerable resources.

Mitani - san, O - Hana's father, was the most
esteemed painter of the Prince of Satsuma, who in-
habited one of the richest j/asi^i in the Tykoon's
capital of Yedo, and was full of confidence of end-
ing his days there, where he was born, and where
he had succeeded his father and grandfather, when
war suddenly broke out, followed by the revolution.

The Prince of Satsuma, on retiring to his lands,
took a portion of his suite with him, and dismissed
the remainder. Mitani was to accompany his
master, but the journey thither was distasteful to
him ; he therefore declined the favour that was
offered, and preferred losing his position to aban-
doning his native soil and passing the remainder of
his life in the southern provinces so detested by the
people of the north. He then quitted Yedo,
came to Yokohama, where, through the small
legacy bequeathed to him by his father, added to
his own savings, he bought a house and established,
step by step, a shop for the sale of fancy articles.
His talent as a painter, his decidedly artistic taste,
his well-known honesty, that had become almost
proverbial, soon contributed to render his house
the most resorted to of all in the city. His cus-
tomers were nearly all French ; beyond the three

28 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

great nations of Latin origin objects of art are not
fully appreciated, and the Japanese dealers know
this so well that they do not usually show to our
friends on the other side of the Channel, or to the
subjects of the conquering German, anything but
the tinsel of modern industry, reserving for the true
connoisseur the treasures of their collections.

When I arrived at Yokohama the reputation of
Mitani's establishment was still rising. The artist
had aged ; his feeble sight did not enable him to
exercise his art otherwise than in giving instruction
in its principles to his youngest daughter. Having
no son, and his eldest daughter having married an
employi of the new Government, the wife having no
taste for business, he was necessarily driven to
think of retiring, and ending his days in tranquillity.
For the last six months, therefore, he had in-
formed his many customers that he had ceased to
replenish his stock, that he intended to remain a
little while longer to sell off the select articles, and
having disposed of the ordinary stock by wholesale,
he was going to instal himself with his wife and
daughter, O - Hana, in his little house of the
Mississippi.

" It is high time," he would sometimes say to
me, "to go and live in peace on the fruits of three
generations of workers. Ah ! we have heaped
maledictions on the heads of the foreigners, we
have cursed them when we ought to have blessed
them. Our life formerly was, no doubt, calmer
and securer than now, but it was the life of the
domestic animal which, sure of having its daily

YEDO AND YOKOHAMA REVISITED. 29

feed, slumbers in the grovelling content of gilded
servitude. A new era, inaugurated since the
coming of the EuropeanSj has plunged many un-
fortunate families in the abyss of misery ; but man,
when he is free, with a good heart and a pair of
stout arms, may always, in a country like ours,
create for himself, under a fine sky, an honourable
and easy existence."

" You speak like a disciple of the French Revo-
lution, Father Mitani," I replied, smiling. " Vive
la liberti ! " He seemed shocked at my hilarity.

Whilst I was trifling in this way he interrupted
me : " I understand nothing from what you say.
The Frenchman is like our girls ; he laughs at
everything. They say even that the men with red
beards have beaten your armies on account of your
incorrigible levity."

Seeing me frown at this reminder of our dis-
asters, and that the reflection made me rather sad,
he added :

" Yes, but I well know also that your constant
gaiety overlies the boldest courage, the most ardent
patriotism, and that some day, sooner than we
think, you will resume the position you have
occupied in Europe before your misfortunes, at the
head of the Great Powers."

I warmly clasped the hand of my old friend in
silence. 0-Hana then came with anxious eyes
swelling with tears to off'er me a cup of tea, and
the remainder of the evening passed away, some-
times in long and serious discussion on the old
customs and the late stirring events of Japan, some-

30 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

times in rallying the young wife and the spoilt
child of the family.

Then Danna-san made his appearance. Danna-
saHj as well as all the employ^ of the State, was
dressed in the European fashion, and showed little
esteem generally for his less advanced countrymen,
particularly for his wife's relatives. Whilst he
thought highly of Marcel and myself, in spite of
his mimicking us occasionally, he affected to treat
us on a footing of perfect equality with graceful
ease. He never replied to us when we addressed
him in his own language, and bored us tediously by
speaking an Anglo-Franco-Japanese — a kind of
gibberish "no fellow could understand."

Danna-san, in spite of the crotchety notions
common to the people of his class, was after all a
worthy man, loving his wife and showing her every
delicate consideration. He was intelligent, well-
informed on matters relating to his country, and
listened with interest whenever there was anything
to learn. I was indebted to him for much valuable
information on old and modern Japan, as well
as for enlightened ideas on the origin of the
discontent which smouldered in the latent embers
before it burst into flame over the country already
convulsed by revolutions.

After the most cordial assurances of friendship
we separated. O-Hana was the last to address us
in her charming sweet voice: " Au revoir, friends"
— rin Japanese, Sayo-nara tomodatcki.

Then she called out after us: "Mionitchil
Mionitchi!" (To-morrow! To-morrow!)

CHAPTER V.

ANOTHER EVENING "EN FAMILLE."

A Bonze — Prayers at a Discount — The Two co-existing
Religions^Neglected Worship — Religious Indifference
— Poverty of the Priesthood— Some Religious Customs
— Mitani's Views — The Fox and the Japanese Maidens
— A Tender and Touching Avowal.

One evening Marcel had gone out half-an-hour
before me, and when I arrived at the shop I dis-
tinctly heard a low nasal murmuring that sur-
prised me. The family was there as usualj but
O-Hana was not visible. The noise coming from
her room sometimes rose to a higher tone and then
subsided to a suppressed muttering. My astonish-
ment was so spontaneous and irrepressible that my
friends could not help laughing. 0-Sada then
rising and taking my hand, and putting her finger
on her lip with the gesture of the Statue of Silence,
led me up to the panel of paper which separated
the apartment from her sister's. A slight rent in
this slender hanging just permitted a curious eye to
penetrate into the modest retreat of the young girl.

32 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

0-Sada, pointing out this slit, invited me by a sign
to gratify my curiosity.

Before a sort of petty chapel, illuminated by a
galaxy of wax tapers, a bonze, bearing his sacer-
dotal ornaments, was squatting on a mat. He
held before his half-closed eyes a book of prayers,
and mumbled, without taking breath, verse after
verse, producing thereby the singular noise that
had surprised me on arriving. At a couple of
paces behind the priest, O-Hana was bent in a
humble posture and plunged into a profound
meditation.

"How long," I inquired of 0-Sada, "is this
prayer-wheel going on turning prayers .' "

" I really don't know,'' she replied. " O-Hana
has become very pious lately. She is very gene-
rous to the priests, and we shall have the enter-
tainment for some time yet — two hours at least, if
she has unluckily given this one so much as a
hour *

" What ! " I cried, " for a bou, more than two
hours of litany ? The commodity is cheap
enough."

The merry young woman, so full of pleasantry,
squeezed my arm with a look of mock reproach,
and we joined again the other members of the
family.

The Japanese generally are not religious — they
are indifferent. The men are nearly all Positivists
and the women simply superstitious.

* The value of a bou is a shilling.

ANOTHER EVENING "EN FAMILLE:' 33

There are two religions co-existing— Shint6ism,
the ancient religion of Japan, though one
void of a moral code, and Buddhism, the religion
imported from Thibet after having traversed the
vast lands subject to the Chinese empire.

Christianity, though perhaps the religion of the
future, counts for nothing at present : according to
the missionaries even, it makes no fresh converts,
and includes but a very small number of the
faithful. It is a form descending mostly from
those converted by St. Francis — one difficult to
maintain within the orthodox limits of the Gospel.

The two creeds, Shint6ism and Buddhism, after
a long course of rivalry and mutual hostility, first
one and then the other having been favoured by the
Government in the ascendant, seem now disposed
to amalgamate and to unite the remnants of their
influence to bear the brunt of disfavour — a kind of
ostracism with which they are stigmatised.

The temples are becoming daily more and-;
more deserted ; the treasury of the priests,,
exhausted by revolutions, is far from being re-
plenished by the petty sums wrung from super-
stition — money which is not always of standard
value. This is beyond dispute, for the traders who
throng the entrance of certain sanctuaries shame-
lessly sell to pilgrims, for the customary alms and
offerings to the gods, old pieces of coin withdrawn
from circulation.

The outward ceremonies of worship in the
Buddhist religion, formerly so very brilliant, re-
semble in no slight degree those of the Roman

D

34 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

Catholic; the priests, bearing their sacerdotal orna-
ments almost like those of our priests, preserve in
their demeanour— at once grave, impressive^ and
precise — something that forcibly reminds one of
certain orders of our shaven, barefooted friars.

The wretchedness of the minister is now every-
where reflected from the exercise of the worship :
nearly all the temples, excepting only a favoured
few, are houses of refuge for priests driven from
their bonzeries, and present a most singular aspect.

This medley of rites, derived from two hostile
religions, and brought together by the force of
circumstances, produces the saddest and most
discordant effect.

Pilgrims unusually devout, who come reciting
their paternoster, kneel down indiscriminately
before Shint6 or Buddha, and, if you were
to ask them which religion they professed, they
would certainly laugh at your simple question, for
most likely they do not themselves know which
divinity they worship. One may have a headache,
and another a sore foot. A disease-curing god
lounges in some corner, well coated with grease,
the accumulation from the fingering of ten gene-
rations. The first sufferer,' after having caressed
the hideous cheek of the god, rubs his head with peni-
tential sorrow, throws a couple of counterfeit djou-
mon-sen* into the gaping trunk for offerings before
the altar, and takes his departure satisfied. The

* A small round copper coin pierced with a square hole,
a dozen of which are hardly worth a penny.

ANOTHER EVENING "EN FAMILLEP 35

second invalid goes through the same ceremony,
with this difference, that he addresses himself to
the god's foot instead of his head. Sometimes it
is a wife who desires a male child, or a young maiden
who pines for a husband after her own dream ;
sometimes a poor, rickety creature, whose mother
longs to see him grow. The god, with the most
complete indiff"erence and impartiality, surrenders
himself to every supplicant, to the most amusing
caressing, the most grotesque series of manipu-
lations. But who is this beneficent deity } Is he
a Buddhist saint, or one of the glorious companions
of Shint6 .' It is rare, indeed, to meet with one of
the vulgar herd of Japan capable of giving an
answer to this question.

In families, however, there are certain regu-
lations, which determine whether an invocation
should be addressed to a minister of Buddha or to
a priest of Shintd.

" Accordingly, where a child is born," Mitani
informed me, " they consecrate it to Shintd, and in
case of death the minister of Buddha is entrusted
to accompany the corpse to its resting-place. The
priest, after having recited the usual prayers over
the body and the grave, retires with the mourners'
friends, the family only remaining, who perform
solemnly and leisurely the last duties, whether they
simply consign the remains to earth or to the pyre,
which is usually the case if they profess the religion
of Shintd, and have the means of buying the
essences and wood employed in this operation.

" Since a recent decree of the Emperor, crema-

D 2

36 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

tion^ though not prohibited, is at least subject to
certain regulations of public order. There are
now localities outside the towns set apart for this
sort of ceremony^ where the corpse may be reduced
to cinders without offending the olfactory nerves of
the population.

" You will be surprised some day to discover,
when you have become more familiar with our lan-
guage and when the opportunity presents itself,
that the list of persons assisting at the funeral is
not written from right to left, but from left to right
as in European writings. If you were to ask me
the reason for this," added the intelligent shop-
keeper, " I should be very much puzzled to give it
you."

There is another singular custom, but, in my
opinion, very proper, which consists in giving the
defunct a new name — Okouri-na — the name he will
bear eternally in the future life into which he has
just entered; this name is inscribed on the tablets
suspended in the family house, in that part conse-
crated to the divinity, and before which, on certain
days, they burn incense and tapers.

" You believe, then, in a new life beyond the
grave?-" I inquired of my host, interrupting him
in his discourse.

The old man, seemingly astonished at this ques-
tion, reflected for a moment, then with a grave
tone :

"What should I know.'" he said. "In our
childhood we are taught many things, and when
we grow up, these ideas seem to us absurd, or

ANOTHER EVENING "EN FAMILLE." 37

nothing better than crotchety old woman's tales.
Now, so far as I am concerned, I believe nothing,
because I have never been taught anything worthy
of credence ; but I have questioned myself seriously
sometimes : Where does man come from, and
where will he go ? The body dies, it is true, but then
the spirit ? I don't know whether you understand
me clearly or not ? I thought there was a great
Kami,* all powerful, master of all, and perhaps
that our spirit, which comes from him, will return
to him."

"That, in a word," I replied, "is the creed of
the whole world — faith itself purified from the in-
numerable useless and ridiculous practices that dress
up with tinsel the various religions that strut on the
face of the globe. This Kami, we Christians call
God. The spirit is what we call the soul — the im-
mortal soul."

This solemn declaration produced a surprising
effect upon .the old man. It was the first time,
perhaps, that he was enabled to get a clear concep-
tion of his own sentiments, which I had analysed
for him in a few words.

" I have always thought," he exclaimed, " when-
ever I saw some resemblance between your
religion and that of our bonzes, that they might
easily come to a mutual good understanding."

" No," I demurred decisively. " Never will re-
ligions come to a common understanding ; but a
day will come, after many centuries perhaps, when

* A spirit-god.

38 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

mankind, united in one faith, will form a single
grand community of brethren that nothing will
cause them to divide."

During this long dissertation the bonze had
finished his orisons, and 0-Hana had come
unobtrusively and noiselessly to seat herself
behind us.

" What have you been supplicating the Kami
for ? " Marcel asked his friend.

" I prayed them to grant me favours," replied
the damsel.

As we pressed her with questions, to know
what favours she entreated so earnestly from
Heaven, the young girl burst into tears. Marcel
took her hands, caressed her as one fondles an in-
valid child, addressed her most tenderly, begging
her to open her heart to him. She wiped away the
tears trickling on her cheek, smiled at him lovingly,
but kept her secret.

" She is afraid of the fox," said 0-Sada,
laughing.

"What fox.?" I asked.

Every one burst out laughing.

" It is an old story, a legend well known among
the simple country people of our land," replied
Danna-san, who had just entered ; " but I am quite
sure that this little ninny has turned my lessons to
better account, and no longer believes in the ludi-
crous and extravagant old nurse's tales intended to
frighten whimsical children."

" I am very anxious to learn everything relating

ANOTHER EVENING "EN FAMILLE." 39

to Japan of the past," I said to 0-Sada's husband ;
" narrate to us, therefore, my dear Ouyeno, the
legend of the fox."

Danna-san good-humouredly assented.

"The fox," began the employ^, "is a mysterious
being, a personification of cunning, subtlety, and
knavery, a companion with whom one may be on
good terms, but one never to be trusted, avoiding,
however, giving offence by suspicion. There is hardly
a legend in the country in which he does not play
some r61e or other, and you will see everywhere
in the rural districts, in the midst of thickets and
tall grass, little temples which are approached by
hidden paths. These are the temples of the fox.
The legend to which O-Sada has just alluded, in
rallying her sister, relates that one day a lively
young girl had succeeded in playing a nice trick
on the cunning fellow. The latter, furious at the
ill turn done him, swore he would be avenged in
the most signal manner, not only on his enemy,
but on all the girls of Nippon. The legend then
relates an endless number of strange tricks of the
fantastic rover of our forests. Sometimes he in-
troduces himself into the body of the young girl,
causing her endless ailments ; sometimes, in con-
sequence of his machinations, a wandering lass has
turned nine days and nine nights in a fatal circle
without coming to the end of her journey. There-
fore, to appease the rancour of this maleficent
spirit, they do not pay him empty compliments,
but offerings of all kinds flow into his temples.

40 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

Unprofitable offerings, you will say no doubt ; but
what does not fall to the fox's share falls, you
may be sure, to the lot of one still craftier."

With this sly observation Danna-san, fully satis-
fied with himself, wished us good evening as he led
away his wife.

Just as we were going to leave, 0-Hana, lean-
ing towards my friend's ear, said with a volubility
unusual to her :

" If I did not reveal to you the object of my
prayers, you might think me bacca (foolish) ; I no
more believe than Ouyeno does in the extravagant
story he has just related to you." Then with a
look of embarrassment mingled, with entreaty, she

continued : " Do not be angry with me^ 1 would

have hidden it from you, but it is of no use, for you

would soon haye learnt it you can read through

my eyes what is going on in the innerrnost recesses

of my heart Oh ! forgive me ; but I feel that

if you go away it will be a terrible blow for me.

1 pray to the Kami to keep you here always

— always here."

After this confidence, imparted with a fervour
and pathos that would have touched a heart of
marble, the youthful maiden fled from our presence
like a bird. Marcel felt that, at this moment, it
would only add to her embarrassment to follow her,
and therefore resolved to depart.

The mother was squatting on her heels in the
Japanese manner, and was in a tranquil doze ;
Mitani was closing the shutters of his shop.

ANOTHER EVENING "EN FAMILLE." 41

Whilst I was lighting my cigar on the door- step,
Marcel by my side seemed almost overcome by a
sudden violent emotion; the father just coming in
recalled him to commonplace reality.

"Your thoughts are occupied with the fox/'
remarked the good old man. " Be quite easy on
that score ; it is a rogue that seldom has anything
to say but to young girls."

CHAPTER VI.

THE THEATRE BEFORE AND BEHIND THE SCENES.

Marcel's Embarrassment— A Happy Existence — The Theatre
— The Green-room and its Fair Occupants — Erroneous
Opinions regarding Japanese Women — The Theatre of
Men Actors — The Theatre of Women Actors — The
Spectacle of the Public Baths — A Moving Tragedy.

The trouble occasioned by 0-Hana's precious dis-
closure kept Marcel awake till morning, and during
his restlessness a confusion of irreconcilable pro-
jects danced in his excited and bewildered brain.
Sometimes, fancying that this avowal was a mere
whim of a wayward child, he would lightly
pass it over, and, by his silence and indifference,
leave the young girl to suppose that he had not
understood her ; sometimes, reflecting on the con-
sequences that such a love, if serious, might have
if, instead of crushing it in the bud before it had
expanded into a full-blown flower, he allowed it to
grow under the vivifying warmth of their daily inter-
course : this would be dishonourable, and in such a

BEFORE AND BEHIND THE SCENES. 43

case he was resolved to tear himself from her
at all risks.

The long, anxious hours of a sleepless night had
run their course, and Marcel had not yet arrived at
any decision.

The image of 0-Hana then haunted his brain :
a more loving look, a longer pressure of the hand,
told him plainly enough that the throbbing of her
chaste heart had touched the chords of his own.

The tender maiden, whose breast was relieved
by the confession of a secret that troubled her soul
and parched her lips, soon recovered her usual
gaiety ; a few days were sufficient for a nature so
blithe to resume its tranquillity, but a moment
ruffled by the first blast of passion.

Life passed sweetly and softly with the lovers,
now in their halcyon days, without noisy pleasures,
without even a pang, to disturb that quietude which
should presage the bliss of heaven, but which, in
the life of man, is often ominous of catastrophes
and convulsions ; as if God in His merciful fore-
sight accorded to His creature the time to store up
the resources of courage and energy, before rush-
ing into the great struggle he is doomed to
encounter in this world.

Sometimes we used to go to the theatre : the
Japanese, like all the peoples of the extreme East,
are passionately fond of this kind of recreation. The
smallest Japanese town possesses a company of
players. In Yokohama there are many, without
including the innumerable tea-houses, where acro-
bats and declaimers give their entertainments every
evening.

44 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

The theatres are large wooden constructions,
rather longer than wide ; the stage occupies one
end, and, just as in France, the boxes and rooms
for the actors are placed behind, over the ma-
chinery, near *the furniture and scenery. The
curtain, instead of being raised and lowered as in
France, is opened and closed by a very simple
mechanism. The scene that answers the purpose
of a curtain is placed on a turn-table in the centre,
and by this ingenious rotary movement the change
of scene is rapidly made.

In this country, where equality has but an ideal
existence, it seems surprising not to find in the
theatre a place really comfortable. This anomaly
is explained however, on reflecting that the theatres
were resorted to exclusively by the people, whilst
every noble could have a company in his pay if he
liked, or engage those of the town for the enter-
tainment of himself and his household.

The whole of the pit is divided into little
squares, capable of accommodating three or four
squatting Japanese. There are two ranges of
galleries one above the other on each side, and
opposite to the stage is a tribune with a gradation
of rising seats. The galleries and tribune are
divided into stalls similar to those in the pit.

The actors make their entries and exits either
by the side-scene or in passing over a foot-bridge,
elevated eight or twelve inches above the floor,
traversing the pit throughout to the left of the
spectators. The actor arriving by this foot-bridge
is almost always followed by a child, whose busi-

BEFORE AND BEHIND THE SCENES. 45

ness is to light the way with a lantern, suspended
at the end of a flexible switch.

The prompter places himself in a free-and-easy-
attitude behind the actor, and the orchestra is com-
posed more of choristers than instrumental per-
formers, who are seated to the left of the performers
either in a railed-in box or simply on the stage.

Whatever drawbacks this scenic arrangement
may have, the acting is always conducted in a
spirited and natural manner ; the acts, contrary to
what takes place in Chinese theatres, are mingled
with unexpected and interesting events and inci-
dents. The acts are judiciously timed, and the
plays broken by numerous intervals, during which
perambulating dealers sell newspapers, and bring
round on pretty lacquered trays all kinds of refresh-
ments, excellent bonbonneries, and even delicate
little suppers artistically dressed up and decidedly
appetising.

The company of actors is composed either
entirely of men or entirely of women. In companies
of men, beardless lads personate women, and in
women's companies, the tallest and those having
the most masculine voice, take the men's part.
The plasticity of the Japanese in general highly
favours the required travesty.

It is very curious in the theatres of female
actors to visit the green-rooms and enter into the
boxes. These ladies will receive you most cour-
teously, displaying their white teeth as they crack
the bonbons you bring them, without in any way
interrupting their delicate operations or deranging

46 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

their toilette — frequently excessivement decollet^e — ■
without manifesting the least embarrassment, but
also without according the most insignificant of
those petites faveurs that are so generally pursued
and so readily yielded in France in similar places
of resort.

" Why do you come here to us ? " said one of
these pretty actresses once, reddening with rage,
after having ordered the expulsion, without cere-
mony, of one of these, impertinent intruders who
had dared to obtrude his gallantry on one of these
ladies in a manner too distasteful. " There are
other places of entertainment where you may go
and be well received. This is not the Yankiro.*
If we are pleased to receive you here, learn to
treat us with proper respect."

With regard to this subject it would not be in-
opportune, I think, to rectify an opinion generally
held in Europe, and especially in France, of the
women of Japan. This opinion, based on the
reports of a few travellers, who have not carefully
observed, or perhaps have simply generalised a
fact superficially observed, is blurred with an error
discreditable to Japan. It is a misapprehension
that rouses the indignation of Japanese sufficiently
well educated to read our books or understand
what we think of them, when they come to us and
hear us talk at random about their curious
country.

I had often heard Japan spoken of in France in

* The disreputable quarter of Yokohama.

BEFORE AND BEHIND THE SCENES. 47

this way : " It is an Eldorado, the abode of eternal
spring, of wonderful flowers and of women who
never say ' no.' " With this notion in my head
gathered from all parts, I came, I saw, and, like
those who preceded me, I saw only dimly. The
reason is very simple. The human mind is so con-
stituted that it cannot easily withdraw itself from
the influence of what other people say — it comes
already prejudiced. Another reason would explain
more instances of the misconception, perhaps. The
European on landing in Japan comes in contact
only with an uneducated class, already corrupted
with everything that is vicious and execrable in
European civilisation, one which certainly cannot
be taken as a specimen or type of the people at
large.

After a few months' sojourn and a more
attentive and studied observation, I have arrived at
the following conclusion : there is one fact that
cannot be questioned, and this no doubt has led
to a generalisation as false as unjust ; this fact is,
that in case of absolute distress a young girl may
earn the wages of sin without dishonouring herself
so completely as in France. From this it is con-
cluded that parents freely sell their daughters,
whose conduct before marriage is considered of
slight importance and calculated to hinder in no
way their future establishment in life. This is at
least an exaggeration, for mhalliances, that is, rnar-
riages between samourai and dj'oro, between men
of respectability and Jilks perdues, are much more
rare than in France. The Japanese, besides, are

48 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

quite as careful of their honour as we are of
ours.

Among the nobility and the superior citizens,
two classes that begin to regard themselves on a
footing of equality, the daughters are brought
up to a rigorous course of conduct far more
punctilious than the sheer prudery of our French
girls ; and if I were required to pass judgment on
the merits of the mode of education in Japan and
of that adopted in Europe, I should decide in
favour of the former.

With us everything is conventional, but in
Japan there is, on the contrary, plain dealing and
straightforwardness; no subterfuge or roundabout
ways. In the upper classes, who are imbued with
the principles of the valiant warriors that have
thrown lustre on chivalry, the daughters of the
house are brought up under the severest discipline,
and the dagger that embellishes their girdle is by
no means a simple ornament, but a well-tempered
blade, which they would not hesitate to use in the
defence of their honour if they thought it in
danger. An instance of this is mentioned of a
young girl who, having been pursued with declara-
tions as insolent as passionate, turned round and,
more reasonable than Lucretia, plunged the deadly
weapon into the heart of her cowardly assailant at
the moment she was threatened with an unruly
hand.'

In the middle and lower class there is less
dignity and less restraint, but among these one
sees no danger, and, in fact, there is no danger.

BEFORE AND BEHIND THE SCENES. 49

The hearts of the fair sex are not more common
than in Europe, and when a damsel oversteps the
strict limits of decorum, it is less through allure-
ment than necessity; therefore, one may here agree
with Musset :

Pauvretd, pauvretd, c'est toi la courtisane.

Most tourists who visit Japan seldom go beyond
the ports open to Europeans, and form their opinion
of the women from the specimens they meet with
in these cities, particularly in special quarters which
they do not fail to visit from curiosity.

One of the first promenades a newly-arrived
visitor at Yokohama is induced by a cicerone or
obliging friend to take, is that of the Yankiro ; I
will say nothing of this pleasure resort, it has
already been too well described by an enthusiastic
and elegant writer, the Comte de Beauvoir, for me
to attempt now another sketch.

The inhabitants of this immense caravansary
are, indeed, very numerous. At Yedo, Kidto,
6saka, Kobe, and Nagasaki, similar quarters hide
in their recesses quite a swarm of little bonhon-
eaters. Then there is another class, also very
numerous, the actresses and the gukha,* who, on
account of their dress and their bearing, may be
easily but erroneously confounded with the djoro.
It is, then, easy to understand the misconception ; it
is this imposing battalion of the priestesses of the
Japanese Venus that travellers have encountered at

* Vocalists.

so JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

every step, and which they imagined to represent
the women of Japan.

Another circumstance that has contributed to
give foreigners a very unfavourable opinion of
Japanese morals is the indiscriminate assemblage
of both sexes at the warm baths. For my part I
thought it very strange, passing strange, at first,
this promiscuous concourse of human beings dis-
porting, with utter disregard of each other's nude
presence, with all the freedom displayed in a lively
frog-pond. Cleanliness, it is true, is felt to be
as necessary to the existence of a Japanese as the
rice he eats. It is a question of economy and
public convenience, and their notions of propriety
are not to be judged by European habits, but by
their own. If the Japanese is rich enough to have
a bath in his yasiki, he does not frequent the
yoicya* The vulgar herd, the poor, are the sole
customers of these establishments, that shock those
so prone to throw the first stone.

It would be more becoming perhaps, to affect
separation, to stretch curtains across in which
holes can be easily torn ; to put up doors with
gaping crevices ; machines with pierced planks,
where the prurient eye of the old paillard or young
gallant may surprise the unsuspecting occupant.
With us, it seems, people may break every com-
mandment in the Decalogue, provided the sinner be
so far initiated in hypocrisy as to do it comme il
faut.

The custom that prevails at the Japanese public
* Public baths.

BEFORE AND BEHIND THE SCENES. 51

baths is one of the most characteristic traits of
their manners, though one, Europeans cannot con-
template without strong prejudice. Modesty,
howeveS', is decidedly conventional in its various
phases. These, in all their variety, are simply the
product of education. When one has passed some
time in Japan ; when one has visited its public
baths, frequented and peered into the recesses of
its theatres, been brought into intimate contact
with its life, and been enabled, from this expe-
rience, to perceive the naivete of its manners, he
cannot help smiling on recalling the story in
Genesis of our first parents, who, immediately on
eating the forbidden fruit, resorted to the leaves of
trees to hide their nakedness. Evidently their
notions of modesty were not ours, for they only
came into existence when ours usually, in such a
crisis, are abandoned like an old garment.

But we have strayed a long way from the
theatres — revenons d nos moutons.

O-Hana was passionately fond of the theatre.
Her aged parents took her there two or three times
a year, but soon getting fatigued, they never re-
mained to the end of the performance, to the great
disappointment of the young girl. Ouyeno was
not disposed to compromise his dignity of Govern-
ment ^;«://i?y/ by frequenting the Japanese theatres :
the two sisters were therefore almost deprived of
the enjoyment of an escort so much appreciated
by ladies of all countries.

The first time we offered to accompany them
thither filled them with joy and gratitude. Ouyeno,

£ 2

52 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

flattered undoubtedly in being admitted to show
himself in the society of French officers, graciously
offered to join us — went even beforehand to retain
places, and ordered seats to be placed for the two
idjin-san, that their limbs might be spared the un-
pleasant sensation of squatting five hours on their
heels.

The entertainment, as is always the case, was
composed of two plays, a drama and a light
comedy. I hardly know why we chose the theatre
of male actors — companies, in my opinion, every-
where in Japan much inferior to the corps of women.
As I understood little or nothing of the poetic lan-
guage, and being wearied also with the obtrusive
.attentions and intricate explanations of our com-
panion, I derived very little amusement from the
performance, and left at one o'clock in the
morning in a very bad humour, fully resolved
to devote as little time as possible in future to
this tiresome pastime.

A few days after this 0-Hana said to me :
"They are going to give a new play to-night at
the theatre of women." Her eyes were glistening
-with anticipated pleasure.

" Ask Okka-san to allow you to go there ; your
sister can come with us. Ouyeno, of course, will
readily entrust her to our charge."

The young lady, delighted with this proposal,
entered into negotiations at once, and quickly
brought them to a successful issue.

It was arranged that Marcel and I should come
at eight o'clock to fetch the two young ladies.

BEFORE AND BEHIND THE SCENES. 53

Long before the drawing aside of the curtain,
we were cosily seated between our two fair com-
panions, who were warmly wrapped in their padded
silk mantles. Nothing was wanting for the occa-
sion and our enjoyment ; neither the tchibatchi, in
which the water was singing for our tea, nor the
soft cushions that superseded the little bench, nor
the lacquered tray loaded with sweetmeats. 0-Sada
seemed delighted to escape for a whole evening
from contemplating the grave countenance of her
dignified husband. 0-Hana beamed with joy.

" I am quite happy 1 " she exclaimed to us.
" I have never been so happy in my life."

It wasj in fact, a first performance, or perhaps
one resumed after an interval. In Japan, as else-
where, a first representation draws everybody.
The house was full, and our little square stall
of four places was continually threatened with
intrusion.

The first performance was a long drama
abounding in exciting incidents.

One of the favourites of a grand dalmio gives
birth to a son. This child, from his earliest age, is
endowed with every, physical and moral gift, and
is therefore adored by the prince. His mother,
loaded with favours, bestows, in her turn, benefits
on all around, and in this way creates a kind of
suite of devoted adherents.

The legitimate wife of the da'fmio is stirred with
wrath, and fearing the prejudice caused to her own
offspring, resolves to get rid of the son of her
rival. The hard-hearted woman sets her wits to

54 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

work to make away with the beloved child. After
having miscarried in several cunning plots, she
seeks out a band of brigands, who are duly bribed
to carry him off and put an end to his life.

Just at the moment the crime is about to be
perpetrated, at the sight of which the unfortunate
mother is wringing her hands in despair, an immense
eagle swoops down from the sky on the assassin,
seizes the boy in his powerful claws, and disappears
in the clouds with his precious burden.

The mother in her agony throws herself on the
ground with her face on the soil ; but she returns
thanks to the Kami, for they, in depriving her of
her son, leave her the hope of finding him again
some day.

Time passes, year after year ; the favourite,
driven from the palace, leads a wretched life. She
vegetates, and weeps unceasingly for him whose
image is graven on her heart; but a mysterious
voice whispers to her to hope.

During this time, a young warrior, coming from
afar, stirs the whole country with his exploits. He
was marching, it was said, with a few partisans,
to the conquest of a country promised by the
gods.

One day, the poor woman wanders through a
wood, weighed down with her enduring grief; some
ruffians suddenly pounce on her and cruelly mal-
treat her ; they are on the point of striking her to
the ground, and, no doubt, of dispatching her on
the spot, when a fine young man, radiant with
burnished armour, appears on the scene ; valiant

BEFORE AND BEHIND THE SCENES. 55

companions in arms follow at his heels. At the
sight of this formidable armed band, the villains
take to flight ; the victim falls in a swoon, and the
young warrior goes to her succour. But, as if
struck by a long-dormant remembrance or a sud-
den flash on the mind, he starts, and contemplates
with respect features that are familiar to him..

" My mother 1 " he cries.

" My son ! " he hears in response.

For fifteen long, cruel years the mother and son
have been separated, but the voice of vengeance has
spoken, and they now recognise each other without
misgiving.

After a touching scene and mutual explana-
tions, perhaps a little too long and, in a manner,
too ornate, the son leads away the mother with
the demonstrative vehemence characteristic of
heroes, and rushes towards the yasiki of his in-
human father.

At this apparition the terrible dafmio is deeply
affected. The gods have so ordained it and it comes
to pass, that repentance suddenly enters his breast,
and, after many years of inconsolable grief, he gives
him his benediction, loads him with riches, and this
accomplished — what is by no means pleasant to wit-
ness^makes there and then a rent in his body, and
expires in public in the most frightful convulsions.

This tragedy, simple enough in conception, was
performed with much animation ; the pathetic
tirades, delivered with classic emphasis, glowed
with ardent and true poesy ; the comic episodes,
placed at long intervals to relieve the sustained

56 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

intensity of the tragedy, were executed with a raci-
ness approaching that of the French stage. In
short, to my great astonishment, induced perhaps
by the animated and interesting explanations of
my companions, I surprised myself more than once
actually under the sway of a romantic tenderness,
as in the glowing days of my youth, when we
students, brimming with enthusiasm, went to pour
out our pent-up feelings over the creations of our
poets, and mingle our real tears with the simulated
tears of their heroes.

As I desired to go behind the curtain and visit
the green-room and boxes of the actresses be-
tween the plays, I went out during this long
interval.

It was the first time I obtained a close view of
this singular community. Most of the actresses
are very young girls, ranging from fourteen to
seventeen, sometimes even children of ten or eleven,
some having their mother to watch over them,
others an elder sister who attends to their needful
comforts. Each has her little room, which is not
only her box, where she bedaubs herself with rouge
and pearl-powder and puts on her costume, but her
bedroom, kitchen, and dining-room. The manager
of the theatre has therefore, in this way, his corps
always at hand. A question will arise probably,
how these poor girls manage to live, so many
together in so small a space.

Everything I saw surprised me in this domi-
ciliary visit, but what surprised me most, I must
confess, was the natf, unconcerned demeanour,

BEFORE AND BEHIND THE SCENES. 57

a bearing so free from any kind of embarrass-
ment, maintained by these young and chaste
artists.

The second play was a kind of vaudeville, not
too strictly within the bounds of decorum, I fancy,
for several times our fair friends blushed to the
roots of their hair, and peremptorily refused to give
us any explanation. The whole house seemed to
indulge in uproarious laughter until the curtain
was drawn, and long after the theatre was closed,
we could hear, from Mitani's house, merry parties
going home and talking about this farce au gros sel.
The family sat up for us, and expected us to finish
the evening's amusement. It was an agreeable
surprise for us, a la japonaise, to find the supper-
table laid,

Ouyeno, who was very cross through having
been obliged to pass so many tedious hours waiting
for his wife, consoled himself as well as he could
in munching a quantity of little cakes. Marcel,
already quite dextrous in the use of eating-sticks,
did honour to the varied dishes of our hosts. For
my part, I was contented to watch the circulation
of numerous miniature dishes, the luxuries of
Japanese tables, whilst actively employed in im-
bibing several dozens of microscopic cups of
delicious tea. Then we all took part in a long
conversation, smoked delicate little perfumed
pipes incessantly, and the clock-tower of the
Benten struck three before we got on board.

CHAPTER VII.

MUSIC, COSTUME, COIFFURE, AND COURTSHIP.

The Chamicen — Music, Love, and Poesy — The Flower of the
Benten — Freedom of Youthful Intercourse before Mar-
riage — The Coiffure of Japanese Ladies — A Transient
Cloud darkens 0-Hana's Happiness — Explanations.

The horrible writhing and final fearful convulsions
of the poor daimio fluttered in my eyes for some
minutes as I laid my head on my pillow ; soon
lulled however, by the notes of some late chamicen
in the distance, I fell into a profound slumber.

The chamicen is a kind of guitar with three
chords, played by a bit of ivory or hard wood
terminating in a little crook. The high notes of
this instrument are rather shrill, but it has a certain
softness in the medium notes, and when it is used
to accompany the voice. It is played only by
women.

In winter evenings it is not uncommon to see
six or eight young girls assembled around the
tchibatchi, with the chamicen in the hands of one
entertaining the group. Then, while the mother is

MUSIC, COSTUME, COIFFURE, COURTSHIP. 59

busy with the cares of the house, and the father is
smoking pipe after pipe, and whilst the habitual
cup of tea is incessantly passing round, the chamicen
may be heard to an advanced hour of the night.
Sometimes they are slow, plaintive songs, some-
times the time is accelerated with much animation
to a pitch of fury, dying out at last in a protracted
cadence.

This music, in which the minor mode prevails,
produces, on first hearing it, an effect difficult to
analyse ; the impression is almost painful, but
after listening a while it becomes decidedly
pleasing.

In the fine summer nights, in the brilliant even-
ings of autumn, when everything seems suffused in
the glamour of poesy, these domestic concerts are
given in the open air, on the threshold of the house,
in the streets, on the sea-shore, and in the Lilliputian
gardens in which the Japanese take never-ending
delight. Then it is a kind of melodious humming,
a confused sound, with clearer and more distinct
notes now and then borne along the air, inter-
rupted occasionally with the merry, ringing laugh
of some fair member composing this fairyhke,
invisible orchestra.

How many delightful evenings passed away in
this way, listening to the melodious strains that
touched the very chords of our hearts, and still re-
sound in my ear !

0-Hana, with her head leaning on my friend's
shoulder, one hand drooping and the other feebly
resting on her chamicen to keep it from falling off

6o JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

her knee, seemed absorbed in the contemplation of
some object invisible.

"What are you looking at in that way, my
pretty little flower ? "

"I am listening," she answered, "my well-
beloved, to the voice of heaven that is carolling
in me/'

And Okka-san, calling to us from within^ said :

" Come in, my children, it is late. I have been
sleeping for these last two hours."

The young maiden replied :

" Mother, only a few minutes more."

Then telling a fib, the naughty child added :

" It is hardly night yet."

Okka-san closed her eyes, but soon called to us
again ; and in this way midnight arrived much
sooner than we expected.

This intimate intercourse between a girl of six-
teen and a young man of twenty-two, which in
France would be considered dangerous, not to say
improper, is perfectly natural in Japan. Parents
the most respectable, the most watchful of the
proper self-respect of their daughters, would never
dream that they could run any danger. Daughters,
in fact, are so very numerous in this country where
prostitution is not a state thoroughly dishonouring ;
marriage, besides, is so easily made — I may say so
easily unmade, too, a circumstance that does not
render divorce more frequent — that it is far from
being common, indeed, a thing almost unknown, of
families being thereby thrown into trouble.

The sentiment the young Breton cherished for

MUSIC, COSTUME, COIFFURE, COURTSHIP. 6i

his confiding friend was certainly very tender ; he
loved the sweet, blithe maiden. Still, the idea of
making her his wife according to the law of Japan
never entered his head, for the wife actually in this
condition would be, for a European, but a servant-
mistress. He experienced in the enjoyment of her
society a happiness he was not willing to scrutinise
too closely, but he felt that this happiness would
not survive respect. He would not brush a hue
from this delicate flower, fearing that too rude a
touch would blight all the beauty and fragrance of
her love, her youth, and her goodness.

O-Hana was really lovely. Contrary to the
opinion general in Europe, the complexion of the
Japanese girl in her youth is not yellowish ; in the
north especially it is not uncommon to meet with
fair and rosy-complexioned young girls, who have
no reason to envy the bloom of our bright young
Parisians. The upper part of the bust, which the
national costume leaves uncovered, is almost always
perfect ; the contour of the neck and its rise from
the shoulders and the upper part of the chest are
beautiful in their symmetry. Unfortunately, the
figure descending from the hips reveals proportions
far too juvenile, which are not always in harmony
with the amplitude and outlines of the trunk.

In our friend all the fine physical qualities of
her countrywomen were united, while the defects
inherent in her race were singularly attenuated.
Under the coquettishly-pretty costume of the
Japanese girls might be perceived graceful contours
gradually becoming more pronounced ; her stature

62 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

developed likewise, and, in this country of little
people, 0-Hana, the " Flower of the Benten," was
comparatively tall, and was at least half a head
taller than her companions. A lively colour rose
spontaneously in her cheek on the slightest emo-
tion, illuminating her sweet countenance with
joyful spirit.

In the people of the extreme East the colour of
the hair and eyes is uniformly black ; there are,
however, some- individuals not so dark. This
quality, which in Cochin-China is considered as
something monstrous, in China as a great rarity, is
in Japan not at all uncommon. Are these varieties
of tint the simple result of chance, or are they the
inheritance from some other race with which it
mingled in the past, not precisely determined .? I
will not venture to solve this obscure problem ;
without, however, wishing to speak too confidently,
it seems to me, so far as regards Japan at least,
that the latter conjecture is more likely to be
true.

0-Hana was blonde for a Japanese, but a
blonde with black eyes ; her hair, deep auburn, had
under certain lights those warm tones, those bril-
liant reflections, so much loved by painters of the
Dutch school.

We took delight in getting her to take down
her magnificent hair, which fell almost to her
feet.

The women of Japan have a coiffure that
demands long and tedious work, and as they
cannot do it themselves they almost all are

MUSIC, COSTUME, COIFFURE, COURTSHIP. 63

obliged to have recourse to the art of the hair-
dresser.

Feeling some curiosity to penetrate the mystery
of the elaborate arrangement, through which the
hair seems to rise so victoriously over elegant
heads, I had begged 0-Hana many times without
success to allow me to look on at the operation of
her hair-dresser : whether from feminine coquetry
or simply from maidenly modesty — whatever she
thought, she never replied to this manifestation of
inquisitiveness.

One day, returning from an early promenade
with the company from the ship, we arrived quite
unexpectedly at one o'clock — an unusual circum-
stance, not being in the habit of visiting there at
that hour. The shop was hardly open ; the mother
had gone out, and the father was working in the
garden ; 0-Sada was keeping house.

" Marcel-san is not here," Ouyeno's wife said
to me hurriedly, " nor O-Hana either ; Okka-san
has taken her away to help her in her" daily
shopping."

Marcel, who was a little behind, entered at this
moment, and, not being quite convinced of the
exactitude of this announcement, knowing that
O-Hana rarely went out in the morning, raised his
voice in order to be recognised. On hearing the
well-known tone the young maiden could hold her-
self no longer, and from the next room a ringing,
musical laugh burst out. A sliding panel glided
aside in the partition, and in the opening gleamed
a pair of mischievous-looking eyes.

64 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

" Come ! Come now, curious one, come and
see your friend's hair ! "

With this exclamation the young girl shook
her charming head, and over her fair shoulders fell,
like the break and descent of an ocean billow,
luxuriant masses of waving hair brilliant with
golden tints.

" It is all really my own," she said, laughing
with self-satisfaction. " Is it not quite as fine
as those heads of hair bought for their weight
in gold by your countrywomen ? Tell me
that ! "

The happy Breton was never tired of re-
garding this fascinating creature ; her hair, entirely
loose and falling without order, had parted in the
middle, and gave to her physiognomy a milder and
more feminine look.

The Japanese coiffure, whilst decidedly very
elegant, is wanting in softness and litheness ; the
hair- dressers are real artists, and in the execution
of their work use a variety of objects and ingre-
dients ; the coiffure terminates in a little lock, rising
from the middle of the forehead between two
copious rolls, and attached on the crown by a fine
silver pin upon a bow of pink or pale green crepon.
The parting along" the middle, so pretty in the
hair of European women, is therefore not' adopted
by the ladies of Japan.

We assisted at the interesting operation of the
Japanese Figaro from beginning to end. After
having given a final survey of her head in her
large metal mirror, 0-Hana turned" round to us.

MUSIC, COSTUME, COIFFURE, COURTSHIP. 65

with an air as much as to say, " What do you think
of me now?"

"Flower is thy name," replied Marcel, "and
never was a woman more justly named; but I
would prefer you a hundred times before they
made up for you that sublime chignon, pomaded,
oiled, and gummed, and that self-asserting little
cockade that so pertly stands up above your fore-
head like a fine cockscomb."

The maiden pouted her disappointment and left
the room without another word.

When we returned in the evening, I fancied
there were some signs that she had been weeping ;
the tender little creature had a weary and sad
look, which quickly recalled the morning's incident ;
her hair seemed to have gone through an uncom-
promising struggle ; symmetrical arrangement had
been discarded, and with it the silver pin and the
gaily-coloured cripons.

The father seemed grave and uneasy.

" O-Hana is becoming too capricious," he re-
marked to my countryman, "scold her; perhaps
she will listen to you more readily than to me —
you, whose name is always evoked in her
prayers."

" My child," said my friend, " I was merely
laughing, nothing more. If I love you un-
adorned, it is yourself I love and not the smart
knots and bows which cannot add a jot to your
beauty."

" Oh ! is it true, then .' " interrupted the poor
child, watching ardently his countenance ; then

F

66 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

leaning to his ear, she murmured : " Is it not to
remind you of the ladies of your own country
that you wish to see me with my hair hanging
down ? "

" 'Tis you I love," repeated Marcel, " and I care
nothing for the women of my country."

She brightened up immediately, her eyes spark-
ling with joy, her bosom palpitating with emotion ;
then rushing towards her father : " I shall be a
good girl now," she cried, embracing him pas-
sionately.

Moved as he was, taken unawares by this
ardent caress, which, by the way, was probably not
destined altogether for him, the father wiped away
a tear of joy and pride as he gazed in the counte-
nance of his beloved child.

The next day we found 0-Hana transfigured ;
she had not changed her national costume, but
had adopted with exquisite taste and simplicity
a European coiffure disposed with amusing
coquetry.

The timid maiden, not knowing what effect
would be produced on the Frenchmen by what her
father called a masquerade, did not venture to
raise her eyes, and with bated breath waited for
the opinion of him whom she had secretly accepted
in her heart for her master.

Marcel rose, went up to her and took her hand.
I could plainly see her trembling.

" Thank you," he said to her. " I am grateful
to the Flower of the East that has so cheerfully

MUSIC, COSTUME, COIFFURE, COURTSHIP. 67

metamorphosed herself for me into a flower of the
West. Thanks to the loveliest, the best of all the
maidens of Japan."

From this time 0-Hana kept to this mode,
and caused it to be adopted by many of her
friends.

F 2

CHAPTER VIII.

OLD CUSTOMS AND NEW IDEAS.

Invitation to a Wedding — The New Laws — The Custom of
Adoption of Children — Marriage and Divorce — A Suc-
cession of Illegitimate Wives — An Anecdote charac-
teristic of the Japanese Phasis of Mind — Mitani is not
satisfied with the New Ideas.

Some time after this, a neighbour came to an-
nounce his marriage and invite the family to the
fetes which, among the rich, accompany this
solemnity.

