Ito Amuses Me
Nearly Every Night With Stories Of His Unsuccessful Attempts To
Provide Me With Animal Food.
The travelling is the nearest approach to "a ride on a rail" that I
have ever made.
I have now ridden, or rather sat, upon seventy-six
horses, all horrible. They all stumble. The loins of some are
higher than their shoulders, so that one slips forwards, and the
back-bones of all are ridgy. Their hind feet grow into points
which turn up, and their hind legs all turn outwards, like those of
a cat, from carrying heavy burdens at an early age. The same thing
gives them a roll in their gait, which is increased by their
awkward shoes. In summer they feed chiefly on leaves, supplemented
with mashes of bruised beans, and instead of straw they sleep on
beds of leaves. In their stalls their heads are tied "where their
tails should be," and their fodder is placed not in a manger, but
in a swinging bucket. Those used in this part of Japan are worth
from 15 to 30 yen. I have not seen any overloading or ill-
treatment; they are neither kicked, nor beaten, nor threatened in
rough tones, and when they die they are decently buried, and have
stones placed over their graves. It might be well if the end of a
worn-out horse were somewhat accelerated, but this is mainly a
Buddhist region, and the aversion to taking animal life is very
strong. I. L. B.
LETTER XXIV
The Symbolism of Seaweed - Afternoon Visitors - An Infant Prodigy - A
Feat in Caligraphy - Child Worship - A Borrowed Dress - A Trousseau -
House Furniture - The Marriage Ceremony.
KUBOTA, July 25.
The weather at last gives a hope of improvement, and I think I
shall leave to-morrow. I had written this sentence when Ito came
in to say that the man in the next house would like to see my
stretcher and mosquito net, and had sent me a bag of cakes with the
usual bit of seaweed attached, to show that it was a present. The
Japanese believe themselves to be descended from a race of
fishermen; they are proud of it, and Yebis, the god of fishermen,
is one of the most popular of the household divinities. The piece
of seaweed sent with a present to any ordinary person, and the
piece of dried fish-skin which accompanies a present to the Mikado,
record the origin of the race, and at the same time typify the
dignity of simple industry.
Of course I consented to receive the visitor, and with the mercury
at 84 degrees, five men, two boys, and five women entered my small,
low room, and after bowing to the earth three times, sat down on
the floor. They had evidently come to spend the afternoon. Trays
of tea and sweetmeats were handed round, and a labako-bon was
brought in, and they all smoked, as I had told Ito that all usual
courtesies were to be punctiliously performed. They expressed
their gratification at seeing so "honourable" a traveller. I
expressed mine at seeing so much of their "honourable" country.
Then we all bowed profoundly. Then I laid Brunton's map on the
floor and showed them my route, showed them the Asiatic Society's
Transactions, and how we read from left to right, instead of from
top to bottom, showed them my knitting, which amazed them, and my
Berlin work, and then had nothing left. Then they began to
entertain me, and I found that the real object of their visit was
to exhibit an "infant prodigy," a boy of four, with a head shaven
all but a tuft on the top, a face of preternatural thoughtfulness
and gravity, and the self-possessed and dignified demeanour of an
elderly man. He was dressed in scarlet silk hakama, and a dark,
striped, blue silk kimono, and fanned himself gracefully, looking
at everything as intelligently and courteously as the others. To
talk child's talk to him, or show him toys, or try to amuse him,
would have been an insult. The monster has taught himself to read
and write, and has composed poetry. His father says that he never
plays, and understands everything just like a grown person. The
intention was that I should ask him to write, and I did so.
It was a solemn performance. A red blanket was laid in the middle
of the floor, with a lacquer writing-box upon it. The creature
rubbed the ink with water on the inkstone, unrolled four rolls of
paper, five feet long, and inscribed them with Chinese characters,
nine inches long, of the most complicated kind, with firm and
graceful curves of his brush, and with the ease and certainty of
Giotto in turning his O. He sealed them with his seal in
vermilion, bowed three times, and the performance was ended.
People get him to write kakemonos and signboards for them, and he
had earned 10 yen, or about 2 pounds, that day. His father is
going to travel to Kiyoto with him, to see if any one under
fourteen can write as well. I never saw such an exaggerated
instance of child worship. Father, mother, friends, and servants,
treated him as if he were a prince.
The house-master, who is a most polite man, procured me an
invitation to the marriage of his niece, and I have just returned
from it. He has three "wives" himself. One keeps a yadoya in
Kiyoto, another in Morioka, and the third and youngest is with him
here. From her limitless stores of apparel she chose what she
considered a suitable dress for me - an under-dress of sage green
silk crepe, a kimono of soft, green, striped silk of a darker
shade, with a fold of white crepe, spangled with gold at the neck,
and a girdle of sage green corded silk, with the family badge here
and there upon it in gold. I went with the house-master, Ito, to
his disgust, not being invited, and his absence was like the loss
of one of my senses, as I could not get any explanations till
afterwards.
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