To-Day He Brought A Boy
With Very Sore Eyes To See Me, On Which I Exclaimed, "Poor Little
Fellow!
" And this evening he said, "You called that boy a fellow, I
thought it was a bad word!" The habits
Of many of the Yokohama
foreigners have helped to obliterate any distinctions between right
and wrong, if he ever made any. If he wishes to tell me that he
has seen a very tipsy man, he always says he has seen "a fellow as
drunk as an Englishman." At Nikko I asked him how many legal wives
a man could have in Japan, and he replied, "Only one lawful one,
but as many others (mekake) as he can support, just as Englishmen
have." He never forgets a correction. Till I told him it was
slangy he always spoke of inebriated people as "tight," and when I
gave him the words "tipsy," "drunk," "intoxicated," he asked me
which one would use in writing good English, and since then he has
always spoken of people as "intoxicated."
He naturally likes large towns, and tries to deter me from taking
the "unbeaten tracks," which I prefer - but when he finds me
immovable, always concludes his arguments with the same formula,
"Well, of course you can do as you like; it's all the same to me."
I do not think he cheats me to any extent. Board, lodging, and
travelling expenses for us both are about 6s. 6d. a day, and about
2s. 6d. when we are stationary, and this includes all gratuities
and extras.
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