The young bride elect had often met " the
Japanese brothers" at Mitani's, and, being already
old acquaintances, we were accordingly included
in the invitation.

" Come," she said to us earnestly, " my parents
will be happy and feel honoured too to receive
you."

We had longed for an occasion of seeing inti-
mately these ceremonies, of which, in the course
of a few years perhaps, nothing but the remem-
brance will remain. Without pledging ourselves

OLD CUSTOMS AND NEW IDEAS. 69

definitely, we duly thanked the amiable young
lady, promising to do our best to be enabled to
avail ourselves of her gracious invitation. Ouyeno
had just arrived. I well knew his weakness for
innovations, and it was an excellent opportunity
to draw out his animated speeches, often tiresome,
it is true, yet always instructive.

" Do you think," I asked, " that they will readily
accept the modifications that are shortly to be made
here in the civil law ? "

To my great astonishment, the employ i re-
mained quite mute, appearing, like the sage in
Holy Writ, to be turning his tongue seven times
before giving a reply.

The master of the house looked up and, as if
the question had been addressed to him, began :

" The two Frenchmen sent here at the Empe-
ror's request to make laws for us, are now at their
work, they say. I have no idea what the result will
be. My son-in-law is aware," he added, looking at
the employ^, " that I am not opposed to the Govern-
ment — still " and here he paused.

My question had stirred up a hornets' nest, and
I perceived this too late. It was a question that
had, no doubt, been the occasion more than once
of warm discussion between the champion of the
school of new ideas and the representative of old
institutions — between the son-in-law and the father-
in-law.

Two French jurists, called hither by his majesty
the Mikado, to draw up for his good people a code
after the model of the Code NapoUon, had been

70 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

actually engaged in framing new laws ; but these
laws were far from being promulgated, and certain
malcontents went so far as to express their doubts
on the opportuneness of this grand and costly
work.

The social state — the corner-stone, the founda-
tion of every social edifice — was not then, nor is it
yet, established in a uniform manner. Instead of
being placed under the guardianship of the law, it
exists only in the family, and is, consequently, ill-
defined and unsettled. And, considering certain
customs that can be modified only in the slow
course of time, it is a question grave and difficult
to solve. If we examine, in fact, the first of these
laws relating to the social state — the regulations
regarding the settlement of births — we shall find
at once a complication resulting from the practice
of adoption.

In Japan there are few families without an
adopted child. Two near neighbours mutually
adopt a child ; it is an exchange quite natural, one
that is not hampered with any restriction, nor sub-
ject to any condition of age or other reservations,
as in France. This is the ordinary way of bringing
up a youth as a husband for the daughter of the
house ; it is frequently done for the pleasure of the
society, and occasionally, simply to gratify a caprice
or to comply with a general practice, the custom
being highly esteemed and deeply rooted in the
country.

In leaving the practice of adoption free on so
vast a scale, the certificate of birth that fixes in a

OLD CUSTOMS AND NEW IDEAS.. 71

certain way the rights of the natural family, would,
for half of the population at least, be but a first
step, destined to be soon passed in order to enter
into the social family.

And from this, in the opinion of competent
judges, serious complications would arise and long
be the cause of the most deplorable errors and
confusion.

Our jurists will undoubtedly find the means of
accommodating these customs, which are deserving
of respect ; but meanwhile, the old law is the only
one in force, a patriarchal law in all its rigour, by
virtue of which the father of the family is sovereign
master and judge, without appeal, of every matter
in question arising in the household.

If we then stop to consider another of the laws
of the social state which, on account of its conse-
quences, is one of the highest importance — the law
of marriage it is I allude to — we shall find ourselves
hemmed in with difficulties of another kind ; we
have to approach customs quite irreconcilable with
our laws.

And herein the difficulties are much more com-
plex, arising from the circumstances that, in Japan,
though polygamy is prohibited and divorce rare,
and the classes the most accessible to our obser-
vation are little disposed to change their wives
divorce, nevertheless, is permitted by the law, and
a semi-offiicial concubinage is quite admitted under
the husband's roof.

To suppress divorce would be illogical when
certain high-minded thinkers recognise the neces-

72 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

sity of making it legally effective in countries
where it has not yet arrived at this stage. To
prohibit concubinage in the sanctuary of the family
is sufficient, and this would not be difficult.

Marriage in Japan has neither the sanction nor
the protection of the law. It begins in love, or as
a convenient arrangement ; children draw the
bonds closer together, and friendship, esteem, or
merely habit, make the connubial state enduring.

In the union of man and wife there is no inter-
vention, either of the representative of 'the human
law or of the minister of the Divine law. If a
young man desires to marry a young girl, he
either goes or sends a deputy to the parents of the
young girl to demand her hand. If the offer is
accepted, the future husband makes presents, and
after this procedure, the pair, according to custom,
are united. The bridegroom's presents consist of
dress and jewellery, the quality of which is in pro-
portion to his fortune. Generally they are a robe
of white silk, a piece of silk of the same colour,
and a girdle embroidered with gold, for the young
girl. The mother-in-law also receives a robe of
white silk, and the father-in-law a rich sabre. The
robes must not be folded.

The father-in-law gives presents of equal value
to his future son-in-law, provided he has the means,
but he never, in any case, gives any portion to his
daughter — the latter bringing only to the posses-
sion in common two silk dresses sewn together in
a special mode, two girdles, a complete costume
for occasions of ceremony, a fan, five or seven

OLD CUSTOMS AND NEW IDEAS. 73

pocket-books, and the little sabre destined to
defend her honour, if ever assailed.

The day is fixed for completing the marriage ;
the parents, friends, and neighbours are brought
together for this occasion at a grand banquet.
The young man presents to them the woman he
ha^ chosen for his legitimate wife, and the marriage
is made.

From this moment the woman belongs to him.
She instals herself in the house, and takes the first
place there. If the husband thinks proper to take
an illegitimate companion, a mekaM, he may do so
without having divorced his legitimate wife ; he
may even, if his fortune permits it, furnish himself
with an actual hareem. Every new-comer quietly
takes her rank in the house according to the date
of her arrival — she is the second, the third, or the
tenth, but is never subject to the will and caprice
of those who have preceded her.

As to the children, they are all legitimate, and
whatever may be the position of their mother in
order of time, their rights are coequal, and they
remain, whatever may arise subsequently, the ex-
clusive property of the father.

In order to get rid of a legitimate wife there is
no necessity to have recourse to the law-court ;
a simple letter is quite sufficient — the mikoudari-
han, literally, three lines and a half. " I announce,"
the husband writes, " that the named .... who
has been my wife, is, from this day forth, no longer
so, and that she is perfectly free to marry again, or
do whatever she thinks proper."

74 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

This is business-like, prose with a vengeance ;
all the glowing poesy of a first love seems to have
been wrung out of these lines with a ruthless hand.
It looks as if the Japanese had borrowed its style
from certain announcements advertised occasion-
ally in the English and French provincial press,
when a wife runs away and runs up bills distasteful
to her abandoned lord.

Furnished with this certificate, the wife packs
up her clothes and trifles belonging to her, and,
leaving her children to their father, whose duty it
is to bring them up properly, she goes her way in
search of a happier fate.

In the presence of such a state of things, the
moralist, shocked at human depravity, covers his
face with his hands and denounces the iniquity.

If it is iniquitous it is much less so than the
judicial separation; less iniquitous than that blind,
senseless law that obliges a respectable man, whose
good name has been sullied by an abandoned
hussy, to sacrifice his honour — his whole life in
fact, or resort to the terrible alternative to kill
the wretch ; less iniquitous than that repulsive
social covenant compelling the mother of a family
to live under the roof of a libertine, and sometimes
a criminal. And yet in this country of Japan,
where a man may any day repudiate a wife that
is simply distasteful to him, the number of divorces
in a year is far less than that of judicial separations
in France in the space of three months.

Is there any need after this to speak of the
practice that permits concubines to be admitted

OLD CUSTOMS AND NEW IDEAS. 75

into the conjugal household ? Everybody knows
that it is a license unknown among the middle and
lower classes, and that under the influence of
Europeans the practice is daily becoming more
rare among the nobles — the only class who could
indulge in so costly a luxury.

Why, then, trouble oneself about the success of
the measures ? they would ask. Why doubt the
popularity of the projects recently elaborated ? In a
society where, with quasi-oriental laws, things are
done in fact pretty much the same as in France, by
individual will alone, it would suffice to sanction
the customs of the majority rendering them obli-
gatory for all; in short, it would be necessary to
regulate marriage and render it sacred by placing
it under the guardianship of the law.

Here is the mistake. It is human nature itself
to hanker after forbidden fruit, and since the Fall
we poor misguided creatures still find a lurking
attraction less in pleasures freely proffered than in
those won with sacrifice or danger. Besides, the
Japanese, who readily conforms to customs the
observation of which is voluntary, would make a
stand against the same tradition imposed by law
and complicated with formalities — formalities that
are very useful, no doubt, but the necessity and
purport of which are not by him clearly perceived.
In speaking of formalities it reminds me of an
anecdote related to me by one who had it, he said,
from one of the professors of law charged with the
drawing up of the Code at Yedo. This anecdote,
the truth of which I have no reason to doubt,

76 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

would amply prove how little the Japanese, even
the educated Japanese, is capable of seizing the
importance of those details that cling around the
most ordinary decree like an inextricable net.

In a course of lectures delivered to the principal
magistrates of Yedo on the decrees of the social
state in general and relating to marriage specially,
this professor had remarked that the publication
was made by means of announcements posted up
at the mayoralty-house. He had mentioned inci-
dentally that, in order to preserve these announce-
ments from the effects of the weather and keep
them beyond the reach of mischievous street-boys,
they were put into wooden frames and covered
with wire netting.

At the end of the lecture the senior magistrate,
according to custom, went up to the professor to
call his attention to the points of his lecture that
were obscure to him and his colleagues, and which
required careful explanation.

"We have understood perfectly," he said," every-
thing you have taken the trouble to teach us to-day.
There is one thing however, that troubles our
heads : What is the shape of the frame you referred
to, and what kind of wood is it made of.' "

This question, which one would fancy was
prompted by a facetious spirit rather than a simple
mind, is the sincere expression of Japanese notions.
Thoroughly well disposed, they are far indeed
from understanding the importance of precautions
and restrictions which we so copiously draw around
us in France ; and since, on the other hand, they

OLD CUSTOMS AND NEW IDEAS. 77

are convinced of the excellence of our instruction,
they look out in it for the petite bite, and find
something that seems to us droll, but which does
not appear to them more extraordinary than the
rest.

The good, simple-hearted people! And their
Emperor, forsooth, wants to make Europeans of
them ! They are submissive to a fault to the will
of this demi-god ; but for all that, care should be
taken not to break through their customs and
habits with too rough and unsparing a hand, and
not to attempt to change, in the space of a day,
the manners of the people that have endured for
centuries — modes of life which time alone can
modify.

" Do you know," cried Mitani, to whom the
discussion of the last few moments seemed to have
been as irritating as a bunch of nettles, " do you
know where all your innovations are landing us .■'
Therefore I am not going to dissimulate my way
of thinking before my son-in-law, for whom I am
already a Reactionist. They are leading us on
with an unmistakable fatality to confusion, to dis-
order, to revolt against the law and authority, and
will finally leave us relapsing into barbarism. It
is evident we had need of certain reforms, to main-
tain our position and to defend ourselves when
there is occasion for it against aggressive neigh-
bours. We wanted arms of precision, and soldiers
trained to the use of these arms. France has fur-
nished us with the material and the instructors.
We wanted a fleet. The French are showing us

78 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

how to construct war-ships, and the English are
training for us the sailors. We were behindhand
in scientific knowledge. The people of Europe
are in rivalry to furnish us with professors in every
department of learning. We are making progress
in profiting by your knowledge, and we are re-
moulding and improving ourselves with astonishing
rapidity. But what is the reason of all this — the
object of this policy t Because we have a certain
facility, which is readily recognised ; because we
have a great desire to learn and they to teach us ;
but it is due also, and more particularly, to our
passive obedience, and to sentiments of unbounded
respect, a respect we have already vowed for our
sovereign.

"But man is inconstant — he gets tired of every-
thing. Already, the Mikado no longer excites that
superstitious dread that was inspired by the ' Son
of Heaven.' He has come down from his firma-
ment, and shown himself to the people like other
mortals. The people, wondering at this strange
condescension, incredulous of it at first, have said :
' It is not he ; ' then they believed, and got used
to looking at this majesty in the face, and find him
no longer so terrible.

" In the present day the immortal chief of 'the
Empire of the Rising Sun ' is a man respected and
obeyed, but he is now no more a worshipped god.
If the day should come when this man oversteps
those bounds that are called the limits of his rights
— if the time should come when his good people
will perceive that they can, without being con-

OLD CUSTOMS AND NEW IDEAS. 79

founded, refuse to obey — then indeed it will be
terrible. I shall have lived long enough, for I
should shudder at being a witness of what will then
come to pass.

" Pray excuse my warmth, gentlemen. Ouyeno
is silent, and seems to dissent. May he never be
forced to recognise the truth of my words ! "

We could find nothing to say in response ; we
were struck with the good sense of this straight-
forward man. Still, whilst sharing perhaps, his
opinion, we could not, as Europeans, fully agree
with him in everything. Ouyeno was not disposed
to provoke any irritating dissent, and, in his own
breast quite as much convinced perhaps, as his
father-in-law, he appeared as embarrassed as our-
selves.

0-Hana, with her childlike prattle, that seemed
to undermine the gravity of the discussion, quickly
relieved us from our uncomfortable situation.

" You must come," she said, addressing my
friend, "to 0-Tchika-san's wedding. You have
no excuse whatever to make. The ceremony will
take place at Yokohama or in the neighbourhood.
You will not even want special leave from your
commander."

CHAPTER IX.

A WEDDING IN THE OLD STYLE.

The Mississippi Valley — A Marriage according to the
Ancient Custom of Japan — The FSte.

The desire expressed by Mademoiselle 0-Hana
was a command for our lover. He would obey,
cela va sans dire, and I promised to accompany
him.

The parents of the bridegroom were rich silk-
merchants of Yokohama, and possessed, at a short
distance from the city, not far from Mitani's little
house in the charming Mississippi valley, a delightful
Japanese villa.

And here was to take place the wedding fetes
of their son, according to the ancient custom of the
country.

On the appointed day we duly presented our-
selves at the place indicated. It was a lovely
morning of the month of April ; Nature, at the
awakening of spring, was smiling in every nook
and corner. In the midst of a group of trees afar
off, we caught a glimpse of clusters of gay banners

A WEDDING IN THE OLD STYLE. 8i

fluttering at the sport of the breeze, and we could
already hear the lively notes of the chamicen.
Then, at the turn of the road, the little yasiki came
into view, among a host of pavilions, banners,
lanterns and garlands.

When we alighted on the white tatami, placed
before the house, most of the company, arrived
before us, already occupied their places in the
grand room decorated for the ceremony. 0-Hana
greeted us across the party with the happiest
smile.

Two friends of the bridegroom, delegated by
him, have gone in great pomp to bring the bridfc
to his parents, and we are waiting only for her. A
betto sent as a scout soon comes in, panting for
breath ; she is on her way, and now the queen of
the day is close at hand.

While they are giving the last touches to the
arrangements in the interior to receive the bride
with due honour, two kezukai (servants), a man.
and a woman, each furnished with a lighted torch
and a mortar to crush the rice, are placing them-
selves as vedettes on each side of the entrance
door.

Just as the young girl is stepping over the
threshold of her new home, the rice in the two mor-
tars, a symbol of daily life and work, is mingled in a
single recipient, and the torches, emblematic of
ardent love, are brought together to form in their
union but a single flame.

These emblems of the mystic union about to be
accomplished stir the feelings with their simplicity ;

82 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

but, without being able, unfortunately, to under-
stand the reason, these torches were extinguished
immediately after having been united. Could it
be an ironical signification of the ephemeral exist-
ence of conjugal love ? It is quite possible, for
the Japanese are shrewd observers, and practical
enough not to overlook the slightest significant
detail.

For my part I prefer more ideal poesy ; why
not, for instance, leave the torches burning together
to the end, and consume themselves thus in close
union t Perhaps this is a mere figment which we
accept as a cherished detail of real life, but it
seems to me cruel to darken with the cloud of
doubt the glowing word of love, which should, in
every language and in every land, accompany the
sweet illusion of "always and for ever."

But I am wandering from the wedding.

The young girl, arrayed like a shrine on a f^te,
her head covered with a long veil of white silk, is
introduced, trembling all over, into the room where
the guests are waiting. The father of the bride-
groom gallantly leads the timid creature to the
seat of honour she is to occupy during the cere-
mony, while the bridegroom, modestly seats him-
self lower down, humbly keeping his eyes on the
ground.

On the raised part of the floor of the room are
laid out several dishes ; one supports a cage con-
taining a pair of wagtails, others contain poultry,
fish, all kinds of cakes, two phials of sak^, three cups
superposed, and finally a kettle to heat the sakL

A Wedding in the old style. 83

Whilst the young ladies are arranging in proper
order these emblematic victuals, the married women
take charge of the bride and lead her into a room
set apart for giving the last touches to her toilette,
availing themselves, no doubt, of the occasion to
give seasonable advice on the etiquette to be
observed towards the husband.

When this important operation is finished, they
return to the company ; two matrons take the
phials of sak^, each surmounted with a paper
butterfly. These insects, naturally, are of each
sex — the Japanese never overlook this circum-
stance, even in their paper puppets. The pair of
butterflies are then placed on the floor one over
the other.

So soon as the two phials are uncorked, the
elder of the two matrons takes one in each hand
and the other takes the kettle ; the sake from the
two phials is mixed, and the kettle then carried
and placed with the greatest care over a lighted
tchibatchi. So soon as the liquor boils, the lady,
who has emptied the phials into the kettle, takes
the tray bearing the three superposed cups, fills the
first and presents it to the husband. Then a course
of libations commences and continues incessantly ;
the bride and bridegroom take each nine cups of
saki, and drink alternately three cups in succession,
at first using the first cup, then the second, and
finally the third. At this stage Marcel and I began
to speculate on the possible condition of the happy
pair before the ending of the ceremony, and felt
uneasy for the anticipated consequences. But

G 2

84 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

0-Hana reassured us by explaining that, if they
were obliged according to the rites to drink a
certain number of cups, they were not obliged to
fill them, and in fact, after all, the married pair
had not imbibed more than half a phial of saki.

The sak^, moreover, is a liquor almost harmless.
It is a kind of brandy very weak, made from rice,
and so well watered that one may take a very
liberal quantity before arriving at the happy stage
of being " in one's cups." It is very uncommon to
see a Japanese really intoxicated ; when some- •
times, however, he is what we call un pen land, he
generally preserves a certain decorum that would
shame the .drunkards of ' our country, if drunken-
ness were susceptible of shame.

It must not be supposed, however, that this
reserve and this sobriety has always prevailed in
Japan. They say, even, that formerly — though I
suppose it is a mere legend — the vine was culti-
vated here on a vast scale, and the divine juice
of the grape — boudo-no-sake — so copiously indulged
in, that a stern Tykoon, fearing the fatal progress
of drunkenness, published a decree ordering the
rooting-up of all the vines in the Empire, with
liberty at the same time to preserve a single vine
only to each house.

However reasonable this edict may have
seemed, it appears to me all the more unfortunate,
inasmuch as, wine has never been a cause of de-
cadence of nations, and, judging from the grapes I
have tasted in Japan, their produce ought to be
delicious.

A WEDDING IN THE OLD STYLE. 8;

But now the liberal and enlightened govern-
ment of his majesty the Mikado has entered on a
road of actual progress, he encourages particularly
agriculture, and has given orders for the planting
of vines wherever there is a chance of their thriv-
ing ; in the course of a few years, therefore, we
may hope to have the gratification of tasting this
nectar which — if the legend is to be credited — has
for the last five or six centuries been drawing
Japan to its ruin.

But to return again to the wedding: the first
part of the ceremony is finished ; in waiting for
the second act, whilst every one is in conversation,
munching little cakes to sustain the appetite, the
real repast of the wedding is being prepared and
the convert is laid in the same room.

The repast is composed of three courses : the
first of these consists of seven dishes ; the second
of five ; and at last, the third of three dishes.

What joy for the god, if, like him of the poet,
he rejoices in an odd number,* for it must be
observed that all the principal and characteristic
incidents of the ceremony have been repeated
three, five, seven, or nine times !

This menu pantagrudique, composed chiefly of
fish prepared in different ways, occupied us till
three o'clock in the afternoon ; a well-sustained
and becoming gaiety never ceased to reign among
the guests in spite of the continuous libations.

After several speeches, appropriate to the occa-

* Numero Deus impare gaudet. . . .

86 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

sion, female vocalists and dancers are introduced ;
then the fete becomes more lively, keeping at the
same time within the bounds of strict propriety ;
the songs are praises addressed to the newly-
married pair, predictions of prosperity, and of
fruitfulness and love included ; the dances, to us
more expressive than the music, of which we did
not understand a great deal, reproduced in a very
exact mimicry the different stages of conjugal
life.

In this way time passes very quickly ; it is
already late, but the hour at which the married
pair may retire to their nuptial chamber is not yet
arrived. We consider it, however, time to rise and
withdraw, and, after having thanked our hosts for
their gracious and courteous hospitality, we take
our road, about five in the evening, to Yokohama,
delighted with our day's entertainment and pleased
beyond measure in having been enabled to assist
at this curious and patriarchal ceremony.

CHAPTER X.

THE STORY OF THE FORTY-SEVEN RONIN.

A Short Historical Summary — Departure for Nikko — Kanda-
bachi-outchi — Means of Travelling in Japan Now and
Formerly — Ths Djin-riki-cha — Sengakoudji — A Story ta
make one's Hair stand on End — The Harakiri.

On stepping on board, we found a pleasure party
had been definitely arranged. One of our friends
from Yedo, having arrived during our absence,
came to ask us to join an excursion to Nikko.
The commander then gives four permissions
d^ absence : the doctor and the engineer, quite
enthusiastic at the prospect, have decided on a
day's pleasure, and are waiting only for " the
Japanese brothers " to make application for the
passports.

Nikko is the spot where reposes in his eternal
slumber the great lyeyas, the first Tykoon of the
dynasty of the Tokoungawa, who was the most
glorious and the most prosperous.

During a very long time the Mikado used to
send every year a deputation of high personages.

88 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE. AND LEGEND.

accompanied by a numerous suite of samourm, to
do homage at the tomb of the divine lyeyas and
bear presents to his temple. This pious custom
at present, I believe, has fallen into disuse, and
this temple, though not completely abandoned, has
felt the effects of religious indifference. It is one
quite as remarkable for the richness of its decora-
tion as for its association with momentous historical
•events.

The sanctuary was esteemed as a holy place
at an epoch long before lyeyas. A Buddhist
priest, named Chodo-chonin, in making a pil-
grimage there about 767 A.D., brought it into
vogue.

The mountains of Nikko, situated at thirty-six
and a half ri* from Yedo, on the north-eastern
border of the province of Chimotzuke, were for-
merly called "the mountains of the two tempests,"
on account of the hurricanes which come periodi-
cally twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn,
to ravage this land. In A.D. 820 the priest Konkai
gave to these mountains the name they now
bear, which signifies "mountains of the sun's
brightness."

In 16 1 6, at the time when the grand priest
Tenkaif, who was subsequently numbered among
the saints of Buddha, ruled the community of
priests of Nikko, the Tykoon Hid^tada, successor
to the glorious lyeyas, sent two dignitaries of his
court in search of a place worthy to receive the
sacred remains of his illustrious predecessor.
* A ri is 3,415 yards, nearly two miles.

STORY OF THE FORTY-SEVEN RONIN. 89

After long wandering and minute survey, the
Prince's officers fixed their choice on the southern
side of the hill Hotoke-iwa.

On the twenty-first day of the ninth month
they returned to Yedo, where they were met with
the congratulations of their master and rewarded
with fresh honours and princely gifts.

The building of the mausoleum, immediately
begun, was finished in three months. The body
of lyeyas, transported to its last dwelling-place
with extraordinary pomp, was deified shortly after
by the decree of the Mikado. Religious f^tes ac-
companied this deification, now become legendary.
They were presided over by a priest of the Imperial
family and attended by the highest nobles of the
Empire.

The decree proclaiming the deification of the
holy and much-venerated Tykoon was read 10,000
times in two days, to the people, by a multitude of
priests assembled for the occasion.

Tenkal died in 1644, and was succeeded by
Mowzaki. The year following, in remembrance
of the glory that lyeyas had acquired by his
military successes in the provinces of the East,
which he had pacified, the Emperor named the
temple Go-to-sho, Palace of the East. The ad-
ministration of Mowzaki lasted only ten years,
after which it devolved on Kiyoto ; a fifth son of
the Mikado succeeded him, and from this time to
the revolution of 1868, the bonzery of Nikko has
never ceased to be distinguished in its superior by
a priest of the Imperial blood. This priest resided

go JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

at the Tykoon's court at Yedo, and came only to
Nikko three times a year — the first day of the
year, some time during the fourth month, and
finally in the ninth.

In 1868 this prince-priest became the sport of
the revolution. Raised to the throne by the parti-
sans of the reigning Tykoon, he was proclaimed
Mikado ; but this ephemeral royalty had a very
brief existence. The legitimate Government, on
vindicating its authority, exercised forbearance,
and the life of the inoffensive usurper was spared.
The administration thought it prudent however,
to give him a change of air, and accordingly sent
him to a German university, where he now medi-
tates at his leisure on the vicissitudes of human
life and the ludicrous inconstancy of fate, that offers
you a crown one day only to take it away the next.

This interesting historical summary by our
friend, rendered in a manner so clear and striking,
would have induced us to decide on the visit, if I
had not otherwise been disposed. Marcel, to my
great astonishment, also accepted the invitation
without a sign of tergiversation. The prepara-
tions for departure are therefore made with great
spirit ; a simple portmanteau being sufficient for a
change of clothing for us two. The commander's
permission is obtained; the passports sent to the
Japanese Government at Yokohama are duly re-
ceived with its visa ; a note intimating a few days'
absence is forwarded to Mitani's house, and at eight
o'clock the little party start by the last train leav-
ing Yokohama.

STORY OF THE FORTY-SEVEN RONIN. 91

The journey from Yokohama to Yedo is not
long. Time passes in lively conversation, with the
rapidity of the engine fleeing before us, and we
soon arrive at our friend's delightful dwelling at
Kanda-bachi-outchi, where we find an excellent
supper elaborately prepared for us and down beds
for our repose. By midnight every one is asleep.

We are to make the journey in djin-riki-cha.
The means of travelling employed formerly in
Japan were pretty much on an equality for in-
flicting discomfort. At first it was the oxen-car^
some specimens of which may be still seen in its
present character of curiosity (its use being reserved
for the nobility) ; then the koci, a kind of sedan of
lacquer with two poles ; finally the norimono, an-
other chair, carried by a single pole passed slant-
ingly through a ring at the top of the roof. These
vehicles, extremely inconvenient for Europeans on
account of the squatting position they are obliged
to endure in them, are comfortable coitpis in com-
parison with the kango. This conveyance, which
answers in Japan to the common Parisian cab, is
rather difficult to describe. It is a kind of basket
of plaited bamboo thongs, about twenty-eight
inches high, twenty-four long, and sixteen wide,
entirely open on one side and furnished with a
little mattress of cotton. The open side may be
closed by a curtain of oiled paper ; the closed side
is a network of thin bamboo, through which the
occupant may see without himself being seen. One
naturally wonders, on glancing at the modicum of
space at the traveller's disposal, how he can pos-

92 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

sibly rest in it without rolling himself up like a
terrified hedgehog.

Travellers may still ride on horseback or go in
a boat, but it is almost needless to mention these
two kinds of locomotionj because the first is all
but exclusively reserved for military men, and the
other necessarily only adapted to a very small
extent of the country.

The carriage, such as we understand by a
carriage in Europe, was then totally unknown ;
moreover, I hardly know how the straw-socks, in
place of iron shoes, would permit the horses to trot
with freedom, and, in any case, to perform a long
journey.

But, at the present day, one travels in Japan —
at least, in the provinces transformed by modern
ideas — as elsewhere in civilised countries. Two
main lines of railway have been open many years,
viz. from Kob6 to Osaka, and from Yokohama to
YedOj and recently a third line from Osaka to
Kidto. So soon as the financial position of the
country will admit of the extension, in connecting
Kob6 with Simonesaki and Kidto to Yokohama,
one may then travel from one end to the other
of the great island of Nippon without changing
carriages, and accomplish this journey, only lately
obstructed with all kinds of difficulties, with as
much ease as that from Paris to Marseilles.

Carriages are always scarce, horses are not yet
numerous enough to be employed in this service,
and hitherto the rich only can afford this costly
luxury. A few omnibuses have made their ap-

STORY OF THE FORTY-SEVEN RONIN. 93

pearance at Yedo, it is true, but they do not
suffice for the ten-thousandth part of the popu-
lation. The koci and the norimono have entirely
ceased to run. The kango is seen only in out-
landish and mountainous districts. What then is
the vehicle in common use adapted to the exigen-
cies of every purse .'

It is the djin-riki-cha, and word for word it
signifies " carriage drawn by man." It is a little
cabriolet, the first models of which were seen at
the Paris Exhibition of 1867, and since that time,
hundreds of thousands of these vehicles are in
daily movement over a part of the extreme East,
having in China replaced the barrow, and in Japan
the kango. This little conveyance, in which two
may sometimes sit, though with very sensible
squeezing, no doubt, is generally drawn by a single
man. In large cities like Yedo, where the dis-
tances to accomplish are long, and when it is
anywhere a journey of some days, the man drawing
takes a helper, who, according to circumstances,
harnesses himself in tandem, or places himself be-
hind the vehicle, either to push it on, or, in too
steep a descent, to hold it back.

However primitive this vehicle may appear at
first sight, its accommodation is not so disagree-
able. It was in this conveyance that I made all
my journeys in Japan, by day and night, in all
sorts of weather. Rain, sun, or cold has never
stopped my movement. With a great Japanese
umbrella, a good reserve of rugs and oiled-paper
curtains, one therein may brave the elements.

94 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

The ordinary distance accomplished by the
drawing-man is three miles an hour, but on dry,
level roads, these indefatigable poor devils, called
djin-ri' ki, run like racers ; this advantage, however,
is balanced by a loss on mounting or on setting foot
on muddy roads. With all its defects, this mode
of journeying is sufficiently rapid and comfortable
enough for people like us, desirous of seeing the
country, and who have long learnt to be satisfied
with little.

The fare varies according to the district, and
also according to circumstances, but it seldom ex-
ceeds a bou per ri, and I have even very often
made a bargain at five cents* the ri for one
man.

As in France, there are free cabs, not subject
to the fixed tariff, as well as the public cabs that
are, so in Japan there are independent djin-ri' ki,
with whom any one may make a bargain in ad-
vance, and others, servants of companies, who must
be paid by the official scale.

It sometimes happened for me to have recourse
to the latter, but experience has taught me that
it is far better to avoid dealing with the companies
as much as possible, who, in appropriating a con-
siderable share of the proceeds of letting, can only
employ men already half knocked-up through
fatigue, ready to accept lower remuneration. Our
host, therefore, thoroughly well up in the mysteries
of the craft, was too knowing to treat with the

* The cent is the hundredth part of the rio, and of the
proximate value of a halfpenny.

STORY OF THE FORTY-SEVEN RONIN. 95

grand company of djin-riki-cha of Yedo. They
were " independents^" with robust limbs, that were
to take us to Nikko, and with relays duly pre-
arranged, would gain at least a day over the
company's trucks.

The following morning we turned out at six,
and after a quick breakfast started.

Our caravan had quite an imposing effect : eight
djin-riki-cha, each drawn by two men, five for us
and three for the luggage and provisions.

The evening before, some one had mentioned
he would " s'ouvrir le ventre " rather than forego
the pleasure of the trip. This pleasantry recalled
to memory the fate of the forty-seven ronin of
Asano-takoumi-no-kami, whose remains repose
at Serigakoudji. This temple, become famous on
account of the hecatomb that took place there,
deserves a special notice. We had overlooked it
in our first excursion to Yedo, and now agreed to
make a pilgrimage there before setting out for
Nikko.

"You know, I dare say," began our Amphi-
tryon, on entering Sengakoudji, " the history of the
forty-seven heroes, who came here to put an end to
their lives, but probably not all the touching cir-
cumstances of it which I will now relate.

" Sengakdiidji recalls one of the most character-
istic traits of the history of Japanese chivalry. This
trait reveals to us the sublime exaggeration to
which this society, essentially warlike and de-
scended from the gods, pushed the point of
honour.

96 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

"Do you see that long line of mausoleums,
giving to this temple the aspect of a vast and
imposing group of sepulchres ? They are the
tom.bs of the forty- seven ronin of Asano-takoumi-
no-kami.

" The word ronin is, in its etymology, full of
expressive poesy. It means 'the wave man,' —
that the man whose life is delivered over to the
caprice of fate, is agitated like the billows in the
tempest.

" And they called ronin the noble warriors
who, separated from their suzerain by any catas-
trophe, lived as knights-errant, and who in the
place of riches are endowed only with their
courage and their swords.

" Asano-takoumi-no-kami, dalmio of one of
the noblest houses of Japan, having been insulted
by another daimio, named Kotsuk^-no-suk^ could
not endure the wrong, and in a transport of rage
hurled his dagger in his aggressor's face. The
blow, ill-directed, made only a scratch, but
Kotsuk^-no-suk4 being an officer of the Tykoon's
court, caused Asano to be arrested by his guards,
and, cowardly exercising his influence, obtained
against him a condemnation to death by the
karakirz.*

"And Asano gave himself bravely the death-
blow, in accordance with the rules of Japanese
chivalry ; his property consequently was con-
fiscated, his ruined family obliged to hide their

* Solemn and official suicide of the samourai.

STORY OF THE FORTY-SEVEN RONIN. 97

wretchedness in obscurity, and his military house
was broken up.

"From that time, his faithful servitors and
adherents, suddenly dispersed, became ronin.

" Here it is that appears one of the purest
types of those fantastic personages, whose savage
and heroic virtues are so much admired in Japan ;
one of those grand figures^ so often represented on
the stage — a complete personification of the blind
devotion of the vassal, of duty and self-abnegation
carried beyond the limits of possible reality.

" Kouranosouk^j chief officer of the noble
Asano, his intimate confidant, his respected friend,
after having assisted his well-beloved lord in the
horrible act of the harakiri, swore on his venerated
head an implacable hatred towards Kotsuk^ and
his race. Then, when he had rendered the last
duties to the mutilated corpse, he departs from
the yasiki, his heart weighed down with sorrow,
but his breast swelling with vengeance.

" Forty-five of the noblest and bravest among
the samourai of Asano follow him, and, confident
in his tried bravery, ability, and sagacity, they
enlist under his banner, that they may work to-
gether with the sole aim of avenging the honour
of their fallen house.

" Thenceforth, these forty-six men live but for
one^ object, cherish but a single idea — to seize
Kotsuk^ cut off his head and offer it in a holo-
caust to the manes of their master.

" But the task is difficult. Kotsuk^ as power-
ful as he is cojvardly, doubles the guards of his

H

98 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

yasiki and surrounds himself with so many pre-
cautions that it is impossible for the most reckless
to gain access to him.

" Kouranosoukd perceives that the moment is
not propitious, that he must wait and resort to
stratagem.

"After having given a pass-word to his com-
panions, he advises them to disperse and keep
apart throughout the empire, but to hold them-
selves in readiness to rally on the first notice of
assembling. He himself quits Yedo, leaving with
his family, taking with him his most precious
objects, and goes far from the scene wherein, some
future day, he will be the chief actor.

" He conveys his household goods to Ki6to ;
there, at least, he will be forgotten ; the remem-
brance of the murder of Asano will gradually
fade away in men^s minds, and the murderer,
emboldened through the inactivity of the ronin of
his victim, will be lulled in unsuspected security.

" Shortly, however, Kourariosouk6, apparently
having forgotten his projects of vengeance, gives
himself up to the most reckless intemperance ; he
passes his life in disreputable quarters, rolls help-
lessly drunk into the gutters, and scandalises all
Kioto by the spectacle of his brutish demeanour.
His friends and companions in arms remon-
strate with him in vain; the, tender reproaches
of his faithful wife, the devoted mother of his
children, are equally unavailing; the fallen warrior
remains insensible to everything. One day, in a
moment of rage, he turns the whole family out of

STORY OF THE FORTY-SEVEN RONIN. 99

doors, keeping with him only his eldest son, the
young 0-Ichi-tchikara. Then, nothing whatever
restrains his excesses ; he falls lower and lower
and to such a degree of degradation, that all feel-
ing of honour seems to have withered up in his
heart ; the most deliberate insults, the most humi-
liating indignities are hurled in his face; a
samourai spits in his face, tramples on him with
disgust, overloads him with contempt and the
grossest epithets. Kouranosoukd still remains
insensible to all this usage; they now regard him
with pity, for he seems no longer a man, only an
ignoble brute, whom any one may kick without
fear of encountering his teeth.

" Kotsuke for many months had kept himself
on the defensive, but at last, tired of remaining
indefinitely on a war footing for which there
seemed to be no further motive, ashamed perhaps
also of having betrayed fears so ill-founded, he
decides on resuming his ordinary course of life,
and accordingly dismisses the supernumerary
guards with which he had so long surrounded
himself.

" This was precisely the opportunity Koui'ano-
soukd had been waiting for — the long longed-for
hour of vengeance. The drunkard, the libertine,
the degraded being who had suffered himself to be
spat on without resenting the affront, disappears
suddenly from Ki6to. No one cares to notice his
absence ; the filthy brute, they conclude, has
finished his ignoble existence on some dung-
hill.

H 2

100 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

" But during the last week the young O-Ichi-
tchikara has been in the country giving the signal
to rally ; he has succeeded in bringing together his
father's old companions in armSj and, at the hour
appointed by the son, Kouranosouk6, the valiant
warrior of old, presents himself to his sworn con-
federates under the walls of Yedo.

"The forty-six ronin recognise one another,
and the completion of their number, 0-Ichi-
tchikara making the forty-seventh. They renew
their oaths, address to the gods a short prayer, and
then, without losing a moment, take their way
with the most watchful precautions to the yasiki
of Kotsukd

" It is a dark winter's night ; a violent storm
rages, and pelts them pitilessly with whirling
clouds of snow. They can hardly grope their way
through that darkness to which the lugubrious
Jiowling of the tempest gives a sensation of horror.

" When a flash of lightning darts from a cloud,
-throwing its pale transient gleam around, figures
■snay be discerned creeping along the walls and
shrinking behind the shadows of the trees ; this
is the resolute band stealing on their tortuous way.

"Presently loud cries rend the air, mingled
with the clashing of arms. The guard of Kotsuke,
taken by surprise, are maintaining against the
ronin of Asano a desperate combat, but nothing
can resist this unforeseen attack, the impetuous
bravery of Kouranosouke and his companions.

" The guards, conquered, disarmed, annihilated,
leave the way free.

STORY OF THE FORTY-SEVEN RONIN. loi

" Kotsuk^, starting up from sleep in this uproar,
unmanned with terror, tries to escape," but the
instant he is about to vanish through a secret
doorway, a hand of iron falls on his shoulder and
fixes him to the spot ; he is then dragged along to
the state apartment.

" ' Do you recognise me, Prince ? ' demands the
chief of the ronin. ' I am Kouranosouk^ ; it is I
who received in my arms the dear head of the
illustrious Asano-takoumi-no-kami ; it is I who
have sworn on the throbbing remains of this great
man to avenge his death, and offer to his manes
your lordship's head.'

" On pronouncing these words the terrible
samourai presented a poignard to his enemy, and
begged him in the most respectful manner to have
the goodness to carry into execution on his person
the harakiri there and then. Kotsuk^ takes the
instrument of capital punishment with a trembling
hand, looks at it, his eyes starting from his head
with terror, and seems not to realise the summary
sentence that has just been pronounced against him.

" While he is hesitating, Kouranosouk^, • im-
patient to arrive at the object he has pursued with
such noble spirit and perseverance, brandishes his
sabre in the air and with one blow severs the
head of the coward incapable of giving himself a
soldier's death.

" This execution carried out, the forty-seven
ronin, all more or less seriously wounded, abandon
the dismantled yasiki, taking with them merely
the daimio's head.

102 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

"At daybreak, when the bonzes of Sengakoudji
come to open the temple doors, they find the forty-
seven warriors lying prostrate on the entrance-steps
of the sanctuary.

" The aspect of these men covered with blood
and dust is terrible and imposing. One of them,
the young 0-Ichi-tchikara, is not yet sixteen ; his
beardless face contrasts with the stern countenances
of his hardy companions. A horrible wound is
gaping across his chest ; but haughty and indo-
mitable, he supports with pride his glorious suffer-
ings ; his prepossessing features, now pale from loss
of blood, have an exquisite expression of courageous
resignation.

" ' Brethren,' says the chief of the band to the
affrighted priests, throwing them a few handfuls of
gold, ' this is all the riches we possess ; accept our
offering, and open for the companions of the
divine Asano the door of their last dwelling-
place.'

" The priests, filled with consternation, open
the doors and withdraw. When they return they
see forty-seven corpses lying bleeding on the floor
of the temple ; the forty-seven ronin, after having
saluted the tomb of their master, died each with his
own hand.

"The news of this epic carnage spreads
throughout the empire like wild-fire. Kourano-
soukd, whose eccentric conduct then becomes
intelligible, reinstated through his heroic sacrifice,
becomes a demi-god and his forty-six companions
highly-venerated saints.

STORY OF THE FORTY-SEVEN RONIN. 103

"The tombs of the heroes soon become the
object of a special worship, for everybody is de-
sirous of rendering homage to the brave warriors
who did not fear to sacrifice their lives, carried out
too with the most touching and sublime abrtega-
tion to avenge the honour of their suzerain.

"Pilgrims come here from the most distant
provinces. One day a samourai, attached to
Satsuma, arrives covered with dust; he has come
all the way on foot, and, without taking a moment's
rest, he enters into the temple of Sengakoudji ;
then, after having performed his devotions before
the statue of Buddha and emptied his purse on the
altar steps, he goes to kneel before the tomb of
the faithful Kouranosouk^, and addressing the
image of the hero : ' Noble friend,' he says, ' for-
give a poor wretch for having slighted thy great
soul, and receive his life in expiation of the un-
merited insult he has had the baseness to cast at
thee.' On ending these words, the repentant
soldier opens his body with a rent and gives up
his last sigh, vomiting a ghastly flood of dark
gore.

" This samourai was he who, one day, at
Kidto, spat in the face of Kouranosouk^. He is
interred by the side of the forty-seven ronin. His
tomb puzzles visitors who are but imperfectly
acquainted with the history, as they count forty-
eight sepulchral stones where they thought of
finding no more than forty-seven.

" After the tragedy," added our friend, " and
before passing on to more cheerful subjects and

104 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

resuming our route, it would be quite a propos, I
think, to tell you what constitutes the terrible
harakiri, which has been mentioned in the course
of this lugubrious narrative.

" The harakiri, called also seppoukou, was the
mode of suicide adopted by men-at-arms who had
voluntarily resolved to put an end to their lives,
or had been condemned to death for some offence
not of a dishonouring character, and involving
neither loss of rank nor military degradation.

"There existed besides, two other modes
of carrying out capital punishment; they were
strangulation and ordinary decapitation ; but these
two kinds of execution, stamped with infamy,
were never inflicted on a samourai, unless he
had dishonoured himself as it is understood in
Japan.

" The harakiri in ancient Japanese society
was therefore an institution relatively moral, be-
cause in taking the life it did not brand the honour,
and had by no means the character of suicide of
our European countries.

"This contest of man with himself could
neither be compared with our duel, though there
exists between the two acts, essentially different, a
kind of moral similitude.

" In France, in a certain class of society, the
duel, it is true, is the last resort of outraged honour.
Still, on this point, opinion is divided : one will
turn his head or shrug his shoulders on passing by
a man who has been on the ground 5 another, on
the contrary, will press his hand with a marked

STORY OF THE FORTY-SEVEN RONIJV. 105

sentiment of admiration. People do not all think
alike. But in Japan there is nothing like this want
of unanimity, for under the ancient regime, every
Japanese with proper self-respect should be ready,
at every moment of his life, to cut himself off from
the aggregate number of the population or to serve
as a second to a friend.

" The harakiri formed in a certain way an
essential part of the training of the military class ;
and if, in the present day, it is fallen into desuetude,
on account of the rapid modification of manners,
brought about by the invasion of European ideas,
those who have thus terminated their existence are
nevertheless revered as saints. I am even quite
convinced that a fanatic laying violent hands on
himself in this mode, after having committed some
crime by the criminal law, entailing in accordance
with the new code hard labour for life, would still
find at the present day a multitude of admirers,
and even other fanatics ready to make of him a
demi-god.

" In the harakiri, the seconds had a rdle much
more important than that of the witnesses in a
European duel ; their duty was strictly of an
official character, and they were obliged to fulfil it
with courage, dexterity, and devotion.

" In accordance with the rules of Japanese
chivalry, every dalmio was expected to retain
among his trusty adherents one man at least
capable of serving him efficiently as second, and
to attach him specially to his person.

" The ceremonies of the harakiri were signalised

io6 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

with an imposing solemnity, with the object, no
doubt, of masking, under the aspect of a fete, the
horror and brutality of the deed.

" I am not speaking now of the voluntary
harakiri, executed anywhere and without pre-
liminaries, with or without the assistance of a
second, but of the harakiri as a sentence for some
offence by a kind of court-martial.

" In this case the condemned was handed over
to the custody of a dafmio who, while keeping him
a prisoner in his yasiki, surrounded him with all
the respect due to his rank.

" Formerly the executions always took place in
the temples ; later, and until a recent epoch, they
were carried out, according to the rank of the con-
demned, either in one of the rooms of ^& yasiki of
the prince custodian or in his park.

" If we consult the different accounts that have
been given of these scenes of butchery, we shall
find that they have taken place in the same condi-
tions, and the departures from the regular course
have been so unimportant that it will suffice to
describe one alone to understand all others.

"Without having ever been present at such a
drama, I am happy to say, I have seen many times
its exact reproduction at the theatre, with details of
harrowing precision.

" It is, for instance, a harakiri that is to take
place out-of-doors ; it is an officer of the second
rank who is to suffer at the sanguinary fdte.

" The preceding evening an enclosure of about
four yards square, open to the north and south, has

STORY OF THE FORTY-SEVEN RONIN. 107

been formed in the park with curtains of white
silk ; at each of the four corners long pennants,
covered with texts from the sacred books, are
waving in the air. A wooden doorway, equally
covered with white silk, rises at each entrance ; in
the centre, on the ground, two new mats, bordered
in white, are placed, the one perpendicular to the
other.

" The witnesses, named censors, appointed by
the Government are arrived, and the da'imio has gone
in great pomp to receive them at the entrance of
iheyasiki; two torches, for the purpose of lighting
up the scene with their flickering and pale glim-
mer, stand erect on each side of the mats. The
preparations are now completed.

" Whilst the culprit, arrayed in dress of gay
colours, enters by the north door, the censors, the
seconds, and the spectators arrive by the south.
Each takes his place etiquette assigns to him ; the
condemned sits on the mat turned north and south,
with his face turned towards the north ; the cen-
sors take their stations on the other mat, and the
seconds, whose services are not yet required, place
themselves with the spectators;

" The first censor then begins to read the
sent-ence of execution :

"'Samourat, you have committed an offence
which you cannot wash away ; you are no longer
worthy to belong to the noble caste of Japanese
chivalry. Through respect for the character with
which you are invested you will not be degraded,
your name will not be tarnished ; but you are

io8 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

condemned to put yourself to death according to
the prescribed rules and usual ceremonies in such
cases.'

" This sentence having been pronounced, the
censor retires and finally quits \h^ yasiki.

" The culprit, who has just listened to this tirade
with an air of unconcerned indifference, rises and
goes out, to proceed to a last and solemn attiring,
and then in a few moments reappearing in gala
raiment, he takes again the place on the mat he
has just occupied.

