An Eldest Son Does Not Appear To Be, As Among The Japanese, A
Privileged Person.
He does not necessarily inherit the house and
curios.
The latter are not divided, but go with the house to the
son whom the father regards as being the "smartest." Formal
adoption is practised. Pipichari is an adopted son, and is likely
to succeed to Benri's property to the exclusion of his own
children. I cannot get at the word which is translated
"smartness," but I understand it as meaning general capacity. The
chief, as I have mentioned before, is allowed three wives among the
mountain Ainos, otherwise authority seems to be his only privilege.
The Ainos have a singular dread of snakes. Even their bravest fly
from them. One man says that it is because they know of no cure
for their bite; but there is something more than this, for they
flee from snakes which they know to be harmless.
They have an equal dread of their dead. Death seems to them very
specially "the shadow fear'd of man." When it comes, which it
usually does from bronchitis in old age, the corpse is dressed in
its best clothing, and laid upon a shelf for from one to three
days. In the case of a woman her ornaments are buried with her,
and in that of a man his knife and sake-stick, and, if he were a
smoker, his smoking apparatus. The corpse is sewn up with these
things in a mat, and, being slung on poles, is carried to a
solitary grave, where it is laid in a recumbent position. Nothing
will induce an Aino to go near a grave. Even if a valuable bird or
animal falls near one, he will not go to pick it up. A vague dread
is for ever associated with the departed, and no dream of Paradise
ever lights for the Aino the "Stygian shades."
Benri is, for an Aino, intelligent. Two years ago Mr. Dening of
Hakodate came up here and told him that there was but one God who
made us all, to which the shrewd old man replied, "If the God who
made you made us, how is it that you are so different - you so rich,
we so poor?" On asking him about the magnificent pieces of lacquer
and inlaying which adorn his curio shelf, he said that they were
his father's, grandfather's, and great-grandfather's at least, and
he thinks they were gifts from the daimiyo of Matsumae soon after
the conquest of Yezo. He is a grand-looking man, in spite of the
havoc wrought by his intemperate habits. There is plenty of room
in the house, and this morning, when I asked him to show me the use
of the spear, he looked a truly magnificent savage, stepping well
back with the spear in rest, and then springing forward for the
attack, his arms and legs turning into iron, the big muscles
standing out in knots, his frame quivering with excitement, the
thick hair falling back in masses from his brow, and the fire of
the chase in his eye. I trembled for my boy, who was the object of
the imaginary onslaught, the passion of sport was so admirably
acted.
As I write, seven of the older men are sitting by the fire. Their
grey beards fall to their waists in rippled masses, and the slight
baldness of age not only gives them a singularly venerable
appearance, but enhances the beauty of their lofty brows. I took a
rough sketch of one of the handsomest, and, showing it to him,
asked if he would have it, but instead of being amused or pleased
he showed symptoms of fear, and asked me to burn it, saying it
would bring him bad luck and he should die. However, Ito pacified
him, and he accepted it, after a Chinese character, which is
understood to mean good luck, had been written upon it; but all the
others begged me not to "make pictures" of them, except Pipichari,
who lies at my feet like a staghound.
The profusion of black hair, and a curious intensity about their
eyes, coupled with the hairy limbs and singularly vigorous
physique, give them a formidably savage appearance; but the smile,
full of "sweetness and light," in which both eyes and mouth bear
part, and the low, musical voice, softer and sweeter than anything
I have previously heard, make me at times forget that they are
savages at all. The venerable look of these old men harmonises
with the singular dignity and courtesy of their manners, but as I
look at the grand heads, and reflect that the Ainos have never
shown any capacity, and are merely adult children, they seem to
suggest water on the brain rather than intellect. I am more and
more convinced that the expression of their faces is European. It
is truthful, straightforward, manly, but both it and the tone of
voice are strongly tinged with pathos.
Before these elders Benri asked me, in a severe tone, if I had been
annoyed in any way during his absence. He feared, he said, that
the young men and the women would crowd about me rudely. I made a
complimentary speech in return, and all the ancient hands were
waved, and the venerable beards were stroked in acknowledgment.
These Ainos, doubtless, stand high among uncivilised peoples. They
are, however, as completely irreclaimable as the wildest of nomad
tribes, and contact with civilisation, where it exists, only
debases them. Several young Ainos were sent to Tokiyo, and
educated and trained in various ways, but as soon as they returned
to Yezo they relapsed into savagery, retaining nothing but a
knowledge of Japanese. They are charming in many ways, but make
one sad, too, by their stupidity, apathy, and hopelessness, and all
the sadder that their numbers appear to be again increasing; and as
their physique is very fine, there does not appear to be a prospect
of the race dying out at present.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 96 of 112
Words from 97452 to 98459
of 115002
