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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. True, the board and lodging consist of tea, rice, and
eggs,
a copper basin of water, an andon and an empty room, for,
though
there are plenty of chickens in all the villages, the people
won't
be bribed to sell them for killing, though they would gladly
part
with them if they were to be kept to lay eggs. 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.
The
ceremony did not correspond with the rules laid down for
marriages
in the books of etiquette that I have seen, but this is
accounted
for by the fact that they were for persons of the samurai
class,
while this bride and bridegroom, though the children of
well-to-do
merchants, belong to the heimin.
In
this case the trousseau and furniture were conveyed to the
bridegroom's
house in the early morning, and I was allowed to go to
see
them. There were several girdles of silk embroidered with
gold,
several pieces of brocaded silk for kimonos, several pieces
of
silk crepe, a large number of made-up garments, a piece of white
silk,
six barrels of wine or sake, and seven sorts of condiments.
Jewellery
is not worn by women in Japan.
The
furniture consisted of two wooden pillows, finely lacquered,
one
of them containing a drawer for ornamental hairpins, some
cotton
futons, two very handsome silk ones, a few silk cushions, a
lacquer
workbox, a spinning-wheel, a lacquer rice bucket and ladle,
two
ornamental iron kettles, various kitchen utensils, three bronze
hibachi,
two tabako-bons, some lacquer trays, and zens, china
kettles,
teapots, and cups, some lacquer rice bowls, two copper
basins,
a few towels, some bamboo switches, and an inlaid lacquer
etagere.
As the things are all very handsome the parents must be
well
off. The sake is sent in accordance with rigid etiquette.
The
bridegroom is twenty-two, the bride seventeen, and very comely,
so
far as I could see through the paint with which she was
profusely
disfigured. Towards evening she was carried in a
norimon,
accompanied by her parents and friends, to the
bridegroom's
house, each member of the procession carrying a
Chinese
lantern. When the house-master and I arrived the wedding
party
was assembled in a large room, the parents and friends of the
bridegroom
being seated on one side, and those of the bride on the
other.
Two young girls, very beautifully dressed, brought in the
bride,
a very pleasing-looking creature dressed entirely in white
silk,
with a veil of white silk covering her from head to foot.
The
bridegroom, who was already seated in the middle of the room
near
its upper part, did not rise to receive her, and kept his eyes
fixed
on the ground, and she sat opposite to him, but never looked
up.
A low table was placed in front, on which there was a two-
spouted
kettle full of sake, some sake bottles, and some cups, and
on
another there were some small figures representing a fir-tree, a
plum-tree
in blossom, and a stork standing on a tortoise, the last
representing
length of days, and the former the beauty of women and
the
strength of men. Shortly a zen, loaded with eatables, was
placed
before each person, and the feast began, accompanied by the
noises
which signify gastronomic gratification.
After
this, which was only a preliminary, the two girls who brought
in
the bride handed round a tray with three cups containing sake,
which
each person was expected to drain till he came to the god of
luck
at the bottom.
The
bride and bridegroom then retired, but shortly reappeared in
other
dresses of ceremony, but the bride still wore her white silk
veil,
which one day will be her shroud. An old gold lacquer tray
was
produced, with three sake cups, which were filled by the two
bridesmaids,
and placed before the parents-in-law and the bride.
The
father-in-law drank three cups, and handed the cup to the
bride,
who, after drinking two cups, received from her father-in-
law
a present in a box, drank the third cup, and then returned the
cup
to the father-in-law, who again drank three cups. Rice and
fish
were next brought in, after which the bridegroom's mother took
the
second cup, and filled and emptied it three times, after which
she
passed it to the bride, who drank two cups, received a present
from
her mother-in-law in a lacquer box, drank a third cup, and
gave
the cup to the elder lady, who again drank three cups. Soup
was
then served, and then the bride drank once from the third cup,
and
handed it to her husband's father, who drank three more cups,
the
bride took it again, and drank two, and lastly the mother-in-
law
drank three more cups. Now, if you possess the clear-
sightedness
which I laboured to preserve, you will perceive that
each
of the three had inbibed nine cups of some generous liquor!
{16}
After
this the two bridesmaids raised the two-spouted kettle and
presented
it to the lips of the married pair, who drank from it
alternately,
till they had exhausted its contents. This concluding
ceremony
is said to be emblematic of the tasting together of the
joys
and sorrows of life. And so they became man and wife till
death
or divorce parted them.
This
drinking of sake or wine, according to prescribed usage,
appeared
to constitute the "marriage service," to which none but
relations
were bidden. Immediately afterwards the wedding guests
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