"Then the daimio, the master of the yasiki,
rises, and addressing his guest : ' Have you any
communication to make to me ? ' he asks.

" ' I have nothing to say,' replies the unhappy
man; 'and yet, since you have the goodness to
interest yourself in my fate, permit him who is
about to die to thank you for the handsome
conduct you have observed towards him.'

"Such is the ordained response, the classic
reply. The only modification thought becoming to
make is the following : ' And I most humbly en-
treat you to convey my last wishes to such a
one.'

" The condemned then hands to the daimio a
sealed letter. At this moment, while the inferior
second presents to the culprit a poignard, called
kou-soun-gobou, the superior second uncovers the
right shoulder, unsheathes his sabre, the scabbard
of which he drops on the ground, steps back a
pace on the left with a ready and strong arm.
The condemned, squatting on his heels in the

STORY OF THE FORTY-SEVEN RONIN. 109

Japanese mode, seizes the poignard with his right
hand, and without a moment's hesitation plunges
it into his abdomen* With a steady hand he
draws slowly the sharpened blade from left to
right, and from the upper region to the lower. A
crimson flood gushes forth on the mat. The hero,
without breathing a sigh, draws out the gory
weapon and stretches his arm towards the censors ;
this is the signal of the terrible d^noAment. The
premier second brandishes his sabre, the heavy head
drops lightly forward, the burnished blade gleams
like a flash of lightning, and the head, severed
with a single stroke, bounds hideously forward,
rolling to the feet of the spectators. Life has
departed, but honour remains.

" When the rank of the condemned requires,
according to etiquette, that the ceremony should
take place within the yasiki, everything is ob-
served much in the same manner as in the open
air. Instead of mats to receive the actors of the
horrible tragedy, they are f'ton sewn together,
covered with cotton, and laid down on the tataini,
to preserve them from the stains of blood. The
simple flambeaux are sometimes replaced by
brighter torches ; but it is in good taste, it seems,
to leave the apartment dimly lighted, permitting
the condemned to see less distinctly the fearful
proceedings, in case his heart should fail at the
fatal instant. In such an event, the principal
second, who may, it is said, be even warned if

* The blade enters no deeper than an inch.

no JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

thought prudent, does not wait to accomplish the
sanguinary work till the culprit has inflicted on
himself the first blow, but cuts off his head imme-
diately he sees it bent forward."

While we were listening with religious silence,
thrilled with this dramatic story, some bonzes of
inferior rank, accustomed probably to the liberality
of tourists, pressed around us very closely, but a
few boil scattered around soon relieved us at a very
slight cost.

In Japan, as in other countries, visitors are
always expected on entering places of worship to
drop a mite ; there they deposit their offering in
the poor-box, or in the silver alms-dish of the
building ; here, charity is given to the minister
himself, the priest, who generally lives meagrely
enough on this pittance, wrung either from the
superstition or the complaisance of visitors.

CHAPTER XI.

AN EXCURSION TO NIKKO.

En route — Nikko — Japanese Beds — Excursion to Lake
Tchouzenji — An Affecting Story of NaiVetd and Fidelity
— Japanese Architecture — A Fantastic Bridge- — The
Temple of lyeyas — The Exhibition — The Tomb of the
Great Man.

It was half-past eight when we remounted our
vehicles, and we had to go from one end to the
other of the immense capital in order to reach
the high road of Ochiou-kaido that leads to
Nikko.

From Yedo to Kourihachi the route traverses
a monotonous plain ; it is a succession of rice-fields
of many leagues, alternating with various vege-
tables, and the eye, at last getting fatigued with
this endless green surface, longs for a bit of diver-
sified nature.

At Kourihachi the scene changes. After having
been ferried across the river Tone-gawa, which is
about two hundred yards wide, and having reached
the village of Nakada, we continue our way

112 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

between a double line of pines and larch as far
as Koga, our first halting-place, where we pass the
night.

At daybreak the following morning, we are
again in our carriages. On leaving Koga, the
scenery changes ; a chain of mountains, blue in
the dim distance from which we behold them, run
from west to north ; they are the mountains of the
sunbeams, and there is Nikko. On the east-north-
east rises the peak of Tsoukouba. A level road,
shaded with majestic trees, takes us as far as Out-
sounomya ; here the road becomes hilly, and the
trees, still more imposing, attaining at least a
hundred feet, border a magnificent avenue that
falls in with the Reihechi-kaldo.

The junction of these two roads forms a large
open space, in the centre of which two or three
dozen houses are most fancifully disposed, consti-
tuting the village of Imai'tchi.

We rest a quarter of an hour in this Eden.
Five or six cups of tea, brought by the ne-san *
of a neat-looking tcha-ya,\ are sufficient to refresh
our djin-ri' ki, and put them into a good humour.
We accordingly start again at the rate of three
leagues an hour, and soon arrive at Nikko.

Before visiting the temples and other curiosities
of Nikko, we decide on making an excursion in
the environs of Tchouzenji, and, as the roads in
these mountainous parts do not admit of the
accommodation of the djin-riki-cha, it is afoot with

* Servants. f Tea-house.

AN EXCURSION TO NIKKO. 113

a guide that the country must be traversed, unless
we would subject ourselves to the tormenting loco-
motion of a kango. As • for me, an indefatigable
sportsman, walking is a real pleasure, and I
should prefer this method of travelling to all
others in my excursions, if time permitted it. But
most of my companions, fearing a day's fatigue,
wish to prepare themselves for the trip as
thoroughly as possible by a good night's rest.
Therefore, so soon as we had dined, order was
given to the landlady of the hotel to prepare out
beds.

A bed in Japan, when the weather is cold, is-
composed of two or three quilted cotton mattresses,
called f'ton, raised from the floor on the tatami;.
of a makoura (pillow), a kind of little box in
lacquer, on which reposes a sort of doll's bolster
to support the neck, and not the head ; and thea
of several mosen (blankets), with which the sleeper
covers himself, and, in addition, with an im-
mense, funereal, wadded robe de chambre, in which
he previously wraps himself. As to sheets, they
are unknown ; but they may be found in the hotels
daily frequented by Europeans, where the guest
may be much worse off and have much more to

pay-
But is one comfortable or not in this Japan
bed .' For my part, I have always found myself
very snug in substituting for a makoura a rolled-
up blanket ; with this slight adjustment, I have
always found the hard Japanese couch sufficiently
easy. But there are probably very sensible degrees

114 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

of appreciation, for I have often heard my com-
panions complain bitterly on getting up. Who
then sleeps on a bed of roses ? One complains
that he is chilled by draughts, another that his neck
and loins are disjointed ; therefore my opinion, I
suppose, must be taken aim grano sails. In the
yado-ya^ of Nikko every one, in spite of everything,
slept like a dormouse till daylight, so soundly that,
before we had put on our boots, swallowed our
breakfast, and prepared our drawing-boards, it was
nearly ten o'clock.

We passed in succession, without thinking of
stopping, Chitchikentcho, Haramatchi, and Nono-
bikinotaki ; paid a flying visit to the little temple
of Kiotake-Kwannon, and arrived about half-past
twelve at Mumaga'lchi. From here to the lake the
road is really enchanting. It is along the banks
of the river Dai'ya-gawa we are now journeying ;
the stream, diminished to a mere brook at this
season, rushes on its zigzag course through a most
capricious channel with a certain uproar, and com-
pels us, as we cling to the walls of its precipitous
shores, to cross it eight times over bridges, the most
■gracefully curved, before arriving at Kingamin^.

Kingamind is a culminating point, from which
may be seen on the right, as far as the eye can
reach, a lovely valley, into which limpid and purl-
ing waters find their way from the cascades of
Hanniadaki and Hotono-taki.

The route, hitherto simply hilly, begins to rise

* Hotel.

AN EXCURSION TO NIKKO. 115

as steep as a flight of steps, then all at once
descends, but soon after becomes level as far as the
village of Tchouzenji, built on the borders of the
lake of this name ; and this village was to be the
furthest point of our excursion. Before arriving
there, on turning off a little from the right, may be
seen another viraterfall, one grander than the others.
It is the cascade of Kegonno-taki, the height of
which we estimated at 130 yards at least, whilst the
Japanese say it is two tcho — about no yards more.
The coup-d'ozil is magnificent ; it is impossible to
imagine anything more lovely, more graceful, and
more picturesque. It seems as if some mysterious
intelligence had presided at the production and
disposal of these marvels of nature, and that a
cunning hand had made it a labour of love in
embellishing them with all the refinements of his
art. But after all, this is the fault of Japanese
landscapes, that they seem too pretty to be natural,
and however sober-minded one may be, he may
easily fancy himself in presence of the scenery of
the Op6ra Comique.

Shortly after we arrived at the lake. Numerous
tea-houses rise on its banks. It is a pleasure resort
for the Japanese, a kind of Monte Carlo, where
they come during summer to repose from the noise
of the city, and to enjoy in peace those rural de-
lights as they inhale with deep draughts the balmy
breeze from the mountains.

While our guide had gone to order dinner for
us in a pretty tcha-ya, we passed our time in loung-

I 2

ii6 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

ing through the village, in visiting the temple of
F'taracha, and in making some purchases.

To carry away a souvenir of all the places I
visit is with me almost a duty. Here it is little
trays in tsoiita, that serve to present the cups of
tea ; in other places it will be a box costing two
tempo, a paper fan, a little house in terra-cotta, a
sabre, a child's toy, some insignificant picture, or
other trifle. What I want is to have hereafter
some palpable proof of my travels, for I desire by
no means, on quitting this delightful country, to
separate myself completely from it. Who would
fancy the world of thoughts that will spring up,
through association, in my mind, on regarding
these scores of nicknacks that would appear so in-
significant to other people .-'

The tsouta is a large tropical creeper, a kind of
giant ivy, the trunk of which attains four or five
inches in diameter, and this sawn into thin slices,
they form saucers with these discs, that are quite
original.

The lake, surrounded with mountains, is wanting
naturally in horizon. To see one's way over this
country it is necessary to scale the mountains, that
overhang to their summits ; but since the ascent
would entail a fatigue for which probably there
would be little to compensate, we prefer being en-
lightened by a native. The good man replies to
our questions most readily, and points out to us
Nikko on the east, Fousi-yama on the south-west,
and Yedo on the south. Whether this informa-

AN EXCURSION TO NIKKO. 117

tion is correct or not we cannot say, but for want
of better we are obliged to accept it.

We take our breakfast, enjoying it at our ease
on an elevation overlooking the lake, and having
had half-an-hour's trip on the green water in a boat,
we resume our way to Nikko, where we arrive at
eight in the evening, tired enough, but quite en-
chanted with our journey.

Here we were moved by an affecting episode,
which shows us again that simple candour of the
Japanese character, and which gives an example of
the confiding tenderness of the girls, a charac-
teristic, however, I have often heard unjustly
disputed.

About eight the next morning, so soon as we
were dressed to begin the trip across the splendid
scenery of the Nikko, we found that a young girl
had arrived from a journey early at the hotel, and
desired to speak to us. Our curiosity being very
much piqued, we hurried, and Marcel, being ready
first, presented himself.

" You are French?" said the interesting stranger
to him.

" Yes, mous'in^-san."

" Then you know David-san ? "

" I think not. Where does he live ? "

"In France — in Paris."

" That is rather vague. Where have you
known him, my charming child — this happy
David ? "

" At Yokohama, some time ago. I loved him,

ii8 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

and he loved me also. On going away last year,
he promised to write to me, and he made me
promise to reply to him to Paris. I have not yet
received any letter, but then France is so far away !
So soon as I knew there were some Frenchmen
here, I was quite overjoyed. ' They will be sure
to know David-san,' I said to myself, ' and be able
to tell me something about him.' Oh, you must
know himj I am sure. He is a Frenchman, and
there is no one like him."

Is it possible to find anywhere so thoroughly
confiding a heart, such innocent fidelity } The
shadow of a doubt never entered an instant into
this frank, loving soul. David, the only one in the
world, the chosen of her heart, is a Frenchman,
and one that should be known at the first glance
among a thousand. " I loved him," said the maid,
and this was evident. But did he return her love .''
Of this she was as sure as she was that the sun's
beams would give forth their warmth to-morrow.
" He loved me too," she added ; " I have not yet
heard from him, but I shall hear, because he has
promised to write. France is so very far. It
would take more than a year, perhaps, to come
from France to Japan." And the tender-hearted
creature drew from her bosom a letter.

" Take this," she says to our friend, " it is for
him. You will give it to him when you return to
your country."

Marcel is stirred by this affecting incident, even
to tears. Perhaps he finds a certain analogy be-

AN EXCURSION TO NIKKO. 119

tween the state of his own heart and that of his
charming interlocutor. Would it not be cruel, he
reflected^ to undeceive this poor girl ? Why should
he so brutally, demolish in her mind an innocent
illusion ? Therefore, he ponders over the con-
sequences, and pity soon gets the better of truth-
fulness.

" David-san," he says, feigning to recall a long
remembrance ; " to be sure I know him ; I saw
him quite recently in France. He spoke to me of
his dear "

" O-Hana, monsieur."

"Precisely. Of hisdearO-Hana-san. Decidedly
it is a very happy name."

Just at this moment we enter, and, perceiving
at once the true situation, we all vow that we are
acquainted with the happy fellow who had been
able to steal so loving a heart.

This lie was too white to trouble our conscience ;
it was at least an excusable subterfuge. Go thy
way, innocent little loving creature, and dwell ever-
more in the sunbeams of thy sweet illusion ! May
our deception lull thee a long time to come in thy
enchanted dream !

While thy lover, doubtlessly, has forgotten thee;
while he is wasting his best days, perhaps, in the
ensnaring, delusive pleasures of Parisian life, thou,
keep thine innocent heart pure and holy and buoyed
up by hope !

Will he ever return .' It is possible ; the least
expected things happen constantly in this world.

120 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

Marcel will religiously keep thy letter. The
caprice of some accident may one day find these
two men in one another's presence. Who knows .''
The cruelty of blighting so much love would have
been heartless. At all events, Japan is quite an
attraction for the French. Can he ever forget its
bright sky, its charming landscapes, its wonderful
sport, its beautiful and smiling daughters, and
courteous hosts .' Certainly not. Hope, then !

Live and hope, though the heart-strings quiver.

Kind Providence, in a voice sublime, bids us live and hope.

After endless mutual compliments and wishes
of " bon voyage " we separated.

The moment is alnaost solemn, for we are now
going to set out to begin one of the most curious
and instructive studies that is possible to be made
on the people of Japan, in examining the temples
of Nikko.

The architecture of a people reveals its genius
and throws light on its history ; it reproduces
sometimes even its physical characteristics. Thus,
in the Chinese roofs, the line slightly curved and
turned up at the two ends, suggests the line of the
eyes of the yellow race, passing obliquely from
each side of the nose to the tips of the ears. With
the Japanese, in whom the eye tends to approach
the horizontal line of the white races, the outline of
the roofs, still slightly arched, conforms itself never-
theless much nearer to the straight line than it
does with their neighbours ; but if it is not, as in

AN EXCURSION TO NIKKO. 121

China, a distinguishing trait of the architecture,
the roof notwithstanding is the capital piece of
their monuments. Here it is decidedly a form
derived from the tent of the nomads, shepherds, or
warriors, on a larger scale.

In Japanese architecture the eye therefore sees
no elements of the classic beauty of the Greek or
the Gothic, but, for all that, a certain grandeur
may clearly be perceived that strikes us with
astonishment and commands our admiration.

In Japan, materials of construction abound
everywhere ; it must therefore be attributed to the
climate, or rather to the nature of the country
itself, if we do not discover in this land anything
supremely artistic but in constructions of wood.
On a soil undermined with volcanoes, where
earthquakes are as common as blasts of the
mistral in the plains of Provence, buildings of
stone are evidently far too insecure to be adopted.

In France, wood constructions are simply
makeshifts, and we recognise in them something
characteristic of scaffolding, the buildings of the
work-shop, the booths of the fair, or the camp hut.
With our idea of the requisites of architectural art
in France, it is difficult to conceive a durable
monument like a temple or a palace constructed
of wood. We should fancy we heard always
behind the planks the singing of the masons, the
drollery of the clown, or the clack and clang of
arms.

But in order to be convinced that the majesty

122 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

of architecture does not absolutely emanate from
the material, but indeed much from the form, one
must go to Japan, and his opinion will undergo a
change.

In architecture there are three forms of grandeur
— the breadth, the depth, and the height ; and the
sublime in the art proceeds from three essential
conditions : the grandeur of the dimensions, the
simplicity of the surfaces, and the continuity of the
lines.

In Japanese architecture not one of these
qualities is well characterised. There cannot be
found in these agglomerations of buildings con-
stituting a temple, either the vague depths of the
mystic pantheism of the Indian, or the breadth
and solidity of the Egyptian, or the ideal aspira-
tions of Catholicism, typified in its Gothic cathe-
drals shooting up in slender spires. But through
the minutiae of details, the sober richness of the
ornamentation, the chaste simplicity and the light-
ness of the style, through the ensemble may be seen
at a glance the character of these men, a strange
mixture of levity and headiness, of barbarism and
civilisation, of religious indifference and fanaticism.
One recognises that love of glitter, the partiality
for luxury with an absence of comfort, that heroism
exaggerated beyond the bounds of the probable,
that religious respect for the point of honour, which
seems in fact to be the only religion of this race of
heroes and demi-gods.

Before arriving at the temple of lyeyas, which

AN EXCURSION TO NIKKO. 123

was to occupy a large portion of our day's pleasure,
we stopped at Kon-gosa. This temple is filled
with Buddhist and Shintdist divinitiesj who live
together side by side in perfect harmony, and as it
presents no other singular feature we soon hurried
away.

On coming out we crossed the river Daiya-
gawa, on a bridge painted red of an extraordinary
aspect, to which a legend assigns a curious origin.
At an epoch, no doubt very remote, a holy
personage named Ch6do-ch6nin, travelling through
the country, arrives one fine morning on the banks
of the Dalya-gawa, whose troubled waters rushed
on with an imposing uproar. The wayfarer was
brave and bold ; to cross the raging torrent over a
simple footway seemed too perilous ; he prefers
therefore prostrating himself with his face in the
dust, and to invoke Buddha.

Moved by the supplication of his servant, the
god hurries up. Standing upright on the other
bank, he holds in his hand two serpents, the one
red and the other green. Ch6do-ch6nin, at the
sight of the divinity, again prostrates himself, and
Buddha suddenly hurls the serpents into the deep,
which are immediately transformed into a red
bridge covered with verdant grass.

At a short distance from the river we enter into
the dependency of Tochognoum, or temple of
lyeyas. This temple resembles very much in its
form and details the temple of the Shiba of
Yedo. It is certainly the finest I have visited

124 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

in Japan and, in my opinion, is really in every
respect the most admirable in the empire. Its
architecture is Shintdist in the purest style, per-
fectly preserved ; its souvenirs, of the highest
historical interest; its numerous articles of virtii,
mostly the endowments of princes ; everything, in
short, is here united to attract the traveller's
attention.

Before entering the temple proper, we pass
through the courts and buildings that lead the way
and surround the main ; we visit the store-rooms
where they keep the sacerdotal ornaments, the
sacred books, the koci of the ceremony in which
are carried on days of fete the images of the
gods and the statue of lyeyas. We then enter
into a large room, where the bonzes executed
formerly a religious dance, known by the name
of gakondo, which they have now turned into a
work-room.

On going out, our guide calls our attention to
a beautiful stone fountain, the gift of Nab^sima,
Prince of Hozen; the grand simplicity of this
fountain is striking, and the effect altogether is
very graceful; it is composed of a basin covered
with a square roof, supported on four pillars.
Afterwards we pass in review a multitude of
objects that have been collected from all quarters,
due. principally to the liberality of a friendly
sovereign, or a people in vassalage. Here it is
a bronze bell or a chandelier of the same metal,
encased in a kind of cage — presents from the

AN EXCURSION TO NIKKO. 125

Coreans ; there, another chandelier, offered to the
gods by the Prince Satsuma in the name of the
Lin -kin islands ; further on, an elegant kiosque
with a third chandelier reposing beneath, pre-
sented by the Dutch ; and finally, a quantity of
articles of virtii, though not interesting enough to
describe.

We take a passing glance at the stable of the
war-horse that bore the grand Tykoon many
times to victory, and we enter under the great
covered door in sculptured wood leading to the
sanctuary.

Here the description becomes rather difficult,
if one would enter into details necessary to have
an exact idea of the monument.

The roof, which is remarkably elegant, rises on
strong wood-work reposing on a stone pavement.
The temple consists of two large buildings con-
nected by a low hall, the floor of which, they say,
is formed of a single stone, measuring 33 feet by
4f, and is for this reason called the stone hall.
The bonzes arrive in this hall by a covered
gallery which traverses the surrounding wall;
thence they pass, according to circumstances,
either into the hall on the right, always closed
to the prying eyes of the profane by a parti-,
tion, formed of panels of a single piece of wood
brought from China ; or they enter by the hall on
the left, which is the larger, and, I believe, the
principal. It is by this side that we begin our
visit.

126 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

At the summit of the stairs, we continue our
way through a vast gallery within a balustrade
and covered with a projecting roof. The uprights,
in which are fixed the panels in wood from China,
sculptured and embellished with delicate paintings,
constitute objects of art of great value.

The ceiling of the principal hall is formed in
compartments of sculptured wood, marvellously
worked ; everything in this apartment is in a state
of preservation very rare among the Orientals ; the
richness of the furniture is extraordinary. At
each extremity there is a little apartment, the one
reserved for the Mikado or his ambassadors, and
the other for the Tykoon. The chamber of the
Emperor is simple in comparison with the other
set apart for the Tykoon, the reason for which is
not clear; the latter is brilliant with gold lacquer,
paintings, and sculptured wood ; the ceiling is
composed of two compartments only of about
i6J square feet in precious wood artistically sunk ;
the panels of the partition are also of sculptured
wood and of colossal proportions ; the tatami are
wonderfully fine, and the divers utensils, distributed
here and there, are of gold lacquer in exquisite
taste and of considerable value. Everything, in
short, reminds one of its proud proprietor, and on
entering into this abode one is able to form some
idea of that refined magnificence with which the
usurpers of the temporal power knew so well to
surround themselves — a splendour which must
have been the least powerful source of their

AN EXCURSION TO NIKKO. 127

prestige and complete authority-j that endured till
the revolution of 1868.

We were sorry we could not penetrate into the
closed building, and we tried to bribe the bonze
who accompanied us, but, whether from the obstacle
of stringent regulations, or personal scruples arising
from the sense of duty and the disinterestedness of
the holy man, which was not unlikely, he replied to
our entreaties with a formal and dignified refusal,
and we were consequently obliged to consider our-
selves beaten.

Before leaving, we stop to look at an exhibition,
installed in the galleries surrounding the temple
and in its dependent buildings. This exhibition
was inaugurated at Nikko some years since, but is
not opened regularly ; it begins generally at the
commencement of the fine season and lasts a
hundred days.

Among a considerable number of objects
arranged with little order, a few attract our atten-
tion particularly. There is a great variety, such as
embroidered clothing, bronze flowers, metallic
mirrors, wooden masks, sabres, priests^ hats,
falcons in wood, lanterns of pearl, lances, match-
locks, silken tiger-skins with wooden heads, many
specimens of armour, admirable boxes in gold
lacquer; and, among all these things, we remark
more particularly at first two sabres that belonged
formerly to lyeyas. One of them having been
lost one' day by the grand Tykoon on the sea-
shore, it was brought to him a long time after-

128 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

wards in a state that may be easily conceived,
and certainly we should never have supposed that
the two bits of steel, corroded with rust and
covered with crystallisations^ represented the
once-famous sword of the terrible warrior, if our
guide had not vouched for the fact. This relic is
void of beauty, of course, but as a relic it claimed
our respect.

Our attention is afterwards attracted by a
numerous collection of pavilions embellished with
various ornaments, of some of which our engineer
takes drawings.

We admire a series of divers utensils and
vestments that belonged to the Princess, the wife
of Kidetada, the successor of lyeyas ; they con-
sist of silver scissors, a spinning-wheel, culottes of
embroidered silk, slippers [cotitsou), and a quantity
of trifling objects for women's use.

On passing we strike the bells of a little
chime, the sounds of which, to our great astonish-
ment, are at the intervals of the European scale.
We arrive at last at the norimono of the lyeyas.
This chair, pierced by a ball from top to bottom,
recalls an episode in the life of the man whose
genius enabled him to give a fresh splendour to
that martial royalty of the Tykoons, a royalty
more powerful than the legitimate one.

One day as he was walking in the environs of
Osaka, his enemy, Sanada, posted on the heights
commanding the route with a band of partisans,
attacked the noble warrior with a shower of pro-

AN EXCURSION TO NIKKO. 129

jectiles ; one only struck the lacquered box and
passed right through without touching the great
man.

This adventure was very near costing lyeyas
his life, but, having come off safe and sound, it
augmented still more his prestige among the
people, who saw in this miraculous escape a special
protection of Providence.

This is, from an historical point of view, the
most remarkable treasure of the exhibition, there-
fore it was the flower of the bunch reserved for us
by our guide before conducting us to the tomb of
the chief of the last dynasty of the Tykoons, and
this pious pilgrimage, considering the late hour,
was to close the day's excursion.

lyeyas after death, contrary to the custom of
the epoch, was not delivered over to the flames of
the funeral pile. His body, after having been sub-
jected to certain preparations, with the object of
preserving it from decomposition, was laid in a
coffin of precious wood and deposited in a monu-
mental tomb, built expressly by order of the
Mikado.

The monument, situated in the north of the
temple, is raised on a mound, at the summit of
which the visitor arrives by a staircase exceedingly
picturesque. The mausoleum has served as a
model for the tombs of the Shiba, and they are all
alike. It is composed of a pedestal of massive
granite, on which repose divers objects in bronze ;
a vertical cylinder about a foot in diameter,

K

130 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

furnished with a door; then a dog and a crane
perched on a tortoise, and a bouquet of flowers.

The body having been interred, the cylinder
was not destined at Nikko to any important use ;
but at the Shiba, where most of the Tykoons'
bodies have been burnt, it certainly should enclose
the funereal urn, in which sleep till the resurrection
promised by the gods the ashes of illustrious
personages.

As to the other ornaments, they typify, no
doubt, a mystic idea, one on which I have tried in
vain to be enlightened.

The sight of all these celebrated antiquities
has plunged us into a sort of epic reverie that im-
posed itself on the imagination in spite of sober
reflection ; and an unaccustomed silence in our
party, generally so loquacious, has dismissed a
gaiety, a little frivolous and too often accompanied
with a humour to disparage, so characteristic of
the Frenchman abroad.

It seemed as if the spirit of these heroes, whose
remains sleep under this sacred dust, had some
occult influence over us. Carried back to three
centuries ago, we feel as if we were moving in the
living throng of that extraordinary society, whose
intrepid representatives, indefatigable champions
of the point of honour, will live evermore in history
to recall this precept of Confucius : " Thou shalt
not live under the same sky as the murderer of thy
father." A, precept that was never more appro-
priate to any country than the land of the dai'mios,

AN EXCURSION TO NIKKO. 131

one that is the base of Japanese chivalry, the pivot
on which turns this singular civilisation — a mixture
of a refined barbarism and an exquisite tenderness.
When we were recalled to practical life by our
guide, who was more insensible to our impressions
than those of his stomach, the day was fast closing,
and when we at last entered our hotel it was in the
dead of night.

K 2

CHAPTER XII.

EXCURSION TO NIKKO CONTINUED.

Turned out of Bed by an Earthquake — Conflagrations and
how they are Met — Visits to Various Temples — Mortuary
Monuments — Mysterious Chessboards — The Tomb of a
Celebrated Horse.

The supper having been disposed of, every one,
little inclined to conversation, went away to glide
into \A'!,f'ton. We had been sleeping hardly two
hours, snoring like people who have a tranquil con-
science and wearied limbs, when we were roused
suddenly by a terrible shock. I roll over my
neighbour, who, too well-bred probably to make
any disagreeable remark, confines himself to call-
ing me a queer fellow ; but just at this moment
another shock, in a contrary direction, wakes him
up completely and pitches him on me. It was now
quite evident that it was an earthquake. In the
twinkling of an eye, everybody is on his legs, and
with his trousers in his hands rushes towards the
creaking doors. Our hosts, more accustomed than
we were to these events, were already in the

EXCURSION TO NIKKO CONTINUED. 133

garden ; the girls, no more than half-awake, were
readjusting the disorder of their nocturnal toilette ;
and the men, less concerned about their personal
appearance, were coolly cramming their little pipes
that they might be congenially occupied whilst
waiting for the phenomenon to cease.

When we rejoin the rest of the party all
danger has disappeared. It was the first time I
had experienced an earthquake in the night,
though in Japan it is by no means an uncommon
occurrence, for hardly a week passes without a
trembling of the ground, more or less violent,
taking place. I have noticed that every time these
disturbances take place, people in general regard
them much in the same way. At the first shock,
they hesitate, if it is in the day-time, they look
puzzled and question and look at each other ; if it
is at night, they listen, and if a second convulsion
takes place, they rush out-of-doors. When they
arrive at what they consider a safe place it is all
over. Everything is calm, and it was not worth
the trouble to flee from the house. I believe, be-
sides, that if the house should come down with a
crash, one has no time to escape, and it would be
better to remain where you are. This is what
people say, but they never do it.

Houses in Japan are constructed with pre-
cautions against anticipated earthquakes. As light
as wicker baskets, they quiver and oscillate, but
rarely collapse. The real danger is from fire ; a
lamp overturned, a tchibatchi pitched on its side,
would set the house on fire in an instant ; the house

134 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

flames up like a match, and lights up the adjoining
dwelling as if by a train of gunpowder. A whole
village is consumed in a few minutes by these con-
flagrations, the sight of which, fearful as it is, is
superb.

Last month while we were at dinner, a boatman
came to warn us that an alarming light had spread
all over Hommura. Hommura is a part of Yoko-
hama where the houses .are close to a spot that
interested us; we therefore gave our orders
promptly to launch a boat, with a party of men
and their pumps, for the spot.

We arrived and found Hommura in flames. It
was a terrible conflagration, a raging furnace. We
offered to give a hand.

"What are you going to do.'" they asked us.
" Put out the fire ? It is a good joke. Its work is
already done, and it is useless meddling with it
now." And every man with his arms crossed, stood
calmly watching the advancing flames.

Here there was no terrifying clamour, no pier-
cing cries; there were no families in dismay running
■about half naked under the hose of an impotent
fire-engine.

But every one went about^calmly removing his
furniture, and the work was soon finished. There
were no unwieldy articles difficult to carry, no use-
less luxury ; the tatanti, the kimono^ a few musical
instruments, a collection of cooking and house-
hold utensils constituted the bulk, and these were

* Clothing.

EXCURSION TO NIKKO CONTINUED. 135

speedily out of harm's way. These people of the
golden age do not worry themselves for such a
trifle, for, to-day without home, they know that
to-morrow their house will be rebuilt. A neigh-
bour or a friend will give them shelter under his
own roof for a few hours, where they will find the-
fire of his tchibatchi and the water of his kettle at
their disposal. This is the extent of the disaster,
and some day they will do a similar good turn for
their benefactor of the hour.

Hommura was consumed over an extent of
more than 300 yards long by 150 yards wide. The
following day it was a heap of ashes, and, un-
questionably, a thorough cleaning. At daybreak
every one recognised the plot occupied by his domi-
cile, and workmen were already assembled to begin
their labours. Three times twenty-four hours is
time sufficient to restore everything as it stood
before the conflagration. But, instead of being a
calamity, it seems almost a diversion, something to
break the monotony of every-day life. The poor
devils who have not the good-luck to possess any-
thing — and they are numerous enough — should
welcome from time to time a little accident of this
kind, for it is an excellent opportunity, if they ap-
preciate it, to expel from their huts certain impor-
tunate guests. As to the traders, whose fortune
is wholly contained in their show-cases of articles
of virtii, they have unusual dread of fire, and ac-
cordingly have shops that defy the ravages either
of flames or earthquakes. They are buildings con-
structed entirely of stone, without a bit of wood.

136 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

very low and solidly established on a broad base.
Every commercial house, the least important, has
its fire-proof storehouse, and the petty dealers club
together to hire one, where, at the close of day,
they deposit all their precious objects in security.

The earthquake that surprised us at Nikko
had no disastrous consequences. At the end of
a mauvais quart d'heure we resumed each of us our
pillow and wandered in dreamland.

At eight o'clock the next morning, after this
broken night, which in spite of everything was
animating, we were quite ready to start. It was
the last day we were to remain in these parts,
illustrious from so many glorious remembrances,
and we had still half-a-dozen temples to visit.

The temple of lokodo is the first on our route.
This temple, which is also called Yoritomo-do, or
F'tats-do, serves as a funeral vault for the Tykoon
Yoritomo, whose ashes are deposited in an urn
placed on one of the altars of the sanctuary. The
urn is covered with a veil ; but the bonze in guard
of this relic, for the consideration of a small gra-
tuity, will draw aside the curtain, and the prying
eye of the profane visitor may, at any moment,
trouble in its eternal repose the remains of the first
successor of lyeyas.

This profanation of relics, that seems at first
almost a sacrilege, does not appear, however, so
outrageous when we bear in mind the practices in
vogue among people of other religions.

The temple of Yoritomo is entirely Buddhist.
The only vestiges of Shintdism that one sees

EXCURSION TO NIKKO CONTINUED. 137

there are a few metal mirrors suspended here
and there.

Among the fantastic gods arranged along the
walls, looking so fierce and stern, two struck me
more particularly. One was a sort of St. Michael,
spearing a demon, the other a divinity called " the
god of the thousand arms ; " but this god is obliged
to be satisfied with thirty only, and these arms seem
enough for what he has to do with them apparently.

All these grotesque-looking figures were not
sufficiently attractive to detain us very long. On
going out, we directly entered a second Buddhist
temple, where the koci stop on days of procession ;
then a third, the temple of Hokk^-do. These two
monuments interesting us but slightly we pro-
ceeded straight to the temple of lyemits'. It was
necessary to pass at first through a door flanked
with its four guardians in painted wood — a direct
importation from China. We visited the rooms
set apart for the priests' costumes and ornaments,
and then crossed a large court, noticing by the
way a fountain similar to the one in the temple of
lyeyas, due also to the liberality of the Prince of
Hizen, and some very pretty bronze lanterns, the
style of which was very fanciful and pleasing.

On leaving the court we arrived at a second
door, guarded, like the first, by four good men of
wood of hideous aspect ; two represented the gods
of the wind and the two others the gods of
thunder. They all had stags' horns. The first
couple, painted green, have on each hand a thumb
and three fingers, and on each foot two toes only.

138 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

The gods of thunder were stained red. Their
hands had a thumb and two fingers, and their feet
a great toe and a small one. In order to reach
this door, called lyachamon, we were obliged to
mount a staircase, from the top of which there is a
remarkable prospect.

Before passing into the temple of lyemits', we
stopped here to take breath and contemplate the
panorama that extends beyond the tomb of lyeyas
as far as the hazy distance that melts at last in the
blue horizon.

The temple raised in honour of lyemits', third
Tykoon of the dynasty, though smaller than .that
of lyeyas, resembles it in many respects. Ex-
cessively rich as it is in ornamentation, gilding,
lacquer, and paintings, it contains fewer curious
antique treasures than the temple of the grand
Tykoon.

The first hall and the gallery are open to
the public, but the hall which contains, it is said,
the portrait of lyemits', is closed. Here, as in
the temple of lyeyas, an impassible barrier stops
the way. A bonze, accustomed, no doubt, to
see Europeans attempting to go beyond, was pre-
paring himself to give a decisive answer to our
anticipated attempts at bribery j but the good man
had his sense of duty roused to no purpose, for,
being sensible of our recent experience, we had no
wish to trouble this one to give us a lesson as to
how we should conduct ourselves.

Our guide hurried us along. On coming out of
the temple we passed in succession before the tomb

EXCURSION TO NIKKO CONTINUED. 139

of lyemits', which is far inferior to that of lyeyas,
and before a certain number of mortuary monu-
ments containing the remains of priests of the
imperial family who have served in succession at
Nikko during two centuries.

After these tombs we visited successively the
pretty temple of F'taracha, a votary to the worship
of Shinto ; then an immense Buddhist temple, re-
markable only for its vast dimensions ; a stone,
whose virtue cures all maladies ; another stone,
rather coarse in conception, representing young
infants, where sterile women bring their offerings
in order to become mothers ; and finally, a temple
destined to receive thanksgivings, the gifts and the
ex-voto of these women when their prayers have
been granted. These gifts, with the object of
obtaining from Heaven a happy delivery, are ex-
tremely odd ; they consist of little bits of wood
representing the pieces of the Japanese chess-board.

But it was not easy to explain the connection
existing between the happy delivery and the game
of chess. It is a sphinx, a kind of charade wherein
one does not divine the word, and whose solution,
I suspect, is rather indelicate.

Let him try to discover the occult meaning who
may: as for me I should be rather inclined to
make a blot, like Courier on the pastoral of
Longus ; and I will merely observe that the temple
is literally strewn with chips, and this may give a
good idea of the fruitfulness of the natives, of the
benevolence of the Oriental Lucina, and explain at
the same time the inutility of midwives in the

I40 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

country of the daitmios, thanks to the divine inter-
vention of the chess-playing god.

At two steps further, another stone rose amidst
a thicket. " Come," said our guide, leading us
forward, " this is the last curiosity you will have to
see at Nikko." What was it after all so remark-
able ? It was here that reposed the remains of the
war-horse of the great lyeyas, and, indeed, the
noble charger was fully entitled to share a small
portion of his master's glory.

The djin-riki-cha ordered for the return journey
were waiting for us at the door of the hotel, and,
bidding adieu to Monsieur Soudzouki, our host,
with whose charges we were not dissatisfied, we
quitted Nikko..

CHAPTER XIII.

RETURN TO YOKOHAMA.

The Return — The Eiia—Guenzaburo — The OtokodatS—K
Day's Jolting and a Night in a Japanese Barge — An
Irritating Visitor — Return to Yedo and Yokohama.

A STEADY " trot " of three hours and a half brought
us to Osaka. There was nothing very curious to
see hercj and we were not disposed for any more
visits, for it was already eight o'clock, and we had
a long day's Journey to perform on the morrow in
order to reach Koga, with the hope of finding
there some rapid means of arriving at Yokohama.
Our leave of absence would expire the follow-
ing evening, and this, of course, could not be
disregarded.

Just as we were about to begin our dinner, a
beggar presented himself, and, instead of receiving
him with a feeling of pity, as is usually the case
in Japan ; instead of offering him a seat and
bringing him some tea, some rice, and everything
that constitutes a Japanese repast, the mous'-me fled
from the poor wretch; the house dog growled

142 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

surlily, menacingly showing his teeth, and the
poor fellow, disconcerted at this reception, stood
still in the middle of the road meekly implor-
ing pity. A kozukat,* with a wave of the
hand, ordered him to go away, then laid down
on the road a box full of rice; the mendicant
then approached, took up the rice, and dis-
appeared.

" But why all these precautions 1 Why these
signs of fear and particularly disgust } " " Etta"
they replied to us. But what is an etta ? Our
Yedo friend, familiar with Japanese manners and
customs, soon gratified our curiosity.

"The ettas," he told us, "no longer exist in
Japan but in a very small number. I have often
heard of them, but it is the first time I have
ever been face to face with one of these reputed
reprobates.

" The ettas are in fact pariahs, a despised race
condemned to degrading work, such as an honest
man would never think of doing. They wait on
criminals in their prison, kill beasts, tan their
skins — these are the revolting tasks they are
obliged to resort to in order to get their living.

" Their origin is an open question. According
to the patriots, who are enemies of all who are not
of pure Japanese blood, the ettas are the descen-
dants of the Mongolian invaders, abandoned by
Kubla-Khan. Others, more consistent in my
opinion, think that these unfortunate people are

* Servant.

RETURN TO YOKOHAMA. 143

the offspring of ancient executioners, whose
hereditary office was execrated at the time of
the introduction of the Buddhist religion, the
dogmas of which severely denounce capital punish-
ment.

" As a matter of fact, however, whatever may
be the origin of these poor people, they are, as
you have just seen, objects of fear and horror,
which nothing seems to justify in the Japanese,
so conspicuous for their kind manners and hospi-
tality.

" A certain number of stories are related of the
ettas that corroborate what I have just told you.
A noble, named Guenzaburo, of the caste of the
Hatamoto, was smitten one day with the charms
of the daughter of an etta, who, it seems, was
exceedingly beautiful. The soldier strove with
all his might to subdue his love, and demanded
permission from his master to absent himself
for several months, that he might endeavour to
forget her ; but his heart gaining the ascen-
dency over the prejudice, Guenzaburo returned
clandestinely one fine night and carried off his
mistress.

" From time immemorial public order in Japan
has been watched over with much care, first, by
the policemen properly so called, then by the
Otokodate, which I shall speak of presently. The
Government then was soon apprised of this
monstrous abduction. The poor lover, seized,
imprisoned, degraded, and divested of his goods,
was forced to hide his shame in exile, and, in

144 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

accordance with laws very rigorous at this epoch,
his family were included in this terrible condem-
nation.

" This incident will prove to you once more
how punctilious the Japanese were on the point of
honour, and how scrupulously they kept intact
and unspotted the brilliant prestige of their
nobility.

" The Otokodati, which I have Just mentioned,
is one of the most curious things in the ancient
organisation of this extraordinary country. This
name applied to an association of men whose
special mission was to defend voluntarily the
weak against the attacks of the strong and
the oppressor. The members of the Otokodati
bound themselves by solemn oath not to fail
in their undertaking : ' Better die,' they said,
' than ever abandon the holy cause of the
oppressed.^

"The chief of the association took the name
of 'Father of the Otokodati' and the members
were his apprentices. This society, wholly demo-
cratic, were accustomed, however, to have a ronin
for a chief In troublous times the Otokodate
aided the urban police, and had no fear of en-
countering the samourai, who were not very solici-
tous about the public tranquillity. These men,
therefore, were adored by the people, who regarded
them as their surest and most devoted pro-
tectors. As to the Father, it would be difficult
to give an idea of the high veneration in which
he was held.

RETURN TO YOKOHAMA, 145

" This association is dissolved. It was anni-
hilated by the destroying hand of the revolution,
and, like many other institutions that were an
honour to the empire, it has entirely disap-
peared.

" Can new institutions be said to replace
advantageously the ancient ones ? It is a momen-
tous question — one far too complex for an un-
qualified answer. We must wait and watch the
course of events, in the material as well as in the
moral world, in France as well as in Japan ; it is a
constant, grand transformation — it is progress, and
we must await its results."

The following day was an unbroken successiorh
of jolts and shocks. We stopped no longer than
was necessary to change runners and take a hurried
meal ; but we were compensated for this rapidity
in having been set down at Koga before seven
o'clock. We made inquiries, and found that the
surest and most economical way to reach Yedo'
early was to take the river. We therefore dined-
at our ease, and during this time our hosts set to
work to secure a boat.

We had hardly finished dining when the sendo,*
already informed, came from all parts. It was a
good sign, for concurrence would bring down the
terms ; the offers in fact surpassed the demand by
a long way, and as a rule tKe price fell. In the
embarrassment of choosing, one of our party ran
down to the river and ended the difificulty on the
spot.

* Boatmen.

L

146 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

At eleven at night we embarked on a foutie *
of extraordinary length, on the deck of which a
comfortable cabin was raised. Every one found
his place on the tatami, and rolled himself up in his
blanket, and, hushed by the monotonous singing of
the boatmen who rowed in cadence, our little party
slept soundly till morning.

But we do not awake so agreeably, for it is
raining, and the barge rolls under the vigorous
swing imparted by the oars. Some one complains
of unusual irritation, though localised to a mere
point. Is it possible that we have visitors so ill-
bred as to obtrude themselves into our private
affairs, and boldly push themselves uninvited, even
under the folds of our shirts .' It is quite possible,
considering the ubiquity and pertinacity of these
intruders; but as they approach so. insidiously, the
titillation often starts from the imagination to the
skin, and from the skin back again to the imagina-
tion ; and this was probably the case in this
instance, for after all the preliminary wriggling
and shuffling about, the mountain was only bring-
ing forth a mouse : a poor, lean, famished creature,
too minute only to rouse our pity, was all that
could be discovered at the end of the disorder
into which we had been so unceremoniously
thrown.

The rain continued falling and the barge kept
on its course, dancing over the waves till two
o'clock, when we were landed at Yedo. We had

* Boat.

RETURN TO YOKOHAMA. 147

time only for a very hasty brush up and a hearty
hand-shaking with our friendj who had procured
for us the pleasure of this delightful excursion, and,
having caught the train in a gallop, we arrived in
good time at Yokohama.

L 2

CHAPTER XIV.

A DAY WITH MITANI,

The Young Bride — Sundry Customs — Ceremony of the
Girdle — The Epochs of a Child's Life — Danna-san's
Opinion— Collection of Sabres— Value of Rare Sabres —
The Japanese Armourers— The Ba/amoio—O-lianst
proposes an Excursion.

The first thing we did the next morning was to
visit Mitani's shop. 0-Hana, pouting and looking
peevish^ fled on seeing us enter. Marcel was just
going to run after her into the back room, when I
seized him by the arm and made him, in spite of
his impatience, rest quietly at my side and assume
an air of cool indifference.

O-Hana seeing herself not followed, contrary
to what she had fully expected, soon reappeared.
I pitied her for her crestfallen countenance ; there
was consternation almost in her glance. It was so
irresistibly touching that I pushed my friend towards
her, and refrained from further meddling in other
people's business.

Peace was soon proclaimed it seems, for a

A DAY WITH MITANI. 149

merry ringing burst of laughter from the young
girl could leave little doubt on this point. Just at
this moment a young couple, whom I did not
directly recognise, made their appearance at the
door.

" Mon Dieu 1 " I cried, so soon as I recognised
O-Tchika-san, the recent bride, " and you are
really come, are you .? You are quite changed,"
and, as I thought to myself, much for the worse.

"You don't see," said O-Hana, laughing, "that
she has shaved off her eyebrows and lacquered her
teeth."

" Oh ! Unfortunate little creature. What is
the meaning of all this sacrilegious mutilation ? "

" Mutilation, indeed ! It is the fashion. Every
wife who has any self-respect ought to do as
much ! "

" As for me," said O-Hana, " I shall never show
my self-respect in that way."

I was aware of this barbarous custom. Excuse
the expression, my friends; I knew that the
Emperor and the Empress formerly set the ex-
ample. It was even becoming to a young girl,
on marrying, to make this sacrifice of her beauty
to her husband. Sometimes, indeed, in families
whose manners were rigid and precise, the opera-
tion was performed before marriage. I thought,
however, that this unsightly disfigurement had
been almost abandoned for some time past.

The dignified Danna-san, who until this moment
had not ceased smoking pipe after pipe, found the
occasion favourable to ventilate his eloquence, very

ISO JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

interesting, however, on certain details of conjugal
and family life in Japan.

" And Avhen is the ceremony of the girdle to
be ? " said he to the young wife.

" You are very impatient and very impertinent,
too, Monsieur Ouyeno," 0-Tchika replied in a tone
a little piqued.

The Customs^ officer burst out laughing. " I
wage," said he, turning to me, " that the French
would give anything to know all about the ceremony
of the girdle."

" No doubt of that," I replied.

"Very well, then ; just listen. But I must first
beg O-Tchika-san's pardon for rallying her so
roughly."

The young wife accepted, in sign of reconcilia-
tion, the cup of tea presented to her by the employ^.
The latter, shaking out the ash from his pipe on
the edge of the tchibatchi, then began in these
terms :

" In Japan we are accustomed to carry out
certain domestic ceremonies, which stand out like
landmarks in the long course of family life. The
ceremony of the girdle, which I have just men-
tioned, marks the fifth month of the interesting
condition of the prospective mother. You under-
stand now the indignation of the severe 0-Tchika-
san. At this epoch, the happy husband — certain
of soon being a happy father — offers to his spouse
a silken girdle, half red and half white ; the day
the present is made should be observed as a gala
day. The same day, a matron, chosen in the

A DAY WITH MITANI. 151

family or among friends, brings to the future
mother a girdle that has been given to her by her
husband in the same circumstances, and this is
sewn to the new girdle.

" This ceremony is an occasion for exchange
of presents and for fdtes, to which the parents,
friends, and neighbours are invited. The matron
thus contracts a sort of alliance with the infant that
will come forth in due time, and takes the title of
girdle godmother.

"When the new-comer makes its entry into
the world, its first clothing is made of the white
part of the new girdle, which has previously been
dyed blue.

" As to the red portion, it is carefully put aside,
and will serve later for a friend, who will 'sew it to
her girdle.

" As we are now considering this matter," con-
tinued Ouyeno, "I am going to give you some
information relating to the birth and bringing-up
of children.

" When mothers arrive at their term, they wait
for their deliverance on their knees, with their
back against a support, and. when the labour is
over they preserve the same posture for twenty-one
days.

" Since we have had doctors trained in Europe,
or in our new schools, I have often heard them
laugh at the prejudice that leads the Japanese to
suppose this fatiguing position to be indispensable
to prevent haemorrhage. But the prejudice is in-
surmountable, and the women — who are opposed

152 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

to doctors — even in grave cases, still conform
rigorously to the old customs of their grand-
mothers.

" Sixty-five days after its birth, the baby quits
its swaddling-clothes, and forty-five days later, it
is weaned. These two acts are also pretexts for
festivities. The ceremony of weaning — okoui-zomi
— is very generally fictitious, for it is by no means
rare to see babies three years old still at the breast.
The ceremony, however, without regard to actual
weaning, regularly takes place. According to the
sex of the infant, it is either a weaning godmother
or a weaning godfather who directs the ceremonial
of the fete.

" The brat, perched on the left knee of the
godfather or godmother, makes an imaginary
repast, in which it is supposed to eat and drink
many things — rice, fish, cakes, tea, sake ; every
dainty passes before its little mouth, and is actually
partaken by the godfather or godmother. The
ceremony at last winds up by another exchange
of presents between the godchild and its new
parent.

" In this repast, as in the marriage feast, you
will observe that the odd number seems highly
prized ; the three cups reappear, and most of the
incidents are repeated three times.

" Until the term of three years, eleven months,
and a fortnight, girls and boys have their heads
kept shaved. A few days before they attain this
age, their hair is allowed to grow ; then, on the
day fixed, the parents, friends and neighbours re-

A DAY WITH MITANI. 153

assemble as before. They then select a new god-
father or a new godmother, and before beginning
the repast, that accompanies, precedes, or follows
every Japanese ceremony, they proceed with much
formality in dressing the hair of the happy baby.
The godfather or the godmother, after having
made three clips with the scissors on the crown,
three on the right temple, and three on the left,
bedecks the innocent with a wig, arranged ac-
cording to the ancient Japanese fashion, with a
lock behind the head, bound with a cord and
brought over the shaven crown.

" These forms are not the last. When the
baby, if a boy, is on the point of entering his
fifth year, they give him a fourth godfather, whose
duty it is to invest him with the kakama, a flowing
pair of trousers similar to those of the samoura'i.
The child receives on this occasion from his god-
father three emblematic gifts : a false sabre, a
wooden poignard, and a ceremonial dress. This
costume is enriched with embroidery representing
storks, tortoises, branches of fir, bamboo twigs, and
cherry-blossom. The storks and tortoises, types
of longevity, presage to the newly-invested a long
life and without clouds ; the branches of fir re-
present attachment to good principles; the bamboo
twigs are the emblem of just judgment, of a noble
heart and elevated sentiments, which should be
the endowments of the future man ; and the
cherry-blossom, in virtue of its odour so fine
and select, symbolises the fragrance of a good
education.

IS4 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

" Finally, the most important and last of all
these ceremonies is that in which the lad abandons
his clothing, with full sleeves like girls', to put on
man's attire. This takes place about his fifteenth
year, a little sooner or later according to the
development of his figure and strength. As in all
the preceding ceremonies, a godfather is necessary,
and this time the selection is by no means a matter
of indifference, for he has to give one of his names
to his godson, who will retain it united with his
family name as long as he lives. The day ap-
pointed for this fete should be a gala day, the
influence of which will be felt by the lad for his
lifetime. This ceremony is called the ceremony of
the cap, because formerly in noble families the
godfather cut off the lock from the crown of his
godson's head that he might conveniently wear a
kind of head-dress which, no doubt, you have
seen on our stage and in our engravings. It is a
kind of head-gear specially adopted by courtiers,
and when set on the head does not readily
maintain its place there on account of its eccentric
shape.

" The severed lock is wrapped up in paper. It
is a souvenir of early youth, a sacred relic, which
should be religiously preserved, and carried with
the owner to the tomb.

" These," added the Customs' officer, " are some
of our ancient customs, which I know you are so
very partial to. You will do well to remember
them, for they are falling little by little into desue-
tude, and they will, I hope at least, in a short

A DAY WITH MITANI. 155

time more, be thrown aside as out of date and
ridiculous."

" But why, my dear Ouyeno," I remarked to
our interesting narrator, " why do you run down in
this way the manners of your own country ? Do
you fancy that Europe is so free from absurd
practices ? Besides, in everything you have just
pictured to our eyes, I find nothing whatever de-
serving of your contempt. On the contrary, I find
these family ceremonies full of simplicity, feeling,
and candour, and so deeply imbued with patriarchal
life that they please me exceedingly."

My opinion did not seem to modify the views
of the terrible innovator ; but I could clearly read
in the eyes of Father Mitani that I had his full
approbation.

While Ouyeno was pouring out this diatribe on
the ancient manners and customs of his country,
Mitani, no doubt to avoid any acrimonious dis-
cussion with his son-in-law, had risen from his seat
and was rummaging in the recesses of a cupboard,
listening all the time attentively to the conver-
sation.

"There," said he, laying down at our feet a
bundle of sabres, " this is what I have been search-
ing everywhere for you during your absence.
There are some here to suit all tastes ; but un-
fortunately, I have not found what I wished to offer
you. Arms that are valuable are daily becoming
more scarce in the way of dealers. The Europeans,
who are very fond of curiosities, empty our shops,
and for some time past the Japanese themselves have

iS6 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

been buyers of articles that are offered for sale in a
moment of distress, whenever an opportunity pre-
sents itself. You may make your choice from the
heap, and you may perhaps still find a few good
blades, to which we will put a guard and a scabbard
as well as we can."

The Japanese sabre is a formidable weapon,
beside which the coupe-choux and the latte of the
cavalry, adopted by the new army, are mere child's
toys.

The Japanese formerly attached so much im-
portance to the quality and perfection of this
weapon, that their consideration for the workman-
ship was reflected wholly on the maker. The
armourer was not classed among the despised
group of artisans and tradesmen. The sword-
makers especially enjoyed a marked esteem. It
was not rare, indeed, to see the nobles raising this
elevated art, in their judgment, to the rank of the
liberal professions. When the decisive moment
arrived for the forger to weld the strip of steel to
the blade, the workman, the artist, arrayed in the
costume of the Koug^, * performed this final opera-
tion in the open air in the presence of numerous
select spectators, and attended with the most
formal ceremony.

The price of sabres varies very much. At the
present time one may procure some very good, at
prices moderate in comparison with those that
were paid for them formerly; but from J[,\2 to
£,i6 have still to be paid for an arm well made
* Nobles of the Mikado's Court.

A DAY WITH MITANI. 157

and sufficiently ornamented. The proud repre-
sentatives of the Japanese feudality did not
hesitate to pay 1000 rio* for a good sabre.

This sum appears to us fabulous, but it is not
the highest price that these terrible arms may
attain. The last Tykoon, the one with whom the
Europeans and Americans had to deal on arriving
in Japanj offered to our plenipotentiary a blade,
sheathed in a simple scabbard of plain wood,
estimated to be worth, it is said by a dealer of
Yokohama, 1,500 rio.

This price seems exaggerated at first sight, but
it appears reasonable enough if one examines a
blade of the first order, and learns that in order to
arrive at this perfection many long months of
assiduous and minute toil are necessary to turn out
a piece of work, that may not be perfect in the end
in spite of all the precautions taken.

A well-tempered sabre should cut off three
men's heads, each at a single stroke. The samourat,
before concluding a purchase, prove the blades on
dogs, and sometimes, it is said, on mendicants they
meet with on the roads. But I will not give evi-
dence to this last assertion, one entirely opposed to
the precepts of the religion of Buddha, that enjoins
its disciples to refrain from useless massacre, even
the killing of animals.

It is quite certain, however, that the Tykoon's
sabres were tried on the condemned to death,
who had been previously executed .by strangu-
lation.

* A rio is about 4J. 2</.

158 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

Arms of this great value were considered as
real heir-looms ; they were kept with the greatest
care, and scrupulously transmitted from generation
to generation.

The sabres of Mitani's collection were worth
neither 1,500, nor 1,000, nor even 100 rio. The
most wonderful did not reach the modest price of
;£2. I made up a lot composed of a certain
number of blades. Mitani treated me as a friend,
contenting himself with a very small profit, and I
was accordingly in a position to carry away, without
ruining myself, a few nice specimens of these fan-
tastic swords, which have long played so grand a
role in the accounts, more or less picturesque,
travellers have given of Japan.

Desiring to assign a date to all these venerable
bits of steel, we had taken off the hilts and the
guards, in order to find the date of fabrication,
borne beside the name of the armourer, when the
arm is worth the trouble, on the part hidden by the
ornamentation of the hilt. Our search, however,
not having been thus far crowned with satisfactory
success, we were about to abandon it, when an
explanation from Ouyeno attracted our attention.

The employ^ was rubbing assiduously with the .
point of his finger the " silk " * of one of the
blades covered with a slight coating of rust.

" Here is a sabre," he said, " nearly a hundred
years old, that recounts its high deeds as clearly as
a page of history. This blade, which will cut

* The armourer's term ; it is the part of the blade that
■ enters into the hilt — the tang, called in French also la soie.

A DAY WITH MITANI. 159

through iron, has made more than one human head
roll in the dust. It is a precious relic, a work of
art whose discovery does honour to the shrewdness
of Mitani-san."

" Ah ! ah ! " cried the trader, " Monsieur
Ouyeno is pleased to accord to his father some
knowledge in works of art. I accept this compli-
ment all the more readily, since my son-in-law is
by no means prodigal of praise in regard to me. I
had, in fact, recognised the value of this blade,
and I am happy," he said to me, "to offer it to
you as a sindjio * and a souvenir."

I thanked heartily the kind old man.

" Do you know," I asked him, " who has been
the proprietor of this remarkable arm ? "

" No," he replied, " but according to the proud
device it bears, it is easy to recognise an illustrious
origin. It is not fine enough for a da'fmio, but it
has certainly belonged to a hatamoto."

I was going to question Ouyeno on the mean-
ing of this name, but, as Danna-san was on the
point of speaking, I had no time to do so.

"One more relic of our ancient civilisation,"
he said.

Then desiring, no doubt, that his father-in-law
would pardon his last freak, "it is a souvenir of
chivalric glories," he added.

"Hatamoto signifies 'under the banner.' The
number of men-at-arms mustered under the
banner of the Shogun^ was about 80,000. When

* Sindjio means a respectful present,
t General-in-chief.

i6o JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

lyeyas, nominated to the dignity of Shogun,
quitted the province of Mikawa, a large body
of these warriors, fascinated by the lustre of his
glory, followed the hero. These feudatories re-
ceived, for recompense for their services and their
fidelity, grants of lands, representing an annual
revenue of 10,000 kokou of rice, and they were
ennobled under the title of hatamoto.

" Under the fondai or dalmio, grand vassals of
the Tykoon, the hatamoto soon became a powerful
caste, forming, in time of war, with their own
vassals, the main body of the army, and occupy-
ing, in time of peace, all the secondary offices of
the Government.

" This caste, the bravest, the boldest, and the
purest of our ancient society, was in constant
rivalry with the grand feudal daimios of the
Mikado, a rivalry that was often carried into
sanguinary struggles, when the victory remained
generally on the side of their valiant arms.

"Until the revolution of 1868, the hatamoto
were the most faithful supporters of the Tykoon,
to whom they invariably furnished at all times
subsidies of men and money. A few more par-
ticularly attached to their suzerain have followed
him into exile; but the fortune of the Prince of
Tokougawa, considerably reduced since his retire-
ment, does not permit him to maintain a very
considerable army.

" The fall of the Tykoon entailed the ruin of
this great family, whose members, scattered by the
blast of adversity, and living apart and unknown.

A DAY WITH MITANI. i6i

are hiding the shame of their downfall far away
from the new Government."

Mitanij not much accustomed to hear his son-
in-law as an apologist for the ancient regime, and
mistrusting, not without reason, the sincerity of
his sentiments, listened with an air of indifference
without joining in the conversation. The Customs'
clerk, vexed at this indifference, and regretting
perhaps, having troubled himself to no purpose,
got up abruptly and departed without even reply-
ing to his wifcj who begged him to wait.

The young couple, impatient, no doubt, at
finding themselves alone, also took leave of us.

" Danna-san is in a rage/' said 0-Hana, " but
it is nothing very serious. 0-Sada-san has only to
remain here, and, before a quarter of an hour has
passedj he will come for his dear little wife and
make peace with his father."

The young girl was quite right. Ouyeno soon
reappeared ; his contrite look and downcast coun-
tenance moved the old man. 0-Hana, less lenient,
burst out laughing in her brother-in-law's face, who
did not, however, manifest his ill-humour afresh.
As for Marcel and myself, we thought it prudent
to leave, to relieve out of doors our pent-up
hilarity.

We were just' stepping into the street when
O-Hana stopped Marcel by laying her hand on his
arm.

" I don't want you to be going away again,"
she said, "without giving me notice beforehand.
I have been miserable enough these last four days.

M

i62 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

I thought I was never going to see you again,
and I imagined all sorts of things." Then fear-
ing, perhaps, we might not be pleased if she
showed herself too exacting, "you don't know,
Kamakoura," she hastened to add : " during your
absence I have been arranging an excursion. We
will go if you like to do homage to the statue of
the Daibouts' , which is very curious for Europeans
and much venerated by the Japanese. My sister,
0-Sada, Ouyeno,. 0-Tchika-san and her husband
will be of the party."

" Your plan is fully accepted, my pet," I said
to Marcel's friend. " We will go all together to pay
our compliments to my lord the Daibouts', as soon
as the service permits a fresh leave. To-morrow,
perhaps, we may be able to fix the day."

CHAPTER XV.

SOMETHING ABOUT SILK AND LACQUER, ETC.

The Trade of Japan— The Silk Trade— An Unlucky Mis-
calculation — -The Lacquer Manufacture — The Love of
Gain is destructive of Art — Antiquity of the Invention
of Lacquer — Cultivation of the Lacquer Tree — How the
Lacquering is done — The Rise of Agriculture.

Before going again into the country, we thought
it would be prudent to remain eight or ten days
on board ; and to employ usefully this requisite re-
posej I set about obtaining some information on
the commercial situation of the country — in-
formation that I had neglected hitherto, though
decidedly interesting. From the courteousness of
a few French merchants, known to our friend, and
some members of the Consulate, I was enabled to
gather the following facts, and to rely on their
accuracy.

The importations and exportations have been
gradually diminishing, nearly in equal proportions,
for some time past.* The rapid sales of the first

* From 1873 to 1874 the value of the total diminutions has
been 5,336,105 piastres, equal to about ;£i, 120,000 sterling.

M 2

i64 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

importations having led to the belief that an im-
portant new market had been created, the ship-
ments were soon multiph'ed to a ridiculous extent,
and European manufactures, produced with in-
creasing exuberance and beyond the needs of the
rest of the world, were poured in floods for many
years on the Japanese markets. The natural
result of these ill-advised shipments was a com-
plete glut, and then a marked falling-off in the
importations.

As to the exportationsj their diminution is due
to causes rather complex and difficult to explain.
It would, thereforCj be easier to give the facts. If
we consider the commodity of silk, which con-
stitutes the principal commerce of Japan with
European countries, we find that Japanese silks
are lessening in demand for European manufacture.
The reason of this is because the silks of Italy are
cheaper and more carefully cleaned, and on the
other hand, the silks of Oshiou, Hamatsuki, and
Etchizen, formerly much prized in the European
markets for their average quality, are not offered
for shipment on account of the demand for home
consumption.

The business of silkworms in card boxes has
also suffered great depreciation, and this is in con-
sequence of a blunder of the breeders, who, with
the object of gaining more, have made a deplorable
calculation, of which they have now to suffer the
consequences.

It is generally about the middle of October

SILK, LACQUER, ETC. 165

when the " egg-buyers " * set out from Japan for
Europe^ and many reasons induce them to avoid
delaying their departure as much as possible at this
season. As this custom is well-known to the pro-
ducers, they hold back their goods in the interior
of the country and arrive at the export market at
the end of the season, a few days only before the
departure of the steam-ships. The egg-buyers,
being then in a hurry to leave, will buy, they sup-
pose, at any price, it is said, without haggling.

The calculation savoured of a Machiavellian
policy, and, unluckily for the Japanese, the artifice
was found out and foiled. The egg-buyers waited
patiently as usual, and one fine morning the
market, hitherto quite bare, was literally encum-
bered with boxes.

Instead of exhibiting any concern or compro-
mising themselves by injudicious demands, the
Europeans did not stir an inch to meet the sellers.
Some employed their leisure in lounging among
the bazaars, picking up articles of virtii, others,
bent on pleasure, demanded from the Government
passes to travel into the interior. Business conse-
quently came to a standstill, for offers to the few
remaining were made in vain.

One day at last, the egg-buyers made up their
minds. " We are quite willing to buy," they said
to the Japanese dealers, "but we buy at a low
figure."

* The egg-buyers {grainetirs), are commercial travellers
sent from Europe to buy boxes of silk-worm eggs.

i66 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

In the presence of this "strike" of the buyers,
the Japanese clique was seized with a sort of panic;
During two days the most extraordinary bargains
were concluded; what was sold in the preceding
year for two piastres * was delivered now for forty
centsf only.

The situation was desperate, and exporters
were filled with consternation. It was necessary
to strike a decisive blow, or the silk industry would
inevitably be ruined in the empire of the Mikado,
Since the price fell in consequence of the abund-
ance on the market, they would destroy a portion
of the merchandise. The native bankers met, and
decided to create a special fund to indemnify the
raisers, as far as possible, for the loss consequent
on burning a certain quantity of the commodity .j
This expedient raised the price for a few days only,
and, shortly after, fresh arrivals from the country
brought down the price lower than ever.

In short, the silk and silk-worm egg trade is
in complete stagnation, and the policy to be
adopted to place it on a better footing is so im-
portant that it should occupy the attention of the
Government.

The trade in lacquered objects has been hitherto,
after the silk trade, the most important in Japan.
The number of boxes, cabinets, and lacquered

* The Mexican piastre is worth in Japan about 4J. 2d.

+ The cent is the hundredth part of a piastre.

X Between the 9th and 24th October, 1874, 400,000 boxes
were burnt ; the proprietors received from 15 to 25 cents
indemnity per card box.

SILK, LACQUER, ETC. 167

fancy goods sent out of Japan every year to most
countries in Europe and America is incalculable.

Unfortunately, the quantity excludes every-
where the possibility of quality. Commerce kills
art, and after one has stood in ecstasy before the
artistic marvels of old Japan and enters by chance
into one of those shops in France or England
whose proprietors pique themselves on offering
to their customers specimens of the pure, the
genuine, the fine and superfine, the visitor's feelings
are harrowed at the sight -of those coarse imita-
tions that are so stupidly presented by soi-disant
connoisseurs as the ne plus ultra of the beautiful.

Alas ! Poor Japan ! How thou art disparaged.
But then it is partly thy fault. Why suffer thyself
to be seduced by the love of gain ? Why dost
thou abandon thy artistic traditions ? It is, indeed,
another miscalculation.

At the present day the Japanese bibelots, depre-
ciated as they are, begin to fall in France, in
commercial language, to the last step of the ladder.
They make a miserable figure beside the " articles
de Paris" beside the box '^carton gaufr^" the
artificial flowers, the purses in false morocco, the
horn combs, and indiarubber braces.

" What is that .? " demands the French Customs'
officer on regarding with a perplexed eye some
boxes of gold lacquer, real jewels, bought at
Osaka.

" They are lacquer "

"Good! Fine haberdashery; ten francs the
hundred kilos "

168 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

" What do you say ? Haberdashery ! "

" Oui, monsieur."

Haberdashery, indeed ! my boxes of gold
lacquer, my pretty little boxes that I paid so
much for — these haberdashery ! What an insult !
No matter. We will profit at least by the igno-
rance of this man, and overlook the stupid error
in consideration of the economical result.

The art of lacquer originated in Japan, accord-
ing to tradition, in the middle of the eighth
century, but the Japanese, who have made re-
searches regarding this point, assign the end of the
ninth century as the date of this invention. Four
hundred years later, this art had acquired a certain
perfection, for they have preserved the memory of
a celebrated painter on lacquer, who at this epoch
invented new methods and enjoyed a high repu-
tation.

The fundamental material for the manufacture
of lacquer is the sap of a tree called ourotishi.
The ouroushi yields, besides the lacquer, a fruit
from which is extracted the vegetable wax.

The Japanese make a distinction between the
male and the female tree ; the latter only produces
fruit. When it is cultivated for the wax it is
allowed to grow freely, and it attains a considerable
size. If, on the contrary, it is required for lacquer,
they prune it every year to give vigour to the
trunk ; then, when it is sufficiently I'obust, that is
about the fifth year, they begin to make incisions
for the extraction of the sap.

The incisions are made horizontally from the

SILK, LACQUER, ETC. 169

foot upwards ; the sap trickles down the trunk,
and every morning it is carefully collected with
a spatula and deposited in wooden vases.

After four or five years of this debilitating
operation, the tree becomes exhausted ; it is then
cut down, and its excellent wood serves for the
manufacture of a quantity of diverse objects.

The ouroushi is raised either from cuttings or
from seed ; the latter method is considered far
preferable to the former, but it demands endless
care and precautions. ' At first, it is necessary to
bruise the fruit in a mortar, in order to separate
the seed from the pulp. The seed, after having
been washed, dried in the sun, and picked, is then
mixed with wood-ashes, and the whole put into
straw sacks, and then watered for some days with
liquid manure.

When this operation is finished, the sacks are
plunged into water, where they are allowed to
remain till the end of winter.

Shortly before the beginning of spring, on a
day marked in the calendar of the " Good
Gardener " of Japan, the sacks are taken out
of the water, and the seed, sown broad-cast, is
covered with a light layer of soil.

The quantity of sap an ouroushi is capable of
yielding naturally depends on its vigour and the
nature of the soil. Its trunk attains in five years
six or seven inches in diameter under favourable
conditions. The bark of fine-grown trees is so
thick that it is often necessary to strip it before
making the ordinary incisions.

170 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

It is naturally in the spring and summer that
the work is done. Sometimes it is continued till
autumn ; but it is well-known that the descending
sap is of bad quality. The most highly esteemed
in trade is that drawn in the middle of the
summer.

The price varies according to the district of
the country, and according to the product of the
harvest ; the average is about lOO rio the picule^*
about 3J. 4^. per lb.

In addition to the cultivated oni'oushi there is a
tree called yania-ouroiishi, and a kind of ivy, the
tsuta-ouroushi, both of which yield sap, but in very
small quantity and of very indifferent quality.

The yama-ouroushi, which increases abundantly,
resembles very much the cultivated otiroushi, but
the Japanese well know the difference, and weed
out the intruder from their plantations.

The real lacquer-tree is not common except
in the eastern part of Japan. The superior lacquer
comes from the province of Yoshino, but the
bulk, introduced into commerce, comes from
the province of Etshizen. It is into this province
where they go in quest of workers and painters
in lacquer, these being the most esteemed in
Japan.

The Japanese manufacture for their personal
and daily use, a variety of articles of plain lacquer
without any ornamentation ; they constitute almost
all their domestic utensils from the rice-box to the

* The picule is about 132 lb, English.

SILK, LACQUER, ETC. 171

toilet basin. These objects, very prettily turned
out, do not require any unusual talent from the
workman ; but the fine lacquers, enriched with
designs such as the Japanese call maki-e, in the
preparation of which gold dust is employed, are
the work of real artists.

I have often gone into the work-rooms of
Tama-ya and of Soodjiro, the two great makers of
Yokohama, and I have come away quite astonished
at the skill and lightness of hand exercised by the
workmen in these first-rate establishments.

The objects intended to be lacquered are made
of plain wood, excessively thin, and joined with a
perfection that is marvellous, the secret of which
being known only to the Japanese, who are the
best cabinet-makers in the world.

The lacquer is first applied by a brush in suc-
cessive layers more or less numerous, which must
be allowed to dry in a time determined by the
degree of temperature.

When they arrive at the stage of ornamenta-
tion, the designs, previously executed on silk
paper, are coated with lacquer varnish, and applied
quickly to the object with force, which retains a
humid impression of it. This is the moment in
which is revealed the true artist. With a fine
brush dipped in impalpable gold dust, he traces
over all the lines just soaked in varnish. When
this work is done it has to dry during at least
twenty-four hours, and then he has to recommence
and continue the same process till the desired
thickness is obtained. The painter will be obliged

172 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

subsequently to trim his work, but until it is ready
for this operation he hands it over provisionally to
the polisher.

The polishing is done, first with the charcoal
dust of the ouroushi wood, then with a white
powder, the composition of which is unknown to
me. When all the parts are well united, the
painter gives his last touches to the design, lays
on the final ornamentation, and then passes it to
workmen, whose business is to finish it with a
surface of varnish applied with a pad.

A work so very elaborate entails much trouble,
and consequently requires a long time ; it is there-
fore easy to understand the apparently exorbitant
prices of fine lacquers.

Tama-ya, who was very obliging, and I believe
thoroughly conscientious, having once heard me
expressing my high admiration of the beauty of
his productions, said to me : " I would not run the
risk of endangering the art of lacquering, and I
therefore take every care to secure excellence in
my manufacture. I sell at high prices, and you
buy nothing of me, because you prefer the old
lacquers to mine. You are right, there is nothing
equal to the old lacquers, but if I wanted to manu-
facture as in times of old, I should be obliged to
quadruple my prices, and then I should sell
nothing at all. I have here a great number of
competitors, whose concurrence is all the more
unfair, inasmuch as, it depreciates our work in the
eyes of Europeans. There is nothing to be done
to put a stop to the evil, and, if the exporting

SILK, LACQUER, ETC. 173

mania rages a few years longer, we shall shortly be
manufacturing no more lacquered cabinets, turning
out, like the Chinese, nothing but painted paste-
board boxes."

While the silk trade and the lacquer manufac-
ture are still gradually declining, the cultivation
of tea is developing. The exportation of the
scented leaf is increasing considerably every year,
and is beginning to keep its ground advantageously
with the teas of the Yang-tse-Kiang.

Agriculture in general progresses rapidly, farm-
ing is spreading, and model farms are springing up
in many parts ; the Government encourages them,
and supports them with subventions.

At the present time, the artificial pastures,
clover, lucerne, etc., which succeed wonderfully
well, are capable of nourishing more than thirty
thousand head of cattle, and I have no doubt that
in a short time Japan will become, if not the
Normandy of the extreme East — which the nature
of her soil would not permit — at least, a country
highly productive, where the European will find
the means of furnishing his table without being
obliged to resort so much to canned meat.

CHAPTER XVI.

OUR PLEASURE PARTY TO KAMAKOURA.

Kamakoura — A F6te — The Wrestlers — A Memorable
Contest — A Sentimental Promenade — Pious Pilgrims —
A Pleasant Dinner Party — ^A Vexatious Surprise.

My duties on board and my investigations on
shore left me hardly any leisure, consequently,
during these few days I made but rare and short
visits to the Mitani family, and as to 0-Hana, I
scarcely saw her. But Marcel more than com-
pensated for my absence ; he never lost an
opportunity to go and take a lesson in Japanese,
and every evening he said to me on his return :

" When are we going to Kamakoura ? Mitani's
daughter is longing for the day to come."

" We will all go the day after to-morrow," I
said at last. " Tell your friend in good time, and
engage the djin-riki-cka."

It was a beautiful morning when we started.
The merry party was composed of the newly
married couple, Ouyeno and his wife, 0-Hana,
and " the Japanese brothers." The ladies were

A PLEASURE PARTY TO KAMAKOURA. 175

charming in their" new toilettes. 0-Hana never
looked prettier — her large, soft, deep eyes, with a
slight cast of melancholy, had a dreamy expression,
brimming with pathos.

Seven djin-riki-cha, well drawn and well pushed
by picked men, carried us in less than five hours to
the village of Kamakoura.

I shall not undertake the description of temples
and idols that have already been depicted so often.
The stone of Omanko-sama is, besides, much too
picturesque for me to attempt any sketch. As to
the Daibouts' and divers other temples of this
country, readers who interest themselves in Japan
know them as well as I do.

It happened to be a fete day. Excursionists
were coming in crowds, less for the purpose of
performing their devotions in these consecrated
places than to witness the athletic sports that had
been announced many weeks in advance.

The Japanese are very fond of these spectacles.
The wrestlers were a class highly esteemed formerly,
and more than once they have played an important
r61e in the country.

In the year 705 (23 B.C.), they decided in a
certain way the destiny of the empire, and it
occurred in this manner. Just as they used to
say in France formerly, " Le roi est mort, vive le
roi ! " so the succession to the throne in Japan
generally took place without trouble, noise, or
contest. It happened, however, that at the death
of the Mikado, Souining-tenno, his two sons, being
no doubt twins, entered into rivalry.

176 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

It was necessary either to divide the govern-
ment between two, and thus gravely set aside
tradition, or have recourse to a supreme decision —
the wrestlers were charged to make known the
judgment of God.

Each pretender chose a champion, and, after a
struggle as memorable in the Japanese annals as
the combat of the Horatii and the Curiatii at
Rome, the brother, vanquished in the person of his
representative, submitted to fate, and loyally aban-
doned to his victorious brother his share of the
paternal inheritance.

At a later epoch, a certain Kiyobayashi was
proclaimed arbiter general of the wrestlers of Japan
and Prince of the Lions. He composed a code of
fair play, and recognised forty-eight falls as valid.
The games then constituted a part of the religious
f6tes, which took place every autumn after the
harvest, at Nara, the ancient capital. After 1606
these games began to lose some of their ancient
prestige, and they gradually ceased to become
the necessary accompaniment of religious cere-
monies.

The Japanese continue, nevertheless, passionate
admirers of the invincible champions, and wrest-
ling, though no longer officially patronised, remains
notwithstanding, as I have already mentioned, in
high estimation at the present day.

Kamakoura is, among many other places, one
of the points of rendezvous for the wrestlers,
whose exercises never fail to draw a mass of
spectators.

A PLEASURE PARTY TO KAMAKOURA. 177

The Japanese wrestler is of a curious type,
having nothing in common with our European
wrestlers and athletes ; nothing that we have seen
in our circus or on our arena can give any idea
of these human mastodons, whose weight only
counts in the chances of the contest. Whilst our
acrobats excel in their sinuosity and their agility,
which often serve them more efficiently than sheer
strength, the Japanese wrestler, trained exclusively
to throw his antagonist by seizing him around the
waist, depends only on his weight, the sole cause of
his stability.

It is quite a sight these monstrous exhibitions
of flesh ; moving slowly in the struggle, with the
body naked down to the waist, their legs and feet
equally bare, they proceed with the most solemn
slowness in their preparations for action.

Then each, with his huge haunches squatting
firmly on the ground, places himself in position and.
waits the attack, face to face, for some moments,
watching the other intently in the interval. It is
impossible to foretell which will decide on begin-
ning the assault, but suddenly one of these masses
moves, draws back heavily to muster force, and
then springs forward. The movement at first is
slow and unwieldy, but soon accelerates under the
influence of the momentum, and like a ball hurled
along an inclined plane, the assailant rushes on his
adversary with fearful impetuosity. If the shock
is encountered, these two bodies; on meeting,
produce the sound of a dull, heavy thwack, sicken-
ing to hear, and the eff'ect altogether is terrible.

N

178 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

Sometimes a simple movement aside, made to
escape the shock, saves the attacked from being
overturned, and the assailant, being unable to
arrest the impulse he has given to his body,
falls heavily on his side in the cords of the
barriers.

But this is only the entry into the struggle
destined to stir the spectators. The two adver-
saries soon come to close quarters, and, grasping
one another with their brawny arms, like the grip
of the boa, they seem almost smothering in the
formidable wring that forces the perspiration from
their pores and the breath from their lungs. At
last, at the end of an interval more or less pro-
longed, one of these colossal bodies swings to
and fro in the effort to keep his balance, and
then falling, like an ox under the butcher's pole-
axe, brings, in his unyielding grasp, his exhausted
vanquisher to the ground.

There was something repugnant in this brutal
exhibition, and, therefore, I by no means found
in this spectacle the interest and attraction I had
anticipated from the enthusiastic description of
ray Japanese companions.

The crowds of people drawn together to wit-
ness this spectacle was astonishing, and every
moment brought fresh arrivals in the picturesque
costume of travellers — the kimono raised above the
knees, the little sabre at the girdle, and the cane
in the hand.

The temples were also thronged with visitors,
and the yadoya were literally carried by assault.

A PLEASURE PARTY TO KAMAKOURA. 179

The friends of the Mitani family offered us most
hospitably the accommodation of their house, and
thus spared us the trouble — which would have
been by no means a light one — of finding shelter
elsewhere.

In order to make our way to the arena more
freely — the precincts of which were so blocked
with the multitude — we had separated from the
ladies, who, on their part, seemed pleased to have
an opportunity of paying their devotions in the
various temples of the neighbourhood.

O-Hana deemed it an urgent matter to go and
prostrate herself before a certain saint, in whom,
it seemed, she had special confidence.

The athletic sports afforded us little amuse-
ment; the vitiated air surrounding large assem-
blages is never to my taste, and I was glad to
breathe a purer and more fragrant atmosphere.
Marcel, being of the same opinion, proposed to
leave our good friends to themselves. for a while,
and to go in search of some rustic spot where we
might pass our time in meditative tranquillity, with
the pencil in hand.

After a short stroll, we came on a charming
little temple, perched on the summit of a mound
and ensconced in a group of majestic trees.
" What a delightful Chartreuse, where one might
pass so calmly the remainder of his days ! " ex-
claimed Marcel. "By all means let us rest
here."

•While we caught sight of a little nook, so
inviting to instal ourselves there for conversation

N 2

i8o JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

and drawing, if so disposed, we espied some pious
pilgrims leisurely mounting the monticule by-
steps cut out in the rock on the side opposite to
the one we had ascended.

Marcel, who had divined by some sort of
instinct who were of the party, smiled to him-
self with evident satisfaction.

" Oh, indeed ! It is a rendezvous," I remarked,
on quickly recognising our friends.

" Not at all. I assure you "

" Oh, very well. Then we will hide our-
selves to watch them, and see what they are
going to do."

A thick fence of tamarind-trees served us as a
screen.

0-Hana was running in advance with a great
bundle of green leaves in her hand. On arriving
on the elevated plat, she looked all around the
empty space before the temple, and appeared
astonished at seeing no one. Her countenance
was overshadowed with disappointment in an
instant. I pinched my friend's arm.

" Ah, my fine fellow 1 it seems to have been
very nicely contrived. Whilst you, under the fine
pretext of admiring beautiful scenery, draw me
here, the artful little maiden, with the ostensible
object of a pilgrimage, leads on her companions
to countenance by their presence an amorous
rendezvous. You do not stir from here, and this
is the penalty."

The three ladies, during this interval, had
begun their devotions. Each went in her turn to

A PLEASURE PARTY TO KAMAKOURA. i8i

deposit a green leaf on the altar of the god,
sounded the temple bell, threw a dj'ou-mon-sen*
into the trunk, prostrated herself three times, and
then redescended the steps to mount them again,
resting on each landing-place to repeat the genu-
flexions.

At the first descent. Marcel, supposing it was
a definitive departure, sprang out of his hiding-
place, but I detained him fortunately, for, at this
moment, O-Hana returned to continue her sort
of chemin de croix.

The bundles of leaves being very large, God
knows how long it would have taken to arrive at
the last leaf. At the end of a quarter of an hour,
being fatigued with our r6Ie of observers, we went,
so soon as the backs of the three ladies were turned,
to seat ourselves on the steps of the temple.

O-Hana was the first to perceive us, but she
affected not to notice anything, and approached
almost to our feet with her eyes cast down. As to
her sister and their friend, they seemed to be a
little disconcerted. Taken unawares, they felt
much embarrassed, and hesitated a moment to
continue their pious and fatiguing promenade.
We prevailed on them, however, to resume and
finish their devout exercise, which they did with
exemplary piety.

When all the leaves were laid down, one by
one, on the altar of the god, it was late ; the hour
we should have returned to our guests had already
struck some time.

* A small copper coin.

i82 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

The dinner, prepared with special care to do us
honour, brought together a delightful party full of
good-humour and merriment. They sang and re-
lated anecdotes and stories." Ouyeno, slightly ^m,
proposed even to accompany the Frenchmen into
their country with his wife and sister-in-law. At
one in the morning we were still among cups of
tea and flasks of sake.

The rest of the night was short enough, for at
daybreak Marcel was again on his feet.

" Quick 1 " he cried to me.

I was out in an instant. " Is the house on fire ?"
I asked, rubbing my eyes.

" It is a matter quite as serious — we start."

" But what is the meaning of this freak .■■ "

" Well ! There are my chronometers, you
know."

The long and short of it was, our officer in
charge of the chronometers had forgotten on
leaving to instruct a comrade to wind up his
"gimcracks," and in a few hours more they would
run down. Through this piece of thoughtlessness
we had to suffer, for our pleasure was suddenly
cut short.

I dressed myself in a hurry, in a rage all the
time at this stupidity. The incident was not very
serious, but a sense of duty urged us to endeavour
to avoid the consequences of the blunder.

" Do you expect to arrive in time .' "

" Yes ; it is now five, and if I can be on board
at half-past ten honour will be safe and sound."

" Then we start."

A PLEASURE PARTY TO KAMAKOURA. 183

We were now quite ready ; but it was necessary
to take leave of our hosts and make our situation
known to our companions. The difficulty was to
make them understand it. The good people could
not account in any way for our whim ; but 0-Hana
helped us out of the dilemma.

" Don't you see/' she said to our hosts with an
authoritative tone she well knew how to assume
when expedient, " that you are detaining the idj'in-
san by your needless questions } If they are bent
on getting back to Yokohama, without losing time,
it is because they have, doubtlessly, a very good
reason for it, and if you understand nothing what-
ever about the business, why trouble your heads
about it?" Then, turning to us she said: "We
are ready to start as soon as you like."

Our things are packed up in a hurry, we take
a hasty meal, say "good-bye," and, at a quarter
past six, we start at full speed in the direction of
Yokohama.

Our runners, allured by the promise of an im-
portant pourboire, itchiban, race over the plain like
coursers. Unluckily, frequent hills intervene to
arrest their progress. Marcel looks feverishly at
his watch every minute. One hour more ; then,
half-an-hour ; at last we arrive at the French
attoba.* Without losing time in paying for our
vehicles we jump into a foune.\ At the moment
the officer of the watch, astonished at our prompt
return, receives us at the side, eleven piquent.X

* Slip. t Boat.

X A sea term.

i84 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

" Too late ! " exclaims the Breton in despair.
Then without stopping an instant, without taking
the proffered hands of his comrades, like one seized
with some sudden and terrible colic, he rushes to
his cabin. But a joyful exclamatidn soon bursts
forth, and Marcel speedily reappears, fluttering
with excitement. " They are going ! " he cries,
" they are still going ! "

The quarter-master of the steerage, Kerlaradec,
gravely occupied in cleaning lamps at the ward-
room door, regarded with a suppressed smile this
scene so puzzling to everybody. His jolly face
was beaming with some secret joy.

" There, that is the good fellow who has thought
of you," I said to Marcel.

" That is true," he replied, " and another time I
shall sleep sur mes deux oreilles. Ah ! if I were the

Minister of the Navy, Kerlaradec should be

but I am not the Minister of the Navy. Never
mind, I will do him a good turn some day."

We were too elated at this d^no'dment to think
anything more of the vexatious interruption of a
day's pleasure.

CHAPTER XVII.

OSAKA — DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA.

A Recall to China — Separation — Parting Letter from
0-Hana — Marcel's Discomfiture — Kobd — Osaka — An
Evening's Amusement in a Yadoya — The Gudcka — A
Chibai-ya — An Embarrassing Matutinal Bath — Passage
from Osaka to Foushimi — Japanese Phlegm — Arrival
at Ki6to.

The time for us to return to China^ and to be
recalled from there perhaps to France, was fast
approaching. Our commanding officer, having re-
ceived a telegraphic despatch ordering him to get
the steam up in twenty-four hours, would accord
to his officers no more permissions of absence from
Yokohama.

0-Hana, to whom Marcel had never replied
categorically on the eventuality of a departure,
which would be sooner or later, seemed now to
have a presentiment of some great grief. Her
exquisite feminine sensibility secured her against
any possible self-deception.

For several days past I had noticed in our
sweet friend an inward trouble that was beyond

1 86 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

her power to dissimulate. Her large black eyes
slightly moist with rising tears, interrogated us
with deep anxiety. She yearned to put a question,
and yet trembled to hear unwelcome news. Very
often at the time of our daily visit I could plainly
see her watching our arrival from afar ; but when
we entered, we found she had disappeared. I soon
discovered the reason for this procedure on the
part of the young girl. Immediately she caught
sight of her friends, confident in the power of the
Kami, she went, with all that naive simplicity so
conspicuous in her character, to prostrate herself
at the feet of the little idol in her chamber, suppli-
cating him to avert, or at least retard, the fatal blow.

" What will you do when you will be obliged to
depart 1 " I said gravely to Marcel. " Do you
think you will have firmness enough to go to
the loving creature and tell her the hard truth ? "

" Yes," he replied calmly, but the tone betrayed
his emotion. "It will be for me a relief, but a
relief mixed with some bitterness. And then, am I
not bound to give her this last satisfaction > Why
break this pure, childlike heart in affecting in-
difference .' And yet, have I not already clung too
long to evil ways in fostering this affection, in per-
mitting it thoughtlessly to develop without object
and without hope .? Instead of stirring up again
this love by a long, fond leave-taking, would it not
be better to act as in duty bound, hard as it may
seem in her eyes ? "

The day after this conversation, an evening at
the end of April, the order to depart came.

DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA. 187

I went to inform Marcel.

" It was to be expected, of course," he replied,
calmly at first; then dwelling on the idea of
separating himself from 0-Hana, he felt his firm-
ness give way. He dreaded the tears of his dear
friend, and dared not evoke her simple-hearted
despair.

What was to be done in such a dilemma.' I
persuaded him to remain on board, and I went
ashore at my usual hour. I took quite mechani-
cally the way to the Benten, and, allowing myself to
be guided by chance, hoping perhaps to find in the
inspiration of the moment the means of breaking
to our good friends that we should see them no
more, I went up as usual to the shop and knocked
at the door.

I affected a gaiety of manner perhaps exagge-
rated J but for me, however, the satisfaction was
not simulated. The prospect of finding myself in
a few months again in my native land filled my
heart with gladness.

0-Hana was not mistaken. Her poor little
heart was cruelly wrung with unsparing grief. She
burst into tears, and did not say a word about
Marcel. Perhaps she instinctively felt that the
slightest allusion was a dagger rankling in her
breast. I left her, however, without any explana-
tion.

We were to leave the country about ten in the
morning. At half-past nine a /bz^^/ comes along-
side the larboard. The sendo hands a letter to one
of the steersmen of the watch addressed to my

!88 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

friend, and immediately pushes off from the ship
without waiting for a reply.

Marcel opened with a trembling hand the
silky Japanese paper. It was a letter from
O-Hana, and this is the literal translation of its
contents :

" It is in vain that thou hast desired to hide it
from me," she said to him ; "it is in vain that I
have implored the Kami, thou art going away, I
know it well. The pang that I felt in my heart on
seeing thee yesterday morning for the last time,
revealed to me that the hour I dreaded so much
would now soon come.

" Oh, lord of my soul, hast thou understood my
love ? Thou goest away, and thou leavest thy
' little flower,' which thou hast cherished so much.
Thou goest toward the distant shores of thy fine
country.

" Why dost thou not permit me to accompany
thee 1 I would be thy friend, thy faithful servant,
thy submissive slave. Alas ! poor creature, I had
clung to illusions too sweet. I imagined, silly
thing, to keep thee near me always.

" Farewellj then, to thee, whom nothing can
detain ; thee, who wilt be my only thought, be
happy ! May the Kami and the Hobokd protect thee
on the perfidious seas ! But, I conjure thee, when
among all the women of thy race, not to forget the
maid of the Benten who has given thee her life,
and who regrets she was not able to prove to thee
her tender love."

We started in favourable weather, and the three

DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA. 189

hundred and sixty miles that separated Yokohama
from Kobd were soon accomplished. Thirty-two
hours after our departure, we dropped our anchor
in the pretty little port of Hiogo.

I had arranged some time since with a few of
my comrades to visit the great city of Osaka on
the first favourable opportunity. We had applied
to the Japanese Government for authorisation to
travel beyond the limits of territory open to Euro-
peans, and to go as far as Kidto, the holy
city.

Besides the ordinary curiosities of this ancient
city, a fresh interest at that moment attracted a
multitude of visitors within its walls. A universal
exhibition, organised, it was said, with much taste
and installed in the Yoshio — the palace abandoned
by the Mikado in 1870 — offered for the first
time a very complete collection of the innumer-
able products of Japanese art and manufacturing
industry.

Marcel, my inseparable companion wherever I
went, was still too painfully engrossed with Yoko-
hama — too full of dearly cherished souvenirs — to
think of taking any pleasure so little in harmony
with the subject over which he so passionately
brooded. He could not think without a deep,
tender melancholy of his little flower of the
Benten, his blithe daily companion, his interesting
little Japanese preceptress. Her tears had more
profoundly moved him than he was willing to
admit to himself; and he felt the mourning of the
separation still too recent to think of mixing in

190 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

the amusements of his lively and too thoughtless
countrymen.

But after a day's hesitation, certain besides of
not finding later another so good opportunity to
visit this important province of Japan, he yielded
to our pressing solicitations, and joined our party.

Osaka is one of the largest cities of the
empire. Placed at the remotest end of the gulf
formed by the eastern extremity of the inland sea,
its situation is most remarkable from every point
of view. It has had rail communication with
Kobe — twenty-five miles distant — for a long time,
and it has just been united by another line to
Kioto, which is to be prolonged to Yokohama,
when there will be railway accommodation through-
out to Yeddo,

As our putting in at Kob^ was to last twelve
days, leave from ship duty was accorded to the
officers, that they might make the trip to Ki6to ;
on condition, however, that the service would not
be prejudiced. With this object it was necessary
to concert measures together. We could very well
divide our complement into two, and then those
officers not disposed to roam could do duty for
the rovers, taking their turn on another occasion.
This was cheerfully arranged, and our pleasure
party was composed of the doctor, young Sylvain
the midshipman, and the two "Japanese brothers."

We started from Kob6 about noon, under a
radiant sun, and we landed in an hour at Osaka
in a flood of rain. It was a bad prospect, but too
late to draw back.

DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA. 191

The dj'in-ri' ki crowded around us.

" Idjin-san, idjin-san" they bawled out to us
from all parts.

" How much to draw us to Kidto ? "

" Five rio per djin-riki-cha and one rio for the
extra drawer."

" It is too dear."

" We will not go for less. It is raining ; the
roads are bad. It is a very hard pull. No, we
will not go."

" That will afford us the pleasure of waiting
here the return of fine weather."

While the doctor and Sylvain^ whose hours of
leave are nicely computed, dispute and at last con-
sent to pay the price demanded, twice as much as
it ought to be, the "Japanese brothers " slip off,
but not without wishing their impatient com-
panions joy of their bargain.

We soon make our way into the city in triumph,
with our knapsacks on our backs and umbrellas
overhead.

Osaka, called also Naniwa — flower of the waves
— is not a remarkable city. Standing on each
bank of the Kamo-gawa, an immense river, its
long streets run parallel out of sight, intersected
at right angles with a tiresome regularity. Then
beyond one another there is a series of canals,
again straight and parallel. A few fine shops dis-
play their fancy articles, where Europeans from
Kob^ come to make their purchases. Temples
abound as everywhere else. A rather fine citadel
rises on an elevation, and then there is the mint.

192 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

Besides these there was nothing that we had not
already seen scores of times, and which I have not
elsewhere described. I shall therefore not under-
take to make it the subject of a special chapter.

The state of the weather did not invite us to
mount the citadel or to go and see them coining
the Ho, unless in the disguise of mandarin ducks j
we therefore decided to spend the evening in con-
tinuing our study of the manners of the people,
after we had made inquiries as to the most con-
venient and economical means of reaching Ki6to
the next morning.

We went over a bridge, and seeing a signboard
the other end, we found our way down to the
water, where two or three steam foun^ were pre-
paring to start.

" Captain, where are these vessels going 1 "

"To Foushimi."

" When do they leave ? "

" Tada-ima — this instant."

" It is too soon. At what time to-morrow .■' "

" At nine, twelve, and three o'clock."

We now had the desired information. From
Foushimi to Ki6to the route is short. The
question now was to find a night's lodging in a
respectable and comfortable house.

The rain is excessively disobliging. The people
appear to me less civil, less courteous than I have
found them elsewhere. What is the reason of that
ill-favoured look, I see, those furtive, suspecting
glances >. Are we in an enemy's country ? No,
they are still our good Japanese around us.

DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA. 193

But dismal remembrances arise in my mind.
This was the theatre of the last of the sangui-
nary dramas that cast a gloom over the days
of our first sojourn in Japan. It was here, or
in the environs, in 1868, that a French sloop-of-
war had its crew almost entirely massacred. Could
this lugubrious incident be still present in the
memory of these good people .'' Do they hold
themselves continually on the defensive, fearing
reprisal .' No, there is no ground for such a notion.
A serious reflection convinces us that our depressed
spirits alone had conjured up evil looks in men
and things around us.

We went our way chatting together, asking
those whom we met, who seemed to have nothing
repulsive in their composition, for the address of
a respectable yado-ya, and arrived at a European
hotel, where a big Englishman with hair very much
like tow — the proprietor, no doubt — was anxious to
entertain us. But this was not what we wanted.
To drink hot whisky out of rummers, to eat roast-
beef with electro-plated forks, was not at all what
we were disposed to undergo.

What we wanted was to sip yellow tea out of
Lilliputian cups, and get tipsy on white saki. We
wished particularly to eat Japanese rice with the
" gastronomic " eating-sticks. We desired, in short,
to live in Japan a Japanese life.

The landlord with the hempen locks, astonished,
scandalised by the indifference with which his
offers were disregarded, shows no desire to retain
us, and regards with a bewildered look the two

o

194 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

simpletons, who, despising the refinements of his
cuisine, have already left in search of a native
bungler in the art of cookery.

We^soon alight on a vast establishment, and it
is evidently such a one as we are looking for. It is
a house with a large front, little piles of salt at the
door, an immense public room on entryj where
may be seen lounging about more than fifty
people, of all ages and both sexes, some sitting,
some squatting, others eating, drinking, or smoking,
a few sleeping, and most of them conversing
together. Many ne-san, some looking sportive and
even mischievous, are flitting among this motley
crowd distributed in the greatest disorder. Then
there are stoves in the back and pastry and black-
puddings in the window in front; we therefore
presume we have alighted on the grand hotel of
the city.

To enter, to jabber in our Japanese, to ask for
something to eat and drink, a bed, and everything
we wanted, and to make our terms while rallying
the servants — all this was no sooner thought of
than put into execution.

Everything seemed encouraging; one trifle,
however, attracts the attention of our hostess.
" Idjin-san anata-gatani ii makoura wa arimasen"
she says decisively. What is it ? — Pillows.

About six months previously — rokka-getsou mai
— some American naval officers alighted at her
yado-ya. The Danna-san were delighted, every-
thing was delicious ; the rice appetising, the fish
dressed to a turn, the tea perfumed, the saki ex-

DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA. 19S

quisite. These lorjds had brought some boudo-chu
(wine) which goes off like petards (champagne).
After many songs and toasts to the United States,
bed-time arrives.

" I want a pillow," says one ; " we want pil-
lows," the others reply in chorus.
" But, my lords, you have them ! "
" What is it that you call a pillow .' "
"These lacquered makoura, quite bright and
new ! "

" That is a good joke."

And in less than five minutes the house is
turned upside down. The honourable gentlemen
would have pillows. What was to be done ? There
were none. The uproar wakes up all the guests,
and neighbours rush in. The hubbub begins to
rise to a mutiny, when a servant espies a bundle
of rice-straw, rolls it up in an old kimono, and
presents it to the citizens of the New World. This
expedient calms the madcaps. Each, in the end,
furnished with his bundle of straw, disappears
behind his screen and slumbers to the general
satisfaction. But the commotion was so out-
rageous that they had fear of a serious conilict,
and the worthy oba-san by no means desired
to-day a repetition of the scene.

" Be quite easy on that score, my good woman,"
said Marcel, showing her our travelling rugs
carefully rolled up. " Here are our pillows and
if you have nothing better to offer us, we shall be
content with them. And now we should like
something to eat."

3

196 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

In Japan the table— if there is one— is quickly-
laid, but generally there is none at all, and the
supper is then laid on the ground on the white
mats of the floor.

We have not long to wait. . A little round
wooden trough, very clean, contains the rice which,
in the way of bread, we shall consume liberally.
The different meats of our " Balthazar," cooked
fish, raw fish, poultry cut up in petty morsels,j:akes
of all kinds and all colours, fruits and dainties of
all sorts, are placed in large dishes like our saucers
in French restaurants.

Two young mous'-m^, appointed to wait on us,
present us with little plates full of rice, delicate,
little eating-sticks scrupulously clean, and request
us to take our seats.

Then begins a comedy. Marcel being more
pliant, gravely seats himself on his heels, but, as
for myself, after tiring efforts to be enabled
Jto assume a position so marked with local
•colouring, I end by falling heavily on the posterior
ipart of my person, thrusting out my legs into the
middle of the symmetrically-arranged convert.

My fall was followed by a ringing burst of
laughter from the pretty servants ; they were hold-
ing both their sides, and were on the point, per-
haps, in this uncontrollable fit of merriment, to roll
on the ground, when Oba-san in compassion came
to put an end to their irreverent roar, bringing me
a taiko, a kind of tamburin in lacquered wood,
about ten or twelve inches high, upon which I
settled myself as well as I could.

DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA. 197

Being now comfortably installed, we did honour
to the cuisine of the distinguished chef of the
place, sending him from time to time our compli-
ments and congratulations. Mesdemoiselles Karou
and 0-Tchi-o, our femmes de chambre, con-
scientiously acquitted themselves of their duties,
laughing in their sleeves all the time at the awk-
ward fashion with which the Western men used
the eating-sticks, so different from their dexterous
and graceful handling.

At the end of an hour's active work we
declared ourselves satisfied ; something, however,
was still wanting : but what .' While Marcel was
considering what it was, I turned out of my knap-
sack a bottle of Chambertin. Marcel was enrap-
tured at the sight of this delicious wine, which,
after having traversed the seas and been heated by
the fiery climate of Cochin-China, had resumed in
the temperate region of Japan all its richness and
vigour, and its character as the true nectar of
men.

While we were enjoying this exquisite wine,
relating amusing incidents to our merry servants,
night had come and it still rained. What were we
to do to pass away the evening ? We should have
been happy to have found an agreeable person to
give us some information about Osaka, its origin,
its history, and present position, and to relate to us
some old legends of the country.

Unfortunately, our frolicsome ne-san were not
well-informed, and our questions had no other
response than noisy laughter without reason. The

198 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

class mous'-mi of Japan decidedly does not surpass
that of the maritornes in our French inns for intel-
lectual training and good manners.

We were, therefore, obliged to* resign ourselves
to our fate, and to be contented to gather from
their society as much amusement as they were
capable of affording us.

The word chibai-ya was uttered to the great
delight of the girls, and the babbling group soon
abandoned the other travellers to gratify their
curiosity around the Europeans. We then sent
for the gu^cha, without whom a chibat-ya would
have been, as insipid as a quadrille without
violins.

Chibat-ya comes from ckibai* — " theatre " — and
ya — "house." The word improperly used by the
Europeans is, nevertheless, well understood by the
people of the country.

A chibat-ya is composed of a series of panto-
mimes, of scenes more or less characteristic of, and
played by women, and of a kind of vocal diversion
named tchion-kina, in which they play forfeits,
taken successively from the different portions of
the dress. In this entertainment, the dancing girls,
divided into two camps, make gestures that have
all a conventional signification.

Here are a few taken at random :

The closed fist represents a stone. The open
hand extended horizontally indicates a sheet of

* The chibai was formerly the place reserved before the
temples for representing religious scenes and mystic dances.

DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA. 199

paper. The fore and middle finger opened in the
form of V, the others being doubled back on the
palm, are the image of a pair of scissors.

Attaka-san, for instance, presents her closed
fist to her friend, Kinougasa-san ; the moment the
latter offers to her the scissors, the stone being of a
nature that would break the scissors, Kinougasa-san
pays a forfeit. But if Attaka-san presents, instead
of her fist, her open hand, a symbol of a sheet of
paper, she is beaten by the girl with the scissors,
because the scissors cut the paper. And finally,
if the stone and the paper are produced together,
the victory is with the paper, which may envelope
the stone.

There is an indefinite series of signs contesting
the advantage over one another, and the great
merit of the dancers is to be able to produce
unknown ones. Most of them are of questionable
taste, and accordingly, they excite to the highest
point the interest of the native spectators, whose
delight arrives at a paroxysm when, in conse-
quence of the number of forfeits given, all the
actresses, except one only proclaimed " victorious,"
find themselves denuded of the last and thinnest of
their veils. Then begins the chiri-fouri^ a very
indelicate dance, which generally winds up the
chibat-ya.

The guecha are artists, musicians by profession,
who play the chamicen and sing to accompany the

* Chiri signifies " dance," and fouri that part of the
human body which it is now the fashion to make the most
of by a contrivance euphemised as a " dress-improver."

20O JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

dancers. Generally more chaste, the guecha
modestly retire behind a screen before the end
of the chibm-ya, which is allowed to arrive at its
epilogue. Clad in brilliant and fanciful costume,
they execute also feats of dancing, singing all the
time, and assume poses full of grace, infinitely
preferable to the exhibition of the brazen little
ladies of the chibai-ya.

When our musicians were introduced we had
already put on our Japanese night-dress, consist-
ing, during winter, of a large robe de chambre of
blue cotton with large stripes, quilted, and about
two or two and a half inches thick. In this costume
we had a genuine Japanese look, and we received
these ladies with all the respect due to their talent.

The usual salutations and compliments having
ended, the fete begins. At first the joyous troop
appear calm and becoming in their demeanour;
each in her turn delivers a couplet while cutting a
caper. The scenes succeed each other, gradually
becoming more animated and more high-seasoned ;
then with the saM and the tobacco aiding, they get
" elevated," and commence a bacchanalian dance,
accompanied with shouts of laughter from all sides.
It would be too embarrassing to give a description
of these orgies, and I shall refrain from making the
attempt. It was now already midnight, and in the
morning we were to take the steamboat for Fou-
shimi and Ki6to; we therefore retired, to the
great disappointment of the artists, who continued
the exercise for their own diversion, exulting in the
grossness of the scene.

DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA. 201

Oba-san at last put an end to the entertain-
ment, and ten minutes afterwards our guicha,
warmly wrapped in their silk mantles, with their
chamicen under the left arm, their hands tucked
under their sleeves, marched off to their chambers,
whilst the dancers, again transformed into servants,
brought out the beds, and arranged them for the
accommodation of our wearied limbs on the floor
just occupied by the ball.

When Marcel came to me the next morning to
tell me it was high time to get up, I had a good
mind to send him .... I was so very comfort-
able in this little nest of f'ton. Why could we not
take the twelve o'clock boat.' I thought. Completely
roused, however, by the just observation of my
friend, I wriggled, but with some difficulty, out of
the heap of accumulated mosen in which I was
buried, and while Marcel was freezing in the
court in going through his ablution at a bowl of
gold-fish, I leapt into a great barrel placed up-
right on a tripod, where I fully expected to find
the water still tepid.

Just at this critical moment the whole house
begins to stir. From every corner and recess
emerges one of the bees of this veritable hiiman
hive. I recognise from one side, then another,
a danseuse of the preceding evening. Each salutes
me with a most gracious smile, wishing me the
" good morning " of the English — 0-haio danna-
san.

Marcel, who is as red as the fish he has just
stirred up in their habitat, announces his entry by

202 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

a shout of laughter on seeing my head emerging
from my singular bath, and begins to suspect I am
half-cracked. But the calm demeanour of the
people of the house reassures him ; the attitude of
one of the nd-san, crouching at the foot of my
barrel, and relighting the fire beneath, demon-
strates to him clearly that he was wrong in going
among the fish to be struck with chill, and that
I had well chosen the right spot. He was pre-
paring even to recommence his ablutions when
a loud whistle reminds us of the steamboat for
KidtOj and as she slips her moorings at nine, we
have no time to lose.

Then an unforeseen difficulty presents itself.
When I jumped into my bath, every one was still in
bed. Imagining I had no reason to fear any un-
guarded eyes or indiscreet glances, I naturally did
not encumber myself with clothing that was not
required. But in the] space of five minutes the
scene entirely changed, a score pair of eyes at
least were cognisant of everything taking place
in the great room. It was therefore incumbent
. on me to watch the favourable moment to abandon
my hiding-place in the most becoming manner
possible. The feat appeared to me so -very diffi-
cult to accomplish that, disregarding all dignity,
I was about to spring resolutely out of my barrel,
when I perceive a jolly Japanese, like myself in
puris naturalibus, coming to occupy with the most
phlegmatic indifference the hogshead next to mine.
This Japanese was closely followed by another,
then by a family, composed of the father, the

DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA. 203

mother, and the two daughters ; then by a second
family ; finally, the whole household, in the state
of our first parents antecedent to their scanty
costume, were soon immersed in the eight or ten
barrels arranged along the walls. •

Emboldened by example, and on the other
hand being little desirous of the society — by far
too intimate — of three or four " companions of the
bath " of both sexes, I lost no time in decamping
from my embarrassing retreat and in dressing
myself as if to escape from a fire.

When we went with our knapsacks on our
backs and umbrellas in hand to settle our bills and
take leave of our obliging hosts, we found Oba-
san and her young handmaidens ready to pour
out the parting-cup. Having paid the bills with-
out any complaint and every one being satisfied,
we distributed a few pourboires and prepared to
take the road to the quays. But Japanese eti-
quette required our masters and their servants to
come and formally thank the travellers who had
honoured their house, and prostrate themselves at
their feet, muttering all the time, Oki-arignato-
san, " many thanks," which we thought would
never end.

The whole female portion of the establishment
were in movement; some came adjusting with an
awkward hand the girdle of their kimono, others
drawing on a sleeve or making efforts to secure
the little red apron that served them as a pantalon.
We soon beat a retreat before this motley group
and their interminable homage, and having go

204 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

clear of the threshold, we saw on turning round
a bevy of. little Venuses rising from the wave, who
had jumped out of their hogsheads to wish us
a good journey and God-speed.

We leapt into a djin-riki-cha, and a gallop of
our djin-ri' ki soon brought us to the jetty. We
were only just in time, for the boat immediately
slipped her cable and, the current helping, shot
at full speed towards the shores of Foushimi.
As there was nothing very attractive in the pas-
sage, we installed ourselves with the sole object
of making ourselves as comfortable as possible.

It was intolerable remaining on deck, such as
it was, but there was nothing like a deck on this
sort of craft covered with an awning; and to add
to our discomfort, the wind, that had succeeded
the rain of yesterday, blew sharply from the north
and parched our faces ; we were therefore forced
to remain below and ensconce ourselves as well as
possible in the very restricted space allotted to the
passengers.

The first cabin, occupying the fore part of the
boat, about loj feet long and nearly 5 feet wide,
was quite void of seats. About a score of Japa-
nese of both sexes were squatting on their heels on
the tatami, apparently quite at their ease, and happy
in their habitual occupation of tea-making and
stuffing their tiny pipes. It seemed to me, com-
pressed as they were like herrings in a barrel,
impossible to escape cramps and tingling in every
limb.

DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA. 205

The place of honour, that is the fore part of the
cabin, was reserved for foreigners. At my urgent
request, and to my satisfaction that I had made
myself understood, they brought me a little stool ;
but Marcel made himself comfortable in a corner
in a less elevated posture.

Every one was engaged in conversation, and an
easy gaiety pervaded the throng of passengers.
Each little group chatted about their personal
affairs and the events of the day. The exhibition
of Kioto, the object of the excursion for most of
the travellers, was the common theme. From
time to time, conversation became general between
the various groups, and I remarked that there
never ceased to reign among these good people,
mostly of the class of petty traders, the most cor-
dial understanding and exemplary good manners.

An officer of the infantry of the guard, squatting
near us, began to address us, and we entered into
conversation as well as we could, considering that
he knew as much of French as we did of Japanese ;
but after all we succeeded in making ourselves
mutually intelligible.

" But what is that fearful noise ? " I inquired.
" Is our vessel going to break in two .' "

"It is an accident to the engine, and no one
troubles himself about it because it happens so
often."

Our new friend revealed to us the danger with
the coolest indifference.

" It is not uncommon," he said, " to see boats

2o6 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

like these blow up, for they have high-pressure
engines that are very bad, and worked by
engineers still worse."

This information, which we by no means re-
garded with the same indifference, made us regret
that we had not, like the doctor and Sylvain, gone
by land.

During this racket I was observing our fellow-
travellers, and I particularly remarked the counte-
nances of the women and young girls. They were
perfectly composed ; not the slightest movement of
a muscle of their faces was visible, and, of course,
none of those shrill, piercing cries so disagreeably
uttered by our Frenchwomen in the least danger,
imaginary or real, and so often pernicious, escaped
from the little mouths of these Eastern women. It
is, besides, one of the characteristic traits of the
Japanese to refrain from giving way to emotion, at
least in appearance, and to bear suffering with a
stoicism worthy of heroic times.

I remember an instance of this that redounds
to the honour of the Japanese women.

While sojourning at Yokohama I was invited
to Yedo by a high Government functionary, and I
passed the night in his yasiki. My chamber was
next to his wife's apartments, my bed was close
against the paper partition stretched across and
separating the two rooms, and a good sail-maker's
needle would easily have traversed the obstacle
that rose between the lady's bedroom and my
own.

DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA. 207

This night I did not sleep soundly for the first
time and, as I stretched myself on the f'ton, the
cold penetrated sharply through the spaces badly
closed. About one o^clock in the morning, I
distinctly heard several persons walking about and
talking in my neighbour's chamber, I supposed
that the mistress of the house was troubled with
insomnia, and, concluding that she was offering to
her women, and perhaps others, a nocturnal and
clandestine entertainment, I turned round on my
other ear and lay thus till morning without closing
my eyes.

When I came down, my host advanced and
announced to me with evident satisfaction, that
his wife during the night had rendered him a
happy father of a fine boy.

" Where did the event take place ? " I asked.
"Yesterday in showing me over your house you
pointed out to me madame's apartment, and if I
am not mistaken I must have slept very near."

"Precisely; quite touching. And you have
been disturbed, I fear, by the movements of the
servants."

" I have heard, it is true, some walking about
and talking in a low voice, but not the slightest
utterance of complaint."

And the following day, when I congratulated
the happy mother and expressed my admiration of
her courage :

" Women who cry out in such a circumstance,"
she replied, " are baca,"

2o8 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

Baca is a term of contempt^ signifying stupid,
weak, imbecile.

What is the cause to be attributed to this extra-
ordinary courage, this endurance under suffering ?
Is it the nature itself of the individual, whose
nervous system is less highly developed than in
the Western races? Or can it be the result of
education ?

When one has seen the agile betto at work,
who are capable of sustaining a run, trotting and
galloping for several hours without repose and
without fatigue, and when one has admired the
intrepid and sinewy acrobats so common in Japan,
it would be an error, I think, to suppose that the
Japanese phlegm arose from a lymphatic tempera-
ment.

I believe, then, that their chivalric education,
wherein the point of honour is elevated to the
highest degree, united with the idea of fatalism,
is the principal cause of this almost incredible
force of self-control, assuming the outward as-
pect of apathy — a force we seem hardly able to
acquire.

After the accident to the machinery the move-
ment seemed to be accelerated, but it was not due
to the current, for that had become slower. It
was the captain's honour at stake. A rival boat
was pursuing us at the risk of bursting her boiler,
and the only question was not to suffer her to pass
us, coute que coute.

This sort of steeple-chase, if it did not plunge

DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA. 209

US into the deep, had at least the advantage of
enabling us to gain an hour. We were there-
fore, very glad, for the sun was sinking in the
horizon, last night's supper was remote, and we
had — to use a vulgar phrase — Vestomac dans les
talons.

The caterer on board sold excellent cakes
made of rice flour, and we consumed a large
quantity ; but we found them insufficient for
stomachs habituated to a more nitrogenous nou-
rishment, and in spite of the courtesy and kind-
ness of our neighbours, who offered us some of
their dainties, we longed for the moment when we
could indulge in the savoury dishes of Monsieur
Nakamoura's table at Ki6to, whose establishment
had been highly recommended to us.

Foushimi at last came in sight, and every one
sighed with relief. They speedily gathered up
their scattered nicknacks, stretched their arms
and legs, and then jumped joyously ashore. To
secure two djin-riki-cha well trained, and start at a
gallop, was the work of a moment. The wind com-
menced to blow with increased violence, and our
poor kourouma-hiki began to lag with fatigue ; but
as we made it a point to arrive before midnight,
they kept their promise to accomplish the journey
in three-quarters of an hour, and won their well-
earned pourboire when they set us down at the
door of Nakamoura's hotel.

Sylvain and the doctor, who had arrived in the
morning, had visited the principal curiosities of

210 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

the city-j and were finishing the day before a very
tempting roast turkey.

" Oh, here you are at last ! How is it you are
so late ? " they exclaimed.

But without listening to their questions and
troubling to answer them, we commenced taking
the turkey by assault.

After we had been condemned to live on little
cakes for twenty-four hours, our eagerness was ex-
cusable ; but after the turkey there was a calm,
and we were then prepared to listen to the inci-
dents of our friends' nocturnal journey. They had
been jolted all the night through over roads full of
ruts and pools, in floods of rain. Shut in by their
varnished paper curtains they had seen nothing
beyond the bobbing backs of their runners ; but in
spite of all, dripping and covered with mud, they
had arrived in good spirits. We then made them
relate to us what they had seen in their rapid pro-
menade through the imperial city and, anticipating
the pleasure in store for us, we soon arrived tran-
quilly at that bodily condition when our eyes, after
a long day's fatigue, wound up by a good supper,
involuntarily closed. We slept with that profound
slumber seldom accorded to mortals except in com-
pensation to those who gain their living by the
sweat of their brow.

We found the beds here comfortable in com-
parison with those of Osaka, due, no doubt, to the
influence of the tourist. The f'ton was present,
but the makoura was replaced by a true bolster,

DANCING GIRLS OF THE CHIBAI-YA. 211

and large napkins did the duty of sheets. These
bits of calico, too short and too narrow to cover
the mattress and make a good bed, were more em-
barrassing than useful, but to avoid wounding the
amour propre of the landlord, we said everything
in their praise, and if he believed it was sincere
he ought to have been highly gratified with his
European importation.

p 2

CHAPTER XVIII.

A VISIT TO KI6tO and ITS TEMPLES.

First Day — A Bird's-eye View of Kioto — Our Runners —
Yas— Japanese Procession — Visit to tiie Exhibition —
The Goshio — Admirable Lacquers and other Curiosities
— A Japanese Repast — Ginkakoudji — Some Temples —
A Monster Bell — Yas relates a Story — View of the
City at Sunset.

After a disreputable promenade in the paradise
of Buddha and Shint6, I had gravely mounted a
hippogriff and was cantering across a fantastic
region, when a vigorous knocking at my door put
an end to my extravagant dream and recalled me
to practical life.

Our friends, burning to be aboard the following
morning, had come with all this noise to wish us
good-bye.

The day is only just beginning to break, and
the ancient capital is still slumbering under the
veil of a thick fog. We dress ourselves as hurriedly
as possible, and while these gentlemen are taking
a quick and frugal repast before mounting their
light vehicles, I have gone into the garden of our

VISIT TO KidTO AND ITS TEMPLES. 213

aydo-ya, and from this point of view — one of the
highest in the city — I am endeavouring to form
some orderly conception of the inextricable con-
fusion of temples and buildings, religious and secu-
lar, that rise from among masses of fruit-trees
covered with blossom, and all beautified with the
iridescent reflections of a rosy sun just appearing
through the haze on the horizon.

KidtOj whose wondrous magnificence is spread
before me, which I shall presently be enabled
to admire to advantage in a quick run throughout
in a djin-riki-cha, is one of the most ancient cities
of Japan. Its foundation dates from the end of
the eighth century, and it was a Mikado named
Kwan-ou, reigning in the year A.D. 794, who made
it the capital of Nippon, under the name of
Hefan.

Helan was, from this epoch, an important city,
and has doubtlessly made very little progress.
Condemned beforehand, like nearly all the cities
of the nations of the extreme East, to a hopeless
stagnation, we find it to-day much in the same
state as it was ten centuries ago, in spite of the
many battles of which it has been the theatre
during the feudal and civil wars so frequent in this
country.

This city is the richest in curiosities of all
kinds ; renowned temples and sanctuaries, potent
idols, celebrated palaces, attractive gardens, and
remarkable sites— everything abounds in this me-
tropolis, which, till 1870, formed the residence of
the son of the " Rising Sun."

214 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

Manufactures and commerce are here very
highly developed ; it is here that are woven those
beautiful fabrics of silk and gold so often the object
of our admiration at Mitani's ;" it is here that is
made the delicate porcelain, so highly esteemed in
European countries, and taking its rank in excel-
lence immediately after the Satsuma in the
porcelain of Japan.

Just at the moment our friends turn the corner
at a rattling pace, waving their hands in adieu, the
two djin-riki-cha ordered over-night, punctually
emerge from the other corner, and, without losing
a moment, we are ready to start.

" Dokoe aide maska idjin-san f " — Where do you
wish to go, foreign gentlemen ?

" It doesn't matter ; where you like, my
friends : to-day we have no settled plan, at any
rate J it is the right way to see a country about
which we know but little."

Delighted with this liberty of acting, our men
start off like greyhounds. The agility, the skill,
and the heartiness of these poor people are quite
unparalleled. One should see the dexterity with
which they avoid an unforeseen obstacle, turn
briskly a corner, stop short and start again among
a bustling crowd. An accident never happens ; a
collision, or as much as a slight push, is a thing
unheard-of ; not a coarse word escapes their lips,
insult they are incapable of ; their civility, indeed,
is invariably conspicuous; and when they stop,
dripping with perspiration, their jolly faces are
always beaming with smiles as they dry them with

VISIT TO KIOTO AND ITS TEMPLES. 215

the little blue-and-white kerchief that serves them
to bind their hair.

After a giddy course, speed naturally slackens,
and we soon come to a complete stop ; the ground
rises, and the street is literally choked by a motley
crowd, costumed and coloured with a carnival
aspect. It is a masquerade, or something like it;
a procession, semi-religious, semi-profane, in honour
of some god whose name I have forgotten.

If one recalls to memory the terrible accounts
of the swordsmen, the sight of this crowd makes
him tremble. A great number of these formidable-
looking warriors, whose puckered, cast-off apparel
I have often vainly searched for amid the old
stores of Yokohama, are advancing armed to the
teeth in front of the column.

We stand back quietly against the shops and
allow the throng to pass on as we gaze with delight
for more than three-quarters of an hour on the
endless series of corporations, of men, women,
and children, decked out in the most eccentric
costumes.

As soon as the street is clear, we resume our
course, but this time it is not for very long. It is
towards the exhibition that Yas, the leader of our
kourouma-hiki, has thought proper to take us.
Yas was decidedly right, the exhibition being the
principal object of our journey.

The exhibition is installed in the Goshio, an
ancient imperial residence and seat of the legiti-
mate Government, before the fall of the Tykoons,
at the time the Mikados, shut up and hidden from

2i6 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

the eyes of their subjects, no more reigned than
they governed.

The Goshio, until this year, remained closed to
the profane, and from the time it had been the
residence of the Emperor, the Kou-gi, the grand
dignitaries of the crown, only had access to its
sacred precincts. It is therefore with a sort of
respect mingled with fear, that the Japanese of
the pure caste cross the threshold of this temple,
prostrating their faces to the dust in veneration of
a spot, at once the cradle and the tomb of their
hereditary princes.

It is certainly the finest yasiki to be seen at
present.

The Shiro, the ancient residence of the Tykoons
at Yedo, ought to contain more magnificent relics
of the time of their splendour, but now it is
nothing but a ruin devastated by the conflagration,
and difficult to restore in any way adequate to the
dignity of his majesty the Mikado.

The Goshio is therefore the only princely resi-
dence that can, at present, give any true idea of
that pompous luxury of Oriental courts.

The palace proper, called Chichinden, is situated
with its dependencies within an enclosure of
double walls pierced with nine gates of very re-
markable architecture, called Kiumon. At the
back, in the first enclosure, a great many buildings
are grouped together, originally destined for the
residences of the princes and great lords of the
imperial house. This part of the Goshio is known
by the name of Cheiroden.

VISIT TO KidTO AND ITS TEMPLES, ill

The exhibition is disposed with much taste in
the part called the Chichinden, and divided into
three sections. I admire particularly the marvellous
lacquers of the Mikado, the brilliant effect of
which is heightened by thousands of precious
stones ; but when I find myself before a cuirass of
forged steel, inlaid with gold and silver, or in
presence of a vase of " Old Satsuma," I can
hardly suppress a shout of admiration.

Marcel, getting impatient at my loitering so
long before these wonders, draws me to the com-
partment of modern porcelain. In presence of the
treasures of the Mikado, not' to be acquired, there
were no embarrassing consequences ; but here in
the porcelain department, where the rarities were
for sale with their prices fixed, the ungratified
temptation to buy, even beyond one's means, was
an irremediable disappointment. Here were the
Satsunta with their vernal blooming bouquets,
then the Kanga with their rich purple and gold,
the Kidto, whose admirable designs were set off
by a delicate yellowish tint, and finally the Hizen,
and all the other series of porcelain so much
esteemed in Japan.

After having traversed the whole of this
Japanese palace and its gardens, we find our
vehicles awaiting us and, trusting to the sagacity
of Yas, we start without giving him any instruc-
tions. Our confidence was fully justified, for in
ten minutes the intelligent djuri' ki stops, panting
for breath, before a yado-ya of respectable appear-
ance, the door of which is flanked with the custo-

2i8 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

mary three piles of salt, the indications of a liberal
and fraternal hospitality.

Relying on finding later in the evening at the
semi-European table of M. Nakamoura a more
comfortable dinner, we take together a repast
a la japonaise and, without even discharging our
duty of politeness in according a quarter of an
hour to the lady of the house, we begin at once,
soon finish, and start again.

After the Goshio, Ginkakoudji was the next
place to visit. Ginkakoudji (silver palace) is a
little pavilion, constructed by the Tykoon Archi-
kaga-Yochimara, A.D. 1400. This pompous maire
du palais, about to make it his summer residence,
perhaps a sort of Parc-aux-Cerfs, had displayed
there incredible magnificence. The ceilings, covered
with a thick layer of silver, a metal more rare, it
is said, at this epoch than gold, represented an
immense value ; and the woodwork so elaborately
and exquisitely carved, the hangings of silk and
gold, the lacquered furniture — everything so
brilliant, excellent and rare, gave to this habita-
tion the character of a rich jewel.

But one day the devastating course of war
passed this way, and victorious bands carried off
the rich booty; still, the rapacious hands of the
pillagers could not efface everything. The traces
of silver are still visible, and sufficient of it remains
to strike the visitors with astonishment as they
stand before these precious relics of a time for ever
memorable.

The garden amid which the Ginkakoudji rises

VISIT TO KidTO AND ITS TEMPLES. 219

is one of the most beautiful in the'country, wherein
the art of Len6tre is expanded to the last limits of
taste. It is nothing but pretty pieces of water,
little bridges, clumps of .shrubs, labyrinths, winding
pathways leading to mysterious bowers and minia-
ture temples ; trees of various kinds grafted on a
single trunk ; rocks full of niches, every hole
containing a flower of a colour riiost artistically
harmonising with that of another in juxta-
position.

We can hardly get away from this enchanting
Eden, where we almost fancy, on evoking souvenirs
of the past, Archikaga appearing in person, sur-
rounded by his wives and all the paraphernalia of
his magnificence.

Yas, surfeited with these splendours, draws us
along. In this artistic and chivalric spot the
temples and palaces absolutely jostle one another.
We visit many, but I will not fatigue the reader
with descriptions^ or even an enumeration of them
all.

Yas, making it a point of honour to satisfy the
Danna-san so distinguished, has drawn up his plan
for ending the day. The sun, already low in the
horizon, promises hardly more than three hours of
daylight, and these three hours will be employed
in visiting the celebrated temple of Tchi-on-in,
that of Gui-on, and the tower of Yasaka, and then
we must make a pilgrimage, if we can, to the
temples of Kiomidzou and of Higachi-otani.

The plan proposed by Yas is unanimously
adopted by our two votes, and while we are con-

220 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

gratulating him on the intelligent manner in which
he understands his business of cicerone we arrive
at Tchi-on-in.

This temple dates from the commencement of
the thirteenth century, about the time Buddhism
began to spread in Japan. It was built by a priest
of this religion, and has been enriched by the
generous piety of its disciples and, though a long
time the object of high veneration, it has not
escaped the general indifference of the age. Pil-
laged at different times and ravaged during one
of the late wars, it has been restored, and its vast
space was selected as the site of the preceding and
first exhibition.

On a hill a few hundred yards to the south-east,
commanding the edifice, is a bell of enormous size
and rather curious. Marcel, habituated to calculate
dimensions, estimates its height at about six yards
and a half ; but Yas, quite a practical man, is not
disposed to rely on a guess, and draws forth from
his sleeve a packet of cord which he keeps in
reserve to repair accidents to his vehicle and,
quickly attaching a stone to one end, he adroitly
throws it over the bell and allows it to descend on
the other side, and the problem, to his satisfaction,
is solved.

" Take it," says he, having cut off the length
and handing it to us ; " this is the way to know
what you wish."

Marcel was not deceived ; the length of the
doubled string was just six yards and a half.

Yas could by no means understand the interest

VISIT TO Kid TO AND ITS TEMPLES. 221

we took in the height of the bell of Tchi-on-in,
and his impatience was uncontrollable.

" Why do you stop in this way ? " he said. " I
want to show you the temple of Kiomidzou, and
we must not overlook the temple of Gui-on."

The temple of Gui-on . is generally considered
the most elaborately finished and perhaps, the
finest sanctuary of the capital, notwithstanding
its small dimensions. Founded by the Mikado
Sei-Wa about A.D. 859, it is built upon the plan
of Chichinden, and presents in miniature an exact
reproduction of this palace. The series of events
through which this monument has passed is ex-
traordinary ; burnt, pillaged, rebuilt, then entirely
demolished by an earthquake, it has been com-
pletely reconstructed on the primitive plan at a
comparatively recent date.

On going from here to the tower of Yasaka, we
pass before a torige* raised with stones of extra-
ordinary shape and size. It would be as well to
stop a minute, but Yas, fearing, no doubt, a repeti-
tion of the farce of measuring by the cord, will not
let us loiter at the spot. A priest of the temple
of Gui-on, who, after having piloted us around the
sacred building, thought it his duty to accompany
us politely thus far, refuses any remuneration.
This fact is rare enough to make a note of it,
and to reconcile me with the bonzeian gentry.

* Gates at the opening of avenues leading to the Shintoist
temples ; these gateways of stone or wood, oftener of wood,
are composed of two vertical posts with a cross-beam lightly
resting on its two ends above.

222 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

The tower of Yasaka^ overthrown and then
rebuilt like the other edifices, merits, in my
opinion, no particular praise.

We soon perceive the vast roof of Kiomidzou
through the spaces in a veritable cloud of cherry-
tree blossom, and, after ascending for a quarter of
an hour between two ranges of porcelain shops, we
alight at the door of the sanctuary.

Kiomidzou is the best situated temple of
Ki6to. It was raised to the honour of the
Dairhi,* by the priest Tamouramaro, under the
reign of Kwan-ou, and was for a long period the
object of great veneration on the part of the subjects
of the empire. And now, in spite of the incredulity
and religious indifference of the Japanese, a crowd
of pilgrims, still very considerable, come here daily
to fulfil vows and ask for favours. Elevated on an
immense timber-work overhanging a precipice,
it is actually suspended over the abyss. Whilst
we have advanced to the extremity of the wood-
work, and are contemplating a magnificent pano-
rama, Yas, having said his prayers, and inspired
himself with the spirit of the god, draws near and
tells us the following story :

" Formerly, during a period of a few years,
when the faith was still in good earnest in these
provinces, the heroes, before attempting an adven-
ture, used to come here and kneel before the altar ;
they prayed a long time, sighed deeply to attain
heaven, offered to the priest a homotsou •)- of some

* The Dairhi are the dead Emperors, who are all deified,
t A present.

VISIT TO KI6tO and its temples. 223

importance, and then resolutely threw themselves
over the balustrade, against which you are now
leaning, and came down with a crash in the little
road there below. The survivors, and they were
very rare," added our narrator, with amusing
simplicity, " surely succeeded in their enterprises,
and the others are become venerated saints and
demi-gods, whose statues you may admire behind
the rails of the porch."

While we are listening to this lugubrious nar-
ration, we throw a few trifling coins on the altar,
which are quickly pocketed by the bonzes kneeling
there under the pretext of some perpetual adoration,
and, having no serious adventure in prospect, we
scamper away, deferring to another epoch the
experiment of the leap so esteemed, it seems, by
our narrator.

At the bottom of the precipice, where one may
more conveniently descend by means of a long
wooden flight of about 150 steps, a pretty little
spring still jets forth, and its purling and pattering
and gurgling, as it descends in a light cascade,
should formerly have formed a singular contrast
with the solemnity of the place, and it was here
where the doughty warriors, so far favoured as
not to have been transformed into a shapeless
mass after this terrific plunge, came probably
to refresh themselves and wash their glorious
contusions.

This sort of droll epic having somewhat tickled
our fancy by its incongruous elements, we make
the sacred precincts of the sanctuary resound

224 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

with the echoes of our joyous exclamations, and
the sonorous notes of our hearty laughter penetrate
the retreats of flocks of nocturnal birds roosting
under the capacious wood-work supporting the
Kiomidzou. Yas, quite scandalised, does not
realise the meaning of the joy that opens our
mouths so widcj but suspects, on regarding our
countenances, that it may not be irrelevant to his
story.

During this trifling, time was flying fast and the
night coming on, and we had still one more temple
to visit.

" No more temples to-day," said Marcel to me,
" surely we shall have an indigestion ; fortunately,
however, this is the last, and who knows, besides,
whether the eloquent Yas does not keep in reserve
for our entertainment another good story like that
of Kiomidzou } "

This anticipation gives a little vigour to our
tired limbs, and when we arrive at Higachi-otani,
our efforts are rewarded by a fairy-like spectacle.

Higachi-otani is the most modern of the
temples of Kidto. Built in 1690, in an imposing
style of architecture, to receive the statue of Mida-
bouts', then held in great veneration by the people,
it is reached by a fine gate, called Karamon, and
a long and wide avenue of bushy trees, whose
cool shade during the heat of summer must be
highly appreciated. From the top of the hill
on which it rises, the whole city may be seen, and
just at this moment we enjoy its magical effect.
The evening is not yet so dark as to confound

VISIT TO KI6tO and its temples. 225

everything in an impenetrable obscurity over this
vast space. In the morning, from the high
ground of Marouyama, we had assisted at the
rising of this great city from among the bluish
haze of the dawn, and now we see her busy at her
nocturnal toilette.

It is the hour when the sunj now flooding with
light another world, shoots over this, by refraction,
its last fawn-coloured rays. A fiery light runs low
over the edge of the horizon, large dark shadows
spread over certain parts of the plain, whilst others
become visible for a moment, to be immediately
confounded with the general gloom. The veil
gradually thickens, and now the sharp outlines of
the roofs of a temple or of s.yasiki in the distance
are only dimly discernible an instant under a fitful
gleam through the creeping shades of night.

All at once amid this darkness a star gleams,
then ten, then a hundred. They are the lanterns
with innumerable colours, the poetic night lamps of
Japan, which have not yet been dethroned in the
city of the " Son of the Sun " by such an innova-
tion as flaring jets of gas.

The city is soon glimmering everywhere and
the reflected light hovering above spreads afar,
whilst the chamicen, accompanied with a voice,
sometimes slow and monotonous, sometimes
quickened into an agitated rhythm, mingles its
plaintive note with the low murmur of the
night.

Marcel has lost his gaiety, and is become
pensive. These mingled sounds of the night, that

Q

226 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGENl?.

harmony so well known of the chamicen, transport
him beyond the mountains to a land to the north
of Nippon.

" What is my poor little, forsaken flower doing
at this moment ? " he wonders.

" She is singing, I dare say, and praying to the
Kami for the well-beloved of her heart. Come
nowj" I said, seeing him so deep in thought,
"■come, you overgrown child, you will see again
one day your little flower of the Benten, fresher
and more blooming than ever. And now, in
the meantime, let us go and dine, and try to
wind up our evening as pleasantly as we have
begun it."

Yas, a little moody, it seems, through our jest-
ing which touched his amour propre as a story-
teller and a Japanese, remains as quiet as a
mouse.

A penetrating cold has suddenly set in after
the mild temperature of the day. Our drawers
pull on their tight culotte, fasten close around their
bodies their loose, flowing vest with full sleeves,
and start off at full speed. The road is long,
though only half-a-mile as the bird flies, separates
us from the hotel; but the roads do not lead
direct and we are obliged to go as far as the
temple of Gui-pn, and then proceed just as far
in a contrary direction before we arrive at our
destination.

At lastj when seven o'clock is striking on all
M. Nakamoura's European clocks, we alight at

VISIT TO KidTO AND ITS TEMPLES. ■2.■2.^

the door of his hotel, and there find awaiting us
two old acquaintances of Yedo. As they are
our countrymen we are all highly delighted, and
the first thing we decide on after the mutual
civilities are exhausted, is that we all sup
together.

Q 2

CHAPTER XIX.

AN EVENING AT THE THEATRE.

Outrageous Hilarity— The Theatre of Mimes— A Visit to
the Green-Room.

Whilst M, Nakamoura is bringing out his old
bottles of boudo-chu,^ and Mesdemoiselles Kinou-
gasa and Attaka are laying the table — for here we
have a real table — Marcel, washing his hands all
-the time, takes it into his head to relate something
.'facetious to o\xr femmes de chambre.

The girls listen attentively at first without say-
ing a word — Marcel with his mongrel Japanese
.being so very droll — they look at each other
astonished, appear to reflect a moment, and then
suddenly burst out in a loud peal of laughter.

But what they have understood, if anything, it
is impossible to conjecture.

Just at this moment a new personage appears :
it is the duenna charged with the washing of the
dishes and plates, who in bringing in a large soup-

* Wine.

AN EVENING AT THE THEATRE. 229

tureen, curiously inquires of her young colleagues
the cause of their mirth.

The matter is made as intelligible as possible
to the old shrew ; her sour look becomes still more
sour, her lips curl up disagreeablyj her little eyes
twinkle, and then at the risk of breaking the
precious dish entrusted to her care by M. Naka-
moura, she starts backwards and gives vent to a
long, loud, gurgling sound from her hoarse throat
very much like the gobble of a turkey-cock. It
is the simple expression of her high merriment.

The soup-tureen, the hope of our supper, in
the hands of the tottering old woman runs the
greatest risk ; but Marcel, anticipating the danger,
fortunately seizes it.

The ni-san, hardly recovered from a first sur-
prise, recommence with outrageous hilarity at the
sight of the convulsed matron ; it is no longer
gaiety, it is a delirious revelling.

At this uproar, which has reached its possible
climax, the master of the house makes his appear-
ance with our countrymen at his heels, and we
explain to them the situation. During this interval
a calm begins to reign consequent on the confusion
at this sudden fit, and the three women, with their
eyes red with tears and their countenances tumefied
with the muscular strain, make their escape as
quickly as possible, but we still hear from afar
continuous and intermittent shouts of that inex-
tinguishable laughter which in certain natures
becomes almost a physical suffering.

M. Nakamoura has no intelligible idea of the

230 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

matter- and seems rather stupefied, but acting with
a semblance of propriety, he laughs too upon trust,
and begs us earnestly not to allow the soup to get
cold, which he says he has expressly prepared for
us with his own hands.

Among the curiosities of Kioto are the
theatres, made specially brilliant for the occasion
of the exhibition. One company especially, com-
posed of young girls, the eldest of whoxn is not
seventeen, attracts the public particularly. Yas,
on being consulted, warmly advises us to pass the
evening at this theatre. Accordingly, after having
dispatched the excellent repast provided by M.
Nakamoura, we take our way there.

When we make our appearance, we find the
house full and the play begun ; the door-openers
with much trouble, at last make room for us in the
right boxes, in a stall nearest to the stage. From
there, as from a privileged box, we enter into the
green-room, and if the place is not favourable to
criticise the acting, it is excellent for Europeans
more desirous of making studies of life than of
sitting out a performance, the incidents of which
it is difficult to understand.

A swarm of brown heads, bedecked more or
less with ribbons, press on each other- and stretch
forward, overcome with curiosity, to see the
foreigners. The dialogue is almost interrupted,
and I perceive angry looks directed towards the
European disturbers of the entertainment.

But we are actually innocent, and as the Japa-
nese are reasonable and tolerant when political

AN EVENING AT THE THEATRE. 231

passion does not intervene to heat their heads, they
do not manifest their impatience in a very dis-
agreeable manner. The curtain having closed, we
go into the green-room and permit the little
comedians to gratify their curiosity.

And it is with our pockets full of kachi and
teppo-dama'^ that we present ourselves to them.

In Japan, as elsewhere, most women, in this
respect like children, are fond of delicacies and
dainties ; sweetmeats are always tempting, and,
according to a certain vaudeville, they open their
hearts to champagne and marrons . glacis. In
Japan it is still more primitive, and I will therefore
leave it to be supposed what joy they manifest on
seeing our riches displayed. It is quite a jubilant
shouting, with stamping of feet and dancing in
ecstasy ; the little painted hands and bedaubed
faces stretch towards us as the greedy heads of
a nest of young sparrows are strained towards the
mother on approaching the brood.

But we moderate our liberality in order that it
may last out two intervals between the plays, and
thereby double the value, and when the manager's
whistle announces the rise of the curtain, these
lollipop-loving little actresses plead with all their
arts of cajolery for our return.

In the bustle of our entry, one particular, very
odd, escapes us ; on listening at first, and remark-
ing in these graceful marionettes a tone of voice a
little too masculine, we detect nothing absolutely

* Kachi signifies "cakes.'' The teppo-dama,viQixA for
word, "balls for the gun," are simply balls of gum.

232 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

abnormal ; the ear becomes, however, gradually
familiarised with the acoustic capacity of the house,
and the secret is soon discovered. Our little
actresses are as mute on the stage as they are full
of prattle in the green-room, and confine them-
selves to making gestures, whilst two or three
prompters, stationed in a railed box on the left of
the stage, are declaiming with all their might every
r61e.

From our place it is easy to follow all the
attitudes of these actresses in partibus ; to give
greater semblance of reality to their accents, they
demean themselves in their box of six square feet
and gesticulate as if they were persons possessed.

Under these conditions the unity between the
manner of acting and the recital seems impossible;
one of our Yedo friends, knowing Japanese well
enough to understand the connection with the
action, affirms the contrary ; the actors and the
declamators sustain themselves in complete har-
mony in a manner worthy of the best orchestras,
and this difficulty overcome would be, in the eyes
of the Japanese, it seems, one of the greatest
merits of this company of mimes.

If the guttural intonations regarded as classic
at the theatre, grate upon our nerves a little, we
follow with real pleasure, on the other hand, the
expressive movements of these young girls,
whether playful or grave, comic or serious, who
seem to be on the boards as much for their own
pleasure as that of the spectators.

The Japanese plays, when they are not a tissue

AN EVENING AT THE THEATRE. 233

of farces " highly seasoned," are generally episodes
more or less legendary of the lives of great men of
Japan. It is, therefore, very difiScult, without the
help of an intelligent interpreter, to seize the sense
of the plot and to follow it through all the intricate
incidents arising out of its principal action. Not
having the advantage of the erudition of our friend
Ouyeno, or the nice interpretation of his intelligent
sister-in-law, we did not this evening understand
much of the dithyrambic tirades of the drama,
with grand scenes, mimicked as they were with
real talent by our little ^^«^fK-gourmandising
friends.

Marcel, again become pensive, wandered in
imagination far from the theatre of Kidto ; more-
over, it was late, and sleep was insidiously stealing
on us. After having therefore emptied our pockets
into the reticules of the pretty heroines and
languishing pasteboard princesses, who came to
transport us for a moment into the domain of
Japanese chivalry, and after having taken a cordial
farewell profuse in compliments, we made our
way to owx yado-ya, where, burying ourselves forth-
with in a heap of f'ton, we soon fell into a deep
slumber.

CHAPTER XX.

LEGENDS AND FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY.

The Second Day's Excursion — Biwa — Otsou — An Excur-
sion to the Lake — A Singular Tree — Sdta — The
Temple of Ishiyama — The Legend of Koma-ti the
Poetess— Hi-eizan — A Page of History— A few Errors
in History corrected — Instructive Conversation —
Fabulous Origin of Japan — Judicious Reflections —
The Ai'no Race.

Our second day was to be devoted to an excursion
to Lake Biwa.

This curious lake, a vast basin wherein the
waters flowing from the surrounding mountains
accumulate, is situated to the east of Kidto, at
a distance of two ri and a half. Its superabundant
water runs off by one of the numerous tributaries
to the great river on which we made our passage
from Osaka to Foushimi, emptying itself in the
part called Ouji-Gawa.

It was to Biwa, formerly, where the high aristo-
cracy of the province used to go to take their
summer quarters during the great heat of summer.
The most sumptuous yado-ya are distributed

FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY. 235

along its banks amid enchanting gardens and
shrubberies.

At the present time, this district, through the
continuous advance of European civilisation — the
bugbear of the dilettanti of old Japan — has lost
much of its poetic wildness. This excursion how-
ever, made one of the most enjoyable days of our
sojourn in this country. Having started from
Marouyama at daybreak, we reached there in less
than an hour, over roads rudely torn up by the
torrents of rain of the preceding days.

About seven o'clock, we arrived at Otsou.
Otsou is not the most important part of this
Lilliputian Mediterranean, but it is the most at-
tractive. Many comfortable yado'ya may be found
there, one of which, more particularly frequented
by Europeans, has the double advantage of being
very well managed and placed in a charming spot
— the view from one of its external galleries em-
bracing a panorama really enchanting. Now in
the morning, the blue waters of the lake are con-
founded with the white mists of the horizon ; on
one side the view extends to an immense distance,
whilst on the other, the eye, glancing over the
Katada covered with flocks of birds, reposes at
length on the delightful hills of Hira, with their
summits capped with snow.

Just as we arrive, the fishermen are off to their
work ; it is the hour for miraculous draughts of a
fish much esteemed. Their fouti^,* swept along

* BoatSj

236 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

by a brisk wind from the north-east, are grace-
fully manoeuvring in the distance on the dancing
waves.

Yas, who is quite familiar with the locality^
proposes to hire one of these light crafts. The
sendo, he says, for a few tempo, will show us the
lake from different points of view. The proposal
is adopted with alacrity and we lose no time in
running smartly our first tack.

In order that we may enjoy as much as possi-
ble the shores and the open water at the same time,
we tell our boatman not to keep out too far.
Yas, who has taken his seat at the bow, points out
to us everything noteworthy. Here is Karasaki; we
must land at this spot to see to advantage a cele-
brated tree. It is a pine-tree, which they say is
300 years old ; its gigantic branches, propped up by
stakes, cover a vast space around, and even over-
hang the water for several yards. This colossal
specimen of the vegetable world, of venerable age,
has a most imposing effect, and under its beneficent
shade are grouped a number of little temples and
tcka-ya.*

The Japanese, who have unbounded admiring
regard for phenomena, stand aghast before this
tree ; its gigantic proportions strike their imagina-
tion — always so easily excited — with a feeling of
awe. For them there is in it something super-
natural that holds them in superstitious respect.
Their poetic minds are constantly evoking ideas

* Tea-houses.

FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY. lyj

of the other worlds and commonplace effects are
sometimes referred by them to the most fantastic
causes,

" It is unfortunate," Yas remarks to us, " not
to have a little rain,"

" Rain, indeed ! Good heavens ! Wherefore \ "

" Ah ! " continues our honest cicerone, with an
impressive accent, " you would hear then , . , it is
marvellous. The drops of water, in falling from
branch to branch in this great tree, produce the
sounds of a celestial harmony."

" Granted, but if these sounds were even sweeter
than those rendered at the first rays of the rising
sun by the famous statue of Memnon, if rain be
necessary to hear them, we would rather do with-
out them."

Yas appears scandalised, and is decidedly of
opinion that foreigners are barbarians. In order
to console himself he begins stuffing his pipe.

During this time the obliging n^-san of the
tcha-ya are pouring out our tea and hindering us
with attentive civilities ; and it is with some diffi-
culty that we succeed in withdrawing ourselves
from their politeness, now rather too familiar, in
order to continue our cruise and reach the ex-
tremity of the lake, where Yas promises us some-
thing magnificent.

From Karasaki we are to go on to S^ta, in
order to visit in its neighbourhood the temple of
Ishiyama. S^ta is a bridge thrown over the lake
at a point where it narrows into a river. Before
getting there it would be necessary to touch at

238 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

AwatsoUj from which spot there is, it is said, a
remarkable view. It would be desirable also to
pass the night at S^ta in order to enjoy there a
sunset. But among all the wonders we are obliged
to choose in order to accomplish what we have
already definitely planned.

A visit to Ishiyama being a part of our settled
programme, we find on duly arriving there nothing
remarkable ; all its merit is in its situation ; planted
against a flank of the highest mountain on the
borders of the lake, it commands from this emi-
nence the country around.

Formerly, when that curious feudal civilisation
flourished in Japan, the refinements of which still
surprise and deeply interest us, the Japanese,
artists by nature, frequently went to demand hos-
pitality from the priests of this temple ; but the
object of their excursion was not religious ; they
had no vow to fulfil, their only desire was to see
the lake.

During the nights of autumn, so delightfully
poetic in these parts, when the pale goddess
lightens the calm waves with her glaucous beams,
these lovers of nature might be seen wandering
hour after hour under the venerable pines, luxuri-
ating in the perfumed breeze.

" At certain hours of the night," says Yas, " the
waters of the lake change into silver waves, and
strange sounds are heard " — (he is always harping
on these sounds). — "It is a distant harmony, vague
and undefined; to the singing succeeds wailing,
and gighs are wafted sadly over the waves ; the

FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY. 239

spirit of Koma-ti, pensive and trembling, passes
over as light as a bird ; the trees bow down before
her ; the waves open and swallow the verses of the
divine poetess ; then, after a loud cry of nature,
darkness and a profound calm comes over all the
region."

The name of Koma-ti calls up a remembrance
full of melancholy ; it is one of the most popular
legends of Japan; I have often endeavoured to
find some one who could relate it to me. Ouyeno
has mentioned to us some circumstances in the
life of this illustrious woman, of whom we find
everywhere traces in the books and pictures of the
country. But with these miscellaneous fragments,
more or less distorted through the ignorance of the
people, it is impossible to form any story that
would give a true conception of the legend.

One of our companions, a professor at the
French College of Yedo, well up in traditions,
the knowledge of which forms nearly all the
literary luggage of a large majority of the
Japanese, offers to relate to us the story of
Koma-ti.

" I have read it," he said, " in a Japanese
book that was very common a few years ago, but
which has now become quite rare. The text is
elucidated by a few engravings, too realistic by
far; their simple coarseness keenly marks the
various incidents in the existence of this extra-
ordinary woman, and the diverse phases through
which her abandoned corpse passed in the open
fields, until the scattered bones, gathered up by a

240 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

young bonze, at last found the calm rest of the
tomb.

" The date of the birth of Koma-ti is quite
uncertain, and to avoid an anachronism I will con-
fine myself to the expression ' formerly ' — sendatt^,
used so frequently by the Japanese when they are
not sure of the date of a fact.

" Formerly, then, lived in Japan — ^you must be
contented to know that it was during the good old
times of chivalry — a woman named Ono-no-
Koma-ti,* whose beauty was a wonder ; being the
issue of a noble family, the gracefulness of her
person was united with a natural refinement, and
was able to fascinate with her look those even
the most inaccessible to female allurements.

" A young prince, a son of the Mikado Boun-
to-kou, I believe, fell desperately in love with her.

" As the laws of the empire did not permit a
' Son of the Sun ' to espouse a woman beyond the
pale of his family, he resolved to make her his
mistress. Koma-ti, ambitious and haughty, re-
sisted a long time ; beautiful, and loaded with
honours and riches, she was not long in finding
herself surrounded by an actual court, who lavished
praises on her personal attractions ; being an
artist and a poet, her yasiki was the rendezvous of
every celebrated personage.

"At last, whether she had some prospect of
being one day Empress of Japan, or whether she
was conquered by the tender sentiment inspired in

* The little town of the little country.

FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY. 241

her by the young prince, she promised to yield to
his ardent love ; but solicitous of putting her
lover's attachment to the proof, she imposed on
him as a preliminary condition that he should
come during a hundred successive nights, alone
and secretl)', to pay his respects to her in her
yasiki.

"The young lover, obedient to the slightest
caprice of his mistress, came to the mysterious
rendezvous ninety-nine times ; but on the hun-
dredth night, just as he was preparing to make
his usual visit, an earthquake took place. The
shocks were fearful, and the walls of his yasiki fell
down with a terrific crash ; at the same time a
hurricane broke loose and poured down floods of
rain and hail, accompanied with incessant flashes
of lightning and deafening peals of thunder.

" The Empress-mother, alarmed for the life of
her son, and fully informed, by special confidants,
of the doings and tricks of the heir of the Mikado,
hurried to him and entreated him with tears in her
eyes not to set at defiance the anger of the gods,,
his ancestors.

"The young man, in a dilemma between his-,
love and his filial affection, submitted after a little
demur to his maternal objurgations.

"The following day, when he presented himself
at the residence of Koma-ti, he found the door
closed ; the valets intimated to him that he could
not be received, and handed him a letter as follows :
" ' You have forfeited your word of honour ;
Koma-ti will see you no more.'

242 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

" The young prince, after having languished a
few months, consoled himself gradually, and
ended by totally forgetting, in new loves, his
indomitable friend.

"Then commences the really artistic and
legendary life of Koma-ti. Soon abandoned by
the crowd of flatterers, the base courtiers of the
young master, she accordingly finds herself alone
and as neglected as she had recently been sur-
rounded with pageantry and believed herself
ardently loved ; and it is but seldom, if ever, a few
faithful adherents still come, and only privately,
to tender the consolation of their long friendship.

" Her poems, so far light, take now a melan-
choly cast ; her sprightly nature, carried to
indulgence in spite of her pride, becomes soured
and sarcastic.

" In order to find occupation for her long days
•of sadness, during which she secretly invokes her
royal lover in fervent prayers, she writes verses
beyond number, and when finished cancels them.
It is thus she is represented to us in the existing
coloured engravings. Leaning over a vase full of
water with haggard eyes, clenched hands, and dis-
hevelled hair, she is washing long strips of paper,
on which, the moment before, she had poured out in
misanthropic verse the overflowing bitterness of a
wounded heart.

" In this unhappy condition, the poor Koma-ti
frets away her youth, her hair becomes gray, her
beauty vanishes and gives place to the wrinkles of
a precocious decrepitude ; life becomes a diffi-

FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY. 243

culty, the bounty derived from a liberal prince is
exhausted, and misery arrives ; it is a wretched-
ness with all its revolting consequences ; the
ribaldry of the populace and the insults of the
children assail her ears, who pursue her and call
her bacca.

"At last one evening Koma-ti falls down
exhausted ; she has just written her last verses,
that have maintained their popularity to the
present day :

Hano-no-iro-wa

Outsouri-ni kerina

Itazourami,

Waga mi yo-ni fouron

Naga me sesi ma ni.*

" In spite of her destitute condition the poetess
is not completely deserted, for the classic drawings
of Japan represent her surrounded with the cares
of two servants, who have remained faithful to her
in adversity, and in the last moment they are seen
deeply anxious for her and attentive to her slightest
wishes.

" All is over ; the proud Koma-ti has given up
her great soul to the Da'irki.\ Her two tender
companions close her eyes and clothe her in a robe
of white brocade, the last vestige of her former
splendour. Oh, wonder! Death seems to have
given back all the bloom of youth. Koma-ti, dead

* Literal translation : The flowers fade, their colours
depart ; uselessly, my person falls from this world whilst I
look on lovingly.

t The dead Emperors who are deified.

R 2

244 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

to this world, is born to immortality, more beau-
tiful and more adorable than in the days of
her prosperity.

" They carry her dressed in this way into the
midst of a field of flowers, being unwilling to
commit to earth so charming a treasure.

" But the scene soon changes and if you

wish," says our friend to us by way of peroration,
" we will stop here, for, in my opinion, it is better
to retain the impression of a smiling picture, espe-
cially when it relates to a woman, than carry away
the sad souvenir of a tableau disfigured with trivial
realism. Now the author of the book of which I
have just spoken on beginning this story, expatiates
with a singular relish on the most harrowing details
of the different periods of the decomposition of the
human body, details that would be very inop-
portune to dwell on just before we sit down to
table."

We have arrived in fact at the only yado-ya of
the place. Yas, always attentive and provident,
took due care to put into our boat the cases of our
djin-riki-cha well filled with provisions. After the
history of Koma-ti, with our appetites sharpened
by the balsamic odour of the lake, it is not without
much satisfaction that we see before us a nice
repast, half Japanese, half European, invitingly,
disposed on dishes and saucers of blue porcelain.

Marcel questions our intelligent friend on
many interesting details concerning Japan, its
origin, its history, and its ancient manners, but it
is desirable to defer to another moment, till this

FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY. 245

evening perhaps, this intellectual feast. Time is
pressing; we say a last farewell, no doubt, to this
enchanting spot, and now we are on the point of
resuming our way, it is midday.

The mountain of Hi-eizan, which we shall
reach without halting, is situated at about four
ri from Biwa. It is a fatiguing run for our poor
" men-horses," but, stimulated by a great many
cups of sak^, taken at our expense and drunk to
our health, we start again full of spirits. Two
hours later they set us down at the entrance of the
avenues leading to the temple of Yenrekidji, rising
from the top of the mountain.

Yenrekidji was founded by the Mikado Kwan-
nou a little earlier than Kiomidzou. The priests
of this temple acquired, after a few centuries,
considerable power, which enabled them to contend
frequently and advantageously with the rival com-
munities, jealous of the formidable prosperity of
this order, and leagued together to effect its ruin.

At one time, more than a thousand bonzes
lived within the precincts of this temple — an actual
battle-ground of religious warfare. This army of
priestly warriors carried their pretensions to inde-
pendence so high, that in the year 1540 they
had the audacity to send a challenge to the valiant
Sh6gun Nabounaya, celebrated for his bravery.
This excess of haughtiness led to the destruction
of the bonzery, and, on being vanquished, these
rashly-ambitious men had to look on the cradle of
their order as it was delivered to the flames and
laid waste, before they were all put to the sword.

246 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

Rebuilt a few years later, the present temple
cannot compare with the ancient. There is nothing
in its dimensions nor in its decorations that recalls
the description given in the books of the epoch.
It is, however, one of the finest public buildings to
be visited, and from its walls on the summit of the
mountain the panorama commanded surpasses any
description adequate to its magnificence.

The bonzes of the present time have preserved
nothing of the grandeur of their predecessorSj and
when we think of the proud, brave soldiers who
formerly trod this soil, it is with a look of pity that
we greet these unfortunate mendicants with cropped
heads, as they come holding out their hands for
the paltry alms on which they continue so miser-
ably to exist since the intrusion of modern ideas
into Japan.

The descent of the Hi-eizan mountain, exceed-
ingly difficult, is accomplished without accident ;
in less than three-quarters of an hour our djin-
riki-cha arrive at the Goshio, and halt, covered
with mud, at the doors of the Chichinden.

This second visit to the exhibition is with the
intention of making our last purchases. Fatigued
more by the open air than by the journey, a great
part of which has been undertaken in a carriage
or a boat, we hurry through the hall and galleries,
desirous of reposing ourselves at the hotel and
joining again our travelling companions at Marou-
yama, where they are to meet a few dealers in
curiosities.

Meanwhile, the day is closing, and as the clock

FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY. 247

strikes seven, we are again taking our places for
the third time around the table of M. Naka-
moura.

After dinner, Marcel, who has a great par-
tiality for legends, reminds our obliging comrade
of his promise, which he fulfils with the most
cheerful humour.

"The history of the geological formation of
Japan," he remarks, "would certainly be very
interesting, but this would not be, I imagine, the
principal object of your curiosity. Besides, on
entering into this theme, I should be drawn, per-
haps, beyond the limits fixed by time, for you have
need of repose and, with due regard to our excur-
sion to-morrow, we ought not to fatigue ourselves
by sitting up late.

"The fabulous history of Japan terminates-
about the year 666 B.C. ; this date corresponds
with one of the years of the thirty-fourth Chinese
cycle.

" Before this epoch, twelve spirits or genii have
reigned ' one hundred millions ■* of years over this
country. Some are celestial spirits, and others
terrestrial genii. The first seven are celestial
spirits, of whom, even with the Japanese imagi-
nation, it is very difficult to have an intelligible
idea. The first three live in space, being repro-
duced by the simple emanations of the chaos ; the
fourth is associated with a companion, but of
morals still very pure, he ingenerates through the
simple contemplation of his spouse; his two suc-
cessors imitate the example of their ancestor; as to

248 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

the seventh, he bears a predestinated name — Iza-
na-ghi, 'he who accords too much' — his spouse,
since named the Eve of Japan, is called Iza-na-mi,
' she who excites too much/

" These two names, perhaps, may enable
you to anticipate what should occur. One
day, Iza-na-mi, quite pensive, and subject to a
certain mysterious effluence, was promenading in
the fairy gardens of her ethereal palace, when her
attention was suddenly arrested by the tender
notes of a pair of wagtails ; the little birds
pecked each other amorously; it was to her a
revelation.

" ' There,' exclaimed the goddess, clasping her
heart with both hands, ' that is true happiness.'
She then went in search of her divine spouse, and
on coming up to him, communicated to him her
(impression.

" ' Wife,' the good genius replies to her, ' retire ;
thou art not acting thy part,' and, yielding to
temptation, they submitted to the passions of
mortals.

" From this union were successively created
all the islands of Japan ; the goddess Amaterasu-
omi-Kami was so beautiful that her parents sent her
to heaven to lighten and warm the worlds during
the day,* whilst her sister, Tuki-no-ki, of less
conspicuous beauty, became the queen of the
nights.* At last, a son, the first of terrestrial
genii, the fifth of whom gave birth to the cele-

* The sun. t The moon.

"»

FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY. 249

brated Zin-mou, closed the era of prehistoric
times, and became, according to the actual belief
of the Japanese, the first Mikado of the empire.

"But this is a mere myth, and has not the
merit of many legends to be based on a semblance
of truth. It is, in fact, absurd not to admit the
existence of human sovereigns antecedent to six
centuries before the Christian era, and when this
belief still prevails in presence of the very precise
affirmations of the Chinese his.torian, Ma-tuan-lin,
it seems to be inexplicable.

" Ma-tuan-lin, a learned Chinese, in an immense
work entitled ' Wan-hien-tong-kao,' a work known
to Japanese scholars, devotes a special chapter to
the history of Japan ; he gives a list of twenty-
three sovereigns, the last of whom is precisely the
Emperor Zin-mou, and carries back the existence
of the first to the year 1056 B.C.

" Among the last twelve sovereigns mentioned
by Ma-tuan-lin, five bear names identical with
those of the genii, either celestial or terrestrial,
of the Japanese mythology. From this peculiarity
may be deduced the certainty that this mythology
was created in Japan subsequently to the com-
piling of the book referred to, and at a date
relatively modern, perhaps that of the introduction
of the religion of Buddha into the country. I do
not speak of the date at which the missionaries
of religion appeared, an epoch much further back
than is generally supposed, but decidedly of that
period when these missionaries, after having been
exposed to many outrages, and suffered much ^er-

250 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

secution; were able to display openly, with full
liberty, the ceremonies of the new worship. From
this time, the sovereigns, favoured by the syco-
phancy of the ministers of Buddha, commenced to be
honoured as the equals of the gods. And there is
no doubt that the fable of the genii emanated from
the imagination of these sacred courtiers, who so
well knew how to accommodate the spiritual with
the temporal, and to secure for themselves the
protection of the rulers by placing a few of their
crowned ancestors in the elastic catalogue of the
inferior divinities.

" The groundwork of the fable once overturned,
a question then naturally arises as to how the
origin of the masters of the country may be ascer-
tained, and from this complex question endless inci-
dental ones arise, some more attractive than others.

"It would not be the moment now, perhaps, to
launch into considerations of this kind, still if you
are really so interested in this attractive country
you will not be sorry to know what results, not
only from the study of the Chinese books or others,
but also from our observations and those of our
predecessors.

" It is highly probable that the first Japanese
sovereign of the series citied by Ma-tuan-lin was a
Chinese prince of a dynasty overthrown and driven
from the empire. This prince, accompanied by a
few partisans, after having traversed the Corea, is
said to have landed on the island of Kiushiu,
destined to become later the residence of the first
rulers of the country.

FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY. 251

"Before the year 1056 B.C., considered the
starting-point in Japanese history, the islands were
inhabited by an autochthonous population, com-
mon, moreover, probably to all Eastern Asia, and
whose last representatives, very few in number,
named A'ino, still people the little island of Yezo.
These natives of a particular race are really the
descendants of the primitive inhabitants, who,
having mixed and amalgamated with the con-
quering and invading race of the Chinese or
Mongols, ended by forming the present race of
Japanese.

" There is one thing important to observe. In
the island of Kiushiu, where the conquest has, no
doubt, the most thoroughly imposed its laws, the
Chinese type has been more purely preserved
than in the north, where the invaders penetrated
later, peacefully and gradually, when the mixture
of races was already fully accomplished in the
south.

" Another fact helps to corroborate my opinion.
This fact you have been able to observe as well as
I, and you will notice it again. Among the des-
cendants of noble families, whose members have
rarely made a misalliance by contracting a mar-
riage with the conquered race, the Chinese type
has been transmitted down to the present time
with singular persistence.

" It is, therefore, an indisputable fact that the
Japanese have in their veins a large portion of
Chinese blood,

"The existence of the Aino, the last vestiges

252 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

of an aboriginal and proscribed population having
survived centuries without mixing with the con-
querors, is the object of a most important point of
inquiry.

" In order to find a reply to this question and
to arrive at a logical solution of the problemj I
must admit to be very embarrassing.

" Has not the island of Yezo been selected as a
place of exile at the epoch of the conquest, and
have not these unfortunate people, thus cut off'
from society, preserved and handed down to
science, through their ostracism, a rare and
curious specimen of the primitive populations of
the globe .■'

" The Japanese have never been baffled by a
difficulty of this kind. They have, therefore, solved
the question by appealing to the marvellous ; it is
an easy and expeditious method, and one that
demands little effort of the imagination.

"The Aino, as you well know, are, contrary to
the Japanese, excessively overgrown with hair.
Hair and the beard are so much in honour among
them that the women embellish themselves with a
false moustache by dyeing the upper lip with a
blue colour, and the most pleasing compliment to
address to a mother is to say to her : ' Your son is
just like a bear ! '

" This singular development of hair among the
Amo has led the Japanese to issue from their
imagination this edifying legend :

"Kamouif, a prince of one of the western
provinces, had the atrocious habit of committing

FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY. 253

incest with his daughters, and one of them, the
youngest, having attained the age of puberty, was
intended like her sisters to be submitted to the
same treatment ; but the father having remarked
on the arms and chest of the unhappy child an un-
usual down, turned her out of doors, ordering her
to quit his territory without delay.

" The unfortunate princess runs away, finds on
the beach an abandoned canoe, in which a great
black dog has taken shelter. The compassionate
animal hospitably receives the exile, and one fine
night, set afloat by the tide, the canoe drifts from
the land.

"During many months the girl and the dog
are buffeted about by the winds. How have they
managed to live ? The authors of the legend have
omitted to explain, but probably on the produce of
their fishing. In short, they end by landing on
a wild shore, and it was time, for the companion
of the dog gives birth to twins, a son and a
daughter, both covered with hair.

" The two children form a union, and become
the ancestors of the A'ino.

" But these monstrous marriages do not seem
sufficient for the Japanese imagination. Not being
satisfied with assigning the origin of the Amo to a
dog, they marry the grandchildren of the dog and
the exiled princess with bears. The partiality of
the inhabitants of the island of Yezo for this
animal is, it is true, some excuse to a certain
extent for the eccentricity of this invention ; but it
is nevertheless burlesque.

2S4 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND,

"The children of the bears become illustrious
warriors, and their descendants, from the most
remote times, continue at the head of the country.

" But we will drop the legend in order to return
to real life. The habits of the Amo are quite
different from those of the Japanese. They are
totally illiterate ; they have a language of their
own, which is understood by the Japanese just as
the dialects of certain provinces of France are by
the French.

" Hunting and fishing are the favourite occupa-
tions of these rustic people, and the women betake
themselves to the exercise with as much zest and
sometimes more skill than the men.

" Their skin is brown, but it has nothing of the
yellow races. The form of the eyes and the
contour of the face have much affinity with the
Caucasian race.

" The manners of the A'ino are very mild, and
they are hospitable to strangers, who on setting
foot on their territory become inviolable ; and the
evil-doer who is so ill-disposed as to maltreat them
in any way, would be severely punished. Theft,
especially when perpetrated on strangers, is
punished with death.

" Polygamy is permitted, and even held in high
honour in the island. Adultery, nevertheless, proved
by ordeal, is subject to the severest chastisement.
The suspected woman is obliged to submit to the
test, which generally consists in picking out pebbles
from a vessel full of boiling water. If the accused
scalds herself, she is, as decided by the gods, guilty.

FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY. 255

and is then pitilessly handed over to capital punish-
ment. If, however, she succeeds in the operation —
a result that almost always happens — she is not
only declared innocent, but immediately acquires a
considerable prestige and authority in the country.
It is she who is consulted in grave cases, and her
decisions have the force of law.

"If an invalid is dying, recourse is had to her
prescriptions, and she is entreated to come and
restore the patient to health. If a child should be
born, she is still in request to cast its nativity and
consecrate it to the divinities of the sea, after
having made the infant eat a morsel of raw fish.

"But this digression is assuming the propor-
tions of a veritable lecture on anthropologic history,
and I might detain you until the morning if I
entered into details of every phasis of life relating
to these curious people ; and this is not my
intention."

CHAPTER XXI.

SOME WONDERFUL STORIES AND SIGHTS.

The Third Day's Excursion— The Daibouts' of Kioto—
Mimizouka — Ancient Enmity between Japan and Corea
— Rengeoin — The Temple of 33,033 Statues — Taiko the
Great — Return to Foushimi — Yas has another Wonder
in Reserve — Return to the Fold.

The following morning at sunrise, we are taking
our way in our light vehicle, but not the shortest
way, to Foushinii. The brief leave accorded us
does not permit us to see all the sacred and archaeo-
logical treasures of the old capital. Much remains
to be seen ; but we must return to our duties.

Yas is to conduct us to two or three remark-
able sanctuaries without taking us much out of the
way, and we thus close too sooHj but in obedience
to orders, this excursion to the sacred City of the
Emperors, of which we shall certainly retain a
delightful remembrance.

The rain has recommenced, and our poor run-
ners, impeded by a thick mud, make little progress.
We buy them, for a few coppers, a thorough rig-
out of sandals of rice-straw, and the poor fellows.

WONDERFUL STORIES AND SIGHTS, lyj

who Strive with heart and soul, can thus change
them as often as required to be enabled to march
dryfooted over the miry roads.

After a hard drawing we arrive at the Dai'bouts'.
This Daibouts' has not the least resemblance to
that of Kamakoura. The statue of .the god is of
painted wood, which they fancy, oddly enough, is very
remarkable. Its height is gigantic, though it does
not reach fifty-eight yards, as the Japanese say.
The figure of the divine personage, very coarsely
sculptured, might perhaps produce an imposing
effect seen from a certain distance; but the statue is
placed under a kind of closed shed, and the spec-
tator arrives at the height of the head by a rickety
staircase on a platform, whose scanty dimensions
do not permit him to draw back; the visitor, there-
fore, close under the nose of this immense figure,
is unable to scan him. •

The designer of this monstrosity is unknown.
It was set up in accordance with the orders of the
celebrated Hide-yochi, about the end of the six-
teenth century, beside a wonderful temple. This
temple, overthrown many times by earthquakes
and burnt by lightning, has left no vestige except
its immense bell, which resisted the fire. The
Cyclopean dimensions of this mass of bronze have
for centuries excited the astonishment of the
Japanese visitors who, on beholding it, give utter-
ance to unceasing shouts of excited wonder.

This mass of metal is, in fact, very fine, but it
is not unique of its kind. The bell in the environs
of Tchi-on-in, of which Marcel took the measure,

s

258 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

seems quite equal to it ; but the deplorable
state of the sky does not enable us to be assured
of it.

Not far from here stands Mimizouka, the con-
temporary of the Dalbouts'. This mortuary monu-.
ment has a curious origin, which Yas wants to
narrate to us. The fact, popular in Japan, is happily
known to us, and we therefore conjecture the pur-
port of the confused explanations of our good
djin-ri' ki without well understanding them.

The enmity of the Japanese towards the Co-
reans is not of recent date. Since the time of the
Empress Zingou,* surnamed the Semiramis of
Japan, down to the present moment, history has
recorded innumerable Japanese deeds of arms in
Corea. The hereditary hatred of Japan against
this country is, besides, justly occasioned by the
barbarous acts of these rude people, hitherto
incapable of civilisation.

At the time when the illustrious Hid^-yochi
was raised to the high dignity of Tykoon, a for-
midable expedition was organised against the
ancient enemy. One hundred and fifty thousand
soldiers invaded the Coreansoil; sanguinary battles
were fought, and the army of the Mikado, twenty

* The legend relates that this princess, the most illus-
trious warrior of Japan, declared war against Corea, com-
manded in person the expedition, and, wonderful to relate,
being enceinte eight months and a half at the time of her
departure, was able to retard her accouchement several
months by carrying a stone in her girdle and thus remain at
the head of her troops until the end of the war.

WONDERFUL STORIES AND SIGHTS. 259

times victorious, soon returned loaded with spolia
^pima from his enemies — vanquished but unsubdued.

According to an old custom, a general of an
army should bring to his master, as a proof of
victory, the heads of his enemies fallen in the fight,
iind on this occasion the Commander-in-chief would
in no wise fail in conforming to usage. A difficulty,
however, arose. The number of dead was con-
siderable, and they did not know how to deal with
these bloody trophies, the transport of which would
have required the sending of a supplementary fleet.
From Corea to Japan the voyage, though not very
long, was not so easily accomplished in those times ;
to add to the great embarrassment it was in
the month of July, and forty-eight hours of passage
under a burning sun, would inevitably transform
this charnel into a pestilential hot-bed ready to
infect an army.

In this great dilemma, the general, a humane
and considerate man, was not disposed to expose
his men to such a danger, but, unwilling to re-
nounce the proof of his victory, he showed at the
same time that he was a man of resources.

Order was immediately given to cut off as
delicately as possible the ears and noses of all the
heads heaped up on the coast, and to pack into
cases this palpable evidence of the triumph of the
imperial arms.

History does not enlighten us as to what means
of preservation were employed, but the intelligent
chief certainly adopted some very ingenious expe-
dient that permitted the cases to be opened before

s 2

26o JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

his lord and master without fear of asphyxiating
him.

These Corean ears and noses have furnished
the motive for the erection of Mimizouka — " tomb
of the ears." This heap of human dibris was
interred in a pit of ninety yards in circumference
and eleven deep. One may form from this some
idea of the number of the slain who were disfigured
in this ever-memorable campaign.

Before remounting our djin-riki-cha, Yas per-
suades us to visit the temple of Rengeoin, close
at hand. This temple, specially devoted to the
worship of Kandjeon^ is also called Sandjou-
sangendo, and it contains, it is said, 33,033 statues
of saints. It is difficult to conceive the amplitude
of a building adequate to contain such an army of
statues, were they even squeezed together like
sardines in a tin ; therefore there is little doubt
that it is a Japanese exaggeration. We communi-
cate our impression to the bonze delegated to
accompany the visitors. The worthy man, scan-
dalised by this irreverent incredulity, seems to be
in a bad humour ; in order^ however, to confound
the impious barbarians^ he deigns to enter into
explanation :

" Do you not see," said he in an irritated tone,
" that these statues support several little ones .-'
Well, then, before doubting the veracity of our
allegations, count them, and you will find a thou-
sand and one great statues, and thirty-three little
ones on each great one."

WONDERFUL STORIES AND SIGHTS. 261

The verification established, the account is
correct :— 1,001 X 33 = 33.033-

"Thank you very much, sir, but we are not
disposed to begin again."

This sanctuary is very much more ancient than
those we have already visited ; it dates back so far
as the Mikado Gosirakawa, in the middle of the
twelfth century. At a certain epoch the custom
came into vogue for the skilful archers of the
country to repair to Sandjou-sangendo, to practise
shooting among the statues without touching one
or hitting the roof.

The pillars of the temple still bear very visible
traces of the feathered projectiles.

A promenade through this pantheon produces a
■singular effect. If we were still living under the
empire of the terror of the " Swordsmen," the
presence of all these canonised heroes, whose
oblique eyes look down coldly on us violating
the sacred soil of their last dwelling-place, would
make our hair stand on end if we were ever so
brave.

The " swordsman " of glorious memory has
long made room for diplomatists in black coats
and silk hats ; the era of sabre gashes is closed.
The visitor on contemplating these effigies feels,
however, whether real or imaginary, a chilling
shuddering through his whole frame; a strong
desire to see broad daylight again, hurries you
involuntarily to the open air and, after all, without
joking, we quit with real satisfaction this vault,

262 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

much too sacredly tenanted for infidels of our
stamp.

Yas has been attentively watching for a favour-
able moment to relate to us a story, and he thus
begins :

"Have you seen that multitude of statues ?"

"Yes."

" Do you know where they come from ? "

" We have not the least idea."

" Well, then, they have been cut out of a single
tree that grew on the tomb of a celebrated man."

" What a fine tree ! " exclaimed Marcel. " And
who is this great man whose body has furnished so-
much prolific matter as to produce this phenomenon
of nature 1 "

" Wakarimasen. I know nothing about him,"
replies our narrator. " Taiko-sama, no doubt."

Oh, grand Tai'ko, what an anachronism ! Hide-
yochi, of whom I spoke just now, vulgarly named
Talko-sama, was born four centuries after the con-
struction of Sandjou-sangendo ; but, after all, a
djin-ri' ki is not obliged to know his history like a
pupil of the Imperial College of Yedo ; besides,
he is fully satisfied with the fantastic creation of
the popular imagination.

But since it is a question relating to Hide-
yochi, I would do honour to the memory of the
most popular man of Japan. Hid^-yochi, better
known by the name of Taiko the Great, belonged
to the lowest class of the people ; as a simple valet
of an obscure samourai he contrived by his genius
and his courage to raise himself gradually to the

WONDERFUL STORIES AND SIGHTS. 263

highest military dignities, and at last succeeded in
getting himself elected Shogun after Ota.

This extraordinary man was wonderfully gifted ;
his genius had no limits, and he knew how to direct
war and the administration at the same time. The
Richelieu of the extreme East, his principal object
was to crush the feudal pride of the great houses
of the daimio ; in this he succeeded, defeating one
after the other of these powerful feudatories in
league against the central power, and thereby set
up again the sceptre of the "Sons of the Rising Sun,"
which was on the point of falling under the- rule of
women. He had, as I view it, the incomparable
merit to vanquish by the sole force of his great
intelligence, when feudality was in the height of its
power, that prejudice condemning a man of the
people, whatever might be his talents, to stagnate
in the inferior position where the fate of his birth
had placed him.

Hidd-yochi was not only a great man, an
illustrious warrior and a hero, but also a noble-
hearted man. Sprung from the people, he loved
the people as a father loves his children, and he
worked unceasingly to procure for the lower classes
a relative welfare, for which posterity will never
cease to be grateful in remembrance.

Every one in Japan knows the great benefactor
of the people, Sarkwandja,* the venerated Taiko-
sama. There is not a child who does not utter his
name with respect, and many people in their

* Hidd-yochi was frightfully ugly, and Sarkwandja sig-
nifies "man with monkey's face."

264 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

ignorance associate with it a multitude of strange
incidents, more or less trustworthy, but all intended
to exalt and glorify their well-beloved Taiko.

We will, therefore, unite our respects to those
of a nation, and salute on passing the great spirit
of the hero which haunts perhaps this spot.

After having taken luncheon in a yado-ya, we
desired to visit a few temples on our road, but the
rain has increased in intensity, and a promenade
under these conditions would be a drudge. We
also leave on the left the village of Oudji, renowned
for its tea, and pursue our way rapidly in the direc-
tion of Foushimi, in order to dry our clothing before
taking the boat from Osaka.

At Foushimi a deception awaits us. It is at
five o'clock that the boat should get under weigh ;
it is not yet three o'clock, and for all that she is
gone.

But why thus have advanced the hour of depar-
ture .' Is it to play us a nasty trick ? She was then
full of passengers t

"No," they replied, "there were not ten
travellers."

" Why then have gone before the time, and put
people to inconvenience in this way .■" "

" She has gone because it was raining."

This was an excellent reason and quite
Japanese.

" And what is the time of the next departure .' "

" There is no other till to-morrow morning."

" Here we are in a nice mess. What shall
we do.?"

WONDERFUL STORIES AND SIGHTS. 265

Yas, who has always some expedient, should
■once more get us out of the difficulty.

" Go and order your dinner," he tells us, " I am
going to find you a boat."

In a moment even, Yas returns with a boat-
man. The hire demanded being reasonable, we
strike a bargain, but in order to reach Osaka we
are obliged to wait the rising tide; that will be
about five in the evening.

As the " administration " of our drawers is
about to become useless, we settle their account.
Yas, constituted the treasurer for his colleagues,
receives the agreed sum for the three days and in
addition a nice gratuity and, as this was quite un-
expected by any of them, they are all mad with
joy and load us with endless thanks. The poor
fellows are prostrating themselves, and we have
some trouble to induce them to return to their
work. Yas insists • on remaining with the good
Danna-san until the last moment, in order to prove
in this way his deep gratitude.

We have still two hours at our disposal before
the high tide. The rain continues falling : one
must have a heart of stone to turn out of doors the
most bemired mongrel, and, that our run of ill-luck
may be complete, our yado-ya, extraordinary to
relate, does not contain a single ne-satt to rally.

In this extremity what are we to do to kill
time ">. To write up our notes ? Marcel is going
to make the attempt, for he has pulled out his
memorandum-book and is now pointing his pencil.
But it is barren work if one confines himself simply

266 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

to making notes, and tiresome work if he is going
to revise them. Things as well as persons, to be
judged impartially and soundly, require to be seen
through a prism that removes them to a distance.
It is rare to join in a pleasure party without some
disagreeable incident, however trifling; then ill-
humour supervenes and, in this unamiable mood,
one is easily disposed to disparage, when later
under the cheerful light of remembrance everything
would appear delightful.

It is then better to defer writing ; therefore,
leaving my friend in his endeavour to vent his
spleen over the pages of his note-book, I stretch
myself on the white tatami of the dining-room
and surrender myself to a soothing slumber.

At the moment I open my eyes, I find the cloth
laid beside my improvised bed and the dinner
ready. It only remains to dispose of it as quickly
as possible and to embark without loss of time,
in order to take the last train leaving Osaka for
K6be.

Yas wishes us a last adieu, recommends to the
sendo the generous foreigners, and we depart.

At eleven o'clock a violent shock makes the
craft tremble, but we are only touching the quay
of Osaka. Two djin-riki-cha are duly waiting for
us, and we soon reach the station. Two hours
later we are again installed in our floating home.

CHAPTER XXII.

NAGASAKI — THE CAT OF NABESHIMA.

The Inland Sea again— Nagasaki — A Dish for the Mikado
of France — The Legend of the Cat of Nabeshima —
Voyage to Shanghai.

The following morning, every one having returned
to his duties, we departed from K6be. On quit-
ting Japan, where there is so much akin to our
own country, we feel as great an oppression on
the spirits as if we were leaving our native
shores.

As far as Nagasaki, however, we have the sepa-
ration only in perspective, but the loveliness of the
scenery on the other hand will add poignancy to
our subsequent regret. The passage of the inland
sea is quite an enchanting dream ; we are con-
tinually in sight of the coast and we occasionally
pass close by the most attractive islands. Here it
is a town, fancifully laid out on the top of ,a hill,,
with a mass of verdure at the foot coming to meet
the blue waters of the Iwo-nada ; there, a fortified

268 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

•castle, a proud relic of the old Japanese feudality,
thrusting its lofty head above a forest of ancient
pines ; and in another spot, a rock curiously carved
by the hand of time; a temple of "the Fox,"
■perched on the brink of a precipice, an unexpected
prospect — in short, everything to arrest and fasci-
nate the sight.

At Nagasaki we begin to think seriously of
■departure ; it is the last port of call in Japan, and,
though being unable to foresee our future move-
ments, we hope to return here some day.

In the navy we must wait for everything till it
comes without anticipation, and take it as it
presents itself without a word of complaint.

An insurmountable sadness hovers over our
ship ; the sailors seem also to regret something,
but their amusements and occupations are not the
same as ours ; the poor fellows are not spoilt at all ;
they see the land much oftener at a distance than
otherwise ; their rare and short leave of absence
hardly permits them to appreciate a country, and,
if it were otherwise, it must be admitted that one
cannot experience certain enjoyments without a
little cultivation of the mind and some accomplish-
jnents, which are generally wanting in our brave
-seamen. And yet, at the moment of taking leave
of Japan, they are all dispirited ; it is a vague
kind of depression that cannot be referred to any
special cause ; perhaps it is regret at bidding fare-
well to the blue skies and genial climate, the sweet
smiles and bonny faces ; whatever it may be, its
influence is painfully sensible on retiring from a

NAGASAKI—THE CAT OF NABESHIMA. 269-

land brightened with beams of gladness and
warmed with rays of poesy and love.

The stay here is to be of short duration ; no-
longer than is necessary to coal and take in fresh
provisions. Arrived at five o'clock this morning,
we have to start again to-morrow morning, and it
would be hardly enough to get an idea of the
capital of the island of Kiushiu if we had not
already been there.

Nagasaki is one of the most picturesque cities-
of Japan ; its aspect on arriving from the sea is
charming ; built in an amphitheatre, it rises in
semicircular gradations half-way up the most en-
chanting hills that overhang the roadstead and
close it round as completely as if it were in a basin.
The streets of the city, clean like all other streets-
of Japanese towns, are much more animated than
those of Yedo or Yokohama ; as they are narrow
and paved with wood, one might fancy that he
was taking a promenade through the interminable
galleries of some immense caravansary. The
visitor soon arrives at steep ascents, then at the
steps of the temples and the yado-ya, renowned in
the country. It is in one of these houses, much
frequented, commanding a delightful panorama,
that we go to pass away the remainder of the day,,
after having made a few purchases.

The country presents the most extraordinary
animation ; the mountain roads are encumbered
with people afoot ; the heights are crowned with a
motley crowd, bustling and gossiping ; evidently
something unusual is going on.

270 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

It is the fete of the kites. In Japan this toy is
not reserved for children ; everybody flies a kite
and finds endless amusement in itj the tradesmen
shut their shopSj grave men shake off for a few
hours their serious humour and go in parties to
contend for a display of address and length of
cord.

It is very curious to see all these great babies
furnished with their flying toys, preceded or fol-
lowed by a friend, a child, or a servant, carrying
in a capacious basket a few miles of twine.

I have seen nowhere kites so ingeniously, so
intelligently made ; they are remarkable for their
lightness, their size, and their fanciful designs.

Amateurs, who are a little nice in these matters,
attach to their apparatus a vibrating instrument, a
kind of rattle, producing by the force of the breeze
a stridulous sound of great power.

Under this cloud of coloured paper, the sky
becomes overcast and the sunlight darkened ; it is
like a flight of locusts hovering over the city,
making the air resound with a confusion of grating
noises.

This sport lasts several days, and we come in
just at the close. To-morrow the kites will be laid
up for a year ; the good people are therefore de-
voting the remaining few hours to the diversion
with heart and soul till nightfall winds up this
singular fete.

On returning to the city we are accosted by a
porcelain dealer in the middle of the street.

" Come here, Danna-san" he says, " I have

NAGASAKI-THE CAT OF NABESHIMA. 271

some beautiful things to show you, and among
others a superb dish ; if you think it very fine, I
will charge you to offer it, on my account, to the
]\Iikado of France."

"We have no longer any Mikado," I replied.
" After having tried half-a-dozen in half-a-century,
we have now ended by preferring to govern our-
selves by ourselves."

The man looked at me bewildered ; his political
education did not enable him to comprehend my
words.

" I will offer, if you like, your dish to the
President of the French Republic."

" No," he insisted, " to the Mikado of France."

" But there is no longer any, I tell you."

" That is not possible."

It would have been necessary to enter into
too long explanations to convince this opiniona-
tive man ; I therefore preferred simply thanking
him and taking my leave without accepting his
•dish.

The following day, before noon, we weighed
anchor and departed for Shanghai.

When the traveller arrives at Nagasaki by the
inland sea, he passes the coast of the province of
Hizen. This province, celebrated for its rich manu-
facture of porcelain, is equally so for the curious
legend relating to its princely house.

The pilot taken at K6b^ to steer us through
the inland sea, was a" talkative old Japanese.
Knowing him to be pretty well up in French, I
begged him to relate to me the legend of Hizen.

272 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

He began most willingly, and before turning in for
the night I wrote a resume of his story.

One evening, during the passage from Naga-
saki to Shanghai, every one had brought into the
ward-room a few of his fancy acquisitions, and
began commenting on the prices paid and the
qualities of their bargains ; in short, they were
only killing time.

" Here," said one of our comrades, " this is, I
think, a treasure — an old dish ; I got it for a bit of
bread ; it is ancient Hizen, a bit of the king, or I
am much mistaken."

" But it is the cat of Nabeshima ! " I cried ;
" this figure relates quite a story, one of the most
touching legends of the country ; and this dish, no
doubt, is a valuable morsel."

" Let us have the Legend of the Cat," they
called to me from all parts ; " let us have the
benefit of what you have gathered in your inte-
resting peregrinations."

I readily complied, and began relating to my
idle companions the following legend, which I
gathered from our pilot :

" The annals of the family of Nabeshima record
that a certain prince of Hizen, the head of this
family, was bewitched by a cat, whose demoniacal
enchantment was near leading him to the grave.
This prince had found a favourite in a girl, whose
charms were irresistible, the divine 0-Toyo ; her
enchanting powers rendered him mad with love ; it
was a passion ungovernable, an adoration to render
jealous the saints of Buddha's paradise.

NAGASAKI— THE CAT OF NABESHIMA. 273

" One fine night, our turtle-doves, after having
long inhaled the perfumed breezes of the park, re-
entered their yasiki, with their hands tenderly-
clasped in each other's.

" Having reached the threshold of the nuptial
chamber, the prince quitted his well-beloved, whis-
pering between two kisses that he should soon
return to her to repose in her society.

" 0-Toyo, beaming with happiness, had hardly
finished her nocturnal toilet, when an immense
cat suddenly jumps in through the window and
springs on her with the wildest rage. The unfor-
tunate young girl, quite distracted, falls on her
back ; she tries to call for help, but her voice dies
on her lips.

" The ferocious animal keeps his victim in his
sanguinary grasp; his red eyes glare and dilate
with pleasure, his double tail wags capriciously, his
black hair stands erect, waves, and bristles. All at
once he lays bare a throat, white and smooth. But
the perfection of the creature does not arrest the
infernal brute ; his cruel tooth tears the trembling
flesh, blood pours forth in a stream ; the beautiful
O-Toyo writhes in the convulsions of death and
soon expires in the most horrible agony.

"The fiendish cat then drags the corpse of
the young girl into the park and, burying it there
in a corner, covers the grave with grass, and
returns instantly to the chamber of the beloved
favourite.

"Just as he makes his entry by the roof, the
prince timely opens the door ; the cat, hearing the

274 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

noise, instantly changes his fornij and puts on the
appearance of his victim.

" The lover rushes to his beloved ; the girl,
more tender than ever, surrenders herself to his
embrace with all her heart. The prince is over-
joyed, but in his transport he is seized with an
inexplicable pain, and presently a terrible anguish
keeps him awake till morning. The following
night the same sufferings are accompanied with
frightful nightmares and appalling hallucinations.
When daylight reappears he has aged ten years,,
his hair has become quite white and his face is
furrowed with deep wrinkles.

" Every one is in consternation ; the most
skilful doctors are consulted, the most diverse
remedies are applied, but all to no purpose, for
nothing seems to arrest this active malady, which
no one can understand.

" The prince sinks away by degrees, and before
long he will probably be laid beside his ancestors.

" The family is in utter despair, but as the
sufferings come on only at night, when the invalid
is alone, the fact is remarkable ; he must then be
constantly watched.

" With this object in view, the chief officers of
ih^yasiki assemble to pass the night at the bedside
of their well-beloved lord. Until midnight, every-
thing goes on well ; Nabeshima recovers a little
his spirits, he converses with his faithful friends,
and his suffering has abated so far ; but, just at
this hour, every one falls asleep at once, and the
agony recommences.

NAGASAKI— THE CAT OF NABESHIMA. 275

"When day returns the brave chevaliers are
in terror ; they vow they will relieve one another
in watching, and not abandon a life so precious a
single moment. But they are vain oaths, for,
at midnight, the entire guard is in a deep
slumber, and the prince is again a martyr to
torture.

" The doctors being deemed incapable of treat-
ing the disorder, the watchers have recourse to the
priests, and they call in the most saintly bonzes
of the province to pray around the invalid's couch.

" But the prayers, like the medicines, are in-
efficacious. Nabeshima is at the last extremity,
and they have given up all hope, when one
morning the chief bonze on crossing the park,
after having passed the night in prayer, is stopped
by a young man.

" ' I entreat you,' said the latter, 'to do me the
honour to come and watch over my master during
the night.'

" This young 'man, named Ho-soda, is a simple
foot-soldier ; his rank, so inferior, does not admit
of his entering into the apartments of his lord, but
he looks so good-hearted and seems so devoted,
that they think there is no reason to be so
punctilious on this occasion as to refuse him this
favour.

" It now being night again, Ho-soda is intro-
duced with the usual guard. Matters go on as
usual ; they talk and endeavour to interest the
dying man ; then, at the first stroke of twelve
the guard falls into a lethargy.

T 2

276 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

" Ho-soda has sworn to himself to resist sleep,
but he feels himself seized with an uncontrollable
stupor ; his eyelids dose in spite of his efforts : he
continues struggling against slumber, but at last, the
torpor becoming overpowering, he is about to yield.

" ' No,' he mutters, ' I will not sleep.'

"And drawing his poignard he thrusts it into
his thigh. At this moment paws are seen gliding
over the tatami. Ho-soda, awoke by the pain of
his wound, looks inquisitively and perceives 0-Toyo
advancing stealthily. The Prince of Hizen then
begins to get agitated and to complain.

" ' We will watch,' thought the courageous lad,
and he plunges the blade again into the bleeding
wound.

" 0-Toyo has discovered the stratagem at a
glance. She approaches the young warrior, com-
pliments him on his courage, inquires about his
lord, and quits the chamber. From that moment
the patient becomes perfectly calm and falls into a
refreshing sleep.

" ' I have not been mistaken,' said Ho-soda to
himself; 'it is she, it is the enchantress ; but I will
vanquish her power and I will save my master.'

" The next day there was a sensible improve-
ment in the condition of the invalid. There was
no doubt Ho-soda had charmed away the spell.
As they were struck with astonishment before him
at his supernatural power :

" ' There is nothing in it,' he says, ' but what is
quite natural. I have kept awake and have discovered
the sorceress, whose evil genius I have paralysed.'

NAGASAKI— THE CAT OF NABESHIMA. 277

" ' The sorceress ! What sorceress ? '

" ' 0-Toyo ! '

" ' What ! the adored mistress ? '

" ' It is she herself/

" ' Well, then, we must kill her.'

" ' I will undertake that/ said the bold young
man, and, seizing his sabre, he rushes to the apart-
ments of the favourite.

" ' Wretch ! ' he cries, ' it is thou who hast con-
spired the death of thy benefactor ; it is thou who
hast embittered his existence by thy diabolic ma-
chinations. Thou shalt now expiate thy crime.'

" 0-Toyo, finding herself unmasked, makes no
attempt at resistance. Laying him under inter-
dict, she vanishes like a shadow. ,

" Ho-soda, quite stupefied, calls aloud for help
to hinder the sorceress from escaping from the
palace. They run in from all parts and close all
the apertures, and, as they are shutting the
window, a great black cat bounds out and dis-
appears on the roof

" They search for O-Toyo in vain ; no one
succeeds in discovering her traces, and from that
time nothing more is heard of the favourite.

" Nabeshima, relieved from the philtres and the
pernicious influence of the infernal creature, soon,
returned to his usual health, and the faithful Ho-
soda, elevated to the highest military dignities, was
loaded with rewards and immense riches.

" This is the end of the legend."

" I am delighted, my dear sir," says the man
with the dish, " to know the story of the Cat of

278 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

Nabeshima ; but I should have preferred another
conclusion, one less abrupt."

" For example this one," says a wag : " They
were married, lived to an old age, and had many
children."

My story had the merit, at least, to amuse
some and put others to sleep — a double success —
and this was something on board ship during a
monotonous passage.

From this day my stock of Japanese legends
was much in request, and every evening I was
obliged to renew the entertainment. In seven
days' voyage my repertoire was exhausted, and I
passed in review a whole army of cats, badgers,
and foxes,, the ordinary heroes of these stories to
send one asleep.

The arrival of our pilot, who came to meet us
at a good day's distance from Shanghai, put an
end to this amusement.

The following morning, at eight, we were at
anchor before Wo-sung, waiting for the tide. At
ten we passed the bar, and at noon we moored
opposite the Consulate - General of France and
the " H6tel des Messageries Maritimes."

CHAPTER XXIII.

AN UNEXPECTED VISIT.

Shanghai — The Japanese Colony— An Unexpected Visitor
— The Grounding of the Japanese Steamer — Marcel's
Hallucinations — Dream and Reality — The Yang-tse-
kiang — Chinese Cities — Nankin — Che-foo — Return to
Japan — Arrival at Yokohama.

This narrative being exclusively devoted to Japan,
1 shall give no description of Shanghaij reserving
the task of writing on China at some future date,
if time and circumstances permit.

A Japanese tradesman being installed in Con-
sulate Street, as we were informed, Marcel hastened
to find him out and cultivate acquaintance with
this exiled subject of the Mikado. It was quite a
consolation for my friend to be able to talk of the
Benten, and especially its inhabitants.

One fine morning, a few weeks after our arrival,
he presented me to his new acquaintances. The
family was composed of the husband, the wife, a
fine mous'ko* of eighteen months, and a cousin
attached to the house.

* Baby.

28o JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

This evening there happened to be a grand
party of the little Japanese colony assembled at the
tradesman's house, and every one seemed delighted
to see us join. As for us, we were quite happy to-
find ourselves on such cordial and affable terms
with a class of people that had proved so very
attractive at Yokohama.

The sake, the tea, and the Lilliputian pipes cir-
culated without interruption in this joyous company.
The young ladies laughed, sang, and gambolled
like children ; but the men, more serious, were cal-
culating the time necessary to realise a little capital
that would permit them to live at their ease on the
sacred soil of their venerated country.

An important event absorbed the conversation.
The steamboat of the company, Mitsou-Bichi, was
twenty hours behind her usual time, and no one
could account for the cause.

Marcel, as well as the rest, was impatient to
see the post arrive. He was in hopes of receiving
a letter from 0-Hana ; but, since ships do not
usually cross the bar of Shanghai at night, and it
being now ten o'clock, he would be obliged to wait
till morning.

Marcel's uneasy attitude made me think of our
friends of the Benten.

" Do you know Mitani-san .' " I asked one of
our party.

" Yes ; he is one of my correspondents," he
replied. " Your comrade has already spoken to me
about him and his youngest daughter, who, they
say, is charming."

AN UNEXPECTED VISIT. 281

At this instant I heard some whispering among
a group of young mous'-me. They appeared to be
looking at Marcel slyly, smiling to themselves ;
and I fancied I heard the name of 0-Hana even
pronounced. It was an illusion, no doubt; but,
even if it had been uttered, there were so many of
the name of 0-Hana ; it is like Marie in France ;
and I thought no more of the incident.

It was getting late, and already a few ladies
had expressed their intention to retire. We were
about to separate, when a timid knock at the
street-door arrested the general attention.

" We don't expect anybody/' said simul-
taneously the two cousins.

Then one of them, taking a lamp, went to the
street-door ; but, before turning the key, questioned
the late-comer.

" Open it ! " demanded a female voice in
Japanese.

Marcel trembled visibly. The door grated on
its hinges, an interview began, and then an ex-
clamation of astonishment reached our ears.

" It is O-Hana ! " Marcel whispered to me.

" What a folly ! " I said to myself. But I had
no time to reply, my interlocutor had disappeared.

During this interval the master of the house
had gone into the room adjoining to ours with the-
newly-arrived visitor and, passing by the door ajar,,
a moment after, I heard him say to his wife :

" 0-Sayo-san, oid^-nasa'i, ayakou oide-nasai ! " —
0-Sayo-san, come, come, quick !

Every one looked at one another astonished.

282 JAPAt^ESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

"The Mitsou-Bichi must have arrived/' said
one of the men, " for, except the Consul and his
employes, all our countrymen of the colony of
Shanghai are assembled here this evening."

The young ladies recommenced whispering.
Marcel, disappointed at finding no one, re-entered
the room the party occupied, at the same moment
as our host.

" The Mitsou-Bichi is on the bar," the latter
informed us, " and is waiting the tide to get over
it. We shall have our letters to-morrow. I have
this information from a person who, being in a
hurry to come ashore, landed on the road to Wo-
sung, and has come as far as this afoot."

The Japanese are generally reserved ; with
them it is a proof of good education ; they there-
fore did not think of questioning their friend.
Marcel, who was more curious and more interested
to know the news, said in a piqued tone :

" What a mystery ! Are you really a con-
spirator, Master O-Wari ? "

" Perhaps," he merely replied, in the same tone.

It was quite useless to persist in inquiry, and
we therefore left.

I do not know whether during this night
Marcel was able to sleep. For my part, being
interested in the question so far only as what
ddnoument it might have, I did not cease to reflect
on the consequences of the frolic of our giddy little
friend, for I had not the slightest doubt that the
hurried traveller of last evening was 0-Hana.

At the hour of " up all hammocks " I always

AN UNEXPECTED VISIT. 283

put the same question to myself: "What is to be
done?" I jumped out of bed still undecided, but
on plunging my nose into cold water, I came to a
resolution. I went softly to draw the curtain
aside in Marcel's cabin. He was drowsy, but had
not been so more than a few minutes. " Good ! "
I said to myself. " He is sleeping ; " and I then
went quickly ashore.

Ten minutes later I arrived at the shop in
Consulate Street. 0-Wari was hfmself opening
the shutters.

" I want to speak to you," I said abruptly.

" And I also," he replied to me. " I was even
just going to send a messenger to beg you to come
here."

"Then I could not have arrived more oppor-
tunely. Besides, the reason that brings me here
and that which induced you to decide on sending
for me, might be very similar."

" What do you mean .-' "

"Speak first, if you please; I am in no hurry
to explain myself."

"Oh, very well; just as you like. Do you
know the person who came to me last night ? "

"Yes."

" How, yes ! She has told me a lie then .-" It
was regularly planned .? But then I tell you I will
have nothing to do with this gad-about. I will put
her at once out of doors, and wash my hands of her."

" By no mearis ; do nothing of the kind. The
poor little thing has told you no falsehood. On
saying to you, ' Yes, I know who came to you,' I

284 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

have exaggerated, and I should have said, ' I
suspect, I guess,' for, upon my honour, neither my
friend nor I were warned of this wild freak of
Mitani's daughter, and we have not, I can assure
you, abetted it in any way. What has she told you ?"

" What do I know about it ? A lot of fine
things. A passionate love for a young French-
man ; a mortal anxiety — in short, a fit of madness.
My wife has made her understand the outrageous-
ness of her conduct ; she has spoken to her of the
deep trouble occasioned to her father, of his reputa-
tion compromised, and of her mother's despair. She
will start in two hours by the packet for Yoko-
hama. I should have liked to accompany her, but
I cannot do so at this moment. I have commended
her to the care of the captain, and I will give him
a letter for her old father. In the meantime, I am
going to send a telegram to these good people to-
reassure them on the situation of their daughter.
The little turtle-dove has mentioned the name
of her lover; it is your friend, Monsieur Marcel.
She is not to see him ; it is agreed between her
and ourselves ; but I have promised to admit you
to her. Come, she will receive you."

I knocked at the door, and 0-Hana opened it.

" I expected you," she said ; " and him ? "

"Him, my dear girl, he is thinking of you.
Yesterday evening his heart recognised you when
you were still at the door ; but we tried to con-
vince him that he was mistaken. It would be
imprudent to see him, it would not be reasonable,
for he loves you, you little madcap, he loves you

AN UNEXPECTED VISIT. 285

as you merit to be loved. You are as pretty as
you are crackbrained, and Master O-Wari sticks as
much to the honour of his friend Mitani as to that
of his own house. Your father is advised that you
are in safe keeping, and that you are going to be
sent back to him by the first boat. Therefore
take courage, you dearly-loving little creature.
When Marcel learns the truth, when he knows how
much you have deferred to our good advice, he can
only love you all the more; be sure of that. I
can now tell you, that before two months from
this day have passed away, we shall be again in
Yokohama."

The young girl held her head down like a
culprit in the face of a judge, and deep sighs
escaped every now and then from her oppressed
bosom.

"Whatever prompted you to undertake such
a voyage ? Were you certain of finding us here .'' "

" The day of your departure I sent him a letter
by the sendo. He could not reply to me im-
mediately, I well knew, but I hoped to receive a
word or two from K6bd. I knew your course.
Deceived in my hope I waited, thinking you had
gone on direct to Nagasaki ; but at the second post
I was not more fortunate. Perhaps, I said to myself,
they must have steamed as far as Shanghai without
calling on the way. I wrote and I calculated the time
necessary to go and come, and I waited for the post
from Shanghai. The first brought me nothing, nor
the second. At last I lost patience, and I quickly
came to a resolution. I have always had a little

286 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

store of money, for my father is very generous
to me. I made a little package of my clothes,
and I left. When we were out of sight of Yoko-
hama I got frightened at my rashness. I wished
them to put out a boat to send me ashore ; but the
sailors only laughed at me, and I did not dare
speak to the captain. At last I got more reconciled
to my situation. I thought of the happiness of
seeing you again "

" Both ? " I asked, interrupting her.

"Yes, both. Are you not the shadow of the
other ? And then," she added in a decisive tone,
" I love Marcel from love, and you — I love you
from friendship."

What could I say to this ? I was put back
into my place.

" But in the end," I continued, " were you sure
of finding us here 1 Did you not suppose we were
on our way to France ? "

" Oh, as for that, I was well informed. After
I thought you had set out for your own country, I
learnt from reliable authority that you were to
make a prolonged stay at Shanghai. It was
mentioned in a letter to one of ray friends."

" And now, here you are well ahead ; but you
must turn back."

" Yes, I return ; but tell Mm this evening when
I shall be far away : '0-Hana, thy flower of the
Benten, has braved everything for thee. She has
come to Shanghai, and she would have given her
life to have seen thee but a moment ; but they
have said to her it would be the death of her

AN UNEXPECTED VISIT. 287

father, and God forbid that her father should die!
She has therefore returned. Adieu, my friend ; thou
wilt be satisfied with me.' "

I was profoundly moved. I left the poor girl,
and hurried away and on board. It was hardly
seven, and Marcel was still sleeping.

About eight o'clock I heard a loud and pro-
longed whistle. I ran up on deck. The Mitsou-
Bichi was leaving her moorings, and five minutes
later she passed alongside of us.

Passengers of every nationality encumbered the
whole length of the deck. I directed my telescope
amid this bustling and motley group, hoping to
discover among the clusters of heads one little
traveller. Not perceiving her anywhere, I was
about to descend to the wardroom when some one
spoke behind me.

" I am decidedly taking leave of my senses.
Last evening I believed I had recognised a voice ;
this voice made my heart beat, and actually I
experienced the same feeling on beholding a
Japanese girl now leaning against the barricading
in the stern of the Mitsou-Bicki. One would swear
it was O-Hana^ but on reflection it is impossible ;
it cannot be, for what on earth could have driven
her to come here ? In all my letters I have
announced to her our return to Yokohama very
shortly.

" What do you mean by ' in all your letters ' i*
You have never once written to her."

" Not written ! It is your turn now, it seems, to
be crazed. Why should I not have written to her >

^288 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

Did I not promise to do so ? Why should I
•deceive this naive and tender little creature ? Why-
should I give her unnecessary pain ? She has not
paid me with a letter in return, it is true, for until
this moment I have not had a word even. But I
don't despair ; her letters will not fail to find me in
the end."

I was completely mystified in this explanation.
Marcel had written to her, and she had received
nothing. What was the meaning of it ?

O-Hana had written ; Marcel had received
nothing likewise — another mystery ! A third party
had then intercepted the correspondence on both
sides.

While racking my brains over this inscrutable
question, I had, by means of my telescope, dis-
covered the apparition that had troubled Marcel so
deeply. It was O-Hana, and no mistake. I con-
tinued watching her till the Mitsou-Bichi was
concealed behind the advance of the packet of
the Messageries.

Marcel seemed to be wrapped in a dream. I
was quite at my ease, for at the moment of passing
out of sight, O-Hana, leaning against the barri-
cading, made a hurried gesture with her hand that
revealed a breaking heart.

Adieu, charming girl, adieu ! May thy loving
heart one day be recompensed for so much abnega-
tion and devoted tenderness !

Marcel, being unable to obtain any information,
except through 0-Wari or me, was doomed to
remain in the most complete ignorance regarding

AN UNEXPECTED VISIT. 289

this wild freak of his mistress. The Mitsou-Bichi
having brought over in the evening some fresh
recruits to the Japanese colony, he came to the
conclusion that he must have been deceived in
supposing he had recognised his friend. I was
therefore quite easy on this score.

The steamboat continued her route through the
myriads of junks that encumbered the river of
Shanghai. Her hull had already disappeared
from our sight, and her large white flag with
a red ball fluttering in the breeze, still indicated
to the steersman of the watch her position amid a
forest of masts.

The clarion had just sounded the casquette, the
joyous call to breakfast. We were going to sit
down to table when a midshipman entered the
ward-room, cap in hand.

" Lieutenant, the Japanese steamer has put her
flag awaft ; she must have run aground on the bar.-"

" Well," replied our second officer, " go and
inform the commander and instruct the officer as
well as the midshipman on duty, to prepare to
start with two boats."

Two minutes later the master's whistle called
on deck the division of the watch. Two boats
ready for the work were manned by hearty volun-
teers, and Marcel, with his sword-belt buckled on,
waited the commander's orders.

It is settled, I thought to myself, seeing my
friend ready to take the command of the expedi-
tion. It is he who is on duty ; the die is cast, and
he will see 0-Hana.

u

290 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

" Start now, Monsieur Marcel," said the com-
mander to the impetuous Breton ; " if you do not
require two boats you will send away one with the
midshipman, and inform me of the proceedings.
As for you, remain yonder so long as your services
will be required."

They put a da3?'s provisions into the boat,
double rations of wine, the apparatus necessary to
give aid to a stranded ship, and they pushed off.

The best part of the day passed without any
news. Towards evening the boat headed by the
midshipman returned.

"Marcel has sent me back," said the young
officer to the commander ; " my presence is no
longer required. The Mitsou-Bichi is afloat again,
but we were obliged to unload her partially ; they
are now reloading. All the passengers are ashore ;
they have invaded the wine-shops and native
eating-houses along the road to Wo-sung. The
departure is fixed for midnight when it will be
high tide. There is nothing more to fear ; but
with all these Chinese cattle there is a, nice mess.
Marcel remains to keep order with his men in this
new Noah's Ark."

The commander approved the conduct of his
officer, in whom he had complete confidence, and
there was no further question about the incident.

"Well and good," I said to myself, "the
matter is clear ; my diplomacy has been thoroughly
successful. The turtle-doves have met. . . . Sic
fata voluere ... I shall be very much deceived if
Marcel, in spite of his scruples, does not get out of

AN UNEXPECTED VISIT. 291

this adventure everything it is capable of yielding.
And in the end, where is the evil ? They love one
another, these little lambs. It is I who am going
to confess him to-morrow."

Our second boat returned about "two in the
morning ; my friend, fatigued, no doubt, by the
confidential mission he had fulfilled — and it is
astonishing how so much responsibility favours
sleep — did not stir at the hour of breakfast. At
the moment of inspection I heard him move, and
the first thing I did was to go and shake him by
the hand ; then kept under by a judicious reserve,
fearing to seem impatient for a confidential com-
munication, I waited. He came out of his cabin,
presented himself to his commander, returned a
quarter of an hour afterwards, demanded his break-
fast from the steward, bolted it as he replied
evasively to the questions of his comrades, and
went ashore by the first Chinese saiitpang* that
came alongside.

In the evening the gentleman returned covered
with dust, coming, he said, from having sanctified
himself by a grand promenade to the establish-
ment of the Jesuit fathers of Sike-way. Not a
word about the Mitsou-Bichi. One could glean
nothing on the subject of her stranding.

Being a little piqued at this unaccustomed
silence, I feigned indifference, showed no longer
any desire to speak about Japan and still less
of the Benten and its people.

* A light boat covered with a straw or plank awning.

U 2

292 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

Two days after this event, we received orders,
to undertake an expedition in the Yang-tse-kiang.

This voyage, which would have been quite a
pleasure party at any other season, promised
nothing agreeable in the month of June. Our
anticipations were fully realised.

It rained in torrents ; the heat was suffocating;
the mosquitoes were pitilessly ravenous ; and sleep
for a moment was out of the question. Such,
in short, are the only souvenirs left me by the
muddy waters of this regal river.

The mission was to reassure our countrymen,
molested by the incorrigible Chinese population,
and to show to their highnesses, the viceroys and
mandarins high and low, a few good guns, capable
of bombarding them at a respectful distance in
the most approved manner, if called for.

We ascended direct as far as the vast city of
Wu-shang-foo, and then we returned at our leisure,
stopping a little throughout.

In spite of the rain, the mosquitoes, and every
other amenity, my humour for wandering enticed
me ashore at every anchorage, and every time, I
returned vowing it should be the last.

The Chinese towns are foul sinks, where one
breathes pestilential odours, gets bedaubed wher-
ever he sets his foot with filth impossible to
analyse, and where one is jostled every moment by
a people conspicuous for their coarseness, their
arrogance, their insipidity, and their uncleanli-
ness. Clean and polished Chinese are decidedly
exceptions.

AN UNEXPECTED VISIT. 293

After having visited Wu-shang-foo^ Hankow,
Kiu-kiang, and N'gang-kiu, I made up my mind
to see no more of these towns, when we arrived at
Nan-kin. Nan-kinj being the second city of the
empire, and renowned for its porcelain tower, had,
however, some claim to my notice, and I could not
pass by this one without a visit.

Every one shakes off his apathy and becomes
stirred a little at the prospect of seeing the famous
towerj so much extolled, so often described in the
works of travellers who have never gone up the
Yang-tse-kiang, the wonder so often multiplied on
the scenic wall-papers of so many places of arriuse-
ment in our own country.

After some trouble, we procure some squalid
sedans, a few lean, lanky horses and guides abso-
lutely idiotic.

" We want to see the Porcelain Tower."

" Very well. Go ahead."

After a two hours' course through streets about
a yard wide, encumbered with a hideous popula-
tion, we arrive somewhere. Our chair-bearers set
us down, the horses stop of themselves ; they have,
to all appearances, made often enough the same
journey.

" Where are we now .■" "

"At the Porcelain Tower."

In vain we opened our eyes wide and looked
around on all sides ; we could not see the shadow
of a tower. Then, beholding our astonishment, the
least blockish of our Chinese said to us in bad
English :

294 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

" You didn't know it, then ? The Porcelain
Tower no longer exists. The Taitpings have
destroyed it, and the barbarians of the West have
carried away, one by one, all the bricks. You may
still find, perhaps, a few bits to sell in one or two
curiosity shops, but this, however, is not certain.
At all events, this is the spot of the famous
monument."

" We are much obliged. Now have the good-
ness to take us back as quickly as you can."

Twenty-five days after our departure from
Shanghai we had returned to it fatigued, flurried,
emaciated, soured, and peevish; desirous of
quitting this inhospitable land, and one unfortu-
nately fatal to some of our sailors, who had
already suffered so much from the climate of
Cochin-China and the war expedition to Tonquin,

The order for departure kept us waiting much
longer than we liked, but at last a despatch
arrived. Were we going to return to France, or
direct to Japan to terminate there our mission,
or pursue our course as far as Che-foo, where the
admiral was at present.' This was the all-im-
portant question that occupied our thoughts while
waiting to know our destination.

Fate had reserved for us Che-foo. A violent
wind rising to a hurricane, carried us along with a
rapidity that narrowly escaped being fatal. The
fog was so thick that our observations, necessarily
imperfect, did not admit of our ascertaining
exactly our position and, the land being near,
our situation was critical. At last, fortunately, the

AN UNEXPECTED VISIT. 295

moon showed her face from behind a cloud for a
few seconds, and the officer of the watch, already-
prepared, immediately seized the opportunity for
an observation, found the altitude and decided the
tack. We were out by ten miles, but this per-
mitted our commander to shape his course in the
Gulf of Pe-chi-li, and at ten o'clock we caught
sight of Cape Bod looming through the fog, and
to the leeward of this we had to steer to our
destination.

Che-foo is a place where the European resi-
dents of Shanghai, Canton, Hong-kong, and other
commercial towns go to pass a part of the hot
season and to repose for a short time from the
fatigues of business.

Che-foo is also a bathing-place, and they say
one might almost fancy that he was transported on
the beach of some of our resorts in the Channel,
or the coast of Brittany, so much is there in
common.

During the sojourn of a month, devoted to
the exercises of the Inspection General, hunting
was our principal diversion, hares being very
abundant in these parts. Some evenings we
assembled in one of the boats of the division, and
passed our time merrily enough at cards and music.
One day, the admiral, having completed his in-
spection, gave us a holiday.

"You will soon be recalled to France," said he
to our commander; "go to Yokohama, and wait
there for the order ; I will transmit it by tele-
graph."

296 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

This news filled our hearts with joy ; the in-
valids recovered their health, and the hypochon-
driacs shook off their melancholy. We were to
return to France by a roundabout way, it is true,
but still we were en route, and besides^ we
were to see Japan again, and this redounded
considerably to the satisfaction of some of the
ship.

We saw again Nagasaki, Simonoseki, where
we stopped for the first time, Kobe, where we
visited the renowned cascade, and under whose
waters one of our comrades had the fancy to place
himself in spite of the temperature. At last, one
fine morning at daybreak, we were running in the
roadstead of Yokosta, and ten minutes later, after
having searched for a commodious mooring amid
an inextricable crowd of ships, our larboard anchor
dropped noisily into the transparent waters of the
roadstead of Yokohama.

CHAPTER XXIV.

AN EXCURSION IN SEARCH OF THE FUGITIVE.

0-Hana has not returned — The Parents' Distress — A Reve-
lation — Diplomacy of Danna-san — We agree to make
a Party to fetch 0-Hana — Departure for Fousi-yama —
A Droll Stoi7 of a Fox.

Instead of sharing in my comrades' joy, I felt
my heart throbbing with anxiety. I regretted not
having spoken to Marcel on 0-Hana's adventure
and consulted with him on what course to follow,,
and I was also impatient to learn the denoument
of this little idyll.

Marcel being on duty, I was obliged to go
ashore alone.

" I shall come this evening," he called to me
just as the long-boat pushed off; "tell her
that."

" Yes, I shall not forget ; be easy on that
score.^'

I soon reached Mitani's house. I was op-
pressed with a harrowing presentiment and, on
entering, I felt a cold shudder over my whole

2gS JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

body. Mitani, squatting before the tchibatchi,
seemed to be living in another world. He looked
ten years older. The noise of my footsteps roused
him from his brooding. He got up and came
hurriedly towards me.

" O-Hana ? " I said inquiringly, without entering
into any matter.

"O-Hana.?" he repeated in the same tone of
inquiry.

" What ! You do not know where she is ? "

" No."

"And you have received no telegram from
Shanghai .■' "

" Oh, yes ; but, no doubt, they wanted to
deceive me. I have not seen my child, and I
shall see her no more whether she is still alive
or whether she has ceased to exist. Because I —
you see — I am struck here/' and he laid his hand
■on his heart. " It will serve me for a few days
longer, perhaps, and the mother will follow me very
shortly."

I was bewildered and frightened.

" It is not possible, father Mitani. You are

mad. O-Hana has returned she arrived at

Shanghai one evening "

" Ah ! you have all cruelly deceived me — she,
you, he "

" I swear to you solemnly that Marcel and I
are innocent. As to the poor little thing, she did
not know how to overcome her trouble. She never
reflected on the consequences of her freak. She
has set off like a dove to join its mate by instinct.

LY SEARCH OF THE FUGITIVE. 299

■without reflection. She has yielded to her heart.
Marcel is ignorant of it all. 0-Wari and I alone
are in the secret. She arrived at eleven o'clock at
night at Shanghai, worn out and confused with her
rash step. But one word was enough to bring her
to her senses."

" ' It will be the death of thy father,' 0-Wari
said to her. ' Oh, my poor, good father ! ' she
replied, ' what grief I must have caused him 1 You
are quite right, I shall return by the first steamer.'
And the next day, at eight in the morning, she
had set out. She has returned, be sure of that.
She is here hiding herself, because she fears your
anger, but we will find her and bring her back to
you."

The old man was quite changed ; these words
■of hope were balm to his wound.

" Yes," he replied to me, " I have confidence
in you. You will find her again, my 0-Hana."

The mother had come in unobserved behind
us. The sight of this excellent woman excited
my compassion ; she was always so retiring in
the house, so disposed to keep herself in the
background, so modest and forbearing that she
never ventured to utter the slightest complaint.
On now hearing what I had just said she wept
for joy.

There was no time to lose. It was necessaty
to extricate my ideas from their confusion and
decide on some plan of conduct. The first thing
to do was to go and enlighten Marcel. He could
not seriously have any ill-feeling against me on a

30O JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

suspicion of an attempt to mislead him. It was in
his interest ; in the interest too of his thoughtless
mistress. Besides, he ought to know something of
the matter and what should be done since the
grounding of the M itsou-Bichi. I returned at once
to the ship.

" What ! " cried the young Breton on my first
words of explanation, " she has not come home ? "

" Ah ! it seems that reticence is no longer a
harbour of refuge t "

" You know something, then, since you are pre-
pared with your good counsel } "

"As much or as little as you wish."

" Oh, very well, then swear to keep my secret."

" You may rely on my silence in confiding any-
thing to me."

" At the time of the accident to the Mitsou-
Bichi, if I remained ashore till two o'clock in the
morning . . ."

" Ah ! Yes." The vision had changed into
reality.

" You know nothing whatever — I will tell you
all ; but, for God's sake, you must know nothing."

" You tire me out with your precautions. I
will ignore as much as you desire. I shall believe
even that you have sheered off from anchors the
whole day and half of the night . , ."

" Nonsense ! But where is she now ? Quick,
there is no time to lose. We must look for her."

And, totally forgetting that he was on duty^
the thoughtless young fellow was preparing himself
to follow up his words.

IN SEARCH OF THE FUGITIVE. 301

" At last we are becoming more practical ; we
can talk more soberly now. If you will trust me,
do not worry yourself ; attend to your duties.
Before this evening I shall be on the traces of the
fugitive. To-morrow I shall have arranged some-
thing, and then we will consult together."

At eleven o'clock I was in the country. Ouyeno
must know something of the mystery, I thought,
and in any case he will help me materially in my
inquiries. I went directly to the residence of the
Customs' officer. 0-Sada was alone.

" I knew you had arrived," said the young wife,
" and fully expected you. Ouyeno will be back
presently."

" Are you fully acquainted with the situation of
your sister .■' " I asked.

" Yes. My husband, for a long time past, has
discovered the projects of O-Hana. He had very
cleverly intercepted the correspondence of the
lovers in the hope of making them forget one
another. At present he has some certain informa-
tion on the direction she has taken on her return
from Shanghai. He did not wish to rouse any
misplaced joy in our parents before being quite
certain ; but he has just gone to reassure them.
Oh, here he is ; he will tell you more about it than
I can."

Ouyeno's eyes were beaming with a self-
satisfied smile. He was evidently pleased with
himself.

" I am quite worthy to be a prefect of police,"
he began on entering. " I have discovered the

302 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

retreat of the fugitive. We must go after her and
bring her back to her disconsolate family."

" Where is she, my dear Ouyeno ? Speak, and
ease my mind."

" Ah, ah ! Monsieur le Frangais, this is the
way you carry off our girls, and turn them from
the straight path "

I was indignant, and on the point of protesting
against the imputation, when he continued :

" I know, I know ; it is merely a joke. The
good man, Mitani, was not at all satisfied.
He spoke of nothing less than of assassinating
your friend on his return, blowing out your brains,
and then ripping up his body at last like a true,
like a pure Japanese."

" Diable 1 "

" I calmed his mind at the moment as well as
I could, without telling him all the truth.

" I desired, in case you should not return here,
to extenuate as much as possible 0-Hana's folly
by throwing the responsibility on her seducer. But
as you are come back, I have changed my tactics.
I have just been reading to my father-in-law
Marcel-san's letters. I have received the whole of
them. They are the letters of a good and up-
right young man. He never thought of deceiving
an innocent girl. As for the prose of O-Hana, I
keep it there under key. The dear sister-in-law
has a tender heart and a ready wit. It is dead
and buried ; papa father-in-law will not read it."

" But where is she ? This is the question now."

" Far from here, at Hakone, with the parents

IN SEARCH OF THE FUGITIVE. 303

of that girl who was instrumental in furnishing
her with information regarding your presence at
Shanghai. It is this girl who has enabled me to
learn everything contrary to her intention. I pre-
tended what was false and I have learnt what is
true. On the day I heard of her arrival at Yoko-
hama, I swore I would find out her retreat, and
you see I have succeeded. But it is for you alone
to lead her back to the paternal fold ; she will
listen to no other than you. I have sufficient con-
fidence in Marcel-san to permit him to accompany
you. To-morrow you shall have further informa-
tion from me and every indication desirable that
you may not go astray. You can leave afterwards
as soon as you like."

Marcel, having been fully informed, wanted to
hire the djin-riki-cha the same evening and set out
the next morning ; but it was necessary to re-
member the duties of the service, and, as for
myself, I could not be at liberty before the end of
the week.

The departure was therefore fixed for Saturday
morning. Mitani, now informed of our projects,
reassured, besides, on the position of his daughter,
and convinced of her innocence as well as of the
good faith of Marcel, took a more cheerful view of
existence, and showed it very visibly in his
countenance.

" If I dared," said he to us, " I would accom-
pany you that I might embrace my dear daughter
all the sooner. Her old father forgives her, and
will not say a word about her trouble. But let her

304 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

return quickly, and bring back to us joy, life, and
soul, that quitted the house with her."

I particularly desired to be accompanied by
Ouyeno in this journey. He would serve us
as a guide and interpreter, and besides, with
regard to O-Hana, it was more becoming to
have him with us. Mitani, without suggesting
it, fearing to wound our susceptibilities, shared
my advice.

" Come with us," I said to the Custom-house
officer, " and let your wife accompany you ; it will
be quite a pleasure party for her, for you, and for
us, and your father-in-law will be delighted.
O-Hana, besides, will be happy to see her sister
coming for her, and 0-Sada-san is longing for the
trip. O-Hana having been found again and
everything pleasantly settled, there will be nothing
to hinder us from continuing our excursion and
availing ourselves of the opportunity to make the
ascent of Fousi-yama ; it will be charming. Come
now, my dear Ouyeno, reflect a moment, say yes
and ask for a few days' leave from your adminis-
tration."

The employe, convinced by my reasoning and
moved by the entreaties of his wife, yielded to our
wishes, and it was arranged that we should set out
two days afterwards, Saturday morning. Five
djin-riki-cka with ten drawers were engaged. The
boxes of our little carriage were stuffed with
European provisions. We took a little store of
linen, shoes for changing, rugs for protection
against the cold and rain, if needed, and, when

IN SEARCH OF THE FUGITIVE. 305

five o'clock, the hour fixed, struck at the town
clock, we all started.

Never had we made an excursion at a time
more propitious. The autumn was in its full
glory. October, the month of russet leaves and
golden stalks — the month of cold nights, foggy-
mornings, and mild days — had hardly yet begun.

And in order not to tire out our djin-ri' ki, and
to enjoy with perfect tranquillity the beautiful and
poetic nature of the season, we decided on moving
at our leisure, for a long leave gave us the desired
liberty.

We had traversed the suburbs of Yokohama,
and passed Tot-souka before daybreak.

When the first huts of Fouzi-sawa come in
view a pale yellow line marks the horizon, and the
advent of day gives its first sign. This is our first
station, and our djin-ri' ki having halted at the
door of a pretty tcha-ya, knock vigorously at the
shutters still closed ; women's voices respond to
their appeal ; the panels soon glide along their
grooves, and a bevy of girls, not yet fully awake,
deliberately adjusting their disordered hair and
night toilettes, come politely forward to salute the
early travellers.

The f'ton are strewn over the floor, and an
indescribable confusion reigns over the front room.
A determined sleeper is stretching himself and
yawning in some corner or other. In a few
seconds, however, everything is in order and quite
clean, and the tea ready.

Five or six cups of the perfumed infusion and

3o6 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

half-a-dozen kachi constitute the first breakfast of
O-Sada, whilst Ouyeno, preferring something more
substantial, shares with us the remains of a
chicken, and drinks a bumper of boudo-chu.

The sun makes his appearance as we mount
our djin-riki-cha, but the cold is very sensible, and
the sharp, pure air forces us to wrap ourselves in
our mantles.

The road being wide enough, we proceed two
abreast. I take the lead with O uyeno, Marcel follows
beside 0-Sada, and our fifth djin-riki-cha, charged
with wraps and provisions, brings up the rear.

From Yokohama to Odawara the road winds
along the sea-shore. It is impossible to see any-
thing more curiously and characteristically Japanese
and more animated. Sometimes like the "grande
rue" of an interminable village, this road runs
between two rows of pretty little houses, some-
times curves under the fresh shade of a forest of
maritime pines, turns sharply at the angle of a
projecting rock, or approaches the beach, distribu-
ting its pebbles at the edge of the clear waters of
the bay of Odawara.

It is here that one must see a real bit of Japan,
it is here that it should be taken in its living
actuality, in all its attractive, fanciful picturesque-
ness. We pass at every moment groups of lively
wayfarers, women in short skirts, pilgrims of both
sexes with a staff in their hand and a bag over
their shoulders ; the men are loaded with baggage;
the women trot along in their sandals with a way-
ward mien ; the young girls are smiling and

IN SEARCH OF THE FUGITIVE. 307

skipping about like lambs ; and the young mothers
are carrying their babies on their backs warmly
swaddled and secured by the pelisse attached to
the girdle.

Here, a labourer is occupied in cultivating his
field, and there, a young girl half-naked, sporting
in the limpid waters of a cascade among trout and
gold-fish ; in another spot, a loving couple in a
tender embrace, an angler seriously at work with
rod and line, with his grave countenance almost
hidden beneath an enormous straw hat ; further
on, quite a caravan of horses shod with straw
shoes, a norimono mysteriously closed : it is a
motley procession, a singular admixture of the
most diverse, picturesque elements, full of move-
ment and life, whose aspect varies at every moment
and whose innumerable scenes would furnish
admirable-subjects for the artist's pencil.

Our vehicle drawers are full of ardour ; it is
quite a pleasure to see them springing with so
much elasticity on their heels ; they move as if
they were on steel or india-rubber. We pass Nan-
ngo, and then successively the ferry over the river
Banu, the bridge over the Hirat-souka, and at last
we arrive at 0-Iso at noon, after a seven hours'
march.

It was part of Ouyeno's plan to luncheon in
this village quite at our ease, taking full time to
admit of our drawers resting themselves, and of
deferring our arrival at Odawara till the evening.

While 0-Sada, like a good housewife, is super-
intending the preparation of our repast, Ouyeno

X 2

3o8 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

walks with us into the gardens of the house.
Marcel has been very gloomy, and we could not
get a word from him, but in order to stir him up a
little, I entered immediately into a subject that
interested him.

" You have given me a few particulars," I said
to our Japanese friend, "about your doings to
enable you to discover your sister-in-law's hiding-
place, and about the place where she is staying."

" I told you that O-Hana is in retreat at
Hakond with the parents of one of her friends;
this friend lives with an old aunt at Yokohama.
I have questioned her very cunningly, feigning to
know everything. The young lady, believing me
to be better informed, told me exactly what took
place.

" O-Hana on landing, on her return from
Shanghai, dreading to go back to her father, went
to her friend's. It was a great anxiety for the
aunt and a great embarrassment to everybody ;
but, after two or three days of uncertainty, it was
necessary to adopt some decided course, and this
is what they settled :

" O-Hana was to go to Hakon6, the Shob6
family receiving her as a relative and to treat her
as such in the meantime, till a favourable opportu-
nity presented itself for returning to the paternal
roof.'^

" But what do they say about it," I asked
Ouyeno, " in her father's district 1 What do
busybodies say about the disappearance of his
daughter ? "

IN SEARCH OF THE FUGITIVE. 309

"Nothing whatever. In Japan no one troubles
his head, as they do in your country, about his
neighbour's doings. The young girl is absent —
very well, she is on a journey. If any one spreads
any disparaging reports, wise people hold their
tongues. The situation, besides, thus far, presents
nothing irregular. As to silly people, it is very
easy to throw dust in their eyes by some story of a
fox."

"Well, no one any longer believes in such
stories. Have you not said as much t "

"That is true; and yet many people pretend
to believe in them, in order to turn them to their
own account in case of need, and others are still
wandering in the crooked ways of error from a
kind of superstitious fear. In short, with an ex-
cited imagination, one is ready to swallow the
most extraordinary things, and sometimes in-
credulous and strong-minded people are the first
to be bamboozled. I will relate to you a good
story on this subject. But 0-Sada is calling us
now to our luncheon, and, if agreeable to you, we
will defer the story to the dessert."

The repast was delightful. Ouyeno's calmness
and 0-Sada's good-humour reassured us as to the
issue of the mad freak of our dear little friend.
We enjoyed ourselves heartily and without the
slightest reserve. The promised story put us all in
high spirits.

" I spoke' to you one day of the fox, when
0-Hana was having prayers recited by a donze. I
have mentioned to you one or two of his tricks.

310 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

but one of the most curious known is that which
he played on the carpenter Tokoutaro.*

" Tokoutaro was, like me, an unbeliever. One
evening, about ten o'clock, during winter, after a
good and hearty dinner, with many guests sitting
around the tcJiibatchi smoking and taking tea, the
conversation turned on foxes and their magic
power. Every one related a farce, more or less
droll, of the cunning arch-fellow.

" When Tokoutaro's turn came he got up and,
addressing the company :

" ' You are all here,' said he, ' a lot of fools or
ignoramuses. One must have lost his senses, or
be more grossly ignorant than a bonze to believe
in such trash. As for me, I laugh at foxes,
and I defy all those that haunt the forests or
wastes of our fine country to play a trick on
Tokoutaro.'

"They began to laugh and then argue; in
short, they all agreed that Tokoutaro deserved a
lesson for his presumption and boasting.

" ' Since you are so sure of yourself,' said to
him lokoudji-san, the master of the house, ' I will
lay you a wager — yes, I will bet you a thousand
tempo that you will not traverse, at this hour, the
moor of the Maki without being bewitched by one
of its inhabitants.'

"'Very good, very good!' replied the guests.

* Not being able to note down immediately the story of
Tokoutaro, I have, no doubt, omitted some details and
bungled over some proper names. I hope those who know
the classic text of this tale will excuse me.

IN SEARCH OF THE FUGITIVE. 311

' He will not hold to the bet ; he will be afraid at
the last moment. Tokoutaro is a humbug.'

" Our carpenter, piqued in his self-esteem as a
free-thinker, and excited by copious libations, ac-
cepted the wager.

" ' Done ! ' said he boldly. ' I accept it. Father
lokoudji, get your tempo ready. I start, and all of
you wait for me here. In three hours I shall be
back, bringing, as a proof of my good faith, the
spectacles of old Mago-bei, the magistrate of
Horikan6, whose house is situated on the other
side of the moor of the Maki.'

" Having said this he started.

" They expatiated some time on the intrepidity
of the carpenter, smoked many pipes and drank
countless cups of tea. The hour fixed for his
return struck, then the next, and Tokoutaro had
not returned. At last, at three in the morning,
every one tired out with waiting, went to bed.

" Tokoutaro had lost the tempo, but he was pro-
bably disposed to chuckle over it in his bed at the
expense of his companions, so sirhple as to under-
take to wait for him. It was an account to settle
with the wag j but they would wait till the morn-
ing, and thereupon agreed on a rendezvous in
number at eight in the morning at the carpenter's
house.

" One of the youngest of the party, a barber by
trade, a good, jolly lad, who, whilst sharing the
carpenter's opinion, had rallied him on his pre-
sumptuous courage and inopportune declaration of
faith, having remarked the pot-valiant state of the

312 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

Hector and fearing an accident, set out in search
of him without warning his companions.

" During this time Tokoutaro, in perfect good
faith, was trying to win his bet. His march, it is
true, was affected a Httle by his having had a drop
too much and the consequent sharp air of the
night, but he had resolutely entered on the famous
moorland, and found himself half-way when twelve
o'clock struck.

" Just at this moment a pretty little fox bounded
before him in the narrow pathway, and suddenly
disappeared in a thicket of bamboo.

" ' Look out ! If I should be caught, now is
the moment. We will be on our guard.'

" Hardly had he made this reflection than the
noise of a female footstep was heard. He soon
recognised, in fact, a human form, and was not
long in coming up to a young girl.

" ' Good evening, Tokoutaro.'

" ' Good evening . . .' Then looking at the
wayfarer by the moonlight : ' What ! It is you,
O-Taka-san ! What are you doing on the moor-
land alone at such an hour } '

" ' I have just been married at the village of
the Maki with the young Guenta.'

" ' Oh ! oh ! And where are you going thus,
without your husband at this hour of the
night ?'

"'1 am going home to my father; but I am
very much afraid. You would be very obliging if
you accompanied me.'

" ' I will do it all the more willingly because

IN SEARCH OF THE FUGITIVE. 313

I wish to speak to your father. I want his
spectacles.'

" The young girl did not appear to be astonished
at the object of the nocturnal march undertaken
by Tokoutaro, and the wayfarers went their road
with a light step. The carpenter knew the
daughter of Mago-bei, it was certainly she_ to all
appearances, but he could hardly believe she was
there in flesh and bone.

"'This is my fox I saw just now,' said he to
himself, ' and he won't get over me. I shall see
the tip of his tail and no mistake.'

" Talking all the time, they had arrived at the
magistrate's house. They knocked at the door;
Mago-bel came to open it, uttered a cry of surprise
on seeing his daughter, whom he believed to be in
the arms of her happy spouse, and called his
wife. The latter ran in out of breath, barely half-
clad, and as she threw her arms round her child's
neck and was asking her endless questions :

" ' Stop,' cried Tokoutaro, ' it is not your
daughter at all, but, indeed, a nasty fox. He
wanted to play a trick on me, and now he is
laughing at you.'

" The daughter cried out loudly.

" ' Go about your business,' said the mother, 'it
is my child. You are quite muddled, that is
certain.'

" But Tokoutaro insisting, said to the parents :

" ' Only leave me alone a few moments with
this sorceress, and I promise you I will soon put
an end to her witchcraft.'

314 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

"Deceived by his earnestness they at last
yielded to his persistence. Tokoutaro, then seizing-
the unfortunate creature, threw her down, trampled
her under foot, and said to her brutally :

'"Thou hast reckoned, perfidious animal, on
playing me a trick, but thou art caught in thine
own trap. I hold thee in my power ; thou shalt
not escape from me, and I will force thee to assume
again thy true shape.'

"The poor girl so ill-treated, uttered piercing^
shrieks. Tokoutaro, terrible in his vengeance,
would listen to nothing.

" ' Confess,' he cried ; ' confess, wicked fox, and
I will spare thy life.'

" The victim made no avowal, and called her
mother. The ungovernable carpenter, making it
a point to win his tempo, was determined to carry
out his proceeding to the bitter end.

",' Thou wilt not resume thy true shape .'' Very
well ; I am going to force thee to do so,^ said
he. ' I am going to prove to thee that thou hast
a fawn-coloured coat, and a red bushy tail '

" Saying this he tore off the clothing of the
unhappy creature stupefied by terror, and exposing-
the most beautiful virgin form that can be imagined,
he saw that there was not a shadow of a hairy coat,
nor of a red tail, nothing, in fact, extraordinary,
nothing but a white bosom, and the most graceful
and adorable human form.

" It was more than enough to disarm the most
terrible torturers of the Inquisition. Tokoutaro,

IN SEARCH OF THE FUGITIVE. 315

however, would not be convinced, and was deter-
mined to carry out the trial to the end.

" ' We shall see,' he bawled out in a paroxysm
of rage, ' if you will be able to resist the torment of
witches.'

" And he threw his victim on a heap of bamboo
faggots, which he had just set on fire.

" The young girl uttered the most heart-rending
shrieks, and at last expired.

" Then calling the parents, the assassin said to
them :

" ' Lookj there is that brute of a fox ! I have
just killed him ; but he will persist in his ridiculous
course, even after his death, in preserving the
appearance of your daughter. Get rid of this
nasty brute, and thank me.^

" The mother seeing her daughter dead, threw
herself on her remains blackened by the flames,
moaning most lamentably. Mago-bei mingled
his bewailing with his wife'^s, and loudly accused
Tokoutaro of having assassinated his child.

" The servants and neighbours, awoke by the
noise, came running in, and demanded what was
the matter. Tokoutaro had brutally assassinated
the beautiful 0-Taka.

" ' Seize that monster ! ' the father cried ; ' bind
him and hand him over to justice, that he may
suffer the just punishment of his crime.'

" Tokoutaro related the doings of the fox, and
protested that he was innocent. No one would
believe him. ' Death to the assassin ! ' they loudly-
cried.

3i6 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

" The unhappy wretch writhed in his despair
and asked for mercy. At this moment happened
to pass an old and holy donze, the principal of a
neighbouring bonzery, going home from a nocturnal
round.

" On learning the calamity to the honest
Mago-bei, he went into the house to offer his con-
solations to the afflicted parents. The cries and
supplications of Tokoutaro moved him, and as a
minister of mercy he demanded for him a commu-
tation of punishment. ' The assassin/ said he, ' shall
not be delivered to the executioner, but on one
express condition :

"'Thou shalt renounce the world, and thou
shalt enter into the holy brotherhood of which I
am the head, in order to pray during thy lifetime
for thy victim.'

" These words calmed their excited minds, and
the priest's wishes were deferred to. The carpenter
promised everything that was required to save
his head, and submitted it at once to the operation
of the razor, which the old donze performed with
rapidity and dexterity.

"During the operation the patient fainted.
For some moments he lost all sense of existence,
but a feeling of cold on the head recalled him to
life.

" Tokoutaro opened his eyes. Every one had
disappeared, the scene had totally changed.

" ' Where am I ? ' cried the new donze. ' What,
lying in a field of bamboo .? I must have had a
bad dream. By my faith ! all the better ; but

IN SEARCH OF THE FUGITIVE. 317

then I have lost a thousand tempo. I remember'
nowj before three o'clock I was to have taken the
spectacles of Mago-bei to my friends. I am not
a bonze. It is daylight ; we will go in as quickly
as possible.'

" Whilst thus recovering from his intoxication
he passed his hand leisurely over his head.

" ' Oh, what is this 1 No hair 1 ' he exclaimed ;
' as bare as my knee ! It was, then, no dream.
Tokoutaro has lost his head ! Shaven,' he said,
' shaven bare, like a beggar ; and by whom .' Ah
me ! by that cursed fox of last night. Ah ! those
rascals of foxes 1 Then your supernatural power
still really exists, it seems.'

" Talking in this way to himself, he had arrived
near his house. It was eight o'clock in the morn-
ing, and all his companions were coming up the
next street when he opened his door.

"A loud burst of laughter greeted him.

" ' Tokoutaro has fallen in with the barber fox/
said the merry band of comrades. 'Tokoutaro,
the boaster, has lost a thousand tempo. Do you
believe now, simpleton, in the power of the foxes ?
Silly babbler, will you believe at last what every-
body believes .-' '

" ' Alas ! ' replied the unlucky man, ' I will be-
lieve everything you wish. I am, indeed, forced to
do so. I have lost my bet, and I will pay up
to-day ; but spare me your sarcasms.'

"'Well, Tokoutaro,' said an unknown voice,
' the foxes forgive thee.'

" Every one, turning round astonished, looked

3i8 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

for the author of these words ; but no one had
spoken. Every one wanted to question Tokoutaro
on the incidents of the past night.

"During this time the young barber, taking
advantage of the confusion and the general
curiosity manifested, made his escape quietly, ran
to lokoudji's shop, came out again after having
deposited a packet carefully tied up^ and returned
to the mystified companions without any one having
noticed his absence.

" The wonderful adventure of the carpenter
had plunged his auditory into bewilderment;
the most indifferent, the least simple, declared
themselves to be thoroughly converted.

'"I will remit thee the thousand tempol gene-
rously said lokoudji to his unlucky adversary, 'the
bad trick of the foxes is quite a sufficient punish-
ment for thy bragging.'

' ' No/ insisted the latter, ' I have lost, and I
will pay. Go, all of you,' he said to his friends,
'accompany lokoudji to his house and wait for me,
I will be there. I will fulfil my engagement, you
shall see that.'

" They made no objection to this, and left.

" Tokoutaro took from his little bag of savings
the thousand tempo he had lost — a serious breach
in the precious hoard— dressed himself up a little,
covered his head with a hood, and set out for the
residence of his creditor, where he arrived soon
after his comrades. The shop was quite in an up-
roar with the loud talking and laughing. lokoudji
on entering had perceived lying beside the tc/ii-

IN SEARCH OF THE FUGITIVE. 319

iatchi a packet addressed to him thus : ' To
lokoudji-san, from the barber fox.'

" They had opened the mysterious packet, but
not without some hesitation and superstitious fear.
It contained the thousand timpo.

"'Hey ! ' cried lokoudji to Tokoutaro as soon
as he saw him, ' thou mayest flatter thyself to have
fallen on a very good fellow of a fox. He has
taken thy hair, but he would not touch thy purse.
See, here is the amount of thy bet ! It is the fox's
money; but I believe it to be quite good. I will
keep it ; put thine own again in thy pocket.'

"You may suppose," added Ouyeno, "that
this adventure made much stir. All the inhabitants
of the village except one — you have guessed him —
became faithful believers in the virtue of the foxes,
and they made a hero of the barber fox of the
moorland of the Maki, who will perhaps long pre-
serve a reputation — and one well merited, is it
not .' "

"Do you not believe, my dear Ouyeno, that
this credulity is a peculiarity of your countrymen ? "
said Marcel to the free-thinker. " Here you
believe in the virtue of foxes ; in France we do
not doubt that of the devil — a propensity that
permits clever rogues, with a little manoeuvring, to
fatten on the public folly, and to draw from it
sometimes a nice revenue."

" I have related to you this story," continued
the employ^, " to prove to you that, in case of need,
one might explain the temporary disappearance of
O-Hana by laying everything on the foxes' back.

320 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

And now we will get into our vehicles. It is
three o'clock, and we shall arrive at Odawara with-
out hurrying ourselves before night."

After having passed Moumezawa, Konotsij and
many pretty villages, we arrived at the ferry of the
river Odawara at half-past five, and at six, we
were installed in \ih.& yado-ya where we were to pass
the night.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE EXCURSION CONTINUED.

In Kango — The Lake of Hakond — Scotch Hospitality — An
Agreeable Travelhng Companion — The Story of Kosan
and Kingoro — The Crater of Fousi-yama — Return to
Hakond.

Beyond Odawara the road is too hilly to travel in
a djin-riki-cha, we are therefore obliged to change
this commodious vehicle for the detestable kango.
We retain, however, one djiii-riki-cha to carry a
part of our provisions, and to resort to in case of
great need.

We set out early. O-Sada takes her place in
a kango. As for Marcel and myself, we prefer
walking infinitely to subjecting our limbs to a
bending and twisting, Europeans are unaccustomed
to ; a few minutes' experience was sufficient to
induce us to relieve ourselves from the torture.

But Ouyeno could accommodate himself very
readily to this equipage, with which, no doubt, he
is familiar, though on this occasion he prefers
going afoot. Our kango therefore proceeds lightly

322 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

enough^ charged merely with a few things^ in-
cluding a dozen or two of wine and some coffee.

We intended at first to call at Hakone on
our way and rest there half a day, in order to see
O-Hana and take her with us as far as the crater
of Fousi-yama ; but, on due deliberation, we
thought it judicious not to introduce ourselves to
the fugitive on going, but to defer till the return
journey the exciting scene of an unexpected
meeting.

Hakond is about six hours' march from
Odawara. The route lies along the valley of the
Aya nearly the whole way ; it is the Tdkaidd in
its most hilly and picturesque part.

The valley of the Aya is quite a fairyland from
one end to the other ; murmuring cascades, roar-
ing waterfalls, rugged rocks singularly cut out,,
gigantic trees, varieties of temples of all dimen-
sions, mysterious-looking little nooks, springs and
babbling brooks abounding, and the whole pre-
senting to the wondering eye of the traveller an
endless change of scenery which makes this part of
the journey seem very short ; it is one he quits
with regret.

Having left Odawara at five in the morning^
we pass Hata at about eight, when we rest a little,
and at a quarter to eleven we reach the banks of
Lake Hakon6, after having traversed a part of the
old town.

This lake is much inferior in size to Lake Biwa,
but larger than Lake Tchouzenji. Less hemmed in
by the mountains, its waters seem bluer and less

THE EXCURSION CONTINUED. 323

cold ; its shores, abounding in villas and luxurious
yado-ya, are really enchanting.

Like all Japanese lakes, it attracts, during the
hot months of summer, numerous bathers. Its
society is more select and yet more numerous than
that of other bathing-places ; the high aristocracy
prefer it as a rendezvous and, for some years past,
Europeans from Yedo and Yokohama have been
flocking to this charming spot.

We trust our persons and our fortunes to frail
boats and, favoured by a brisk wind that well fills
our red-coloured sails, we reach, in less than
■ twenty minutes, the opposite shore.

Noon soon comes round. It is the hour for
the grand halt. A pretty tcha-ya is quickly found
near the landing-place and, being indisposed to
proceed further, we get our provisions out of the
kango, and appreciate them with an appetite well
sharpened by the march ; we have two hours'
sleep on the tatami and then start again.

From this moment the ascent is very sensibly
felt. To proceed from Hakond to the plain of
rushes it is necessary to cross a chain of steep
mountains ; here the djin-riki-cha become quite
impracticable, and the boldest of our drawers is
obliged to halt, patiently waiting our return.

The ascent is very arduous for an hour, and
under a burning sun this promenade would be any-
thing but a pleasure party. But every sacrifice
merits a reward, and on arriving at the first
plateau one is struck with admiration before a
panorama of which no description can give an

Y 2

324 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND. "

adequate idea. On one side is Hakone, reflecting
its ancient walls on the placid waters of its lake ;
then the immense plain of rushes stretching its
undulations till lost in the hazy distance ; and, still
further, the old Fousi, the sacred mountain, lifting
its bare and barren summit proudly in the clouds.

This magnificent scene holds us in ecstasy for
some minutes. But to-day I suspect Master
Ouyeno has not well calculated the distances, and
we shall not find it easy to reach before night a
suitable shelter.

The road becoming practicable again, we are
forced to resign ourselves to perch in our kango, in
order to get over the ground as expeditiously as
possible. Ouyeno has given us a lesson on the
best method of installing ourselves in the bottom
of this cage ; the position is irregular but support-
able, and we must submit to it with a good heart ;
besides, on setting our feet on the ground every
now and then, to hinder the "tingling" from rising
too high, we find in the long run this kind of loco-
motion, if not agreeable, at least tolerable for want
of a better one.

Our sinewy porters advance rapidly ; they pass
the highest point of the mountain about five, and
trot down the descent pretty briskly, at the base of
which stretches away the plain of rushes.

Ouyeno intended that we should sleep at
Yotembo ; but, as it has been a fatiguing day for
everybody, it would be imprudent to wear ourselves
out; therefore, on arriving at the little village of
Inashi, we all prefer passing the night there to

THE EXCURSION CONTINUED. 325

going three miles further in order to reach
Yotembo.

Inashi, a little village of hardly twenty houses,
is endowed with only one yado-ya and, having
arrived too late, we find the place occupied. It is
a serious matter and we know not what to do. To
sleep a la belle itoile was not in season. Ouyeno,
quite a man of decision, is never embarrassed ;
ten seconds of reflection are sufficient to suggest to
him an expedient.

" Follow me," he says.

We soon knock at the door of a good peasant,
an old acquaintance of the Custom-house officer ;
the honest fellow, quite delighted to be useful to
people of our quality, places his two rooms at the
disposal of the noble travellers with the best grace
in the world, and hastens eagerly to serve us.

We all drop down with fatigue and, after an
improvised supper, we roll ourselves in our blankets,
and seek in refreshing sleep the restoration of
energy necessary to continue in the morning our
curious expedition.

At six o'clock Danna-san rouses us from our
slumbers. A simple but cordial expression of
thanks to our host, too disinterested to accept any
remuneration, discharges our obligation, and then
we are again en route.

O-Sada, whose sterling qualities I have long
recognised, proves to us by her unchangeable good-
humour, by a charming and natural submission to
every wish of her husband, how very sensible and
well-ordered is the education of women in Japan.

326 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

There was not a complaint, not a whim, none of
those uncalled-for petty, egotistic needs, the off-
shoots of our conventional refinements, which
render travelling so difficult for the women of our
country, and so often deprive us of that charming
companion, without whom man, ever so full of
resources, is very sensibly deficient.

Sometimes we marched on together, O-Sada
trotting on so prettily in her waradji,^ Ouyeno
chatting away. Sometimes we mounted into our
kango and, whilst admiring the curious convulsions
of Nature in these volcanic regions, we listened to
the stories of our friend Danna-san.

The romantic adventure of 0-Hana recalled to
his memory the romance of Kosan and Kingoro.
This narrative, full of touching incidents, forcibly
recalls the Dame aiix Camillas of Alexandre
Dumas fils; it is the most characteristic specimen
of Japanese literature.

I regret not having noted down , the same
evening in my book the names of all the actors in
this drama, with many details full of interest. I
could thus have given a more exact and fuller
summary.

The story begins, if I remember rightly, at
Kamakoura.

"Kingoro, a young man of an honourable
family, loves a young girl named Kosan, his sister
by adoption. The father, a widower since the
birth of his son, is happy to sanction a marriage
desired by his children, and the betrothing is
* Japanese shoes.

THE EXCURSION CONTINUED. 327

celebrated. Meanwhile, a rich union is proposed
to him for his son, and considerable advantages
would accrue to the family from this alliance.
What was to be done ? To remove Kingoro for a
certain time and, during his absence, marry Kosan
to another .? It would be difficult to separate the
lovers. Some plausible reasons, however, are found
and brought forward : the young girl has not yet at-
tained her fifteenth year and she is frail and delicate.
Kingoro, moreover, should go and serve in the guard
of the da'imio of the province in accordance with
the law. Kingoro will therefore depart and they
will await his return to celebrate the marriage.

" The day of separation arrives : Kingoro in
giving a last kiss to his betrothed, swears to her
fidelity and promises at the same time that she
shall hear from him regularly.

" Time passes away and Kosan receives no news ;
she becomes restless from uneasiness and jealousy
begins to eat into her heart. Her adopted father
persuades her to forget the perjurer and to take
another spouse. This is quite out of the question.
One night, being unable to live any longer in this
way, she quits the house of her childhood ; she sets
out barefooted, without money and without a pro-
tector, in search of her affianced lover. But where
will she go t Where the Kami will conduct her ; she
starts on an adventure, for the residence of Kin-
goro is unknown to her.

"Impelled by her love and led by a sort of
instinct towards the capital, Kosan takes the route
to Yedo. She marches — marches without inter-

328 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

missiorij without even thinking of repose. The
second night after her departure, just as she
leaves Kanagawa, brigands suddenly rush on her,,
drag her along, treat her with violence, and carry
her away with them.

"Kingoro, informed shortly after of the departure
of his mistress, returns to Kamakoura, in order to-
trace her course from the point of departure. On
his arrival, he is informed that the unfortunate girl
has drowned herself in the river.

"Plunged into the deepest despair, the sad
young man vegetates for several months ; then
beset by his father, who wilfully deceived him, he
demands leave to quit his lord's service and gets
married.

" After long wandering, poor Kosan ends by
recovering her liberty. To re-enter her adopted
father's house is impossible, and to continue the
search for her faithless lover seems to her now a
task beyond her strength. In short, she must live.
The unfortunate creature reaches Yedo,* becomes
a guecha, hires a little chamber at Voiso, and goes,
in the evenings to sing and play on the chamicen in
the houses where she is demanded.

" One evening, while accompanying a chibai-ya
in a house of ill-fame, Kingoro, led by some
friends into these places of pleasure, recognises
her.

" The young man cannot believe the evidence
of his senses.

* The events of this story really took place at Kama-
koura, but the narrator has transported the scene to Yedo.

THE EXCURSION CONTINUED. 329.

"'Thou here!^ said he to her; 'thou in this
debauchery ! May the sky fall on thy head and
crush theej perfidious one ! What perverse in-
stinct, what shameful passion has led thee to such
a stage of debasement ? Thou, my betrothed, thou
art fallen low indeed to sell thy songs at such a
vile price ; thou must have debased thyself enough
in thine own eyes to dare to appear in public in
the garments of a lost woman !

"'Ah! I understand!' he continued, 'thou
hadst sworn to me fidelity, but thy promise was a
burden to thee. . I had not gone ten ri when thou
hadst already in thy heart another love. Faithless
one, thou hast deceived me, but the gods in their
justice are avengers in causing thee to be betrayed-
in thy turn. Is it not true, that thou art aban-
doned .'' Thy ravisher has left thee as one leaves a
courtesan.'

" Poor Kosan wept bitterly.

" ' Yes,' she said, ' I have been abandoned, I
have been betrayed, but it is by thee, trothless
one ; by thee, who hadst promised to write to me
and hast not kept thy promise ; by thee, to whonr
I had given all my love.'

" Kosan then relates to her friend all her mis-
fortunes. Kingoro at last is deeply moved, falls
at the knees of his well-beloved, entreats pardon-
fbr his unjust suspicions and leads her away to his
yasiki.

" The sequel is readily foreseen. Kosan be-
comes the mistress of the samourai. The nlost-
complete concord dwells in the house ; the most

J30 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

ideal love steadfastly unites the lovers, and from
this union a son is born — a darling mous'ko.

" It is a great joy — a happiness of halcyon
■days. A cloud, however, comes at length to
trouble this serene sky.

" One day, Kingoro had gone out from his
yasiki of Yanagnibashi on some matters of busi-
ness. Kosan was alone and occupied in the duties
of the household ; the young mous'ko was frolick-
ing on the tatami, when a stranger, an old man of
respectable appearance, presented himself.

" ' I wish to speak to Kingoro/ he said.

" ' He is absent/ Kosan replied.

"'Then if you will allow me, I will wait for
him. I come from afar, and am very tired.'

" The young woman, prepossessed by the kind
look of the old man, is eager in attending on him.
She orders hot water for his bath, offers him tea,
cakes and sake, and asks him if he has everything
he wishes. The young moiis'ko brings the box of
tobacco, the kicero,* and the tchibatchi.

"At the sight of the child the old man becomes
uneasy.

" ' It is Kingoro's son ? ' he asks.

"'Yes,' replies Kosan ; 'it is our child.'

"Tears were running down the traveller's
-cheeks.

" ' Are you unwell ? ' anxiously demands the
young woman.

" ' No, dear child, my heart bounds with joy
-on beholding my great-grandson, and I am

* A little pipe in metal which the Japanese use.

THE EXCURSION CONTINUED. 331

grieved to think that I cannot call you my
daughter.'

" Kosan then falls at the old man's feet.

" ' Yes/ continued the latter, ' I am Kingoro's
grandfather, and we are plunged into the greatest
grief through his conduct. Being unable to bear
his desertion, I have taken the course to come my-
self for the heartless child. I want to lead him
back to the path of duty.

" ' On coming here my heart was deeply
wounded and full of unkind sentiments towards
you, but my anger has vanished in your presence.
Kosan, you are a good woman, worthy of the
respect of every one. I wish I could take you into
my yasiki, but I cannot do so at present; later,
we shall be able to arrange everything and,
believe me, happy days will be in store for you.
I am going away now, but I rely on you to
persuade Kingoro to come and join me. Use
your influence with him, restore a son to a desolate
father, a husband to a wife, and the Kami will
reward you for the good act.'

" These last words are a revelation. Kingoro
was married, and Kosan was ignorant of it. This
news, announced without preparation, without pre-
amble, is for her a mortal blow. . . . She totters,
loses for a moment all feeling of existence,
then suddenly she stands up, pale and trem-
bling :

" ' Go away in peace,' she says to the grand-
father of Kingoro, ' to-morrow your grandson will
■enter the conjugal home.'

332 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

"A terrible struggle rages in the young woman's
breast between the sentiment of duty, her love,
and the cruel jealousy which is now lacerating her
heart.

" ' I will see the monster no more ; he has
deceived me. But never will he consent to quit
me for a single day. And yet I must break this
ignominious tie, and he must be restored to his
family. My honour has been appealed to, and I
shall not fail. I will put an end to my life, and
Kingoro will be free.'

" From the moment this resolution is taken it is
mournfully curious to assist at the preparations of
this unhappy woman, condemned by her conscience
to die for her lover. The most harrowing details
are given by the Japanese author, with that pre-
cision, that fulness, that minute realism, which
characterises all Eastern writers and especially
those of the ' Empire of the Rising Sun.'

" Before carrying into execution her fatal pro-
ject, Kosan writes a last adieu to him to whom
she has sacrificed her days without hesitation ;
then taking her son by the hand, she goes her
way slowly towards Moukoozima, where her sister
lives.

" ' You look careworn,' the latter says.

" ' No,' replies Kosan, making efforts to smile \
' it is nothing. I have merely a slight head-
ache.'

" The child plays between the laps of the two
women.

" ' I bring thy nephew to thee,' Kosan says to

THE EXCURSION CONTINUED. 333

her sister ; ' keep him till to-morrow. I have a
little journey to make.'

" The mous'ko throws himself into his mother's
arms and will accompany her. It is heartrending.

"At last they separate. Kosan returns home, and
so soon as the courageous woman finds herself alone,
she seizes a poniard and plunges it into her throat,
murmuring the names of her son and her lover.

" Kingoro enters a few minutes afterwards. He
sees his mistress bathed in her blood. He throws
himself on her inanimate body, embraces her in
his arms and kisses with frenzy her cheeks already
pale in death.

" Kosan opens again her eyes, but can speak
no more. With a gesture she points to a letter to
her lover. He reads :

" ' Thou must return to thy family,' she says to
him; 'living, thou wouldst not have abandoned
me ; dead, thou wilt forget me, perhaps. I die
willingly. Adieu.'

"'Dead or living, I am thine for ever,' cries
Kingoro. ' I will no more abandon thy cherished
remains than I have abandoned thy body beaming
with life and beauty.'

" Saying this, he thrfew himself again on the
body of his expiring mistress, and fell inanimate."

It is impossible to give in this summary any
idea of the sweet poesy of the original. Ouyeno,
in his simple language, interested and moved us
deeply. More than once I felt a tear trickling
down my cheek, and I often saw Marcel raising
his handkerchief. As to 0-Sada — who had per-

334 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

haps read a dozen times the story of Kosan and
Kingoro, and who, no doubt, had heard it recited
many times — she actually sobbed in her kango.

This romance is one of the most popular of
Japanj and known almost as well as the legend of
Koma-ti. It has for me the merit of being stamped
with a realism less coarse than usual, preserving at
the same time that impress, that perfume of truth,
so much loved by the Japanese.

From Inashi to Subashiri the road, for a dis-
tance of eight or ten miles, seems like a well-kept
avenue of a vast park. Running continually on a
plain, it enters every moment little green woods
redolent with perfume, passes over miniature
bridges and endless brooks, whose limpid waters
furnish a deliciously refreshing bath to the traveller,
and traverses a hundred villages, which appear to
rival one another for cleanliness and fanciful
picturesqueness.

After having crossed the T6kald6, abandoned
last evening and found again to-day, we meet first
with Yotembo, then Subanota, and finally many
others which I remember well, but riot their
names.

At half-past nine we arrive at Subashiri.
Here the aspect of the country changes com-
pletely—trees become scarce, and we begin to
recognise those convulsions of nature in the neigh-
bourhood of volcanoes. Before advancing further
into it we think it advisable to take some precau-
tions for a three days' march into a kind of desert.

It will be well, they tell us, to carry some water

THE EXCURSION CONTINUED. 335.

and a little wood. At this time of the year tourists-
become rare, and the mountain tcha-ya are already
abandoned. If you happen to find shelter in in-
habited houseSj you are far from being sure of find-
ing as well the most necessary things to existence.

Ouyeno, like a prudent man, fills two kango^
one with wood cut up into bits, and the other with
divers objects, among which is a little cask of
water, some f 'ton and inosen in sufficient quantity
to lie on and cover us. *

The necessity of this last precaution makes
itself sensibly felt as soon as the sun commences to-
sink into the horizon^ the temperature descending
with remarkable rapidity in proportion as we
advance into the elevated regions.

This journey, which is to take us very near our
destinationj is excessively fatiguing. After nine
hours' marching on a mountain road, where one
sinks eight inches into lava dust mixed with large
stones, we arrive exhausted at Gongo, and here we
pass the night.

As they had told us at Subashiri, we find the
place a desert. The two or three tcha-ya, scattered
in this rocky spot, are quite empty. To open the
most comfortable and the most worthy to lodge
ourselves therein is but the work of a moment.

Our ninsokou * bring out the provisions, the
blankets, the /'ton, the mosen, and, in fact, all our
riches.

Whilst 0-Sada, aided by Marcel, busies herself
with lighting the fire and in arranging the con-
* Porters.

336 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

veniences, I take a turn, in company with Ouyeno,
in the environs. All the houses around are unin-
habited ; here and there some vestiges prove that
the inmates have recently left, but there are no
other traces of a living creature.

The sun has just disappeared, and the tempera-
ture, singularly lower than yesterday, falls sud-
denly two more degrees. Feeling the great need
of a cloak, we hurry on to regain our shelter.

We find everything ready ; the bedroom laid
out with the beds, and the repast served up.

Oh ! how quickly and how well we recognise
the presence of woman in the household ! How
much one feels the sweet influence of the fairy of
the domestic hearth, whose magic ring has power
to embellish the most simple and ordinary object !
0-Sada, feeling herself here again mistress of the
house in this barrack open to all comers, does the
honours of the place with the most finished ease
and grace.

The state of the atmosphere and the advanced
Jiour of the day does not induce us to take a stroll ;
therefore, while the rice is cooking, we get around
the tchibatchi; then, while waiting for bed-time, we
5up, talk, and smoke. Each relates his story and
makes his proposals for to-morrow ; it is agreed
that we shall sleep as long as possible, in order to
restore our strength and give the sun time to
illumine the scenery; at nine o'clock, following
the example of our gentle companion, each slips
■quietly and unobserved into his fton^ disposed
around the only chamber of the house.

THE EXCURSION CONTINUED. 337

We feel draughts penetrating every corner of
our dilapidated dwelling ; butj thanks to the
many mosen hired at Subashiri, we pass an ex-
cellent night. In the mornings however, it is
impossible to protect ourselves thoroughly from
the cold ; therefore, notwithstanding the plan
adopted last evening to repose late, we all get up
at seven, and are soon ready to scale the last steps
of the sacred mountain.

The thermometer marks at this moment two
degrees above freezing-point, Centigrade.

Four ninsokou are placed to guard the baggage ;
the others accompany us to carry provisions and
help us if required.

The ascent is rough and we are obliged to stop
frequently to take breath. The aspect of the
country has again changed ; the region of lava
dust and rolling stones has given place for the last
hour to the region of dry and barren lava ; the
foot slips and the shoe frays on these rugged
crests still untrodden by visitors.

Marcel, who is in advance of us, now about
eleven o'clock, calls out, " I am there." He stands
on the highest point commanding the crater.

It is not without a certain emotion that we
arrive at these summits ; one fancies he has
conquered fbr himself a small portion of the super-
natural associated with the mountain of mountains.
The crater is there gaping wide, and the monster's
throat, that has been vomiting for centuries boiling
water and burning lava, seems to be awaiting a
last convulsion, a final gasp to close for ever.

338 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

It is a vast funnel, five hundred feet deep by
about thirteen hundred feet in diameter.

The adventurous Breton was most anxious to
make an excursion into the gulf, but simply for the
satisfaction of being able to say in future, " I went
down into the crater of Fousi-yama," he might
break his back or at least a leg. Such vain-glory
is certainly an insufficient motive for undertaking
the risk of the enterprise.

Leaving therefore to others the honour of exe-
cuting this hazardous feat, we are satisfied with
looking on. Perched on the most elevated spot of
the empire we overlook boundless space and, if we
were furnished with instruments of sufficient power,
the eye might reach the extreme limits of the
Japanese Archipelago.

The native geographers have executed a very
fine map, but a little fantastic, of what is called
the thirteen provinces which may be perceived
from the top of Fousi-yama. It is a good joke, for
no lynx eye, however pure the atmosphere might
be, could span such distances.

The air is very sharp, one degree below freezing-
point at this altitude, and the cold would speedily
become intolerable if we did not keep in move-
ment.

A terrestrial ocean undulates at our feet as far
as we can see, where its horizon and the sky blend
in confusion. It is fantastic ; the charmed vision
discovers far away infinite wonders. Suddenly the
scene changes ; gray mists form in the lowest
hollows, spread along the plain encroaching every-

THE EXCURSION CONTINUED. 339

where, then rise and close around us with narrow-
ing circles. Thick clouds now invade the space,
constituting a penetrating fog that will soon be
transformed into snow and furnish the winter
dress of the slumbering volcano.

We are obliged_ to hasten away unless we would
be changed into icicles.

The descent, though quite as laborious as the
ascent, is effected with more speed. The ninsokou
go on before to warn their comrades of our,
approach and to ensure their being ready to start
as soon as we reach Gongo. We shall thus be able,
perhaps, to arrive at Subashiri before night.

At two o'clock we quit Gongo, resuming the
road of an inhabited region and, at nine in the
evening, we are at Subashiri. The next day about
the same hour, after having crossed the lake of
Hakon^, we are set down at the door of a yado-ya
recommended to Ouyeno as being one of the most
comfortable of the country.

z 2

CHAPTER XXVI.

FAREWELL INTERVIEW WITH O-HANA.

Hakon^ and its Scenery — Reconnoitring the Retreat of the-
Fugitive — The Unexpected Visit and its Consequences —
We follow Ouyeno's Counsel — Departure from Japan.

OUYENO knew Hakond ; he had come here the
year of his marriage with his young bride to pass
in this Eden the first days of his honeymoon ; he
had therefore no trouble to find out the residence
of Shobd-san.

When O-Sada had gone to bed we went out ta
reconnoitre the place in order that we might alight
with certainty on the house the next morning,
surprise 0-Hana, and bear to her her pardon.

It was on the borders of the lake, not very far
from our yado-ya. It was about six in the
evening ; a brilliant moon, like the sun of the
north, lighted up every nook and corner of the
lake and the charming habitations rising within a
short distance of its shores.

The coolness of the air had already disposed
the inmates to close their doors, but light from

FAREWELL INTERVIEW WITH 0-HANA. 341

•within penetrated through the transparent squares
of paper of the windows. They had not yet gone
to bed in these cheerful dwellings, and the shrill
notes of the chamicen were mingling with the
soothing harmonies of this silvery night.

We had just arrived in face of a little villa
whose appearance corresponded with the descrip-
tion given to Ouyeno of the yasiki of Shobe-san.
We were looking for some wayfarer, some one
passing by, to inform us positively as to the occu-
pant, but waited in vain, and the cold gaining on
us in our standing position, we were going to
return, when a well-known voice, fresh and sweet,
the voice of a young girl, fell on our ears. Marcel
was seized with a trembling.

" It is she ; it is 0-Hana," he said in a nervous
voiccj squeezing my arm.

" Listen," said Ouyeno, " I will interpret to you
what she is singing if you do not understand it."

0-Hana, as many of the Japanese do, was
singing a Vimproviste, accompanying herself on her
favourite instrument. The young creature was
exhaling in natural language the sufferings of her
wounded soul. She was pouring out in this way
a flood of simple and charming poesy^ full of
-candour and purity, the overflowing of a des-
ponding heart :

" It was darkness in my soul and m}'- heart was
slumbering. He came and woke me. Then it
was day, a sudden and divine brightness lighted up
all my being. I felt transfigured, I found myself
taller^ finer, and more airy. The soft warmth of

342 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

his love filled me with life. I loved him. Oh,
joy ! Celestial frenzy ! He loved me !

" Alas ! alas ! one day, a day of grief, he left.
A night terrible closed around me. I felt I was
dying, but I became only mad.

" For him I have left my country, my mother,
my old and tender father. I have crossed the
seas, and I have seen him again but a moment.
Why ? My God ! Because they told me yonder :
Go back, in staying thou killest thy father.

" And I set out to return. But I would give
my life to-day to see him again one minute, a
single minute. Mm, the prince of my heart."

At this instant the door opened ; we stepped
aside and crossed the road. The voice was hushed ;
a servant came to close the outer shutters. From
the place where we stood, ensconced in the shade,
we could, without being observed, see what was
going on in the interior.

The family had, no doubt, retired to the
chambers on the first storey. O-Hana was alone,
squatting beside the tchibatchi and, having laid the
chamicen on her knee with her hands resting
lightly on the instrument, her head slightly thrown
back, she seemed lost in deep reverie. Her features,
sharpened by grief, bore the impress of a tender
melancholy ; her eyes, suri'ounded with dark. circles,
betrayed sleeplessness and weeping. Nothing was
more startling than this sudden apparition.

This tableau and its surroundings, by the
impressive contrast, stirred the feelings and excited
the imagination.

FAREWELL INTERVIEiV WITH 0-HANA. 343

Without, nothing could be more calm, more
heavenly serene. Everything was reposing in still-
ness ; the silvery moon and the starry firmament
glittered in reflection from the placid waters of
the blue lake unruffled even by a breeze. Within,
was this lonely, heart-broken girl pouring out in
secret all her trouble — a sorrow without a gleam of
hope and peace on earth.

Marcel for some moments dissimulated no
longer his emotion ; it was now beyond his control.

" 0-Hana ! " he cried, rushing towards the door.

I held him back in time to prevent him from
presenting himself too abruptly.

The young girl, on hearing her name pro-
nounced by a loved voice, trembled from head to
foot.

" Who calls me .? " she murmured, as if speaking
to herself. Then passing her hand before her eyes
with the gesture of one trying to overcome sleep :

" Ever,'^ she added, " ever the same illusion
coming to trouble me, in giving me a joy followed
by the most bitter deception." She then fell back
exhausted.

" Can we bear to let her suffer like this till
the morning } " I said in a hoarse voice to my
companions.

" Oh, no," murmured Marcel.

It was necessary to obey Danna-san, our guide
and mentor on this occasion. Ouyeno was touched.
Contrary to my expectation, he yielded to our
wishes without a word.

Go," said he, " in obedience to your heart,"

344 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

" 0-Hana ! " cried Marcel again.

The young girl bounded to the door.

" They call me this time. I am not dreaming.
Hast thou heard, Koarou ? "

" Yes^ mous'me'-san, twice they have pro-
nounced your name."

During this colloquy we had come up close to
th.Q yasiki. The servant, frightened at seeing three
men with suspicious movements, ran back hurriedly
in her terror.

Marcel, who stood in advance, stepped into
that part of the road lighted by the lanterns from
the house, and stopped in the centre of the door-
way. 0-Hana, informed by the ne-san, looked in
this direction. She uttered a loud cry and fell
backwards.

At the risk of being taken for thieves, we
rushed in to the succour of the poor girl. Ouyeno,
full of tender feeling for his sister-in-law, was the
first to come up. With one word he reassured the
servant, telling . her to call Shobd, and quickly
helped us to reanimate the fainting girl.

The whole family came down in disorder. They
soon recognised the situation ; but before entering
into explanations we continued our attention to
the patient. The syncope persisted in spite of the
energetic measures taken on such occasions ; iced
compress on the forehead and temples, penetrating
perfumes to the nostrils, remained without effect.

0-Sada, who was sent for immediately, fell on
her sister with kisses and tears. 0-Hana still
remained insensible. Her pulse was excessively

FAREWELL INTERVIEW WITH 0-HANA. 34S

feeble and her heart was hardly beating. We
began to feel seriously uneasy.

Marcel, who until then had kept back a little
from discretion, but more to hide his emotion,
stepped forward suddenly, and, taking the young
girFs hand, seized with an irresistible impulse of
tenderness, he leant towards her and embraced her
with a passionate kiss on her lips.

There was no time to be abashed at this bold
step, for 0-Hana, under the ardent caress, yielded
to it as to an electric shock. She recovered her
senses, opened her eyes, pressed in both hands the
head of her lover, and said to him, regardless of
our presence :

" Is it indeed thou, thou, whom I adore ? The
Kami then have granted my prayer .■' Oh ! now I
can die ! Yes, I say this to you all without a
blush, because it is the truth of truths, and because
there is no shame to tell the truth. It is to him
that I have given my life, and I would say it before
all the world. It is well, I am contented ; I can
now return to my poor father. I will tell him to
his face as I tell you, I love him — I love him ! But
understand, I have made a vow, and this vow I shall
fulfil when I have seen my father. I have promised
to the Kami that if ever they led to me again the
lord of my soul, that if ever I could say to him what
I have not yet quite said, if he permitted me to
divulge to him all my love — that for this moment
of ineffaceable happiness I would renounce the
world, the joys of earth, and I would devote the
remainder of my existence to prayers and tears in

346 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

order to redeem my fault. My prayer has been
granted. In a week I shall be an ama* I shall
have my head shaved, and you will hear no more
of the sad O-Hana who has caused you so much
trouble, so much anxiety and grief."

After this public confession, made with feverish
excitement, the poor creature swooned away again.
They laid her down on layers of f'ton and be-
stowed on her the most anxious attention and
tender care. Then, after a short interval, she-
recovered and began to talk calmly.

Marcel, disconcerted and bewildered, kept him-
self timidly in a corner. His position was ver3r
embarrassing. It was impossible for him to reply
to the ardent declarations of the young girl in the
presence of everybody ; but, on a sign, an imper-
ceptible appeal, he approached the agitated girl and
said to her in French that he might not be under-
stood by every one :

" O-Hana, ma bien-aimee . , ."

Then lowering again his voice, he murmured
a few words which we did not hear.

O-Hana's face was radiant with joy.

"Thank you," she said. "Thy word over-
loads me with happiness ; but it is no longer
possible. I have promised to renounce the world,,
and I will keep my promise. Thy remembrance
will live eternally in me : this will be my consola-
tion. Adieu."

The night had advanced,_and to remain longer

* A nun, a bonzess.

FAREWELL INTERVIEW WITH 0-HANA. 347-

would be abusing the hospitality. We therefore-
retired, leaving 0-Sada with her sister.

On our way back, Ouyeno was very deep in
thought. Marcel, equally absorbed, kept silent.

" I should never have believed so much passion
could exist in this child," said Danna-san. " I had
always treated her like a little girl, and I dis-
cover a burning furnace. Poor father Mitani !'
what will become of him without his* daughter .'' "

" But it is not an irrevocable determination," I
ventured to suggest.

"You don't know the nature of my sister-in-
law."

" I know her to be resolute. She has proved
that."

"Yes, and in all sincerity, in spite of her
singular course of conduct. She has promised,
and she will hold to her promise."

" What must we do, then } "

" You must go away first," said the brother-in-
law of the future nun to Marcel, " and leave to us
the only possible chance of turning 0-Hana from
her decision. She is hardly sixteen, and her
enthusiasm will subside. You will pass on to the
stage of remembrance, agreeable, no doubt; but
at the stage of remembrance it is much less
dangerous than at the stage of reality. And then,,
instead of a religious fanatic, we shall have per-
haps a good little woman who will become again
Japanese after an imaginary and poetic excursion
in .Europe. You would not exact everlasting
regrets, would you? You would not be one jot.

,348 JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

the happier for it if the poor girl could find no
consolation for her lifetime.

" Then let me do everything. Go away both
of you without us. Inform Mitani of our early
return, without telling him everything. I will pre-
pare him for it gradually. Your recall to France
is soon expected^ you have told me. Very well,
we will wait here, if needed, until you have quitted
Yokohama before returning there ourselves, and I
will answer for this little madcap, for whom the
Kami have in reserve many days of joy and
happiness.

" Adieu ! But do not forget when you are in
your country of France, so vaunted, do not forget
that you have somewhere, almost at the antipodes,
^ome good and sincere friends who love you and
will never forget you."

I felt my eyes moistening under the influence
of a strong emotion. Who would ever have
suspected so much heart, so much delicacy and
good ' sense under the ridiculous exterior of this
self-conceited Ouyeno .'

Marcel, in spite of his bitter grief at seeing no
more his tender and sweet " flower," readily com-
plied with the reasoning of the Custom-house
■ofiicer. The day was beginning to break, it was
useless to go to bed, we therefore took our
departure.

The evening of the following day we arrived at
Yokohama. On passing before Mitani's shop we
■alighted.

" Everything is going on well, father Mitani,"

FAREWELL LNTERVIEW WITH 0-HANA. 349-

I said. "0-Hana is found again, and in a few
days she will be here. Her sister and brother-in-
law wish to remain a few days longer with her
yonder."

"Thank you, thank you, my dear friends,"
said the good old man, handing me a letter.

It was a word from our lieutenant.

" If you arrive at Yokohama this evening,"
he wrote, " do not defer till to-morrow your
coming on board. The order for departure has
arrived.''

" Send word to your son-in-law," I said to old
Mitani, " that he can return with his friends. We
are going to leave."

"Already ! " exclaimed Marcel;

"Already.? What folly! After three years'
absence "

"Ah! Yes, already ! "

Thus life passes away, and thus do we habitually
regard it. The minutes, which are but infinitesimal
parts of eternity, seem sometimes as if they would
never end ; the days are often centuries, the months
years, and yet the years succeed one another with
a rapidity that astonishes. If we stop to reflect a
moment, the events of ten years ago seem to us
like a dream of yesterday.

As they were waiting only for the "Japanese
brothers" to come aboard, at daybreak we said
adieu to Yokohama, perhaps for ever. The steam
helping the wind, we left the port behind us
rapidly.

Marcel, with his elbows resting on the barri-

JSO JAPANESE LIFE, LOVE, AND LEGEND.

cading, regarded in deep abstraction the retreating
shores of the charming country of the daKmios.
The green mammillated hills disappeared one after
the other in the rosy haze of the morning. I drew
near my friend : he pressed my hand ; then as I
respected his meditation in silence :

"Come now," he said, "it is all over. Poor
O-Hana ! "

And he left me with a light step to take the
watch on the foot-bridge.

"Ah! poor O-Hana/' I thought to myself on
seeing Marcel so calm, "thy love must have
fallen on a lump of ice ! What thou hadst fondly
believed to be a return, could it have been merely
-a pale reflection of thy sentiments in a cold,
metallic mirror ? Has not this transitory radiance
been borrowed from thy own flame ? "

The imperturbable officer of the chronometers,
armed with his sextant, was intent on catching
the sun. Kerlaradec, his faithful helmsman,
counted and recounted the long lines of figures,
and not a muscle moved on the placid counte-
nance of the lover of the day before yesterday.
I could not get over it. I was almost shocked.
When the watch was near over I went up and
leaned on the rail of the foot-bridge, waiting for
■my friend to administer to him a sound lecturing.
Our commander, accustomed to the rigorous
exactitude of his chronometer officer, came up
and marked his position mechanically on the
•chart. A violent exclamation made me turn

FAREWELL INTERVIEW WITH 0-HANA. 351

round. The commander, not knowing whether
to laugh or to frown, cried out :

"Monsieur Marcel, where the deuce have you
got your head ? What ! it is here is it that you
place us ? But be kind enough to look about you.
We are ten miles over the land ! "

Marcel lowered his head, and I understood it in
a moment. In spite of his calm and serious look.
Marcel in making his calculations had his thoughts
wandering elsewhere. I took his hand.

" I have wronged you," I said, " for the last two
hours. Forgive me, poor Marcel ! "

The return voyage was as rapid as the outward
one had been slow. Two months later, we come in
sight of our native land and, as we pass under La
Peirri^re again, we see on the headland groups of
anxious and joyful faces assembled to greet our
return.

THE END.

CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS,