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diff --git a/36783-8.txt b/36783-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cbd15fa --- /dev/null +++ b/36783-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12997 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Concerning Lafcadio Hearn, by George M. Gould + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Concerning Lafcadio Hearn + With a Bibliography by Laura Stedman + +Author: George M. Gould + +Release Date: July 19, 2011 [EBook #36783] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONCERNING LAFCADIO HEARN *** + + + + +Produced by David Clarke, Ernest Schaal, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + + + + +CONCERNING LAFCADIO HEARN + + + + + [Illustration: LAFCADIO HEARN. + _From a Photograph by Gutekunst, 1889._] + + +_Frontispiece._ + + + + + CONCERNING LAFCADIO + HEARN. By GEORGE M. GOULD, M.D. + + + WITH A BIBLIOGRAPHY + BY LAURA STEDMAN + + + _WITH FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS_ + + + T. FISHER UNWIN + + LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE + LEIPSIC: INSELSTRASSE 20 + 1908 + + + + + [_All rights reserved_] + + + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAP. PAGE + + I. HEREDITY AND THE EARLY LIFE 1 + + II. IN PERSON 7 + + III. THE PERIOD OF THE GRUESOME 13 + + IV. THE NEW ORLEANS TIME 33 + + V. AT MARTINIQUE 57 + + VI. "GETTING A SOUL" 65 + + VII. "IN GHOSTLY JAPAN" 81 + + VIII. AS A POET 93 + + IX. THE POET OF MYOPIA 103 + + X. HEARN'S STYLE 119 + + XI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 137 + + XII. APPRECIATIONS AND EPITOMES 143 + + BIBLIOGRAPHY 247 + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + _To face page_ + + LAFCADIO HEARN, FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY GUTEKUNST + IN 1889 _Frontispiece_ + + HEARN AT ABOUT THE AGE OF EIGHT, FROM A PHOTOGRAPH 5 + + REDUCED FIRST PAGE OF THE FIRST ISSUE OF "YE + GIGLAMPZ" 21 + + LAFCADIO HEARN, FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN AT MARTINIQUE, + AUGUST 24, 1888 61 + + HANDWRITING OF HEARN IN 1889 68 + + + + +PREFACE + + +THERE are as many possible biographies of a man as there are possible +biographers--and one more! Of Lafcadio Hearn there has been, and there +will be, no excuse for any biography whatever. A properly edited volume +of his letters, and, perhaps, a critical estimate of the methods and +development of his imaginative power and literary character are, and +still remain, most desirable. That some competent hand may yet be found +to undertake this task is still hoped by those who recognize the value +of a man's best work. To furnish material and help toward this end is my +object in collecting the following pages. The life of a literary man +interests and is of value to the world because of the literature he has +created. Without a bibliography, without even mention of the works he +wrote, his biography would be useless. To correct many untrue and +misleading statements and inferences of a serious nature that have been +published concerning him and his life, should it ever be undertaken, +will prove a labour so difficult and thankless that it will scarcely be +entered upon by one who would do it rightly. That it will not be +hazarded comes, as I have said, from the fact that it is not needed, +because neither Hearn himself, nor his real friends, nor again, a +discriminating literary sense, have been, nor can be, under any illusion +as to his "greatness." He has been spoken of as "a great man," which, of +course, he was not. Two talents he had, but these were far from +constituting personal greatness. Deprived by nature, by the necessities +of his life, or by conscious intention, of religion, morality, +scholarship, magnanimity, loyalty, character, benevolence, and other +constituents of personal greatness, it is more than folly to endeavour +to place him thus wrongly before the world. + +The irony of the situation is pathetically heightened by the fact that, +supposing him to be very great, "the weaknesses of very great men," +which he said should not be spoken of, are amazingly paraded in the +letters. Had he ever dreamed that his letters would be published, he +would not, and could not, have so unblushingly exposed himself and his +faults to the public gaze. The fact has now been writ exceeding large, +or it would not be, and should not be, corrected and contradicted. A +word to the wise suffices. + +There remains the question, truly pertinent, concerning the nature and +progress toward perfection of his imagination, and of his literary +execution. + +We know nothing, and doubtless we may never know anything definite, +accurate and of value about the character either of his father or of his +mother. Any attempt, therefore, to estimate what effect heredity had in +handing down the strange endowment we find in his early manhood is +wholly futile. We may not be too sure concerning either the parentage or +nationality ascribed to him. + +Moreover, in the last analysis, Hearn was no "product of his +environment." In a certain sense, he was of the school of Flaubert, +Gautier, Maupassant, Loti, and Zola, but with such differences and +variations that these teachers may not take much credit or flattery to +themselves. The great, the distinctive, the dominating force which +controlled and created Hearn's literary makings, his morbid vision, was +not "environment" as the critics and scientists mean by the term. These +have not yet learned that Art and Life hang upon the perfection and +peculiarities of the senses of the artist and of the one who lives, and +that intellect and especially æsthetics are almost wholly the product of +vision. Conversely, the morbidities and individualisms of Art and Life +often depend pre-eminently upon the morbidities of vision. + +Character, lastly, is the action or reaction of personality against +circumstance, not under and dominated by circumstance. To have character +is to control circumstance; Hearn was always its slave. Except in one +particular, the pursuit of literary excellence, Hearn had no character +whatever. His was the most unresisting, most echolike mind I have ever +known. He was a perfect chameleon; he took for the time the colour of +his surroundings. He was always the mirror of the friend of the instant, +or if no friend was there, of the dream of that instant. The next minute +he was another being, acted upon by the new circumstance, reflecting the +new friend, or redreaming the old and new-found dream. They who blame +him too sharply for his disloyalty and ingratitude to old friends do not +understand him psychologically. There was nothing behind the physical +and neurologic machine to be loyal or disloyal. He had no mind, or +character, to be possessed of loyalty or disloyalty. For the most part, +he simply dropped his friends, and rarely spoke ill of them or of his +enemies. There was nothing whatever in him, except perhaps for the short +time when he said his friend had given him a soul, to take the cast and +function of loyalty or disloyalty, gratitude or ingratitude. One does +not ask originality or even great consistency of an echo, and, of all +men that have ever lived, Hearn, mentally and spiritually, was most +perfectly an echo. The sole quality, the only originality, he brought to +the fact, or to the echo, was colour--a peculiar derivation of a maimed +sense. He created or invented nothing; his stories were always told him +by others; at first they were gruesome tales even to horror and disgust. +He learned by practice to choose lovelier stories, ones always distant, +sometimes infinitely distant, and he learned to retell or echo them with +more artistic skill and even a matchless grace. His merit, almost his +sole merit, and his unique skill lay in the strange faculty of colouring +the echo with the hues and tints of heavenly rainbows and unearthly +sunsets, all gleaming with a ghostly light that never was on sea or +shore. So that, fused as he was with his work, he himself became that +impossible thing, a chromatic voice, a multicoloured echo. + +We must, therefore, accept the facts as we find them, the young man as +we find him, uneducated, friendless, without formed character, with a +lot of heathenish and unrestrained appetites, crippled as to the most +important of the senses, poverty-stricken, improvident, of peculiar and +unprepossessing appearance and manners, flung into an alien world in +many ways more morbid than himself. That he lived at all is almost +astonishing, and that he writhed out, how he did it, and the means +whereby he finally presented to the best artistic and literary +intellects of the world prized values and enjoyments, is indeed worthy +of some attention and study. + +From letters written to me just prior to his death by that veteran and +discriminating critic, Mr. Edmund C. Stedman, I quote a few sentences to +show that the appreciation of Hearn has by no means reached its full +measure: + +"I passed an evening with your Hearn manuscript and the supplementary +matter by my granddaughter, and found them both well done and of deep +interest. Some of your passages are beautifully written and make me +think that if you will give us more of the style which is so plainly at +your command, you will gain, etc.... The publishers do not understand, +as I do, that Hearn will in time be as much of a romantic personality +and tradition as Poe now is. I strongly urged one publisher to buy those +copyrights owned by three other firms on any terms and in the end bring +out a definitive edition of his complete works." + +As to Miss Stedman's workmanlike bibliography, it should be said that +the rule which has been followed in excluding less valuable reviews and +notices, was based upon the effort to include doubtful ones only when of +exceptional value, by a personal friend of Hearn, etc. Files of ordinary +newspapers are not preserved even in local libraries, and, therefore, +references to them have been excluded except under peculiar +circumstances of authorship, opinions stated, etc. + +For their kind permission to make extracts from Hearn's published works, +grateful acknowledgments are due to Messrs. Little, Brown and Company, +Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Harper Brothers, and The Macmillan +Company. + +Should this volume bring in more money than the necessary expenses of +compiling it, the excess will be sent to Mrs. Hearn through the Japanese +Consul, or in some other way. + + GEORGE M. GOULD. + + + + +CHAPTER I.--HEREDITY AND THE + EARLY LIFE + + + [Illustration: HEARN AT ABOUT THE AGE OF EIGHT. + _From a Photograph._] + + +_To face page 1._ + + +MANY conflicting accounts have been given concerning Hearn's parents and +childhood. From his own statements made in 1889, the notes of which, +taken down at the moment, are before me, he was born on June 27, 1850, +at Leucadia, in Santa Maura, one of the Ionian Islands. His father, he +said, was an Irishman, Charles Bush Hearn, Surgeon-Major in the 76th +English Infantry Regiment, which had been stationed at Madras, Calcutta. +The regiment was later merged into the 22nd West Riding Battalion. His +mother was a Greek from Cerigo, another of the Ionian Isles; her name he +had forgotten. He spoke of his father and mother as having been married, +and of a subsequent divorce, about 1857 or 1858. Allusion was made to a +younger brother, named Daniel, who was brought up by an artist, a +painter, Richard Hearn, a brother of Charles Bush Hearn, who lived in +Paris.[1] Hearn thought this brother was educated as a civil engineer. +After the divorce his mother remarried, her second husband being a +lawyer, a Greek, name unknown, and living at Smyrna, Asia Minor. +Lafcadio's father also remarried, taking his wife to India. Three +daughters were said to have been born there. Lafcadio was put under the +care of his aunt, Mrs. Sarah Brenane, of Dublin, No. 73 Upper Leeson +Street. She was a widow without children. In a letter to me, written +prior to 1889, Hearn says: "As for me, I have a good deal in me _not_ to +thank my ancestors for; and it is a pleasure that _I cannot_, even if I +would, trace myself two generations back, not even one generation on my +mother's side. Half these Greeks are mixed with Turks and Arabs--don't +know how much of an Oriental mixture I have, or may have." And again, "I +do not know anything about my mother, whether alive or dead. My father +died on his return from India. There was a queer romance in the history +of my mother's marriage." He told me later that this romance was said to +have been that Surgeon-Major Hearn was once set upon by the brothers of +the young Greek woman to whom he was paying attention, and that he was +left supposedly dead, with about a score of dagger-made wounds in his +body. + + [1] In _The Bookbuyer_, May, 1896, Hearn's friend, Mr. J. S. + Tunison, speaks of the existence of a brother, "a busy + farmer in Northwestern Ohio." + +In the Dayton, Ohio, _Journal_, of December 25, 1906, Mr. Tunison speaks +authoritatively of the discrepant accounts given by many writers, and by +Hearn himself, concerning his parents, birth and early years. "Hearn +himself had misgivings, and sometimes associated his baptismal name with +the not uncommon Spanish name, Leocadie." The boy, of course, could only +repeat what he had been told by his relatives or friends. Physiognomy +can help little perhaps, but here its testimony is assuredly not +confirmatory of the more common story. Any attempt to secure definite +information in Ireland would scarcely be successful. One possibility +remained: There is still living an Irish gentleman to whom Lafcadio was +sent from Ireland, and in whose care, at least to a limited extent, the +boy was placed. I have not the right to mention his name. He was living +in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1870, and through his brother-in-law in Ireland, +Lafcadio was, as it were, consigned to my informant. The subject is an +unpleasant one to him, and he answered my questions with reluctance. He +did not like the boy and did not feel that he had any obligation toward +him; in fact, he did not feel that he was in any way responsible for his +care. Besides, he had heavy duties toward his own children that absorbed +all his energies. "I never had a letter from him. He came to the house +three times. Mrs. Brenane sent me money, which I gave to him to pay his +bills with. When he got work, he never came near me again." He was not +sure that Mrs. Brenane was, in truth, Hearn's aunt, and upon being +pressed, answered repeatedly, "I know nothing, nobody knows anything +true of Hearn's life. He may have been related to my wife's family, but +I never knew." Asked why the lad was "shipped" to him, he replied, "I do +not know." Inquiries concerning the boy's schooling brought no more +than, "I only know that he could never stay long in one school." "His +father was Irish, was he not?" "Yes." "And his mother was Greek?" "O +yes, I suppose so," but with an indefinite inflection. + +The mystery, therefore, of Hearn's parentage and boyhood years is +probably not to be cleared up. He was, perhaps, a "bad boy," and +expelled from several schools; his lifelong hatred and fear of Catholics +and Jesuits doubtless dates from these youthful and irrational +experiences; but it is useless to inquire whether or not they were in +any sense justifiable. A little reflected light is thrown upon this +period by an apocryphal anecdote in a letter to me, written while Hearn +was at my house, and which Miss Bisland in her "Life and Letters" kindly +failed to put in its proper place,[2] as well as omitted to say whence +she obtained it: + + [2] Vol. I, pp. 459-460, just prior to the last + paragraph. + + This again reminds me of something. When I was a boy, I had + to go to confession, and my confessions were honest ones. + One day I told the ghostly father that I had been guilty of + desiring that the devil would come to me in the shape of + the beautiful woman in which he came to the Anchorites in + the desert, and that I thought that I would yield to such + temptations. He was a grim man who rarely showed emotion, + my confessor, but on that occasion he actually rose to his + feet in anger. + + "Let me warn you!" he cried, "let me warn you! Of all things + never wish that! You might be more sorry for it than you can + possibly believe!" + + His earnestness filled me with fearful joy;--for I thought + the temptation might actually be realized--so serious he + looked ... but the pretty _succubi_ all continued to remain + in hell. + +The necessary inference, therefore, is that the lad was an unwelcome +charge upon those Irish relations or friends of his father, in whose +care he was placed. It is said that he always spoke with bitterness of +his father, and with love of his mother. Beyond a certain amount of +money allotted (by his father?) for his support, neither parent was +evidently concerned about his upbringing and welfare, and all who should +have been interested in those things made haste to rid themselves of the +obligations. If the stories of his boyish "badness" were true, the lad +could not be blamed for putting into practice his inherited instincts, +so that the pathos of his early misfortunes only increase our sympathy +for the youth and his tragedies. (I reproduce a photograph of Lafcadio +and his aunt, Mrs. Justin, or Sarah, Brenane. The lad must have been at +the time about eight years of age.) The "consignment" of the +nineteen-year old youth to the distant relative of the family, who was +then living in Cincinnati, explains the reason why, landing in New York, +he finally went to Cincinnati. How long he lived in New York City and +any details of his life there before he went West, may be held as beyond +investigation. Mr. Tunison incidentally speaks of him during this time +as "sleeping in dry-goods boxes on the street, etc.," and I have heard +that he acted as a restaurant waiter. There have been published stories +of a period of want and suffering endured in London before the +emigration to New York City. Others concerning great scholarship and the +intimate knowledge of several languages, especially French, are surely +not true. Even in 1889, after the New Orleans and Martinique periods, +Hearn could not speak French with ease or correctness. In Cincinnati he +secured the help of a French scholar in translating Gautier's "Émaux et +Camées." His want of knowledge of the Latin language is deplored in his +letters and, to the last, after a dozen or more years in Japan, his +inability to read a Japanese newspaper or speak the language was a +source of regret to himself, of errors too numerous to mention, and of +grievous limitations in his work as an interpreter. In the one field of +which his taste, aptitude and function dictated a wide and stimulating +acquaintance, folk-lore, he was lamentably wanting. It might seem +unfitting to allude to this were it not well to be discriminating in all +cases, and had not Hearn sought to reach authoritativeness in a +department wherein he had not gathered the fundamental data. + + + + +CHAPTER II.--IN PERSON + + +WHEN, in 1889, Hearn appeared in my reception room, although I had not +seen any photograph of him, and had not even known of his coming, I at +once said, "You are Lafcadio?" The poor exotic was so sadly out of +place, so wondering, so suffering and shy, that I am sure he would have +run out of the house if I had not at once shown him an overflowing +kindness, or if a tone of voice had betrayed any curiosity or doubt. It +was at once agreed that he should stay with me for awhile, and there was +no delay in providing him with a seat at my table and a room where he +could be at his work of proof-correcting. His "Two Years in the French +West Indies" was then going through the press, and an incident connected +with the proof-reading illustrates how impossible it was for him, except +when necessity drove, to meet any person not already known. He wished to +give his reader the tune of the songs printed on pages 426-431, but he +knew nothing of music. I arranged with a lady to repeat the airs on her +piano as he should whistle them, and then to write them on the +music-staff. When the fatal evening arrived, Hearn and I went to the +lady's house, but as we proceeded his part in our chatting lapsed into +silence, and he lagged behind. Although he finally dragged himself to +the foot of the doorstep, after I had rung the bell, his courage failed, +and before the door was opened I saw him running as if for life, half a +square away! + +Even before this adventure I had learned that it was useless to try to +get him to lunch or dinner if any stranger were present. I think he +always listened to detect the possible presence of a stranger before +entering the dining-room, and he would certainly have starved rather +than submit to such an ordeal. It may be readily imagined that my +attempt to secure his services as a lecturer before a local literary +society was a ludricrous failure. He would have preferred hanging. + +I allude to this attitude of his mind from no idle or curious reason, +but because it arose from logical and necessary reasons. When, later, he +was in Japan, I was once importuned, and should not have yielded, to +give a friend, who was about to visit Tôkyô, a note of +introduction. As I warned my friend Hearn refused to see visitors. + +That his extreme shyness depended upon his being unknown, and that it +was united to a lack of humour, may be gathered from the fact that, when +he came from Martinique, he wore a clothing which inevitably made the +passers-by turn and look and smile. Long and repeated endeavours were +necessary before I could get his consent to lay aside the outrageous +tropical hat for one that would not attract attention. How little he +recked of this appears from the tale I heard that a lot of street gamins +in Philadelphia formed a _queue_, the leader holding by Hearn's +coat-tails, and, as they marched, all kept step and sang in time, +"Where, where, where did you get that hat?" + +At once, upon first meeting Hearn, I instinctively recognized that upon +my part the slightest sign of a desire or attempt to study him, to look +upon him as an object of literary or "natural" history, would +immediately put an end to our relations. Indeed, it never at that time +entered my mind to think thus of him, and only since collections of his +letters and biographies are threatened has it occurred to me to think +over our days and months together, and to help, so far as advisable, +toward a true understanding of the man and his art. + +In 1889 Lafcadio was 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighed 137 pounds, and had a +chest girth of 36-3/4 inches. + +The summer of 1889 made noteworthy changes in Hearn's character. I +suspect it was his first experience in anything that might be called +home-life. To his beloved _pays des revenants_, Martinique, his mind +constantly reverted, with an _Ahnung_ that he should never see it again. +There are truth and pathos and keen self-knowledge, frankly expressed +in the letters he would write me in the next room, immediately after we +had chatted long together, and when he felt that the pen could better +express what he shyly shrank from speaking: + + Ah! to have a profession is to be rich, to have + international current-money, a gold that is cosmopolitan, + passes everywhere. Then I think I would never settle down + in any place; would visit all, wander about as long as I + could. There is such a delightful pleasantness about the + _first_ relations with people in strange places--before you + have made any rival, excited any ill wills, incurred + anybody's displeasure. Stay long enough in any one place + and the illusion is over; you have to sift this society + through the meshes of your nerves, and find perhaps one + good friendship too large to pass through. + + It is a very beautiful world; the ugliness of some humanity + only exists as the shadowing that outlines the view; the + nobility of man and the goodness of woman can only be felt + by those who know the possibilities of degradation and + corruption. Philosophically I am simply a follower of + Spencer, whose mind gives me the greatest conception of + Divinity I can yet expand to receive. The faultiness is not + with the world, but with myself. I inherit certain + susceptibilities, weaknesses, sensitivenesses, which render + it impossible to adapt myself to the ordinary _milieu_; I + have to make one of my own wherever I go, and never mingle + with that already made. True, I love much knowledge, but I + escape pains which, in spite of all your own knowledge, you + could wholly comprehend, for the simple reason that you + _can_ mingle with men. + + I am really quite lonesome for you, and am reflecting how + much more lonesome I shall be in some outrageous equatorial + country where I shall not see you any more;--also it seems + to me perfectly and inexplainably atrocious to know that + some day or other there will be no Gooley at ---- St. That I + should cease to make a shadow some day seems quite natural, + because Hearney boy is only a bubble anyhow ("The earth hath + bubbles"),--but you, hating mysteries and seeing and feeling + and knowing everything,--you have no right ever to die at + all. And I can't help doubting whether you will. You have + almost made me believe what you do not believe yourself: + that there are souls. I haven't any, I know; but I think you + have,--something electrical and luminous inside you that + will walk about and see things always. Are you really--what + I see of you--only an Envelope of something subtler and + perpetual? Because if you are, I might want you to pass down + some day southward,--over the blue zone and the volcanic + peaks like a little wind,--and flutter through the + palm-plumes under the all-putrefying sun,--and reach down + through old roots to the bones of me, and try to raise me + up.... + +The weakness and even exhaustion which the West Indian climate had +wrought in Hearn were painfully apparent. His stay in Philadelphia, warm +as that summer was to us, brought him speedily back to physical health. +The lesson was not unheeded, nor its implications, by his sensitive +mind. + +I reproduce two photographs of Hearn: the first taken in 1888 (facing +page 61); and the second, by Mr. Gutekunst, at my urgent solicitation, +in 1889, while Hearn was stopping at my house (_Frontispiece_). + +The first photograph, taken in Martinique, brings out the habitual +sadness and lack of vivacity in his physiognomy. In my picture of 1889 +(the second) I was unable, despite all effort, to get Hearn to present +to the camera his entire face with naturally open eyes, and the +customary expression. He resolutely refused, and consented to the +compromise of a two-thirds view _with closed eyes_. And this to me is +still the most truthful and hence the most expressive of all his +photographs. It is so suggestive because of its negations, so expressive +because non-expressive. But it indicates, silently and by inference, the +most significant fact about the man. + +To those who are expert in such things, the stare of the highly myopic +eye is known to be not that of mental action and seeing, but of not +seeing. When we walk, we are forward-looking beings, and what goes on +within the eye or brain and what may be behind us is totally ignored. +But for a highly myopic person there is no outward or forward looking. +Hearn's closed eye gives, therefore, a decidedly more truthful lesson in +physiognomy than does the open and protruding one, which cannot see the +coming or future scene, or which sees it so vaguely that its hint of the +scene is perhaps more useless than the imagined picture of the totally +blind. His inability to see the presenting world had resulted in a +renunciation of outlook and an absolute incuriosity as to the future. +With weaklings this might have brought about introspection, the mental +eye--the product of the physical eye--turned in upon itself. Hearn was +too much of an artist to fall into that Death Valley of all æsthetics, +and there was a quick acceptance of the logical and inevitable, whence +arose the wonder of poetic retrospection. + + + + +CHAPTER III.--THE PERIOD OF THE GRUESOME + + +WHEN Hearn arrived in Cincinnati, in 1871 or 1872, he was twenty-one or +twenty-two years of age. All other methods of making a livelihood except +that by his pen had failed, or were soon to fail, and it is not long +before the literary way is exclusively and permanently adopted. There +was a brief first time of service with Robert Clarke and Company as +proof-reader. The exact uses of punctuation, the clearness which the +proper marks give to writing, soon earned for him the sobriquet "Old +Semicolon" among his fellow reporters. All his life Hearn clung +meticulously to his theories concerning the necessity and precise rules +of punctuation. Some of his later quarrels with periodical editors and +proof-readers arose from differences of opinion in these things. There +was a short engagement of Hearn by the librarian, Mr. Thomas Vickers, as +private secretary or helper. Among his early friends was a printer, Mr. +Henry Watkin, now residing at 1312 McMillan Street, who was kind to him, +and who taught him to set type. + +"In 1874," Mr. O. P. Caylor[3] writes, "Col. Cockerill of the _World_ +was managing editor of the Cincinnati _Enquirer_. A few weeks previous +to the 'Tan-Yard Murder' Mr. Hearn came to the _Enquirer_ office to sell +a manuscript. Upstairs he ventured, but there his courage failed him. It +was not enough to induce him to brave the awful editorial presence. So +he paced up and down the hall with his velvet restless tread until the +awful door opened and the terrible giant came forth. Hearn would, no +doubt, have run away had he not been at the rear of the hall when Mr. +Cockerill came out into the other end, and the stairway was between. + + [3] A quotation in the _Author_, January 15, 1890, from an + article by Mr. Caylor in the Philadelphia _North American_. + +"Thus it occurred that the author of 'Chita' submitted his first +manuscript. He came with others later, but never could he persuade +himself to knock at that editorial door for admission. Up and down, up +and down the hall he would pace or glide until Colonel Cockerill came +forth, whether the time consumed in waiting was ten minutes or two +hours." + +In _Current Literature_, June, 1896, Colonel John A. Cockerill, writing +of Hearn, tells the story thus: + +"Some twenty years ago I was the editor in charge of a daily newspaper +in a Western city. One day there came to my office a quaint, +dark-skinned little fellow, strangely diffident, wearing glasses of +great magnifying power and bearing with him evidence that Fortune and he +were scarce on nodding terms. + +"In a soft, shrinking voice he asked if I ever paid for outside +contributions. I informed him that I was somewhat restricted in the +matter of expenditure, but that I would give consideration to what he +had to offer. He drew from under his coat a manuscript, and tremblingly +laid it upon my table. Then he stole away like a distorted brownie, +leaving behind him an impression that was uncanny and indescribable. + +"Later in the day I looked over the contribution which he had left. I +was astonished to find it charmingly written.... + +"He sat in the corner of my room and wrote special articles for the +Sunday edition as thoroughly excellent as anything that appeared in the +magazines of those days. I have known him to have twelve and fifteen +columns of this matter in a single issue of the paper. He was delighted +to work, and I was pleased to have him work, for his style was beautiful +and the tone he imparted to the newspaper was considerable. Hour after +hour he would sit at his table, his great bulbous eyes resting as close +to the paper as his nose would permit, scratching away with beaver-like +diligence and giving me no more annoyance than a bronze ornament. + +"His eyes troubled him greatly in those days. He was as sensitive as a +flower. An unkind word from anybody was as serious to him as a cut from +a whiplash, but I do not believe he was in any sense resentful.... He +was poetic, and his whole nature seemed attuned to the beautiful, and he +wrote beautifully of things which were neither wholesome nor inspiring. +He came to be in time a member of the city staff at a fair compensation, +and it was then that his descriptive powers developed. He loved to write +of things in humble life. He prowled about the dark corners of the city, +and from gruesome places he dug out charming idyllic stories. The negro +stevedores on the steamboat-landings fascinated him. He wrote of their +songs, their imitations, their uncouth ways, and he found +picturesqueness in their rags, poetry in their juba dances." + +In January or February, 1874, there was a horrible murder, "the famous +Tan-Yard case," in Cincinnati, and Hearn's account of it in the +_Enquirer_, from the newspaper and reportorial standpoint was so graphic +and so far beyond the power of all rivals that he was henceforth assured +of employment and of a measure and kind of respect. His friend, Mr. +Edward Henderson, formerly city editor of the _Commercial_, now City +Clerk in Cincinnati, says that because of his startling report of this +murder "his city editors kept him at the most arduous work of a daily +morning paper--the night-stations, for in that field mostly developed +the sensational events that were worthy of his pen. In these days his +powers would be held in reserve to write up what others should +discover.... His repertory was strongest in the unusual and the +startling. He was never known to shirk hardship or danger in filling an +assignment or following up his self-obtained pointer." + +The beginning of Hearn's literary career was his report of the Tan-Yard +Murder case. It was published in the Cincinnati _Enquirer_, November, +1874. I shall quote some parts of it in a footnote to illustrate his +innate and studied ability to outfit with words and expressions of the +most startling and realistic picturing quality, the most horrible and +loathsome facts. Keeping in mind the comparison with the illustrations +from his later work in which he was equally capable of painting noble +and beautiful things (all except those of a spiritual or religious +nature), one is filled with admiration of a faculty so rare and perfect. +Those who are sensitive should not read the excerpts which I append, and +which are given in obedience to a sense of duty.[4] + + [4] "An _Enquirer_ reporter visited the establishment some + hours later, accompanied by Dr. Maley, and examined all so + far discovered of Herman Schilling's charred corpse. The + hideous mass of reeking cinders, despite all the efforts of + the brutal murderers to hide their ghastly crime, remain + sufficiently intact to bear frightful evidence against them. + + "On lifting the coffin-lid, a powerful and penetrating + odour, strongly resembling the smell of burnt beef, yet + heavier and fouler, filled the room and almost sickened the + spectators. But the sight of the black remains was far more + sickening. Laid upon the clean white lining of the coffin, + they rather resembled great shapeless lumps of half-burnt + bituminous coal than aught else at the first hurried glance; + and only a closer investigation could enable a + strong-stomached observer to detect their ghastly + character--masses of crumbling human bones, strung together + by half-burnt sinews, or glued one upon another by a hideous + adhesion of half-molten flesh, boiled brains and jellied + blood, mingled with coal. + + "The skull had burst like a shell in the fierce furnace + heat, and the whole upper portion seemed as though it had + been blown out by the steam from the boiling and bubbling + brains. Only the posterior portion of the occipital and + parietal bones, and the inferior and superior maxillary, and + some of the face bones remained,--the upper portion of the + skull bones being jagged, burnt brown in some spots, and in + others charred to black ashes. The brain had all boiled + away, save a small waste lump at the base of the skull about + the size of a lemon. It was crisped and still warm to the + touch. On pushing the finger through the crisp, the interior + felt about the consistency of banana fruit, and the yellow + fibre seemed to writhe like worms in the Coroner's hands. + The eyes were cooked to bubbled crisps in the blackened + sockets, and the bones of the nose were gone, leaving a + hideous hole. + + "So covered were the jaws and the lower facial bones with + coal, crusted blood and gummy flesh, that the Coroner at + first supposed that the lower maxillary had been burned + away. On tearing away the frightful skull-mask of mingled + flesh and coal and charred gristle, however, the grinning + teeth shone ghastly white, and the jaws were found intact. + They were set together so firmly that it was found + impossible to separate them, without reducing the whole mass + to ashes. So great had been the heat that the Coroner was + able to crumble one of the upper teeth in his fingers. + + "Besides the fragments of the skull, have been found six + ribs of the right side and four of the left; the middle + portion of the spinal-column; the liver, spleen, and + kidneys; the pelvic bones, the right and left humerus, the + femoral bone and the tibia and fibula of both legs. The body + had burnt open at the chest, and the heart and lungs had + been entirely consumed. The liver had been simply roasted + and the kidneys fairly fried. There is a horrible + probability that the wretched victim was forced into the + furnace alive, and suffered all the agonies of the bitterest + death man can die, while wedged in the flaming flue. The + teeth were so terribly clinched that more than one spectator + of the hideous skull declared that only the most frightful + agony could have set those jaws together. Perhaps, stunned + and disabled by the murderous blows of his assailants, the + unconscious body of the poor German was forced into the + furnace. Perhaps the thrusts of the assassin's pitchfork, + wedging him still further into the fiery hell, or perhaps + the first agony of burning when his bloody garments took + fire, revived him to meet the death of flames. Fancy the + shrieks for mercy, the mad expostulation, the frightful + fight for life, the superhuman struggle for existence--a + century of agony crowded into a moment--the shrieks growing + feebler--the desperate struggle dying into feeble writhings. + And through it all, the grim murderers, demoniacally + pitiless, devilishly desperate, gasping with their exertions + to destroy a poor human life, looking on in silent triumph, + peering into the furnace until the skull exploded, and the + steaming body burst, and the fiery flue hissed like a + hundred snakes! It may not be true--we hope for humanity's + sake it cannot be true; but the rightful secrets of that + fearful night are known only to the criminals and their God. + They may be brought to acknowledge much; but surely never so + much as we have dared to hint at." + +"When his city editor, in compliance with the urgency of a +steeple-climber, consented to send a reporter to take observations of +the city from the top of the cross surmounting the spire of St. Peter's +Cathedral in Cincinnati, Hearn was the man selected. In mentioning the +assignment to him, the city editor handed him a valuable field-glass, +with the suggestion that he might find it useful. On taking his +departure with the climbers, Hearn quietly handed back the glasses with +the remark in undertone, 'Perhaps I'd better not take these; something +might happen.' He made the trip to the top of the spire, though the men +found it necessary to haul him part of the way in mid-air and to bodily +place and hold him on top of the cross. And he produced an account of +that thrilling experience that went the round of the newspaper +world."[5] + + [5] Our wonder at the performance is heightened by the fact + that Hearn, of course, saw nothing of what he so vividly described. + +It is little wonder that his "Vocabulary of the Gruesome" became famous, +since I have learned from his friend and associate, the artist, Mr. +Farney, and also from others, certain facts which demonstrate that this +vocabulary was gathered not only or chiefly because of the exigencies of +his work as a reporter, or to express the revolting in thrilling words, +but because he had a spontaneous lickerishness for the things +themselves. He positively delighted in the gruesome. With his fingers he +dug into the scorched flesh and the exuding brains of the murdered man's +body when it was taken from the furnace, and in another murder case he +slid on the floor, as if on ice, in the congealed blood of the victim. +"He even drank blood at the abattoirs with the consumptives when that +craze had fallen upon the people of Cincinnati." There is more than an +excuse for mentioning these things; it is necessary to do so in order to +understand the origin and transformation of Hearn's chief endowment as a +writer. + +Even more convincing, perhaps, than these offensive gloatings as +regards his native love of the gruesome, is the unconscious testimony +given in the history of an illustrated paper established by Mr. Farney +and Mr. Hearn. Mr. Henderson has said of Hearn that "very rarely was he +known to throw a _soupçon_ of humour into his work." The newspaper +venture demonstrates that even when humour was planned Hearn had none to +give. + +Number One, Volume One, of _Ye Giglampz_ was issued in Cincinnati, Ohio, +on June 21, 1874, and describes itself on the title-page as, "A Weekly +Illustrated Journal, Devoted to Art, Literature and Satire." The size of +the pages was 14-1/2 × 10-3/4 inches. The subsequent issues were larger, +about 16 × 11-1/4 inches. There were eight pages in each number, the +first, third, fourth and eighth were illustrated by Mr. H. F. Farney; +the others were made up of reading matter. The heading of the editorial +page did not exactly repeat that of the title-page, but read as follows: + + "The Giglampz." + Published Daily, except Week-Days. + Terms, $2.50 per annum. + Address, "Giglampz Publishing Co." + 150 West Fourth St. + + + [Illustration: REDUCED FIRST PAGE OF THE FIRST ISSUE.] + + +With the issue of Number Seven (August 2, 1874) appeared a notice that +H. F. Farney and Company had purchased the _Giglampz_ from its former +proprietors, the new office being henceforth at the North-west corner of +Fourth and Race Streets. Number Eight was the last furnished +subscribers. Probably the only existing set of this periodical is that +kindly lent to me by Mr. Farney at the request of Mr. Alexander Hill of +The Robert Clarke Company, Cincinnati. Among the many significant things +suggested in looking over the pages, is the fact that this bound file +was Hearn's personal copy, his name being written on the cover-leaf by +himself--"L. Hearn, 1877"--and just below, this: "Reminiscences of An +Editorship under Difficulties." + +It is noteworthy that nowhere is it publicly announced that Hearn was +the editor, although the fact was probably an open secret in Cincinnati +at the time. The truth of the foregoing inscription in his handwriting +is confirmed by the acknowledgment of his authorship of most of the +articles, contributed as well as editorial, conveyed by his customary +signature, penciled at the end or beginning of each paragraph or column +which he had written. The very title of the paper itself was a witness +in the same way, and shows that at that time, although Hearn kept his +name concealed, he was not, as later, sensitive concerning his ocular +defect.[6] It is plain that the word _Giglampz_ refers to the large and +conspicuous spectacles or eye-glasses which at that time (not later) +were worn habitually by Hearn. The proof of this comes out in the +illustration occupying the full first page of the initial number, and +entitled: + + "A Prospect of Herr Kladderadatsch, + Introducynge + Mr. Giglampz tu ye Publycke." + + [6] In the first number is an editorial paragraph, written by + Hearn, reading as follows:--"The public has indulged in + speculation and no little levity, in regard to our name. In + this as in the future conduct of this extraordinary sheet, + we seek only to please ourselves. Whether the Publishing + Company will declare 'Irish Dividends' in six months, or + not, does not concern us. We (the editorial corps) being on + a salary, look on public favour with serene indifference. + The name pleases us. We look upon it in the light of a + conundrum, calculated to induce reflection in simple minds. + We hope some one may solve it, as we have incontinently + given it up." + +The scene is that of the stage of a theatre, and Kladderadatsch proudly +presents Mr. Giglampz to the wildly applauding audience. The head of the +obsequious Mr. Giglampz is very large compared with his body, but most +conspicuous is the enormous _pince-nez_ astride a nose of fitting +proportions. Mr. Farney was even permitted to give a mere hint of the +editor's facial expression. + +A curious and suggestive, even a pathetic, light is thrown upon Hearn's +character by the fact that this personal file of his journal with his +own inscriptions, signatures, etc., was found in a second-hand +book-store by Mr. Farney after Hearn left Cincinnati. + +Although it is as much too long for our quoting as it was for +introducing the journalistic venture, I cannot help reproducing Hearn's +first editorial, the "Salutatory, By a Celebrated French Author, a +Friend of Giglampz": + + It was a dark and fearsome night in the month of June, + 1874; and the pavements of Fourth Street were abandoned to + solitude. + + The lamps, dripping huge water-drops fire-tinged from their + lurid glare, seemed monstrous yellow goblin-eyes, weeping + phosphorescent tears. + + It was raining, and the funereal sky flamed with lightning. + It was such a rain as in the primeval world created verdant + seas of slimy mud, subsequently condensed into that + fossiliferous strata where to-day spectacled geologists find + imbedded the awful remains of the titanic _iguanodon_, the + _plesiosaurus_, and the _icthyosaurus_. + + We sat motionlessly meditative in the shadows of a Gothic + doorway of medieval pattern, and ruefully observed the + movements of a giant rat, slaking his thirst at a + water-spout. Suddenly we were aware of a pressure--a gentle + pressure on our shoulder. + + A hurried glance convinced us that the pressure was + occasioned by the presence of a hand. + + It was a long, bony, ancient hand, dried and withered to the + consistency of India-rubber. It might have been compared to + the hand of a mummy embalmed in the reign of Rameses III, + but we felt a living warmth in its pressure, penetrating our + summer linen. + + The Oriental wizards occasionally need the assistance of a + magic candle, in their groping amid ancient tombs--a candle + which burns with a fuming stench so foul, that hungry ghouls + flee dismayedly away. This candle is made of green fat--the + fat of men long dead. For such a candle it is of course + necessary to have a candlestick. To procure this candlestick + it is necessary to cut off the right hand of a murderous + criminal executed by impalement, and having carefully dried + it, to insert the candle in its ghastly grasp. Now the hand + laid on our shoulder strongly resembled such a hand. + + The living warmth of its pressure alone restrained us from + uttering a shriek of hideous fear. A cold sweat ravaged the + starched bosom of our under-garment. + + Suddenly a face peered out from the shadow, and the sickly + glare of the flickering gas-lamp fell full upon it. + + The aspect of that face immediately reassured us. + + It was long to grotesqueness and meagre even to weirdness. + It would have been strongly Mephistophelic but for an air of + joviality that was not wholly saturnine. The eyes were deep, + piercing, but "laughter-stirred," as those of Haroun + Alraschid. The nose was almost satanically aquiline, but its + harsh outline was more than relieved by the long smiling + mouth, and the countless wrinkles of merriment that + intersected one another in crow's-feet all over the ancient + face. The stranger's complexion was that of caout-chouc; and + his long lank locks were blacker than the plumage of those + yellow-footed birds that prey upon the dead. His whole + aspect was that of one who, by some eerie, occult art of + self-preservation, had been enabled to live through the + centuries. + + "Am I not addressing the celebrated author----?" said the + voice of the uncouthly-featured. + + It was a half-merry, half-mocking voice--a deep voice that + sounded as though conveyed from a vast distance through the + medium of a pneumatic tube. + + It therefore resembled in its tone the dreamily-distant + voices never-slumbering Fancy hears in the hours devoted to + darkness and slumber by moral people. + + An enormous drop of soot-tinged water fell upon our nose, + incontestably proving that we were awake; and we murmured + monosyllabic assent to the stranger's query. + + "It is well," replied the Unknown, with a latitudinarian + smile of joy. "I have been seeking you. I need your + assistance, your talent, your mental vigour so enormously + manifested in your cyclopean[7] phrenological development." + + [7] The contrast of this allusion to his large + single eye with his morbid shyness about it of + late years is noteworthy. + + "_Sapristi_, monsieur!--permit me to inquire the nature + of----" + + "Attend a little, friend, and your curiosity shall be sated + with ample satisfaction. I have existed as you see through + all ages. I have lived under a thousand alias names, under + the various régimes of a thousand civilizations, which + flourished on ancient soil now covered by the mile-deep + waters of foaming oceans. I have made my dwelling-place in + the mighty palace-halls of Egyptian kings, in the giant + cities of dead Assyria, in the residences of Aztec monarchs + and Peruvian Incas, in the snow-columned temples of the + Greek, and the lordly homes of the luxurious Roman. In fact, + I am rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun; and have been + worshipped as a genius in far-sparkling planets ere this + mundane sphere was first evolved from that flaming orb. In + all time when individualized intelligent thought existed, I + have inculcated in living beings the truth of that sublime + and eternal maxim--Laugh and grow fat. To-day men must be + taught this glorious truth by the Bullock Press rather than + the Tongue. I want your pen, not your tongue. Write me a + salutatory for my new illustrated weekly--only five cents a + copy." + + With these words he pressed a glazed Bristol-board card into + our trembling hand, and disappeared. + + By the light of the weeping street-lamps we read thereon + this weird legend: + + GIGLAMPZ + +The title itself, the Introduction by "Kladderadatsch," and the +character of the contributions and cuts make it plain that the third +object of the publication, called "Satire," was designed to be much more +prominent than "Art" or "Literature." Unquestionably an American +_Kladderadatsch_ was planned, and by Hearn and his friends it was +supposed that the editor had a sense of humour sufficient to carry on +the undertaking. I have quoted the Salutatory to show that with the +favouring of youth, ambition, opportunity and the best encouragement, +Hearn's mind from the first line drifted inevitably to the fearsome, the +weird, the unearthly and far-away. By no power or necessity could his +imagination be forced or bound to the task of producing things comic or +even satiric, especially such humour and jokes as the Cincinnati +newspaper reader wanted in 1874. Of the twelve columns of reading in the +first number of _Giglampz_, Hearn contributed about eight, made up of +fifteen or twenty distinct paragraphs. In the second number his +contributions number seven; in the third, six; in the fourth, three; in +the fifth, four; in the sixth, two; in the seventh, one; in the eighth, +one. In about a dozen of the first number, he somewhat unsuccessfully +tried to be humorous or satiric, while six were frankly tragical, +critical, bitter, etc. In the succeeding numbers Hearn made little +effort to be humorous; in the fifth number he describes with startling +power a picture of "a hideous scene in the interior of a seraglio;" in +number six he returns to the Orient and in "The Fantasy of a Fan" mixes +poetry, prose and fancy with a hinting of the subtle soft witchery of +the Hearn of twenty-five years later.[8] In the second number is a +full-page cut, in which Beecher is depicted as standing before a crowd +of jeerers prior to being placed in the stocks, with the scarlet letter +"A" upon his breast. Hearn especially requested Mr. Farney to make him +one of the conspicuous spectators. The bespectacled face is easily +recognizable in the copy given me by the artist. In the seventh number +Hearn describes in two columns the story he supposes behind the pictured +Gabriel Max, called "The Last Farewell" (now in the Metropolitan Museum, +New York). It shows so early suggestions of the manhood strength of the +wordmaster that I copy it: + + [8] Mr. Farney tells me that he had to compel Hearn, even then, + to moderate the boldness of sentences which would by their + sensualism and licence shock their Cincinnati readers. + + THE TALE A PICTURE TELLS + + "_Butchered to make a Roman Holiday_" + + The remarkably fine engraving from Gabriel Max's picture, + "The Last Farewell," in a late issue of the Berlin + _Illustrirte Zeitung_ (and which the New York _Graphic_ a + few days since stole to spoil in the stealing), is worthy of + the celebrated original at Munich--a painting which will + never be forgotten by those who have once beheld it. Among + modern painters, probably Max has no superior in the art of + harmoniously blending the horrible with the pathetic; and in + none of his works is this peculiar power exhibited to better + advantage than in "The Last Farewell:" a marvel of colour + and composition, one of those rare pictures which seem to + reflect the living shadows of a dead age with the weird + truthfulness of a wizard's mirror. + + A beautiful Roman girl is exposed in the Flavian + amphitheatre, to be devoured by wild beasts. She can + scarcely be eighteen years old, judging from the slender + delicacy of her limbs and the childish sweetness of the + pretty little brown face which she has vainly been striving + to screen from the rude gaze of the shameless populace with + the remnants of a rich black veil--probably torn by the + rough hands of some brutal lanista. She leans with her back + to the great wall of stone, calmly awaiting her fate without + any signs of fear, although the hot, foul breath of a + panther is already warm upon her naked feet. To her right, + but a few feet away, a leopard and a huge bear are tearing + each other to pieces; on her left, another den has just been + thrown open, and at its entrance appears the hideous head of + an immense tiger, with eyes that flame like emeralds. + + You can almost feel the warmth of the fierce summer sun + shining on that scene of blood and crime, falling on the + yellow sands of the arena, drying the dark pools of human + blood the wild beasts have left unlapped. You can almost + hear the deep hum of a hundred thousand voices above, and + the hideous growlings of the contending brutes below. You + wonder whether there is one heart in all that vast crowd of + cruel spectators wherein some faint impulse of humanity + still lingers, one tongue charitable enough to exclaim: + + "Poor little thing!" + + No: only wicked whispers followed by coarse laughter; + monstrous indifference in the lower tiers, brutal yells of + bloodthirsty impatience from the upper seats. + + Two Roman knights relieve the monotony of the scene by + strange speculation. + + "One hundred sesterces that the tiger gets her first!" + + "Two hundred on the panther!" + + "Done, by the gods! Where are the lions?" + + "Why, that cursed barbarian killed the last three this + morning, one after another. The finest lions of the lot, + too." + + "Who are you talking about?--that tall, dark Thracian?" + + "No: he was killed the day before by the same gladiator that + killed the lions. I mean that golden-haired giant--that + Goth. Says he was chief in his own country, or something. + He's killed everybody and everything pitted against him so + far. And this morning they put him naked in the arena, with + nothing but a mirmillo's shield, and a sword; and let the + lions loose on him one after another. I bet a thousand + sesterces on that little Numidian lion; but the rascal + killed him as he sprang, with one sword-thrust, and I lost + my thousand sesterces. By Hercules, that Goth is a match for + a dozen lions!" + + "Brave fellow, by all the gods! Did they give him the wooden + sword?" + + "Julius Cortonus says they did. I didn't stay to see the + rest of the games, for I was too angry about my thousand + sesterces." + + "Furies take that tiger!--I believe the brute's afraid of + the girl!" + + * * * * * + + "Why, it is madness to throw such a fine-limbed girl as that + to the lions!" cries a Greek merchant, lately arrived in + Rome. "Eyes and hair, by Zeus, like Venus Anadyomene. I + could sell her for a fortune in a slave-market." + + "Aedepol! not in a Roman slave-market, you fool. Why, I've + known Lucullus to throw better-looking girls than that into + his fishpond, to fatten his lampreys with. May Cerberus + swallow that cursed tiger!" + + * * * * * + + The tiger has not yet moved; his vast head and flaming green + eyes are just visible at the door of the den. The leopard + and the bear are still tearing one another. The panther is + gradually, stealthily, noiselessly approaching the poor, + helpless girl. + + Suddenly a fresh, bright-red rose is thrown from the seats + above: it is the last earthly greeting, the last farewell + token of some old friend--perhaps a brother, perhaps (O + God!) a lover! It falls on the blood-stained sand, + shattering itself in perfumed ruin at the maiden's feet. + + She starts as the red leaves scatter before her. She + advances from the wall, and boldly withdrawing the fragments + of her poor, torn veil, looks up into the mighty sea of + pitiless visages--looks up with her sweet, childish, + cherry-lipped face, and those great, dark, softly sad Roman + eyes--to thank him by a last look of love. "Who can it be?" + + No one the maiden knows. She only sees a seemingly endless + row of cruel and sensual faces, the faces of the wild beast + populace of Rome,--the faces which smile at the sight of a + living human body, torn limb from limb by lions, and + scattered over the sands in crimson shreds of flesh.... + + Suddenly a terrible yet friendly eye meets and rivets the + gaze of her own--an eye keen and coldly-blue as a blade of + steel. A sternly handsome Northern face it is, with flowing + yellow hair. For an instant the iron lips seem to soften in + a smile of pity, and the keen blue eyes become brighter. So + do the soft dark ones they meet in that piteous farewell. + + She has found her unknown friend. + + ... A crash--a fierce growl--a faint, helpless cry--a spray + of warm, bright blood. + + * * * * * + + "Ah, Caius! you've lost your hundred sesterces. The Fates + are against you to-day!" + + "Curse the Fates! Did you see the fool who threw her the + rose?" + + "That great tall Titan of a fellow, with the yellow hair?" + + "Yes. That's the Goth." + + "What! the gladiator who killed the lions?" + + "The same who won his freedom this morning. See! the fool's + wiping his eyes now. These Goths can fight like Hercules, + but they whine like sick women when a girl is hurt. They + think up in the North that women are to be worshipped like + the immortal gods. I wish they'd make the great red-headed + brute go down and kill that cursed tiger!" + +Hearn's single contribution to the last number of the fated _Giglampz_ +was a four-column retelling of "the weird story of Loki's evil children +from the strange folk-lore of Ancient Scandinavia." + +It was thus blood, sensualism and fiendishness that still aroused +Hearn's interest when not only not compelled to the choice, but when +they were contraindicated and wholly illogical. But it was all a little +less revolting, less real, more artistic, than the tan-yard reporting, +and it was drawn from more remote sources. Mr. Henderson suggests the +same when he writes: + +"But it was not in this slavery for a living even to crush out of him +the determination to advance and excel. In the small hours of morning, +into broad daylight, after the rough work of the police rounds and the +writing of perhaps columns, in his inimitable style, he could be seen, +under merely a poor jet of gas, with his one useful eye close to book +and manuscript, translating 'One of Cleopatra's Nights.' ... + +"An Oriental warmth and glow pervaded him. While his lines were hard +ones in the grime and soot and trying weather of Cincinnati, from which +his frail body shrank continually, his trend of thought was largely +tropical. Perhaps he saw beyond the dusky faces, rolling eyes and broad +noses of the people of the Cincinnati levee, the mixed people of the +West Indies and the beautiful little ones of Japan, with whom he was +destined to live before long. However that may be, his greatest +pleasure, after a translation from Gautier or an original tragedy where +he could in his masterful way use his vocabulary of the gruesome, was to +study and absorb the indolent, sensuous life of the negro race, as he +found it in Cincinnati and New Orleans, and to steep them in a sense of +romance that he alone could extract from the study. Things that were +common to these people in their everyday life, his vivid imagination +transformed into a subtle melody of romance. The distant booming upon +the midnight air of a river steamer's whistle was for him the +roustabout's call to his waiting mistress at the landing, and his +fruitful pen drew the picture of their watching and coming and meeting." + +The words _indolent and sensuous life_ are also significant. The +tropics, their fatalism and the kind of life there lived were drawing +him with secret but irresistible force. Now begins to mix with and +mollify the gruesome a softer element, also Oriental, or what is much +the same thing, tropical--sympathy with and study of the simple and +unlettered, those who are the improvident slaves of fate, thoughtless +impulse or heedless desire. To them, as we shall see, Hearn's mind +turned more and more. His was essentially an Oriental mind and heart, an +exotic weed (and weeds may become the loveliest of flowers) dropped by +some migrating bird upon the strange crabbed soil of the crudest of +Occidentalism. Never did Hearn stop yearning for the warmth, the +fatalism and the laziness of tropic semi-barbarism. The gruesome was not +being killed, but was being modified and tamed by civilization. + +Hearn had been discharged from the _Commercial_, where his salary was +$25 a week, "on an ethical point of policy which need not be discussed +here. The _Commercial_ took him on at $22." Judge M. F. Wilson, of +Cincinnati, tells me that his discharge was caused by his seeking a +licence for and an open marriage with a coloured woman. The licence was +refused, because illegal at that time. The law was repealed a little +later. The marriage did not take place.[9] + + [9] Mr. George Mortimer Roe, at that time a friend of Hearn, now + living at Long Beach, California, writes me: "Hearn was + quite persistent in his efforts to persuade me to assist him + in getting the licence, but I told him I could not aid him + in his ambition to be guilty of miscegenation. For many + years we had been the best of friends, but from that time on + he always avoided me, scarcely speaking to me if by accident + we did meet." + +Mr. Henderson continues thus: + +"As Hearn advanced in his power to write, the sense of the discomforts +of his situation in Cincinnati grew upon him. His body and mind longed +for the congeniality of southern air and scenes. One morning, after the +usual hard work of an unusually nasty winter night in Cincinnati, in a +leisure hour of conversation, he heard an associate on the paper +describe a scene in a Gulf State. It was something about a grand old +mansion of an antebellum cotton prince, with its great white columns, +its beautiful private drive down to the public road, whitewashed +negro-quarters stretching away in the background, in the distance some +cypress and live-oaks and Spanish moss, and close by a grove of +magnolias with their delightful odours and the melody of mocking-birds +in the early sunlight. Hearn took in every word of this, though he had +little to say at the time, with great keenness of interest, as shown by +the dilation of his nostrils. It was as though he could see and hear and +smell the delights of the scene. Not long after this, on leaving +Cincinnati for New Orleans, he remarked: 'I have lost my loyalty to this +paper, and change was inevitable. Perhaps it isn't so much the lack of +opportunity here or a lack of appreciation of associations as this +beastly climate. I seem to shrivel up in this alternation of dampness, +heat and cold. I had to go sooner or later, but it was your description +of the sunlight and melodies and fragrance and all the delights with +which the South appeals to the senses that determined me. I shall feel +better in the South and I believe I shall do better.'" + +Some of his Cincinnati acquaintances speak of his obsequious, even +fawning, manner ("timid and feline of approach," says Henderson), of his +"washing his hands with invisible water"--characteristics not dictated +by the parentage ascribed to him, not consonant with his photographs, +and not wholly with his gruesome traits. He wore heavy myopic spectacles +at this time, not to see (because they were wholly discarded later), but +probably in order not to be seen--_i.e._ to hide the double deformity of +his eyes. One must remember that with or without spectacles the world a +foot or two away was much of a mystery to Hearn, and that one fears a +surely existent and near-by mystery. One approaches it or comes within +its power with doubt, dislike and caution. The play of facial expression +was not to be seen by Hearn. All Uriah Heeps may not be myopic, but all +highly myopic persons will have slow, stealthy, careful, even catlike +attitudes and manners; every step they take must be done with +hesitation, bowed head and great care, in order not to fall or stumble +against something. The wholly blind walk with more decision and +quickness. Of course this slow, soft carefulness of manner, "the velvet +feline step," was Hearn's all his life. It followed inexorably that, +though possessed of a healthy and athletic body, there was possible for +him no athletics which required accuracy of sight or sequent precision +and celerity of movement. That with good eyes he would have been an +utterly different man in character and in literature, is as certain as +that he would have had a very different manner, movement and style of +physical existence. With good eyes he would have been strong, athletic, +bold, as is admirably illustrated by the fact that in the single sport +in which little vision was required--swimming--he was most expert, and +that he enjoyed this exercise to the fullest degree. + +To scale a steeple in order to describe the city from that unusual point +of view was a task worthy of yellow journalism which cared little for +accuracy but much for "scare" headlines. Hearn saw little or nothing of +the city, of course. + +The only letters written during the Cincinnati period, known to exist, +are those of 1876, called, "Letters to a Lady," published in the volume, +_Letters from the Raven_, Milton Bronner, editor.[10] One other work, +the origins of which date from this period, is "One of Cleopatra's +Nights," and with this is demonstrated the beginning of the influence of +the modern French school of story-writers. Hearn was tiring of the worst +brutality and coarseness of Occidentalism, and seeking a way to the true +home of his mind. The ghastly must become the ghostly. The Frenchman's +art was to become his half-way house. + + [10] Brentano's, 1907. + + + + +CHAPTER IV.--THE NEW ORLEANS TIME + + +I HAVE somewhere read of a nomad child of the desert, born and rocked +upon a camel, who was ever thereafter incapable of resting more than a +day in one place. Whether or not the wandering father gave the homeless +son his illogical spirit of unrest, matters less than that Hearn had it +to a morbid degree. Any place rather than Cincinnati would have been +better for the happiness and success of the emigrating boy, but his +relatives had ridded themselves of the burden by assenting to his wish. +Excepting that to Japan, the only sensible move he made was from +Cincinnati toward the tropics, to the half-way house thither--New +Orleans. The desire to seek the _au delà_ was present, his friends tell +me, throughout the stay in Cincinnati. Perhaps the single city in the +world which would satisfy his dream more nearly than could any other, +was New Orleans. Being psychologically for the most part of degenerate +Latin stock, and especially of the French variety, with the requisite +admixture of exotic and tropical barbarism; bathed, but not cooked, in +the hot and brilliant sunshine he loved and hated; touched and energized +by too little Teutonic blood and influence, New Orleans offered to the +unhappy man the best possible surroundings for the growth of his +talents. Adding to this fortunate concensus of circumstance and partly a +corollary of it was the most fortunate of all accidents that could have +occurred to him--that is, the existence of a daily newspaper such as the +_Times-Democrat_; of a paying mass of subscribers relishing Hearn's +translations from the most artistic French writers of the short-story; +and, most important of all, the presence on the bridge of the noble +Captain of the Newspaper enterprise, the veteran editor, Mr. Page M. +Baker. One shudders to think what would have been Hearn's later career +had it not been for the guidance and help of this wise, sympathetic and +magnanimous friend. For the one thing needed by Hearn in those who would +be his friends rather than their own was magnanimity. It was his +frequent misfortune in life to come under the influence of those as +incapable of true unselfishness and real kindness as it was natural for +them to be cunning and to use an assumed friendship for hidden +flatteries and purposes of their own. Most of these would not have +dreamed of associating with the man for any reason other than to stand +in the reflected light of his literary fame. Most of them had as little +care for his poetic prose, and as little appreciation or knowledge of +good literature as they had of "the enclitic _de_." They had no +magnanimity, only wile instead of it. As Hearn was also deprived of +large-mindedness in all affairs of the world, he was unhappily prone to +accept the offered bribe. He wanted above all things to be flattered and +to do as his imperious impulses and weak will suggested. Any one who +recognized these things in him and seconded the follies, remained his +permitted "friend," but those who withstood them in the least and ran +counter to his morbid trends and resolves--these were speedily +"dropped," and insulted or grieved to silence. If they had magnanimity, +they bore with the man in pity and answered his insults with kind words +and kinder deeds. They recognized that they were responsible not to the +man but to the carrier of a great talent, and although they might not +forget, they gladly forgave, if possibly they might speed him on his +predestined way. + +Of this number was Baker. Directly or indirectly through him, came a +long and happy period of life; came the congenial, educating work, +without slavery, of the translations and other easy reportorial +services. Of equal importance were the financial rewards. Before and +after the New Orleans time not the least of Hearn's misfortunes was his +intolerable and brutalizing improvidence and impecuniousness. Under +Baker's friendship he came to what for such a person was affluence and +independence. He found leisure to read and study and think outside of +the journalistic pale, and better still, perhaps,--better to his +thinking, at least--he secured the means to indulge his life-long desire +for curious and out-of-the-way books. During this time it grew to +consciousness with him that in everything, except as regards his beloved +Art, he had a little learned to recognize the worth of money. + +But within him grew ever stronger the plague of the unsatisfied, the +sting of unrest, and he was compelled to obey. In a letter to me from +Martinique, after he had recognized his mistake, he admits and explains +as follows: + + I seldom have a chance now to read or speak English; and + English phrases that used to seem absolutely natural + already begin to look somewhat odd to me. Were I to + continue to live here for some years more, I am almost sure + that I should find it difficult to write English. The + resources of the intellectual life are all lacking + here,--no libraries, no books in any language;--a mind + accustomed to discipline becomes like a garden long + uncultivated, in which the rare flowers return to their + primitive savage forms, or are smothered by rank, tough + growths which ought to be pulled up and thrown away. Nature + does not allow you to think here, or to study seriously, or + to work earnestly: revolt against her, and with one subtle + touch of fever she leaves you helpless and thoughtless for + months. + + But she is so beautiful, nevertheless, that you love her + more and more daily,--that you gradually cease to wish to do + aught contrary to her local laws and customs. Slowly, you + begin to lose all affection for the great Northern nurse + that taught you to think, to work, to aspire. Then, after a + while, this nude, warm, savage, amorous Southern Nature + succeeds in persuading you that labour and effort and + purpose are foolish things,--that life is very sweet without + them;--and you actually find yourself ready to confess that + the aspirations and inspirations born of the struggle for + life in the North are all madness,--that they wasted years + which might have been delightfully dozed away in a land + where the air is always warm, the sea always the colour of + sapphire, the woods perpetually green as the plumage of a + green parrot. + + I must confess I have had some such experiences. It appears + to me impossible to resign myself to living again in a great + city and in a cold climate. Of course I shall have to return + to the States for a while,--a short while, probably;--but I + do not think I will ever settle there. I am apt to become + tired of places,--or at least of the disagreeable facts + attaching more or less to all places and becoming more and + more marked and unendurable the longer one stays. So that + ultimately I am sure to wander off somewhere else. You can + comprehend how one becomes tired of the very stones of a + place,--the odours, the colours, the shapes of Shadows, and + the tint of its sky;--and how small irritations become + colossal and crushing by years of repetition;--yet perhaps + you will not comprehend that one can become weary of a whole + system of life, of civilization, even with very limited + experience. Such is exactly my present feeling,--an + unutterable weariness of the aggressive characteristics of + existence in a highly organized society. The higher the + social development, the sharper the struggle. One feels this + especially in America,--in the nervous centres of the + world's activity. One feels it least, I imagine, in the + tropics, where it is such an effort just to live, that one + has no force left for the effort to expand one's own + individuality at the cost of another's. I clearly perceive + that a man enamoured of the tropics has but two things to + do:--To abandon intellectual work, or to conquer the + fascination of Nature. Which I will do will depend upon + necessity. I would remain in this zone if I could maintain a + certain position here;--to keep it requires means. I can + earn only by writing, and yet if I remain a few years more, + I will have become (perhaps?) unable to write. So if I am to + live in the tropics, as I would like to do, I must earn the + means for it in very short order. + + I gave up journalism altogether after leaving N. O. I went + to Demerara and visited the lesser West Indies in July and + August of last year,--returned to New York after three + months with some MS.,--sold it,--felt very unhappy at the + idea of staying in New York, where I had good + offers,--suddenly made up my mind to go back to the tropics + by the same steamer that had brought me. I had no + commission, resolved to trust to magazine-work. So far I + have just been able to scrape along;--the climate numbs + mental life, and the inspirations I hoped for won't come. + The real--surpassing imagination--whelms the ideal out of + sight and hearing. The world is young here,--not old and + wise and grey as in the North; and one must not seek the + Holy Ghost in it. I suspect that the material furnished by + the tropics can only be utilized in a Northern atmosphere. + We will talk about it together. + +That he never thought to return to New Orleans is demonstrated by the +fact that when he left, he shipped his books to another good friend and +great editor, Mr. Alden, to keep for him. When he came to the United +States in 1889, he fully intended returning to some tropical land. But +it was otherwise ordered, and most fortunately, for a year or two more +of life under such conditions would have killed both mind and body. + +Upon Hearn's arrival in New Orleans, he began sending a series of +charming letters to the Cincinnati _Commercial_, signed "Ozias +Midwinter."[11] They are, indeed, exquisite, and as certainly of a +delicacy and beauty which must have made the reader of that time and +newspaper wonder what strange sort of a correspondent the editor had +secured. The first letter was about Memphis, passed on his way South. I +cite some parts to show how the gruesome was merging into or being +supplanted by something larger and better, and also to illustrate +Hearn's growing interest in colours. + + [11] Kindly secured by Mr. Alexander Hill, of Cincinnati, Ohio, + from a friend and lent to me. + + The stranger, however, is apt to leave Memphis with one + charming recollection of the place--the remembrance of the + sunset scene from the bluffs across the river over + Arkansas. I do not think that any part of the world can + offer a more unspeakably beautiful spectacle to the + traveller than what he may witness any fair evening from + those rugged old bluffs at Memphis. The first time I saw it + the day had been perfectly bright and clear,--the blue of + the sky was unclouded by the least fleecy stain of white + cloud; and the sun descended in the west,--not in a yellow + haze, or a crimson fog, but with the splendour of his fiery + glory almost undimmed. He seemed to leave no trace of his + bright fires behind him; and the sky-blue began to darken + into night-purple from the east almost immediately. I + thought at first it was one of the least romantic sunsets I + had ever seen. It was not until the stars were out, and the + night had actually fallen, that I beheld the imperial + magnificence of that sunset. + + * * * * * + + I once thought, when sailing up the Ohio one bright Northern + summer, that the world held nothing more beautiful than the + scenery of the Beautiful River--those voluptuous hills with + their sweet feminine curves, the elfin gold of that summer + haze, and the pale emerald of the river's verdure-reflecting + breast. But even the loveliness of the Ohio seemed faded, + and the Northern sky-blue palely cold, like the tint of + iceberg pinnacles, when I beheld for the first time the + splendour of the Mississippi. + + "You must come on deck early to-morrow," said the kind + Captain of the _Thompson Dean_; "we are entering the Sugar + Country." + + So I saw the sun rise over the cane-fields of Louisiana. + + It rose with a splendour that recalled the manner of its + setting at Memphis, but of another colour;--an auroral flush + of pale gold and pale green bloomed over the long fringe of + cottonwood and cypress trees, and broadened and lengthened + half-way round the brightening world. The glow seemed + tropical, with the deep green of the trees sharply cutting + against it; and one naturally looked for the feathery crests + of cocoanut palms. Then the day broke gently and slowly--a + day too vast for a rapid dawn--a day that seemed deep as + Space. I thought our Northern sky narrow and cramped as a + vaulted church-roof beside that sky--a sky so softly + beautiful, so purely clear in its immensity, that it made + one dream of the tenderness of a woman's eyes made infinite. + + And the giant river broadened to a mile--smooth as a mirror, + still and profound as a mountain lake. Between the vastness + of the sky and the vastness of the stream, we seemed moving + suspended in the midst of day, with only a long, narrow + tongue of land on either side breaking the brightness. Yet + the horizon never became wholly blue. The green-golden glow + lived there all through the day; it was brightest in the + south. It was so tropical, that glow;--it seemed of the + Pacific, a glow that forms a background to the sight of + lagoons and coral reefs and "lands where it is always + afternoon." + + Below this glow gleamed another golden green, the glory of + the waving cane-fields beyond the trees. Huge sugar-mills + were breathing white and black clouds into the sky, as they + masticated their mighty meal; and the smell of saccharine + sweetness floated to us from either shore. Then we glided by + miles of cotton-fields with their fluttering white bolls; + and by the mouths of broad bayous;--past swamps dark with + cypress gloom, where the grey alligator dwells, and the grey + Spanish moss hangs in elfish festoons from ancient + trees;--past orange-trees and live-oaks, pecans and + cottonwoods and broad-leaved bananas; while the green of the + landscape ever varied, from a green so dark that it seemed + tinged with blue to an emerald so bright that it seemed shot + through with gold. The magnificent old mansions of the + Southern planters, built after a generous fashion unknown in + the North, with broad verandas and deliciously cool porches, + and all painted white or perhaps a pale yellow, looked out + grandly across the water from the hearts of shadowy groves; + and, like villages of a hundred cottages, the negro quarters + dotted the verdant face of the plantation with far-gleaming + points of snowy whiteness. + + And still that wondrous glow brightened in the south, like a + far-off reflection of sunlight on the Spanish Main. + + "But it does not look now as it used to in the old slave + days," said the pilot, as he turned the great wheel. "The + swamps were drained, and the plantations were not overgrown + with cottonwood; and somehow or other the banks usen't to + cave in then as they do now." + + I saw indeed signs of sad ruin on the face of the great + plantations; there were splendid houses crumbling to decay, + and whole towns of tenantless cabins; estates of immense + extent were lying almost unfilled, or with only a few acres + under cultivation; and the vigorous cottonwood trees had + shot up in whole forests over fields once made fertile by + the labour of ten thousand slaves. The scene was not without + its melancholy; it seemed tinged by the reflection of a + glory passed away--the glory of wealth, and the magnificence + of wealth; of riches and the luxury of riches. + + O fair paradise of the South, if still so lovely in thy + ruin, what must thou have been in the great day of thy + greatest glory! + + White steamboats, heavily panting under their loads of + cotton, came toiling by, and called out to us wild greeting + long and shrill, until the pilot opened the lips of our + giant boat, and her mighty challenge awoke a thousand + phantom voices along the winding shore. Red sank the sun in + a sea of fire, and bronze-hued clouds piled up against the + light, like fairy islands in a sea of glory, such as were + seen, perhaps, by the Adelantado of the Seven Cities. + + "Those are not real clouds," said the pilot, turning to the + west, his face aglow with the yellow light. "Those are only + smoke clouds rising from the sugar mills of Louisiana, and + drifting with the evening wind." + + The daylight died away and the stars came out, but that warm + glow in the southern horizon only paled, so that it seemed a + little further off. The river broadened till it looked with + the tropical verdure of its banks like the Ganges, until at + last there loomed up a vast line of shadows, dotted with + points of light, and through a forest of masts and a host of + phantom-white river boats and a wilderness of chimneys the + _Thompson Dean_, singing her cheery challenge, steamed up to + the mighty levee of New Orleans. + +The letters descriptive of New Orleans scenes and life deserve +republishing had I space for them here. In a brief paragraph, a +sentence perhaps, almost in a word, is given the photograph, chromatic +and vitalized in Hearn's unrivalled picturesque style, of the levees, +the shipping, the sugar-landing, the cotton-shipping, the ocean +steamers, the strange mixture of peoples from all countries and climes; +the architecture, streets, markets, etc. The Vendetta of the Sicilian +immigrants is described with a strength and vividness which bear +eloquent witness to Hearn's innate pleasure in such themes. There is +also shown his beginning the study of Creole character, grammar, and +language. A peculiarly striking picture is painted of the new huge +cotton-press, as a monster whose jaws open with a low roar to devour the +immense bale of cotton and to crush it to a few inches of thickness. I +cannot exclude this excerpt: + + Do you remember that charming little story, "Père Antoine's + Date-Palm," written by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, and published + in the same volume with "Marjorie Daw" and other tales? + + Père Antoine was a good old French priest, who lived and + died in New Orleans. As a boy, he conceived a strong + friendship for a fellow student of about his own age, who, + in after years, sailed to some tropical island in the + Southern Seas, and wedded some darkly beautiful woman, + graceful and shapely and tall as a feathery palm. Père + Antoine wrote often to his friend, and their friendship + strengthened with the years, until death dissolved it. The + young colonist died, and his beautiful wife also passed from + the world; but they left a little daughter for some one to + take care of. + + The good priest, of course, took care of her, and brought + her up at New Orleans. And she grew up graceful and comely + as her mother, with all the wild beauty of the South. But + the child could not forget the glory of the tropics, the + bright lagoon, the white-crested sea roaring over the coral + reef, the royal green of the waving palms, and the beauty of + the golden-feathered birds that chattered among them. + + So she pined for the tall palms and the bright sea and the + wild reef, until there came upon her that strange + homesickness which is death; and still dreaming of the + beautiful palms, she gradually passed into that great sleep + which is dreamless. And she was buried by Père Antoine near + his own home. + + By and by, above the little mound there suddenly came a + gleam of green; and mysteriously, slowly, beautifully, + there grew up towering in tropical grace above the grave, a + princely palm. And the old priest knew that it had grown + from the heart of the dead child. + + So the years passed by, and the roaring city grew up about + the priest's home and the palm-tree, trying to push Père + Antoine off his land. But he would not be moved. They piled + up gold upon his doorsteps and he laughed at them; they went + to law with him and he beat them all; and, at last, dying, + he passed away true to his trust; for the man who cuts down + that palm-tree loses the land that it grows upon. + + "And there it stands," says the Poet, "in the narrow, dingy + street, a beautiful dreamy stranger, an exquisite foreign + lady, whose grace is a joy to the eye, the incense of whose + breath makes the air enamoured. May the hand wither that + touches her ungently!" + + Now I was desirous above all things to visit the palm made + famous by this charming legend, and I spent several days in + seeking it. I visited the neighbourhood of the old Place + d'Armes--now Jackson Square--and could find no trace of it; + then I visited the southern quarter of the city, with its + numberless gardens, and I sought for the palm among groves + of orange-trees overloaded with their golden fruit, amid + broad-leaved bananas, and dark cypresses, and fragrant + magnolias and tropical trees of which I did not know the + names. Then I found many date-palms. Some were quite young, + with their splendid crest of leafy plumes scarcely two feet + above the ground; others stood up to a height of thirty or + forty feet. Whenever I saw a tall palm, I rang the doorbell + and asked if that were Père Antoine's date-palm. Alas! + nobody had ever heard of the Père Antoine. + + Then I visited the ancient cathedral, founded by the pious + Don Andre Almonaster, Regidor of New Orleans, one hundred + and fifty years ago; and I asked the old French priest + whether they had ever heard of the Père Antoine. And they + answered me that they knew him not, after having searched + the ancient archives of the ancient Spanish Cathedral. + + Once I found a magnificent palm, loaded with dates, in a + garden on St. Charles Street, so graceful that I felt the + full beauty of Solomon's simile as I had never felt it + before: "Thy stature is like to a palm-tree." I rang the + bell and made inquiry concerning the age of the tree. It was + but twenty years old; and I went forth discouraged. + + At last, to my exceeding joy, I found an informant in the + person of a good-natured old gentleman, who keeps a quaint + bookstore in Commercial Place. The tree was indeed growing, + he said, in New Orleans Street, near the French Cathedral, + and not far from Congo Square; but there were many legends + concerning it. Some said it had been planted over the grave + of some Turk or Moor--perhaps a fierce corsair from Algiers + or Tunis--who died while sailing up the Mississippi, and was + buried on its moist shores. But it was not at all like the + other palm-trees in the city, nor did it seem to him to be a + date-palm. It was a real Oriental palm; yea, in sooth, such + a palm as Solomon spake of in his Love-song of Love-songs. + + "I said, I will go up to the palm-tree; I will take hold of + the boughs thereof." ... + + I found it standing in beautiful loneliness in the centre of + a dingy woodshed on the north side of New Orleans Street, + towering about forty feet above the rickety plank fence of + the yard. The gateway was open, and a sign swung above it + bearing the name, "M. Michel." I walked in and went up to + the palm-tree. A labourer was sawing wood in the back-shed, + and I saw through the windows of the little cottage by the + gate a family at dinner. I knocked at the cottage-door, and + a beautiful Creole woman opened it. + + "May I ask, Madame, whether this palm-tree was truly planted + by the Père Antoine?" + + "Ah, Monsieur, there are many droll stories which they + relate of that tree. There are folks who say that a young + girl was interred there, and it is also said that a Sultan + was buried under that tree--or the son of a Sultan. And + there are also some who say that a priest planted it." + + "Was it the Père Antoine, Madame?" + + "I do not know, Monsieur. There are people also who say that + it was planted here by Indians from Florida. But I do not + know whether such trees grow in Florida. I have never seen + any other palm-tree like it. It is not a date-palm. It + flowers every year, with a beautiful yellow blossom the + colour of straw, and the blossoms hang down in pretty + curves. Oh, it is very graceful! Sometimes it bears fruit, a + kind of oily fruit, but not dates. I am told that they make + oil from the fruit of such palms." + + I thought it looked so sad, that beautiful tree in the dusty + woodyard, with no living green thing near it. As its bright + verdant leaves waved against the blue above, one could not + but pity it as one would pity some being, fair and feminine + and friendless in a strange land. "_Oh, c'est bien + gracieux_," murmured the handsome Creole lady. + + "Is it true, Madame, that the owner of the land loses it if + he cuts down the tree?" + + "_Mais oui!_ But the proprietors of the ground have always + respected the tree, because it is so old, so very old!" + + Then I found the proprietor of the land, and he told me that + when the French troops first arrived in this part of the + country they noticed that tree. "Why," I exclaimed, "that + must have been in the reign of Louis XIV!" "It was in 1679, + I believe," he answered. As for the Père Antoine, he had + never heard of him. Neither had he heard of Thomas Bailey + Aldrich. So that I departed, mourning for my dead faith in a + romance which was beautiful. + +Next to his best Japanese studies, I suspect it will finally come to +recognition that Hearn's greatest service to literature is his +magnificent series of translations during the New Orleans years. As a +translator there were given him his data by creative minds. His own +mental equipment prevented creation, and his clearly set limits as a +translator added power to his ability and function as a colourist and +word-artist. His was almost a unique expertness of entering into the +spirit of his models, refeeling their emotions, reimagining their +thought and art, and reclothing it with the often somewhat hard and +stiff material of English weaving. All of their spirit philologically +possible to be conveyed to us, we may be sure he re-presents. For his +was the rare power of the instant, the iridescent, the wingèd word. I +think it was innate and spontaneous with him, a gift of the inscrutable, +illogic, and fantastically generous-niggard Fates. All his studies and +conscious efforts were almost unavailing either to hinder or to further +its perfection. If to Fate we may not be grateful, we can at least thank +the weird lesser gods of life for the mysterious wonder of the gift. The +wealth of loving labour silently offered in the 187 or more translations +published in the _Times-Democrat_ is marvellous. Hearn brought to my +house the loose cuttings from the files, and we got them into some order +in "scrapbooks." But the dates of publication and other details are +often characteristically wanting. Elsewhere in the present volume the +titles, etc., of the stories are listed. Preceded by those of "One of +Cleopatra's Nights," they form a body of literary values which should be +rescued from the newspaper files and permanently issued in book-form for +the pleasure and instruction of English readers. To do this I have most +generously been given permission by Hearn's ever helpful and +discriminating friend, Mr. Page M. Baker, editor of the +_Times-Democrat_. + +Hearn knew well the difficulties of the translator's art. "One who +translates for the love of the original will probably have no reward +save the satisfaction of creating something beautiful and perhaps of +saving a masterpiece from less reverent hands." So anxious was he to do +such work that he was willing to pay the publication expenses. As +pertinent, I copy an editorial of his on the subject, which was +published in the _Times-Democrat_, during the period in which he was so +busy as a translator: + + The New York _Nation_ has been publishing in its columns a + number of interesting and severe criticisms upon + translations from foreign authors. These translations are + generally condemned, and with good specifications of + reasons,--notwithstanding the fact that some of them have + been executed by persons who have obtained quite a popular + reputation as translators. One critic dwells very strongly + upon the most remarkable weakness of all the renderings in + question;--they invariably fail to convey the colour and + grace of the original, even when the meaning is otherwise + preserved. Speaking of the translators themselves, the + reviewer observes: "There is not one _artist_ among them." + + All this is very true; but the writer does not explain the + causes of this state of affairs. They are many, no + doubt;--the principal fact for consideration being that + there is no demand for artistic work in translation. And + there is no demand for it, not so much because it is rare + and unlikely to be appreciated as because it is dear. + Artistic translators cannot afford to work for a + song,--neither would they attempt to translate a + five-hundred-page novel in three weeks or a month as others + do. Again, artistic translators would not care to attach + their names to the published translation of a fourth-or + fifth-class popular novel. Finally, artistic translations do + not obtain a ready market with first-class American + publishers, who, indeed, seldom touch domestic translations + of foreign fiction, and depend for their translations of + European literature upon transatlantic enterprise. Thus the + artistic translator may be said to have no field. He may + sell his work to some petty publisher, perhaps, but only at + a price that were almost absurd to mention;--and the + first-class publishers do not care to speculate in American + translations at all. We might also add that the + translator's task is always a thankless one,--that however + superb and laborious his execution, it can never obtain much + public notice, nor even so much as public comprehension. The + original author will be admired,--the translator unnoticed, + except by a few critics. + + Moreover, the men capable of making the most artistic + translations are usually better employed. The translator of + a great French, German, or Italian masterpiece of style, + ought, in the eternal fitness of things, to be a man able to + write something very artistic in his own tongue. No one + seems to doubt that Longfellow was the man to translate + Dante,--that Tennyson could parallel Homer (as he has shown + by a wonderful effort) in the nineteenth-century + English,--that Carlyle re-created Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister" + by his rendering of it,--that Austin Dobson was the first to + teach English readers some of the beauties of Gautier's + poetry,--that Swinburne alone could have made François + Villon adopt an English garb which exactly fitted him. But + the same readers perhaps never gave a thought to the fact + that the works of Flaubert, of Daudet, of Droz, of Hugo, of + at least a score of other European writers, call for work of + an almost equally high class on the part of the translator, + and never receive it! What a translation of Daudet could not + Henry James give us!--how admirably John Addington Symonds + could reproduce for us the Venetian richness of Paul de + Saint Victor's style! But such men are not likely to be + invited, on either side of the Atlantic, to do such + work;--neither are they likely to do it as a labour of love! + A splended translation of Flaubert might be expected from + several members of what is called "The New England School;" + but what Boston publisher would engage his favourite + literary man in such pursuits? It is really doubtful whether + the men most capable of making artistic translations could + afford, under any ordinary circumstances, to undertake much + work of the kind, except as a literary recreation. At all + events, the English-reading world cannot hereafter expect to + obtain its translations from other European languages + through the labour of the best writers in its own. The only + hope is, that the recklessness shown by publishers in their + choice of translators will provoke a reaction, and that such + work will be more generously remunerated and entrusted to + real experts hereafter. + + It is unfortunately true that the translators who work for + English publishers are far more competent than those who do + similar work in the United States; forasmuch as + transatlantic firms are glad to print cheap popular + translations, while only inferior American firms care to + undertake them. Another obstacle to good translations in the + United States is that none of the great literary periodicals + will devote space to them. The English and the French + magazines and reviews are less conservative, and some very + wonderful translations have been published by them. Artistic + translation might be admirably developed in this country by + the establishment of a new magazine-policy. + +The wise reader, if he is also a sincere friend of Hearn, must wish that +the correspondence published had been limited to the first volume. Room +aplenty in this could have been made for the dozen valuable paragraphs +contained in the second. It is not strange that the letters of Hearn +worth saving were written before his departure for Japan. He repeatedly +had urged that letter-writing both financially and mentally was +expensive to the writer. In Japan he was so incessantly busy, much with +his teaching and more with his real literary work, that time and will +were wanting for that sort of letters which are of interest to the +general reader. The interest of the person addressed is another affair. +The dreary half-thousand pages of the correspondence of the Japanese +time are most disappointing to one who has been thrilled by almost every +page of the incomparable letters to Krehbiel and to a few others. +Besides the two reasons for this which I have suggested, there are +others which may perhaps be evident to some judicious readers, but which +at this time may scarcely be plainly stated. At present the trees are so +thick that the forest cannot be seen, but some day an amused and an +amusing smile of recognition and disgust will curl the lips of the +literary critic. There are two other considerations which should be held +in mind: One of them was brought to me by a correspondent of Hearn who +had frequently noted it; sometimes (has it happened before?) Hearn used +his "friend" to whom he was writing, as a sort of method of exercising +his own fancy, as a gymnastics in putting his imagination through its +paces, or for a preliminary sketching in of notes and reminders to be of +possible use in later serious work. Moreover, the plan was of service in +rewarding his correspondents for their praise and appreciation. Of a +far more substantial character were the letters sometimes written in +gratitude for money received. Hearn flattered himself, as we know, that +he was without "cunning," but there is at least one exquisitely +ludicrous letter in existence which shows an inverted proof of it, in +the execution of an Indian war-dance, because of "the ways and means" +furnished. + +As published, Hearn's letters may be classified as follows: To + + Krehbiel 1887 (3); 1878 (5); 1879 (2); + 1880 (3); 1881 (4); 1882 (4); + 1883 (4); 1884 (13); 1885 (8); + 1886 (6); 1887 (4) 56 + Hart 1882 (3); 1883 (1) 4 + Ball 1882 (2); 1883 (4); 1885 (3) 9 + O'Connor 1883 (4); 1884 (2); 1885 (2); + 1886 (2); 1887 (2) 12 + Albee 1883 (1); 1898 (2) 3 + Gould 1887 (5); 1888 (4); 1889 (8) 17 + Bisland 1887 (8); 1889 (11); 1890 (3); + 1900 (1); 1902 (3); 1903 (9); + 1904 (1) 36 + Tunison 1889 (1) 1 + Chamberlain 1890 (7); 1891 (13); + 1895 (22) 42 + Nishida 1890 (2); 1891 (2); 1892 (2); + 1893 (9); 1894 (2); 1895 (3); + 1896 (3); 1897 (2) 25 + Hirn 1890 (1); 1902 (5); 1903 (1) 7 + Baker 1891 (1); 1892 (1); 1894 (1); + 1895 (3); 1896 (2) 8 + Hendrick 1891 (2); 1892 (4); 1893 (10); + 1894 (6); 1895 (6); 1896 (9); + 1897 (7); 1898 (2); 1902 (2) 48 + Otani 1891 (1); 1892 (1); 1894 (1); + 1897 (1); 1898 (2); 1900 (1) 7 + Ochiai 1893 (2); 1894 (2); 1896 (2) 6 + McDonald 1897 (10); 1898 (25); 1899 (19) 54 + Fenollosa 1898 (3); 1899 (2) 5 + Blank 1898 1 + Foxwell 1899 2 + Yasuchochi 1901 1 + Tanabe 1904 1 + Crosby 1904 1 + Fujisaki 1904 1 + --- + 347 + +Besides these, the valuable series of "Letters from a Raven," and the +sixteen in the same volume "To a Lady" are noteworthy. The latter are of +little value either for biography or literature. But the letters to +Watkin are so sincere, often childlike, indeed, that they will be prized +by the discriminating. Another admirable series, copies of which I have, +is made up of letters to Professor R. Matas, of New Orleans. To these it +is hoped will sometime be added those which must exist, to Mr. Alden, +who was an early and sincere friend. There are a number of unpublished +letters to Gould, and the published ones have been so mutilated that +they should be correctly republished. Almost anything written by Hearn +before he went to Japan, or in some instances reflecting friendships and +feelings existing before he sailed, may prove of as inestimable value as +most letters written thereafter will probably be found valueless. + +It is noteworthy that the first series, edited by Miss Bisland, was +commenced in 1877, when Hearn was twenty-seven years of age, and that +for many years Mr. Krehbiel was almost his sole correspondent. But the +inimitable perfection and preciousness of these fifty-six letters! They +are well worth all his other set productions, published or burned, of +the same years. Many are singly worth all the rest of our letters. Here +the dreamer--and a dreamer he always was until he got out of his +cocoon--was sincere, hopeful, planful, as playful as his sombre mind +would permit, but always magnificently, even startlingly, unreserved. +Remembering that Hearn's mind was essentially an echoing and a +colouring mechanism, it is at once a glorious tribute to, and a +superlative merit of Mr. Krehbiel to have given the primary and +stimulating voice to the always listening dreamer. To have swerved him +out of his predestined rôle so much as to make these pages so +astonishingly full of _musical_ reverberations, is a tribute to his own +musical enthusiasm and power as it is also a demonstration of the +echo-like, but fundamentally unmusical, nature of his friend's mind. If +only in the final edition of Hearn's works, these letters with +selections of some pages from a few others, could be made into a handy, +small, and cheap volume for the delighting of the appreciators of +literature and of literary character! Comparison of the spiritual and +almost _spirituelle_ flashings of these, with the ponderous and banal +sogginess of hundreds upon hundreds of other pages of his letters, +arouses the profound regret that Hearn to the world was "impossible," +that, as he says, he "could not mingle with men," that no other voices +ever so intimately reached the heart of him, or of his dreaming. Even +here the amazing coloration furnished by "The Dreamer," as he calls +himself, makes us at times feel that the magic of the word-artist and +colour-mixer was almost superior to the enduring and awakening reality +of Mr. Krehbiel. To this friend, as he writes, he spoke of his thoughts +and fancies, wishes and disappointments, frailties, follies, and +failures, and successes--even as to a brother. And that was not all he +saw and heard in "his enchanted City of Dreams." + +The slavery to ignoble journalism, what he calls a "really nefarious +profession," was to be resolutely renounced from the day of his arrival +in New Orleans. It is "a horrid life," he "could not stand the +gaslight;" he "damned reportorial work and correspondence, and the +American disposition to work people to death, and the American delight +in getting worked to death;" he rebelled against becoming a part of the +revolving machinery of a newspaper, because "journalism dwarfs, +stifles, emasculates thought and style," and he was bound to "produce +something better in point of literary execution." + +There was also a not frankly confessed resolve to become respectable in +other ways, and to be done with a kind of entanglement of which he was +painfully conscious in the Cincinnati life. "I think I can redeem myself +socially here! I have got into good society;" "it is better to live here +in sackcloth and ashes, than to own the whole State of Ohio," he writes, +and he is proud of living in a Latin city. He recognizes what Mr. +Krehbiel calls his "peculiar and unfortunate disposition," and which he +later sets forth as "a very small, erratic, eccentric, irregular, +impulsive, variable, nervous disposition." Hearn visits a few friends +awhile and then disappears for six months, so that he wishes to be +hidden in New York except to Krehbiel and Tunison; he will pay a visit +to the others he must see just before leaving town--for he is a +"demophobe." He tried a secret partnership in keeping a restaurant, and +thought to carry on a little French bookstore. He resolved at different +times to go to Europe, to Cuba, to Texas, to Cincinnati, and planned all +sorts of occupations. + +The indications soon multiply that in more ways than in worldly matters +he is at variance with his world. He "regards thought as a mechanical +process;" he has "no faith in any faith;" "individual life is a particle +of that eternal force of which we know so little;" "Soul = Cerebral +Activity = Soul;" Jesus is a legend and myth; he is "not a believer in +free will, nor in the individual soul," etc. Think of a man writing to a +Christian minister, think of a Christian minister receiving without +protest a personal letter with this in it: "Nor can I feel more +reverence for the crucified deity than for that image of the Hindoo god +of light holding in one of his many hands Phallus, and yet wearing a +necklace of skulls, etc." + +And Hearn, as to ethics, has the courage to write his friend of his +convictions: "Passion was the inspiring breath of Greek art and the +mother of language; its gratification the act of a creator, and the +divinest rite of Nature's temple." In other letters, unpublished, that +exist, Hearn is morbidly frank as to sexual licence and practices. In +tropical cities there is "no time for friendship--only passion for +women, and brief acquaintance for men." Without the influence of +sexualism there can be no real greatness; "the mind remains arid and +desolate," and he quotes approvingly:--"Virginity, Mysticism, +Melancholy--three unknown words, three new maladies brought among us by +the Christ," etc. "I do not find it possible to persuade myself that the +'mad excess of love' should not be indulged in by mankind," introduces a +brilliant page upon the theme, ending with, "after all what else do we +live for--ephemeræ that we are?" To my protest he wrote, "'Moral' +feelings are those into which the sexual instinct does not visibly +enter;" and again, "The sexual sense never tells a _physical_ lie. It +only tells an ethical one." There is, to be sure, no answer to a man who +says such things. + +It is astonishing, how conscious and at the same time how careless Hearn +was of his characteristics and trends. In 1878 he could coldly prepare +to attempt a get-rich-quick scheme, "a fraud, which will pay like hell, +an advertising fraud," etc., because "there is no money in honest work." +At this time also he knew that his own wandering passion was "the +strongest of all," and that his deepest desire was "to wander forever +here and there until he should get old and apish and grey and die." His +misfortunes he confessed were of his own making because it was +absolutely out of the question for him to "keep any single situation for +any great length of time," hating the mere idea of it, "impossible to +stay anywhere without getting into trouble." "No one ever lived who +seemed more a creature of circumstance than I," he correctly avows. He +recognizes that "the unexpected obstacle to success was usually erected +by himself." + +He acknowledges his ignorance and escapes from it and from the labour, +expense, and duty of scholarship by flying, as many others have done, to +the world of Imagination, which alone is left to him. "It allows of a +vagueness of expression which hides the absence of real knowledge, and +dispenses with the necessity of technical precision and detail." He +"never reads a book which does not powerfully impress the imagination." +Knowing that he has not true and real genius, he "pledges himself to the +worship of the Odd, the Queer, the Strange, the Exotic, the Monstrous. +It quite suits my temperament," and he "hopes to succeed in attracting +some little attention." The monstrous, the enormous, and the lurid, is +sought in the letters. The sentence at the bottom of page 226, Volume +One of the "Life and Letters," and the ghastly story, pages 322-323, +show the gruesome still much alive, and page 306 that blood, fury, and +frenzy haunt his nightmare dreams. "In history one should only seek the +extraordinary, the monstrous, the terrible; in mythology the most +fantastic and sensuous, just as in romance," And yet he defends himself +as a lover of Greek art, detests "the fantastic beauty that is Gothic," +yet prides himself on being Arabesque. Even the love of Beaudelaire +creeps in, and the brutal, horrible photograph of Gautier is "grander +than he imagined." Of course to such a mind Matthew Arnold is a +"colossal humbug"--and worse. + +With increasing frequency are repeated the complaints of +disillusionment; he is frightened at the loss even of the love of the +beautiful, and his friend tries in vain to rouse him from his ghost-life +and dreaming. There are absurd excuses why he cannot work; when among +beautiful things he cannot write of them, when he is away he is longing +for them; there are months when he cannot do anything, and a little +thing is produced with great pain and labour. "The old enthusiasm has +completely died out of me." The people and the city are adequately +cursed, and upon the debilitating climate is laid a proper and +ever-repeated anathema. He loathes the North, especially New York City, +"shudders at the bare idea of cold;" he yearns and pines for a still +more tropical country which he knows may kill him, and which came near +doing so. The _Wanderlust_ is upon him as passages on pages 183, 193, +196, 197, 207, 215, 223, 224, 398 of Volume One of the "Life and +Letters" illustrate. At last he is off for Martinique, where work and +even thought are still more impossible because of the benumbing heat. + +Here follows a list of the unsigned editorials contributed by Hearn to +his paper. It is made up from two of the scrap-books left me, and is +entitled: + +SUNDAY AND SPECIAL EDITORIALS BY LAFCADIO HEARN FOR THE TIMES-DEMOCRAT, +1885-1887. + + 1. The "Peronospora Ferrani" and Cholera Vaccination. + 2. Literary Pessimism. + 3. "The Song Celestial." + 4. The Canonization of the Mahdi. + 5. "Successor of Tamerlane." + 6. The World's Journalism. + 7. A Scientific Novelty. + 8. The Jewish Question in Europe (Suppressed by the management). + 9. Russian Literature Abroad. + 10. The European Trouble. + 11. Missionaries as Linguists. + 12. Courbet. + 13. Poetry and Pay. + 14. The Present and Future of India. + 15. An Archaeological Novel. + 16. An Evolutional History. + 17. A New Pompeii. + 18. Archæology in Cambodia. + 19. The Great "I-Am." + 20. A Terrible Novel. + 21. The Latin Church in the East and Bismarck. + 22. English Policy in China. + 23. The Fear of Death. + 24. A Danger to Egypt--The Senousiya. + 25. Archaeological News from China. + 26. Icelandic Prospects. + 27. A Great English Physician. + 28. Academical Triumphs. + 29. The Magician of Paris. + 30. Tolstoi's Vanity of Wisdom. + 31. "Minos." + 32. Newspapers and Religion. + 33. Minos. + 34. A Concord Compromise. + 35. De Mercier on Dante. + 36. The Origin of Christmas. + 37. "Immortality" according to Dr. Holland. + 38. The Future of Idealism. + 39. "Solitude." + 40. Dr. Holland's Defenders. + 41. The Religion of Suffering. + 42. The Ruins of Carthage. + 43. A Defence of Pessimism. + 44. Over-Education in Germany. + 45. Decadence as a Fine Art. + 46. Use of the Eye or the Ear in Learning Languages. + 47. The Shadow of the "Light of Asia." + 48. The Jew upon the Stage. + 49. Some Theosophical Iconoclasm. + 50. "Hamlet's Note-Book." + 51. The Invasion of the Desert. + 52. Resurrected Æstheticism. + 53. Translations. + 54. Nihilistic Literature in the United States. + 55. Some Human Frailty. + 56. An Art-Reformer. + 57. Some Notes on Creole Literature. + 58. The Scientific Value of Creole. + 59. "l'OEuvre." + 60. A Havanese Romance. + 61. Some Supposed Sanscrit Translations. + 62. The Omnivorous Newspaper. + 63. A Religious Nightmare. + 64. Joaquin Miller. + 65. Pictures vs. Text. + 66. "Follow the Donkey Path." + 67. A Sketch of the Creole Patois. + 68. In Spain. + 69. Chinese Belief in God. + 70. "Towards the Gulf." + 71. Tennyson's Locksley Hall. + 72. "Doesn't Want Any Progress." + 73. The Howard Memorial Library--A Letter from Charles Dudley Warner. + 74. A Definitive Rossetti. + 75. The Chinese Future. + 76. Artistic Value of Myopia. + 77. Colours and Emotions. + + + + +CHAPTER V.--AT MARTINIQUE + + +THE lure of the Sea and of the Unknown was upon Hearn during the entire +stay at New Orleans. How deeply it entered his heart is shown in a +fragment rescued by his friend, Dr. Matas, which has been kindly sent +me. The copy is in print, but when and where it was published we have +been unable to learn. It was probably written in 1885 or 1886. As it +gives glimpses at once into Hearn's mind, of his fateful desire to roam, +of his Nature-love, and, better, of his growing mastery of technic and +imagery, I reproduce herewith the fragment, which he entitled: + + GULF WINDS + + Golden oranges piled up in bins,--apples of the Southern + Hesperides;--a medley of meridional tongues,--silky Latin + tongues and their silkier patois; Chinese buyers yellow as + bananas, quadroons with skin like dead gold; swarthy sailors + from the Antilles; sharp odours of fruit freshly + disembarked;--all the semi-tropical sights and sounds of the + French market. I stood beside an orange-bin; and priced the + fruit. Fifty cents a hundred! While wondering how much the + fruit-vender's profit could possibly be, I was insensibly + attracted by something unusual in his face--a shadow of the + beauty of the antique world seemed to rest upon it. "Are you + not a Greek?" I asked, for there was no mistaking the + metoposcopy of that head. Yes; he was from Zante--first a + sailor, now a fruit-vender; some day, perhaps, he would be a + merchant. + + It is among those who sell, not among those who buy, that + the most curious studies of human nature and of the human + face are to be made in the French market. These dealers are + by no means usually French, but they are mostly from the + Mediterranean coasts and the Levant--from Sicily and Cyprus, + Corsica and Malta, the Ionian Archipelago, and a hundred + cities fringing the coasts of Southern Europe. They are + wanderers, who have wandered all over the face of the earth + to find rest at last in this city of the South; they are + sailors who have sailed all seas, and sunned themselves at a + hundred tropical ports, and finally anchored their lives by + the levee of New Orleans. The Neapolitan Italian, the + Spaniard, the Corsican, the Levantine Greek, seek rest from + storm here, in a clime akin to their own and under a sky as + divinely blue, and at a port not far distant from their + beloved sea. For these Levantine sailors hate dusty inland + cities and the dry air of the Great West. + + If you, O reader, chance to be a child of the sea;--if, in + early childhood, you listened each morning and evening to + that most ancient and mystic hymn-chant of the waves, which + none can hear without awe, and which no musician can + learn;--if you have ever watched wonderingly the far sails + of the fishing-vessels turn rosy in the blush of sunset, or + silver under the moon, or golden in the glow of sunrise;--if + you once breathed as your native air the divine breath of + the ocean, and learned the swimmer's art from the hoary + breakers, and received the Ocean-god's christening, the + glorious baptism of salt,--then, perhaps, you know only too + well why these sailors of the Levant cannot seek homes + within the heart of the land. Twenty years may have passed + since your ears last caught the thunder of that mighty ode + of hexameters which the sea has always sung and will sing + forever, since your eyes sought the far line where the + vaulted blue of heaven touches the level immensity of + rolling water,--since you breathed the breath of the ocean, + and felt its clear ozone living in your veins like an + elixir. Have you forgotten the mighty measure of that mighty + song? have you forgotten the divine saltiness of that + unfettered wind? Is not the spell of the sea strong upon you + still? + + So that when the long, burning summer comes, and the city + roars dustily around you, and your ears are filled with the + droning hum of machinery, and your heart full of the + bitterness of the struggle for life, there comes to you at + long intervals in the dingy office or the crowded street + some memory of white breakers and vast stretches of wrinkled + sand and far-fluttering breezes that seem to whisper, + "Come!" + + So that when the silent night comes,--you find yourself + revisiting in dreams those ocean-shores thousands of miles + away. The wrinkled sand, ever shifting yet ever the same, + has the same old familiar patches of vari-coloured weeds and + shining rocks along its level expanse: and the thunder-chant + of the sea which echoes round the world, eternal yet ever + new, is rolling up to heaven. The glad waves leap up to + embrace you; the free winds shout welcome in your ears; + white sails are shining in the west; white sea-birds are + flying over the gleaming swells. And from the infinite + expanse of eternal sky and everlasting sea, there comes to + you, with the heavenly ocean-breeze, a thrilling sense of + unbounded freedom, a delicious feeling as of life renewed, + an ecstasy as of life restored. And so you start into + wakefulness with the thunder of that sea-dream in your ears + and tears of regret in your eyes to find about you only heat + and dust and toil; the awakening rumble of traffic, and "the + city sickening on its own thick breath." + + And I think that the Levantine sailors dare not dwell in the + midst of the land, for fear lest dreams of a shadowy sea + might come upon them in the night, and phantom winds call + wildly to them in their sleep, and they might wake to find + themselves a thousand miles beyond the voice of the + breakers. + + Sometimes, I doubt not, these swarthy sellers of fruit, + whose black eyes sparkle with the sparkle of the sea, and + whose voices own the tones of ocean-winds, sicken when a + glorious breeze from the Gulf enters the city, shaking the + blossoms from the magnolia-trees and the orange-groves. + Sometimes, I doubt not, they forsake their Southern home + when the dream comes upon them, and take ship for the + Spanish Main. Yet I think most men may wake here from the + dreams of the sea, and rest again. It is true that you + cannot hear the voice of the hoary breakers in the + moonlight,--only the long panting of the cotton-presses, the + shouting of the boats calling upon each other through the + tropical night, and the ceaseless song of night-birds and + crickets. But the sea-ships, with their white wings folded, + are slumbering at the wharves; the sea-winds are blowing + through the moon-lit streets, and from the South arises a + wondrous pale glow, like the far reflection of the emerald + green of the ocean. So that the Greek sailor, awaking from + the vision of winds and waves, may join three fingers of his + right hand, after the manner of the Eastern Church, and + cross himself, and sleep again in peace. + +Hearn left New Orleans in July, 1887, and was soon settled at St. +Pierre, Martinique. His letters to Dr. Matas form the principal sources +of information concerning himself and his work during his stay there. +From them I choose a few selections which bear upon his literary +labours. At first, of course, all is perfection: + + I am absolutely bewitched, and resolved to settle down + somewhere in the West Indies. Martinique is simply heaven + on earth. You must imagine a community whose only vices are + erotic. There are no thieves, no roughs, no snobs. + Everything is primitive and morally pure--except in the + only particular where purity would be out of harmony with + natural conditions. As for the climate, it is + divine--though this is the worst season. + + And I have begun to hate all that is energetic, swift, rapid + in thought or action, all rivalry, all competition, all + striving in the race of success. It is just enough to live + here: no, it is too much!--it is more than any ordinary + human being deserves to enjoy. It makes one feel like crying + for joy just to look about one. + + Couldn't I induce you to abandon the beastly civilization of + the U. S., and live somewhere down here forever + more,--where everybody is honest and good-natured and + courteous, and where everything is divine? Man was not + intended to work in this part of the world: while you are + here, you cannot quite persuade yourself you are awake,--it + is a dream of eternal beauty,--all the musky winds, all the + flower-months of Paradise! New Orleans is the most infernal + hole in the entire Cosmos. Don't live in it! Confound fame + and wealth and reputation and splendour. You don't need any + of these things here; they are superfluous; they are + obsolete; they are nuisances; they are living curses. Settle + here. Humming-birds will fly into your chamber to wake you + up. What on earth you can find to live for in the U.S. I am + now at a loss to see. You'll get old there;--here you will + remain eternally young: the palms distil Elixir Vitæ. + + But it is simply foolishness to write to you--because I + can't write about this place. All ambition to write has been + paralyzed--let Nature do the writing--in green, azure and + gold! + +[Illustration: LAFCADIO HEARN. _From a Photograph taken at Martinique, +August 24th, 1888._] + + (Letter from St. Pierre, July 30, 1887.) + + I am not at all sure of my literary future,--I do not mean + pecuniarily, for I never allow that question to seriously + bother me: to write simply to make money is to be a d----d + fraud, so long as one can aim at higher things. But I do + not feel the same impulses and inspirations and power to + create;--I have been passing through a sort of crisis,--out + of enthusiasm into reality and I do not feel so mentally + strong as I ought. The climate had much to do with it in + the beginning, causing a serious weakness of memory;--that + is now passed; but I feel as if _mon âme avait perdu ses + ailes_. Perhaps something healthier and stronger may come + of it; but in the meanwhile I suffer from great + disquietude, and occasional very black ideas; and praise + sounds to me like a malicious joke, because I feel that my + work has been damnably bad. The fact that I _know_ it has + been bad, encourages me to believe I may do better, and + find confidence in myself. + + I have enough MS. for a volume of French colonial sketches, + and do not think I will be able to do much more with + Martinique for the present; but I also have accumulated + material out of which something will probably grow. I would + now like to attempt some Spanish studies. + + Northern air will do me good, though I do not like the idea + of living in it. But when, after all this stupid, brutal, + never-varying heat, you steam North, and the constellations + change, and the moon stands up on her feet instead of lying + on her back lasciviously,--and the first grand whiff of cold + air comes like the advent of a Ghost,--Lord! how one's + brain suddenly clears and thrills into working order. It is + like a new soul breathed into your being through the + nostrils--after the Creator's fashion of animating his Adam + of clay. + + Perhaps you think I have been a poor correspondent. You can + scarcely imagine the difficulties of maintaining a friendly + chat by letter while trying to do literary work here. Most + people who attempt literature here either give it up after a + short time, or go to the graveyard: there are a few + giants,--like Dr. Rufz de Lavison (who never finished his + Études nevertheless), Davey the historian; Dessalles who + suddenly disappeared leaving his history incomplete. But I + fear I am no giant. At 2 or 2.30 p.m. if you try to write, + your head feels as if a heated feather pillow had been + stuffed into your skull. To write at all one must utilize + the morning;--that is given to make the pot boil: one can + write letters only at intervals, paragraph by paragraph, or + between solid chapters of downright wearing-out work. + + Nevertheless, one learns to love this land so much as to be + quite willing to abandon anything and everything to live in + it. As in the old Sunday-school hymn, "only man is vile:" + nature and Woman are unspeakably sweet. + + I suppose I will not be able to meet you in New York this + fall: you will be too busy. Next summer it will be possible, + I hope. Perhaps you will have the pleasure of a little book + or two from me during the cold weather: I will revise things + in New York. It has been a horrible agony to have my stuff + printed without being able to see the proofs, and full of + mistakes. "Chita" has been a great literary + success--contrary to expectation. I find success is not + decided by the press, nor by first effect on the public: + opinions of literary men count much more, and these have + been better than I imagined they could be. (1887) + + Well, I am caught! The tropics have me, for better or worse, + so long as I live. Life in a great northern city again would + be a horror insupportable. Yet I have had great pain here. I + have been four months without a cent of money where nobody + would trust me: you know what that means, if you have ever + had a rough-and-tough year or two: otherwise you could not + imagine it. I have had disillusions in number. I find worst + of all, there is no inspiration in the tropics,--no poetry, + no aspiration, no self-sacrifice, no human effort. Now, that + I can go where I like, do as I please--for I have won the + fight after all,--I still prefer one year of Martinique to a + thousand years of New York. What is it? Am I demoralized; or + am I simply better informed than before? I don't really + know. (1887) + + New York, September 29, 1887.[12] + + [12] Written during a brief stay in New York, + whither he had gone in the fall of 1887. + + Dear Friend Matas:--I am going back to the + tropics,--probably for many years. My venture has been more + successful than I ever hoped; and I find myself able to + abandon journalism, with all its pettinesses, cowardices, + and selfishnesses, forever. I am able hereafter to devote + myself to what you always said was my _forte_: the study of + tropical Nature--God's Nature,--violent, splendid, nude, and + pure. I never hoped for such fortune. It has come unasked. I + am almost afraid to think it is true. I am afraid to be + happy! + + _c/o_ Dr. George M. Gould, + 119 South Seventeenth St., + Philadelphia, June 5, 1889. + + Dear Friend Matas:--Your letter of March 21 only reached me + to-day, June 5th; but made me very glad to get it. I have + been back from the West Indies about three weeks--do not + know how long I shall stay. It seemed like tearing my heart + out to leave Martinique; and though I am now in one of the + most beautiful cities in the world, among dear friends, and + with the splendid spectacle before me of man's grandest + efforts--not a wild cyclone of electricity and iron like New + York, but a great quiet peace--the tropical Nature with all + its memories haunts me perpetually,--draws my thought back + again over the azure sea and under the turquoise sky to the + great palms and the volcanic hills and the beautiful brown + women. I know I shall have to go back to the tropics sooner + or later. + + The effect of the climate, as you know, is deadly to mental + work. Physically, however, I felt better in it,--less + nervous than I ever was before. Only one's will to work is + broken down; and it is better only to collect material there + to work up elsewhere. That sort of work I am busy at just + now. I have a signed contract for publication of "Chita" in + book-form; and the result of my two years' absence will be + forthcoming in a volume of larger size. + + You know Philadelphia, I suppose, the beautiful city; and I + suppose you know that physicians here form the leaders of, + and give the tone to, social life. It seems to me but just + that they should,--representing the highest intellectual + rank of civilization when they are really worthy of the + profession. + + ... As for other people wondering what has become of me; + that is just what I want. I do not care to have any one know + what I am doing till it is done.... I have happily got over + a sort of crisis, however, which isolated me more than I + would have liked to be isolated from the world at large: the + distrust of myself. + +[Illustration: HANDWRITING OF HEARN IN 1889. _face page 63._] + +Concerning the value of Hearn's Martinique work, I am permitted to quote +from a letter written to him on May 24, 1890, by the late Edmund C. +Stedman,--and there could be no better judge and critic: + +"I will not leave without telling you how much I am your debtor for the +fascinating copious record of your life in the Windward Islands, and for +your 'Youma'--both of which I take with me to 'Kelp Rock'--and which we +shall know by heart ere long. The 'Two Years' came when I was 'moving' +in New York, etc.,--so that books and letters, unacknowledged, perforce +have piled up on my table. I am grateful for your remembrance and your +gifts. _No_ book could please me more than your 'Two Years.' Those +Islands are my Hesperides--I had begun a series of poems and lyrics, +cast in the Caribees, but your prose poems put mine to shame--and I am +glad to listen to your music and leave my own unsung." + + + + +CHAPTER VI.--"GETTING A SOUL" + + +SHORT though it was in time, the Philadelphia visit in 1889 has a value +long in significance, that deserves epitomization. To begin with, it was +Hearn's first experience of anything that might be called home-life. Its +result was a softening and normalizing of him both as to character and +as to manner, which was most evident. Secondly, and as he chose to put +it, I "gave him a soul." By this poetic paraphrase he meant that I had +succeeded in bringing to his recognition the existence of Freedom in +what he thought determinism;--that intelligence, purpose, and +beneficence lie behind biology, and that human beings are not always, +and may never be wholly, the slaves of the senses, and the dupes of +desire. Beauty itself, which he so widely sought, I asked him to note, +is a needless, harmful, and even impossible thing in a world of +adamantine logic and necessity. Above all, I demonstrated the existence +of Duty, "Stern Daughter of the Voice of God," not only in the abstract, +but in concrete lives, in social and historic exemplifications, and that +only by means of men and women who obey conscience is social and +historic progress brought about. They who have not seen that can have no +"soul;" they who do see it, have soul, durable or great according to the +clearness of the seeing and the obedience to the implication. Fully and +freely Hearn acknowledged the vision, and never afterward could he be +wholly the same as he had been before. But the Providence of the +Oriental and semi-barbarous is Improvidence, and their God is Fate. +Hearn came to hate, or to pretend to hate, the truth which had now +slipped through his spiritual eyes, but he could not undo or outroot it +entirely; "henceforth by the vision splendid is on his way attended." +Thirdly, this new viewpoint, this new spirit or soul, I got incorporated +in a little art-work, or ethical study--"Karma," published in +_Lippincott's Magazine_, May, 1890, after Hearn had gone to Japan. To +the world and without the knowledge of its making, "Karma" must have +seemed an illogical and even impossible thing for Hearn to have written. +It is apparently the sole work which he ever wrote, created _de novo_ +and without the data having been found or brought to him from without. +But it was only a seeming creation. It was only the telling, the +colouring, that was his, as in his other tales before or after. In our +long walks and talks in the Park at night, we wrought out the title, the +datum, and the whole trend of the story. He rebelled, but I held him to +the task, which he finally executed with frank and artistic loyalty. The +pride or indifference, even the dislike, of its readers, the writer, or +inspirer, is as nothing compared with the fact that by it and from it +Hearn learned something of love and duty that had never before been a +living reality to him. What an infinite distance it was removed from +anything dreamed during the Cincinnati period, or to be derived from +Flaubert, Gautier, or Beaudelaire! After that his future work could +never be, and never was, what it was from the writing, "_Everything you +feel you would not like me to know._" I do not think there is +exaggeration of the importance of the story, and what led up to its +writing, in saying that it was the greatest of the turning-points in his +life, and that directly because of it the magnificent works of the +Japanese period were profoundly influenced through the attitude of mind +thereby gained. + +Concerning the heroine of the tale Hearn wrote me: + + Your objection to my idea is quite correct. I have already + abandoned it. It would have to be sexual. Never could find + in the tropics that magnificent type of womanhood, which in + the New England girl, makes one afraid even to think about + sex, while absolutely adoring the personality. Perfect + natures inspire a love that is a fear. I don't think any + love is noble without it. The tropical woman inspires a + love that is half compassion; this is always dangerous, + untrustworthy, delusive--pregnant with future pains + innumerable. + +But, fourthly, that in which I feel as great a pride, is compelling him +to go to Japan. Others could have reported for lurid yellow journalism, +others might possibly have translated as well as he, others could have +told the West Indian stories, but--not even his beloved Lowell--only +Hearn could have written of the Japanese life and soul as Hearn has +done. He had no thought of the journey when I showed him his duty and +his opportunity. By argument, pleading, almost compulsion, I at last +wearied his opposition, and he went, with reluctance, after months of +halting in detested New York City in which he learned by bitter +experience that it was no place for him, and that his beloved tropics +should not be again sought. + +How disappointed he was in his New York friends and prospects may be +gathered from the following excerpt taken from one of his letters to me. +I had used all my influence to keep him from a stay in the city. He +wrote as follows: + + Dear Gooley, your advice is good from your way of looking + at it; but I am much stronger in New York than you imagine, + and my future in it is plain and perfect sailing if I keep + good health. I am only embarrassed for the moment. I am + quite a lion here, and could figure in a way you would + hardly guess, if I were not such a man of tentacles. I am + not afraid of the cold--though it disheartens fancy a + little; but I shall leave fancy alone for a while. No, + Gooley, dear Gooley, I shall make my way in New York--don't + be afraid for me. + +He soon became convinced that I was right and finally resumed the +journey unwillingly. The end has justified the means and the sacrifices. +It is plain that the Japanese period and work crown his life-labours +splendidly, and that his masterful pictures of Japanese characters, +traditions, and religion now constitute one of our most precious +literary treasures. They have also been of profound service to Japan. + +When he left my home, he, of his own accord, asked me to care for his +library, then in the home of Mr. Alden at Metuchen, New Jersey, who two +years previously had consented to take charge of it, and had paid +shipping expenses, insurance, etc. None can imagine anything ungenerous +or unkind in Mr. Alden. An old Cincinnati acquaintance characterizes +Hearn's action in the matter as "a swindle." I have no knowledge or hint +how it was or could be of that nature. Hearn wrote all the letters, and +made all the arrangements to have the books sent to me. Mr. Alden +authorizes me to say: + +"I was perfectly convinced at the time of the transfer of the library to +Dr. Gould that he had no desire for its possession, and that the +transfer was made solely in accordance with Mr. Hearn's request. I am +quite sure that Dr. Gould fully explained the matter to me at the time. +I feel sure that Dr. Gould acted precisely as I should have done if I +had retained possession of the library; that is, readily giving it up to +any legitimate claimant." I found the books of no value to me, and they +surely have been an expense. I tried, later, to prevail upon Hearn to +allow me to ship them to him in Japan, but I never received any replies +to my letters. He asked for the catalogue, some of the old books, and +beside these, at his request, a number of expensive new books were at +various times bought and sent to him. I suspect that as there was not a +book on Japan in the collection, and as he had a plethora of data at +hand such as he wanted, the library gathered with so much love and +enthusiasm was no longer of use to him, especially under the conditions +of his life there. + +Hearn gained strength and power as regards both truth and art, in so far +as he was true to the better in himself; all his trouble and his +weakness were born out of the lower self he would not, or could not, +sacrifice. His worship of the blood-curdling and revolting gave him some +temporary vogue among the readers of yellow newspaperdom, but not until +that was renounced for the compromise of the "odd and ghostly" did he +begin to show an ability to reach something more worthy in human nature +than the degenerate reporter catered to. The next step in advance was +the cultivation of the artistic pornography of the sensualistic French +story-writer. Not until he renounced this did he once more come to the +something of more use to the reading world which fills the Martinique +epoch. His disinclination to go to Japan, I more than suspect, was owing +to a half consciousness that there was in that nation too much +civilization, too good character, and even too much religion to suit the +tastes which had been uppermost in motiving his past literary labours. +His going into utter, illogical, and absurd captivity to the atheistic +and materialistic philosophy of Herbert Spencer was a sorry sacrifice of +his nobler office and better destiny to the fate that relentlessly +dogged his footsteps. He was forced into all the humanity and +beneficence possible to him by Japanese restraint, art, and truth. His +cries of disillusion over the Japanese were largely the anger of the +semi-barbaric wanderer held by family ties, paternity, etc., when he +found himself prevented from again seeking the faraway tropical +pseudo-paradises of peoples but one remove from savagery. + +In the pre-Japanese periods only the lurid, the monstrous, the enormous, +only hot crime, and sexual passion, could excite his liveliest interest, +and all great literature was as much ignored as if it did not exist. +There is not a hint in all he did that he had read a line of the great +creators of literature,--the Greek dramatists, Dante, Goethe, +Shakespere, and a hundred more; he could not give time to read, much +less study them. His pretension of ability to teach English literature +was soon recognized even by the Japanese, and it is well that +over-zealous friends did not secure him a lectureship at Cornell +University. To be sure, he never had time to study even the history of +his own science and art,--but he never would have done so, it is plain, +if leisure and opportunity had been offered him. The ideal and the +rewards of scholarship never entered his mind. Perhaps it was best for +his peculiar office and proficiency that he allowed all erudition to go +unlooked-upon. And yet if he had been possessed of sufficient virility +and objectivity of mind to have learned the Japanese language, what +would the labour not have been worth? That he could not read a Japanese +book or newspaper after fourteen years of life among the people is most +disconcerting. It is a tribute to the amazing delicacy and receptiveness +of his mind that while he could not speak to his wife or children in +their own tongue, he should still have so accurately caught the Japanese +spirit and so admirably conveyed it to us. + +The history of Hearn's ghoulish pleasure in the gruesome and +sensualistic, runs from the tan-yard horror and Cincinnati reportorial +days, through the translated stories of the New Orleans epoch, to his +"St. Anthony." In "Stray Leaves" it is but little softened, and yet the +atmosphere is brightening. It glitters and flashes like vengeful +lightning about the clouds of his mind with the Martinique epoch, etc.; +but in the Japanese writing even the "Mountain of Skulls" and other +stories are so far removed from reality that our disgust sinks to a +smile of sighing wonder that the gruesome could still be so loved by +him. It is only a few of the brutal and a small brutalized public that +seeks such _contes drolatiques_ (without Balzac's wit, satire, and +power, of course), and so again perforce, Hearn was weaned from his +morbidities. Dominated by his developing art and also by the need to +sell his writings, he thus rose, partly by the command of his readers, +to the choice of less and less repulsive themes and methods, and, awed +by the Japanese spirit of gentleness and beauty, he finally endowed +their national soul-life with a prismatic glory which they themselves +had hardly suspected. + +Hearn deserted the god of religion, and, except in one respect, he was +faithless to the god of ethics. He was, therefore, without any divinity. +For a mind that had no creative ability, that _must_ have its _subjects_ +furnished to it, a mind whose sole function was to colour the data +chosen or given from without,--this inner emptiness could only be +deceived by but could not be satisfied with the inner emptiness of +Spencerism. He acknowledged that religion was the mother of all +civilization, arts, and laws, and that all social systems, arts, and +laws, antique or modern, were begotten and nurtured by ethics,--and yet +there was no reality in, no reason for the existence of either religion +or ethics in this world of mechanics and of fatalism, grim and +inexorable. + +Hearn speaks somewhere of his aspiration to be considered a "thinker," +and once he praises "science" as a source of data for working into the +art forms of his beloved poetic prose. But science to him was as +impossible as was he to polite society; Spencer gave him leave, he +thought, to consider his atheism, irreligion, and sensualisticism as +scientifically authorized, and logically justified. He was always +hankering after the old heathen, even savage, gods of his father and +mother; and every time he went Fantee with them, he came back to a saner +world weakened and still more at war with himself. He always sought an +impossible world where Teutonic worth and honour could supply a decadent +Latin, with half-savage languor and never failing delights of the senses +and of art,--art which, in the last analysis, was his only god. But his +tragedy was that he always hastened to turn his god into a fetich, while +even his mind caught disquieting glimpses of the awful truth that all +genuine worship abjures fetichism. As sensualism is the superstition of +love, so fetichistic art is the superstition of true æsthetics. + +For the most part, minds are mechanical not chemical compoundings, or if +chemic, they are in very unstable equilibrium. There are strange and +wayward traits, illogic and unfused to unity with the others. There may +be psychopathic and isolation wards in the psyche, "retreats," and all +manner of diseases of individual organs. Most people go Fantee, often or +seldom, and are able to hide their fetichisms from even their best +friends. If we observe ourselves at all, most of us wonder at the +curious mix of self-contradictories in ourselves. The few whose souls +and bodies are fused to clear-cut unity, the component metal melted to +harmony in the foundry of Fate and of Purpose,--these clang loyally in +absolute and precise tone-colour. In commoner folk the failure of the +flux, and the flaws in the casting, have only a social significance, but +with the Hearns, with thinkers and writers, the affair has an infinite +purport. + +Hearn could never make his writings and his art impulses square with his +beloved materialistic, deterministic philosophy. He did not believe in +soul or in souls, and yet his soul was always treating of souls, and +showing the invisible thread of continuity which links souls to Soul. +Therefore he is always happiest when his _daimon_ breaks from the +restraint of theory and fate and pictures the play of free spirit, of +soul unconquered by fate, of life victorious over death in some sad way +or bright. + +Concerning Hearn's treatment of friends, editors, and publishers, as it +bears sharply upon his literary character and productivity, as little as +may or must be said: He was under bonds to Fate to abuse worst the +majority of his friends who were most magnanimous, helpful, and kind to +him personally, or who were most discriminating and encouraging toward +his art and artistic ideals. To his former Cincinnati comrades, except +the old printer-friend, he scarcely ever wrote after he left them, and +the most faithful of these recently writes me: "I never pretended to be +a friend to him; I was merely one to whom he resorted when all the rest +cast him out. He never found me wanting, but he got few letters from me, +and none that were flattering." "I used to love Matas" are Hearn's +pitiful words. It is with sorrow and pain that we note the sudden +cessation in 1887 of the letters to Krehbiel. This noble friend had +drawn from Hearn a beautiful world of play and enduring memories, and +one may be more than sure that it was not Krehbiel who should be blamed. +Baker had been his most helpful and best friend, and yet for a fancied +wrong Hearn wrote him a letter filled with insult and ruffianism which a +gentleman could not answer, hardly forgive, and never forget. Did Hearn +know anybody of character in the West Indies? To the greatest of +American editors, the one who "discovered" him and introduced him to a +national and international audience, who treated him with a sweet and +gracious benignity, even after a shamelessness that is indescribable--to +this good man there is not a published letter, although many, and many +more, must exist. One day while at my house, Hearn rushed to his room, +seized the man's picture on the wall, tore it in a hundred pieces, and +danced and spat upon it in a furious rage. In subsequent letters to me +he explained his hatred--how he broke his engagements, how he borrowed +money from his loathed and insulted friend, how he got credit through +him from his tailor, etc. Gently the abused one bore it all and without +the least remonstrance, writing me, "Hearn has utterly cast me off; I +was loath to part with him." Professor Chamberlain and others kindly +explain the curious morbid psychology which Hearn had exhibited towards +them. To the last, love and trust breathed from Hearn's letters to me, +and yet I learn that to others long afterward he wrote of me with +bitterness and malevolent injustice. And yet he had written me after I +saw him for the last time, in this way: "Please don't write me at all, +or expect me to write, for some months. I do not need any money. I have +a good deal on my mind, and am apt, in consequence, to do very stupid or +very unkind things in an unlucky moment." And then he wrote: "No, dear +Gooley, I will never be indifferent to you! Never think that; I +understand better than you suppose. If I am silent at intervals, never +doubt me, dear teacher and brother; and you will find everything come +right." How often is the pathos of life sadly exaggerated by giving way +to foolish, needless, and degrading inherited instincts at the expense +of the higher life and usefulness! As to some who ludicrously boast of +the long continuance of an intimate friendship, there are many letters +of Hearn extant and unpublished which blow out that vanity with an +amusing smile. The matter, generally, might not have so real an +importance were it not that the publishing of literature has a vast deal +to do with literature, and, closely examined, Hearn's quarrels with +editors, publishers, and the public, is a matter that reaches out +astonishingly both as regards himself, his books, and the interest in +him, as well as beyond the question of Hearn or of any or all of his +friends. Until one silent man consents to speak--which may never be--the +discussion of the essence of the affair cannot be set forth in any +detail. Passages in Hearn's letters relating thereto should never have +been published, or a hundred other things should have been as frankly +published. When such publicity shall exist the reasons will be manifest +why one publisher destroyed an entire fresh edition of one book of +Hearn, why another acted differently, why one is praised or praises +himself, why others are blamed, why some are silent although a word +would end the injustice, etc. One phase may be noted in +passing:--Whatever Hearn's rights or wrongs as to the author's relations +with publishers and editors, it was beyond the ken of his mind that one +who may gloriously sacrifice all his own temporal blessings in striving +after artistic excellence, has no right to ask the same altruism of +those engaged in the publishing business. Hearn blamed the crude world, +and, for him, its representatives in the persons of editors and their +masters, the publishers, for wishing a certain kind of literature. As +well blame the bookseller for not sending the book you had not ordered. +He who deliberately chooses to give the world a literature he knows it +does not want, must accept the rejection and editing of his manuscripts, +and the absence of the world's cheques. He chose poverty and may not +abuse them who allowed his choice to be realized. It is sad enough, but +it is more than childish to grumble, more than ignoble to rail. + +The search for "inspiration," as he called it, was with Hearn constant +and lifelong. Thus, early in his career, he wrote to his friend, Dr. +Matas: + + So I wait for the poet's Pentecost--the inspiration of + Nature--the descent of the Tongues of Fire. And I think + they will come when the wild skies brighten, and the sun of + the Mexican Gulf reappears for his worshippers--with hymns + of wind and sea, and the prayers of birds. When one becomes + bathed in this azure and gold air--saturated with the + perfume of the sea, he can't help writing _something_. And + he cannot help feeling a new sense of being. The Soul of + the Sea mingles with his own, is breathed into him: the + Spirit that moveth over the deep is the Creator + indeed--vivifying, illuminating, strengthening. I really + feel his Religion--the sense of awe that comes to one in + some great silent temple. You would feel it too under this + eternal vault of blue, when the weird old Sea is touching + the keys of his mighty organ.... + +And again he wrote: + + I think I _must_ get inspiration. The real secret of art is + feeling. The highest form of that feeling is that which the + splendour of Nature gives--the thrill and awe of terrible + beauty. This is that inexplicable communication of the + mind with the Unknowable that has created the religious + sense. Said a friend to me yesterday, who is not a + believer:--"I stood in the Alps at sunrise, and I knew what + religion meant." And I think that passage in Wilson on + Fetichism superb where he says that the sight of the + splendid sky first created the religious sense. Terribly + perverted this sense has been, no doubt; but it belongs, I + fancy, to those things which are eternal, and will have + many a glorious avatar before our planet floats off into + the cemetery of dead worlds. It is, I believe, the most + powerful possible motive for true modern poetry--in harmony + with science and scientific faith; and that is what I am + going to look for. + +Such quotations could be multiplied indefinitely, but toward the end +they become begging, and moaning in character. The "inspiration" is +diligently hunted, hungrily waited for; at last the failure in its +coming grows pitiful and tragic. For what is inspiration? If, with the +fatal fashion of our fashionable fatalism, we think "we have outgrown +all that," all that which was real and genuine inspiring, we at least +cannot outgrow that which bred the belief in the inspiring, the trust in +spirit and in spiritual truths and forces. Is it all primitive +childishness, this faith in a real breathing-in of the higher life into +our more carnal hearts and minds? Far from it! It is the veriest of +verities, and the _deniers_ of the conditions of inspiration dry up the +springs of that "inspiration" which they so hungrily seek. The semblance +cannot be without the reality. It will not come, lasting and +inexhaustible, by any trick of literary technic. Out of the light of +common day is not born that which never was on any sea or shore. Place, +time, circumstance, are not, as Hearn thought, the gods of +"Inspiration." "The wind bloweth where it listeth," and even a heathen +god would hardly visit the altar with his sacred fire if the priests +mocked at the power and the very existence of the deity. It is most +plain that Hearn early and zealously studied the Bible--hundreds of +allusions bear witness of the fact--and that he learned from it the +revivification of words, the use of phrase, metaphor, belief, something +of the art of reaching in toward the depths of men's moral and religious +nature and experience: but all, just so evidently, as a literary art, a +_tour de force_, the skill of the expert workman, handling them as +symbols for the sake of the skill, while smiling scornfully at any +belief in their reality. Language is the most spirit-like creation of +man's mind, the thing nearest him, woven out of his own soul-substance, +instinct with his life, haunted with his love, his hate, his suffering. +Playing with words, using them as art-stuff, regardless of the +experience and love and suffering which gave them conceiving and gives +them quickening, is likely to bring upon the artist a sad revenge. +Pleading in vain for "inspiration," Hearn died a score or more of years +before he should have died. + +It should be emphasized that Hearn had but one possible way, chosen or +compelled, to make a living. His terrible myopia shut him out from every +calling except that of a writer. Moreover, leaving aside the danger to +his little vision from so much ocular labour, he had other and almost +insurmountable handicaps as a poet or maker of literature: He had no +original thing to say, for he was entirely without creative power, and +had always to borrow theme and plot. Then he had never seen form, knew +almost nothing of it as it exists out there, so that his sole technic +was that of a colourist, and also to endow our dead and dying words with +life--a "ghostly" life it was, and as he chose it to be--but living it +assuredly was. That he over-coloured his pictures, that he +over-sensualized his words, of this there is no question--but monotones +and senescents that we are, let us not smile too superciliously! Let us +learn; and above all let us enjoy! + +For, his alone was the palette of the painter of the afterglow of +Earth's last sunset. And his the unique miracle of clothing with the +hues of a hopeless rainbow, the faint reverberations of bells far sunk +in the wreck and wrack of ruined centuries; of reintoning the prayers of +Nirvâna-entering souls; of remoaning dear ancient and expiring griefs; +of seeing with shut eyes the sad smiles of never-answered loves and +never-meeting lovers. With him, hushed, we hearken to Muezzin Bilâl's +call from his tower, to the broken sobs of a dancing-girl's passion, or +to the plaintive beggings of dying babes for the cold breasts of dead +mothers. + + + + +CHAPTER VII.--"IN GHOSTLY JAPAN" + +PERHAPS I should not have succeeded in getting Hearn to attempt Japan +had it not been for a little book that fell into his hands during the +stay with me. Beyond question, Mr. Lowell's volume had a profound +influence in turning his attention to Japan and greatly aided me in my +insistent urging him to go there. In sending the book Hearn wrote me +this letter: + + Gooley!--I have found a marvellous book,--a book of + books!--a colossal, splendid, godlike book. You must read + every line of it. Tell me how I can send it. For heaven's + sake don't skip a word of it. The book is called "The Soul + of the Far East," but its title is smaller than its + imprint. + HEARNEYBOY. + + P.S.--Let something else go to H--, and read this book + instead. May God eternally bless and infinitely personalize + the man who wrote this book! Please don't skip one solitary + line of it, and don't delay reading it,--because something, + much! is going to go out of this book into your heart and + life and stay there! I have just finished this book and feel + like John in Patmos,--only a d----d sight better. He who + shall skip one word of this book let his portion be cut off + and his name blotted out of the Book of Life.[13] + + [13] Mr. Percival Lowell's book soon reached me + containing the inscription: "To George M. Gould, + with best love of his spiritual pupil, L. H." I + have intentionally retained colloquialisms in + these excerpts, the indications of our familiarity, + etc., to give a glimpse into the heart of the + affectionate and sweet-natured man. + +There is not much to say about the Japanese period. The splendid books +speak for themselves. There is little in the almost valueless letters +that interest the literature-lover and give him concern about the +literature-maker. There is one short page[14] which is worth the +remainder of the book. The development of inborn characteristics goes +on, despite the grafted soul, almost as fatalistically as Hearn would +have wished, and in this instance in accordance with his theory of the +unalterability of character. But this period is of surpassing interest +solely because of the beautiful books and articles written. To analyze +them is both impossible and undesirable. They are for our enjoyment, and +after us generations will be delighted by them. + + [14] _Life and Letters_, Vol. II, pp. 337 and 338. + +Hearn's views and practices as regards love and the feminine are not of +sympathetic interest to those who think that monogamy is good and +advisable. He hopes his son will not follow in his father's footsteps as +regards every damozel in his path, and in this respect become the +"disgraceful person he [the father] used to be." He "half suspects" the +Oriental husband is right in loving his wife least of all others related +to or dependent upon him, and quotes approvingly unquotable things about +the laws of (sexual) nature, managing, _more suo_, to make beautiful the +pursuit of beauty "in vain." Than the other, the woman-beauty of soul is +the lesser. "It doesn't make a man any happier to have an intellectual +wife. The less intellectual the more lovable,--for intellectual converse +a man _can't_ have with women." When contemplating legal marriage with +"his wife" in 1892, he calculates shrewdly the advantages of the plan. +He arrived in Japan in 1890 and in less than two years "my little wife +and I have saved nearly 2,000 Japanese dollars between us." When he has +made her independent he will quit teaching, and "wander about awhile and +write 'sketches' at $10.00 per page." In 1893 he found difficulties in +registering the birth of his son. Hearn was still a British subject. If +the boy should be a Japanese citizen, the registry must be in the +mother's name; if in the father's name, he would become a foreigner. To +become a Japanese citizen would mean for Hearn a great reduction in his +salary as a teacher under Government pay. "Why was I so foolish as to +have a son?" "Really _I_ don't know." In 1895 he "cuts the puzzle" by +becoming a Japanese citizen, "losing all chance of Government employment +at a living salary." Immediately Hearn "hopes to see a United Orient yet +bound into one strong alliance against our cruel Western Civilization," +"against what is called Society and what is called Civilization." + +For those who boasted of being his friends, it seems an astonishing +thing that they should make Hearn portray his vices, his moral +nakedness, so publicly. Of course he did not dream of the _exposé_. It +is to his merit, however, that he would place the truth boldly and +baldly before his friends. He confesses that the scandalous parts of a +book are what he likes best, that he is "a Fraud," "a vile Latin," +etc.,--"_Vive le monde antique!_" He is "_not respectable_." +"Carpets--pianos--windows--curtains--brass bands--churches! how I hate +them!! Would I had been born savage; the curse of civilized cities is +upon me." He admits that he "cannot understand the moral side, of +course," and urges that "the most serious necessity of life is not to +take the moral side of it seriously. We must play with it, as with an +_hetaira_." It is needless to add that in this composition and resolve +lay Hearn's weakness, his tragedy, and his missing of "greatness." A man +so willed must finally see that it is the source of pitiful +instabilities and waywardness. "I have been at heart everything by +turns." He learns the old trick of blaming "Fate" and "the other +fellow;" he is hard-pushed, ignored, starved, morally humiliated:--"the +less a man has to do with his fellow-men the better;" "it becomes plain +why men cannot be good to one another;" character may not be bettered or +changed; "no line exists between life and not-life;" "likes and dislikes +never depart;" if Spanish, Italian, or French (instead of English, +German, or American) he "can be at home with a villain," etc. Finally +there comes that burst of frankness:--"I have more smallness in me than +you can suspect. How could it be otherwise! If a man lives like a rat +for twenty or twenty-five years, he must have acquired something of the +disposition peculiar to house-rodents,--mustn't he?" Then increase the +complaints of "treachery," the wish for "justice," the desire to go +away, somewhere, anywhere; and the limit of the amazing is reached in +praising _The Conservator_ and _The Whim_ for bravery and goodness, and +in hating Virchow thoroughly. Was Virchow so loathsome because this +great scientist found an impassable demarcation between life and the +not-life?--"all cells are derived from cells." Is it surprising that his +old imagined enemies, the Jesuits, are believed to be hidden in every +place, lurking to thwart every ambition or success, even to kill +him?[15] + + [15] Those who care may see how this suspicion obfuscates his + mind in an article against some of Hearn's statements, by + Henry Thurston, in _The Messenger_, January 1906. + +No man is wholly bad who loves children, none wholly good who does not +love them. In a nation of child-lovers, as Hearn's Japanese writings +bear witness, he began to catch glimpses of truth hitherto unrecognized. +Concerning his eldest son (a fourth child was expected in 1903) Hearn +wrote: "No man can possibly know what life means until he has a child +and loves it. And then the whole Universe changes,--and nothing will +ever again seem exactly as it seemed before." Naturally he was drawn to +the rich child-lore and fairy tales of Japan. With great difficulty I +have secured copies of a number of fairy stories edited by him and +published in Japan by T. Hasegawa, Tôkyô, in a style beautiful and +dainty beyond superlatives. As mine are probably the only ones in our +country, I have ventured to copy herewith two of the tales:-- + + THE OLD WOMAN WHO LOST HER DUMPLING + + Long, long ago, there was a funny old woman, who liked to + laugh and to make dumplings of rice-flour. + + One day, while she was preparing some dumplings for dinner, + she let one fall; and it rolled into a hole in the earthen + floor of her little kitchen and disappeared. The old woman + tried to reach it by putting her hand down the hole, and + all at once the earth gave way, and the old woman fell in. + + She fell quite a distance, but was not a bit hurt; and when + she got up on her feet again, she saw that she was standing + on a road, just like the road before her house. It was quite + light down there; and she could see plenty of rice-fields, + but no one in them. How all this happened, I cannot tell + you. But it seems that the old woman had fallen into another + country. + + The road she had fallen upon sloped very much; so, after + having looked for her dumpling in vain, she thought it must + have rolled farther away down the slope. She ran down the + road to look, crying: + + "My dumpling, my dumpling! Where is that dumpling of mine?" + + After a little while she saw a stone Jizo standing by the + roadside, and she said: + + "O Lord Jizo, did you see my dumpling?" + + Jizo answered: + + "Yes, I saw your dumpling rolling by me down the road. But + you had better not go any farther, because there is a wicked + Oni living down there, who eats people." + + But the old woman only laughed, and ran on farther down the + road, crying: "My dumpling, my dumpling! Where is that + dumpling of mine?" And she came to another statue of Jizo, + and asked it: + + "O kind Lord Jizo, did you see my dumpling?" + + And Jizo said: + + "Yes, I saw your dumpling go by a little while ago. But you + must not run any farther, because there is a wicked Oni down + there, who eats people." + + But she only laughed, and ran on, still crying out: "My + dumpling, my dumpling! Where is that dumpling of mine?" And + she came to a third Jizo, and asked it: + + "O dear Lord Jizo, did you see my dumpling?" + + But Jizo said: + + "Don't talk about your dumpling now. Here is the Oni coming. + Squat down here behind my sleeve, and don't make any noise." + + Presently the Oni came very close, and stopped and bowed to + Jizo, and said: + + "Good-day, Jizo San!" + + Jizo said good-day, too, very politely. + + Then the Oni suddenly snuffed the air two or three times in + a suspicious way, and cried out: "Jizo San, Jizo San! I + smell a smell of mankind somewhere--don't you?" + + "Oh!" said Jizo, "perhaps you are mistaken." + + "No, no!" said the Oni, after snuffing the air again, "I + smell a smell of mankind." + + Then the old woman could not help laughing, "Te-he-he!"--and + the Oni immediately reached down his big hairy hand behind + Jizo's sleeve, and pulled her out,--still laughing, + "Te-he-he!" + + "Ah! ha!" cried the Oni. + + Then Jizo said: + + "What are you going to do with that good old woman? You must + not hurt her." + + "I won't," said the Oni. "But I will take her home with me + to cook for us." + + "Very well," said Jizo; "but you must really be kind to her. + If you are not I shall be very angry." + + "I won't hurt her at all," promised the Oni; "and she will + only have to do a little work for us every day. Good-bye, + Jizo San." + + Then the Oni took the old woman far down the road, till they + came to a wide deep river, where there was a boat, and took + her across the river to his house. It was a very large + house. He led her at once into the kitchen, and told her to + cook some dinner for himself and the other Oni who lived + with him. And he gave her a small wooden rice-paddle, and + said: + + "You must always put only one grain of rice into the pot, + and when you stir that one grain of rice in the water with + this paddle, the grain will multiply until the pot is full." + + So the old woman put just one rice-grain into the pot, as + the Oni told her, and began to stir it with the paddle; and, + as she stirred, the one grain became two,--then four,--then + eight,--then sixteen,--thirty-two, sixty-four, and so on. + Every time she moved the paddle the rice increased in + quantity; and in a few minutes the great pot was full. + + After that, the funny old woman stayed a long time in the + house of the Oni, and every day cooked food for him and for + all his friends. The Oni never hurt or frightened her, and + her work was made quite easy by the magic paddle--although + she had to cook a very, very great quantity of rice, because + an Oni eats much more than any human being eats. + + But she felt lonely, and always wished very much to go back + to her own little house, and make her dumplings. And one + day, when the Oni were all out somewhere, she thought she + would try to run away. + + She first took the magic paddle, and slipped it under her + girdle; and then she went down to the river. No one saw her; + and the boat was there. She got into it, and pushed off; and + as she could row very well, she was soon far away from the + shore. + + But the river was very wide; and she had not rowed more than + one-fourth of the way across, when the Oni, all of them, + came back to the house. + + They found that their cook was gone, and the magic paddle + too. They ran down to the river at once, and saw the old + woman rowing away very fast. + + Perhaps they could not swim: at all events they had no boat; + and they thought the only way they could catch the funny old + woman would be to drink up all the water of the river before + she got to the other bank. So they knelt down, and began to + drink so fast that before the old woman was half way over, + the water had become quite low. + + But the old woman kept on rowing until the water had got so + shallow that the Oni stopped drinking, and began to wade + across. Then she dropped her oar, took the magic paddle from + her girdle, and shook it at the Oni, and made such funny + faces that the Oni all burst out laughing. + + But the moment they laughed, they could not help throwing up + all the water they had drunk, and so the river became full + again. The Oni could not cross; and the funny old woman got + safely over to the other side, and ran away up the road as + fast as she could. + + She never stopped running until she found herself at home + again. After that she was very happy; for she could make + dumplings whenever she pleased. Besides, she had the magic + paddle to make rice for her. She sold her dumplings to her + neighbours and passengers, and in quite a short time she + became rich. + + THE BOY WHO DREW CATS + + A long, long time ago, in a small country-village in Japan, + there lived a poor farmer and his wife, who were very good + people. They had a number of children, and found it very + hard to feed them all. The elder son was strong enough when + only fourteen years old to help his father; and the little + girls learned to help their mother almost as soon as they + could walk. + + But the youngest child, a little boy, did not seem to be fit + for hard work. He was very clever,--cleverer than all his + brothers and sisters; but he was quite weak and small, and + people said he could never grow very big. So his parents + thought it would be better for him to become a priest than + to become a farmer. They took him with them to the + village-temple one day, and asked the good old priest who + lived there, if he would have their little boy for his + acolyte, and teach him all that a priest ought to know. + + The old man spoke kindly to the lad, and asked him some hard + questions. So clever were the answers that the priest agreed + to take the little fellow into the temple as an acolyte, and + to educate him for the priesthood. + + The boy learned quickly what the old priest taught him, and + was very obedient in most things. But he had one fault. He + liked to draw cats during study-hours, and to draw cats even + when cats ought not to have been drawn at all. + + Whenever he found himself alone, he drew cats. He drew them + on the margins of the priest's books, and on all the screens + of the temple, and on the walls, and on the pillars. Several + times the priest told him this was not right; but he did not + stop drawing cats. He drew them because he could not really + help it. He had what is called "the genius of an artist," + and just for that reason he was not quite fit to be an + acolyte;--a good acolyte should study books. + + One day after he had drawn some very clever pictures of cats + upon a paper screen, the old priest said to him severely: + "My boy, you must go away from this temple at once. You will + never make a good priest, but perhaps you will become a + great artist. Now let me give you a last piece of advice, + and be sure you never forget it: 'Avoid large places at + night;--keep to small.'" + + The boy did not know what the priest meant by saying, "Avoid + large places,--keep to small." He thought and thought, while + he was tying up his little bundle of clothes to go away; but + he could not understand those words, and he was afraid to + speak to the priest any more, except to say good-bye. + + He left the temple very sorrowfully, and began to wonder + what he should do. If he went straight home, he felt sure + his father would punish him for having been disobedient to + the priest: so he was afraid to go home. All at once he + remembered that at the next village, twelve miles away, + there was a very big temple. He had heard there were several + priests at that temple; and he made up his mind to go to + them and ask them to take him for their acolyte. + + Now that big temple was closed up, but the boy did not know + this fact. The reason it had been closed up was that a + goblin had frightened the priests away, and had taken + possession of the place. Some brave warriors had afterwards + gone to the temple at night to kill the goblin; but they had + never been seen alive again. Nobody had ever told these + things to the boy; so he walked all the way to the village, + hoping to be kindly treated by the priests. + + When he got to the village, it was already dark, and all the + people were in bed; but he saw the big temple on a hill at + the other end of the principal street, and he saw there was + a light in the temple. People who tell the story say the + goblin used to make that light, in order to tempt lonely + travellers to ask for shelter. The boy went at once to the + temple, and knocked. There was no sound inside. He knocked + and knocked again; but still nobody came. At last he pushed + gently at the door, and was quite glad to find that it had + not been fastened. So he went in, and saw a lamp + burning,--but no priest. + + He thought some priest would be sure to come very soon, and + he sat down and waited. Then he noticed that everything in + the temple was grey with dust, and thickly spun over with + cobwebs. So he thought to himself that the priests would + certainly like to have an acolyte, to keep the place clean. + He wondered why they had allowed everything to get so dusty. + What most pleased him, however, were some big white screens, + good to paint cats upon. Though he was tired, he looked at + once for a writing-box, and found one, ground some ink, and + began to paint cats. + + He painted a great many cats upon the screens; and then he + began to feel very, very sleepy. He was just on the point of + lying down to sleep beside one of the screens, when he + suddenly remembered the words: "Avoid large places;--keep to + small." + + The temple was very large; he was all alone; and as he + thought of these words--though he could not quite understand + them--he began to feel for the first time a little afraid; + and he resolved to look for a small place in which to sleep. + He found a little cabinet, with a sliding door, and went + into it, and shut himself up. Then he lay down and fell fast + asleep. + + Very late in the night he was awakened by a most terrible + noise,--a noise of fighting and screaming. It was so + dreadful that he was afraid even to look through a chink of + the little cabinet: he lay very still, holding his breath + for fright. + + The light that had been in the temple went out; but the + awful sounds continued, and became more awful, and all the + temple shook. After a long time silence came; but the boy + was still afraid to move. He did not move until the light of + the morning sun shone into the cabinet through the chinks of + the little door. + + Then he got out of his hiding-place very cautiously, and + looked about. The first thing he saw, lying dead in the + middle of it, an enormous monster rat,--a + goblin-rat,--bigger than a cow! + + But who or what could have killed it? There was no man or + other creature to be seen. Suddenly the boy observed that + the mouths of all the cats he had drawn the night before, + were red and wet with blood. Then he knew that the goblin + had been killed by the cats which he had drawn. And then, + also, for the first time, he understood why the wise old + priest had said to him: "Avoid large places at night;--keep + to small." + + Afterwards that boy became a very famous artist. Some of the + cats which he drew are still shown to travellers in Japan. + +At once upon reaching Japan (it is plain Hearn never forgave me for +compelling him to go) begin the complaints of the downright hard work of +writing, consequent upon the loss of ideals. He breaks with +publishers--an old-time story; he is losing his inspiration, and his +only hope is that it will return to him again; in any Latin country he +could at once, he thinks, get back the much coveted "thrill," or +_frisson_. He would at last even relish the hated United States. From +the beginning he tires of the Japanese character, and grows more and +more tired the longer he stays; it has no depth, this thin soul-stream; +it is incapable of long-sustained effort, prolonged study; he cannot +much longer endure Japanese officialism; and the official "is something +a good deal lower than a savage and meaner than the straight-out Western +rough." He would wish never to write a line again about any Japanese +subjects. Things finally came to such a pass that the only successful +stimulus to work was that some one should do or say something horribly +mean to him, and the force of the hurt could be measured in the months +or years of resultant labour. As none ever did a mean thing to him, one +may suspect that the psychology of his sudden enmities towards others +was that he must perforce _imagine_ that he had been "horribly" treated. + +The old _Wanderlust_, never wholly absent, returns strongly upon him; in +less than a year he dreams of leaving Japan and his wife, and of +"wandering about awhile;" he projects "a syndicate" whereby he may go to +Java (rather than Manila, where the Jesuits were), or, "a French +colony,--Tonkin, Noumea, or Pondicherry." A tropical trip is planned for +six months of every year. But the "butterfly-lives" dependent upon him +prevent, of course. He always spoke of returning often. At the last +there is a savage growl that after thirteen years of work for Japan, in +which he had sacrificed everything for her, he was "driven out of the +service and practically banished from the country." + +Hearn's nostalgia for the nowhere or the anywhere was only conquered by +death. In 1898 the logic of his life, of his misfortune, and character, +begins to grow plainer, and he "fears being blinded or maimed so as to +prove of no further use." It seems that if he had been able to do what +he tried so often, and longed so fervently to do, he would have run away +into the known or unknown, leaving children, wife, and all the ties that +bound him to any orderly life. His vision had become almost useless; he +had lost his lectureship; more and more it grew impossible to coax or +force out of his mind such beautiful things as in younger days; the +Furies of his atheism, pessimism, and lovelessness were close on his +track; the hope of lectureships in the United States had +failed,--nothing was left, nothing except one thing, which, chosen or +not, came at the age of fifty-four. + +Lessing has said that "Raphael would have been the great painter he was +even if he had been born without arms," and Burke has told of a poet +"blind from birth who nevertheless could describe visible objects with a +spirit and justness excelled by few men blessed with sight." What irony +of Fate it is that one almost blind should teach us non-users of our +eyes the wonder and glory of colour; that the irreligious one should +quicken our faith in the immaterial and unseen; that a sensualist should +strengthen our trust in the supersensual; that one whose body and life +were unbeautiful should sing such exquisite songs of silent beauty that +our straining ears can hardly catch the subtle and unearthly harmonies! +For Hearn is another of many splendid illustrations of the old truth +that a man's spirit may be more philosophic than his philosophy, more +scientific than his science, more religious than his creed, more divine +than his divinity. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII.--AS A POET + + +THAT Hearn was a true poet none will deny, but it was one of the +frequent seeming illogicalities of his character that he had no love of +metric or rhymed poetry. I doubt if there is a single volume of such +poetry in his library, and I never heard him repeat a line or stanza, +and never knew him to read a page of what is called poetry. I suspect +the simple reason was that his necessities compelled him rigidly to +exclude everything from his world of thought which did not offer +materials for the remunerating public. He had to make a living, and +whence tomorrow's income should come was always a vital concern. Poetry +of the metric and rhymed sort does not make bread and butter; hence +there was no time to consider even the possibility of "cultivating the +muses on a little oatmeal." + +Of poetry he once wrote:--"The mere ideas and melody of a poem seem to +me of small moment unless the complex laws of versification be strictly +obeyed." The dictum, considering its source, is exquisitely ludicrous; +for Hearn poetry could not be coined into dollars, even if he had had +the mind and heart to learn anything of "the complex laws of +versification." Elsewhere he excused his manifest utter ignorance of +poetry and want of poetic appreciation by saying that there is so little +really good poetry that it is easy to choose. He confessed his +detestation of Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats, preferring Dobson, +Watson, and Lang. "Of Wordsworth--well, I should smile!" "Refined +poetry" he held of little or no value, but he found the "vulgar" songs +of coolies, fishermen, etc., very true and beautiful poetry. He vainly +tried to translate some of Gautier's poems. He attempted original +verse-making but a few times, and from my scrap-book I reproduce one of +the results, kindly furnished me by Mr. Alexander Hill, of Cincinnati, +to whom it was given by Mr. Tunison. Perhaps it was printed in _Forest +and Stream_. + + + A CREOLE BOAT SONG + + Hot shines the sun o'er the quivering land, + No wind comes up from the sea, + Silent and stark the pine woods stand, + And the mock-bird sleeps in the Mayhaw tree, + Where, overhung with brier and vine, + The placid waters slip and shine + And dimple to thy lover's view-- + La belle rivière de Calcasieu. + + Under the bending cypress trees, + Bedecked with pendulous cool grey moss + That woos in vain the recreant breeze + And silently mourns its loss. + With drowsy eye, in my little boat + I dreamily lie, and lazily float + Lulled by the thrush's soft Te-rue-- + On La belle rivière de Calcasieu. + + A heron stands, like a ghost in grey, + Knee-deep 'mongst the bending water lilies, + And yellow butterflies lightly play + 'Midst the blooms of fragrant amaryllis; + The swift kingfisher winds his reel, + Saying his grace for his noonday meal, + And a hawk soars up to the welkin blue + O'er La belle rivière de Calcasieu. + + Across the point, where the ferry plies, + I hear the click of the boatman's oar, + And his Creole song, with its quavering rise + Re-echoes soft from shore to shore; + And this is the rhyme that he idly sings + As his boat at anchor lazily swings, + For the day is hot, and passers few + On La belle rivière de Calcasieu. + + "I ain't got time for make merry, me + I ain't got time for make merry; + My lill' gall waitin' at de River of Death + To meet her ole dad at de ferry. + She gwine be dere wid de smile on her face, + Like the night she died, when all de place + Was lit by the moonbeams shiverin' troo + La belle rivière de Calcasieu. + + "O sing dat song! O sing dat song! + I ain't got time for make merry! + De angel come 'fore berry long, + And carr' me o'er de ferry! + He come wid de whirlwind in de night-- + He come wid de streak of de morning light-- + He find me ready--yass, dass true-- + By La belle rivière de Calcasieu. + + "Den who got time for make merry, eh? + Den who got time for make merry? + De fire burn up de light 'ood tree, + De bird eat up de berry. + Long time ago I make Voudoo, + An' I dance Calinda strong and true, + But de Lord he pierce me troo and troo + On La belle rivière de Calcasieu." + + +In the Watkin letters, Hearn transcribes a poem of six stanzas written +by himself for the decoration of the soldiers' graves at Chalmette +Cemetery in 1878. + +Far more successful, for obvious reasons, was an attempt at echoing a +bit of Eastern fancy. A strange, gruesome, Oriental being had caught his +eye at New Orleans, who translated for him some characteristic Eastern +verses. Hearn thus rendered them in English:[16] + + [16] From Hearn's manuscript copy through the kindness again of + Mr. Tunison and Mr. Hill. + + THE RUSE + + From _Amaron Satacum_ + + Late at night the lover returns unlooked-for, + Full of longing, after that cruel absence;-- + Finds his darling by her women surrounded; + Enters among them:-- + + Only sees his beautiful one, his idol, + Speaks no word, but watches her face in silence, + Looks with eyes of thirst and with lips of fever + Burning for kisses. + + Late it is; and, nevertheless, the women, + Still remaining, weary his ears with laughter, + Prattling folly, tantalizing his longing-- + Teasing his patience. + + Love weaves ruse in answer to gaze beseeching;-- + Shrill she screams: "O heaven!--What insect stings so!" + And with sudden waft of her robe outshaken, + Blows the vile light out. + +I find the following verses in his scrap-book of the New Orleans +period:[17] + + [17] Dated July 11, 1885. + + THE MUMMY + + (After the French of Louis Bouilhet) + + Startled,--as by some far faint din + Of azure-lighted worlds, from sleep, + The Mummy, trembling, wakes within + The hypogeum's blackest deep,-- + + And murmurs low, with slow sad voice: + "Oh! to be dead and still endure!-- + Well may the quivering flesh rejoice + That feels the vulture's gripe impure! + + "Seeking to enter this night of death, + Each element knocks at my granite door:-- + 'We are Earth and Fire and Air,--the breath + Of Winds,--the Spirits of sea and shore. + + "'Into the azure, out of the gloom, + Rise!--let thine atoms in light disperse!-- + Blend with the date-palm's emerald plume!-- + Scatter thyself through the universe! + + "'We shall bear thee far over waste and wold: + Thou shalt be lulled to joyous sleep + By leaves that whisper in light of gold, + By murmur of fountains cool and deep. + + "'Come!--perchance from thy dungeon dark + Infinite Nature may wish to gain + For the godlike Sun another spark, + Another drop for the diamond rain.' + + * * * * * + + "Woe! mine is death eternal! ... and + I feel Them come, as I lie alone,-- + The Centuries, heavy as drifted sand + Heaping above my bed of stone! + + "O be accursed, ye impious race!-- + Caging the creature that seeks to soar; + Preserving agony's weird grimace, + In hideous vanity, evermore!" + + * * * * * + + Aux bruits lointains ouvrant l'oreille, + Jalouse encor du ciel d'azur, + La momie en tremblant s'éveille + Au fond de l'hypogée obscur. + + Oh, dit-elle, de sa voix lente, + Etre mort, et durer toujours. + Heureuse la chaire pantelante + Sous l'ongle courbé des vautours. + + Pour plonger dans ma nuit profonde + Chaque element frappe en ce lieu. + --Nous sommes L'air! nous sommes l'onde! + Nous sommes la terre et le feu! + + Viens avec nous, le steppe aride + Veut son panache d'arbres verts, + Viens sous l'azur du ciel splendide, + T'éparpiller dans l'univers. + + Nous t'emporterons par les plaines + Nous te bercerons à la fois + Dans le murmure des fontaines + Et la bruissement des bois. + + Viens. La nature universelle + Cherche peut-être en ce tombeau + Pour de soleil une étincelle! + Pour la mer une goutte d'eau! + + * * * * * + + Et dans ma tombe impérissable + Je sens venir avec affroi + Les siècles lourds comme du sable + Qui s'amoncelle autour de moi. + + Ah! sois maudite, race impie, + Qui le l'être arrêtant l'essor + Gardes ta laideur assoupie + Dans la vanité de la mort. + +In one of Hearn's letters to the Cincinnati _Commercial_, written soon +after his arrival in New Orleans, he writes: + + Here is a specimen closely akin to the Creole of the + Antilles. It is said to be an old negro love-song, and I + think there is a peculiar weird beauty in several of its + stanzas. I feel much inclined to doubt whether it was + composed by a negro, but the question of its authorship + cannot affect its value as a curiosity, and, in any case, + its spirit is thoroughly African. Unfortunately, without + accented letters it is impossible to convey any idea of the + melody, the liquid softness, the languor, of some of the + couplets. My translation is a little free in parts. + + I + + Dipi me vouer toue, Adèle, + Ape danse calinda, + Mo reste pour toue fidèle, + Liberte a moin caba. + Mo pas soussi d'autt negresses, + Mo pas gagnin coeur pour yo; + Yo gagnin beaucoup finesses; + Yo semble serpent Congo. + + II + + Mo aime toue trop, ma belle, + Mo pas capab resiste; + Coeur a moin tout comme sauterelle, + Li fait ne qu'appe saute. + Mo jamin contre gnoun femme + Qui gagnin belle taille comme toue; + Jie a ton jete la flamme; + Corps a toue enchene moue. + + III + + To tant comme serpent sonnette + Qui connin charme zozo, + Qui gagnin bouche a li prette + Pour servi comme gnoun tombo. + + Mo jamin voue gnoun negresse + Qui connin marche comme toue, + Qui gagnin gnoun si belle gesse; + Corps a toue ce gnoun poupe. + + IV + + Quand mo pas vouer toue, Adèle, + Mo sentt m'ane mourri, + Mo vini com' gnoun chandelle + Qui ape alle fini: + Mo pas vouer rien sur la terre + Qui capab moin fait plaisi; + Mo capab dans la rivière + Jete moin pour pas souffri. + + V + + Dis moin si to gagnin n'homme; + Mo va fals ouanga pour li; + Mo fais li tourne fantome, + Si to vle moin pour mari. + Mo pas le in jour toue boudeuse; + L'autt femme, pour moin ce fatras; + Mo va rende toue bien heureuse; + Mo va baill' toue bell' madras. + + TRANSLATION + + I + + Since first I beheld you, Adèle, + While dancing the _calinda_, + I have remained faithful to the thought of you: + My freedom has departed from me. + I care no longer for all other negresses; + I have no heart left for them: + You have such grace and cunning: + You are like the Congo serpent. + + II + + I love you too much, my beautiful one: + I am not able to help it. + My heart has become just like a grasshopper, + It does nothing but leap. + I have never met any woman + Who has so beautiful a form as yours. + Your eyes flash flame; + Your body has enchained me captive. + + III + + Ah, you are so like the serpent-of-the-rattles + Who knows how to charm the little bird, + And who has a mouth ever ready for it + To serve it for a tomb! + I have never known any negress + Who could walk with such grace as you can, + Or who could make such beautiful gestures: + Your body is a beautiful doll. + + IV + + When I cannot see you, Adèle, + I feel myself ready to die; + My life becomes like a candle + Which has almost burned itself out. + I cannot, then, find anything in the world, + Which is able to give me pleasure;-- + I could well go down to the river + And throw myself in it that I might cease to suffer. + + V + + Tell me if you have a man; + And I will make an _ouanga_ charm for him; + I will make him turn into a phantom, + If you will only take me for your husband. + I will not go to see you when you are cross; + Other women are mere trash to me; + I will make you very happy, + And I will give you a beautiful Madras handkerchief. + +I think there is some true poetry in these allusions to the snake. Is +not the serpent a symbol of grace? Is not the so-called "line of beauty" +serpentine? And is there not something of the serpent in the beauty of +all graceful women?--something of undulating shapeliness, something of +silent fascination?--something of Lilith and Lamia? The French have a +beautiful verb expressive of this idea, _serpenter_, "to serpent"--to +curve in changing undulations like a lithe snake. The French artist +speaks of the outlines of a beautiful human body as "serpenting," +curving and winding like a serpent. Do you not like the word? I think it +is so expressive of flowing lines of elegance--so full of that mystery +of grace which puzzled Solomon; "the way of a serpent upon a rock." + +The allusion to Voudooism in the last stanza especially interested me, +and I questioned the gentleman who furnished me with the song as to the +significance of the words: "I will make him turn into a phantom." I had +fancied that the term _fantome_ might be interpreted by "ghost," and +that the whole line simply constituted a threat to make some one "give +up the ghost." + +"It is not exactly that," replied my friend; "it is an allusion, I +believe, to the withering and wasting power of Voudoo poisons. There are +such poisons actually in use among the negro obi-men--poisons which defy +analysis, and, mysterious as the poisons of the Borgias, slowly consume +the victims like a taper. He wastes away as though being dried up; he +becomes almost mummified; he wanes like a shadow; he turns into a +phantom in the same sense that a phantom is an unreal mockery of +something real." + +Thus I found an intelligent Louisianan zealous to confirm an opinion to +which I was permitted to give expression in the _Commercial_ nearly +three years ago--that a knowledge of secret septic poisons (probably of +an animal character), which leave no trace discoverable by the most +skilful chemists, is actually possessed by certain beings who are +reverenced as sorcerers by the negroes of the West Indies and the +Southern States, but more especially of the West Indies, where much of +African fetichism has been transplanted. + + OZIAS MIDWINTER. + + + + +CHAPTER IX.--THE POET OF MYOPIA + +THE dependence not only of the literary character and workmanship of a +writer, but even his innermost psyche, upon vision, normal or abnormal, +is a truth which has been dimly and falteringly felt by several writers. +Concerning "Madame Bovary," and his friend Flaubert, Maxime du Camp +reflects some glintings of the truth. But these and others, lacking the +requisite expert definiteness of knowledge, have failed to catch the +satisfying and clear point of view. To illustrate I may quote the +paragraph of du Camp: + +"The literary procedure of Flaubert threw everybody off the track and +even some of the experts. But it was a very simple matter; it was by the +accumulation and the superposition of details that he arrived at power. +It is the physiologic method, the method of the myopes who look at +things one after the other, very exactly, and then describe them +successively. The literature of imagination may be divided into two +distinct schools, that of the myopes and that of the hyperopes. The +myopes see minutely, study every line, finding each detail of importance +because everything appears to them in isolation; about them is a sort of +cloud in which is detached the object in exaggerated proportions. They +have, as it were, a microscope in their eye which enlarges everything. +The description of Venice from the Campanile of St. Mark, that of +Destitution in 'Captain Fracasse,' by Gautier are the capital results of +myopic vision. The hyperopes, on the other hand, look at the _ensemble_, +in which the details are lost, and form a kind of general harmony. The +detail loses all significance, except perhaps they seek to bring it into +relief as a work of art.... Besides, the myopes seek to portray +sensations, while the hyperopes especially aim at analysis of the +sentiments. If a hyperopic writer suddenly becomes myopic, his manner of +thinking, and consequently of writing, at once is modified. What I call +the school of the myopes, Gautier names the school of the rabids. He +said to Mérimée: 'Your characters have no muscles,' and Mérimée +answered, 'Yours have no draperies.'" + +But there is one consequence, common both to Flaubert and to Hearn, a +most strange unity of result flowing from a seemingly opposed but really +identical cause in the two men. I have elsewhere set forth the reasons +for my belief that the secret of Flaubert's life, character, and +literary art consisted in an inability to think and write at the same +time. He was one of the most healthy and brilliant of men when he did +not read or write, but his mind refused to act creatively whenever he +wrote or read. From this resulted his epilepsy. Fathered by the fear of +this disease, mothered by opium, and reared by unhygiene and eye-strain, +came the miserable "St. Anthony" of the second remaking. In the failure +of this pitiful work there was naught left except bottomless pessimism, +the "cadenced phrase," and all the rest, called "Madame Bovary" and "art +for art's sake." + +There never was a greater sufferer from eye-strain than Flaubert, whose +eyes were strikingly beautiful, and seemingly of extraordinary +perfection as optical instruments. From this fact flowed the entire +tragedy of the man's life and of his life-work. His friend du Camp says +that had it not been for his disease he would have been, not a writer of +great talent, but a man of genius. Hearn had the most defective +eyesight, he was indeed nearly blind; but physically he suffered little +from this cause,--and yet his choice of subjects and methods of literary +workmanship, and every line he wrote, were dictated and ruled by his +defect of vision. Opium, with the impossibility of writing and creating +at the same time, dominated Flaubert's work and working, and the similar +result was begot by Hearn's enormous monocular myopia. + +From Martinique, before I had met him, Hearn wrote me: + + I am very near-sighted, have lost one eye, which disfigures + me considerably; and my near-sightedness always prevented + the gratification of a natural _penchant_ for physical + exercise. I am a good swimmer, that is all. + + In reply to nearly all the questions about my + near-sightedness I might answer, "Yes." I had the best + advice in London, and observe all the rules you suggest. + Glasses strain the eye too much--part of retina is gone. The + other eye was destroyed by a blow at college; or, rather, by + inflammation consequent upon the blow. I can tell you more + about myself when I see you, but the result will be more + curious than pleasing. Myopia is not aggravating. + +In "Shadowings," the chapter on "Nightmare-Touch," Hearn describes with +his gift of the living word the dreams and hauntings he endured when as +a boy he was shut in his room in the dark. It is a pitiful history, and +shows how a child may suffer atrociously from the combination of an +abnormally exuberant fancy and eye-strain, probably with added ocular +disease. The subjective sensations and images were alive and Hearn's +innate tendency to the horrible and hideous gave them the most awful of +nightmarish realities. + +I have already given (facing page 5) a copy of a little photograph of +Hearn at about the age of eight, standing by Mrs. Brenane. It will be +seen that the right eyeball was at this time about as large and +protruding as in later life. This leaves a doubt whether the destruction +of the left was due to the blow at college at the age of sixteen. In one +of my letters he uses the word "scrofulous" in alluding to himself. + +It was not only during the last years of his life, that, as he says, "it +was now largely a question of eyes." It was always the most important of +all questions; first, physically and financially, because all hung upon +his ability to write many hours a day. How his little of visual power +was preserved under the work done is a marvel of physiology. So +unconscious was Hearn of the influence of eye-strain in ruining the +health of others (he himself had no eye-strain in the ordinary meaning +of the term) that he wonders why the hard students about him were +inexplainably dying, going mad, getting sick, and giving up their +studies. This is hardly to be considered a fault of Hearn when educators +and physicians and oculists the world over, never suspect the reason. + +Moved by sympathy, and perhaps by the vaguest feeling that to Hearn's +poor vision were due, in part at least, both his personal and literary +characteristics, I early besought him to make use of scientific optical +helps in order to see the world better, and to carry on his writing with +greater ease, and with less danger to the little vision left him. He had +but one eye, which was evidently enormously nearsighted. The other had +been lost in youth. I found that he had about 25 diopters of myopia, to +use the jargon of the oculist, and that consequently he knew little +about the appearance of objects even a few feet away. In writing he was +compelled to place the paper or pen-point about three inches from his +eye. With the proper lens it was possible to give him vision of distant +objects about one-fourth as clear as that of normal eyes. For a minute +my disappointment was equal to my surprise when I found that he did not +wish to see with even this wretched indistinctness, and that he would +not think of using spectacles or eyeglasses. Later I found the reason +for his action. He sometimes carried a little lens or monocle in his +pocket, which somewhat bettered his vision, but in the several months he +spent with me I saw him use it only once or twice, and then merely for +an instant. I am almost sure that the reason for this preference for a +world almost unseen, or seen only in colours, while form and outline +were almost unknown, was never conscious with Hearn, although his mind +was alert in detecting such psychologic solutions in others. In studying +his writings, this reason finally has become clear to me. + +When one chooses an artistic calling, Fate usually, and to the artist +unconsciously, dictates the kind of art-work and the method of carrying +it to realization. The blind do not choose to be painters, but +musicians; the deaf do not think of music, though nothing prevents them +from being good painters. The dumb would hardly become orators or +singers, but they might easily be sculptors, or painters, or designers. +It is as evident that the poet is largely a visualizer, if one may so +designate this psychic function, and without sight of the world of +reality and beauty, poetry will inevitably lack the charm of the real +and the lovely. Every great writer, in truth, shows more or less clearly +that the spring and secret of his imagination lie preponderantly in the +exceptional endowment, training, or sensitiveness of one of the +principal senses of sight, hearing, or touch. A thousand quotations +might be made from each of a dozen great writers to prove the thesis. +The man born blind, however, cannot become a poet, because true poetry +must be conditioned upon things seen--"simple, sensuous, and passionate" +demands the great critic; but interwoven and underrunning the +simplicity, the passion, and the sense, is and must be the world as +mirrored by the eye. All thinking, all intellectual activity, is by no +means of the image and the picture; all words are the product of the +imagining, and the very letters of the alphabet are conventionalized +pictures. + +Physiologically, or normally, the perfection of the artist and of his +workmanship thus depends upon the all-round perfection of his senses, +the fulness of the materials and of his experience which these work on +and in, and the logical and æsthetic rightness of systematization. +Conversely, a new pathology of genius is coming into view which shows +the morbidizing of art and literature through disease, chiefly of the +sense-organs of the artist and literary workman, but also by unnatural +living, selfishness, sin, and the rest. As Hearn was probably the most +myopic literary man that has existed, his own thoughts upon _The +Artistic_ _Value of Myopia_ are of peculiar interest. In 1887 one of +his editorials in the _Times-Democrat_ runs as follows:-- + + Probably more than one reader, on coming to page 15 of + Philip Gilbert Hamerton's delightful book, "Landscape," was + startled by the author's irrefutable statement that "the + possession of very good eyesight may be a hindrance to + those feelings of sublimity that exalt the poetic + imagination." The fact is, that the impressiveness of + natural scenery depends a great deal upon the apparent + predominance of _mass_ over _detail_, to borrow Mr. + Hamerton's own words; the more visible the details of a + large object,--a mountain, a tower, a forest wall, the less + grand and impressive that object. The more apparently + uniform the mass, the larger it seems to loom; the vaguer a + shadow-space, the deeper it appears. An impression of + weirdness,--such as that obtainable in a Louisiana or + Florida swamp-forest, or, much more, in those primeval and + impenetrable forest-deeps described so powerfully by + Humbolt,--is stronger in proportion to the spectator's + indifference to lesser detail. The real effect of the scene + must be a _general_ one to be understood. In painting, the + artist does not attempt miscroscopic _minutiæ_ in treating + forest-forms; he simply attempts to render the effect of + the masses, with their characteristic generalities of + shadow and colour. It is for this reason the photograph can + never supplant the painting--not even when the art of + photographing natural colours shall have been discovered. + Mr. Hamerton cites the example of a mountain, which always + seems more imposing when wreathed in mists or half veiled + by clouds, than when cutting sharply against the horizon + with a strong light upon it. Half the secret of Doré's + power as an illustrator was his exaggerated perception of + this fact,--his comprehension of the artistic witchcraft of + _suggestion_. And since the perception of details depends + vastly upon the quality of eyesight, a landscape + necessarily suggests less to the keen-sighted man than to + the myope. The keener the view, the less depth in the + impression produced. There is no possibility of mysterious + attraction in wooded deeps or mountain recesses for the eye + that, like the eye of the hawk, pierces shadow and can note + the separate quiver of each leaf. Far-seeing persons can, + to a certain degree, comprehend this by recalling the + impressions given in twilight by certain unfamiliar, or by + even familiar objects,--such as furniture and clothing in a + half-lighted room. The suggestiveness of form vanishes + immediately upon the making of a strong light. Again, + attractive objects viewed vaguely through a morning or + evening haze, or at a great distance, often totally lose + artistic character when a telescope is directed upon them. + + In the February number of _Harper's Magazine_ we find a very + clever and amusing poem by the scholarly Andrew Lang upon + this very theme. The writer, after describing the + christening-gifts of various kindly fairies, tells us that + the wicked one-- + + --Said: "I shall be avenged on you. + My child, you shall grow up nearsighted!" + With magic juices did she lave + Mine eyes, and wrought her wicked pleasure. + Well, of all the gifts the Fairies gave, + _Her's_ is the present that I treasure! + + The bore, whom others fear and flee, + I do not fear, I do not flee him; + I pass him calm as calm can be; + I do not cut--I do not see him! + And with my feeble eyes and dim, + Where _you_ see patchy fields and fences, + For me the mists of Turner swim-- + _My_ "azure distance" soon commences! + Nay, as I blink about the streets + Of this befogged and miry city, + Why, almost every girl one meets + Seems preternaturally pretty! + "Try spectacles," one's friends intone; + "You'll see the world correctly through them." + But I have visions of my own + And not for worlds would I undo them! + + This is quite witty and quite consoling to myopes, even as a + cynical development of Philip Gilbert Hamerton's artistic + philosophy. Still, it does not follow that the myope + necessarily possesses the poetic faculty or + feeling;--neither does it imply that the presbyope + necessarily lacks it. If among French writers, for example, + Gautier was notably nearsighted, Victor Hugo had an eye as + keen as a bird's. It is true that a knowledge of the effect + of shortsightedness on the imagination may be of benefit to + a nearsighted man, who, possessing artistic qualities, can + learn to take all possible advantage of his myopia,--to + utilize his physical disability to a good purpose; but the + longsighted artist need not be at a loss to find equally + powerful sources of inspiration--he can seek them in morning + mists, evening fogs, or those wonderful hazes of summer + afternoons, when the land sends up all its vapours to the + sun, like a smoke of gold. Beaudelaire, in his _Curiosités + Esthétiques_, made an attempt to prove that the greatest + schools of painting were evolved among hazy + surroundings--Dutch fogs, Venetian mists, and the vapours of + Italian marsh-lands. + + The evolutionary tendency would seem to indicate for future + man a keener vision than he at present possesses; and a + finer perception of colour--for while there may be certain + small emotional advantages connected with myopia, it is a + serious hindrance in practical life. What effect keener + sight will have on the artistic powers of the future man, + can only be imagined--but an increasing tendency to realism + in art is certainly perceptible; and perhaps an interesting + chapter could be written upon the possible results to art of + perfected optical instruments. The subject also suggests + another idea,--that the total inability of a certain class + of highly educated persons to feel interest in a certain + kind of art production may be partly accounted for by the + possession of such keen visual perception as necessarily + suppresses the sensation of breadth of effect, either in + landscape or verbal description. + +Thus, according to Flaubert, the myope looks at things one after another +and describes details, while Hearn says the exact opposite. Both are +wrong. The oculist will feel constrained to differ somewhat from Hearn +in the foregoing article. + +In May 1887 he reviews editorially an article of my own which I had sent +him during the preceding year. Again, because there has never been a +literary artist with a colour-sense so amazingly developed as that of +Hearn, I venture to copy his commendation of my views: + + + COLOURS AND EMOTIONS + + (May 8, 1887) + + The evolutionary history of the Colour-Sense, very prettily + treated of by Grant Allen and others, both in regard to the + relation between fertilization of flowers by insects, and + in regard to the æsthetic pleasure of man in contemplating + certain colours, has also been considered in a very + thorough way by American thinkers. Perhaps the most + entertaining and instructive paper yet published on the + subject was one in the _American Journal of Ophthalmology_ + last September. It has just been reprinted in pamphlet + form, under the title of "The Human Colour-Sense as the + Organic Response to Natural Stimuli;" and contains a + remarkable amplification of these theories, rather + suggested than laid down by the author of "Physiological + Æsthetics." Of course, the reader whom the subject can + interest, comprehends that outside of the mind no such + thing as colour exists; and that the phenomena of colours, + like those of sound, are simply the results of exterior + impressions upon nerve apparatus specially sensitive to + vibrations--in the one case of ether, in the other of air. + Everybody, moreover,--even those totally ignorant of the + physiology of the eye--know that certain colours are called + primary or elementary. But it has probably occurred to few + to ask why,--except in regard to mixing of paints in a + drawing-school. + + The theories of Gladstone and Magnus that the men of the + Homeric era were colour-blind, because of the absence from + the Homeric poems of certain words expressive of certain + colours, have been disproved by more thorough modern + research. The primitive man's sense of colour, or the + sensitiveness of his retina to ether vibrations, may not + have been as fine as that of the Roman mosaic-worker who + could select his materials of 30,000 different tints, nor as + that of Gobelin weavers, who can recognize 28,000 different + shades of wool. But the evidence goes to show that the sense + of colour is old as the gnawing of hunger or the pangs of + fear,--old as the experience that taught living creatures to + discern food and to flee from danger. There is, however, + reason to suppose, from certain developmental phenomena + observed in the eyes of children and newly-born animals, + that the present condition of the colour-sense has been + gradually reached--not so much in any particular species, as + in all species possessing it,--just as vision itself must + have been gradually acquired. Also showy colours must have + been perceived before tints could be discerned; and even now + we know through the spectroscope, that the human eye is not + yet developed to the fullest possible perceptions of colour. + Now the first colours recognized by the first eyes must have + presumably been just those we call primary,--Yellow, Red, + Green, Blue. Yellow, the colour of gold, is also the colour + of our sun; the brightest daylight has a more or less faint + tinge even at noon, according to the state of the + atmosphere;--and this tinge deepens at sunrise and sunset. + Red is the colour of blood,--a colour allied necessarily + from time immemorial with violent mental impressions, + whether of war, or love, or the chase, or religious + sacrifice. Green itself is the colour of the world. + Blue,--the blue of the far away sky,--has necessarily always + been for man the colour mysterious and holy,--always + associated with those high phenomena of heaven which first + inspired wonder and fear of the Unknown. These colours were + probably first known to intelligent life; and their + impressions are to-day the strongest. So violent, indeed, + have they become to our refined civilized sense, that in + apparel or decoration three of them, at least, are + condemned when offered pure. Even the armies of the world + are abandoning red uniforms;--no refined people wear flaming + crimsons or scarlets or yellows;--nobody would paint a house + or decorate a wall with a solid sheet of strong primary + colour. Blue is still the least violent, the most agreeable + to the artistic sense; and in subdued form it holds a place, + in costume and in art, refused to less spiritual colours. + + It might consequently be expected there should exist some + correlation between the primary colours and the stronger + emotional states of man. And such, indeed, proves to be the + case. Emotionally the colours come in the order of Red, + Yellow, Green, Blue. Red still appeals to the idea of + Passion,--for which very reason its artistic use is being + more and more restrained. Very curious are the researches + made by Grant Allen showing the fact of the sensual use of + the red. In Swinburne's "Poems and Ballads "(the same + suppressed work republished in this country under its first + title, "Laus Veneris"), the red epithets appear 159 times, + while gold, green and blue words occur respectively 143, 86 + and 25 times. In Tennyson's beautiful poem, "The Princess," + the red words occur only 20 times, the gold 28, the green 5, + the blue once. With all his exquisite sense of colour, + Tennyson is sparing of adjectives;--there is no false skin + to his work; it is solid muscle and bone. + + Next to Red, the most emotional colour is Yellow--the colour + of life, and of what men seem to prize next to life,--Gold. + We fancy we can live without green sometimes; it comes + third; but it is the hue associated with all the labours of + man on the earth, since he began to labour. It is the colour + of Industry. Blue has always been, since man commenced to + think, and always will be, until he shall have ceased to + think,--associated with his spiritual sense,--his idea of + many gods or of One,--his hopes of a second life, his faith, + his good purposes, his perception of duty. Still, all who + pray, turn up their faces toward the eternal azure. And with + the modern expansion of the Idea of God, as with the modern + expansion of the Idea of the Universe, the violet gulf of + space ever seems more mystical,--its pure colour more and + more divine, and appeals to us as the colour of the + Unknowable,--the colour of the Holy of Holies. + +That Hearn wrote not from his own experience, out of his own heart, and +with its blood, was due to the fact that life had denied him the needed +experience; the personal materials, those that would interest the +imaginative or imagining reader, did not exist. He must borrow, at +first literally, which for him meant translation or retelling. The kind +of things chosen was also dictated by the tragedy and pathos of his +entire past life. But as if this pitiful tangling of the strands of +Destiny were not enough, Fate added a knot of still more controlling +misfortune. His adult life was passed without the poet's most necessary +help of good vision. Indeed he had such extremely poor vision that one +might say it was only the merest fraction of the normal. A most hazy +blur of colours was all he perceived of objects beyond a foot or two +away. There was left for him the memory of a world of forms as seen in +his childhood; but that fact throws into relief the fact that it was a +memory. It needs little psychologic acumen to realize how inaccurate +would be our memories of trees, landscapes, mountains, oceans, cities, +and the rest, seen only thirty years ago. How unsatisfying, how +unreliable, especially for artistic purposes, must such memories be! To +be sure, these haunting and dim recollections were, or might have been, +helped out a little by pictures and photographs studied at the distance +of three inches from the eye. The pathos of this, however, is increased +by the fact that Hearn cared nothing for such photographs, etchings, +engravings, etc. I never saw him look at one with attention or interest. +Paintings, water-colours, etc., were as useless to him as the natural +views themselves. + +Another way that he might have supplemented his infirmity was by means +of his monocle, but he made little use of this poor device, because he +instinctively recognized that it aided so meagrely. One cannot be sure +how consciously he refused the help, or knew the reasons for his +refusal. At best it could give him only a suggestion of the accurate +knowledge which our eyes give us of distant objects, and not even his +sensitive mind could know that it minimized the objects thus seen, and +almost turned them into a caricaturing microscopic smallness, like that +produced when we look through the large end of an opera-glass. What +would we think of the world if we carried before our eyes an opera-glass +thus inverted? Would not a second's such use be as foolish as continuous +use? There was an optical and sensible reason for his refusal. With the +subtle wisdom of the unconscious he refused to see plainly, because his +successful work, his unique function, lay in the requickening of ancient +sorrows, and of lost, aimless and errant souls. He supplemented the +deficiencies of vision with a vivid imagination, a perfect memory, and a +perfection of touch which gave some sense of solidity and content, and +by hearing, that echo-like emphasized unreality; but his world was +essentially a two-dimensional one. To add the _comble_ to his ocular +misfortunes, he had but one eye, and therefore he had no stereoscopic +vision, and hence almost no perception of solidity, thickness, or +content except such as was gained by the sense of touch, memory, +judgment, etc. The little glimpse of stereoscopic qualities was made +impossible by the fact of his enormous myopia, and further by the +comparative blindness to objects beyond a few inches or a few feet away +from the eye. The small ball becomes flat when brought sufficiently near +the eye. Practically the world beyond a few feet was not a +three-dimensional one; it was coloured it is true, and bewilderingly so, +but it was formless and flat, without much thickness or solidity, and +almost without perspective.[18] Moreover, Hearn's single eye was +divergent, and more of the world to his left side was invisible to him +than to other single-eyed persons. Most noteworthy also is another +fact,--the slowness of vision by a highly myopic eye. It takes it longer +to see what it finally does see than in the case of other eyes. So all +the movements of such a myopic person must be slow and careful, for he +is in doubt about everything under foot, or even within reach of the +hands. Hearn's myopia produced his manners. + + [18] I have gathered, but must omit, a hundred illuminating + quotations from Hearn's writings, illustrating the truth of + the formlessness and non-objectivity of his world, and how + colour dominated his poorly seen universe. + +Intellect, one must repeat, is largely, almost entirely, the product of +vision,--especially the æsthetic part of intellect. And intellect, it +should not be forgotten, is "desiccated emotion"; which brings us up +sharply before the question of the effect upon æsthetic and general +feeling, upon the soft swirl and lift and flitting rush of the emotional +nature, in a psyche so sensitive and aerial as that of Hearn. In this +rare ether one loses the significance of words, and the limitations of +logic, but it may not be doubted that in the large, the summarized +effect of thirty years of two-dimensional seeing and living, of a flat, +formless, coloured world, upon the immeasurably quick, sensitive plate +of Hearn's mind, was--well, it was what it was! + +And who can describe that mind! Clearly and patently, it was a mind +without creative ability, spring, or the desire for it. It was a mind +improcreant by inheritance and by education, by necessity and by +training, by poverty internal and external. To enable its master to +live, it must write, and, as was pitifully evident, if it could not +write in obedience to a creative instinct, it must do the next best +thing. This residual second was to describe the external world, or at +least so much of the externals of all worlds, physical, biological, or +social, as romance or common-sense demanded to make the writing vivid, +accurate, and bodied. Any good literature, especially the poetic, must +be based on reality, must at least incidentally have its running +obligato of reality. For the poet, again emphasized, vision is the +intermediary, the broad, bright highway to facts. Prosaically, local +colour requires the local seer. Barred from this divine roadway to and +through the actual universe, the foiled mind of Hearn could choose but +one course: to regarment, transform, and colour the world, devised and +transmitted by others, and reversing the old [Greek: o logos sarx +egeneto] rewrite the history of the soul as [Greek: sarx o logos +egeneto], for in Hearn's alembic the solidest of flesh was "melted" and +escaped in clouds of spirit; it was indeed often so disembodied and +freed that one is lost in wonder at the mere vision of the cloudland so +eerie, so silent, so void, so invisibly far, and fading ever still +farther away. But, chained to the _here_ Hearn could not march on the +bright road. He could never even see the road, or its ending. If freed +to go, _there_ became _here_ with the intolerable limitation of his +vision, the peculiarity of his unvision. The world, the world of the +_there_ must be brought to him, and in the bringing it became the +_here_. In the process, distant motion or action became dead, silent, +and immobile being; distance was transformed to presence, and an +intimacy of presence which at one blow destroyed scene, setting, and +illumination. For, except to passionate love, nearness and touch are not +poetical or transfiguring, and to Hearn love never could come; at least +it never did come. Except in boyhood he never, with any accuracy of +expression or life, saw a human face; at the best, he saw faces only in +the frozen photographs, and these interested him little. + +With creative instinct or ability denied, with the poet's craving for +open-eyed knowing, and with the poet's necessity of realizing the world +out there, Hearn, baldly stated, was forced to become the poet of +myopia. His groping mind was compelled to rest satisfied with the world +of distance and reality transported by the magic carpet to the door of +his imagination and fancy. There in a flash it was melted to formless +spirit, recombined to soul, and given the semblance of a thin +reincarnation, fashioned, refashioned, coloured, recoloured. There, lo! +that incomparable wonder of art, the haunting, magical essence of +reality, the quivering, elusive protean ghost of the tragedy of dead +pain, the smile of a lost universe murmuring _non dolet_ while it dies +struck by the hand of the beloved murderer. + + + + +CHAPTER X.--HEARN'S STYLE + + +"THE 'lovers of the antique loveliness,'" wrote Hearn, "are proving to +me the future possibilities of a long-cherished dream--the English +realization of a Latin style, modelled upon foreign masters, and +rendered even more forcible by that element of _strength_ which is the +characteristic of the northern tongues." "I think that Genius must have +greater attributes than mere creative power to be called to the front +rank,--the thing created must be beautiful; it does not satisfy if the +material be rich. I cannot content myself with ores and rough jewels, +etc." "It has long been my aim to create something in English fiction +analogous to that warmth of colour and richness of imagery hitherto +peculiar to Latin literature. Being of a meridional race myself, a +Greek, I _feel_ rather with the Latin race than with the Anglo-Saxon; +and trust that with time and study I may be able to create something +different from the stone-grey and somewhat chilly style of latter-day +English or American romance." "The volume, 'Chinese Ghosts,' is an +attempt in the direction I hope to make triumph some day, _poetical +prose_." "A man's style, when fully developed, is part of his +personality. Mine is being shaped to a particular end." + +Hearn advised the use of the etymological dictionary in order to secure +"that subtle sense of words to which much that _startles_ in poetry and +prose is due." But although always remaining an artist in words, he, at +his best, came to know that artistic technique in ideas is a more +certain method of arousing and holding the readers' interest. He also +strongly urges a knowledge of Science as more necessary to the formation +of a strong style. In this, however, he never practised what he +commended, because he had no mind for Science, nor knowledge of +scientific things. He spoke with pride of writing the scientific +editorials for his paper, but they were few and may quickly be ignored. + +Flaubert was Hearn's literary deity; the technique of the two men was +identical, and consisted of infinite pains with data, in +phrase-building, sentence-making, and word-choosing. With no writer was +the filing of the line ever carried to higher perfection than with both +master and pupil; fortunately the younger had to make his living by his +pen, and therefore he could not wreck himself upon the impossible task +as did Flaubert. For nothing is more certain to ruin style and content, +form as well as matter, than to make style and form the first +consideration of a writer. Flaubert, the fashion-maker and supreme +example of this school, came at last to recognize this truth, and wished +that he might buy up and destroy all copies of "Madame Bovary;" and he +summed up the unattainableness of the ideal, as well as the resultant +abysmal pessimism, when he said that "form is only an error of sense, +and substance a fancy of your thought." His ever-repeated "Art has no +morality," "The moment a thing is true it is good," "Style is an +absolute method of seeing things," "The idea exists only by virtue of +its form," etc., led Flaubert and his thousand imitators into the +quagmire which Zola, Wilde, Shaw, and decadent journalism generally so +admirably illustrate. That Hearn escaped from the bog is due to several +interesting reasons, the chief being his poverty, which compelled him to +write much, and his audience, which, being Anglo-Saxon (and therefore +properly and thoroughly cursed), would not buy the elegant pornography +of Flaubert and the gentlemen who succeeded, or did not succeed, in the +perfection of the worship and of the works of the master of them all. +And then Hearn was himself at least part Anglo-Saxon, so that he shrank +from perfection in the method. + +There is a pathetic proof of the lesson doubly repeated in the lives of +both Flaubert and Hearn. "St. Anthony" was rewritten three times, and +each time the failures might be called, great, greater, greatest. There +lies before me Hearn's manuscript translation of the third revision of +the work, in two large volumes, with a printed pamphlet of directions to +the printer, an Introduction, etc.,--a great labour assuredly on Hearn's +part. No publisher could be found to give it to the world of English +readers![19] Moreover, there was never in his life any personal +happiness, romance, poetry, or satisfaction which could serve as the +material of Hearn's æsthetic faculty. Almost every hour of that life had +been lived in physical or mental anguish, denied desire, crushed +yearnings, and unguided waywardness. Born of a Greek mother, and a +roving English father, his childhood was passed in an absurd French +school where another might have become a dwarfed and potted Chinese +tree. Flung upon the alien world of the United States in youth, without +self-knowledge, experience, or self-guiding power, he drank for years +all the bitter poisons of poverty, banality, and the rest, which may not +shatter the moral and mental health of strong and coarse natures. By +nature and necessity shy beyond belief, none may imagine the poignant +sufferings he endured, and how from it all he writhed at last to manhood +and self-consciousness, preserved a weird yet real beauty of soul, a +morbid yet genuine artist-power, a child-like and childish, yet most +involuted and mysterious heart, a supple and subtle, yet illogical and +contentless intellect. + + [19] Particulars concerning the manuscript translation of "St. + Anthony" are given in the Bibliography of Miss Stedman, + Hearn's "Argument" of the book being reprinted in full. + +The most striking evidence of the pathetic and unmatched endowment and +experience is that, while circumstance dictated that he should be a +romancer, no facts in his own life could be used as his material. There +had been no romance, no love, no happiness, no interesting personal +data, upon which he could draw to give his imagination play, vividness, +actuality, or even the semblance of reality. So sombre and tragic, +moreover, had been his own living that the choice of his themes could +only be of unhealthy, almost unnatural, import and colouring. He +therefore chose to work over the imaginings of other writers, and +perforce of morbid ones. + +A glance at his library confirms the opinion. When Hearn left for Japan, +he turned over to me several hundred volumes which he had collected and +did not wish to take with him. His most-prized books he had had +especially rebound in dainty morocco covers, and these, particularly, +point to the already established taste, the yearning for the strange, +the weird, and the ghost-like, the gathered and pressed exotic flowers +of folklore, the banalities and morbidities of writers with unleashed +imaginations, the love of antique religions and peoples, the mysteries +of mystics, the descriptions of savage life and rites--all mixed with +dictionaries, handbooks, systems of philosophy, etc. + +Under the conditioning factor of his taste, it is true that his choice, +or his _flair_, was unique and inerrant. He tracked his game with fatal +accuracy to its lair. His literary sense was perfect, when he set it in +action, and this is his unique merit. There has never been a mind more +infallibly sure to find the best in all literatures, the best of the +kind he sought, and probably his translations of the stories from the +French are as perfect as can be. + +His second published volume, the "Stray Leaves from Strange Literature," +epitomizes and reillumines this first period of his literary +workmanship. The material, the basis, is not his own; it is drawn from +the fatal Orient, and tells of love, jealousy, hate, bitter and burning +vengeance, and death, sudden and awful. Over it is the wondrous mystical +glamour in which he, like his elder brother Coleridge, was so expert in +sunsetting these dead days and deathless themes. His next book, "Some +Chinese Ghosts," was a reillustration of the same searching, finding, +and illuminating. + +Flaubert's choice of subjects, as regards his essential character, was +of the most extreme illogicality; his cadenced phrase and meticulous +technique were also not the product of his character or of his freedom. +In the Land of Nowhere, Hearn was likewise compelled to reside, and it +was necessarily a land of colour and echo, not one of form. The +suffering Frenchman emptied of inhabitants or deimpersonalized his alien +country, while the more healthy Anglo-Saxon peopled it with ghosts. +"Have you ever experienced the historic shudder?" asked Flaubert. "I +seek to give your ghost a ghostly shudder," said Hearn. Flaubert +wrote:-- + +"The artist should be in his work, like God in creation, invisible and +all-powerful; he should be felt everywhere and seen nowhere. + +"Art should be raised above personal affections and nervous +susceptibilities. It is time to give it the perfection of the physical +sciences by means of pitiless method." + +And Hearn's first and most beloved "Avatar," and his most serious "St. +Anthony"--works dealing with the mysteries and awesomeness of +disembodied souls and ideals--"could not get themselves printed." +Moreover, in all that he afterwards published there are the haunting +far-away, the soft concealing smile, and the unearthly memories of pain, +the detached spirits of muted and transmuted dead emotions, and denied +yearnings, the formless colourings of half-invisible and evanishing +dreams. + +For with Hearn's lack of creative ability, married to his inexperience +of happiness, he could but choose the darksome, the tragical elements of +life, the [Greek: pathos] even of religion, as his themes. His intellect +being a reflecting, or at least a recombining and colouring faculty, his +datum must be sought without, and it must be brought to him; his +joyless and even his tragic experience compelled him to cull from the +mingled sad and bright only the pathetic or pessimistic subjects; his +physical and optical imprisonment forbade that objectivation and +distinctive embodiment which stamp an art work with the seal of reality, +and make it stand there wholly non-excusing, or else offering itself as +its own excuse for being. True art must have the warp of materiality, +interwoven with the woof of life, or else the coloration and designs of +the imagination cannot avail to dower it with immortality. + +Working within the sad limits his Fates had set, Hearn performed +wonders. None has made tragedy so soft and gentle, none has rendered +suffering more beautiful, none has dissolved disappointment into such +painless grief, none has blunted the hurt of mortality with such a +delightful anæsthesia, and by none have death and hopelessness been more +deftly figured in the guise of a desirable Nirvâna. The doing of this +was almost a unique doing, the manner of the [Greek: poiêsis] was +assuredly so, and constitutes Hearn's claim to an artist's "For ever." +He would have made no claim, it is true, to this, or to any other +endless existence, but we who read would be too indiscriminating, would +be losers, ingrates, if we did not cherish the lovely gift he brings to +us so shyly. Restricted and confined as was his garden, he grew in it +exotic flowers of unearthly but imperishable beauty. One will not find +elsewhere an equal craftsmanship in bringing into words and vision the +intangible, the far, fine, illusive fancy, the ghosts of vanished hearts +and hopes. Under his magic touch unseen spirit almost reappears with the +veiling of materiality, and behind the grim and grinning death's-head a +supplanting smile of kindness invites pity, if not a friendly whisper. + +As to literary aim, Hearn distinctly and repeatedly confessed to me that +his ideal was, in his own words, to give his reader "a ghostly +shudder," a sense of the closeness of the unseen about us, as if eyes we +saw not were watching us, as if long-dead spirits and weird powers were +haunting the very air about our ears, were sitting hid in our heart of +hearts. It was a pleasing task to him to make us hear the moans and +croonings of disincarnate griefs and old pulseless pains, begging +piteously, but always softly, gently, for our love and comforting. But +it should not be unrecognized that no allurement of his art can hide +from view the deeper pathos of a horrid and iron fatalism which to his +mind moved the worlds of nature or of life, throttled freedom, steeled +the heart, iced the emotions, and dictated the essential automatism of +our own being and of these sad dead millions which crowd the dimly seen +dreams of Hearn's mind. + +It may be added that, accepting the command of his destiny, Hearn +consciously formed an ideal to which he worked, and even laboured at the +technique of its realization. I have talked with him upon these and +similar subjects for many long hours, or got him to talk to me. The +conversations were usually at night, beneath trees, with the moonlight +shimmering through and giving that dim, mystic light which is not light, +so well suited to such a poet and to his favourite subjects. + +As to technique, there was never an artist more patient and persistent +than he to clothe his thought in its perfect garment of words. Sometimes +he would be able to write with comparative ease a large number of sheets +(of _yellow_ paper--he could write on no other) in a day. At other times +the words did not suit or fit, and he would rewrite a few pages scores +of times. Once I knew him to labour over six lines an entire day, and +then stop weary and unsatisfied. I had to supply a large waste-basket +and have often wished I had kept for comparison and a lesson in +practical æsthetics the half-bushel or more of wasted sheets thrown away +nearly every day. + +Just as those outfitted with good eyes must find Hearn's world too +formless and too magnificently coloured, so normal civilized persons +will find it altogether too sexually and sensually charged. Whenever +able to do so he turns a description to the ghostly, but even then +_c'est toujours femme!_ A mountain is like a curved hip, a slender tree +takes the form of a young girl budding into womanhood, etc. Colour, too, +is everywhere, even where it is not, seemingly, to our eyes, and even +colour is often made sensual and sexual by some strange suggestion or +allusion. + +Viewing merit as the due of conscious, honourable, unselfish, and +dutiful effort, Hearn's sole merit rises from his heroic pursuit of an +ideal of workmanship. Like glorious bursts of illuminating sunshine +through the fogs and clouds of a murky atmosphere shine such sentences +as these:-- + + What you want, and what we all want, who possess devotion + to any noble idea, who hide any artistic idol in a niche of + our heart, is that independence which gives us at least the + time to worship the holiness of beauty,--be it in harmonies + of sound, of form, or of colour. + + What you say about the disinclination to work for years upon + a theme for pure love's sake, without hope of reward, + touches me,--because I have felt that despair so long and so + often. And yet I believe that all the world's art-work--all + that which is eternal--was thus wrought. And I also believe + that no work made perfect for the pure love of art, can + perish, save by strange and rare accident.... + + Yet the hardest of all sacrifices for the artist is this + sacrifice to art,--this trampling of self under foot! It is + the supreme test for admittance into the ranks of the + eternal priests. It is the bitter and fruitless sacrifice + which the artist's soul is bound to make,--as in certain + antique cities maidens were compelled to give their + virginity to a god of stone! But without the sacrifice, can + we hope for the grace of Heaven? + + What is the reward? The consciousness of inspiration only! I + think art gives a new faith. I think--all jesting + aside--that could I create something I felt to be sublime, I + should feel also that the Unknowable had selected me for a + mouthpiece, for a medium of utterance, in the holy cycling + of its eternal purpose; and I should know the pride of the + prophet that had seen God face to face. + + * * * * Never to abandon the pursuit of an artistic + vocation for any other occupation, however lucrative,--not + even when she remained apparently deaf and blind to her + worshippers. So long as one can live and pursue his natural + vocation in art, it is a duty with him never to abandon it + if he believes that he has within him the elements of final + success. Every time he labours at aught that is not of art, + he robs the divinity of what belongs to her. + +And the greatest of our satisfactions with Hearn's personality is that +these were not mere words, but that he consistently, resolutely, and +persistently practised his preaching. This was the only religion or +ethics he had, and praise God, he had it! That alone binds us to him in +any feeling of brotherhood, that only makes us grateful to him. + +Style has been too frequently and too long confounded with content. +There is the matter, the thing to be said, the story to be told; and +quite apart from this there is the method of telling it, which, properly +viewed, is style. So long as the teller of the tale has only borrowed +his message or story from others, there cannot be raised much question +of originality, or discussion of the datum, except in so far as pertains +to the _choice_ of material. And so long as the stylist fingers +etymological dictionaries for "startling words," so long will his style +remain of the lower kind and etymologically unstylish. When the +technique becomes unconscious and perfect, there is style, or the art, +merged into the content, and then, _le style c'est l'homme_, or, as +Hearn translated it, style becomes the artist's personality. In the best +Japanese works Hearn accomplished this, and with his consummate choice +of material there was the consummate art-work. Subject, method, cunning +handiwork, psychologic analysis, generous and loyal sympathy, colour +(not form)--all were fused to a unity almost beyond disassociation, and +challenging admiration. But it is not beyond our perfect enjoying. + +It is true that Hearn has ignored, necessarily and wisely ignored, the +objective and material side of Japanese existence. Mechanics, +nationalism, economy, the materialism of his material, had obviously to +be untouched in his interpretation, or in his "Interpretation." It would +have been absurd for him to have attempted any presentation or valuable +phasing of this important aspect. That for him was in a double sense +_ultra vires_. Such work will not want for experts. But what Hearn has +done was almost wholly impossible to any other. His personal heredity, +history, and physiology, highly exceptional, seem to have conspired to +outfit him for this remarkable task. + +There is still another reason, at first sight a contradicting one, for +both Hearn's fitness and his success in giving us a literary incarnation +of the spirit or soul of Japan in the subjective sense: To his readers +it must have appeared an insoluble enigma why this superlatively +subjective and psychical "sensitive" should have been such an unrecking, +_outré_, and enthusiastic follower of Herbert Spencer's philosophy, or +that part of it given in the "First Principles." It is told of an +English wit that when asked if he was willing to subscribe to the +Thirty-nine Articles, he promptly replied, "Oh, yes, forty of them if +you wish." Hearn was similarly minded--minus the fun,--and most +unphilosophically he went into utter captivity, seemingly, to the +unphilosophic philosopher. And yet the spirit of Spencer's "First +Principles" was in reality as different from that of Hearn as was the +spirit of St. Francis from that, for instance, of Cecil Rhodes. The +contradiction and ludicrousness of this mismating is so easy of +explanation that the incongruity is missed. The forest is not seen +because of the trees. Hearn did not have true scientific instinct, +animus, or ability. Neither had Herbert Spencer--so far as his "First +Principles" is concerned, and as regards an improved inductive method as +shown in the "Psychology," "Biology," etc., Hearn, according to a +letter, found he could not interest himself enough to read one of these +later works. The clear and well-drilled scientific intellect admits that +if Spencer had not published his "First Principles," but had gathered +the facts of his later works before publishing an epitomizing Last +Principles, the matter would have been as differently phased as night +and day. Spencer cared infinitely more for the systematization than he +did for the facts systematized. Reduced to its last analysis, the "First +Principles" was the reverse of a close induction from the facts of +nature and life. It presented the glitter of generalization without the +logic. The reverberating echoes of its illogic, sweeping sonorously over +the universe with an indiscriminate ignoring of the world-wide +difference between matter and life, caught the fancy of the imprisoned +poet soul; he thoughtlessly yielded a homage which, from his standpoint, +was unjustified, and which objectively was an unscrutinizing +lip-service. Subjectively Spencerism gave Hearn warrant for an inborn +atheism and materialism which had been heightened immoderately by the +bitter teachings of experience into a pessimism so horrid that one +shuddered when looking into the man's soul depths. _Morne_ was a +favourite word with Hearn, and Spencer's was a fateful philosophy for +one whose birth and education were desolation, and whose sight of the +world was more than _morne_, was the abomination of desolation, was in +truth the sheer awfulness of despair. Blindness were vastly preferable +to Hearn's affliction, but if that splendid poet St. Francis had been so +cursed, his face and his soul would have been ecstatic with smiles, with +joy, with faith, with hope, and with love. So strange is the +unaccountable allotment of Fate in her endowments, gifts, and orderings. +There is and there can be no blame--only a pity wholly beyond +expression. + +The aloofness, far-awayness, the inapproachable distance and detachment +of Hearn's spirit is one of the characteristics felt in reading his +best pages. Everything is infinitely beyond our senses. To him +everything was distant: the near was far, the far was at infinity. He +thus truly became the poet of the _au delà_. His voice, itself an echo, +comes to us as from the hush of an eerie height above the beat and wreck +of the waves of our noisy shore. His personality as revealed in his +writings is an echo, a memory, almost the memory of a memory, the thrill +of the day-dream of a soul retreating from sense. + + Each day the quiet grew more still + Within his soul, more shrank the will + Beyond the jar of sense, serene, + Behind the hurt of world or ill, + Where sleep hushed silences unseen. + +He ever insists on a haunting glimpse of the pain and the renunciation +of others, of wasted and long-dead faces and loves, always shrinking +from our gaze, pallid in the darkling light of the setting moon, of +vanishing loves, grievous story, forgotten myth, and ruined religion. + +And yet, and yet, all that works to make Hearn immortal in literature +is, at last, not art _per se_. One might quote freely showing that his +"filing of the line," like that of Flaubert, led to nothing, if the +thought and feeling to be put into the lines were not there. They were +not there with his masters, Flaubert, Gautier, Maupassant, and others, +and so these men will not inherit literary immortality. They had no +soul, and only the soul, the spirit, can be immortalized. Hearn's good +fortune is that unconsciously, even almost against his will, he was more +than they, more than an artist as such. He had something else to do. If +it had not been for his poverty, the necessity to sell what he wrote, he +would surely have gone the same road to Avernus as his masters. Then, +too, he had no original message to write, because he had no real soul, +only a borrowed one. Japan gave him her soul to rematerialize and +recolour with literary life. Without his Japanese work Hearn would have +died as _littérateur_ in the year he died as a physical body. To tell +her "ghostly" stories was his great office and function. When these were +told his work was done. His old gloating over the clotted villainies of +mediæval horror had been much outgrown, and it had no chance to be used +in Japan. The Japanese character would not tolerate such things. The +ghastly was transformed into the ghostly, and his Oriental fancy was +luckily turned to better duties and pleasures. This more than Flaubert +was something not to be got from modern atheistic French "Art for Art's +sake," nor from modern Levantine nonentity of character. How marvellous +is his sympathy with his subject, loyalty to his literary duty, and to +his literary ideal! His despised Irish father perhaps had slipped into +the otherwise invisible and limp threads of his Fates a little mesh of +spiritual reality, which, dormant, unrecognized, and even scorned by +him, came finally to give him all his valour and worth. He could dower +the insubstantial sigh of a long dead soul or people with the wingéd +word. It was a word of colour, only,--and colour has no objective +existence,--the rainbow is not out there. And because it is spiritual, +not objective, the most beautiful, if the most evanescent of all earthly +things, is colour. The hearers of soundless music, and the lovers of +"the light that never was on sea or shore" will understand what is +meant. For them Hearn really wrote: they are few, and scattered far, but +Hearn will magnificently multiply the number. His amazing merit is that +while without the great qualities which make the greatest writers, he +wrought such miracles of winning grace and persuading beauty. + +That he wrought against his will, and by the overcoming of a seemingly +cruel Fate, puts him almost outside of our personal gratitude. We take +the gift from a divinity he did not recognize, one that used the +rebellious hand and the almost blind eye as a writing instrument. The +lover of the gruesome, the Spencerian scientist, the man himself, must +have wondered at the message when he came out from under the influence +of the pitiless inspiration. + +One of Hearn's dangers was discursiveness, or want of conciseness and +intensity. "Chita" showed it, and the West Indian work lost in value +because of it. It is the danger of all those writers who lack creative +ability, and who depend upon "local colour," and "style" for their +effect. The story's the thing, after all! In Hearn's translations, and +especially in "Stray Leaves," he for the moment caught the view of the +value of the content, saw how the fact, dramatic, intense, and +passionate is the all-desirable; the art of its presentation is the art +of letting it flash forth upon the reader with few, apt, and flamelike +words, which reveal and not conceal the life and soul of the act and of +the actor. He tended to forget this. In "Karma," besides, or rather by +reason of, the moral,--his newly got psyche,--he returned to a reliance +upon essentials, upon the datum of the spirit, and not upon its +reflections, refractions, and chromatics. The beautiful spectrum was +there refocused into white light, and the senses disappeared to reveal +behind them the divinity of soul. That art-lesson was never forgotten by +Hearn, and his Japanese work had a purity and a reality, a white heat, +which make his previous stories and sketches seem pale and weak. + +Questions of style and form sometimes run inevitably into those of +content and of logic. Essentially wanting the rigorous training of form, +without the content and method of the scientific intellect, all Hearn's +work shows a lack of system, order, and subordination of parts. In any +single one of the Japanese volumes the absence of logic is lamentably +evident. He constantly repeats himself, and the warp of some of his +themes is worn threadbare. His most ambitious work, "Japan," is, in +truth, a regathering and a restatement in more objective style, of his +previous imaginative studies. Almost the only added thought concerns the +difference between Shintôism and ancestor-worship and the truism that +Japan is to-day ruthlessly sacrificing the life of the individual to +that of the nation. The lack of scholarship and of the scientific animus +(even in a field, folk-lore, more nearly his own than any other) comes +to view in his mistake of supposing Spencer an authority on the subject +of the origin of religion, and in the blunder that assumed +ancestor-worship to be original in Japanese history and religion. +Ancestor-worship, according to Griffis, Knox, and other distinguished +authorities, was unknown to the ancient writers of Nippon and was +imported from China. How threadbare--and yet how deftly, even charmingly +concealed!--was the wearing of his favourite themes, is shown by Hearn's +fateful return to the gruesome, especially in the later books, "Kott" +and "Kwaidan." These stories of the dead and of morbid necrophilism are +witnesses of Hearn's primitive interest in the ghastly, impossible to be +renounced or sloughed, not to be replaced by desire for the +supersensual, or by resolve to transform the loathsome into the ghostly. +Hearn should never have been seduced into the delusion that he could +become the spokesman of any scientific animus, methods or results. +Erudition, logic, systematization, were to him impossible. His function +was another and of a different nature, and his peculiar ability was for +other tasks. If we are adequately to appreciate the exquisiteness of the +earlier Japanese works, we will forget the "Japan, an Interpretation." + +If we look upon Hearn as a painter, almost the sole colour of his +palette was mummy brown, the powdered flesh of the ancient dead holding +in solution their griefs, their hopes, their loves, their yearnings, +which he found to sink always to pulselessness, and to end in eternal +defeat! But the pallor and sadness for the brief moment of their +resuscitation was divinely softened and atoningly beautified. Then they +disappeared again in the waste and gloom from which love and poesy had +evoked them. + +Felled in the struggle and defeat of the eternal battle with death, the +vegetation of untold ages long ago drifted to an amorphous stratum of +indistinguishable millionfold corpses. Compression, deferred combustion +and over-shrouding transmuted and preserved it for a long-after-coming +time, for our warming, lighting, and delighting. This has a perfect +analogy in the history and use of tradition, myth, folk-lore, custom, +and religion, those symbolic and concrete epitomes of man's long +ancestral growths and strivings, those true black diamonds of humanity's +experiences, its successes and failures, of its ideals and +disappointments. Hearn's artistry consisted in catching up these gems, +these extinguished souls washed from a world of graves to the threshold +of his miracle-working imagination, and in making them flush for an +instant with the semblance of life. With what exquisite skill and grace +he was able to concentrate upon them the soft light-rays of a fancy as +subtle and beautifying as ever has been given to mortal! + + + + +CHAPTER XI.--SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION + + +CONCERNING Hearn's outfitting of character by his parents little or +nothing is known. It is of comparative unimportance because only a +slight judicial familiarity with his works, especially those of the +pre-Japanese periods, demonstrates that so far as concerns substratum +and substance of character he had neither. There was an interior void, +an absence of psychic reality, which mocked his friends and which +likewise baulked at true creativeness. He never made a plot or blew the +breath of life into a character; his datum was always provided from +without and by another. He was a reflector only,--plus a colourist--but +a colourist of unrivalled excellence and power. Form he knew not, had +never seen, and that is also his second conditioning weakness as an +artist. Even much of his philosophy was to justify the sensualism, +sensualisticism, pessimism, and godlessness which are early manifest. +But it was a product taken over from another, a hastily devoured meal +without mastication, digestion, or assimilation. The interior emptiness +was pathetically emphasized by the fact of a contentless experience +which also worked to deprive his mind of spontaneous originality. He +never loved, except in one sorry way, never suffered much, never lived +much, for he was a hard worker, and he was always seeking the +ever-postponed, ever-unsatisfying Paradise, so vainly hunted for, and +which none ever finds except in himself. _Ihm fehlt die Liebe,_ was said +of Heine,--how much truer is it of Hearn! Conspiring with a native lack +of originality and want of normal experience, his enormous +near-sightedness made his choice of material and method of handling it +what we know. If anything was "inherited," it was a pseudo-Orientalism, +a love of the monstrous and gruesome, an astonishing indifference to +Occidental history and its conclusions as to sexual and social laws, a +spontaneous faith in faithlessness, a belief in irreligion, and an +almost hopeless trend toward fatalism and its inevitable consequent, +pessimism. Improvidence, financial as well as moral, and disloyalty, to +his friends as well as to his higher nature, were his life-long, +crippling, and condemning sins. Two mysteries seem almost inexplainable. +We know why others had to give him his themes, and whence and how he +became a mirror, or an echo; and we understand how the echoing became +also wondrously, even exaggeratedly, but beautifully, coloured. We can +almost see why he was foolishly and absurdly disloyal to personal +friends, often treating worst those who were the most kind to him; best, +those who were sometimes most cunningly selfish. We may explain his +ridiculous _Wanderlust_. But two attributes are beyond all +analysis:--one was a thing illogical with his character, his cleaving to +an ideal of literary workmanship at the cost of selfishness, +friendships, and temporary success; and the other was his marvellous +literary and psychologic sympathy with whatever mind, people, +circumstance, story, or tradition, accident or choice brought before the +echoing or mirroring mind. If it were faint, ghostly, and far away, he +was a true thaumaturgist in loving it into life, and living it into +love. + +This beautiful sympathy and literary loyalty made it possible for Hearn +to use the words of faith and of religion, even of morality, as if they +were his own, while with them he had no personal sympathy whatever. For +instance, he could speak, as if from his heart out, of "a million astral +lamps lighted in the vast and violet dome of God's everlasting mosque." +He could praise as a sublime exhortation the command, "O ye that are +about to sleep, commend your souls to Him who never sleeps!" It is, of +course, true that in Hearn's mind, doubtless, the poorest heathen or +savage virtue was sublimely virtuous, and any barbaric vice had more of +virtue in it than of viciousness. Surely the most paltry Oriental +excellence was far lovelier to him than any Occidental heroism or +beauty, however splendid. We are thus helped to understand how his mind +could seem to flush with religious or ethical enthusiasm, while the +mosque of his real heart was only a chasm of gloomy negation or a chaos +of hideous death. This was due to the fact that he had no constructive +mind, and as only one kind of doing, writing, was possible to him, +because of his near-sightedness, he must needs hate Occidentalism, and +exalt with a somewhat ludicrous praise the vapid, and even pitiful +childishness of semi-barbaric Orientalism. The illogicality reaches its +acme when Hearn, atheistic, disloyal, and unethical, was compelled, as +in some of his Japanese pages, to put a morality and a religion behind +the acts and in the hearts of his characters, which with his and with +their atheism, was, dramatically, so out of place that the incongruity +would make us smile if it were not all done with such a sweet and +haunting grace. The culmination of the contradictory trends is in +"Karma." To put it bluntly, Hearn had no spark of practical sexual +virtue, and yet praise one shall, marvel at one must, the literary and +dramatic honour which could, as in "Karma," so sympathetically describe +the almost unscalable summits of virtue,--there where in holy silence, +Passion gazes with awe at her divine Master, Duty. + +A negative condition of this sympathy was the interior voidness of his +character, the non-existence of reality within him, which thus allowed +the positive loyalty to his subject free play; yet that which gave it +leave to be, did not explain the genesis or quality of life of the +being. But have a care! Do not ask the interest in any one subject to +last for more than a fleeting moment! Early and always he possessed the +rare, the wonderful gift of the instant, the iridescent, the wingéd +word. At last was presented to him what he called a "soul," and that, in +conjunction with his growth in artistic technique, in his handling of +colours, and in procuring nobler data, helped to give the Japanese work +a content and an enduring substance which distinguishes it from that of +all others. This atones for all the hurt that precedes, and it is a +benefaction and a delight to the entire world. In reward Literature will +place upon his head one of her loveliest crowns. + + + + +CHAPTER XII.--APPRECIATIONS AND EPITOMES + + +TAKEN as a whole, the criticisms upon Hearn's work are complimentary. He +has his warm admirers, and some who are not so enthusiastic; but those +who criticize adversely do so with a gentleness,--I may say, almost a +reluctance that is perhaps the reflection of the spirit of his work. And +whatever else these may offer, all agree that his writings have a unique +charm. + +Following are a few excerpts which should give an average of opinions:-- + +"One great secret of his success in interpreting the Japanese mind and +temperament lay in his patience in seeking out and studying minutely the +little things of a people said to be great in such. As Amenomori says of +Hearn's mind, it 'called forth life and poetry out of dust.'" (327.)[20] + + [20] The numbers refer to the corresponding items in the + Bibliography. + +"As an interpreter of the Japanese heart, mind, hand and soul, Mr. Hearn +has no superior. But he will not convert those who in health of body and +mind love the landmarks of the best faith of the race. It is very hard +to make fog and miasmatic exhalations, even when made partly luminous +with rhetoric, attractive to the intellect that loves headlands and +mountain-tops. The product of despair can never compete in robust minds +with the product of faith." (357.) + +"Sympathy and exquisiteness of touch are the characteristics of Mr. +Hearn's genius. He is a chameleon, glowing with the hue of outer objects +or of inward moods, or altogether iridescent. He becomes translucent and +veined like a moth on a twig, or mottled as if with the protective +golden browns of fallen leaves. We may not look for architectonic or +even plastic powers. His is not the mind which constructs of inner +necessity, which weaves plots and schemes, or thinks of its frame as it +paints. He attempts no epic of history. The delver for sociologic or +theologic spoil must seek deeper waters.... + +"In his later books the all-potent influence of Japanese restraint seems +to have refined and subdued his wonderful style to more perfect +harmonies.... + +"His chapters are long or short as are his moods. There is little +organic unity in them; no scientific aim or philosophic grasp rounds +them into form. Even his paragraphs have little cohesion. Speaking of +the forming of his sentences, he himself has compared it to the +focussing of an image, each added word being like the turn of a delicate +screw." (306.) + +"The secret of the charm that we feel to such a marked degree in Mr. +Lafcadio Hearn's volumes is that, in contrast to other writers, he does +take the Japanese very seriously indeed." (316.) + +"To the details of life and thought in Japan Mr. Hearn's soul seems +everywhere and at all times responsive. He catches in his eye and on his +pen minute motes scarcely noticeable by the keen natives themselves." +(367.) + +"He has written nothing on Japan equal in length to his tales of West +Indian life. But while we deplore this reserve of a writer who possesses +every quality of style, except humour, we have reason to be grateful for +whatever he gives us." (307.) + +"The matchless prose and the sympathy of Mr. Hearn." (324.) + +"Mr. Hearn has the sympathetic temperament, the minute mental vision, +the subdued style peculiar to all that is good in Japanese art and +literature, needed for the accomplishment of a labour which to him has +been a labour of love indeed. Here we have no mawkish sentimentality, no +excessive laudation, on the one hand; on the other, no Occidental +harshness, no Occidental ignorance of the sweet mystery of Eastern ways +of life and modes of thought. What this most charming of writers on Far +Eastern subjects has seen all may see, but only those can understand who +are endowed with a like faculty of perception of unobtrusive beauty, and +a like power, it must be added, of patient and prolonged study of common +appearances and everyday events." (295.) + +"A man has just died, intelligent and generous, who had succeeded in +reconciling in his heart, the clear, rational ideas of the West together +with the obscure deep sense of Extreme--Asia: Lafcadio Hearn. In the +hospitality of his recipient soul, high European civilization and high +Japanese civilization found a meeting-place; harmonized; completed, one +in the other.... + +"In English-speaking countries, especially in the United States, +Lafcadio Hearn already enjoys a just reputation. The lovers of the +exotic, esteem him as equal to Kipling or Stevenson. In France, the +_Revue de Paris_ has begun to make him known, by publishing some of his +best articles, elegantly and faithfully translated. His budding fame is +destined to increase, as Europe takes a greater interest in the arts and +the thoughts of the Extreme-Orient. His prose, exact and harmonious, +will be admired as one of the finest since Ruskin wrote: his very +personal style, at the same time subtle and powerful, will be noted: he +will be especially admired for his delicate and profound intelligence of +that Japanese civilization which, to us, remains so mysterious. What +characterizes the talent of Lafcadio Hearn, that which gives it its +precious originality, is the rare mixture of scientific precision and +idealistic enthusiasm: his work might justly be entitled Truth and +Poesy: 'In reading these essays,' says one of our best existing Japanese +scholars, Professor Chamberlain, 'one feels the truth of Richard +Wagner's statement: "_Alles verständniss kommt uns nur durch die +Liebe._" (All understanding comes to us only through Love.) If Lafcadio +Hearn understands Japan best, and makes it better understood than any +other writer, it is because he loves it best.' + +"Lafcadio Hearn describes with intelligence, with love all aspects of +Japanese life: Nature and inhabitants; landscapes, animals and flowers; +material life and life moral; classic Art and popular literature; +philosophies, religions and superstitions. He awakens in us an exquisite +feeling of old aristocratic and feudal Japan: he explains to us the +prodigious revolution that modern Japan has created in thirty years.... + +"Hearn has consecrated to the study of Japanese art some of his most +curious psychological analyses. + +"Lafcadio Hearn takes a deep interest in the religious life of the +Japanese. He studies with the minutest exactness the ancient customs of +Shintôism, high moral precepts of Buddhism, and also the popular +superstitions that hold on, for instance, to the worship of foxes, and +to the idea of pre-existence." (393.) + +"To a certain large class of his adopted countrymen, his hatred of +Christianity, which was pronounced long before he went to Japan, and his +fondness for Oriental cults of all kinds, was recommendation. But it is +still an open question whether he did harm or good to the Japanese by +his advocacy of their superstitions.... + +"Hearn's books are little known to the multitude. But they are familiar +to an influential class the world over. In him Japan has lost a powerful +and flattering advocate, and the English world one of its masters in +style." (332.) + +"Mr. Hearn was not a philosopher or a judicial student of life. He was a +gifted, born impressionist, with a style resembling that of the French +Pierre Loti. His stories and descriptions are delicate or gorgeous word +pictures of the subtler and more elusive qualities of Oriental life." +(293.) + +"His art is the power of suggestion through perfect restraint.... He +stands and proclaims his mysteries at the meeting of three ways. To the +religious instinct of India,--Buddhism in particular,--which history has +engrafted on the æsthetic sense of Japan, Mr. Hearn brings the +interpreting spirit of Occidental science; and these three traditions +are fused by the peculiar sympathies of his mind into one rich and novel +compound.... In these essays and tales, whose substance is so strangely +mingled together out of the austere dreams of India and the subtle +beauty of Japan and the relentless science of Europe, I read vaguely of +many things which hitherto were quite dark." (308.) + +"He brings to the study of all aspects of Japanese life, intelligence, +and love; he also sets sail in his descriptions and analyses towards a +general theory on life; he is a Japanizing psychologist: he is also a +philosopher.... + +"At all events, Lafcadio Hearn has the merit of recalling powerfully to +the Europeans of Europe the importance, often misunderstood, of Eastern +civilization. No one better than this Japanizing enthusiast to make us +feel what there is of narrowness in our habitual conception of the +world, in our individualistic literature, misunderstanding too much the +influence of the Past in our anthropocentric art, neglecting Nature too +often, penetrated too 'singly' in our classic philosophy with +Greco-Latin and Christian influences. 'Till now,' says Lafcadio Hearn +very forcibly, 'having lived only in one hemisphere, we have thought but +half thoughts.' We should enlarge our hearts and our minds by taking +into our circle of culture, all the art and all the thought of the +extreme East. + +"From the philosophical view-point, Lafcadio Hearn has the merit of +calling attention to the high value of Shintôism, and above all of +Buddhism. His work deserves to exercise an influence on the religious +ideas of the West. If religion can no longer occupy any place in the +intellectual life of humanity, more and more invaded by science, she can +subsist a long time yet, perhaps always, in her sentimental life." +(392.) + +"For that rôle [as interpreter of Japan] he was eminently unfitted both +by temperament and training. Indeed he was not slow to recognize his +lack of the judicial faculty, and on one occasion acknowledged that he +is a 'creature of extremes.' ... But Hearn often succeeds in reaching +the heart of things by his faculty of sympathy, in virtue of which alone +his books deserve perusal; when he fails it is because of a lack of the +unimpassioned judicial faculty, a tendency to subordinate reason to +feeling, an inclination to place sympathy in the position of judge +rather than guide." (359.) + +"Lafcadio Hearn not only buried himself in the Japanese world, but gave +his ashes to the soil so often devastated by earthquake, typhoon, tidal +wave and famine, but ever fertile in blooms of fancy which lies under +the River of Heaven. The air of Nippon, poor in ozone, is overpopulated +by goblins. No writer has ever excelled this child of Greece and Ireland +in interpreting the weird fancies of peasant and poet in the land of +bamboo and cherry flowers.... Hearn's life seemed crushed under 'the +horror of infinite Possibility.' Hence perhaps the weird fascination of +his work and style." (348.) + + + EPITOMES + +AVATAR (281).--It was during the Cincinnati period that Hearn made +this--his first translation from the French. Writing of it in 1886, he +says:-- + + I have a project on foot--to issue a series of translations of + archæological and artistic French romance--Flaubert's "Tentation + de Saint-Antoine"; De Nerval's "Voyage en Orient"; Gautier's + "Avatar"; Loti's most extraordinary African and Polynesian + novels; and Beaudelaire's "Petits Poemes en Prose." + +But three years later, he writes:-- + + The work of Gautier cited by you--"Avatar"--was my first + translation from the French. I never could find a publisher for + it, however, and threw the MS. away at last in disgust. It is + certainly a wonderful story; but the self-styled Anglo-Saxon has + so much--prudery that even this innocent phantasy seems to shock + his sense of the "proper." + +LA TENTATION DE SAINT-ANTOINE (282) was probably translated at about the +same time. Hearn failed to find a publisher who would take it, but the +manuscript is still in my possession. Hearn's own complete _scenario_, +together with a description of the manuscript, is given on another page. +I quote from Hearn about this work:-- + + The original is certainly one of the most exotically strange + pieces of writing in any language, and weird beyond description. + +Of his own translation, he writes:-- + + The work is audacious in parts; but I think nothing ought to be + suppressed. That serpent-scene, the crucified lions, the + breaking of the chair of gold, the hideous battles about + Carthage,--these pages contain pictures that ought not to remain + entombed in a foreign museum. + +The winter of 1877, the year Hearn arrived in New Orleans, he +corresponded with the Cincinnati _Commercial_ under the name of "Ozias +Midwinter" (219). Excerpts from this series of letters are given in the +chapter, "The New Orleans Period." + +ONE OF CLEOPATRA'S NIGHTS (20) was the first book to be published. The +translations were made during the latter part of the Cincinnati period, +but the volume did not appear until some years later, while Hearn was in +New Orleans. It was prepared at the hour when his craving for the exotic +and weird was at its height. From the opening word to the last the six +stories are one long Dionysian revel of an Arabian Night's Dream, and +within their pages it is not difficult to feel that "one is truly dead +only when one is no longer loved." What an exotic group of names it +is:--Cleopatra, "she that made the whole world's bale and bliss;" +Clarimonde, + + "Who was famed in her lifetime + As the fairest of women;" + +Arria Marcella; the Princess Hermonthis; Omphale; and the one "fairer +than all daughters of men, lovelier than all fantasies realized in +stone"--Nyssia. It is a tapestry woven of the lights and jewels and +passion of an antique world. "You will find in Gautier," Hearn writes, +"a perfection of melody, a warmth of word colouring, a voluptuous +delicacy;" "Gautier could create mosaics of word jewellery without +equals." Hearn's "pet stories" are "Clarimonde" and "Arria Marcella." Is +it strange that he should delight in these beautiful vampires? + +In this work, and in the tales to follow, we already perceive that +colour is to become a sort of a fetich to be worshipped. Here in the +studio of another artist, he serves his first apprenticeship, and from +the highly toned palette of Gautier he learns how to mix and lay on the +colours that he himself is later to use so richly. + +In speaking of this book, a critic says:-- + +"His learning and his inspiration were wholly French in these +productions, as also in what was his first and in some ways his best +book, "One of Cleopatra's Nights," and other tales translated from +Théophile Gautier. While Hearn was faithful to his original, he also +improved upon it, and many a scholar who knows both French and English +has confessed under the rose that Gautier is outdone." (332.) + +Of his work, Hearn writes:-- + + You asked me about Gautier. I have read and possess nearly + all his works; and before I was really mature enough for + such an undertaking I translated his six most remarkable + short stories. The work contains, I regret to say, several + shocking errors, and the publishers refused me the right to + correct the plates. The book remains one of the sins of my + literary youth, but I am sure my judgment of the value of + the stories was correct. + +While preparing his next book, Hearn published in the _Century_, "The +Scenes of Cable's Romances" (220). In this article he vivifies the +quarters and dwellings that Mr. Cable in his delightful stories had +already made famous. + +THE FIRST MUEZZIN, BILÂL (405), was written in the fall of 1883, during +the New Orleans period. It is a beautiful, serious piece of work, and is +written with the fine, sonorous quality that such a theme should +inspire. That it was a labour of love is shown in Hearn's letters +written at its inception to Mr. Krehbiel, who was an invaluable aid to +him in compiling its musical part. "Bilâl" was probably published +finally in the _Times-Democrat_, after being refused by _Harper's_, the +_Century_, and some others. + + The traveller slumbering for the first time within the walls of + an Oriental city, and in the vicinity of a minaret, can scarcely + fail to be impressed by the solemn beauty of the Mohammedan Call + to Prayer. If he have worthily prepared himself, by the study of + book and of languages, for the experiences of Eastern travel, he + will probably have learned by heart the words of the sacred + summons, and will recognize their syllables in the sonorous + chant of the Muezzin,--while the rose-coloured light of an + Egyptian or Syrian dawn expands its flush to the stars. Four + times more will he hear that voice ere morning again illuminates + the east:--under the white blaze of noon; at the sunset hour, + when the west is fervid with incandescent gold and vermilion; in + the long after-glow of orange and emerald fires; and, still + later, when a million astral lamps have been lighted in the vast + and violet dome of God's everlasting mosque. + +In four parts Hearn tells the history of Bilâl, who + + was an African black, an Abyssinian,--famed for his fortitude as + a confessor, for his zeal in the faith of the Prophet, and for + the marvellous melody of his voice, whose echoes have been + caught up and prolonged and multiplied by all the muezzins of + Islam, through the passing of more than twelve hundred years.... + And the words chanted by all the muezzins of the Moslem + world,--whether from the barbaric brick structures which rise + above "The Tunis of the Desert," or from the fairy minarets of + the exquisite mosque at Agra,--are the words first sung by the + mighty voice of Bilâl. + +Bilâl was the son of an Abyssinian slave-girl, and himself began life as +a slave. The first preaching of Mahomet had deep effect upon the slaves +of Mecca, and Bilâl was perhaps the earliest of these to become a +convert. Even under the tortures of the persecutors, he could not be +made to apostatize--always he would answer, "_Ahad! Ahad_:" "_One_, one +only God!" Abu Bekr, the bosom friend of the great Prophet, observing +Bilâl, bought him, and set him free. Then Bilâl became the devoted +servant of Mahomet; and, in fulfilment of a dream, he was made the First +Muezzin to sound the _Adzân_, the Call to Prayer. + + + God is Great! + God is Great! + I bear witness there is no other God but God! + I bear witness that Mahomet is the Prophet of God! + Come unto Prayer! + Come unto Salvation! + God is Great! + There is no other God but God! + + * * * * * + + After the death of Mahomet, Bilâl ceased to sing the + _Adzân_:--the voice that had summoned the Prophet of God to + the house of prayer ought not, he piously fancied, to be + heard after the departure of his master. Yet, in his Syrian + home, how often must he have prayed to chant the words as he + first chanted them from the starlit housetop in the Holy + City, and how often compelled to deny the petitions of those + who revered him as a saint and would perhaps have sacrificed + all their goods to have heard him but once lift up his voice + in musical prayer!... But when Omar visited Damascus the + chiefs of the people besought him that, as Commander of the + Faithful, he should ask Bilâl to sing the Call in honour of + the event; and the old man consented to do so for the last + time.... + + To hear Bilâl must have seemed to many as sacred a privilege + as to have heard the voice of the Prophet himself,--the + proudest episode of a lifetime,--the one incident of all + others to be related in long afteryears to children and to + grandchildren. Some there may have been whom the occasion + inspired with feelings no loftier than curiosity; but the + large majority of those who thronged to listen in silent + expectancy for the _Allah-hu-akbar!_ must have experienced + emotions too deep to be ever forgotten. The records of the + event, at least, fully justify this belief;--for when, after + moments of tremulous waiting, the grand voice of the aged + African rolled out amid the hush,--with the old beloved + words,--the old familiar tones, still deep and clean,--Omar + and all those about him wept aloud, and tears streamed down + every warrior-face, and the last long notes of the chant + were lost in a tempest of sobbing. + +STRAY LEAVES FROM STRANGE LITERATURE[21] (I) is the second book. It was +written also during the period in New Orleans, many of the stories first +appearing in the _Times-Democrat_, and the little volume is dedicated to +its editor--Mr. Page M. Baker. + + [21] Copyright, 1884, by James R. Osgood and Company. + +These tales, as Hearn tells us in his Preface, are "reconstructions of +what impressed me as most fantastically beautiful in the most exotic +literature which I was able to obtain." In a letter he writes, "The +language of 'Stray Leaves' is all my own, with the exception of the +Italic texts and a few pages translated from the 'Kalewala.'" + +The tapestry he is weaving is of the same crimson threads as that of the +earlier tales, but the colours of sunset are softening to the gentler +hues of the after-glow, and interwoven sometimes are strands of pure +moonlight. + +We read of the great Book of Thoth which contains a formula whosoever +could recite might never know death, and we learn how the cunning +magician Noferkephtah obtained the book, which caused the wrath of the +gods to fall upon him; later, how Satni, of whom "there was not in all +Egypt so wise a scribe," yearned for the book, and took it from the tomb +of Noferkephtah, and of the magic wrought and the penance done. + +There is the exquisite tale of the Fountain Maiden, whom Aki caught in +his own fish-net, and whom he grew to love more than his own life. + +The story lingers of the sea-bird which fell into the hunter's hand, and +when he looked more closely he found it had become transformed into a +beautiful girl, "slender ... like a young moon," and pity rose in the +hunter's heart, and then love. One day, when their children had become +strong and swift, and while they were all hunting together, the +Bird-Wife called to the little ones to gather feathers: then she covered +their arms and her own shoulders with the feathers, and far away they +flew. + +Passing onward, we read of Tilottama, and that by reason of her beauty +"the great gods once became multiple-faced and myriad-eyed"; and that +this beauty brought punishment to the wicked Sounda and Oupasounda. + +There is Bakawali, for "whose history of love, human and superhuman, a +parallel may not be found." For her great love of the mortal youth +Taj-ulmuluk each night she sacrificed herself to the fiercest +purification of fire. And then to appease the gods, she suffered herself +to be turned for ten long years into marble from her waist to her feet. +Her lover ministered to her and watched by her side through the terrible +years until she was reincarnated for him. + +Then we see the statue of Natalika, who avenged the death of her people. + +And who shall answer the riddle of the Corpse Demon? And which one may +not profit by the wisdom of the youth who knew nothing of science? +Perhaps our hearts stir with a soft regret for the atonement of Pundari. +And so we wander through a maze of colour and of magic, tarrying to +listen to the voice of Kalewala, for-- + + As he sang the fair Sun paused in her course to hear him; the + golden Moon stopped in her path to listen; the awful billows of + the sea stood still; the icy rivers that devour the pines, that + swallow up the firs, ceased to rage; the mighty cataracts hung + motionless above their abysses; the waves of Juortana lifted + high their heads to hear. + +"Slender she was as the tulip upon its stalk, and in walking her feet +seemed kisses pressed upon the ground. But hadst thou beheld her face +unveiled, and the whiteness of her teeth between her brown lips when she +smiled!" Alas, she was a good Christian maiden and he a good Mussulman, +and so in this Legend of Love each loyal heart dies pronouncing the +faith of the other, lest they should not meet at the Day of Judgment. + +As we draw near the last figures on the tapestry, we find those two +tender pictures of which Hearn himself speaks: "Your preference for +Boutimar pleases me: Boutimar was my pet. There is a little Jewish +legend in the collection--Esther--somewhat resembling it in pathos." +These stories afford a glimpse into that gentle heart, which was later +to respond to the exquisite faiths and loyalties of the Japanese. + +Now the Creator sent unto Solomon a cup which contained some of the +waters of youth and of life without end. And Solomon was asked: "Wilt +thou drink hereof and live divinely immortal through ages everlasting, +or wilt thou rather remain within the prison of humanity?" And Solomon +dreamed upon these words; and he assembled in council a representative +of all those over whom he held dominion. Then Solomon asked Boutimar, +the wild dove, most loving of all living creatures, whether he should +drink of the magic waters, and thus learn the bliss of earthly +immortality. When Boutimar, the wild dove, learned that the cup held +only enough water for one person, he made answer in the language of +birds:-- + + "O prophet of God! how couldst thou desire to be living alone, + when each of thy friends and of thy counsellors and of thy + children and of thy servants and of all who loved thee were + counted with the dead? For all of these must surely drink the + bitter waters of death, though thou shouldst drink the Water of + Life. Wherefore desire everlasting youth, when the face of the + world itself shall be wrinkled with age, and the eyes of the + stars shall be closed by the black fingers of Azrael? When the + love thou hast sung of shall have passed away like a smoke of + frankincense, when the dust of the heart that beat against thine + own shall have long been scattered by the four winds of heaven, + when the eyes that looked for thy coming shall have become a + memory, when the voices grateful to thine ear shall have been + eternally stilled, when thy life shall be one oasis in a + universal waste of death, and thine eternal existence but a + recognition of eternal absence,--wilt thou indeed care to live, + though the wild dove perish when its mate cometh not?" + + And Solomon, without reply, silently put out his arm and gave + back the cup.... But upon the prophet-king's rich beard, + besprinkled with powder of gold, there appeared another glitter + as of clear dew,--the diamond dew of the heart, which is tears. + +Esther, whose comeliness surpassed even that of Sarah, and her rich +husband had lived together ten years, but there was no happiness in the +soul of the good man, for "the sound of a child's voice had never made +sunshine within his heart." So Esther and her husband sorrowed bitterly. +And they brought the burden of their grief to Rabbi Simon ben Yochai, +and when they had told him, a silence as of the Shechinah came upon the +three, only the eyes of the Rabbi seemed to smile. And it was agreed +that the twain should part; thus the Israelite could be known as a +father in Israel. + +A feast then was laid at the house, and before all the guests her +husband spoke lovingly to Esther, and in token of his affection and his +grief bade her to take from the house "whatever thou desirest, whether +it be gold or jewels beyond price." And the wine was passed, and the +people made merry, and finally a deep sleep fell upon them all. Then +Esther gave command that her husband sleeping should be carried to her +father's house. In the morning her husband awakened, and confused he +cried out, "Woman, what hast thou done?" + + Then, sweeter than the voice of doves among the fig-trees, came + the voice of Esther: "Didst thou not bid me, husband, that I + should choose and take away from thy house whatsoever I most + desired? And I have chosen thee, and have brought thee hither, + to my father's home ... loving thee more than all else in the + world. Wilt thou drive me from thee now?" And he could not see + her face for tears of love; yet he heard her voice speaking + on,--speaking the golden words of Ruth, which are so old yet so + young to the hearts of all that love: "Whithersoever thou shalt + go, I will also go; and whithersoever thou shalt dwell, I also + will dwell. And the Angel of Death only may part us; for thou + art all in all to me." ... + + And in the golden sunlight at the doorway suddenly stood, like a + statue of Babylonian silver, the grand grey figure of Rabbi + Simon ben Yochai, lifting his hands in benediction. + + "_Schmah Israel!_--the Lord our God, who is One, bless ye with + everlasting benediction! May your hearts be welded by love, as + gold with gold by the cunning of goldsmiths! May the Lord, who + coupleth and setteth thee single in families, watch over ye! The + Lord make this valiant woman even as Rachel and as Lia, who + built up the house of Israel! And ye shall behold your children + and your children's children in the House of the Lord!" + + Even so the Lord blessed them; and Esther became as the fruitful + vine, and they saw their children's children in Israel. + Forasmuch as it is written: "He will regard the prayer of the + destitute." + +GOMBO ZHÈBES[22](2) followed in the New Orleans period. It is a +compilation of 352 proverbs selected from six dialects. According to the +indexes, there are 6 in the Creole of French Guyana; 28 in the Creole of +Hayti; 51 in the Creole of New Orleans, Louisiana; 101 in the Creole of +Martinique; 110 in the Creole of Mauritius; 52 in the Creole of +Trinidad. Most of the proverbs are similar to our own, but are +translated into the simple homely language of the Creole, reflecting its +mode of thought. The same proverb often appears in the different +dialects. Although a proverb is of European origin, "the character of +Creole folk-lore is very different from European folk-lore in the matter +of superstition." Many proverbs are direct from the African. Those in +the Creole of Hayti are generally rough and coarse. The most popular +subjects are, pot or kettle, rain, serpent or snake, of which there are +six of each; devil, eggs, belly, horse, mothers, tail, of these there +are seven of each; chicken, children, ox have eight of each; cat has +nine; goat has eleven; talking has sixteen; monkey has seventeen; fine +clothes has only four, idleness has five, and marriage has six. + + [22] Copyright, 1885, by Will H. Coleman. + +Hearn speaks of this book as a Dictionary of Proverbs. He made an +extensive study of the subject and in later researches found it most +helpful. "I have," he says, "quite a Creole library embracing the Creole +dialects of both hemispheres." + +Following are a selection of the proverbs chosen from the different +dialects:-- + + No. 23. _Bel tignon pas fait bel négresse. (Le beau tignon ne + fait pas la belle négresse.)_ "It isn't the fine head-dress that + makes the fine negress." (_Louisiana._) + + _Tignon_ or _tiyon_, the true Creole word, "is the famously + picturesque handkerchief which in old days all slave-women + twisted about their heads." + + No. 44. _Ça qui boudé manze boudin. (Celui qui boude mange du + boudin.)_ "He who sulks eats his own belly." That is to say, + spites himself. The pun is untranslatable. (_Mauritius_.) + + _Boudin_ in French signifies a pudding, in Creole it also + signifies the belly. Thus there is a double pun in the patois. + + No. 256. _Quand diabe alle lamesse li caciétte so laquée. (Quand + le diable va à la messe, il cache sa queue.)_ "When the Devil + goes to mass he hides his tail." (_Mauritius._) + + No. 352. _Zozo paillenqui crié là-haut, coudevent vini. (Le + paille-en-cul crie la-haut, le coup de vent vient.)_ "When the + tropic-bird screams overhead, a storm-wind is coming." + (_Mauritius._) + + No. 267. _Quand milatt tini yon vié chouvral yo dit nègress pas + manman yo. (Quand les mulâtres ont un vieux cheval ils disent + que les négresses ne sont pas leur mères.)_ "As soon as a + mulatto is able to own an old horse, he will tell you that his + mother wasn't a nigger." (_Martinique._) + + No. 324. _Toutt milett ni grand zaureilles. (Tout les mulets ont + des grandes oreilles.)_ "All mules have big ears." Equivalent to + our proverb: "Birds of a feather flock together." + (_Martinique._) + + No. 291. _Si coulev oûlé viv, li pas pronminée grand-chemin. (Si + la couleuvre veut vivre, elle ne se promène pas dans le grand + chemin.)_ "If the snake cares to live, it doesn't journey upon + the high-road." (_Guyana._) + + No. 292. _Si coulève pas té fonté, femmes sé pouend li fair + ribans jipes. (Si la couleuvre n'était pas effrontée les femmes + la prendraient pour en faire des rubans de jupes.)_ "If the + snake wasn't spunky, women would use it for petticoat strings." + (_Trinidad._) + + No. 100. _Complot plis fort passé ouanga.[23] (Le complot est + plus fort que l'ouanga.)_ "Conspiracy is stronger than + witchcraft." (_Hayti._) + + [23] _Di moin si to gagnin homme! + Mo va fé ouanga pouli; + Mo fé li tourné fantôme + Si to vlé mo to mari...._ + + "Tell me if thou hast a man (a lover) I will make a + _ouanga_ for him--I will change him into a ghost if thou + wilt have me for thy husband." + + This word, of African origin, is applied to all things + connected with the Voudooism of the negroes. + + In the song, "_Dipi mo voué, toué Adèle_," from which the + above lines are taken, the wooer threatens to get rid of a + rival by _ouanga_--to "turn him into a ghost." The victims + of Voudooism are said to have gradually withered away, + probably through the influence of secret poison. The word + _grigri_, also of African origin, simply refers to a + charm, which may be used for an innocent or innocuous + purpose. Thus, in a Louisiana Creole song, we find a + quadroon mother promising her daughter a charm to prevent + the white lover from forsaking her: + + "_Pou tchombé li na fé grigri._" "We shall make a _grigri_ + to keep him." + +Simultaneously with the publication of "Gombo Zhèbes," Hearn contributed +a series of articles[24] to _Harper's Weekly._ (221-227, 230, 232.) +These papers, which are commonplace newspaper work, tell of New Orleans, +its Expositions, its Superstitions, Voudooism, and the Creole Patois. He +feels that the Creole tongue must go, but while there is still time, he +hopes that some one will rescue its dying legends and curious lyrics. + + [24] Copyright, 1884, 1885, 1886, by Harper and Brothers. + + The unedited Creole literature comprises songs, satires in + rhymes, proverbs, fairy-tales--almost everything commonly + included under the term folk-lore. The lyrical portion of + it is opulent in oddities, in melancholy beauties. + +There are few of the younger generation of Creoles who do not converse +in the French and English languages. Creole is the speech of motherhood, +and "there is a strange naïve sorrow in their burdens as of children +sobbing for lonesomeness in the night." + +There is an interesting account of Jean Montanet, "Voudoo John"--The +Last of the Voudoos. He was said to be a son of a prince of Senegal. +From a ship's cook he rose to own large estates. While he was a +cotton-roller, it was noticed that he seemed to have some peculiar +occult influence over the negroes under him. Voudoo John had the +mysterious _obi_ power. Soon realizing his power, he commenced to tell +fortunes, and thousands and thousands of people, white and black, +flocked to him. Then he bought a house and began as well to practise +Creole medicine. He could give receipts for everything and anything, and +many a veiled lady stopped at his door. + + Once Jean received a fee of $50 for a potion. "It was + water," he said to a Creole confidant, "with some common + herbs boiled in it. I hurt nobody, but if folks want to + give me fifty dollars, I take the fifty dollars every + time!" + +It is said that Jean became worth at least $50,000. He had his horses +and carriages, his fifteen wives, whom he considered, one and all, +legitimate spouses. He was charitable too. But he did not know what to +do with his money. Gradually, in one way or another, it was stolen from +him, until at the last, with nothing left but his African shells, his +elephant's tusk, and the sewing-machine upon which he used to tell +fortunes even in his days of riches, he had to seek hospitality of his +children. + +Hearn devotes several columns to Voudooism, telling of its witchcrafts +and charms and fetiches which work for evil, and also of the +superstitions regarding the common occurrences of daily life. + +In a paper on Mexican feather-work at the New Orleans Exposition, there +is this paragraph which presages his later descriptions:-- + + As I write, the memory of a Mexican landscape scene in + feather-work is especially vivid--a vast expanse of opulent + wheat-fields, whereof the blonde immensity brightens or + deepens its tint with the tremor of summer winds; distance + makes violet the hills; a steel-bright river serpentines + through the plain, reflecting the feminine grace of palms + tossing their plumes against an azure sky. I remember also + a vision of marshes--infinite stretches of reed-grown ooze, + shuddering in gusts of sea-wind, and paling away into + bluish vagueness as through a miasmatic haze. + +In conjunction with these articles, Hearn published in _Harper's Bazaar_ +(228-229) two papers on the Curiosities to be found at the New Orleans +Exposition. + +SOME CHINESE GHOSTS[25] (3) was the next book of the New Orleans period. +The first publisher to whom it was submitted did not accept it, but +Roberts Brothers finally brought it out. "There are only six little +stories," writes Hearn, "but each of them cost months of hard work and +study, and represents a much higher attempt than anything in the 'Stray +Leaves.'" The book is dedicated to his friend Mr. Krehbiel, and the +Dedication, which is given in the Bibliography, is as unique as the +tales themselves. + + [25] Copyright, 1887, by Roberts Brothers. + +In the Preface Hearn says that while preparing these legends he sought +for "weird beauty." The era of fierce passions and horror is waning, and +in these six perfect tales there is a new-found restraint, a firmer +handling of the brush in more normal colours. + +One of the earliest reviews of his work remarks:-- + +"In his treatment of the legend lore of the Celestial Empire, Mr. Hearn +has, if possible, been even more delicate and charming than in the +stories which go to make the previous volume, so much so, indeed, that +one is persuaded to full belief in the beauty and witchery of the +almond-eyed heroines of his pages." (322.) + +The opening story is of the beautiful Ko-Ngai, daughter of Kouan-Yu, +whose divine loyalty to her father never faltered even at a hideous +death. He was a great bellmaker, and the Mandarin ordered that he should +make a bell of such size that it would be heard for one hundred _li_, +and further that the bell "should be strengthened with brass, and +deepened with gold, and sweetened with silver." But the metals refused +to mingle. Again the bell was cast, but the result was even worse, and +the Son of Heaven was very angry; and this word was sent to Kouan-Yu:-- + + "If thou fail a third time in fulfilling our command, thy head + shall be severed from thy neck." + +When the lovely Ko-Ngai heard this, she sold her jewels, and paid a +great price to an astrologer, and it was told to her:-- + + Gold and brass will never meet in wedlock, silver and iron never + will embrace, until the flesh of a maiden be melted in the + crucible; until the blood of a virgin be mingled with the metals + in their fusion. + +Ko-Ngai told no one what she had heard. The awful hour for the heroic +effort of the final casting arrived. + + All the workmen wrought their tasks in silence; there was no + sound heard but the muttering of the fires. And the muttering + deepened into a roar of typhoons approaching, and the blood-red + lake of metal slowly brightened like the vermilion of a sunrise, + and the vermilion was transmuted into a radiant glow of gold, + and the gold whitened blindingly, like the silver face of a full + moon. Then the workers ceased to feed the raving flame, and all + fixed their eyes upon the eyes of Kouan-Yu; and Kouan-Yu + prepared to give the signal to cast. + +But ere ever he lifted his finger, a cry caused him to turn his + head; and all heard the voice of Ko-Ngai sounding sharply sweet + as a bird's song above the great thunder of the fires,--"For thy + sake, O my Father!" And even as she cried, she leaped into the + white flood of metal; and the lava of the furnace roared to + receive her, and spattered monstrous flakes of flame to the + roof, and burst over the verge of the earthen crater, and cast + up a whirling fountain of many-coloured fires, and subsided + quakingly, with lightnings and with thunders and with mutterings. + +Of the lovely Ko-Ngai no trace remained save a little shoe, which was +left in the hand of the faithful serving-woman who had striven to catch +her as she leaped into the flame. + +And ever does the bell, whose tones are deeper and mellower and mightier +than the tones of any other bell, utter the name of Ko-Ngai; and ever +between the mighty strokes there is a low moaning heard, a sobbing of +"_Hiai!_" and that they say is Ko-Ngai crying for her little shoe. + +The next tale tells of Ming-Y and how it was that he did not heed the +counsel of the words of Lao-Tseu, and so it befell that he was loved by +the beautiful Sië-Thao, whose tomb had many years ago crumbled to ruins. + +The Legend of Tchi-Niu is the queen flower of the nosegay of six. Tong's +father died, and as they were very poor, the only way that Tong could +obtain money to pay for the funeral expenses was to sell himself as a +slave. The years passed, and he worked without rest or pay, but never a +complaint did he utter. At length the fever of the ricefields seized +him, and he was left alone in his sickness, for there was no one to wait +on him. One noon he dreamed that a beautiful woman bent over him and +touched his forehead with her hand. And Tong opened his eyes, and he saw +the lovely person of whom he had dreamed. "I have come to restore thy +strength and to be thy wife. Arise and worship with me." And reading his +thoughts she said, "I will provide." + +"And together they worshipped Heaven and Earth. Thus she became his +wife." + +But all that Tong knew of his wife was that her name was Tchi. And the +fame of the weaving of Tchi spread far, and people came to see her +beautiful work. One morning Tchi gave to her husband a document. It was +his freedom that she had bought. + +Later the silk-loom remained untouched, for Tchi gave birth to a son. +And the boy was not less wonderful than his mother. + +Now it came to the Period of the Eleventh Moon. Suddenly one night, Tchi +led Tong to the cradle where their son slumbered, and as she did so a +great fear and awe came over Tong, and the sweet tender voice breathed +to him:-- + + "Lo! my beloved, the moment has come in which I must forsake + thee; for I was never of mortal born, and the Invisible may + incarnate themselves for a time only. Yet I leave with thee the + pledge of our love,--this fair son, who shall ever be to thee as + faithful and as fond as thou thyself hast been. Know, my + beloved, that I was sent to thee even by the Master of Heaven, + in reward of thy filial piety, and that I must now return to the + glory of His house: I AM THE GODDESS TCHI-NIU." + +Even as she ceased to speak, the great glow faded, and Tong, + reopening his eyes, knew that she had passed away for + ever,--mysteriously as pass the winds of heaven, irrevocably as + the light of a flame blown out. Yet all the doors were barred, + all the windows unopened. Still the child slept, smiling in his + sleep. Outside, the darkness was breaking; the sky was + brightening swiftly; the night was past. With splendid majesty + the East threw open high gates of gold for the coming of the + sun; and, illuminated by the glory of his coming, the vapours of + morning wrought themselves into marvellous shapes of shifting + colour,--into forms weirdly beautiful as the silken dreams woven + in the loom of Tchi-Niu. + +Another tale is that of Mara, who tempted in vain, for the Indian +pilgrim conquered. + + And still, as a mist of incense, as a smoke of universal + sacrifice, perpetually ascends to heaven from all the lands of + earth the pleasant vapour TE, created for the refreshment of + mankind by the power of a holy vow, the virtue of a pious + atonement. + +Like unto the Tale of the Great Bell, Pu, convinced that a soul cannot +be divided, + + entered the flame, and yielded up his ghost in the embrace of + the Spirit of the Furnace, giving his life for the life of his + work,--his soul for the soul of his Vase. + +And when the workmen came upon the tenth morning to take forth + the porcelain marvel, even the bones of Pu had ceased to be; but + lo! the Vase lived as they looked upon it: seeming to be flesh + moved by the utterance of a Word, creeping to the titillation of + a Thought. And whenever tapped by the finger, it uttered a voice + and a name,--the voice of its maker, the name of its creator: PU. + +This same year, Hearn contributed to _Harpers Bazaar_ the valiant legend +of "Rabyah's Last Ride"(234)--Rabyah upon whom no woman had ever called +in vain, and who defended his women even after he was dead. This tale +was copied in the _Times-Democrat_. + +CHITA[26] (4), although published after Hearn left New Orleans, properly +belongs to that period. It first appeared in much shorter form in the +_Times-Democrat_ under the title of "Torn Letters." This version met +with many warm friends, and the author was urged to enlarge it. He did +so, and Harpers accepted the story, publishing it first as a serial in +their magazine. With this book came Hearn's first recognition, and +because of its success, he was given a commission by Harpers for further +studies in the tropics, which eventuated in the volume, "Two Years in +the French West Indies." + + [26] Copyright, 1889, by Harper and Brothers. + +"Chita" is the first glimpse of what Mr. Hearn could write from out +himself; for whereas, as always, the plot must be given to him, the +thread here is so frail that what we admire and remember is the fabric +itself which only Hearn could have woven. In "Chita" he recreates +elemental nature. In "Karma" he becomes the conscience of a human being. +Then, for the first time he realizes the spiritual forces which are +stronger than life or death, and without which no beauty exists. + +A criticism of "Chita" at the time of its publication says:-- + +"By right of this single but profoundly remarkable book, Mr. Hearn may +lay good claim to the title of the American Victor Hugo ... so living a +book has scarcely been given to our generation." (342.) + +Concerning the story, Hearn himself writes as follows:-- + + "Chita" was founded on the fact of a child saved from the Lost + Island disaster by some Louisiana fishing-folk, and brought up + by them. Years after a Creole hunter recognized her, and + reported her whereabouts to relatives. These, who were rich, + determined to bring her up as young ladies are brought up in the + South, and had her sent to a convent. But she had lived the free + healthy life of the coast, and could not bear the convent; she + ran away from it, married a fisherman, and lives somewhere down + there now,--the mother of multitudinous children. + +This slight structure of plot gave Hearn the opportunity to paint a +marvellous picture. Hundreds of quotations could be given. He is +delighted with the rich glory of the tropics, and by his power of word +imagery he so reproduces it that with him we too can see and feel it. In +this glowing Nature the poisoned beauty of the Orient is forgotten. Take +this description:-- + + The charm of a single summer day on these island shores is + something impossible to express, never to be forgotten. Rarely, + in the paler zones, do earth and heaven take such luminosity: + those will best understand me who have seen the splendour of a + West Indian sky. And yet there is a tenderness of tint, a caress + of colour, in these Gulf-days which is not of the Antilles,--a + spirituality, as of eternal tropical spring. It must have been + to even such a sky that Xenophanes lifted up his eyes of old + when he vowed the Infinite Blue was God;--it was indeed under + such a sky that De Soto named the vastest and grandest of + Southern havens Espiritu Santo,--the Bay of the Holy Ghost. + There is a something unutterable in this bright Gulf-air that + compels awe,--something vital, something holy, something + pantheistic and reverentially the mind asks itself if what the + eye beholds is not the [Greek: pneuma] indeed, the Infinite + Breath, the Divine Ghost, the Great Blue Soul of the Unknown. + All, all is blue in the calm,--save the low land under your + feet, which you almost forget, since it seems only as a tiny + green flake afloat in the liquid eternity of day. Then slowly, + caressingly, irresistibly, the witchery of the Infinite grows + upon you: out of Time and Space you begin to dream with open + eyes,--to drift into delicious oblivion of facts,--to forget the + past, the present, the substantial,--to comprehend nothing but + the existence of that infinite Blue Ghost as something into + which you would wish to melt utterly away for ever. + +So it is told that into this perfect peace one August day in 1856, a +scarlet sun sank in a green sky, and a moonless night came. + + Then the Wind grew weird. It ceased being a breath; it became a + Voice moaning across the world hooting,--uttering nightmare + sounds,--_Whoo!_--_whoo!_--_whoo!_--and with each stupendous + owl-cry the mooing of the waters seemed to deepen, more and more + abysmally, through all the hours of darkness. + +Morning dawned with great rain: the steamer _Star_ was due that day. No +one dared to think of it. "Great God!" some one shrieked,--"She is +coming!" + + On she came, swaying, rocking, plunging,--with a great whiteness + wrapping her about like a cloud, and moving with her moving,--a + tempest-whirl of spray;--ghost-white and like a ghost she came, + for her smoke-stacks exhaled no visible smoke--the wind devoured + it. + +And still the storm grew fiercer. On shore the guests at the hotel +danced with a feverish reckless gaiety. + + Again the _Star_ reeled, and shuddered, and turned, and began to + drag away from the great building and its lights,--away from the + voluptuous thunder of the grand piano,--even at that moment + outpouring the great joy of Weber's melody orchestrated by + Berlioz: _l'Invitatiòn à la Valse_,--with its marvellous musical + swing. + + --"Waltzing!" cried the captain. "God help them!--God help us + all now!... The Wind waltzes to-night, with the Sea for his + partner." ... + + O the stupendous Valse-Tourbillon! O the mighty Dancer! + One-two--three! From north-east to east, from east to + south-east, from south-east to south: then from the south he + came, whirling the Sea in his arms.... + +And so the hurricane passed, and the day reveals utter wreck and +desolation. "There is plunder for all--birds and men." + +At a fishing village on the coast on this same night of the storm +Carmen, the good wife of Feliu, dreamed--above the terrors of the +tempest which shattered her sleep--once again the dream that kept +returning of her little Concha, her first-born who slept far away in the +old churchyard at Barcelona. And this night she dreamed that her waxen +Virgin came and placed in her arms the little brown child with the +Indian face, and the face became that of her dead Conchita. + + And Carmen wished to thank the Virgin for that priceless bliss, + and lifted up her eyes; but the sickness of ghostly fear + returned upon her when she looked; for now the Mother seemed as + a woman long dead, and the smile was the smile of fleshlessness, + and the places of the eyes were voids and darknesses.... And the + sea sent up so vast a roar that the dwelling rocked. + + * * * * * + +Feliu and his men find the tide heavy with human dead and the sea filled +with wreckage. Through this floatage Feliu detects a stir of life ... he +swims to rescue a little baby fast in the clutch of her dead mother. + +To Carmen it is the meaning of her dream. The child has been sent by the +Virgin. The tale leads on through the growing life of Chita. Finally one +day Dr. La Brierre, whose wife and child had been lost in the famous +storm, is summoned to Viosca's Point to the deathbed of his father's old +friend, who is dying of the fever. It is Feliu who brings him. But +before they can reach the Point the man has already died. The Doctor +remains at Feliu's fishing smack. He feels the sickness of the fever +coming over him. Then he sees Chita.... Hers is the face of his dead +Adèle. Through the fury of the fever, which has now seized him, the past +is mingled with the present. He re-lives the agony of that death-storm, +re-lives all the horror of that scene, when all that he held dear was +swept away--until his own soul passes out into the night. + +The description of Dr. La Brierre in the throes of the fever is +terrible. It is so realistic that one shudders. + +TWO YEARS IN THE FRENCH WEST INDIES[27] (6) was the _pièce de +résistance_ of the sojourn in the tropics. Some of the papers appeared +first in _Harper's Magazine_. They are marvellous colour-pictures of the +country, its people, its life, its customs, with many of the picturesque +legends and the quaintnesses that creep into the heart. + + [27] Copyright, 1890, by Harper and Brothers. + +"There is not a writer who could have so steeped himself in this +languorous Creole life and then tell so well about it. Trollope and +Froude give you the hard, gritty facts, and Lafcadio Hearn the sentiment +and poetry of this beautiful island." (387.) + +More and more is Hearn realizing the necessity of finding new colour. "I +hope to be able to take a trip to New Mexico in the summer just to +obtain literary material, sun-paint, tropical colour, etc." It is always +the intense that his fancy craves, and indeed _must_ have in order to +work. "There are tropical lilies which are venomous, but they are more +beautiful than the frail and icy white lilies of the North." "Whenever I +receive a new and strong impression, even in a dream, I write it down, +and afterwards develop it at leisure.... There are impressions of blue +light and gold and green, correlated to old Spanish legend, which can be +found only south of this line." "I will write you a little while I am +gone,--if I can find a little strange bit of tropical colour to spread +on the paper,--like the fine jewel-dust of scintillant moth-wings." +"Next week I go away to hunt up some tropical or semi-tropical +impressions." + +He is bewitched by St. Pierre--"I love this quaint, whimsical, +wonderfully coloured little town." On opening the present volume we at +once feel how thoroughly sympathetic this whole Nature is to him, how +ravished his senses are with all that she portrays. + +From Pier 49, East River, New York, we travel with Hearn through days of +colour and beauty to the glorious Caribbean Sea, where we sail on to +Roseau and St. Pierre. Here the colour is becoming so intense that the +eyes are blinded. + + The luminosities of tropic foliage could only be imitated in + fire. He who desires to paint a West Indian forest,--a West + Indian landscape,--must take his view from some great height, + through which the colours come to his eye softened and subdued + by distance,--toned with blues or purples by the astonishing + atmosphere. + +... It is sunset as I write these lines, and there are + witchcrafts of colour. Looking down the narrow, steep street + opening to the bay, I see the motionless silhouette of the + steamer on a perfectly green sea,--under a lilac sky,--against a + prodigious orange light. + +Over her memoried paths we wander with Josephine, and then we pause +before the lovely statue which seems a living presence. + + She is standing just in the centre of the Savane, robed in the + fashion of the First Empire, with gracious arms and shoulders + bare: one hand leans upon a medallion bearing the eagle profile + of Napoleon.... Seven tall palms stand in a circle around her, + lifting their comely heads into the blue glory of the tropic + day. Within their enchanted circle you feel that you tread holy + ground,--the sacred soil of artist and poet;--here the + recollections of memoir-writers vanish away; the gossip of + history is hushed for you; you no longer care to know how rumour + has it that she spoke or smiled or wept: only the bewitchment of + her lives under the thin, soft, swaying shadows of those + feminine palms.... Over violet space of summer sea, through the + vast splendour of azure light, she is looking back to the place + of her birth, back to beautiful drowsy Trois-Islets,--and always + with the same half-dreaming, half-plaintive smile,--unutterably + touching.... + +"Under a sky always deepening in beauty" we steam on to the level, +burning, coral coast of Barbadoes. Then on past to Demerara. + +We pass through all the quaint beautiful old towns and islands. We see +their wonders of sky and sea and flowers. We see their people and all +that great race of the mixed blood. + +With dear old Jean-Marie we wait for the return of Les Porteuses, and we +hear his call:-- + + "_Coument ou yé, chè? coument ou kallé?_" ... (How art thou, + dear?--how goes it with thee?) + +And they mostly make answer, "_Toutt douce, chè,--et ou?_" (All + sweetly, dear,--and thou?) But some, over-weary, cry to him, + "_Ah! déchârgé moin vite, chè! moin lasse, lasse!_" (Unload me + quickly, dear; for I am very, very weary.) Then he takes off + their burdens, and fetches bread for them, and says foolish + little things to make them laugh. And they are pleased and + laugh, just like children, as they sit right down on the road + there to munch their dry bread. + +Again we follow on: this time to La Grande Anse, where we see the +powerful surf-swimmers. With the population we turn out to witness the +procession of young girls to be confirmed; we see the dances and games; +we hear the chants, and the strange music on strange instruments. + +At St. Pierre once more we listen to the history of Père Labat, who in +twelve years made his order the richest and most powerful in the West +Indies. + + "Eh, Père Labat!--what changes there have been since thy day!... + And all that ephemeral man has had power to change has been + changed,--ideas, morals, beliefs, the whole social fabric. But + the eternal summer remains,--and the Hesperian magnificence of + azure sky and violet sea,--and the jewel-colours of the + perpetual hills; the same tepid winds that rippled thy + cane-fields two hundred years ago still blow over Sainte-Marie; + the same purple shadows lengthen and dwindle and turn with the + wheeling of the sun. God's witchery still fills this land; and + the heart of the stranger is even yet snared by the beauty of + it; and the dreams of him that forsakes it will surely be + haunted--even as were thine own, Père Labat--by memories of its + Eden-summer: the sudden leap of the light over a thousand peaks + in the glory of a tropic dawn,--the perfumed peace of enormous + azure noons,--and shapes of palm, wind-rocked in the burning of + colossal sunsets,--and the silent flickering of the great + fire-flies, through the lukewarm darkness, when mothers call + their children home.... '_Mi fanal Pè Labatt!--mi Pè Labatt ka + vini pouend ou!_'" + +Then we see the lights of the shrines that will protect us from the +Zombi and the Moun-Mo, and all the terrible beings who are filled with +witchcraft; and we listen to the tale of that Zombi who likes to take +the shape of a lissome young negress. + +By this time it is Carnival Week with its dances and games and maskers. +But a little later we are shuddering at the horrible pestilence Vérette +that has seized the city. A gleam of the old love of horror is caught in +the following quotation:-- + + She was the prettiest, assuredly, among the pretty shop-girls of + the Grande Rue,--a rare type of _sang-mêlée_. So oddly pleasing, + the young face, that once seen, you could never again dissociate + the recollection of it from the memory of the street. But one + who saw it last night before they poured quick-lime upon it + could discern no features,--only a dark brown mass, like a + fungus, too frightful to think about. + +At the beautiful Savane du Fort our eyes and hearts are gladdened by the +quaint sight of the Blanchisseuses with their snowy linen spread out for +miles along the river's bank. Their laughter echoes in our ears, and we +try to catch the words of their little songs. + +One warm and starry, and to us unforgettable, September morning we make +the ascent of Mt. Pelée by the way of Morne St. Martin, and on our way +we come to know the country that lies all around. Let me quote our +sensation as we reach the summit:-- + + At the beginning, while gazing south, east, west, to the rim of + the world, all laughed, shouted, interchanged the quick delight + of new impressions: every face was radiant.... Now all look + serious; none speaks.... Dominating all, I think, is the + consciousness of the awful antiquity of what one is looking + upon,--such a sensation, perhaps, as of old found utterance in + that tremendous question of the Book of Job: "_Wast thou brought + forth before the hills?_" + +And the blue multitudes of the peaks, the perpetual congregation + of the mornes, seem to chorus in the vast resplendence,--telling + of Nature's eternal youth, and the passionless permanence of + that about us and beyond us and beneath,--until something like + the fulness of a grief begins to weigh at the heart.... For all + this astonishment of beauty, all this majesty of light and form + and colour, will surely endure,--marvellous as now,--after we + shall have lain down to sleep where no dreams come, and may + never arise from the dust of our rest to look upon it. + +Another day we are laughing at the little _ti canotié_ who in the +queerest tiny boats surround a steamer as soon as she drops anchor. +These are the boys who dive for coins. A sad tale is told of Maximilien +and Stréphane. Again our hearts are moved by the pathos and the tragedy +of La Fille de Couleur; and in this chapter we find that characteristic +description:-- + + I refer to the celebrated attire of the pet slaves and _belles + affranchies_ of the old colonial days. A full + costume,--including violet or crimson "petticoat" of silk or + satin; chemise with half-sleeves, and much embroidery and lace; + "trembling-pins" of gold (_zépingue tremblant_) to attach the + folds of the brilliant Madras turban; the great necklace of + three or four strings of gold beads bigger than peas + (_collier-choux_); the ear-rings, immense but light as + egg-shells (_zanneaux-à-clous_ or _zanneaux-chenilles_); the + bracelets (_portes-bonheur_); the studs (_boutons-à-clous_); the + brooches, not only for the turban, but for the chemise, below + the folds of the showy silken foulard or shoulder-scarf,--would + sometimes represent over five thousand francs' expenditure. This + gorgeous attire is becoming less visible every year: it is now + rarely worn except on very solemn occasions,--weddings, + baptisms, first communions, confirmations. The _da_ (nurse) or + "_porteuse-de-baptême_" who bears the baby to church, holds it + at the baptismal font, and afterwards carries it from house to + house in order that all the friends of the family may kiss it, + is thus attired: but now-a-days, unless she be a professional + (for there are professional _das_, hired only for such + occasions), she usually borrows the jewellery. If tall, young, + graceful, with a rich gold tone of skin, the effect of her + costume is dazzling as that of a Byzantine Virgin. I saw one + young _da_ who, thus garbed, scarcely seemed of the earth and + earthly;--there was an Oriental something in her appearance + difficult to describe,--something that made you think of the + Queen at Sheba going to visit Solomon. She had brought a + merchant's baby, just christened, to receive the caresses of the + family at whose house I was visiting; and when it came to my + turn to kiss it, I confess I could not notice the child: I saw + only the beautiful dark face, coiffed with orange and purple, + bending over it, in an illumination of antique gold. What a + _da_!... She represented really the type of that _belle + affranchie_ of other days, against whose fascination special + sumptuary laws were made: romantically she imaged for me the + supernatural godmothers and Cinderellas of the Creole + fairy-tales. + +Still we have much to learn about the little creatures in the shapes of +ants and scorpions and lizards. They form no small part of the +population of Martinique. And still more about the fruits and the +vegetables do we learn from good Cyrillia, Ma Bonne. One longs to have a +housekeeper as loving and child-like and solicitous. We leave her gazing +with love unutterable at the new photograph of her daughter, and +wondering the while why they do not make a portrait talk so that she can +talk to her beautiful daughter. + + And day by day the artlessness of this exotic humanity touches + you more;--day by day this savage, somnolent, splendid + Nature--delighting in furious colour--bewitches you more. + Already the anticipated necessity of having to leave it all some + day--the far-seen pain of bidding it farewell weighs upon you, + even in dreams. + +But before we go, we must learn how Nature must treat those who are not +born under her suns. + +Then at last reluctantly we board the _Guadeloupe_, and with +Mademoiselle Violet-Eyes, who is leaving her country, perhaps for a very +long time, to become a governess in New York, we realize that nowhere on +this earth may there be brighter skies. + + Farewell, fair city,--sun-kissed city,--many-fountained + city!--dear yellow-glimmering streets,--white pavements learned + by heart,--and faces ever looked for,--and voices ever loved! + Farewell, white towers with your golden-throated + bells!--farewell, green steeps, bathed in the light of summer + everlasting!--craters with your coronets of forests!--bright + mountain paths upwinding 'neath pomp of fern and angelin and + feathery bamboo!--and gracious palms that drowse above the dead! + Farewell, soft-shadowing majesty of valleys unfolding to the + sun,--green golden cane-fields ripening to the sea!... + +Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Pelée--so they vanish behind us. Shall +not we too become _Les Revenants_? + +YOUMA[28] (5) was written in Martinique, and also belongs to the New +Orleans period. "I think you will like it better than 'Chita.' It is +more mature and exotic by far,"--so Hearn wrote of the story in one of +his letters. Later on, when living in Japan, he wrote:-- + + [28] Copyright, 1890, by Harper and Brothers. + + It gave me no small pleasure to find that you like "Youma": you + will not like it less knowing that the story is substantially + true. You can see the ruins of the old house in the Quartier du + Fort if you ever visit Saint-Pierre, and perhaps meet my old + friend Arnoux, a survivor of the time. The girl really died + under the heroic conditions described--refusing the help of the + blacks and the ladder. Of course I may have idealized her, but + not her act. The incident of the serpent occurred also; but the + heroine was a different person,--a plantation girl, celebrated + by the historian Rufz de Lavison. I wrote the story under + wretched circumstances in Martinique, near the scenes described, + and under the cross with the black Christ. + +An English notice says:-- + +"It is an admirable little tale, full of local characteristics with +curious fragments of Creole French from Martinique, and abundance of +wide human sympathy. It deserves reprinting for English readers more +than three-fourths of the fiction which is wont to cross the Atlantic +under similar circumstances." (294.) + +"Youma" is the tale of the exquisite devotion and loyalty of a _da_. (A +_da_ is the foster-mother and nurse of a Creole child.) At the death of +Aimée, Youma's playmate and rich foster-sister, little Mayotte, her +child, becomes Youma's charge. An intimate description is given us of +the Creole life of Mayotte and Youma. The love of this _da_ is very +beautiful. Once with an extraordinary heroism Youma saves Mayotte from a +serpent which has slipped into their room. With a still greater heroism +she refuses to run away with Gabriel, who has opened the world to +her,--Gabriel who has brought her love, and whom she can marry in no +other way. No, above the pleadings of her lover, comes the voice of her +dying mistress, begging, with such trust,-- + + "Youma, O Youma! you will love my child?--Youma, you will never + leave her, whatever happens, while she is little? promise, dear + Youma!" + + And she had--promised.... + +Then comes the final test of Youma's strength of devotion. There is an +outbreak among the blacks, who have become inflamed by the dreams of +coming freedom. The Desrivières with many other families are forced to +flee for refuge in safer quarters. Under one roof all these people +gather. Youma is urged to leave and save herself. But she will not +forsake Mayotte or her master. The infuriated blacks surround the house, +and horror follows. Presently the house is set on fire. Youma, with +Mayotte in her arms, appears at an upper window. Gabriel, "daring the +hell about him for her sake," puts up a ladder. Youma hands him Mayotte. +"Can you save her?" she asks. + + "Gabriel could only shake his head;--the street sent up so + frightful a cry.... + + "_Non!--non!--non!--pa lè yche-béké--janmain yche-béké!_" + + "Then you cannot save me!" cried Youma, clasping the child to + her bosom,--"_janmain! janmain, mon ami._" + + "Youma, in the name of God...." + + "In the name of God, you ask me to be a coward!... Are you vile, + Gabriel?--are you base?... Save myself and leave the child to + burn?... Go!" + + "Leave the _béké's yche_!--leave it!--leave it, girl!" shouted a + hundred voices. + + "_Moin!_" cried Youma, retreating beyond the reach of Gabriel's + hand,--"_moin!_ ... Never shall I leave it, never! I shall go to + God with it." + + "Burn with it, then!" howled the negroes ... "down with that + ladder! down with it, down with it!" + +The ladder catches fire and burns. The walls quiver, and there are +shrieks from the back of the house. Unmoved, with a perfect calm, Youma +remains at the window. "There is now neither hate nor fear on her fine +face." Softly she whispers to Mayotte, and caresses her with an infinite +tenderness. Never to Gabriel had she seemed so beautiful. + + Another minute--and he saw her no more. The figure and the light + vanished together, as beams and floor and roof all quaked down + at once into darkness.... Only the skeleton of stone + remained,--black-smoking to the stars. + +A stillness follows. The murderers are appalled by their crime. + + Then, from below, the flames wrestled out again,--crimsoning the + smoke whirls, the naked masonry, the wreck of timbers. They + wriggled upward, lengthening, lapping together,--lifted + themselves erect,--grew taller, fiercer,--twined into one huge + fluid spire of tongues that flapped and shivered high into the + night.... + +The yellowing light swelled,--expanded from promontory to + promontory,--palpitated over the harbour,--climbed the broken + slopes of the dead volcano leagues through the gloom. The wooded + mornes towered about the city in weird illumination,--seeming + loftier than by day,--blanching and shadowing alternately with + the soaring and sinking of the fire;--and at each huge pulsing + of the glow, the white cross of their central summit stood + revealed, with the strange passion of its black Christ. + +... And at the same hour, from the other side of the world,--a + ship was running before the sun, bearing the Republican gift of + liberty and promise of universal suffrage to the slaves of + Martinique. + +There are two little bits of description which are so characteristic +that I quote them:-- + + Then she became aware of a face ... lighted by a light that came + from nowhere,--that was only a memory of some long-dead morning. + And through the dimness round about it a soft blue radiance + grew,--the ghost of a day. + +Sunset yellowed the sky,--filled the horizon with flare of + gold;--the sea changed its blue to lilac;--the mornes brightened + their vivid green to a tone so luminous that they seemed turning + phosphorescent. Rapidly the glow crimsoned,--shadows purpled; + and night spread swiftly from the east,--black-violet and full + of stars. + +KARMA[29] (242) was written during the Philadelphia period, but was not +published in _Lippincott's Magazine_ until after Hearn had sailed for +Japan. The story is concentrated, with its every word a shaft of light, +and it seems a wrong to attempt to epitomize it. Except in its entirety +no adequate conception can be formed of this marvellous revelation of +the anguish that a human soul may suffer; nor of the artistic power with +which Hearn has developed and perfected his study. Many quotations could +be gleaned from his subsequent books which reflect the inspiration of +"Karma." + + [29] Copyright, 1889, by Lafcadio Hearn; and, copyright, 1890 + by J. B. Lippincott Company. + +Despite her unusual intellect, the heroine had a childlike simplicity +and frankness which invited her lover's confidence, but he had never +told her his admiration, for a dormant power beneath her girlishness +made a compliment seem a rudeness. He was often alone with her, which is +helpful to lovers, but her charm always confused him, and his +embarrassment only deepened. One day she archly asked him to tell her +about it. + +Is there one who does not know that moment when the woman beloved +becomes the ideal, and the lover feels his utter unworthiness? Yet, if +she is one of those rare souls, the illusion, however divine, is less +perfect than is her worth. Do you know what she truly is--how she +signifies "the whole history of love striving against hate, aspiration +against pain, truth against ignorance, sympathy against pitilessness? +She,--the soul of her! is the ripened passion-flower of the triumph. All +the heroisms, the martyrdoms, the immolations of self,--all strong +soarings of will through fire and blood to God since humanity +began,--conspired to kindle the flame of her higher life." + +And then you question yourself with a thousand questions, and then there +are as many more of your duty to her, to the future, and to the Supreme +Father. + +She was not surprised when he told her his wish, but she was not +confident that he really loved her, nor whether she should permit +herself to like him. Finally she bade him go home and "as soon as you +feel able to do it properly,--write out for me a short history of your +life;--just write down everything you feel that you would not like me to +know. Write it,--and send it.... And then I shall tell you whether I +will marry you." + +How easy the task seemed, and his whole being was joyous; but the +lightness lasted for only a moment, and gradually all that her command +meant crept over him.... "_Everything you feel you would not like me to +know._" Surely she had no realization of what she had asked. Did she +imagine that men were good like women--how cruel to hurt her. + +Then for a period he was uplifted with the desire to meet her +truthfulness, but his courage failed again after he had written down the +record of his childhood and youth. It was no slight task to make this +confession of his sins. And how pale and trivial they had seemed before. +Was it possible that he had never before rightly looked at them? Yet why +should he so falter? Surely she meant to pardon him. He must put +everything down truthfully, and then recolour the whole for her gaze. +But his face grew hot at the thought of certain passages. + +Hour after hour he sat at his desk until it was past midnight, but no +skill could soften the stony facts. Finally he lay down to rest: his +fevered brain tried to find excuses for his faults. He could forgive +himself everything ... except--ah, how unutterably wicked he had been +there. No, he could not tell her _that_: instead he must lose her for +ever. And in losing her he would lose all the higher self which she had +awakened. To lose her--when he of all men had found his ideal. + +"_Everything you feel you would not like me to know._" Perhaps when she +had put this ban upon him, she suspected that there were incidents in +his life which he dared not tell her. Could he not deceive her? No, he +might write a lie, but he could never meet her fine sweet eyes with a +lie. What was he to do? And why had he always been so humble before that +slight girl? "Assuredly those fine grey eyes were never lowered before +living gaze: she seemed as one who might look God in the face." + +Slowly his senses became more confused, and a darkness came, and a light +in the darkness that shone on her; and he saw her bathed in a soft +radiance, that seemed of some substance like ivory. And he knew that she +was robing for her bridal with him. + +He was at her side: all around them was a gentle whispering of many +friends, who were dead. Would they smile thus--_if they knew_? + +Then there arose something within him, and he knew that he must tell her +all. He commenced to speak, and she became transfigured, and smiled at +him with the tenderness of an angel; and the more he told the greater +was her forgiveness. And he heard the voices of the others lauding him +for his self-sacrifice and his sincerity. Yet as they praised a fear +clutched him for one last avowal that he must make. And with the growing +of this doubt all seemed maliciously to change, and even she no longer +smiled. He then would have told her alone, but even as he tried to hush +his voice, it seemed to pierce the quietude "with frightful audibility, +like the sibilation of a possessing spirit." Then with a reckless +despair he shouted it aloud, and everything vanished, and the darkness +of night was about him. + +For many restless days and nights he harried himself with bitter +self-analysis; and day by day he tore up a certain page; yet without +that page his manuscript was worthless. As the days grew into weeks a +new fear seized him that his silence had betrayed him, and that already +she had decided against him. In the face of this danger he became +terrified, and one morning he feverishly copied the memorable page, and, +addressing the whole, dropped it in the first letter-box, before he +might change his mind. + +Then an awful revelation of his act overcame him. Should he telegraph +her to return the manuscript unopened. No, it was already too late. What +was done--was done for ever. He now vaguely realized what he feared in +her--"a penetrating dynamic moral power that he felt without +comprehending." He tried to steel himself for the worst, but he knew +with a premonition that behind his imagined worst there were depths +beyond depths of worse. + +The single word "Come" which he received two days later confirmed his +fears. When he reached the door of her apartment, she had already risen +to take from a locked drawer an envelope which he knew was his. She +proffered him no greeting, but asked in a cold voice if he wished her to +burn the document. At his whispered _yes_, he met her eyes, and they +seemed to strip him of the last remnant of his pride. "He stood before +her as before God,--morally naked as a soul in painted dreams of the +Judgment Day." + +The fire caught the paper, and he stood near, in fear of her next word, +while she watched the flame. + +At last she asked if the woman was dead. He well knew to what she +referred, and replied that almost five years had passed since her death. +To the penetrating questions which followed he answered that the +child--a boy--was well, and that his friend was still there--in the same +place. She turned to him abruptly and coldly, angered that he could have +believed that she would pardon such a crime. + +He must have had some hope, or he would not have sent the letter. Had he +measured her by his own moral standard? Certainly he had placed her +below the level of honest people. Would he dare to ask their judgment of +his sin? + +Speechless, he writhed under the scorn of her words, and a knowledge of +shame to which his former agony was as nothing burned within him. That +in him which her inborn goodness had taught her, was now laid bare to +himself. + +Again she spoke after a silence--perhaps he would think she was cruel; +but she was not, nor was she unjust, for transcendent sin that denies +"all the social wisdom gained by human experience" cannot be pardoned, +it can only be atoned. And that sin was his; and God would exact his +expiation. And that expiation she now demanded in God's name, and as her +right. He must go to the friend whom he had wronged, and tell him the +whole truth. He must ask for the child, and fulfil his whole duty; also +he must place even his life at the man's will. And she would rather see +him dead than believe that he could be a coward as well as a criminal. +This she requested not as a favour, but as her right. + +At her words he grew pale as if to death, and for a moment she feared +that he might refuse, and that she must despise him. No! his colour +rushed back, and her heart leaped, as with a calm resolve he answered, +"I will do it." + +"Then go!" she replied, betraying no gladness. + +A year went by. She knew that he had kept his promise. He wrote to her +often, and passionately, but the letters were never answered. Did she +doubt him still?--or was she afraid of her own heart? He could not know +the truth, so he waited with hopes and fears, and the seasons passed. +Then one day she was startled to receive a letter which told her that he +was passing through her suburb, and he begged only to be permitted to +see her. To his surprise the answer brought the happy words, "You may." + +From the shy, beautiful eyes of the child, whom he brought, there seemed +to plead a woman's sorrow, until her own soul answered in forgiveness. +And the boy and the father marvelled at the tenderness that had come +upon her, and the father sobbed until her voice thrilled: that suffering +was strength and knowledge, that always he must suffer for the evil he +had wrought, but she would help him to bear the pain, and to endure his +atonement. She would shield his frailty--she would love his boy. + +THE CRIME OF SYLVESTRE BONNARD (21) was translated in New York, while +Hearn was finishing the proofs of "Two Years in the French West Indies." +Of it he writes:-- + + As for the "Sylvestre Bonnard" I believe I told you that that + was translated in about ten days and published in two weeks from + the time of beginning it.... But the work suffers in consequence + of haste. + +After his departure for the Orient, two articles on West Indian Society +appeared in the _Cosmopolitan_ (243-244). They give a sympathetic study +of the sad and pathetic tragedy of the race of the mixed blood. These +articles bear a similarity to the chapter upon and the references to +this subject, in "Two Years in the French West Indies." + +GLIMPSES OF UNFAMILIAR JAPAN[30] (7) is the first of the series of +Japanese books. It was published after Hearn had been in Japan for four +years; since 1891 six of the articles had appeared in the _Atlantic +Monthly_ (246-251). Also in 1890, an article, "A Winter Journey to +Japan," was published in _Harper's Monthly_ (245). This was his initial +paper on Japan. + + [30] Copyright, 1894, by Lafcadio Hearn; and published by + Houghton, Mifflin and Company.] + +In many ways the present book on Japan is his happiest, for the charm +over everything is fresh and radiant. It is here that we learn the old +graceful customs, the touching child-like ways, and the sacred appealing +rites and beliefs that so endear to us the Japanese. Later we are to +have studies more philosophical, more erudite, but none more penetrating +in virtue of the very simplicity of subject. + +It is difficult to believe that the writer, bewitched with the warmth +and colour of the tropics, giving his pen an unlicensed flow of word +colour and enthusiasm, in a few years could have matured into this +quiet, gentle thinker equally absorbed by the East. One finds scarcely a +trace of the Hearn of the tropics: therein lies his unique genius; just +so admirably as he reflected the West Indian life, does he now reflect +that of the Japanese. + +It is the old Japan that Hearn loves, and the passing of which he mourns +even at the first. In his Preface, he says, "My own conviction, and that +of many impartial and more experienced observers of Japanese life, is +that Japan has nothing whatever to gain by conversion to Christianity, +either morally or otherwise, but very much to lose." Also in one of his +letters he writes, "I felt, as never before, how utterly dead old Japan +is, and how ugly New Japan is becoming." It is old Japan that we find in +the present volume. It is much as if we looked into a diary of his first +days in the Orient, giving his impressions and conclusions, as well as +portraying the pictures themselves. + +One of the reviews of the book contains the following:-- + +"If Japan is all that he says; if the Japanese are so compounded of all +the virtues, and so innocent of the ugly failings that mar our Western +civilization, then the poet's dream of a Golden Age has actually been +realized in the remote East. Much as we should like to believe that such +a land and such a people actually exist, we cannot altogether conquer +our doubts, or avoid the suspicion that the author's feeling sometimes +gets the better of his judgment." (379.) + +And another says:-- + +"In volume one he is still the outside observer, remote enough to be +amused with the little pretty, bird-like glances of the Orient towards +the Occident, pleased at the happy chance which makes a blind +shampooer's cry musical as she taps her way down the street, instead of +giving her a voice raucous as that which hurts and haunts the unwilling +ears of wayfarers down Newgate Street and on Ludgate-Hill; or +complimentary to the cunning fancy which paints a branch of flowering +cherry in a cleft bamboo on a square of faintly-coloured paper and calls +the cherry blossom 'beauty' and the bamboo 'long life.' He notices the +shapely feet of the people: 'bare brown feet of peasants, or beautiful +feet of children wearing tiny, tiny _geta_, or feet of young girls in +snowy _tabi_. The _tabi_, the white digitated stocking, gives to a small +light foot a mythological aspect--the white cleft grace of the foot of a +fauness.' + +"A little further on the leaven of witchcraft is working, and he cannot +write so airily. It is not as a mere spectator that he talks of his +visit to the Buddhist cemetery, where the rotting wooden laths stand +huddled about the graves, and one tomb bears an English name and a cross +chiselled upon it. Here he made acquaintance with the god, who is the +lover of little children, Jizô-Sama, about whose feet are little +piles of stones heaped there by the hands of mothers of dead children. +He is not quite as much in earnest as volume two will find him, or he +could not call the gentle god 'that charming divinity'; but the +sight-seer is dying in him nevertheless. It was with a friend's hand +that he struck the great bell at Enoshima." (286.) + +But even here with a new world unfolding to his delighted eyes, it was +colour that Hearn really wanted. + + I am not easy about my book, of which I now await the proofs. It + lacks colour--it isn't like the West Indian book. But the world + here is not forceful: it is all washed in faint blues and greys + and greens. There are really _gamboge_, or saffron-coloured + valleys,--and lilac fields; but these exist only in the early + summer and the rape-plant season, and ordinarily Japan is + chromatically spectral. + +The opening chapter is his first day in the Orient, "the first charm of +Japan is intangible and volatile as a perfume." Everything seems to him +elfish and diminutive. "Cha," his Kurumaya, takes him past the shops +where it appears to him "that everything Japanese is delicate, +exquisite, admirable--even a pair of common wooden chop-sticks in a +paper bag with a little drawing upon it." The money itself is a thing of +beauty. But one must not dare to look, for there is enchantment in these +wares, and having looked, one must buy. In truth one wishes to buy +everything, even to the whole land, "with its magical trees and luminous +atmosphere, with all its cities and towns and temples, and forty +millions of the most lovable people." + +Before the steps leading to a temple he stops. + + I turn a moment to look back through the glorious light. Sea and + sky mingle in the same beautiful pale clear blue. Below me the + billowing of bluish roofs reaches to the verge of the unruffled + bay on the right, and to the feet of the green wooded hills + flanking the city on two sides. Beyond that semi-circle of green + hills rises a lofty range of serrated mountains, indigo + silhouettes. And enormously high above the line of them towers + an apparition indescribably lovely,--one solitary snowy cone, so + filmly exquisite, so spiritually white, that but for its + immemorially familiar outline, one would surely deem it a shape + of cloud. Invisible its base remains, being the same delicious + tint as the sky: only above the eternal snow-line its dreamy + cone appears, seeming to hang, the ghost of a peak, between the + luminous land and the luminous heaven,--the sacred and matchless + mountain, Fujiyama. + +Passing to the temple garden he wonders why the trees are so lovely in +Japan. + + Is it that the trees have been so long domesticated and caressed + by man in this land of the gods, that they have acquired souls, + and strive to show their gratitude, like women loved, by making + themselves more beautiful for man's sake? Assuredly they have + mastered men's hearts by their loveliness, like beautiful + slaves. That is to say, Japanese hearts. Apparently there have + been some foreign tourists of the brutal class in this place, + since it has been deemed necessary to set up inscriptions in + English announcing that "it is forbidden to injure the trees." + +Of Hearn's first visit to a Buddhist temple, I quote what one of his +critics has to say:-- + +"The silence of centuries seems to descend upon your soul, you feel the +thrill of something above and beyond the commonplace of this every-day +world, even here, amidst the turmoil, the rush, the struggle of this +monster city of the West, if you take up his 'Glimpses of Unfamiliar +Japan,' and turn to his description of his first visit to a Buddhist +temple. Marvellous is his power of imparting the mystery of that strange +land, of hidden meanings and allegories, of mists and legends. The +bygone spirit of the race, the very essence of the heart of the people, +that has lain sleeping in the temple gloom, in the shadows of the temple +shrines, awakes and whispers in your ears. You feel the soft, cushioned +matting beneath your feet, you smell the faint odour of the incense, you +hear the shuffling of pilgrim feet, the priest sliding back screen after +screen, pouring in light upon the gilded bronzes and inscriptions; and +you look for the image of the Deity, of the presiding Spirit, between +the altar groups of convoluted candelabra. And you see: + + Only a mirror, a round, pale disc of polished metal, and my own + face therein, and behind this mockery of me a phantom of the far + sea. + +Only a mirror! Symbolizing what? Illusion? Or that the Universe + exists for us solely as the reflection of our own souls? Or the + old Chinese teaching that we must seek the Buddha only in our + own hearts? Perhaps some day I shall be able to find out. (350.) + +Many more temples are visited in the following chapter. What impresses +him the most is the joyousness of the people's faith: everything is +bright and cheerful, and the air is filled with the sound of children's +voices as they play in the courts. He sees the many representations of +Jizô, the loving divinity who cares for the souls of little children, +who comforts them, and saves them from the demons. The face of Jizô +is like that of a beautiful boy, and the countenance is made "heavenly +by such a smile as only Buddhist art could have imagined, the smile of +infinite lovingness and supremest gentleness." There is also Kwannon, +"the goddess of mercy, the gentle divinity who refused the rest of +Nirvâna to save the souls of men." Her face is golden, smiling with +eternal youth and infinite tenderness. And he sees Emma Dai-Ô, the +unpitying, tremendous one. He learns many things of many gods and +goddesses. There is the temple of Kishibojin--the mother of Demons. For +some former sin she was born a demon and devoured her own children. But +through the teaching of Buddha she became a divine being, loving and +protecting the little ones, and Japanese mothers pray to her, and wives +pray for beautiful boys. At her shrine what impresses the visitor are +hundreds of tiny dresses, mostly of poor material, stretched between +tall poles of bamboos. These are the thank-offerings of poor simple +country mothers whose prayers to her have been answered. + +In another chapter Hearn writes of the Festival of the Dead, for between +the 13th and the 15th day of July the dead may come back again. Every +small and great shrine is made beautiful with new mats of purest rice +straw, and is decorated with lotus flowers, _shikimi_ (anise) and +_misohagi_ (lespedeza). Food offerings, served on a tiny lacquered +table--a _zen_--are placed before the altars. Every hour, tea daintily +served in little cups is offered to the viewless visitors. At night +beautiful special lanterns are hung at the entrances of homes. Those who +have dead friends visit the cemeteries and make offerings there with +prayers, and the sprinkling of water, and the burning of incense. On the +evening of the 15th the ghosts of those, who in expiation of faults +committed in a previous life are doomed to hunger, are fed. And also are +fed the ghosts of those who have no friends. + +For three days everything is done to feast the dead, and on the last +night there comes the touching ceremony of farewell, for the dead must +then return. + + Everything has been prepared for them. In each home small boats + made of barley straw closely woven have been freighted with + supplies of choice food, with tiny lanterns, and written + messages of faith and love. Seldom more than two feet in length + are these boats; but the dead require little room. And the frail + craft are launched on canal, lake, sea, or river,--each with a + miniature lantern glowing at the prow, and incense burning at + the stern. And if the night be fair, they voyage long. Down all + the creeks and rivers and canals the phantom fleets go + glimmering to the sea; and all the sea sparkles to the horizon + with the lights of the dead, and the sea wind is fragrant with + incense. + +But alas! it is now forbidden in the great seaports to launch + the _shôryôbune_, "the boats of the blessed ghosts." + +In Kami-Ichi, in the land of Hôki, there is a glimpse into ancient +Japan, for there the Bon-odori, the Dance of the Festival of the Dead, +is still maintained. No longer is it danced in the cities. In the temple +court, in the shadow of the tomb, with the moonlight as a guide, long +processions of young girls dance a slow ghostly dance while the vast +audience of spectators keeps a perfect stillness. A deep male chant is +heard, and the women respond. Many songs follow, until the night is +waning. Then this seeming witchcraft ends, and with merry laughter and +soft chatting all disperse. + +Hearn spends a long happy day at Matsue, the chief city of the Province +of the Gods, where he gathers legends and impressions. Of course it has +its temples. The temple is the best place to see the life of the people. +There it is that the children play all day long. In the summer evening, +the young artisans and labourers prove their strength in +wrestling-matches. The sacred dances are held there; and on holidays it +is also the place where toys are sold. + +Often at night your attention will be drawn to a large, silent, admiring +group of people standing before some little booth. They will be looking +at a few vases of sprays of flowers--an exhibition of skill in their +arrangement. + +Returning homeward, there is seen a poor woman scattering some white +papers into a stream of water, and, as she throws each one in, murmuring +something sweet in a low voice. She is praying for her little dead +child, and these are little prayers that she has written to Jizô. + +Kitzuki is the most ancient shrine in Japan, and it is the living centre +of Shintô. There the ancient faith burns as brightly as ever it did +in the unknown past. Buddhism may be doomed to pass away, but Shintô +"unchanging and vitally unchanged remains dominant, and appears but to +gain in power and dignity." Many of the wisest scholars have tried to +define Shintô. + + But the reality of Shintô lives not in books, nor in rites, + nor in commandments, but in the national heart, of which it is + the highest emotional religious expression, immortal and ever + young. Far underlying all the surface crop of quaint + superstitions and artless myths and fantastic magic, there + thrills a mighty spiritual force, the whole soul of a race with + all its impulses and powers and intuitions. He who would know + what Shintô is must learn to know that mysterious soul in + which the sense of beauty and the power of art and the fire of + heroism and magnetism of loyalty and the emotion of faith have + become inherent, immanent, unconscious, instinctive. + +At Kaka is the Cave of the Children's Ghosts. No evil person may enter +the Shin-Kukedo, for if he does, a large stone will detach itself and +fall down upon him. Here in this great vault, lifting forty feet above +the water, and with walls thirty feet apart, is a white rock out of +which drips a water apparently as white as the rock itself. This is the +Fountain of Jizô, which gives milk to the souls of little dead +children. + + And mothers suffering from want of milk come hither to pray that + milk may be given unto them; and their prayer is heard. And + mothers having more milk than their infants need come hither + also, and pray to Jizô that so much as they can give may be + taken for the dead children; and their prayer is heard and their + milk diminishes. + + At least thus the peasants of Izumo say. + +In another cavern are countless little piles of stones and pebbles, +which must have been made by long and patient labour. It is the work of +the dead children. One must step carefully, for the sake of these little +ones, for if any work is spoiled, they will cry. In the sand are prints +of little naked feet, "_the footprints of the infant ghosts_." Strewn +here and there on the rocks are tiny straw sandals, pilgrims' offerings +to keep the baby feet from being bruised by the stones. + +In the temple of Hojinji of the Zen sect at Mionoseki, there is an altar +which bears many images of Kwannon, the Goddess of Mercy. Before the +altar, and hung from the carven ceiling, is a bright coloured mass of +embroidered purses, patterns of silk-weaving and of cotton-weaving, also +balls of threads and worsted and silk. These are the first offerings of +little girls. As soon as a baby girl learns how to sew or knit or +embroider, she brings to the Maid-Mother of all grace and sweetness and +pity, the first piece that she has made successfully. + + Even the infants of the Japanese kindergarten bring their first + work here,--pretty paper-cuttings, scissored out and plaited + into divers patterns by their own tiny flower-soft hands. + +Among the many Notes on Kitzuki which interest, is the annual festival +of the Divine Scribe, the Tenjin-Matsuri, to which every school-boy +sends a specimen of his best writing. The texts are in Chinese +characters, and are generally drawn from the works of Confucius or +Mencius. And Hearn remarks that the children of other countries can +never excel in the art of Japanese writing. The inner ancestral +tendencies will not let them catch the secret of the stroke with the +brush. It is the fingers of the dead that move the brush of the Japanese +boy. + +At every temple festival in Japan there is a sale of toys. And every +mother, however poor, buys her child a toy. They are not costly, and are +charming. Many of these toys would seem odd to a little English child. +There is a tiny drum, a model of the drum used in the temples; or a +miniature sambo table, upon which offerings are presented to the gods. +There is a bunch of bells fastened to a wooden handle. It resembles a +rattle, but it is a model of the sacred _suzu_ which the virgin +priestess uses in her dance before the gods. Then there are tiny images +of priests and gods and goddesses. There is little of grimness in the +faiths of the Far East; their gods smile. "Why religion should be +considered too awful a subject for children to amuse themselves decently +with never occurs to the common Japanese mind." + +Besides these, there are pretty toys illustrating some fairy-tale or +superstition and many other playthings of clever devices, and the little +doll, O-Hina-San (Honourable Miss Hina), which is a type of Japanese +girl beauty. The doll in Japan is a sacred part of the household. There +is a belief that if it is treasured long enough it becomes alive. Such a +doll is treated like a real child: it is supposed to possess +supernatural powers. One had such rare powers that childless couples +used to borrow it. They would minister to it, and would give it a new +outfit of clothes before returning it to its owners. All who did this +became parents. To the Japanese a new doll is only a doll; but a doll +that has received the love of many generations acquires a soul. A little +Japanese girl was asked, "How can a doll live?" "Why," was the lovely +answer, "_if you love it enough_, it will live!" + +Never is the corpse of a doll thrown away. When it has become so worn +out that it must be considered quite dead, it is either burned or cast +in running water, or it is dedicated to the God Kôjin. In almost +every temple ground there is planted a tree called _enoki_, which is +sacred to Kôjin. Before the tree will be a little shrine, and either +there or at the foot of the sacred tree, the sad little remains will be +laid. Seldom during the lifetime of its owner is a doll given to +Kôjin. + + When you see one thus exposed, you may be almost certain that it + was found among the effects of some poor dead woman--the + innocent memento of her girlhood, perhaps even also of the + girlhood of her mother and of her mother's mother. + +There is a sad and awful tradition in the history of the Kengyôs, the +oldest of the noble families of Izumo. Seven generations ago the +Daimyô of Izumo made his first official visit to the temples of +Hinomisaki, and was entertained royally by the Kengyô. As was the +custom, the young wife served the royal visitor. Her simple beauty +unfortunately enchanted him, and he demanded that she leave her husband +and go with him. Terrified, but like a brave loving wife and mother, she +answered that sooner than desert her husband and child she would kill +herself. + +The Lord of Izumo went away, but the little household well knew the evil +that now shadowed it. And shortly the Kengyô was suddenly taken from +his family; tried at once for some unknown offence, and banished to the +islands of Oki, where he died. The Daimyô was exultant, for no +obstacle was in the way of his desire. The wife of the dead Kengyô +was the daughter of his own minister, whose name was Kamiya. Kamiya was +summoned before the Daimyô, who told him that there was no longer any +reason why Kamiya's daughter should not enter his household, and bade +Kamiya bring her to him. + +The next day Kamiya returned, and with the utmost ceremony announced +that the command had been fulfilled--the victim had arrived. + + Smiling for pleasure, the Matsudaira ordered that she should be + brought at once into his presence. The Karô prostrated + himself, retired, and presently returned, placed before his + master a _kubi-oke_ upon which lay the freshly-severed head of a + beautiful woman,--the head of the young wife of the dead + Kengyô,--with the simple utterance: + + "This is my daughter." + Dead by her own brave will,--but never dishonoured. + +"None love life more than the Japanese; none fear death less." So it is +that when two lovers find that they can never wed, they keep the love +death together, which is _jôshi_ or _shinjû_. By dying they +believe that they will at once be united in another world. They always +pray that they may be buried together. (In other books are written +additional stories illustrating the touching custom.) + +At the temple of Yaegaki at Sakusa, are the Deities of Wedlock and of +Love, and thither go all youths and maidens who are in love. Hundreds of +strips of soft white paper are knotted to the gratings of the doors of +the shrine. These are the prayers of love. Also there are tresses of +girls' hair, love-sacrifices, and offerings of sea-water and of +sea-weed. In the soil around the foundation of the shrine are planted +quantities of small paper flags. + +All over Japan there are little Shintô shrines before which are +images in stone of foxes. + + The rustic foxes of Izumo have no grace: they are uncouth; but + they betray in countless queer ways the personal fancies of + their makers. They are of many moods,--whimsical, apathetic, + inquisitive, saturnine, jocose, ironical; they watch and snooze + and squint and wink and sneer; they wait with lurking smiles; + they listen with cocked ears most stealthily, keeping their + mouths open or closed. There is an amusing individuality about + them all, and an air of knowing mockery about most of them, even + those whose noses have been broken off. Moreover, these ancient + foxes have certain natural beauties which their modern + Tôkyô kindred cannot show. Time has bestowed upon them + divers speckled coats of beautiful colours while they have been + sitting on their pedestals, listening to the ebbing and flowing + of the centuries and snickering weirdly at mankind. Their backs + are clad with finest green velvet of old mosses; their limbs are + spotted and their tails are tipped with the dead gold or the + dead silver of delicate fungi. And the places they most haunt + are the loveliest,--high shadowy groves where the _uguisu_ sings + in green twilight, above some voiceless shrine with its lamps + and its lions of stone so mossed as to seem things born of the + soil--like mushrooms. + +It is difficult to define the Fox superstition, chiefly because it has +sprung from so many elements. The origin is Chinese, and in Japan it has +become mixed with the worship of a Shintô deity, and further enlarged +by the Buddhist belief of thaumaturgy and magic. The peasants worship +foxes because they fear them. But there are good foxes and bad ones. The +country holds legend after legend of goblin foxes and ghost foxes, and +foxes that take the form of human beings. Every Japanese child knows +some of them. + +Seldom is a Japanese garden a flower-garden: it may not contain a +flower. It is a landscape garden, and its artistic purpose is to give +the impression of a real scene. Besides, it is supposed to express "a +mood in the soul." Such abstract ideas as Chastity, Faith, Connubial +Bliss were expressed by the old Buddhist monks who first brought the art +into Japan. Little hills, and slopes of green, tiny river-banks, and +little islands, together with trees, and stones, and flowering shrubs +are combined by the artist. All these things have their poetry and +legend, and sometimes have a special name signifying their position and +rank in the whole design. + +In the ponds little creatures such as the frog and water-beetle live, +and they too have their legends. The children make all of these +creatures and the insects their playmates. Then there are the _semi_, +which are musicians, and lovely dragon-flies which skim over the ponds; +and back on the hill above the garden are many birds. It is not +necessary to have a garden outdoors, for there are indoor gardens too +which can even be put into a _koniwa_, the size of a fruit-dish. + +The dead are never dead with the Japanese; they become even more +important members of the family, for the spirits of the dead control the +lives of the living. Each day there is some ceremony in memory of these +blessed dead; and no home is so poor but it has its household shrine. +And Shintô, ancestor-worship, + + signifies character in the higher sense,--courage, courtesy, + honour, and above all things loyalty. The spirit of Shintô is + the spirit of filial piety, the zest of duty, the readiness to + surrender life for a principle without a thought of wherefore. + It is the docility of the child; it is the sweetness of the + Japanese woman. It is conservatism likewise; the wholesome check + upon the national tendency to cast away the worth of the entire + past in rash eagerness to assimilate too much of the foreign + present. It is religion,--but religion transformed into + hereditary moral impulse,--religion transmuted into ethical + instinct. It is the whole emotional life of the race,--the Soul + of Japan. + +Self-sacrifice, loyalty, the deepest spirit of Shintô, is born with +the child. If you ask any Japanese student what his dearest wish is he +will surely answer,--"To die for His Majesty, our Emperor." It is +impossible in this limited space to give an adequate idea of all that +Shintôism implies. + +The dressing of the hair is a very important part of a Japanese woman's +toilet. It is dressed once in every three days, and the task takes +probably two hours. The elaborateness of the coiffure changes with the +growing age of the maiden. But when she is twenty-eight, she is no +longer young, and so thereafter only one style is left, that worn by old +women. Of course, there are many superstitions about women's hair. It is +the Japanese woman's dearest possession, and she will undergo any +suffering not to lose it. At one time it was considered a fitting +vengeance to shear the hair of an erring wife, and then turn her away. + + Only the greatest faith or the deepest love can prompt a woman + to the voluntary sacrifice of her entire _chevelure_, though + partial sacrifices, offerings of one or two long thick cuttings, + may be seen suspended before many an Izumo shrine. + +What faith can do in the way of such sacrifice, he best knows + who has seen the great cables, woven of women's hair, that hang + in the vast Hongwanji temple at Kyôto. And love is stronger + than faith, though much less demonstrative. According to an + ancient custom a wife bereaved sacrifices a portion of her hair + to be placed in the coffin of her husband, and buried with him. + The quantity is not fixed: in the majority of cases it is very + small, so that the appearance of the coiffure is thereby no wise + affected. But she who resolves to remain for ever faithful to + the memory of the lost yields up all. With her own hand she cuts + off her hair, and lays the whole glossy sacrifice--emblem of her + youth and beauty--upon the knees of the dead. + +It is never suffered to grow again. + +The "Diary of a Teacher" gives a careful picture of the school-life in +Japan as Hearn finds it. At the Normal School, which is a state +institute, the young man student has no expenses. In return for these +kindnesses, when he graduates he serves as a teacher for five years. +Discipline is severe, and deportment is a demand. "A spirit of manliness +is cultivated, which excludes roughness but develops self-reliance and +self-control." + +The silence of study hours is perfect, and without permission no head is +ever raised from a book. + +The female department is in a separate building. Girls are taught the +European sciences, and are trained in all the Japanese arts, such as +embroidery, decoration, painting; and of course that most delicate of +arts--the arranging of flowers. Drawing is taught in all the schools. By +fifty per cent. do Japanese students excel the English students in +drawing. + +There is also a large elementary school for little boys and girls +connected with the Normal School. These are taught by the students in +the graduating classes. Noteworthy is the spirit of peace prevailing at +the recesses that occur for ten minutes between each lesson. The boys +romp and shout and race, but never quarrel. Hearn says that among the +800 scholars whom he has taught, he has never even heard of a fight, nor +of any serious quarrel. The girls sing or play some gentle game, and the +teachers are kind and watchful of the smaller scholars. If a dress is +torn or soiled the child is cared for as carefully as if she were a +younger sister. + +No teacher would ever think of striking a scholar. If he did so he would +at once have to give up his position. In fact, punishments are unknown. +"The spirit is rather reversed. In the Occident the master expels the +pupil. In Japan it happens quite as often that the pupil expels the +master." + +It takes the Japanese student seven years to acquire the triple system +of ideographs, which is the alphabet of his native literature. He must +also be versed in the written and the spoken literature. He must study +foreign history, geography, arithmetic, astronomy, physics, geometry, +natural history, agriculture, chemistry, drawing. + + Worst of all he must learn English,--a language of which the + difficulty to the Japanese cannot be even faintly imagined by + any one unfamiliar with the construction of the native + tongue,--a language so different from his own that the very + simplest Japanese phrase cannot be intelligibly rendered into + English by a literal translation of the words or even the form + of the thought. + +And he studies all this upon the slimmest of diets, clad in thin clothes +in cold rooms. No wonder many fall by the way. + +The students have been trained to find a moral in all things. If the +theme given to them for a composition is a native one, they will never +fail to find it. For instance,--a peony is very beautiful, but it has a +disagreeable odour; hence we should remember that "To be attracted by +beauty only may lead us into fearful and fatal misfortune." The sting of +the mosquito is useful, for "then we shall be bringed back to study." + +There is nothing distinctive about the Japanese countenance, but there +is an intangible pleasantness that is common to all. Contrasted with +Occidental faces they seem "half-sketched." The outlines are very soft, +there is "neither aggressiveness nor shyness, neither eccentricity nor +sympathy, neither curiosity nor indifference.... But all are equally +characterized by a singular placidity,--expressing neither love nor +hate, nor anything save perfect repose and gentleness,--like the dreamy +placidity of Buddhist images." Later, these faces become individualized. + +In another chapter Hearn tells of Two Festivals: one the festival of the +New Year; and the other, the Festival of Setsubun, which is the time for +the casting out of devils. On the eve of this latter festival, the +Yaku-otoshi, who is the caster-out of the demons, goes around, to any +houses that may desire his services, and performs his exorcism, for +which he receives a little fee. The rites consist of the recitation of +certain prayers, and the rattling of a _shakujô_. The _shakujô_ is +an odd-shaped staff. There is a tradition that it was first used by +Buddhist pilgrims to warn little creatures and insects to get out of the +way. + +I quote from a French review for the description of one of Hearn's +stories:-- + +"But the most beautiful of all, 'A Dancing Girl,' is drawn from the +chronicles of that far-off past, from which, say what one may, he is +certainly wise in drawing his inspirations. It is the story of a +courtesan in love. + +"At the height of her celebrity, this idol of a capital disappears from +public life, and nobody knows why. Leaving fortune behind, she flies +with a poor youth who loves her. They build for themselves a little +house in the mountains, and there exist apart from the world, one for +the other. But the lover dies one cold winter, and she remains alone, +with no other consolation than to dance for him every evening in the +deserted house. For he loved to see her dance, and he must still take +pleasure in it. Therefore, daily, she places on the memorial altar the +accustomed offerings, and at night she dances decked out in the same +finery as when she was the delight of a large city. And the day comes, +when old, decrepit, dying, reduced to beggary, she carries her superb +costume faded with time, to a painter who had seen her in the days of +her beauty, that he may accept it in exchange for a portrait made from +memory, which shall be placed before the altar always bearing offerings, +that her beloved may ever see her young, the most beautiful of the +_shirabyashi_, and that he may forgive her for not being able to dance +any more. + +"This _shirabyashi_, from the distance of time, appears to us here, +clothed with I know not what of hieratical dignity, such as the modern +_geisha_ could never possess. Lafcadio Hearn in no wise pretends in the +pages he devotes to these latter, to idealize them beyond measure. They +appear under his pen as pretty animals somewhat dangerous; but is it not +their calling to be so? Whatever be the rank of the Japanese woman, he +only speaks of her with an extreme discretion, and with a caution that +one would look for in vain in the portrait of _Mme. Chrysanthème_. The +subtle voluptuousness of his style is never extended to the scenes he +reproduces; it is a style immaterial to a rare degree; he knows how to +make us understand what he means, without one word to infringe those +proprieties that are dear to the Japanese, even more than virtue itself. +And to believe him, the young, well-brought-up girl, the honest wife, +are in Japan the most perfect types of femininity that he has ever met +in any part of the world;--he, who has travelled so much. Opinions +formed superficially by globe-trotters on this subject that he scarcely +glances at because of respect, arouse as much indignation in him as +could they in the Japanese themselves. Evidently he has penetrated into +their inner life, into the mystery of their thoughts, into their hidden +springs of action, to the point of participating in their feelings." +(390.) + +From Hôki to Oki there is much to learn about the landscapes of +Western and Central Japan; and Hearn gives many legends, and many more +impressions and intimate glimpses. + +As there are only walls of thin paper separating the lives of these +Japanese people, no privacy can exist. Really everything is done in +public, even your thoughts must be known. And it never occurs to a +Japanese that there should be any reason for living unobserved. This +must show a rare moral condition, and is understood only by those who +appreciate the charm of the Japanese character, its goodness, and its +politeness. + + No one endeavours to expand his own individuality by belittling + his fellow; no one tries to make himself appear a superior + being: any such attempt would be vain in a community where the + weaknesses of each are known to all, where nothing can be + concealed or disguised, and where affectation could only be + regarded as a mild form of insanity. + +Hearn speaks of the strange public curiosity which his presence aroused +at Urago. It was not a rude curiosity; in fact, one so gentle that he +could not wish the gazers rebuked. But so insistent did it become that +he had to close his doors and windows to prevent his being watched while +he was asleep. + +Kinjurô, the ancient gardener, knows a great many things about souls. +"No one is by the gods permitted to have more souls than nine." +Kinjurô also knows legends about ghosts and goblins. + +An essay penetrating the very heart of the Japanese, is the chapter on +the "Japanese Smile." It crowns Hearn's work as a superb interpretation +of Japanese soul-life. This smile is the outward and visible sign of the +inward and spiritual grace of self-sacrifice. It is metaphysically and +psychologically exquisite. It is an etiquette which for generations has +been cultivated. It was a smile, _in origin_, however, demanded by hard +heathen gods of the victims they sacrificed; and, in history, it was +demanded of the subject race by the early conquerors. If refused, then +off came their heads! The smile is born with the Japanese child, and is +nurtured through all the growing years. + + The smile is taught like the bow; like the prostration; like + that little sibilant sucking-in of the breath which follows, as + a token of pleasure, the salutation to a superior; like all the + elaborate and beautiful etiquette of the old courtesy. + +The Japanese believe that one should always turn one's happiest face to +people. It is a wrong to cause them to share your sorrow or misfortune, +and so hurt or sadden them. One should never look serious. It is not +only unkind but extremely rude to show one's personal griefs or anger: +these feelings should always be hidden. Even though it is death one must +face, it is a duty to smile bravely. + +It was with such a smile that the dying boy Shida wrote and pasted upon +the wall over his bed:-- + +Thou, my Lord-Soul, dost govern me. Thou knowest that I cannot + now govern myself. Deign, I pray thee, to let me be cured + speedily. Do not suffer me to speak much. Make me to obey in all + things the command of the physician. + +This ninth day of the eleventh month of the twenty-fourth year + of Meiji. + +From the sick body of Shida to his Soul. + + + The key to the mystery of the most unaccountable smiles is + Japanese politeness. The servant sentenced to dismissal for a + fault prostrates himself, and asks for pardon with a smile. That + smile indicates the very reverse of callousness or insolence: + "Be assured that I am satisfied with the great justice of your + honourable sentence, and that I am aware of the gravity of my + fault. Yet my sorrow and my necessity have caused me to indulge + the unreasonable hope that I may be forgiven for my great + rudeness in asking pardon." The youth or girl beyond the age of + childish tears when punished for some error, receives the + punishment with a smile which means: "No evil feeling arises in + my heart; much worse than this my fault has deserved." + +This quality, which has become as natural to the Japanese as the very +breath of his body, is the sweet tonic-note of his whole character. + +_Sayônara!_ Across the waters echoes the cry, _Manzai, Manzai!_ (Ten +thousand years to you! ten thousand years!). Hearn is leaving. He is +going far away. His pupils write expressing their sorrow and regret. He +sends them a letter thanking them for their gift of a beautiful sword, +and in a loving farewell says:-- + + May you always keep fresh within your hearts those impulses of + generosity and kindliness and loyalty which I have learned to + know so well, and of which your gift will ever remain for me the + graceful symbol! + + And a symbol not only of your affection and loyalty as students + to teachers, but of that other beautiful sense of duty + expressed, when so many of you wrote down for me, as your + dearest wish, the desire to die for His Imperial Majesty, your + Emperor. That wish is holy: it means perhaps more than you know, + or can know, until you shall have become much older and wiser. + This is an era of great and rapid change; and it is probable + that many of you, as you grow up, will not be able to believe + everything that your fathers believed before you, though I + sincerely trust you will at least continue always to respect the + faith, even as you still respect the memory, of your ancestors. + But however much the life of New Japan may change about you, + however much your own thoughts may change with the times, never + suffer that noble wish you expressed to me to pass away from + your souls. Keep it burning there, clear and pure as the flame + of the little lamp that glows before your household shrine. + +OUT OF THE EAST[31] (8), followed "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan." The +charm of the first impression is waning. + + [31] Copyright, 1895, by Lafcadio Hearn; and published by + Houghton, Mifflin and Company. + +In a letter Hearn writes:-- + + Every day, it strikes me more and more how little I shall ever + know of the Japanese. I have been working hard at a new book, + which is now half finished, and consists of philosophical + sketches chiefly. It will be a very different book from the + "Glimpses," and will show you how much the Japanese world has + changed for me. I imagine that sympathy and friendship are + almost impossible for any foreigner to obtain,--because of the + amazing difference in the psychology of the two races. We only + guess at each other without understanding. + +In another letter, speaking of the title for this book, he continues:-- + + It was suggested only by the motto of the Oriental Society, "_Ex + Oriente lux._" ... The simpler the title, and the vaguer--in my + case--the better: the vagueness touches curiosity. Besides, the + book is a vague thing. + +The _Academy_, writing of "Out of the East," says:-- + +"Each book marks a longer step towards the Buddhist mysticism, wherein +we have lost our poet. 'The Stone Buddha,' in the first mentioned book, +is a dreamy dialogue between the wisdom of the West; Science, with her +theories of evolution, revolution and dissolution; Buddhism, with its +re-birth on re-rebirth; and Nirvâna at the end. This thing also is +vanity. As there can be no end, so there can be no beginning; even Time +is an illusion, and there is nothing new beneath a hundred million +suns." (286.) + +The old charm of word colour sparkles in "The Dream of a Summer Day." + + Mile after mile I rolled along that shore, looking into the + infinite light. All was steeped in blue,--a marvellous blue, + like that which comes and goes in the heart of a great shell. + Glowing blue sea met hollow blue sky in a brightness of electric + fusion; and vast blue apparitions--the mountains of Higo--angled + up through the blaze, like masses of amethyst. What a blue + transparency! The universal colour was broken only by the + dazzling white of a few high summer clouds, motionlessly curled + above one phantom peak in the offing. They threw down upon the + water snowy tremulous lights. Midges or ships creeping far away + seemed to pull long threads after them,--the only sharp lines in + all that hazy glory. But what divine clouds! White purified + spirits of clouds, resting on their way to the beatitude of + Nirvâna? Or perhaps the mists escaped from Urashima's box a + thousand years ago? + +The gnat of the soul of me flitted out into that dream of blue, + 'twixt sea and sun,--hummed back to the shore of Suminoyé + through the luminous ghosts of fourteen hundred summers. + +And Hearn tells with charm why "the mists escaped from Urashima's box a +thousand years ago," and also of the old, old woman who drank too deeply +of the magical waters of youth. + +Reviewing the present volume, the _Spectator_ remarks:-- + +"The main drift of his books, however, is to bring into view not so much +the glories of Japanese sunlight or the charms of animate or inanimate +Nature, on which it falls, as the prevalence, at any rate in extensive +sections of Japanese society, of modes of thought and standards of +conduct which, though often widely apart from our own, demand the +respect of every candid Englishman. And certainly in this endeavour he +meets with a large measure of success. His account of the essays written +and the questions asked by the members of his class in English language +and literature at the Government college, or Higher Middle School, of +Kyûshû, discloses not only what must be regarded as a very good +development of general intelligence among those young men, but a moral +tone which in many respects is quite as high, though with interesting +differences in point of view, as would be expected among English boys or +young men in the upper forms of our great public-schools or at the +Universities. Of course, what boys or young men write for or say to +their masters and tutors cannot by any means always be taken as sure +evidence of their inner feelings or of the character of their daily +life. But, so far as one can judge, Hearn's pupils appear to have given +him their confidence, and what he tells us of them may therefore +reasonably be taken without much discount. It certainly illustrates an +attractive simplicity of character and thought, not untouched by poetic +imagination, together with a high development of family affection and +strong sense of family duty, and also a remarkably high level of +patriotic feeling. This spirit is apparently inherited from the old +military class of the island of Kyûshû, and it is not surprising +to hear that rich men at a distance are keen to give their sons the +opportunity of acquiring the Kyûshû 'tone.' Towards the close of +his book Mr. Hearn gives an extremely interesting account of a farewell +visit paid him in the autumn of 1894 by an old pupil who had entered the +army after leaving college, and had been placed, at his own request, in +one of the divisions ordered for service in Corea:-- + + "And now I am so glad," he exclaimed, his face radiant with a + soldier's joy, "we go to-morrow." Then he blushed again, as if + ashamed of having uttered his frank delight. I thought of + Carlyle's deep saying, that never pleasures, but only suffering; + and death are the lures that draw true hearts. I thought + also--what I could not say to any Japanese--that the joy in the + lad's eyes was like nothing I had ever seen before, except the + caress in the eyes of a lover on the morning of his bridal. + +"A beautiful thought, the reader will agree; but why could it not be +uttered to a Japanese? A good deal will be found on this subject in Mr. +Hearn's book, and, as we have indicated, we do not think it all holds +together. His class of students, we learn, professed to think it 'very, +very strange' that there should be so much in English novels about love +and marrying; and then he tells us that-- + + Any social system of which filial piety is not the moral cement; + any social system in which children leave their parents in order + to establish families of their own; any social system in which + it is considered not only natural but right to love wife and + child more than the authors of one's being; any social system in + which marriage can be decided independently of the will of the + parents by the mutual inclination of the young people themselves + ... appears, to the Japanese student of necessity a state of + life scarcely better than that of the birds of the air and the + beasts of the field, or at best a sort of moral chaos. + +"Now, of course, it is known here that in Japan, as in other Oriental +countries, it is a rule for marriages to be family arrangements, as +regards which it is expected that the young persons will conform to the +wishes of their respective parents. + + * * * * * + +"But of course some inconsistencies are to be expected from an author +enamoured of the whole country. He is very Buddhist, and is anxious to +show that Buddhists have always held, in matters of faith, something +very like the doctrines of modern science with regard to the perpetual +sequence of evolution and dissolution. On this subject he argues +cleverly and effectively; but when, by implication or expressly, he +compares Buddhism with Christianity, it is evident that the latter faith +has not received any very close study from him. None the less is his +book, though dominated by a somewhat uncritical enthusiasm, full of +interest and instruction as to the difference between the gifts, the +motives, and the mental and moral attitude of the Japanese and the +peoples of the West, ourselves in particular. It is well worth while to +study that remarkable people as they are seen by one who is so much +captivated by them, and believes in them so strongly, as Mr. Lafcadio +Hearn." (380.) + +The _Athenæum_ does not speak so cordially, and a review in the +_Atlantic Monthly_ says:-- + +"Mr. Hearn is not at his best as a metaphysician.... But we can forgive +him in that he stands forth a staunch champion, defying the West from +the heart of the Japanese people. He does this most clearly in his +finest essay, 'Jiujutsu.' Here the very meaning of the martial exercise, +to 'conquer by yielding' is taken as text to explain the phenomena or +national awakening which foreign cities have denounced as a 'reversal.' +Japan has borrowed weapons of force from the West, in order successfully +to resist its insidious influence. True progress is from within. Mr. +Hearn writes:-- + + However psychologists may theorize on the absence or the + limitations of personal individuality among the Japanese, there + can be no question at all that, as a nation, Japan possesses an + individuality stronger than our own." (306.) + +Hearn further brings out in a conversation with a young Japanese the +fact that Japan, in order to keep pace with the competition of other +nations, must adopt the methods which are in direct variance to her old +morality, and all that which has made the Japanese what he is. Japan's +future depends upon her industrial development, and the fine old +qualities of self-sacrifice, simplicity, filial piety, the contentment +with little, are not the weapons for the modern struggle. In a +postscript to this essay, written two years later, after the war with +China, Hearn adds that "Japan has proved herself able to hold her own +against the world.... _Japan has won in her jiujutsu._" + +Japan holds infinite legends of ghostly significance, and it is no +wonder that Hearn found so much that was sympathetic. Every new town or +new temple reveals some aspect of the odd. In this second book the +joyousness is gone; he is now a philosopher, and his philosophy reflects +much of the ghostly. The gruesome has been buried, but it is not dead: +it will return reincarnated, not of the ghastly of real life, but of the +dim, far-away, always more distant ghostly in the lives of the dead. + +A revelation of the Nirvâna into which Hearn is being slowly drawn +appears in "At Hakata." He has been telling the story of the sacred +mirror that a mother in dying gave to her daughter, bidding her to look +into it every morning and evening and there see her mother. And the girl +looked and "having the heart of meeting her mother every day," knew not +that the shadow in the mirror was her own face. + + One are we all,--and yet many, because each is a world of + ghosts. Surely that girl saw and spoke to her mother's very + soul, while seeing the fair shadow of her own young eyes and + lips, uttering love! + +And with this thought, the strange display in the old temple + court takes a new meaning,--becomes the symbolism of a sublime + expectation. Each of us is truly a mirror, imaging something of + the universe,--reflecting also the reflection of ourselves in + that universe; and perhaps the destiny of all is to be molten by + that mighty Image-maker, Death, into some great sweet + passionless unity. How the vast work shall be wrought, only + those to come after us may know. We of the present West do not + know: we merely dream. But the ancient East believes Here is the + simple imagery of her faith. All forms must vanish at last to + blend with that Being whose smile is immutable Rest,--whose + knowledge is Infinite Vision. + +"The Red Bridal" is a story of _jôshi_--the joint suicide for love. +These two young people had been playmates since their early school-days, +and were deeply attached to each other. The girl's father, under the +influence of an evil stepmother, agrees to sell his daughter to the +richest and also the most disreputable man in the village. Hearing this +awful command, the maiden only smiles the brave smile--inheritance of +her Samurai blood. She knows what she must do.... Together she and her +lover quietly meet the Tôkyô express. As its low roar draws +nearer, they "wound their arms about each other, and lay down cheek to +cheek, very softly and quietly, straight across the inside rail." + +We close the book with the memory of Yuko, heroic little Yuko, who, even +as noble Asakachi, who had his beautiful wish to die for his country +fulfilled, proves that the Japanese spirit of loyalty is far greater +than our word implies. With all her country, Yuko, a humble little +serving-maid, whose name signifies "valiant," is sorrowing because of a +Japanese attack upon the Czarevitch of the Russians. Her soul burns with +the desire to give something that will soften the sorrow of the August +One; for the heart of the girl, being that of a true Japanese, grieves +not alone for what has happened, but with a deeper sense of the grief +caused to the August One. The cry goes from Yuko asking how she, who has +nothing, can give; and from the lips of the dead within her comes the +answer: "Give thyself. To give life for the August One is the highest +duty, the highest joy." "And in what place?" she asks. "Saikyô," +answer the silent voices; "in the gateway of those who by ancient custom +should have died." + +Does she falter? No. + + For her the future holds no blackness. Always she will see the + rising of the holy Sun above the peaks, the smile of the + Lady-Moon upon the waters, the eternal magic of the Seasons. She + will haunt the places of beauty, beyond the folding of the + mists, in the sleep of the cedar-shadows, through circling of + innumerable years. She will know a subtler life, in the faint + winds that stir the snow of the flowers of the cherry, in the + laughter of playing waters, in every happy whisper of the vast + green silences. But first she will greet her kindred, somewhere + in shadowy halls awaiting her coming to say to her: + +"Thou hast done well,--like a daughter of Samurai. Enter, child! + because of thee to-night we sup with the Gods!" + +It is daylight when Yuko enters Kyotô. She finds a lodging, and then +goes to a skilful female hairdresser. Her little razor is made very +sharp. Returning to her room, she writes a letter of farewell to her +brother, and an appeal to the officials asking that the Tenshi-Sama may +be begged to cease from suffering "seeing that a young life, even though +unworthy, has been given in voluntary expiation of the wrong." + +At the dark hour before dawn she slips to the gate of the Government +edifice. Whispering a prayer, she kneels. Then with her long +under-girdle of silk she binds her robes tightly about her knees, for + + the daughter of a Samurai must always be found in death with + limbs decently composed. Then, with steady precision, she makes + in her throat a gash, out of which the blood leaps in a pulsing + jet.... + + At sunrise the police find her, quite cold, and the two letters, + and a poor little purse containing five _yen_ and a few _sen_ + (enough, she had hoped, for her burial); and they take her and + all her small belongings away. + +KOKORO[32] (9), the next book, could well be a continuation of "Out of +the East." Hearn speaks of it as "terribly radical," and "rather crazy"; +and he fears that his views, which are greatly opposed in the West, may +not be well received. + + [32] Copyright, 1896, by Houghton, Mifflin and Company. + +"The fifteen chapters of which the book is composed," says a German +review, "do not contain the results of any research into the domain of +politics, art or religion. They are rather fragments from Japanese life, +and so clear is the language that the pictures given are brought home to +us with wonderful effect. Lafcadio Hearn is a journalist in the best +sense of the word. He is a writer who has something striking and +original to say upon the events of the day, upon the conditions and +institutions of a land, upon the possibilities of development in a +people, upon deep philosophical, social and religious problems, upon the +'Idea of Pre-existence,' upon Buddhism and Shintôism, upon the +difference between Occidental and Oriental culture, and who judges all +things, all conditions that he sees, from lofty heights. He is besides a +character, a man of great ideals; he has a fine artistic feeling and is, +moreover, able to render in wonderfully sympathetic language tender +moods which come to him at the sight of a landscape, a work of art. +Extraordinarily capable of assimilation, he, to whom Japan has become a +second home, has entirely fitted himself into the Japanese life. He is +so delighted with the customs, with the political and social conditions, +with the simple family life, with the religion, the ceremonies, the +ancestor-worship, and with the business intercourse carried on among +themselves--which he assures us is characterized by exceptional +probity--in short, he is so delighted with all the activities of this +people that he thinks them the best possible because they spring from +the inmost life of an ethical and never intellectual temperament. +Therefore he takes sides with them passionately against the modern +tendencies of Europe." (395.) + +In the opening story, which I think will be found one of his best, is +portrayed the manner of a Japanese crowd in dealing with a criminal; and +how this criminal was brought to atonement by the gaze of a little +child, the son of the man he murdered, while the little one was yet in +his mother's womb. + +The next chapter is a discussion of Japanese Civilization. In 1903 Hearn +wrote:-- + + "The Genius of Japanese Civilization" is a failure. I thought + that it was true when I wrote it; but already Japan has become + considerably changed, and a later study of ancient social + conditions has proved to me that I made some very serious + sociological errors in that paper. + +He shows that in the wonderful development of Japanese power, there is +vitally no self-transformation. All that Japan is, she always has been. +Nor is there any outward change. "The strength of Japan, like the +strength of her ancient faith, needs little material display: both exist +where the deepest real power of any great peoples exists,--in the Race +Ghost." He contrasts the noise and confusion and vastness of Western +cities. The construction of the West is endurance; of Japan +impermanency. The very land is a land of impermanence. But in this +impermanency Hearn finds the greatest excellence. He contrasts how +little impedimenta the Japanese have--by that means alone how +independent they are. He shows with what a quiet simplicity Japan has +become a great commercial centre. He fears the new Western spirit which +threatens her:-- + + I confess to being one of those who believe that the human + heart, even in the history of a race, may be worth infinitely + more than the human intellect, and that it will sooner or later + prove itself infinitely better able to answer all the cruel + enigmas of the Sphinx of Life.--I still believe that the old + Japanese were nearer to the solution of those enigmas than are + we, just because they recognized moral beauty as greater than + intellectual beauty. + +It is the old spirit which found infinite meaning-- + + in the flushed splendour of the blossom-bursts of spring, in the + coming and the going of the cicadæ, in the dying crimson of + autumn foliage, in the ghostly beauty of snow, in the delusive + motion of wave or cloud. + +The beautiful voice of a blind peasant woman fills Hearn with gentle +memories and an exquisite delight. He muses upon what the meaning of +this charm can be; and he realizes that it is the old sorrows and loving +impulses of forgotten generations. + + The dead die never utterly. They sleep in the darkest cells of + tired hearts and busy brains,--to be startled at rarest moments + only by the echo of some voice that recalls their past. + +The lovely spirit of showing only one's happiest face to the world is +charmingly brought out in the little incident that, when in a railway +carriage, a Japanese woman finds herself becoming drowsy, before she +nods she covers her face with her long kimono sleeve. + +Sometimes one may recall the dead, and speak with them. So it happened +that O-Tayo heard once again the voice of her little child who begged +her not to weep any more, for when mothers weep, the flood of the River +of Tears rises so high that the soul cannot pass, and must wander and +wander. + +O-Tayo never wept again, but softly she herself became as a little +child. Her good parents built a tiny temple and fitted it with miniature +ornaments, and here all day long children came to play games with her. +And when at last she died, the children still played there, for as a +little girl of nine said, "We shall still play in the Court of Amida. +She is buried there. She will hear us and be happy." + +The pathetic tale of Haru gives an interesting picture of the relation +in Japan between man and wife; of the exquisite submission of the wife +under the saddest conditions, even to the moment when the little grieved +heart, which has never murmured, has the dying strength to utter only +the single word, "_Anata_." (Thou.) + +"A Glimpse of Tendencies" analyzes many conditions in Japan, with +various predictions for her future, and speaks of her lack of sympathy +for her foreign teachers. + +In "A Conservative" Hearn gives a searching study of how the evils of +our civilization appear to a Japanese youth. + +"In the chapter, 'The Idea of Pre-existence,' Hearn makes the +interesting attempt of bringing the teachings of the Buddhistic religion +and the conclusions of modern science into accord. The idea which +differentiates the Oriental mode of thinking from our own, which more +than any other permeates the whole mental being of the Far-East--'it is +universal as the wash of air; it colours every emotion; it influences, +directly or indirectly, almost every act'--which inspires the utterances +of the people, their proverbs, their pious and profane exclamations, +that is the idea of pre-existence. The expression, '_Ingwa_,' which +signifies the Karma as inevitable retribution, serves as explanation for +all suffering, all pain, all evil. The culprit says: 'That which I did I +knew to be wicked when doing; but my _ingwa_ was stronger than my +heart,' _Ingwa_ means predestination, determinism, necessity." (395.) + +In his chapter on "Ancestor-Worship" it is further proved how important +a part of the household are the dead. + +Another delightful study is "Kimiko,"--the story of one who turns +dancing-girl out of filial piety. In the height of her fame she falls in +love with a rich young man, and he with her. Kimiko is so good a woman +at heart, that the man's friends do not object to his marrying her. She +refuses, however, for her life has made her unworthy to be wife or +mother. The man hopes to change her, but one day she disappears and is +utterly lost to sight. Years pass and he marries. At last Kimiko returns +as a wandering nun, looks at her lover's little son, whispers a message +for the father in his ear, and is gone once more. The grace with which +the story is told is inimitable, and the sickly sentimentality that +revolts us in the _Dame aux Camelias_ is absent. (381.) + +GLEANINGS IN BUDDHA-FIELDS[33] (10) is the third book of the Japanese +period, and was written at Kobé. In this volume of essays, intermingled +with sketches in lighter vein, Hearn continues his philosophical +studies. There are the unmistakable signs that even this ardour is +losing zest. The charm of Japan is going fast; and after this volume, +until his final interpretation, which is a summary of all that has gone +before, is reached, we find him seeking material in fairy-tales, +legends, and even returning to old thoughts about the West Indian life. + + [33] Copyright, 1897, by Houghton, Mifflin and Company. + +Many of his critics feel that Hearn is becoming too subjective to be +quite trustworthy; others feel that he is still too charmed by Japan to +render a faithful picture. A review in _Public Opinion_ says:-- + +"But, this feature of almost pardonable exaggeration pointed out, there +is little for the critic to carp at in the majority of the eleven essays +that compose the book. The opening paper, 'A Living God,' is a perfect +specimen of the author's style, and evinces in a marked degree the +influence of Oriental environment on a sensitive mind. It treats of the +temples, shrines, and worship of the people, and tells by legend how +even a living individual may come to be worshipped as a god by his +friends.... + +"The essay, however, that betrays most strongly the bent of the author's +mental metamorphosis, and one, we venture to say, that will be generally +challenged is that on 'Faces in Japanese Art.' The contention it +embodies, which he boldly fathers, is a flat denial of the truth and +worth of our accepted schools of art,--of drawing especially." (376.) + +Criticizing the chapters on Buddhism in the present book, the _Athenæum_ +says:-- + +"They are finely written, but the Buddhism is the Buddhism of Mr. Hearn, +not of China or Japan, or of anywhere else. Nevertheless, we think them +the most attractive of these gleanings. Laputa is placed not very far +from Japan; to a quasi-Laputa Mr. Hearn has gone, and his Laputian +experiences are more interesting than any ordinary terrestrial +experiences could have been." (298.) + +The _Spectator_ says:-- + +"His chapter on Nirvâna, which he describes as 'a study in synthetic +Buddhism,' will be read with very great interest by all who care for the +problems involved. There have been plenty of studies of the doctrine of +Nirvâna more elaborate and complete, but few more suggestive and more +taking.... Mr. Hearn begins by combating the popular Western notion that +the idea of Nirvâna signifies to Buddhist minds complete annihilation. +The notion is, he declares, erroneous because it contains only half the +truth, and a half of the truth which is of no value or interest or +intelligibility except when joined to the other half. According to Mr. +Hearn, and, indeed, according to 'the better opinion' generally, Nirvâna +means not absolute nothingness or complete annihilation, but only the +annihilation of what constitutes individualism and personality,--'the +annihilation of everything that can be included under the term "I".'" +(382.) + +Hearn makes an elaborate study of the varying stages of births and +heavens that one must generally pass through before one rises into the +"infinite bliss" of Nirvâna. The chapter closes with this significant +sentence:-- + + The only reality is One;--all that we have taken for Substance + is only Shadow;--the physical is the unreal:--_and the outer-man + is the ghost_. + +There are two short chapters devoted to the Japanese Songs. The first +songs, "Out of the Street," are, as Manyemon, who would not have the +Western people deceived, tells us, the vulgar songs, or those sung by +the washermen, carpenters, and bamboo-weavers, etc. The theme always +holds some glint of love. Hearn has arranged certain ones in three +groups forming a little shadow romance. + + To Heaven with all my soul I prayed to prevent your going; + Already, to keep you with me, answers the blessed rain. + + Things never changed since the Time of the Gods: The flowing of + water, the Way of Love. + +The second chapter is devoted to Folk-Songs with Buddhist allusions. +Nearly all the arts and the greater number of the industries show the +influence of Buddhism. A typical song is:-- + + Even the knot of the rope tying our boats together Knotted was + long ago by some love in a former birth. + +Another:-- + + Even while praying together in front of the tablets ancestral, + Lovers find chance to murmur prayers never meant for the dead. + +On the "Trip to Kyôto" there is more to be learned about poor little +Yuko, who gave her life for her nation. To the Japanese all the small +details of her story are of the greatest importance, and are carefully +treasured. Hearn thinks that the Western "refined feeling" might not +care for the poor little blood-stained trifles; if so it is to be +regretted. + +In "Dust," with a dainty touch, he teaches again that we are but +millions upon billions of dead people; that the cells and the souls are +themselves recombinations of old welding of forces--forces of which we +know nothing save that they belong "to the Shadow-Makers of universes." +You are an individual--but also you are a population! This leads on to +the end that + + In whatsoever time all human minds accord in thought and will + with the mind of the Teacher, there shall not remain even one + particle of dust that does not enter into Buddhahood. + +The last chapter, "Within the Circle," is of a philosophy so impermanent +that it seems but Shadow-play, and one may not behold a visible form, +for--like all that which it symbolizes--it is but an illusion. + +EXOTICS AND RETROSPECTIVES[34] (11) faithfully followed the ensuing +year. The effort to write is manifest; even to himself Hearn is +admitting that the _frisson_ which Japan gave him is passing. He is +beginning to make copy; and the subjects are becoming more vague, +vapoury, and ghostly. + + [34] Copyright, 1898, by Little, Brown and Company. + + I must eat some humble pie. My work during the past ten months + has been rather poor. Why, I cannot quite understand--because it + costs me more effort. Anyhow, I have had to rewrite ten essays: + they greatly improved under the process. I am trying now to get + a Buddhist commentary for them--mostly to be composed of texts + dealing with pre-existence and memory of former lives. I took + for subjects the following:--Beauty is Memory--why beautiful + things bring sadness;--the Riddle of Touch--_i. e._ the thrill + that a touch gives;--the Perfume of Youth;--the Reason of the + Pleasure of the Feeling Evoked by Bright Blue;--the Pain Caused + by Certain Kinds of Red;--Mystery of Certain Musical + Effects;--Fear of Darkness and the Feeling of Dreams. Queer + subjects, are they not? I think of calling the collection + "Retrospectives. + +The _Athenæum_, that wise critic, feels that in this book Hearn "shows +himself at his best. He is more subdued," it says, "than is his wont, +and indulges less freely in excessive laudation and needless +disparagement. The chapters on 'Insect Musicians,' on the 'Literature of +the Dead,' and--oddly as it may sound to us--on 'Frogs,' are among the +most delightful of all his writings. The keynote of all is struck in the +pretty stanza that heads the first of the three:-- + + _Mushi, yo mushi, + Naïté ingwa ga + Tsukuru nara?_ + (Insect, O insect! + Singing fulfil you + Your fire-life and all life!) + +"The translation is ours. The fondness of the Japanese for many kinds of +chirping insects, which they keep in little bamboo-cages, is one of the +prettiest of the surviving echoes of the past. The plaintive little cry +satisfies the curious melancholy that characterizes the reflective moods +of the lieges of Mutsu. In the long series of changes that is to end in +perfect Buddha-forms, there is hope always, but always tinged with the +sadness of vague memories of past pains, and the resigned dread of +sorrows to come, one knows not how oft to be repeated ere in 'Nirvâna' +all earthly moods are lost. There is a regular trade in these tiny +songsters, of the history of which Mr. Hearn tells the pleasant story." +(299.) + +Hearn leads us to a cemetery in a quaint lonesome garden, and teaches us +something about the wonderful texts and inscriptions that are chiselled +into the stone of the tombs, or painted on the wooden _sotoba_, and go +to form the important literature of the dead. A suggestive _sotoba_-text +is:-- + + The Amida-Kyô says: "All who enter into that country enter + likewise into that state of virtue from which there can be no + turning back." + +From the Kaimyô which is engraved on the tomb, we may select:-- + + _Koji_-- + (Bright-Sun-on-the-Way-of-the-Wise, in the Mansion of + Luminous Mind.) + + _Koji_-- + (Effective-Benevolence-Hearing-with-Pure-Heart-the-Supplications + -of-the-Poor,--dwelling in the Mansion of the Virtue of Pity.) + +The frog is another favourite of the Japanese. There is one special +variety called the Kajika, or true singing-frog of Japan, which is kept +as a pet in a little cage. For over a hundred years the frog has been +the subject of numerous poems. Many of these little verses are +love-poems, for the lovers' trysting-hour is also the hour when the +frog-chorus is at its height. Here is a quotation from the Anthology +called "Kokinshû," compiled A.D. 905, by the poet Ki-no-Tsurayuki:-- + + The poetry of Japan has its roots in the human heart, and thence + has grown into a multiform utterance. Man in this world, having + a thousand million of things to undertake and to complete, has + been moved to express his thoughts and his feelings concerning + all that he sees and hears. When we hear the _uguisu_ singing + among flowers, and the voice of the _kawazu_ which inhabits the + waters, what mortal (_lit. "who among the living that lives"_) + does not compose poems? + +A charming frog poem is:-- + + _Té wo tsuité + Uta moshi-aguru, + Kawazu kana!_ + +(With hand resting on the ground, reverentially you repeat your poem, O +frog!) + +And another:-- + + _Tamagawa no + Hito wo mo yogizu + Naku kawazu, + Kono yû kikéba + Oshiku ya wa aranu?_ + +(Hearing to-night the frogs of the Jewel River--or Tamagawa, that sing +without fear of man, how can I help loving the passing moment?) + +A vivid chapter is Hearn's description of his ascent of Fuji-no-Yama. +Here he may once again use his palette of many colours, but certainly +not with the old _abandon_. + + Brighter and brighter glows the gold. Shadows come from the + west,--shadows flung by cloud-pile over cloud-pile; and these, + like evening shadows upon snow, are violaceous blue.... Then + orange-tones appear in the horizon; then smouldering crimson. + And now the greater part of the Fleece of Gold has changed to + cotton again,--white cotton mixed with pink.... Stars thrill + out. The cloud-waste uniformly whitens;--thickening and packing + to the horizon. The west glooms. Night rises; and all things + darken except that wondrous unbroken world-round of white,--the + Sea of Cotton. + +A lurking of the gruesome flashes out when the snow-patches against the +miles of black soot and ashes on the mountain make him think "of a gleam +of white teeth I once saw in a skull,--a woman's skull,--otherwise burnt +to a sooty crisp." + +"Retrospectives" is a group of gentle reveries, where we may muse with +Hearn on such elusive themes as the "Sadness in Beauty," for beauty has +no real existence, it is the emotion of the dead within us. Or there is +the analysis of that favourite word _frisson_, "the touch that makes a +thrill within you is a touch that you have felt before,--sense-echo of +forgotten intimacies in many unremembered lives." "Azure Psychology" and +"A Red Sunset" recall Hearn's earlier criticisms on colour. + +IN GHOSTLY JAPAN[35] (12) followed. The title is revelatory of the Japan +that is to people this book and those which are to come. In the opening +chapter Hearn crystallizes in a powerful sketch the sum of Buddhist +lore. Of this the _Academy_ writes:-- + + [35] Copyright, 1899, by Little, Brown and Company. + +"Of Nirvâna one carries away this one picture, painted in words +curiously colourless and intangible--the picture of a mountain up whose +steep side toil two creatures--the soul and his guide--toiling, +stumbling upwards over a brittle and friable chaos of skulls. Skulls +crumbled into powder and skulls crumbling mark out the road; 'and every +skull,' says the guide, 'is yours, and has been yours in some past +incarnation; and the dust that rises round your present body is the dust +of your past and deserted bodies that have served you well or ill as may +be in your past lives.' In the fine and bewildering haze of this thought +we lose our poet, and henceforward he is not a face nor a voice, but an +echo of a living man's voice. We hear the echo, but the voice we do not +hear. And we grudge the voice, even to Nirvâna where all silences are +merged in one." (286.) + +In a beautiful chapter Hearn outlines all that might be written about +the important subject of incense. He tells a good deal about its +religious, luxurious, and ghostly uses. There is also a charming custom +of giving parties where dainty games are played with it. + +Sometimes there can be love between the living and the dead, or so it +appears in the ghostly story of "A Passional Karma," or O-Tsuyu, who +died of love of Shinzaburô and returns to be his bride. Every night, +by the light of their Peony Lanterns, she, accompanied by her maid, +comes to keep the ghostly tryst. Shinzaburô does not know that +O-Tsuyu is dead, but his servant Tomozô, overhearing voices, gazes +through a chink, and sees-- + + the face of a woman long dead,--and the fingers caressing were + fingers of naked bone,--and of the body below the waist there + was not anything: it melted off into thinnest trailing shadow. + Where the eyes of the lover deluded saw youth and grace and + beauty, there appeared to the eyes of the watcher horror only, + and the emptiness of death. + +Now he whose bride is a ghost cannot live. No matter what force flows in +his blood he must certainly perish. Shinzaburô is warned and an +amulet to protect him from the dead is given to him, but treachery is +played, and the amulet is stolen; so one morning Tomozô finds his +master + + hideously dead;--and the face was the face of a man who had died + in the uttermost agony of fear;--and lying beside him in the bed + were the bones of a woman! And the bones of the arms, and the + bones of the hands, clung fast about his neck. + +The gentle heart of the Japanese shines in the chapter on "Bits of +Poetry." You might find yourself, Hearn says, in a community so poor +that you could not even buy a cup of real tea, but no place could you +discover "where there is nobody capable of making a poem." Poems are +written on all occasions and for all occasions. + + Poems can be found upon almost any kind of domestic + utensil;--for example, upon braziers, iron-kettles, vases, + wooden-trays, lacquer-ware, porcelains, chopsticks of the finer + sort,--even toothpicks! Poems are painted upon shop-signs, + panels, screens, and fans. Poems are printed upon towels, + draperies, curtains, kerchiefs, silk-linings, and women's + crêpe-silk underwear. Poems are stamped or worked upon + letter-paper, envelopes, purses, mirror-cases, travelling-bags. + Poems are inlaid upon enamelled ware, cut upon bronzes, graven + upon metal pipes, embroidered upon tobacco-pouches. + +A Japanese artist would not think of elaborating a sketch, and a poem to +be perfect must also only stir one's fancy. _Ittakkiri_, meaning +"entirely vanished" in the sense of "all told," is a term applied +contemptuously to him who expresses all his thought. + +Japan is rich in proverbs. Hearn has translated one hundred examples of +Buddhist proverbs. + + _Karu-toki no Jizô-gao; nasu-toki no Emma-gao._ + +(Borrowing-time, the face of Jizô; repaying-time, the face of + Emma.) + +_Sodé no furi-awasé mo tashô no en._ + +(Even the touching of sleeves in passing is caused by some + relation in a former life.) + +A powerful relic of the old clinging love of the gruesome is the story +of _Ingwa-banashi_. The _daimyô's_ wife knew that she was dying; and +she thought of many things, especially of her husband's favourite, the +Lady Yukiko, who was nineteen years old. She begged her husband to send +for the Lady Yukiko, whom, she said, she loved as a sister. After the +dying wife had told Lady Yukiko it was her wish that she should become +the wife of their dear lord, she begged that Yukiko would carry her on +her back to see the cherry-bloom. + + As a nurse turns her back to a child, that the child may cling + to it, Yukiko offered her shoulders to the wife, and said:-- + + "Lady, I am ready: please tell me how I best can help you." + + "Why, this way!" responded the dying woman, lifting herself with + an almost superhuman effort by clinging to Yukiko's shoulders. + But as she stood erect, she quickly slipped her thin hands down + over the shoulders, under the robe, and clutched the breasts of + the girl, and burst into a wicked laugh. + + "I have my wish!" she cried--"I have my wish for the + cherry-bloom, but not the cherry-bloom of the garden!... I could + not die before I got my wish. Now I have it!--oh, what a + delight!" + + And with these words she fell forward upon the crouching girl, + and died. + +When the attendants tried to lift the body from Yukiko's shoulders, they +found that the hands of the dead had grown into the quick flesh of the +breasts of the girl. And they could not be removed. A skilful physician +was called, and he decided that the hands could be amputated only at the +wrists, and so this was done. But the hands still clung to the breasts; + + and there they soon darkened and dried up like the hands of a + person long dead. + + Yet this was only the beginning of the horror. + +Withered and bloodless though they seemed, those hands were not + dead. At intervals they would stir--stealthily, like great grey + spiders. And nightly thereafter,--beginning always at the Hour + of the Ox,--they would clutch and compress and torture. Only at + the Hour of the Tiger the pain would cease. + + Yukiko cut off her hair, and became a mendicant-nun. + +Every day she prayed to the dead for pardon, and every night the torture +was renewed. This continued for more than seventeen years until Yukiko +was heard of no more. + +SHADOWINGS[36] (13) appeared the next year, 1900. Of this volume the +_Bookman_ says:-- + + [36] Copyright, 1900, by Little, Brown and Company. + +"He gives us several essays upon matters Japanesque, which obviously +involve no small amount of erudition and patient research. Such are his +papers upon the various species of _Sémi_, or Japanese singing-locusts, +and on the complicated etiquette of Japanese female names. But the +distinctive feature of this volume is the first half, which is given up +to a collection of curious tales by native writers, weird, uncanny, +little stories, most of them, of ghouls and wraiths, and vampires, or at +least the nearest Japanese equivalents for such Occidental spectres." +(316.) + +The _Athenæum_ does not find "Shadowings" equal to the volume "Exotics." +It thinks that Hearn is "perilously near exhausting his repertory of +_Kokin_ [one-stringed fiddle] themes." + +"The stories with which the present volume opens have no particular +merit: they have lost their chief and real advantage--their local +colour--in Hearnesque translation, and seem to be little more than +suggestions or drafts of 'nouvelles,' out of which skilful hands might +perhaps have made something much better. A good example is the story of +the Screen Maiden, which is a most lame presentment of a charming motif. +The chapters on female names, on _sémi_, couplets and 'Old Japanese +Songs' are more interesting, but only to those who possess a +considerable knowledge of old Japanese life and literature.... Of the +'Old Japanese Songs'--where is the proof of their antiquity?--much the +best is the dance-ballad of the dragon-maid, who bewitched a +_yamabushi_, and chased him over moor and hill and river, until the +temple of Dojo was reached, under the great bell of which the trembling +hill-warrior or outlaw (_yamabushi_ were such originally in all +probability) hid himself, whereupon the dragon-maid wrapped her body +round the bell once and again and the third time the bell melted and +flowed away like boiling water. And with it, according to the legend, +flowed away the ashes of the unwilling object of the dragon-maid's +affections, consumed not through love, but through disdain." (300.) + +Strange things happen in the group of tales, and not the least is the +tale of the maiden in the screen whose loveliness so bewitches a youth +that he becomes sick unto death. Then an old scholar tells him that the +person whom the picture represents is dead, but since the painter +painted her mind as well as her form, her spirit lives in the picture +and he may yet win her. + +So every day, Tokkei, following out the old scholar's injunctions, sits +before the portrait calling softly the maiden's name. And finally after +many days the maiden answered, "_Hai!_" And stepping down from out the +screen, she kneels to take the cup of wine (which was to be so), +whispering charmingly, "How could you love me so much?" + +Also there is the tale of the Corpse Rider, in which the husband had to +ride for one whole night, so far that he could not know the distance, +the dead body of his divorced wife; and this was to save him from her +vengeance. + +The gruesome gleams here, and again in the tale of "The Reconciliation," +when the repentant husband found that the wife he was holding in his +arms is "a corpse so wasted that little remained save the bones, and the +long black tangled hair." + +There is no small amount of etiquette in the prefixes and suffixes of +the Japanese female names. The majority of the _Yobina_, or personal +names, are not æsthetic. Some are called after the flowers, and there +are also place names, as for instance _Miné_ (Peak) _Hama_ (Shore); but +the large proportion express moral or mental attributes. + + Tenderness, kindness, deftness, cleverness, are frequently + represented by _yobina;_ but appellations implying physical + charm, or suggesting æsthetic ideas only, are comparatively + uncommon. One reason for the fact may be that very æsthetic + names are given to _geisha_ and to _jôro_, and consequently + vulgarized. But the chief reason certainly is that the domestic + virtues still occupy in the Japanese moral estimate a place not + less important than that accorded to religious faith in the life + of our own Middle Ages. Not in theory only, but in every-day + practice, moral beauty is placed far above physical beauty; and + girls are usually selected as wives, not for their good looks, + but for their domestic qualities. + +I give a few names gleaned from Hearn's +lists:--_O-Jun_--"Faithful-to-death"; _O-Tamé_--"For-the-sake-of,"--a +name suggesting unselfishness; _O-Chika_--"Closely Dear"; _O-Suki_--"The +Beloved"--_Aimée_; _O-Taë_--"The Exquisite"; _Tokiwa_--"Eternally +Constant." + +From the "Fantasies," we read of the Mystery of Crowds, and the horrors +of Gothic Architecture, the joys of levitation while one is asleep--with +a moral attached; of Noctilucæ. Also, as we gaze with the adolescent +youth into a pair of eyes we come to know that + + The splendour of the eyes that we worship belongs to them only + as brightness to the morning-star. It is a reflex from beyond + the shadow of the Now,--a ghost-light of vanished suns. + Unknowingly within that maiden-gaze we meet the gaze of eyes + more countless than the hosts of heaven,--eyes otherwhere passed + into darkness and dust. + + Thus, and only thus, the depth of that gaze is the depth of the + Sea of Death and Birth, and its mystery is the World-Soul's + vision, watching us out of the silent vast of the Abyss of + Being. + + Thus, and only thus, do truth and illusion mingle in the magic + of eyes,--the spectral past suffusing with charm ineffable the + apparition of the present;--and the sudden splendour in the soul + of the Seer is but a flash, one soundless sheet-lightning of the + Infinite Memory. + +A JAPANESE MISCELLANY[37] (14) was the next book. What does the memory +hold of these stories and sketches? Surely that picture of Old Japan +with its charming sentiment for Dragon-flies, to which such delicate +poems were written. + + [37] Copyright, 1901, by Little, Brown and Company. + + _Tombô no + Ha-ura ni sabishi,-- + Aki-shiguré._ + + (Lonesomely clings the dragon-fly to the under-side of the + leaf--Ah! the autumn-rains!) + +And that verse by the mother poet, who seeing many children playing +their favourite pastime of chasing butterflies, thinks of her little one +who is dead:-- + + _Tombô-tsuri!-- + Kyô wa doko madé + Itta yara!_ + + (Catching dragon-flies!... I wonder where _he_ has gone to-day!) + +Then there are the children's songs about Nature and her tiny creatures, +and all their little songs for their plays; the songs which tell a +story, and the sweet mother songs that lull the babies to sleep. + +How we pity poor misguided O-Dai, who forgot loyalty to her ancestors to +follow the teachings of the Western faith. At its bidding even the +sacred tablets and the scroll were cast away. And when she had forsaken +everything, and had become as an outcast with her own people, the good +missionaries found they needed a more capable assistant. Poor little +weak O-Dai, without the courage to fill her sleeves with stones and then +slip into the river, longing for the sunlight, and so "flung into the +furnace of a city's lust." + +We hear the gruesome tinkle of the dead wife's warning bell, and we +certainly shudder before the vision of her robed in her grave-shroud:-- + + "Eyeless she came--because she had long been dead;--and her + loosened hair streamed down about her face;--and she looked + without eyes through the tangle of it; and spake without a + tongue." + +Then the hideous horror of the evil crime, as this dead wife in her +jealousy tore off the head of the sleeping young wife. The terrified +husband following the trail of blood found + + a nightmare-thing that chippered like a bat: the figure of the + long-buried woman erect before her tomb,--in one hand clutching + a bell, in the other the dripping head.... For a minute the + three stood numbed. Then one of the men-at-arms, uttering a + Buddhist invocation, drew, and struck at the shape. Instantly it + crumbled down upon the soil,--an empty scattering of grave-rags, + bones, and hair;--and the bell rolled clanking out of the ruin. + But the fleshless right hand, though parted from the wrist, + still writhed; and its fingers still gripped at the bleeding + head--and tore, and mangled,--as the claws of the yellow crab + fast to a fallen fruit. + +Who but Hearn would have chosen this ghastly scene, and described it +with such terrible reality? + +With the parents we have unravelled the mystery of Kinumé, whose spirit +belonged to one family, and whose body was the child of the other. + +Perhaps we still see the famous picture of Kwashin Koji, which had a +soul, for "it is well known that some sparrows, painted upon a sliding +screen (_fusuma_) by Hôgen Yenshin, once flew away, leaving blank the +spaces which they had occupied upon the surface. Also it is well known +that a horse painted upon a certain Kakémono, used to go out at night to +eat grass." So the water in the picture on the screen of Kwashin +overflowed into the room, and the boat thereon glided forth, but not a +ripple from the oar was heard. Then Kwashin Koji climbed into the boat, +and it receded into the picture, and the water dried in the room. Over +the painted water slipped the painted vessel until all disappeared, and +Kwashin was heard of no more. + +And we remember too the strange brave way that Umétsu Chûbei won the +gift of great strength for his children, and their children's children. + +The _Athenæum_ finds the story of Kwashin the best of this collection. +Speaking of the study, "On a Bridge," it says:-- + +"The author narrates a personal experience of a _riksha_ man who drew +him across an old bridge near Kumamoto. It was in the time of the +Satsuma _muhon_ (rebellion), some twenty-two years earlier, that the +_Kurumaya_ (_riksha_ man) was stopped on the bridge by three men, who +were dressed as peasants, but had very long swords under their +raincoats. After a time a cavalry officer came along from the city. + + The moment the horse got on the bridge the three men turned and + leaped:--and one caught the horse's bridle; and another gripped + the officer's arm; and the third cut off his head--all in a + moment.... I never saw anything done so quickly. + +"The seeming peasants then waited, and presently another cavalry officer +came and was murdered in like manner. Then came a third, who met a +similar fate. Lastly, the peasants went away, having thrown the bodies +into the river, but taking the heads with them. The man had never +mentioned the matter till long after the war--why? 'Because it would +have been ungrateful.' + +"No doubt this is a true story." (301.) + +It was probably during the ensuing year that Hearn contributed to the +Japanese Fairy Tale Series (15), published in Tôkyô, his +renditions of four of these stories. + +KOTTÔ[38] (16) followed. Says the _Athenæum_:-- + +"The gem of this volume is 'A Woman's Diary,' purporting to be 'the +history of a woman's married life recorded by herself, found in a small +_haribako_ (work-box) which had belonged to her.' It is an ordinary +story, not in the least sensational, yet pitiful and even touching in +its record of poverty and suffering, showing the hardships and small +enjoyment--according to our notions, at least--of the colourless +existence led by the bulk of the Japanese poorer classes upon a total +family wage of twelve pounds a year or less." (302.) + + [38] Copyright, 1902, by the Macmillan Company. + +Except for "A Woman's Diary" and "Fireflies" the tales in "Kottô" are +fragmentary. Some are gruesome as the history of the Gaki; or as the +story of O-Katsu-San, who was so bold as to go by night to Yurei-Daki, +and who to win her bet brought back the little money-box of the gods. +But when she came to give her baby his milk,-- + + Out of the wrappings unfastened there fell to the floor a + blood-soaked bundle of baby clothes that left exposed two very + small brown feet, and two very small brown hands--nothing more. + +The child's head had been torn off! + +There is also the story of O-Kamé, who returned each night to haunt her +husband; of Chûgorô, who was bewitched by a beautiful woman whom +he married beneath the waters. But he sickened and died, for his blood +had been drained by his Circe, who was "simply a Frog,--a great and ugly +Frog!" + +The literature and the significance of the fire-flies holds an important +place with the Japanese, and for more than a thousand years the poets +have been making verses about these little creatures. + +A sketch in which Hearn is most fortunate is "Pathological," where Tama, +the mother-cat, dreams of her dead kittens-- + + coos to them, and catches for them small shadowy things,--perhaps + even brings to them, through some dim window ofmemory, a sandal + of ghostly straw.... + +Beautiful is the "Revery of Mother-Love":-- + + Yet those countless solar fires, with their viewless millions of + living planets, must somehow reappear: again the wondrous + Cosmos, self-born as self-consumed, must resume its sidereal + whirl over the deeps of the eternities. And the love that + strives for ever with death shall rise again, through fresh + infinitudes of pain, to renew the everlasting battle. + + The light of the mother's smile will survive our sun;--the + thrill of her kiss will last beyond the thrilling of stars;--the + sweetness of her lullaby will endure in the cradle-songs of + worlds yet unevolved;--the tenderness of her faith will quicken + the fervour of prayers to be made to the hosts of another + heaven,--to the gods of a time beyond Time. And the nectar of + her breasts can never fail: that snowy stream will still flow + on, to nourish the life of some humanity more perfect than our + own, when the Milky Way that spans our night shall have vanished + for ever out of Space. + +Like unto the Soul is a Drop of Dew for + + Your personality signifies, in the eternal order, just as much + as the especial motion of molecules in the shivering of any + single drop. Perhaps in no other drop will the thrilling and the + picturing be ever exactly the same; but the dews will continue + to gather and to fall, and there will always be quivering + pictures.... The very delusion of delusions is the idea of death + as loss. + +KWAIDAN[39] (17) was the book before "Japan," which was published +after Hearn's death. It is a collection of old stories, many of them +of the gruesome, and of careful studies of ants, mosquitoes, and +butterflies. Striking is the tale of Yuki-Onna, the snow-woman, as is +also the incident of Riki-Baka. One bewitched by the dead is +Mimi-Nashi-Hôïchi, whose ears were torn off because the holy texts which +were written everywhere else upon his body were there forgotten. Sonjô, +the hunter, killed the mate of a female _oshidori_, who after appearing +to him in a dream as a beautiful woman, who rebukes him the following +day as a bird, tears open her body, and dies before his eyes. O-Tei is +reborn in the shape of a woman that she may wed years later her promised +husband--Nagao Chôsei of Echigo. So loyal is the love of O-Sodé, the +milk-nurse, that the cherry-tree which is planted in commemoration of +her, on the anniversary of her death, blossoms in a wonderful way. +Because of his selfish wickedness in thinking only of the gains in his +profession, a priest was made to be reborn into the state of a +_jikininki_, who had to devour the corpses of people who died in his +district. Other devourers of human flesh are the Rokuro-Kubi. The head +of a Rokuro-Kubi separates itself from its body. + + [39] Copyright, 1904, by Houghton, Mifflin and Company. + +JAPAN[40] (18): AN ATTEMPT AT INTERPRETATION is the last book that Hearn +published. He was reading its proofs at the time of his death. Although +a posthumous volume appeared, this may rightly be termed his final word. +It is the crystallization and the summary of all that has been said +before. It contains a group of twenty-one lectures, which Hearn had +expected at first to deliver at Cornell University. His own words will +best reveal their import:-- + + [40] Copyright, 1904, by the Macmillan Company. + + They will form a book explaining Japan from the standpoint of + ancestor-worship. They are suited only to a cultivated audience. + + The substantial idea of the lectures is that Japanese society + represents the condition of ancient Greek society a thousand + years before Christ. I am treating of religious Japan,--not of + artistic or economical Japan except by way of illustration. + +"The history of Japan is really the history of her religion," is the key +to the book. + +The _Academy_ remarks:-- + +"No one who wishes to understand the possibilities of the future of +Japan can afford to neglect the past, and no one who would grasp the +meaning of the past can afford to neglect Mr. Hearn's fine and +thoughtful work." (288.) + +In a review Mr. Griffis says:-- + +"They felt that he had done his best and was degenerating. Yet here is a +work which is a classic in science, a wonder of interpretation. It is +the product of long years of thought, of keenest perception, or +marvellous comprehension. + +"One cannot quote, one must read this work. It shows the Japanese under +his armour, modern science. The Japanese, outwardly, are ruled by +treaties, diplomacy, governments, codes, Imperial Diet, armies and +battleships--all modern and external. Inwardly they--that is, forty-nine +millions of them--are governed by ghosts. The graveyard is the true +dictator. It is ever their 'illustrious ancestors' who achieve +victories. They, as a nation, are superbly organized for war. There is +no originality, no personality, no individuality worth speaking of in +the island empire. It is all done by the government, the community. In +social evolution the Japanese are even yet far behind the Romans, and +much as the pre-Homeric Greeks. + +"In a word, Lafcadio Hearn outdoes the missionaries in dogmatism, +exceeds even the hostile propagandist in telling the naked truth. +Devoted friend of Japan, he excels the sworn enemies of her religions in +laying bare, though with admiration, the realities.... Lafcadio Hearn +turns the white and searching beams on the ship and man.... His book is +a re-reading of all Japanese history, a sociological appraisement of the +value of Japanese civilization, and a warning against intolerant +propaganda of any sort whatever. This book is destined to live, and to +cause searchings of heart among those who imagine that the Japanese soul +has been changed in fifty years." (326.) + +From the _Spectator_ I quote:-- + +"Both the prose and poetry of Japanese life are infused into Mr. Hearn's +charming pages. Nobody, so far as we know, has given a better +description of the fascination which Japanese life has at first for such +as enter into its true spirit, and of its gradual disappearance.... Of +course it must be remembered that this charm of Japan was something more +than a beautiful mirage. 'Old Japan,' in the opinion of Mr. Hearn, 'came +nearer to the achievement of the highest moral ideal than our far more +evolved societies can hope to do for many a hundred years. Curiously +enough, it was under the shadow of the sword that the fascinating life +of Japan matured; universal politeness was nurtured by the knowledge +that any act of rudeness might, and probably would, cause a painful and +immediate death. This supremacy of the sword, governed by the noble rule +of _bushi-do_, hardened the Japanese temper into the wonderful spirit of +self-sacrifice and patriotism which is now making itself apparent in the +stress of war. All this is admirably portrayed in Mr. Hearn's +pages,--the swan-song of a very striking writer." (383.) + +In _The American Journal of Sociology_ there is a review of this book, +by Edmund Buckley of the University of Chicago, which is so admirable +and inclusive that I have obtained Professor Buckley's kind permission +to quote it in its entirety. This review leaves small margin for further +comment. But it is to be regretted that space will not permit citations +of Hearn's tributes to the Japanese home, woman and character. + +"On p. 160 of W. E. Griffis' 'The Mikado's Empire,' is textual evidence +that, so late as 1876, intelligent men, and theologians at that--rather, +in sooth, because they are theologians--could harbour such atrocious +notions about Shintôism, the ethnic faith of the Japanese, as the +following: 'Shintô is in no proper sense of the term a religion.... +In its lower forms it is blind obedience to governmental and priestly +dictates.' The present reviewer bears these Christian apologists and +heathen defamers 'witness that they have a zeal for God, but not +according to knowledge.' They wrote in the days when hierology +(comparative religion) was still inchoate, for C. P. Ticle's 'Elements' +did not appear in its English dress until 1877; and when Japan's +abasement before the 'Christian' powers was complete, and therefore +everything Japanese assumed to be worthless. But the reaction came, of +course, and is now pretty well completed. Japan's novel yet glorious art +conquered the world; Japan's new yet ever-victorious army has conquered +Russia's imposing array; and now Mr. Hearn completely routs the +contemners of a people's sincere faith. The consensus of hierologists +that no people was ever found without a religion had already been given; +and the creed, cult, and ethics of Shintôism had been correctly +described; but it remained for Mr. Hearn to give a more complete and +intimate account than had previously been done of the ancestorism in +Shintô and of its profound influence upon politics and morality. + +"It will surprise no one to learn that Mr. Hearn overdid his contention, +just because such excess is the well-nigh inevitable reaction from the +underestimate that he found current and sought to correct. As he states +the case on p. 4: 'Hitherto the subject of Japanese religion has been +written of chiefly by the sworn enemies of that religion; by others it +has been almost entirely ignored.' But now that 'see-saw' has followed +'see,' we may hope to win a final equilibrium of correct appreciation. +To this end several corrections are called for; but, before they are +made, clearness will be secured by a concise analysis of the treatise; +for in its course religion, politics, and morality are interwoven on a +historic warp. The entire fabric runs about as follows: (Chap. 3.) The +real religion of the Japanese is ancestorism, which showed in three +cults--the domestic, the communal, and the state. The domestic arose +first, but the primitive family might include hundreds of households. +Ancestorism in Japan confirms Spencer's exposition of religious origins. +The greater gods were all evolved from ghost-cults. Good men made good +gods; bad men, bad ones. (Chap. 4.) The domestic cult began in offerings +of food and drink made at the grave; then, under Chinese influence, was +transferred to the home before tablets; where it was maintained until +this present by Buddhism. Thin tablets of white wood, inscribed with the +names of the dead, are placed in a miniature wooden shrine, which is +kept upon a shelf in some inner chamber. Tiny offerings of food, +accompanied with brief prayer, must be made each day by some member of +the household in behalf of all; for the blessed dead still need +sustenance, and in return can guard the house. The Buddhist rite, +however, made prayer, not _to_, but _for_ these dead. The Japanese +scholar Hirata is correct when he declares the worship of ancestors to +be the mainspring of all virtues. (Chap. 5.) The family was united only +by religion. The father--not the mother--was supposed to be the +life-giver, and was therefore responsible for the cult. Hence the +inferior position of woman. The ancestral ghost of an _uji_, or family +of several households, became later the _ujigami_, or local tutelar god. +Subordination of young to old, of females to males, and of the whole +family to its chief, who was at once ruler and priest, shows that the +family organization was religious and not marital. Both monogamy and the +practice of parents selecting their child's spouse arose because best +accordant with religion. Later custom makes the decision, not of the +father alone, but of the household and kindred, determinative of any +important step. + +"(Chap. 6.) The communal cult of the district ruled the family in all +its relations to the outer world. The _ujigami_, or clan-god, was the +spirit rather of a former ruler than of a common ancestor. Hochiman was +a ruler, but Kasuga an ancestor. Beside the _uji_ temple of a district, +there may be a more important one dedicated to some higher deity. Every +_ujiko_ or parishioner is taken to the _ujigami_ when one month old and +dedicated to him. Thereafter he attends the temple festivals, which +combine fun with piety; and he makes the temple groves his playground. +Grown up, he brings his children here; and, if he leaves home, pays his +respects to the god on leaving and returning. Thus the social bond of +each community was identical with the religious bond, and the cult of +the _ujigami_ embodied the moral experience of the community. The +individual of such a community enjoyed only a narrowly restricted +liberty. Shintôism had no moral code, because at this stage of +ancestor-cult religion and ethics coincide. + +"(Chap. 7.) The great gods of nature were developed from +ancestor-worship, though their real history has been long forgotten. +(Chap. 8.) Rites of worship and of purification were many. (Chap. 9.) +The rule of the dead extended to moral conduct and even to sumptuary +matters, language, and amusements. (Chap. 10.) Buddhism absorbed the +native ancestor-cult, but prescribed that prayers be said for them, not +to them. In accordance with its principle, 'First observe the person, +then preach the law'--that is, accommodate instruction to the hearer's +capacity--Buddhism taught the masses metempsychosis instead of +palingenesis, and the paradise of Amida instead of the nirvâna of +Buddha. Buddhism rendered its greatest service to Japan by education in +the learning and arts of China. (Chap. 11.) The higher Buddhism is a +kind of monism. + +"(Chap. 12.) Japanese society was simply an amplification of the +patriarchal family, and its clan-groups never united into a coherent +body until 1871. At first the bulk of the people were slaves or serfs, +but from the seventh century a large class of freedmen--farmers and +artisans--came into existence. The first period of Japanese social +evolution was based on a national head, the Mikado, and a national cult, +Shintôism; it began in this seventh century, but developed to the +limit of its type only under the Tokugawa shoguns, in the seventeenth +century. + +"Next to the priest-emperor at the head came the _kugé_, or ancient +nobility, from whose ranks most of the latter regents and shoguns were +drawn. Next ranked the _buké_ or _samurai_, which was the professional +military class, and was ruled by nearly three hundred _daimyô_, or +feudal lords of varying importance. Next came the commonalty, _heimin_, +with three classes--farmers, artisans, and tradesmen, the last being +despised by the _samurai_, who also could cut down any disrespectful +_heimin_ with impunity. Lowest of all came the _chori_--pariahs, who +were not counted Japanese at all, but _mono_-'things.' But even among +them distinctions arose according to occupation. The close care taken of +the native religion by the government precluded rise of a church. Nor +was Buddhism, divided into hostile sects and opposed by the _samurai_, +ever able to establish a hierarchy independent of the government. +Personal freedom was suppressed, as it would be now under Socialism, +which is simply a reversion to an overcome type. + +"(Chap. 13.) The second period of Japanese social evolution lasted from +the eleventh to the nineteenth century, and was marked by dominance over +the mikadoate of successive dynasties of shoguns. The permanence of this +mikadoate amid all perturbations of the shogunate was owing to its +religious nature. (Chap. 14.) Following the lord in death, suicide, and +vendetta were customs based on loyalty, and they involved the noblest +self-sacrifice. (Chap. 15.) Catholic missions were suppressed lest they +should lead to the political conquest of Japan. (Chap. 16.) The Tokugawa +shoguns exercised iron discipline, and now were brought to perfection +those exquisite arts and manners of the Japanese. (Chap. 17.) A revival +of learning, begun in the eighteenth century, slowly led to a new +nationalist support of the Mikado; and when by 1891 the shogun had +resigned and the daimiates been abolished, the third period in Japan's +social evolution began. (Chap. 18.) In spite of outward seeming, the +ancient social conditions and ancestor-cult still control every action. +(Chap. 19.) The individual is still restrained by the conventions of the +masses, by communistic guilds of craftsmen, and by the government's +practice of taking loyal service in all its departments without giving +adequate pecuniary reward. (Chap. 20.) The educational system still +maintains the old communism by training, not for individual ability, but +for co-operative action. This is favoured, too, by the universal +practice of rich men meeting the personal expenses of promising +students. (Chap. 21.) Japanese loyalty and courage will support her army +and navy, but industrial competition with other peoples calls for +individual freedom. (Chap. 22.) The Japanese are not indifferent to +religion, and can be understood only by a study of their religious and +social evolution. Future changes will be social, but ancestor-cult will +persist, and offers an insuperable obstacle to the spread of +Christianity. + +"The critical reader will not have failed to meet in this summary many +positions that challenge his previous knowledge, and whether these be +correct or not can be determined only by an examination of the full +text, which it eminently deserves. The reviewer, however, will confine +himself to certain matters that seem to him the dominating errors of the +whole. Probably three greater errors were never compressed into a single +sentence than in this from p. 27: 'The real religion of Japan, the +religion still professed in one form or another by the entire nation, is +that cult which has been the foundation of all civilized religion and of +all civilized society--ancestor-worship.' That ancestor-worship is still +professed by the entire nation is negatived by all we know from other +sources as well as all we should expect. The ancestor-worship native to +Japan had been appropriated by Buddhism; and, since the revolution of +1868 with its disestablishment of that church, the Butsudan, where the +tablets were kept, has been largely sold as an art object or has been +simply disused. The _mitamaya_ mentioned on p. 50, as if in extensive +use for ancestor-worship, is found only in a few purist families, and is +known to the mass of Japanese only as the rear apartment or structure of +a Shintôist shrine. + +"That ancestor-worship is 'the real religion of Japan' and 'has been the +foundation of all civilized religion' are errors that Mr. Hearn owes to +Herbert Spencer's influence, which is confessed here, and indeed is +evident throughout the work. Perhaps nothing has brought Spencer into +more discredit than the lengths he went to prove this basic nature of +ancestorism in his 'Principles of Sociology,' and the reader of pp. +121-24 of Mr. Hearn's work will readily see how futile also is the +attempt to show that the nature-deities of Shintôism were only +'transfigured ghosts.' No, indeed, God did not make man and leave ghosts +to make him religious. The heaven and the earth were here before ghosts, +and man could personify them just as soon as he knew himself as a +person, which he must have done long before he analyzed himself into a +ghost-soul and a body. Had Mr. Hearn not ignored Réville, Max Müller, +Pfleiderer, and Saussaye, while steeping himself in Spencer, he might +have observed, what is plainly visible in Shintôism as elsewhere: +that religion has _two_ tap roots, ancestorism indeed, but also +naturism. + +"Again, Mr. Hearn's sentence declares that ancestor-worship is 'the +foundation of all civilized society.' This is the prevailing view +throughout the work; for example, on pp. 23, 57, 86, 99, 175, and 320. +But other passages imply the saner view that religion and morality are +coordinate functions of one man. Thus at p. 511, Mr. Hearn attributes +Japan's power to 'her old religious and social training.' The many and +strong cases of influence of religion upon conduct that can really be +shown in Japan amount only to influence, of course, and not to +'foundation' or 'origination,' A quite transparent case of Mr. Hearn's +error is where (p. 152) he attributes the exceptional cleanliness of the +Japanese to their religion, which here, as usual, he sums up as +ancestor-worship. One wonders, however, why this world-wide phenomenon +of religion should determine a Japanese cleanliness; why +ancestor-worshippers are not always clean; as for example the Chinese, +who bathe most rarely. It seems saner to seek a cause for the unique +daily bath of the Japanese in their also uniquely numerous thermal +springs, which occur in no less than 388 different localities. Symbolism +did indeed in Japan, as elsewhere, lead to religious bathing in rivers; +but bathing in rivers, as in ocean, was never popular in Japan until +recently learned from the foreigner; whereas the thermal springs are +crowded, and the daily baths at home are always taken exceedingly hot +after the thermal pattern, for these have been found not only cleansing, +but curing and warming, the last quality being a great merit where +winters are cold and houses unheated. + +"Finally, the reader need not expect to meet here any adequate reference +to those vices that have been fostered by religion in Japan. The +concubinage, confirmed by ancestorism, is once mentioned; and the +harlotry, promoted by phallicism (the phallos was frequently found in a +brothel, though not exclusively there, of course), is relegated to a +simple footnote. But such matters can be learned elsewhere, whereas the +close and frequent points of influence which religion exercised upon +politics and morality in Japan can nowhere else be so well studied as +here." (292.) + +THE ROMANCE OF THE MILKY WAY[41] (19) is Hearn's posthumous book. The +last memories are of the "Weaving Lady of the Milky Way"; of "Goblin +Poetry"; of "Ultimate Questions," which are called forth by the essay of +that name written by the author of the "Synthetic Philosophy"; of the +"Mirror Maiden" whom Matsumura, the priest, saved from the well, and who +repaid him by good-fortune. Moreover, of the alluring maiden in the +dream of Itô Norisuké--if one is to choose a ghost for a bride, who +would not seek Himégimi-Sama? As a finale there is the picture of +Admiral Tôgô sending to Tôkyô "for some flowering-trees in +pots--inasmuch as his responsibilities allowed him no chance of seeing +the cherry-flowers and the plum-blossoms in their season." + + [41] Copyright, 1905, by Houghton, Mifflin and Company. + + + + + BIBLIOGRAPHY + + + I + + AMERICAN AND ENGLISH EDITIONS[42] + ORIGINAL WORKS + (Nos. 1-19) + + + [42] For the English Editions, the English Catalogue of Books + has been followed. + + No. 1. + +1884. STRAY LEAVES FROM STRANGE LITERATURE. + +Stories reconstructed from the Anvari-Soheïli, Baitál, Pachísí, +Mahabharata, Pantchatantra, Gulistan, Talmud, Kalewala, etc. Boston: +James R. Osgood and Company, 1884, 16mo. + +New Edition. London: Gay and Bird's, 1902, Cr. 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1903, Cr. 8vo. + + + No. 2. + +1885. GOMBO ZHÈBES. Little Dictionary of Creole Proverbs, selected from +six Creole dialects. Translated into French and into English, with +notes, complete index to subjects and some brief remarks upon the Creole +idioms of Louisiana. New York: Will H. Coleman, 1885, 8vo. + + + No. 3. + +1887. SOME CHINESE GHOSTS. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1887, 16mo. + +New Edition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1906, 12mo. + + + No. 4. + +1889. CHITA: A Memory of Last Island. New York: Harper and Brothers, +1889, 12mo. + + + No. 5. + +1890. YOUMA, The Story of a West-Indian Slave. New York: Harper and +Brothers, 1890, 12mo. + +The Same. London: Sampson, Low and Company, 1890, 8vo. + + + No. 6. + +1890. TWO YEARS IN THE FRENCH WEST INDIES. New York: Harper and +Brothers, 1890, 8vo. + +The Same. London: Harper and Brothers, 1890, 8vo. + +New Edition. New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1900, 8vo. + + + No. 7. + +1894. GLIMPSES OF UNFAMILIAR JAPAN. Boston and New York: Houghton, +Mifflin and Company, 1894, 2 vols., 8vo. + +The Same. London: Osgood, McIlvaine and Company, 1894, 2 vols., 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Gay and Bird's, 1902, 2 vols., Cr. 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1903, 2 vols., Cr. +8vo. + + + No. 8. + +1895. "OUT OF THE EAST." Reveries and Studies in New Japan. Boston and +New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1895, 16mo. + +The Same. London: Osgood, McIlvaine and Company, 1895, 16mo. + +New Edition. London: Gay and Bird's, 1902, Cr. 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1903, Cr. 8vo. + + + No. 9. + +1896. KOKORO: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life. Boston and New +York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1896, 16mo. + +The Same. London: Osgood, McIlvaine and Company, 1896, 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Gay and Bird's, 1902, 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Gay and Bird's, 1903, 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Gay and Bird's, 1905, 8vo. + + + No. 10. + +1897. GLEANINGS IN BUDDHA-FIELDS, Studies of Hand and Soul in the Far +East. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1897, 12mo. + +The Same. London: Constable and Company, 1897, 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Gay and Bird's, 1902, 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1903, 8vo. + + + No. 11. + +1898. EXOTICS AND RETROSPECTIVES. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, +1898, 16mo. + +The Same. London: Sampson, Low and Company, 1898, 16mo. + +New Edition. London: Sampson, Low and Company, 1899, 8vo. + +New Popular Edition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1904, 16mo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1905, 8vo. + + + No. 12. + +1899. IN GHOSTLY JAPAN. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1899, 16mo. + +The Same. London: Sampson, Low and Company, 1899, 8vo. + +New Popular Edition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1904, 16mo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1905, Cr. 8vo. + + + No. 13. + +1900. SHADOWINGS. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1900, 12mo. + +The Same. London: Sampson, Low and Company, 1900, 8vo. + +New Popular Edition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1904, 16mo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1905, Cr. 8vo. + + + No. 14. + +1901. A JAPANESE MISCELLANY. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1901, +12mo. + +The Same. London: Sampson, Low and Company, 1901, 8vo. + +New Popular Edition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1904, 16mo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1905, Cr. 8vo. + + + No. 15. + +1902. JAPANESE FAIRY TALES. Tôkyô, Japan: T. Hasegawa (4 vols.), +16mo. + + + No. 16. + +1902. KOTTÔ. Being Japanese Curios, with Sundry Cobwebs. New York: +The Macmillan Company (London: Macmillan and Company, Ltd.), 1902, 8vo. +Reprinted, April, 1903. + + + No. 17. + +1904. KWAIDAN: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. Boston and New +York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1904, 12mo. + +The Same. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1904, 12mo. + + + No. 18. + +1904. JAPAN: An Attempt at Interpretation. New York: The Macmillan +Company (London: Macmillan and Company, Ltd.), 1904, 8vo. + + + No. 19. + +1905. THE ROMANCE OF THE MILKY WAY, and other Studies and Stories. +Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1905, 12mo. + +The Same. London: Constable and Company, 1905, Cr. 8vo. + + + TRANSLATIONS + (Nos. 20-21) + + + No. 20. + +1882. ONE OF CLEOPATRA'S NIGHTS, and other Fantastic Romances. By +Théophile Gautier. Faithfully translated by Lafcadio Hearn. New York: R. +Worthington, 1882, 8vo. + +New Edition. New York: Brentano's, 1899, 12mo. + +New Edition. New York: Brentano's, 1906, 12mo. + +CLARIMONDE. New York: Brentano's, 1899, 16mo. + + + No. 21. + +1890. THE CRIME OF SYLVESTRE BONNARD (Member of the Institute). By +Anatole France. The Translation and Introduction by Lafcadio Hearn. New +York: Harper and Brothers, 1890, 8vo. + + + II + + FOREIGN EDITIONS + (Nos. 22-30) + + + DANISH + + No. 22. + +1902. FRA SKYGGERNES VERDEN ("From the World of the Shadows"). Complete +and translated by Johanne Münther. + +178 pages, one portrait. Gyldendalske book-trade, Copenhagen, 1902, 8vo. + + + FRENCH + + No. 23. + +1904. LE JAPON INCONNU. (esquisses psychologiques). Par Lafcadio Hearn. +Traduit de l'anglais avec l'autorisation de l'auteur, par Mme. Léon +Raynal. In 18 jésus, 111-354 p. Mayenne, impr. Colin, Paris, lib. +Dujarric, 1904. + +(Selections from "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan.") + + + GERMAN + + No. 24. + +1905. KOKORO. Von Lafcadio Hearn. Einzig autorisierte Übersetzung aus +dem Englischen von Berta Franzos. Mit vorwort von Hugo von Hofmannsthal. +Buchschmuck von Emil Orlik. Frankfurt a Main: Rütten und Loening, 1905, +8vo. + + + No. 25. + +1906. LOTUS. Blicke in das unbekannte Japan. Einzig autorisierte +Übersetzung aus dem Englischen von Berta Franzos. Mit vorwort von Hugo +von Hofmannsthal. Buchschmuck von Emil Orlik. Frankfurt a Main: Rütten +und Loening, 1905, 8vo. + +(Selections from "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan.") + + + No. 26. + +1907. Lafcadio Hearn's Werke über Japan in künstlerischer +Buchausstattung von Emil Orlik. Band I. Kokoro. Band II. Lotus. Band +III. Izumo. Frankfurt a Main: Rütten und Loening, 1907. + + + SWEDISH + + No. 27. + +1903. EXOTICA. Noveller och studier från Japan, af Lafcadio Hearn. +Bemyndigad öfversättning af Karin Hirn; med några notiser om författaren +af Yrjö Hirn. Tredje Upplagen. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand, 1903, +16mo., 2 end pages, pp. 227, decorated paper. + +(Selections from "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan," "Out of the East," +"Kokoro," "Exotics and Retrospectives," "In Ghostly Japan," +"Shadowings.") + +Reprint 1905. + + + No. 28. + +1903. EXOTICA. Noveller och studier från Japan, af Lafcadio Hearn. Ny +samling. Bemyndigad öfversättning af Karin Hirn. Stockholm: Wahlström & +Widstrand, 1903, 16mo., 2 p. l., pp. 248, decorated paper. + +(Selections from "Out of the East," "Kokoro," "Gleanings in +Buddha-Fields," "Exotics and Retrospectives," "In Ghostly Japan," +"Shadowings," "A Japanese Miscellany," "Kottô.") + + + No. 29. + +1904. SPÖKEN OCH DRÖMMAR FRÅN JAPAN. (Exotica. Tredje Samlingen) af +Lafcadio Hearn. Bemyndigad öfversättning från Engelskan af Karin Hirn. +Wahlström & Widstrands, Förlag, Stockholm, MCMIV., 16mo., 1 end page, +pp. 218, decorated paper. + +(Selections from "Shadowings," "A Japanese Miscellany," "Kottô," +"Kwaidan.") + + + No. 30. + +1905. NATALIKA. ("Stray Leaves from Strange Literature") af Lafcadio +Hearn. Bemyndigad öfversättning af Karin Hirn. Stockholm: Wahlström & +Widstrand, 16mo., pp. 189, decorated paper. + +("Runes from the Kalewala" omitted.) + + + III + + LIST, WITH DESCRIPTION, OF SEPARATE + PUBLISHED WORKS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER + + (Nos. 1-21) + + ORIGINAL WORKS + + + No. 1. + +1884. STRAY LEAVES FROM STRANGE LITERATURE. Stories reconstructed from +the Anvari-Soheïli, Baitál Pachísí, Mahabharata, Pantchatantra, +Gulistan, Talmud, Kalewala, etc. By Lafcadio Hearn. (Publisher's +Monogram.) Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1884. + +16mo., pp. (16) 225, green cloth, black lettering, and decorations. + +(5) Dedication:-- + + To my Friend + PAGE M. BAKER + Editor of the + New Orleans Times-Democrat + +(7-11) Explanatory (_Extract_). + +While engaged upon this little mosaic work of legend and fable, I felt +much like one of those merchants told of in Sindbad's Second Voyage, who +were obliged to content themselves with gathering the small jewels +adhering to certain meat which eagles brought up from the Valley of +Diamonds. I have had to depend altogether upon the labour of translators +for my acquisitions; and these seemed too small to deserve separate +literary setting. By cutting my little gems according to one pattern, I +have doubtless reduced the beauty of some; yet it seemed to me their +colours were so weird, their luminosity so elfish, that their intrinsic +value could not be wholly destroyed even by so clumsy an artificer as I. + +In short, these fables, legends, parables, etc., are simply +reconstructions of what impressed me as most fantastically beautiful in +the most exotic literature which I was able to obtain. With few +exceptions, the plans of the original narratives have been preserved.... + +This little collection has no claim upon the consideration of scholars. +It is simply an attempt to share with the public some of those novel +delights I experienced while trying to familiarize myself with some very +strange and beautiful literatures. + +... My gems were few and small: the monstrous and splendid await the +coming of Sindbad, or some mighty lapidary by whom they may be wrought +into jewel bouquets exquisite as those bunches of topaz blossoms and +ruby buds laid upon the tomb of Nourmahal. + +New Orleans, 1884. + +(13-14) Bibliography. + +(15-16) Contents:-- + + + Stray Leaves + + The Book of Thoth. _From an Egyptian Papyrus._ + The Fountain Maiden. _A Legend of the South Pacific._ + The Bird Wife. _An Esquimaux Tradition._ + + + Tales retold from Indian and Buddhist Literature + + The Making of Tilottama + The Brahman and his Brahmani + Bakawali + Natalika + The Corpse-Demon + The Lion + The Legend of the Monster Misfortune + A Parable Buddhistic + Pundari + Yamaraja + The Lotos of Faith + + + Runes from the Kalewala + + The Magical Words + The First Musician + The Healing of Wainamoinen + + + Stories of Moslem Lands + + Boutimar, the Dove + The Son of a Robber + A Legend of Love + The King's Justice + + + Traditions retold from the Talmud + + A Legend of Rabba + The Mockers + Esther's Choice + The Dispute in the Halacha + Rabbi Yochanan ben Zachai + A Tradition of Titus + +New Edition. London: Gay and Bird's, 1902, Crown 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1903, Cr. 8vo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + Charles W. Coleman, Jr., _Harper's Monthly_, May, 1887, vol. 74, + p. 855. + + No. 2. + +1885. GOMBO ZHÈBES. Little Dictionary of Creole Proverbs, selected from +six Creole dialects. Translated into French and into English, with +notes, complete index to subjects and some brief remarks upon the Creole +idioms of Louisiana. By Lafcadio Hearn. New York: Will H. Coleman, +Publisher, No. 70, Business Quarter, Astor House, 1885. + +8vo., 6 p. l., pp. 42, brown cloth, design on cover. + + +(3-4) Introduction (_Extract_). + +Any one who has ever paid a flying visit to New Orleans probably knows +something about those various culinary preparations whose generic name +is "Gombo"--compounded of many odds and ends, with the okra-plant, or +true gombo for a basis, but also comprising occasionally "losé, +zepinard, laitie," and the other vegetables sold in bunches in the +French market. At all events, any person who has remained in the city +for a season must have become familiar with the nature of "gombo filé," +"gombo févi," and "gombo aux herbes," or as our coloured cook calls it +"gombo zhèbes"--for she belongs to the older generation of Creole +_cuisinières_, and speaks the patois in its primitive purity, without +using a single "r." Her daughter, who has been to school, would +pronounce it _gombo zhairbes_:--the modern patois is becoming more and +more Frenchified, and will soon be altogether forgotten, not only +throughout Louisiana, but even in the Antilles. It still, however, +retains originality enough to be understood with difficulty by persons +thoroughly familiar with French; and even those who know nothing of any +language but English, readily recognize it by the peculiar rapid +syllabification and musical intonation. Such English-speaking residents +of New Orleans seldom speak of it as "Creole": they call it _gombo_, for +some mysterious reason which I have never been able to explain +satisfactorily. The coloured Creoles of the city have themselves begun +to use the term to characterize the patois spoken by the survivors of +slavery days. Turiault tells us that in the town of Martinique, where +the Creole is gradually changing into French, the _Bitacos_, or country +negroes who still speak the patois nearly pure, are much ridiculed by +their municipal brethren:--_Ça ou ka palé là, chè, c'est nèg;--Ça pas +Créole!_ ("What you talk is 'nigger,' my dear:--that isn't Creole!") In +like manner a young Creole negro or negress of New Orleans might tell an +aged member of his race: _Ça qui to parlé ça pas Créole; ça c'est +gombo!_ I have sometimes heard the pure and primitive Creole also called +"Congo" by coloured folks of the new generation. + +The literature of "gombo" has perhaps even more varieties than there are +preparations of the esculents above referred to;--the patois has +certainly its gombo févi, its gombo filé, its "gombo zhèbes"--both +written and unwritten. A work like Marbot's "Bambous" would deserve to +be classed with the pure "févi";--the treatises of Turiault, Baissac, +St. Quentin, Thomas, rather resemble that fully prepared dish, in which +crabs seem to struggle with fragments of many well-stewed meats, all +strongly seasoned with pepper. The present essay at Creole folklore, can +only be classed as "gombo zhèbes"--(_Zhèbes çé feuil-chou, cresson, +laitie, bettrav, losé, zepinard_); the true okra is not the basis of our +preparation;--it is a Creole dish, if you please, but a salmagundi of +inferior quality. + + * * * * * + +Needless to say, this collection is far from perfect;--the most I can +hope for is that it may constitute the nucleus of a more exhaustive +publication to appear in course of time. No one person could hope to +make a really complete collection of Creole proverbs--even with all the +advantages of linguistic knowledge, leisure, wealth, and travel. Only a +society of folklorists might bring such an undertaking to a successful +issue;--but as no systematic effort is being made in this direction, I +have had no hesitation in attempting--not indeed to fill a want--but to +set an example. _Gouïe passé, difil sivré_:--let the needle but pass, +the thread will follow. + + L. H. + +(6) Creole Bibliography. + +Pages 40-42 Indexes. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + +_Nation, The_, April 23, 1885, vol. 40, p. 349. + + + No. 3. + +1887. SOME CHINESE GHOSTS. By Lafcadio Hearn. (Chinese Characters.) +Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1887. 16mo., p. (8) 185, brown cloth with +Chinese mask on cover, red top. + +Facing Title-page:-- + +_If ye desire to witness prodigies and to behold marvels, be not +concerned as to whether the mountains are distant or the rivers far +away._ + + Kin-Kou-Ki-Koan. + +(2) Dedication:-- + + To my Friend, + HENRY EDWARD KREHBIEL + The Musician, + who, speaking the + speech of melody unto the + children of Tien-hia,-- + unto the wandering Tsing-jin, whose skins + have the colour of gold,-- + moved them to make strange sounds upon the + serpent-bellied San-hien; + persuaded them to play for me upon the + shrieking Ya-hien; + prevailed on them to sing me a song of their + native land,-- + the song of Mohlí-hwa, + the song of the jasmine-flower. + (Sketch of Chinaman's head.) + +(Reverse) Chinese Character. + +(3-4) Preface. + +I think that my best apology for the insignificant size of this volume +is the very character of the material composing it. In preparing the +legends I sought especially for _weird beauty_; and I could not forget +this striking observation in Sir Walter Scott's "Essay on Imitations of +the Ancient Ballad": "The supernatural, though appealing to certain +powerful emotions very widely and deeply sown amongst the human race, +is, nevertheless, _a spring which is peculiarly apt to lose its +elasticity by being too much pressed upon_." Those desirous to +familiarize themselves with Chinese literature as a whole have had the +way made smooth for them by the labours of linguists like Julien, Pavie, +Rémusat, De Rosny, Schlegel, Legge, Hervey-Saint-Denys, Williams, Biot, +Giles, Wylie, Beal, and many other Sinologists. To such great explorers +indeed, the realm of Cathayan story belongs by right of discovery and +conquest; yet the humbler traveller who follows wonderingly after them +into the vast and mysterious pleasure-grounds of Chinese fancy may +surely be permitted to cull a few of the marvellous flowers there +growing,--a self-luminous _hwa-wang_, a black lily, a phosphoric rose or +two,--as souvenirs of his curious voyage. + +L. H. New Orleans, March 15, 1886. + +(5) Contents:-- + +The Soul of the Great Bell +The Story of Ming-Y +The Legend of Tchi-Niu +The Return of Yen Tchin-King +The Tradition of the Tea-Plant +The Tale of the Porcelain God + +Appendix:-- + +Notes. Glossary. + +New Edition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1906, 12mo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + Charles W. Coleman, Jr., _Harper's Monthly_, May, 1887, vol. 74, + p. 855. + + _Nation, The_, May 26, 1887, vol. 44, p. 456. + + + No. 4. + +1889. CHITA: a Memory of Last Island. By Lafcadio Hearn + +"_But Nature whistled with all her winds, Did as she pleased, and went +her way._" + +--Emerson. + +New York: Harper & Brothers, Franklin Square, 1889. 12mo., 3 p. l., pp. +204, terra-cotta cloth, decorated. + +(Published first in _Harper's Monthly_, April, 1888.) + +(1) Dedication:-- + + To my Friend + DR. RODOLFO MATAS + of + New Orleans + +(2) Contents:-- + + Part I + The Legend of L'île Dernière + + Part II + Out of the Sea's Strength + + Part III + The Shadow of the Tide + +(Reverse) + + _Je suis la vaste mêlée,-- + Reptile, étant l onde; ailée, + Étant le vent,-- + Force et fuite, haine et vie, + Houle immense, poursuivie + Et poursuivant._ + --Victor Hugo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + _Boston Evening Transcript, The_, November 2, 1889. + + Hutson, Charles Woodward, _Poet-Lore_, Spring, 1905, vol. 16, + p. 53. + + + No. 5. + +1890. YOUMA. The Story of a West-Indian Slave. By Lafcadio Hearn. +(Publisher's Vignette.) New York: Harper & Brothers, Franklin Square, +1890. + +12mo., 1 p. l., pp. 193, frontispiece illustration, red cloth. + +(Published first in _Harper's Monthly_, January-February, 1890.) + +(1) Dedication:-- + + To my friend + JOSEPH S. TUNISON. + The Same. London: Sampson, Low and Company, 1890, 8vo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + _Athenæum, The_, August 30, 1890, p. 284. + + _Nation, The_, May 7, 1891, vol. 52, p. 385. + + + No. 6. + +1890. TWO YEARS IN THE FRENCH WEST INDIES. By Lafcadio Hearn. +Illustrated. (Publisher's Vignette.) New York: Harper & Brothers, +Franklin Square, 1890. 8vo., pp. (12) 431, 38 full-page illustrations, 6 +illustrations in the text, green cloth ornamental. + +(Reverse) + +"_La facon d'être du pays est si agréable, la température si bonne, et +l'on y vit dans une liberté si honnête, que je n'aye pas vu un seul +homme, ny une seule femme, qui en soient revenus, en qui je n'aye +remarqué une grande passion d'y retourner._"--Le Père Dutertre (1667). + +(3) Dedication:-- + + À mon cher ami + LEOPOLD ARNOUX + Notaire à Saint Pierre, Martinique. + +_Souvenir de nos promenades,--de nos voyages,--de nos causeries,--des +sympathies échangées,--de tout le charme d'une amitié inaltérable et +inoubliable,--de tout ce qui parle à l'âme au doux Pays des Revenants._ + +(5-6) Preface (_Extract_). + +The introductory paper, entitled "A Midsummer Trip to the Tropics" +consists for the most part of notes taken upon a voyage of nearly three +thousand miles, accomplished in less than two months. During such hasty +journeying it is scarcely possible for a writer to attempt anything more +serious than a mere reflection of the personal experiences undergone; +and, in spite of sundry justifiable departures from simple note-making, +this paper is offered only as an effort to record the visual and +emotional impressions of the moment. + +My thanks are due to Mr. William Lawless, British Consul at St. Pierre, +for several beautiful photographs, taken by himself, which have been +used in the preparation of the illustrations. + L. H. +Philadelphia, 1889. + +(7) Contents:-- + + A Midsummer Trip to the Tropics (_Harper's Monthly_, + July-September, 1888) + Martinique Sketches:-- + I. Les Porteuses (_Harper's Monthly_, July, 1889) + II. La Grande Anse (_Harper's Monthly_, November, 1889) + III. Un Revenant + IV. La Guiablesse + V. La Vérette (_Harper's Monthly_, October, 1888) + VI. Les Blanchisseusses + VII. La Pelée + VIII. 'Ti Canotié + IX. La Fille de Couleur + X. Bête-ni-Pié + XI. Ma Bonne + XII. "Pa combiné, chè!" + XIII. Yé + XIV. Lys. + XV. Appendix: Some Creole Melodies + +(9-10) Illustrations:-- + +The Same. London: Harper and Brothers, 1890, 8vo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + _New York Times, The_, September 1, 1890. + + + No. 7. + +1894. GLIMPSES OF UNFAMILIAR JAPAN. By Lafcadio Hearn. In two volumes. +(Vignette.) Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company (The +Riverside Press, Cambridge), 1894. + +8vo., 2 vols. pp. (x) 699, dull green cloth, silver lettering and +design, gilt top. + +(1) Dedication:-- + + To the Friends + whose kindness alone rendered possible + my sojourn in the Orient,-- + to + PAYMASTER MITCHELL McDONALD, U. S. N. + and + BASIL HALL CHAMBERLAIN, ESQ. + _Emeritus Professor of Philology and Japanese in the + Imperial University of Tôkyô_ + I dedicate these volumes + in token of + Affection and Gratitude. + +(V-X) Preface (_Extract_). + +But the rare charm of Japanese life, so different from that of all other +lands, is not to be found in its Europeanized circles. It is to be found +among the great common people, who represent in Japan, as in all +countries, the national virtues, and who still cling to their delightful +old customs, their picturesque dresses, their Buddhist images, their +household shrines, their beautiful and touching worship of ancestors. +This is the life of which a foreign observer can never weary, if +fortunate and sympathetic enough to enter into it,--the life that forces +him sometimes to doubt whether the course of our boasted Western +progress is really in the direction of moral development. Each day, +while the years pass, there will be revealed to him some strange and +unsuspected beauty in it. Like other life, it has its darker side; yet +even this is brightness compared with the darker side of Western +existence. It has its foibles, its follies, its vices, its cruelties; +yet the more one sees of it, the more one marvels at its extraordinary +goodness, its miraculous patience, its never-failing courtesy, its +simplicity of heart, its intuitive charity. And to our own larger +Occidental comprehension, its commonest superstitions, however contemned +at Tôkyô, have rarest value as fragments of the unwritten +literature of its hopes, its fears, its experience with right and +wrong,--its primitive efforts to find solutions for the riddle of the +Unseen. + + +Contents:-- + +Volume I. + + I. My First Day in the Orient + II. The Writing of Kôbôdaishi + III. Jizô + IV. A Pilgrimage to Enoshima + V. At the Market of the Dead (_Atlantic Monthly_, + September, 1891) + VI. Bon-Odori + VII. The Chief City of the Province of the Gods + (_Atlantic Monthly_, November, 1891) + VIII. Kitzuki: The Most Ancient Shrine in Japan + (_Atlantic Monthly_, December, 1891) + IX. In the Cave of the Children's Ghosts + X. At Mionoseki + XI. Notes on Kitzuki + XII. At Hinomisaki + XIII. Shinjû + XIV. Yaegaki-Jinja + XV. Kitsune + +Volume II. + + XVI. In a Japanese Garden (_Atlantic Monthly_, July, 1892) + XVII. The Household Shrine + XVIII. Of Women's Hair + XIX. From the Diary of an English Teacher + XX. Two Strange Festivals + XXI. By the Japanese Sea + XXII. Of a Dancing Girl (_Atlantic Monthly_, July, 1893) + XXIII. From Hôki to Oki + XXIV. Of Souls XXV. Of Ghosts and Goblins + XXVI. The Japanese Smile (_Atlantic Monthly_, May, 1893) + XXVII. Sayônara! + +Pages 695-99 Index. + +The Same. London: Osgood, McIlvaine and Company, 1894, 2 vols., 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Gay and Bird's, 1902, 2 vols., Cr. 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1903, 2 vols., Cr. +8vo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + Bentzon, Th., _Revue des Deux Mondes_, June 1, 1904, vol. 21, p. + 556. + + Brandt, M. von, _Deutsche Rundschau_, October, 1900, vol. 27, + p. 68. + + Challayé, Félicien, _Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale_, 1903, + vol. 11, p. 338. + + Challayê, Félicien, _Revue de Paris_, December 1, 1904 vol. 6, + p. 655. + + _Literary World, The_, October 20, 1894, vol. 25, p. 347. + + Scott, Mrs. M. McN., _Atlantic Monthly_, June, 1895, vol. 75, + p. 830. + + _Spectator, The_, November 17, 1894, vol. 73, p. 698. + + + No. 8. + +1895. "OUT OF THE EAST." Reveries and Studies in New Japan. By Lafcadio +Hearn. + + "_As far as the east is from the west_"-- + +(Publisher's Vignette.) Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and +Company (The Riverside Press, Cambridge), 1895. + +16mo., 2 p. 1., pp. 341, yellow cloth, silver lettering, yellow top. + +(1) Dedication:-- + + To + NISHIDA SENTARÔ + in dear remembrance of + Izumo days + +(2) Contents:-- + + I. The Dream of a Summer Day + II. With Kyûshû Students + III. At Hakata (_Atlantic Monthly_, October, 1894) + IV. Of the Eternal Feminine (_Atlantic Monthly_, December, + 1893) + V. Bits of Life and Death + VI. The Stone Buddha + VII. Jiujutsu + VIII. The Red Bridal (_Atlantic Monthly_, July, 1894) + IX. A Wish Fulfilled (_Atlantic Monthly_, January, 1895) + X. In Yokohama + XI. Yuko: a Reminiscence + +"The Dream of a Summer Day" first appeared in the _Japan Daily Mail_. + +The Same. London: Osgood, McIlvaine and Company, 1895, 16mo. + +New Edition. London: Gay and Bird's, 1902, Cr. 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1903, Cr. 8vo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + _Athenæum, The_, August 24, 1895, p. 249. + + Brandt, M. von, _Deutsche Rundschau_, October, 1900, vol. 105, + p. 68. + + Challayé Félicien, _Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale_, 1903, + vol. 11, p. 338. + + Challayé, Félicien, _Revue de Paris_, December 1, 1904, vol. 6, + p. 655. + + _Literary World, The_, April 20, 1895, vol. 26, p. 123. + + Scott, Mrs. M. McN., _Atlantic Monthly_, June, 1895, vol. 75, + p. 830. + + _Spectator, The_, October 12, 1895, vol. 75, p. 459. + + + No. 9. + +1896. KOKORO: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life. By Lafcadio +Hearn. (Top of page "Kokoro" in Japanese.) (Sketch of Japanese Head.) +Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company (The Riverside Press, +Cambridge), 1896. + +16 mo., 3 p. l., pp. 388, green cloth, gold lettering, gilt top. + +(1) Dedication:-- + + To my Friend + AMÉNOMORI NOBUSHIGÉ + poet, scholar, and patriot + +(2) Note:-- + +(Japanese character) + +The papers composing this volume treat of the inner rather than of the +outer life of Japan,--for which reason they have been grouped under the +title, "Kokoro" (heart). Written with the above character, this word +signifies also mind, in the emotional sense; spirit; courage; resolve; +sentiment; affection; and inner meaning,--just as we say in English, +"the heart of things." + +Kobé, September 15, 1895. + +(3) Contents:-- + + I. At a Railway Station + II. The Genius of Japanese Civilization (_Atlantic Monthly_, + October, 1895) + III. A Street Singer + IV. From a Travelling Diary (_Atlantic Monthly_, December, + 1895) + V. The Nun of the Temple of Amida + VI. After the War (_Atlantic Monthly_, November, 1895) + VII. Haru + VIII. A Glimpse of Tendencies + IX. By Force of Karma + X. A Conservative + XI. In the Twilight of the Gods (_Atlantic Monthly_, June, + 1895) + XII. The Idea of Preëxistence + XIII. In Cholera-Time + XIV. Some Thoughts about Ancestor-Worship + XV. Kimiko + Appendix. Three Popular Ballads + +The Same. London: Osgood, McIlvaine and Company, 1896, 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Gay and Bird's, 1902, Cr. 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Gay and Bird's, 1903, Cr. 8vo. + +Popular Edition. London: Gay and Bird's, 1905, Cr. 8vo. + + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + _Athenæum, The_, August 8, 1896, p. 185. + + Bentzon, Th., _Revue de Deux Mondes_, June 1, 1904, vol. 21, p. + 556. + + Brandt, M. von, _Deutsche Rundschau_, October, 1900, vol. 105, + p. 68. + + Challayé Félicien, _Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale_, 1903, + vol. 11, p. 338. + + Challayé Félicien, _Revue de Paris_, December 1, 1904, vol. 6, + p. 655. + + Cockerill, Col. John A., _Current Literature_, June, 1896, vol. + 19, p. 476. + + Herzog, Wilhelm, _Die Nation_, January 6, 1906, vol. 23, p. 217. + + _Literary World, The_, April 18, 1896, vol. 27, p. 116. + + _Nation, The_, July 9, 1896, vol. 63, p. 35. + + _Spectator, The_, May 23, 1896, vol. 76, p. 739. + + Takayanagi, Tozo, _The Book Buyer_, May, 1896, vol. 13, p. 229. + + + No. 10. + +1897. GLEANINGS IN BUDDHA-FIELDS, Studies of Hand and Soul in the Far +East. By Lafcadio Hearn. Lecturer on English Literature in the Imperial +University of Japan. (Publisher's Vignette.) Boston and New York: +Houghton, Mifflin and Company. (The Riverside Press, Cambridge.) + +12mo., pp. 296, blue cloth, gold lettering, gilt top. + +Contents:-- + + I. A Living God (_Atlantic Monthly_, December, 1896) + II. Out of the Street (_Atlantic Monthly_, September, 1896) + III. Notes of a Trip to Kyôto (_Atlantic Monthly_, May, 1896) + IV. Dust (_Atlantic Monthly_, November, 1896) + V. About Faces in Japanese Art (Atlantic Monthly, August, 1896) + VI. Ningyô-no-Haka + VII. In Ôsaka + VIII. Buddhist Allusions in Japanese Folk-Song + IX. Nirvâna + X. The Rebirth of Katsugorô + XI. Within the Circle + +The Same. London: Constable and Company, 1897, 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Gay and Bird's, 1902, Cr. 8vo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1903, 8vo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + _Academy, The_, November 13, 1897, vol. 52, p. 395. + + _Athenæum, The_, November 13, 1897, p. 664. + + Challayé, Félicien, _Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale_, 1903, + vol. 11, p. 338 + + _Critic, The_, April 9, 1898, vol. 29, p. 248. + + _Independent, The_, November 24, 1898, vol. 50, p. 1508. + + _Literary World, The_, November 13, 1897, vol. 28, p. 389. + + _Nation, The_, February 3, 1898, vol. 66, p. 97. + + _Outlook, The_, October 16, 1897, vol. 57, p. 435. + + _Public Opinion_, November 25, 1897, vol. 23, p. 694. + + _Spectator, The_, November 20, 1897, vol. 79, p. 736. + + Wagner, John Harrison, _The Book Buyer_, June, 1898, vol. 16, p. + 437. + + + No. 11. + +1898. EXOTICS AND RETROSPECTIVES. By Lafcadio Hearn. Lecturer on English +Literature in the Imperial University, Tôkyô. Boston: Little, +Brown and Company, MDCCCXCIX. + +16mo., 4 p. l., pp. 299, 4 full-page illustrations, 13 illustrations in +the text. Green cloth, decorated, gold lettering, gilt top. + +(1) Dedication:-- + +To Dr. C. H. H. Hall, of Yokohama (late U. S. Navy) _In Constant +Friendship_ + +(2) (Prefatory Note) + +All but one of the papers composing this volume appear for the first +time. The little essays, or rather fantasies, forming the second part of +the book, deal with experiences in two hemispheres; but their general +title should explain why they have been arranged independently of that +fact. To any really scientific imagination, the curious analogy existing +between certain teachings of evolutional psychology and certain +teachings of Eastern faith,--particularly the Buddhist doctrine that all +sense-life is Karma, and all substance only the phenomenal result of +acts and thoughts,--might have suggested something much more significant +than my cluster of "Retrospectives." These are offered merely as +intimations of a truth incomparably less difficult to recognize than to +define. + +Tôkyô, Japan, L. H. February 15, 1898. + +(3) Contents:-- + + Exotics: + + I. Fuji-no-Yama + II. Insect-Musicians + III. A Question in the Zen Texts + IV. The Literature of the Dead + V. Frogs VI. Of Moon-Desire + + Retrospectives: + + I. First Impressions + II. Beauty is Memory + III. Sadness in Beauty + IV. Parfum de Jeunesse + V. Azure Psychology (_Teikoku Bungaku_, Yokohama) + VI. A Serenade + VII. A Red Sunset + VIII. Frisson + IX. Vespertina Cognitio + X. The Eternal Haunter + +(4) List of Illustrations. + +The Same. London: Sampson, Low and Company, 1898, 16mo. + +New Edition. London: Sampson, Low and Company, 1899, 8vo. + +New Popular Edition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1904, 16mo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1905, 8vo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + _Athenæum, The_, January 6, 1900, p. 11. + + Bentzon, Th., _Revue des Deux Mondes_, June 1, 1904, vol. 21, + p. 556. + + _Dial, The_, July 16, 1899, vol. 27, p. 52. + + _International Studio, The_, 1905, vol. 25, p. XL. + + _Nation, The_, January 26, 1905, vol. 80, p. 68. + + + No. 12. + +1899. IN GHOSTLY JAPAN. By Lafcadio Hearn. Lecturer on English +Literature in the Imperial University, Tôkyô. Boston: Little, +Brown and Company, MDCCCXCIX. + +16mo., 5 p. l., pp. 241, 4 full-page illustrations, 5 illustrations in +the text. Blue cloth, ornamented with white cherry-blossoms, gold +lettering, gilt top. + +(1) Dedication:-- + + To + Mrs. Alice Von Behrens + _For Auld Lang Syne_ + +(2) + + In Ghostly Japan + _Yoru bakari + Miru mono nari to + Omou-nayo! + Hiru saë yumé + no Ukiyo nari-kéri._ + + _Think not that dreams appear to the dreamer only at night: the + dream of this world of pain appears to us even by day_. + + Japanese Poem. + +(3) Contents:-- + + Fragment + Furisodé + Incense + A Story of Divination + Silkworms + A Passional Karma + Footprints of the Buddha + Ululation + Bits of Poetry + Japanese Buddhist Proverbs + Suggestion + Ingwa-Banashi + Story of a Tengu + At Yaidzu + +(4) List of Illustrations. + +The Same. London: Sampson, Low and Company, 1899, 8vo. + +New Popular Edition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1904, 16mo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1905, Cr. 8vo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + Inouye, Jukichi, _Atlantic Monthly_, September, 1900, vol. 86, + pp. 399. + + _International Studio, The_, 1905, vol. 25, p. XL. + + _Nation, The_, January 26, 1905, vol. 80, p. 68. + + + No. 13. + +1900. SHADOWINGS. By Lafcadio Hearn. Lecturer on English Literature in +the Imperial University, Tôkyô, Japan. Boston: Little, Brown and +Company, 1900. + +12mo., pp. (IV) 268, cloth. + +(I.) Dedication:-- + + To Paymaster Mitchell McDonald + U. S. Navy + + My dear Mitchell,-- + + Herein I have made some attempt to satisfy your wish for "a few + more queer stories from the Japanese." Please accept the book as + another token of the writer's affection. + + Lafcadio Hearn + (Koizumi Yakumo) + Tôkyô, Japan, + January 1, 1900. + + +(II.) Contents:-- + + Stories from Strange Books:-- + + I. The Reconciliation + II. A Legend of Fugen-Bosatsu + III. The Screen-Maiden + IV. The Corpse-Rider + V. The Sympathy of Benten + VI. The Gratitude of the Samébito + + Japanese Studies:-- + + I. Sémi + II.Japanese Female Names + III. Old Japanese Songs + + Fantasies:-- + + I. Noctilucæ + II. A Mystery of Crowds + III. Gothic Horror + IV. Levitation + V. Nightmare-Touch + VI. Readings from a Dream-Book + VII. In a Pair of Eyes + +(III.) Illustrations. + +(IV.) Bastard title-page:-- + + Il avait vu brûler d'étranges pierres, + Jadis, dans les brasiers de lapensée. + Émile Verhaeren + +The Same. London: Sampson, Low and Company, 1900, 8vo. + +New Popular Edition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1904, 16mo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1905, Cr. 8vo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + _Athenæum, The_, January 5, 1901, p. 15. + + Bentzon, Th., _Revue des Deux Mondes_, June 1, 1904, vol. 21, p. 556. + + F. T. C., _The Bookman_, February, 1901, vol. 12, p. 582. + + _Dial, The_, January 1, 1901, vol. 30, p. 19. + + _International Studio, The_, 1905, vol. 25, p. XL. + + Kinnosuké, Adachi, _The Critic_, January, 1901, vol. 38, p. 29. + + _Nation, The_, November 8, 1900, vol. 71, p. 372. + + _Nation, The_, January 26, 1905, vol. 80, p. 68. + + _Public Opinion_, October 18, 1900, vol. 29, p. 504. + + + No. 14. + +1901. A JAPANESE MISCELLANY. By Lafcadio Hearn. Lecturer on English +Literature in the Imperial University of Tôkyô. Boston: Little, +Brown and Company, MDCCCCI. + +12mo., 5 p. l., pp. 305, 2 full-page illustrations, 6 plates, 5 +illustrations in the text. Green cloth, decorated, gold lettering, gilt +top. + +(1) Dedication:-- + + To + Mrs. Elizabeth Bisland Wetmore + +(2) Contents:-- + + Strange Stories: + I. Of a Promise Kept + II. Of a Promise Broken + III. Before the Supreme Court + IV. The Story of Kwashin Koji + V. The Story of Umétsu Chûbei + VI. The Story of Kôgi the Priest + +Folklore Gleanings: + + I. Dragon-Flies (_illustrated_) + II. Buddhist Names of Plants and Animals + III. Songs of Japanese Children (_illustrated_) + +Studies Here and There: + + I. On a Bridge + II. The Case of O-Dai + III. Beside the Sea (_illustrated_) + IV. Drifting + V. Otokichi's Daruma (_illustrated_) + VI. In a Japanese Hospital + +(3) Illustrations. + +The Same. London: Sampson, Low and Company, 1901, 8vo. + +New Popular Edition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1904, 16mo. + +New Edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1905, Cr. 8vo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + _Athenæum_, December 21, 1901, p. 833. + + _International Studio, The_, 1905, vol. 25, p. XL. + + _Literary World, The_, December 1, 1901, vol. 32, p. 207. + + _Nation, The_, January 9, 1902, vol. 74, p. 39. + + _Nation, The_, January 26, 1905, vol. 80, p. 68. + + + No. 15. + +1902. JAPANESE FAIRY TALES. Rendered into English by Lafcadio Hearn. +Published by T. Hasegawa, Publisher and Art-Printer, Tôkyô, Japan. + +Four 16mo. books on Japanese folded crêpe paper, highly illustrated in +colours. + + No. 22. The Goblin Spider + No. 23. The Boy Who Drew Cats + No. 24. The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumpling + No. 25. Chin Chin Kobakama + + + No. 16. + +1902. KOTTÔ (Japanese Characters). Being Japanese Curios, with Sundry +Cobwebs. Collected by Lafcadio Hearn, Lecturer on English Literature in +the Imperial University of Tôkyô, Japan. With illustrations by +Genjiro Yeto. New York: The Macmillan Company (London: Macmillan & +Company, Ltd.), 1902. + +8vo., 4 p. l., pp. 251, brown cloth, decorated, gold lettering, gilt +top. + +(1) Dedication:-- + +To SIR EDWIN ARNOLD in grateful remembrance of kind words + +(2) Contents:-- + +Old Stories: + + I. The Legend of Yurei-Daki + II. In a Cup of Tea + III. Common Sense + IV. Ikiryô + V. Shiryô + VI. The Story of O-Kamé + VII. Story of a Fly + VIII. Story of a Pheasant + IX. The Story of Chûgorô + + A Woman's Diary + Heiké-Gani + Fireflies + A Drop of Dew + Gaki + A Matter of Custom + Revery + Pathological + In the Dead of the Night + Kusa-Hibari + The Eater of Dreams + +(3) + + Old Stories + +_The following nine tales have been selected from the +"Shin-Chomon-Shû," "Hyaku Monogatari," +"Uji-Jûi-Monogatari-Shô," and other old Japanese books, to +illustrate some strange beliefs. They are only Curios._ + +The Same. Reprinted April, 1903. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + _Athenæum, The_, January 17, 1903, p. 77. + + _Book Buyer, The_, December, 1902, vol. 25, p. 416. + + More, Paul Elmer, _Atlantic Monthly_, February, 1903, vol. 91, + p. 204. + + _Nation, The_, March 26, 1903, vol. 76, p. 254. + + + No. 17. + +1904. KWAIDAN: Stories and Studies of Strange Things.--Lafcadio Hearn, +Lecturer on English Literature in the Imperial University of +Tôkyô, Japan (1896-1903). Honorary Member of the Japan Society, +London. (Japanese Characters.) Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin +and Company, MDCCCCIV. (Published April, 1904.) + +12mo., 6 p. 1., pp. 240, illustrated, 2 plates, dark green cloth, +decorated, gold lettering, gilt top. + +(1) Introduction by Publisher:-- + +(3) Prefatory Note:-- + +Most of the following _Kwaidan_, or Weird Tales, have been +taken from old Japanese books,--such as the _Yasô-Kidan_, +_Bukkyô-Hyakkwa-Zenshô_, _Kokon-Chomonshû_, _Tama-Sudaré_ and +_Hyaku-Monogatari_. Some of the stories may have had a Chinese origin: +the very remarkable "Dream of Akinosuké," for example, is certainly from +a Chinese source. But the Japanese story-teller in every case, has so +recoloured and reshaped his borrowing as to naturalize it.... One queer +tale, "Yuki-Onna," was told me by a farmer of Chôfu, +Nishitamagôri, in Musashi province, as a legend of his native +village. Whether it has even been written in Japanese I do not know; but +the extraordinary belief which it records used certainly to exist in +most parts of Japan, and in many curious forms.... The incident of +"Riki-Baka" was a personal experience; and I wrote it down almost +exactly as it happened, changing only a family-name mentioned by the +Japanese narrator. + +Tôkyô, Japan, January 20, 1904. L. H. + +(4) Contents:-- + + Kwaidan + + The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hôichi (_Atlantic Monthly_, + August, 1903) + Oshidori + The Story of O-Tei + Ubazakura + Diplomacy + Of a Mirror and a Bell + Jikininki + Mujina + Rokuro-Kubi + A Dead Secret + Yuki-Onna + The Story of Aoyagi + Jiu-Roku-Zakura + The Dream of Akinosuké (_Atlantic Monthly_, March, 1904) + Riki-Baka + Hi-Mawari + Hôrai + + Insect-Studies + + Butterflies + Mosquitoes + Ants + +(5) Notes on the Illustrations + +The two drawings are by the Japanese artist, Keichû Takénouche. The +frontispiece illustrates the scene in the story "Yuki-Onna" described on +page 113, and the drawing facing page 180 illustrates the Butterfly +Dance, described on page 203. + +The Same. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, 1904, 12mo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + _Athenæum, The_, September 17, 1904, p. 373. + + _Atlantic Monthly_, June, 1904, vol. 93, p. 857. + + _Bookman, The_, November, 1904, vol. 20, p. 159. + + + No. 18. + +1904. (Japanese Characters.) JAPAN: An Attempt at Interpretation. By +Lafcadio Hearn. Honorary Member of the Japan Society, London; formerly +Lecturer in the Imperial University of Tôkyô (1896-1903), and +Fourteen Years a Resident of Japan. + + "Perhaps all very marked national characters can be traced back + to a time of rigid and pervading discipline." + --Walter Bagehot. + +New York: The Macmillan Company (London: Macmillan and Company, Ltd.), +1904. (Published, September, 1904.) + +8vo., 2 p. l., pp. 541, coloured frontispiece, brown cloth, black and +gold lettering, gilt top. + +(1) Contents:-- + + I. Difficulties + II. Strangeness and Charm + III. The Ancient Cult + IV. The Religion of the Home + V. The Japanese Family + VI. The Communal Cult + VII. Developments of Shintô + VIII. Worship and Purification + IX. The Rule of the Dead + X. The Introduction of Buddhism + XI. The Higher Buddhism + XII.The Social Organization + XIII. The Rise of the Military Power + XIV. The Religion of Loyalty + XV. The Jesuit Peril + XVI. Feudal Integration + XVII. The Shintô Revival + XVIII. Survivals + XIX. Modern Restraints + XX. Official Education + XXI. Industrial Danger + XXII. Reflections + Bibliographical Notes + Index + +The Same. London: Macmillan and Company, Ltd., 1904, 8vo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + Buckley, Edmund, _The American Journal of Sociology_, January + 1905, vol. 10, p. 545. + + Griffis, William Elliot, _The Critic_, February, 1905, vol. 46, + p. 185. + + Griffis, William Elliot, _The Dial_, December 1, 1904, vol. 36, + p. 368. + + _Independent, The_, October 27, 1904, vol. 57, p. 976. + + _Nation, The_, December 8, 1904, vol. 79, p. 465. + + _Public Opinion_, October 27, 1904, vol. 37, p. 537. + + _Review of Reviews_, November, 1904, vol. 30, p. 561. + + Shore, W. Teignmouth, _The Academy_, December 10, 1904, vol. 67, + p. 584. + + _Spectator, The_, January 14, 1905, vol. 94, p. 54. + + Thurston, S. J., Herbert, _The Messenger_, January, 1906, + vol. 45, p. 1. + + No. 19. + +1905. THE ROMANCE OF THE MILKY WAY, and other Studies and Stories. By +Lafcadio Hearn. Houghton, Mifflin and Company: Boston and New York, +1905. (Published October, 1905.) + +12mo., pp. (XIV) 209, decorated title-page, grey cloth with yellow +trimmings, yellow top. + +(V) Contents:-- + + The Romance of the Milky Way (_Atlantic Monthly_, August, 1905) + Goblin Poetry + "Ultimate Questions" (_Atlantic Monthly_, September, 1905) + The Mirror Maiden + The Story of Itô Norisuké (_Atlantic Monthly_, January, 1905) + Stranger than Fiction (_Atlantic Monthly_, April, 1905) + A Letter from Japan (_Atlantic Monthly_, November, 1904) + +(VII-XIV) Introduction by F. G. + +The Same. London: Constable and Company, 1905, Cr. 8vo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + + _Academy, The_, December 2, 1905, vol. 69, p. 1257. _Athenæum, + The_, March 31, 1906, p. 389. + + _Dial, The_, November 1, 1905, vol. 39, p. 276. + + Griffis, W. E., _The Critic_, March, 1906, vol. 48, p. 222. + + _Independent_, The, December 21, 1905, vol. 59, p. 1478. + + _Nation, The_, December 21, 1905, vol. 81, p. 510. + + _Outlook, The_, November 9, 1906, vol. 84, p. 503. + + + TRANSLATIONS + + + No. 20. + +1882. ONE OF CLEOPATRA'S NIGHTS, and other Fantastic Romances. By +Théophile Gautier. Faithfully translated by Lafcadio Hearn. + +Contents:-- + + One of Cleopatra's Nights + Clarimonde + Arria Marcella: A Souvenir of Pompeii + The Mummy's Foot + Omphale: A Rococo Story + King Candaules + +New York: R. Worthington, 770 Broadway, 1882. + +8vo., pp. (IX) 321, red cloth, gilt top. Head Gautier as Frontispiece. + +(III) + + + _The love that caught strange light from death's own eyes, + And filled death's lips with fiery words and sighs, + And half asleep, let feed from veins of his, + Her close red warm snake's-mouth, Egyptian-wise: + And that great night of love more strange than this, + When she that made the whole world's bale and bliss + Made king of the whole world's desire a slave + And killed him in mid-kingdom with a kiss._ + Swinburne. + + "_Memorial verses on the death of Théophile Gautier._" + + +(V-IX) To the Reader (_Extract_). + +It is the artist, therefore, who must judge of Gautier's creations. To +the lovers of the loveliness of the antique world, the lovers of +physical beauty and artistic truth,--of the charm of youthful dreams and +young passion in its blossoming,--of poetic ambitions and the sweet +pantheism that finds all Nature vitalized by the Spirit of the +Beautiful,--to such the first English version of these graceful +fantasies is offered in the hope that it may not be found wholly +unworthy of the original. + +New Orleans, 1882. L. H. + +Pages 317-21 Addenda. + +New Edition. New York: Brentano's, 1899, 12mo. +New Edition. New York: Brentano's, 1906, 12mo. +CLARIMONDE. New York: Brentano's, 1899, 16mo. + +Articles and Reviews:-- + +Brandt, M. von, _Deutsche Rundschau_, October, 1900, vol. 105, p. 68. + +Coleman, Charles W., Jr., _Harper's Monthly_, May, 1887, vol. 74, p. +855. + +_Dayton (Ohio) Journal_, September 30, 1904. + +_Literary World, The_, February 14, 1891, vol. 22, p. 56. + + + No. 21. + +1890. THE CRIME OF SYLVESTRE BONNARD (Member of the Institute). By +Anatole France. The Translation and Introduction by Lafcadio Hearn. +(Publisher's Vignette.) New York: Harper & Brothers, Franklin Square, +1890. + +8vo., pp. (IX) 281, paper. + +(V-IX) Introduction (_Extract_). + +But it is not because M. Anatole France has rare power to create +original characters, or to reflect for us something of the more +recondite literary life of Paris, that his charming story will live. It +is because of his far rarer power to deal with what is older than any +art, and withal more young, and incomparably more precious: the beauty +of what is beautiful in human emotion. And that writer who touches the +spring of generous tears by some simple story of gratitude, of natural +kindness, of gentle self-sacrifice, is surely more entitled to our love +than the sculptor who shapes for us a dream of merely animal grace, or +the painter who images for us, however richly, the young bloom of that +form which is only the husk of Being. + +L. H. + +(1) Contents:-- + + Part I. + The Log. + + Part II. + The Daughter of Clémentine. + The Fairy + The Little Saint-George + +Articles and Reviews:-- + +_Literary World_, The, February 15, 1890, vol. 21, p. 59. + + + + + IV + + TRANSLATIONS PUBLISHED IN THE TIMES-DEMOCRAT[43] + + [43] Hearn failed to give the years in which these translations + were published, and often also the days and months. + +(Nos. 31-218) + + +No. 31. 1. Crucifying Crocodiles. By Cousot. + From _Le Figaro_, February 7. + +No. 32. 2. The Last of the Great Moguls. By Ali. + From _Le Nouvelle Revue_, March 1. + +No. 33. 3. Killed by Rollin's Ancient History. By Chas. Baissac. + +No. 34. 4. Mohammed Fripouille. By Guy de Maupassant. + From "Yvette." + +No. 35. 5. The Eldest Daughter. By Jules Lemaitre. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 36. 6. The Burnt Rock. By "Carmen Sylva," Elizabeth, Queen of + Roumania. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 37. 7. The Confession. By de Maupassant. + From _Contes du Jour et de la Nuit_. + +No. 38. 8. In the Mountain of Marble. By Pierre Loti. + +No. 39. 9. A Story of Quinine. By Chas. Baissac. + From _Récits Créoles_. + +No. 40. 10. How Gerard Resigned His Tutorship. By Chas. Baissac. + From _Récits Créoles_. + +No. 41. 11. A Vendetta. By Guy de Maupassant. + From _Contes du Jour et de la Nuit_. + +No. 42. 12. A Coward. By Guy de Maupassant. + From _Contes du Jour et de la Nuit_. + +No. 43. 13. The Titaness. By Jules Lermina. + From _Le Figaro_, April 25. + +No. 44. 14. Reminiscences of Gustave Doré. By Albert Wolff. + From _Le Figaro_, March 2. + +No. 45. 15. The Return. By Guy de Maupassant. + From "Yvette." + +No. 46. 16. Two Friends. By Guy de Maupassant. + +No. 47. 17. Moloch, the Devourer. (The Sacrifice.) By Gustave Flaubert. + From "Salambo," Ed. 1880. + +No. 48. 18. The Ring. By N. de Semenow. + From _Le Figaro_, August 15. + +No. 49. 19. The Phalanx in Battle. By Gustave Flaubert. + From "Salambo," Ed. 1880. + +No. 50. 20. The Little Sister. By Hector Malot. + Novel. + +No. 51. 21. Riri's Rag-Picking. By Jean Rameau. + From _Le Figaro_, October 31. + +No. 52. 22. A Divorced Man's New Year's Day. By Frantz Jourdain. + From _Le Figaro_, January 2. + +No. 53. 23. Especially Interesting Apropos of the Comet with the Sodium + Tail. By Camille Flammarion. + From _Le Voltaire_, September 21. + +No. 54. 24. Eaten Alive. By Camille Debans. + From _Le Figaro_, September 13. + +No. 55. 25. The Christmas Tree. By Theodore Dostoievsky. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 56. 26. "A Madman?" By Guy de Maupassant. + +No. 57. 27. Tourgueneff. By Firmin Javel. + From _L'Evénement_, September 6. + +Tourgueneff. By Maurice Guillemot. + From _Le Figaro_, September 5. + +No. 58. 28. A Polish Regiment under Fire. By Hendrik Sienkiewicz. + From _Nouvelle Revue_. + +No. 59. 29. In Oran. By Guy de Maupassant. + From _Au Soleil_. + +No. 60. 30. En Voyage. By Guy de Maupassant. + From "Miss Harriet." + +No. 61. 31. "La Mère Sauvage." By Guy de Maupassant. + From "Miss Harriet." + +No. 62. 32. The Adopted Child. By Guy de Maupassant. + From "Miss Harriet." + +No. 63. 33. The Child. By Guy de Maupassant. + From "Miss Harriet." + +No. 64. 34. The Minuet. By Guy de Maupassant. + From "Miss Harriet." + +No. 65. 35. My Uncle Jules. By Guy de Maupassant. + From "Miss Harriet." + +No. 66. 36. The Love Chamber. By Albert Delpit, 1884. + +No. 67. 37. The Chair Mender. By Guy de Maupassant. + +No. 68. 38. Coco. By Guy de Maupassant. + +No. 69. 39. A Parricide. By Guy de Maupassant. + +No. 70. 40. The Red Wolves. By Henry Leturque. + From _Le Figaro_, April 24. + +No. 71. 41. Suicides. By Guy de Maupassant. "Les Soeurs Rondoli." + +No. 72. 42. The Cross. By Verax. + From _Le Figaro_, October 17. + +No. 73. 43. The Art of Dancing. By Ignotus. + From _Le Figaro_, March 19. + +No. 74. 44. Haikona's Story. By Quatrelles. + From _Le Figaro_, January 3. + +No. 75. 45. Forgotten on the Battle Field. + From _Le Figaro_, December 19. + +No. 76. 46. The Folly of Armaments. By P. + From _L'Evénement_, June 13. + +No. 77. 47. Japanese Theatricals. By Yedoko. + From _Le Figaro_, August 7, 1886. + +No. 78. 48. On the Planet Mars. By Camille Flammarion. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 79. 49. The Colonel's Ideas. By Guy de Maupassant. + From "Yvette." + +No. 80. 50. Waterloo. By Léon Cladel. + From _L'Evénement_, April 26. + +No. 81. 51. Terrifying a King. By XXX. From _Le Figaro_, December 9. + +No. 82. 52. The Secret of the Scaffold. By Comte de Villiers de + L'Isle-Adam. + From _Le Figaro_, October 23. + +No. 83. 53. Littre as a Physician. By Emile Zola. + From _Le Voltaire_, June 5. + +No. 84. 54. Hugo and Littre. By Emile Zola. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 85. 55. A Modern Combat of the Thirty. By Vigeant. + +No. 86. 56. Algerian Warfare. By Ferdinand Hugonnet. + +No. 87. 57. Orden's Redoubt. By Adam Mickiewicz. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 88. 58. Lasker's Romance. By Aurelien Scholl. + From _L'Evénement_, February 26. + +No. 89. 59. The Duel. By Aurelien Scholl. + From _L'Evénement_, March 2. + +No. 90. 60. The Wife of Sobieski. + From _Le Figaro_ Supplement, February 23. + +No. 91. 61. Redemption. By Matilde Serao. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 92. 62. The Rats of Paris. By Olivier de Rawton. + From _Le Figaro_ Supplement. + +No. 93. 63. The Story of Tse-I-La. By Comte de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam. + From _Le Figaro_ Sunday Supplement. + +No. 94. 64. Cremation in Paris. By Ignotus. + From _Le Figaro_, March 6. + +No. 95. 65. Madame Auguste's Lion. By Horace Bertin. + From _Croquis de Province_. + +No. 96. 66. The Secret History of "Madame Bovary." By Guy de Maupassant. + From _L'Evénement_, January 23. + +No. 97. 67. Nissa. By Albert Delpit. + From _Revue de Deux Mondes_. + +No. 98. 68. The Soudanian Marseillais. + +No. 99. 69. Justice in the Soudan. After De Bisson. 1868. + +No. 100. 70. Eaten by a Lion. By Louis Rousselet. + From _La Peau du Tigre_. + +No. 101. 71. Chanzy. By Ignotus. + From _Le Figaro_, January 10. + +No. 102. 72. Notes on Von Moltke. By Robert de Bonnieres. + From _Le Figaro_, August 17. + +No. 103. 73. The Hunchback. By Chas. Richard. + From _Le Figaro_, August 29. + +No. 104. 74. The Pacha of Audjelah. By H. Georges. + From _Le Figaro_, September 5. + +No. 105. 75. The Umbrella. By Guy de Maupassant. + +No. 106. 76. Gambling for a Wife. By A. de Colonne. + From _Le Figaro_, January 30. + +No. 107. 77. Happiness. By Guy de Maupassant. + +No. 108. 78. "Schmah Israel." By Sacher Masoch. + From _Revue Politique et Litteraire_, November 7. + +No. 109. 79. The Alfa-Gatherer. By Lieutenant Palat. ("Marcel + Frescaly.") + From _Le Figaro_, April 3. + +No. 110. 80. He. By Guy de Maupassant. + +No. 111. 81. 'Toine. By Guy de Maupassant. + +No. 112. 82. The Dowry. By Guy de Maupassant. + +No. 113. 83. The Funeral of an Indian Prince. By Guy de Maupassant. + From _Le Figaro_, September 7. + +No. 114. 84. The Jewelry. By Guy de Maupassant. + +No. 115. 85. The Five Senses. By Harry Alis. + From _Revue Politique et Litteraire_, October 2. + +No. 116. 86. A Bombshell. By Leon Tolstoi. + +No. 117. 87. A Day at Lahore. By Robert de Bonnieres. + From _Revue Politique et Litteraire_. + +No. 118. 88. Mario, Marquis of Candia. By Mario di Candia. + From _Le Figaro_, November 24. + +No. 119. 89. My Tailor Abrahamek. By Sacher-Masoch. + From _Revue Politique et Litteraire_, May 22. + +No. 120. 90. The Flesh-Eaters. By Olivier de Rawton. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 121. 91. Palabra Suelta No Tiene Vuelta. By Ricardo Palma. (Lima, + 1880.) + +No. 122. 92. The Diva. By Luigi Gualdo. + +No. 123. 93. The Story of the Unfortunate Merchant. By Rene Bassett. + +No. 124. 94. Bamba. By Eugene Forgues. + From _Nouvelle Revue_. + +No. 125. 95. "Notre Père Qui Etesaux Cieux." By Chas. Baissac. + From _Récits Créoles_. + +No. 126. 96. "Red Minette." By Chas. Baissac. + From _Récits Créoles_. + +No. 127. 97. Fight at the Mill. By Emile Zola. + +No. 128. 98. Leo XIII. By Roman Correspondent. + From _Le Figaro_, February 27. + +No. 129. 99. The Carp Herder. By Charles Richard. + From _Le Figaro_, December 15, 1883. + +No. 130. 100. Fanny Elssler. By Viennese Correspondent. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 131. 101. Lola Montes and Ludwig I. of Bavaria. By X. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 132. 102. The Art of Being a Bore. By "De Ferney." + From _Le Voltaire_, January 31. + +No. 133. 103. Humanity of the Japanese. + From _L'Illustration_. + +No. 134. 104. By the Balloon Post. By Alexis Bouvier. + From _Le Figaro_, January 29. + +No. 135. 105. An Extraordinary Letter from Von Moltke. By Count Von + Moltke. + From _Le Voltaire_, February 5. + +No. 136. 106. Chinese Women. By Lydie Paschkoff. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 137. 107. A Haul at Madagascar in 1717. By Chas. Baissac. + From _Récits Créoles_. + +No. 138. 108. Pierrot. By Guy de Maupassant. + +No. 139. 109. My Aunt Minon. By Chas. Baissac. + From _Récits Créoles_. + +No. 140. 110. An Episode of the War in Soudan. By Victor Cherbuliez. + From an address before the _Cinq Academies_. + +No. 141. 111. The Punishment of the Unfaithful Lover. By Sacher-Masoch. + From "The Mother of God." + +No. 142. 112. The Sorceress. The Comte d'Avesnes. By Michelet. + From "La Sorcière." + +No. 143. 113. The Great Fiddler of the Nineteenth Century. By "L'Homme + Masque." + From _Le Voltaire_, October 8. + +No. 144. 114. The Duello. By Ignotus. From _Le Figaro_, August 31. + +No. 145. 115. How Balzac Found Names for his Novels. By Léon Gozlan. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 146. 116. Tchernyschevsky and the Women of Nihilism. By Victor + Tissot. + From "Les Pères du Nihilisme," in _L'Illustration_. + +No. 147. 117. Emile Zola on Style. By Emile Zola. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 148. 118. The Man of the XVIth Century. By Victorien Sardou. + From _Le Figaro_, February 4. + +No. 149. 119. The Forest Growing in the Heart of Paris. By Camille + Flammarion. + From _Le Voltaire_, June 25. + +No. 150. 120. The Tomb of Nichelet. By An Old Parisian. + From _Le Figaro_, July 10. + +No. 151. 121. A Master Wizard. By Un Vieux Parisien. + From _Le Figaro_, October 6. + +No. 152. 122. By Rail Across the Sahara. By Charles de Maurceley. + From _Le Voltaire_, January 23 and 27. + +No. 153. 123. In the House of Mahomet. By Ignotus. + From _Le Figaro_, October 20. + +No. 154. 124. The Chinese in Pnom-Penh, Cambodia. By Albert de + Chenclos. + From _La Revue Liberale_. + +No. 155. 125. Algeria. By Ignotus. + From _Le Figaro_, June 15. + +No. 156. 126. The Drum. By Guy de Maupassant. + From "Contes de la Bécasse." + +No. 157. 127. Henry Charles Read. By Maxime du Camp. + From "Souvenirs Litteraires." + +No. 158. 128. Recollections of Baudelaire. By Maxime du Camp. + From "Souvenirs Litteraires." + +No. 159. 129. A Converted Libertine. By Ricardo Palma. (Lima, 1880.) + +No. 160. 130. Women of Fashionable Paris Society. By Emile Zola. + From _Le Figaro_, June 27. + +No. 161. 131. La Parisienne. By Adrien Marx. + From _Le Figaro_, May 13. + +No. 162. 132. At Sea. By Guy de Maupassant. + From "Contes de la Bécasse." + +No. 163. 133. "Aunt Ess." By Arnold Mortier. + From _Le Figaro's_ "Contes d'Été," August 23. + +No. 164. 134. Pasteur. + From _Le Figaro_, November 23. + +No. 165. 135. A Ghost. By Parisis. + From _Le Voltaire_, October 23. + +No. 166. 136. Matrimonial Agencies at Paris. By Ignotus. + From _Le Figaro_, April 20. + +No. 167. 137. Liszt. By Ignotus. + From _Le Figaro_, May 25. + +No. 168. 138. The Stranglers of Paris, etc. By George Grison. + From _Le Figaro_, May 23. + +No. 169. 139. The Lights of the Wedding. By R. M. + From _La Epoca_, January 10. + +No. 170. 140. The Foundation of Skadra (Scutari). By W. Stephanowitsch. + From French translation. + +No. 171. 141. The Last Hideous Days of the Flatters Mission. + From _Le Figaro_, September 23. + +No. 172. 142. The Two Neighbours. By Julia de Asensi. + From _La Epoca_, April 18. + +No. 173. 143. Candita. By "Almaviva." + From _La Epoca_, October 18. + +No. 174. 144. A Drunken Lion. By Hector de Callias. + From _Le Figaro_, June 30. + +No. 175. 145. The Song of Love Triumphant. By Ivan Tourgueneff. + From _Le Figaro._ + +No. 176. 146. A Rich Man's Death. By Emile Zola. + From _Le Figaro_, August 1. + +No. 177. 147. Germanillo. By "Juan Manuel de Capua." + From _La Epoca_, December 27. + +No. 178. 148. Simon's Papa. By Guy de Maupassant. + From "La Maison +Tellier." + +No. 179. 149. "Las Hechas Y Por Hacer." By Ricardo Palma. (Lima, 1879.) + +No. 180. 150. The Bishop's Twenty Thousand Godos. By Ricardo Palma. + +No. 181. 151. "Los Postres del Festin." By Ricardo Palma. + From _La Raza Latina_, February 29. + +No. 182. 152. The Blessed Bread. By François Coppée. + From _Le Figaro_, March 6. + +No. 183. 153. The Invitation to Sleep. By François Coppée. + From _Le Figaro's_ "Contes d'Été." + +No. 184. 154. Cousin Rosa. By "Almaviva." + From _La Epoca_, March 17. + +No. 185. 155. The Chemise of Margarita Pareja. By Ricardo Palma. + From _La Raza Latina_. + +No. 186. 156. The Just Man. By F. Luzel. + From Luzel's Collection. + +No. 187. 157. Saint Peter's Betrothed. By De Luzel. + +No. 188. 158. Fantic Loho. By Luzel. + From "Breton Legends." + +No. 189. 159. The Adventures of Walter Schnaffs. By Guy de Maupassant. + From "Contes de la Bécasse." + +No. 190. 160. L'Abandounado. By René Maizeroy. + From "The Love That Bleeds." + +No. 191. 161. Flaubert at Sparta. By Maxime du Camp. + From _Revue des Deux Mondes_. + +No. 192. 162. Daddy Goat and Daddy Tiger. By Pa Lindor. + From _Le Courrier des Opelousas_. + +No. 193. 163. The Great Chinese Vase. By Edmond de L. + From _Le Figaro_, February 17. + +No. 194. 164. The Two Porcelain Vases. By Charles Richard. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 195. 165. A Bit of Jewish Folk Lore. By Leopold Kompert. + From "Scenes du Ghetto." + +No. 196. 166. A Story of the Ghetto. By Leopold Kompert. + From "Scenes du Ghetto." + +No. 197. 167. A Legend of Rabbi Loeb. By Daniel Stauben. + +No. 198. 168. Loulou. By Lucien Griveau. + +No. 199. 169. The Cabecilla; the Story of the Carlist War. By Alphonse + Daudet. + +No. 200. 170. Tried, Condemned, Executed. By P. Didier. + +No. 201. 171. The Man with the Golden Brain. By Alphonse Daudet. + From "Ballades en Prose." + +No. 202. 172. The Death of the Dauphin, etc. By Alphonse Daudet. + +No. 203. 173. My First Duel. By Carle de Perrières. + From "Paris-Joyeux." + +No. 204. 174. My Two Cats. By Emile Zola. + +No. 205. 175. The Khouans. By N. Ney. + From _L'Illustration_, July 30. + +No. 206. 176. The Dead Wife. + After S. Juhens' French translation from Chinese. + +No. 207. 177. Scenes of Polish Life. By Krazewski. + From "Jermola," _Le Figaro_. + +No. 208. 178. Memory of Algeria. By Alphonse Daudet. + From "Tartarin de Tarascon," _Nouvelle Revue_. + +No. 209. 179. Anecdote of Baudelaire. "Les Fantaisites." By Pierre + Quiroul. + From _Le Figaro_, August 15. + +No. 210. 180. Adelaide Neilson. From _L'Illustration_, August 21. + +No. 211. 181. A Morning with Baudelaire. By "Theodore de Grave." + +No. 212. 182. "L'Enfant de la Balle." By François Coppée. + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 213. 183. Poetical Illusions. By Maxime du Camp. + From "Souvenirs Litteraires." + +No. 214. 184. The Moon's Blessings. By Charles Baudelaire. + +No. 215. 185. Patti and Her New Home. By "Adrien Marx." + From _Le Figaro_. + +No. 216. 186. The Ghostly Mass. By Luzel. + From "Veillees Bretonnes." + +No. 217. 187. Solitude. By Guy de Maupassant. + From "Monsieur Parent." + +No. 218. "Fantastics." + + 1. "Aida." 2. Hiouen-Thsang. 3. El Vomito. (?) 4. The Devil's + Carbuncle. 5. A Hemisphere in a Woman's Hair. 6. The Clock. + 7. The Fool and Venus. 8. The Stranger. + +No. 219. The winter of 1877, Mr. Hearn contributed from New Orleans, a +series of letters to the Cincinnati _Commercial_ under the name of +"Ozias Midwinter." + + + V + + MAGAZINE STORIES AND PAPERS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER[44] + + [44] If published also in book-form, the title of the book is + given. + +(Nos. 220-275) + +No. 220. The Scenes of Cable's Romances. + _The Century Magazine_, November, 1883, vol. 27 (N. S. Vol. 5), + p. 40. + +No. 221. Quaint New Orleans and its Habitants. + _Harper's Weekly_, December 6, 1884, vol. 28, p. 812. + +No. 222. New Orleans Exposition. + _Harper's Weekly_, January 3, 1885, vol. 29, p. 14. + +No. 223. The Creole Patois. + _Harper's Weekly_, January 10, 1885, vol. 29, p. 27. + +No. 224. The Creole Patois. + _Harper's Weekly_, January 17, 1885, vol. 29, p. 43. + +No. 225. New Orleans Exposition. + _Harper's Weekly_, January 31, 1885, vol. 29, p. 71 + +No. 226. The East at New Orleans. + _Harper's Weekly_, March 7, 1885, vol. 29, p. 155. + +No. 227. Mexico at New Orleans. + _Harper's Weekly_, March 14, 1885, vol. 29, p. 167. + +No. 228. The New Orleans Exposition. Some Oriental Curiosities. + _Harper's Bazaar_, March 28, 1885, vol. 18, p. 201. + +No. 229. The New Orleans Exposition. Notes of a Curiosity Hunter. + _Harper's Bazaar_, April 4, 1885, vol. 18, p. 218 + +No. 230. The Government Exhibit at New Orleans. + _Harper's Weekly_, April 11, 1885, vol. 29, p. 234. + +No. 231. The Legend of Tchi-Niu. A Chinese Story of Filial Piety. + _Harper's Bazaar_, October 31, 1885, vol. 18, p. 703. "Some Chinese + Ghosts," 1887. + +No. 232. The Last of the Voudoos. + _Harper's Weekly_, November 7, 1885, vol. 29, p. 726. + +No. 233. New Orleans Superstitions. + _Harper's Weekly_, December 25, 1886, vol. 30, p. 843. + +No. 234. Rabyah's Last Ride. A tradition of Pre-Islamic Arabia. + _Harper's Bazaar_, April 2, 1887, vol. 20, p. 239. + +No. 235. Chita. + _Harper's Monthly_, April, 1888, vol. 76, p. 733. "Chita," 1890. + +No. 236. A Midsummer Trip to the West Indies. + _Harper's Monthly_, July-September, 1888, vol. 77, pp. 209, 327, + 614. "Two Years in the French West Indies," 1890. + +No. 237. La Vérette and the Carnival in St. Pierre, Martinique. + _Harper's Monthly_, October, 1888, vol. 77, p. 737. "Two Years in + the French West Indies," 1890. + +No. 238. Les Porteuses. + _Harper's Monthly_, July, 1889, vol. 79, p. 299. "Two Years in the + French West Indies," 1890. + +No. 239. At Grand Anse. + _Harper's Monthly_, November, 1889, vol. 79, p. 844. "Two Years in + the French West Indies," 1890. + +No. 240. A Ghost. + _Harper's Monthly_, December, 1889, vol. 80, p. 116. + +No. 241. Youma. + _Harper's Monthly_, January-February, 1890, vol. 80, pp. 218, 408. + "Youma," 1890. + +No. 242. Karma. + _Lippincott's Magazine_, May, 1890, vol. 45, p. 667. + +No. 243. A Study of Half-Breed Races in the West Indies. + _The Cosmopolitan_, June, 1890, vol. 9, p. 167. + +No. 244. West Indian Society of Many Colourings. + _The Cosmopolitan_, July, 1890, vol. 9, p. 337. + +No. 245. A Winter Journey to Japan. + _Harper's Monthly_, November, 1890, vol. 81, p. 860. + +No. 246. At the Market of the Dead. + _Atlantic Monthly_, September, 1891, vol. 68, p. 382. "Glimpses of + Unfamiliar Japan," 1894. + +No. 247. The Chief City of the Province of the Gods. + _Atlantic Monthly_, November, 1891, vol. 68, p. 621. "Glimpses of + Unfamiliar Japan," 1894. + +No. 248. The Most Ancient Shrine in Japan. + _Atlantic Monthly_, December, 1891, vol. 68, p. 780. "Glimpses of + Unfamiliar Japan," 1894. + +No. 249. In a Japanese Garden. + _Atlantic Monthly_, July, 1892, vol. 70, p. 14. "Glimpses of + Unfamiliar Japan," 1894. + +No. 250. Of a Dancing Girl. + _Atlantic Monthly_, March, 1893, vol. 71, p. 332. "Glimpses of + Unfamiliar Japan," 1894. + +No. 251. The Japanese Smile. + _Atlantic Monthly_, May, 1893, vol. 71, p. 634. "Glimpses of + Unfamiliar Japan," 1894. + +No. 252. Of the Eternal Feminine. + _Atlantic Monthly,_ December, 1893, vol. 72, p. 761. "Out of the + East," 1895. + +No. 253. The Red Bridal. + _Atlantic Monthly_, July, 1894, vol. 74, p. 74. "Out of the East," + 1895. + +No. 254. At Hakata. + _Atlantic Monthly_, October, 1894, vol. 74, p. 510. "Out of the + East," 1895. + +No. 255. From my Japanese Diary. + _Atlantic Monthly_, November, 1894, vol. 74, p. 609. + +No. 256. A Wish Fulfilled. + _Atlantic Monthly_, January, 1895, vol. 75, p. 90. "Out of the + East," 1895. + +No. 257. In the Twilight of the Gods. + _Atlantic Monthly_, June, 1895, vol. 75, p. 791. "Kokoro," 1896. + +No. 258. The Genius of Japanese Civilization. + _Atlantic Monthly_, October, 1895, vol. 76, p. 449. "Kokoro," 1896. + +No. 259. After the War. + _Atlantic Monthly_, November, 1895, vol. 76, p. 599. "Kokoro," 1896. + +No. 260. Notes from a Travelling Diary. + _Atlantic Monthly_, December, 1895, vol. 76, p. 815. "Kokoro," 1896. + +No. 261. China and the Western World. + _Atlantic Monthly_, April, 1896, vol. 77, p. 450. + +No. 262. A Trip to Kyôto. + _Atlantic Monthly_, May, 1896, vol. 77, p. 613. "Gleanings in + Buddha-Fields," 1897. + +No. 263. About Faces in Japanese Art. + _Atlantic Monthly_, August, 1896, vol. 78, p. 219. "Gleanings in + Buddha-Fields," 1897. + +No. 264. Out of the Street: Japanese Folk-Songs. + _Atlantic Monthly_, September, 1896, vol. 78, p. 347. "Gleanings in + Buddha-Fields," 1897. + +No. 265. Dust. + _Atlantic Monthly_, November, 1896, vol. 78, p. 642, "Gleanings in + Buddha-Fields," 1897. + +No. 266. A Living God. + _Atlantic Monthly_, December, 1896, vol. 78, p. 833. "Gleanings in + Buddha-Fields," 1897. + +No. 267. Notes of a Trip to Izumo. + _Atlantic Monthly_, May, 1897, vol. 79, p. 678. + +No. 268. The Story of Mimi-Nashi Hôïchi. + _Atlantic Monthly_, August, 1903, vol. 92, p. 237. "Kwaidan," 1904. + +No. 269. The Dream of Akinosuké. + _Atlantic Monthly_, March, 1904, vol. 93, p. 340. "Kwaidan," 1904. + +No. 270. A Letter from Japan. + _Atlantic Monthly_, November, 1904, vol. 94, p. 625. "The Romance of + the Milky Way," 1905. + +No. 271. The Story of Itô Norisuké. + _Atlantic Monthly_, January, 1905, vol. 95, p. 98. "The Romance of + the Milky Way," 1905. + +No. 272. Stranger than Fiction. + _Atlantic Monthly_, April, 1905, vol. 95, p. 494. "The Romance of + the Milky Way," 1905. + +No. 273. The Romance of the Milky Way. + _Atlantic Monthly_, August, 1905, vol. 96, p. 238. "The Romance of + the Milky Way," 1905. + +No. 274. Ultimate Questions. + _Atlantic Monthly_, September, 1905, vol. 96, p. 391. "The Romance + of the Milky Way," 1905. + +No. 275. Two Memories of a Childhood. + _Atlantic Monthly_, October, 1906, vol. 98, p. 445. + + * * * * * + + + VI + + ARTICLES BY HEARN TRANSLATED IN FOREIGN MAGAZINES + + (Nos. 276-280) + + +No. 276. Le Sourire japonais. + Traduction de Madame Léon Raynal, _Revue de Paris_, July 15, 1900, + Year 7, vol. 4, p. 429. + +No. 277. Une Danseuse japonais. + Traduction de Madame Léon Raynal, _Revue de Paris,_ March 15, 1901, + Year 8, vol. 2, p. 330. + +No. 278. Le Nirvâna, étude de Bouddhisme Synthétique. + + Traduite par M. & Mme. Charles-Marie Garnier, _Revue de Métaphysique + et de Morale_, 1903, Year 11, p. 352. + +No. 279. Kitsonné (superstition japonaise). + Traduction de Madame Léon Raynal, _Revue de Paris_, November 1, + 1903, Year 10, vol. 6, p. 188. + +No. 280. Cimètieres et Temples japonais (Jizô). + Traduction de Madame Léon Raynal, _Revue de Paris,_ April 15, 1904, + Year 11, vol. 2, p. 829. + + * * * * * + + + VII + + UNPUBLISHED WORKS + + (Nos. 281-282) + + + No. 281. + +1885. AVATAR. Par Gautier, Translation by Lafcadio Hearn. Unable to find +a publisher, Hearn destroyed the manuscript. + + + No. 282. + +THE TEMPTATION OF ST. ANTHONY, by Gustave Flaubert; translated from the +Fifth Paris Edition, Vols. I-II. (Manuscript copy in the possession of +Dr. Gould.) The half-page containing, at one time, probably, the +translator's name, is cut off. The title-page is preceded by a +half-page, printed, of directions to the printer, regarding size of +type, etc. + +The volumes are 6 x 9-1/2 inches, opening at the end. The writing is in +pencil, and the letters large, even for an ordinary handwriting, but +remarkably so for that of Hearn, who, when writing with a pen, made his +letters very small. The paper has the yellow tint habitually used by +him. + +Volume I contains 364 pages; Volume II, numbered consecutively, the +balance of a total of 679 pages. Five pages of _addenda_ follow, +containing notes upon passages, with original texts, etc., which the +American publisher would hardly dare to put forth. + +Hearn's synopsis (printed) of the "St. Anthony" accompanies the text of +the translation, and is reproduced herewith:-- + + + ARGUMENT + + FRAILTY + +Sunset in the desert. Enfeebled by prolonged fasting, the hermit finds +himself unable to concentrate his mind upon holy things. His thoughts +wander: memories of youth evoke regrets that his relaxed will can no +longer find strength to suppress;--and, remembrance begetting +remembrance, his fancy leads him upon dangerous ground. He dreams of his +flight from home,--of Ammonaria, his sister's playmate,--of his misery +in the waste,--his visit to Alexandria with the blind monk Didymus,--the +unholy sights of the luxurious city. + +Involuntarily he yields to the nervous dissatisfaction growing upon him. +He laments his solitude, his joylessness, his poverty, the obscurity of +his life: grace departs from him; hope burns low within his heart. +Suddenly revolting against his weakness, he seeks refuge from +distraction in the study of the Scriptures. + +Vain effort! An invisible hand turns the leaves, placing perilous texts +before his eyes. He dreams of the Maccabees slaughtering their enemies, +and desires that he might do likewise with the Arians of Alexandria;--he +becomes inspired with admiration of King Nebuchadnezzar;--he meditates +voluptuously upon the visit of Sheba's queen to Solomon;--discovers a +text in the Acts of the Apostles antagonistic to principles of monkish +asceticism,--indulges in reveries regarding the riches of the Biblical +Kings and holy men. The Tempter comes to tempt him with evil +hallucinations for which the Saint's momentary frailty has paved the +way; and with the Evil One comes also-- + + + THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS + +Phantom gold is piled up to excite Covetousness; shadowy banquets appear +to evoke Gluttony. The scene shifts to aid the temptations of Anger and +of Pride.... + +Anthony finds himself in Alexandria, at the head of a wild army of monks +slaughtering the heretics and the pagans, without mercy for age or sex. +In fantastic obedience to the course of his fancy while reading the +Scriptures a while before, and like an invisible echo of his evil +thoughts, the scene changes again. Alexandria is transformed into +Constantinople. + +Anthony finds himself the honoured of the Emperor. He beholds the vast +circus in all its splendour, the ocean of faces, the tumult of +excitement. Simultaneously he beholds his enemies degraded to the +condition of slaves, toiling in the stables of Constantine. He feels joy +in the degradation of the Fathers of Nicæa. Then all is transformed. + +It is no longer the splendour of Constantinople he beholds under the +luminosity of a Greek day; but the prodigious palace of Nebuchadnezzar +by night. He beholds the orgies, the luxuries, the abominations;--and +the spirit of Pride enters triumphantly into him as the spirit of +Nebuchadnezzar.... + +Awakening as from a dream, he finds himself again before his hermitage. +A vast caravan approaches, halts; and the Queen of Sheba descends to +tempt the Saint with the deadliest of all temptations. Her beauty is +enhanced by Oriental splendour of adornment; her converse is a song of +witchcraft. The Saint remains firm.... The Seven Deadly Sins depart from +him. + + + THE HERESIARCHS + +But now the Tempter assumes a subtler form. Under the guise of a former +disciple of Anthony,--Hilarion,--the demon, while pretending to seek +instruction seeks to poison the mind of Anthony with hatred of the +fathers of the church. He repeats all the scandals amassed by +ecclesiastical intriguers, all the calumnies created by malice;--he +cites texts only to foment doubt, and quotes the Evangels only to make +confusion. Under the pretext of obtaining mental enlightenment from the +wisest of men, he induces Anthony to enter with him into a spectral +basilica, wherein are assembled all the Heresiarchs of the third +century. The hermit is confounded by the multitude of tenets,--horrified +by the blasphemies and abominations of Elkes, Corpocrates, Valentinus, +Manes, Cerdo,--disgusted by the perversions of the Paternians, +Marcosians, Serpentians,--bewildered by the apocryphal Gospels of Eve +and of Judas, of the Lord and of Thomas. + +And Hilarion grows taller. + + + THE MARTYRS + +Anthony finds himself in the dungeons of a vast amphitheatre, among +Christians condemned to the wild beasts. By this hallucination the +tempter would prove to the Saint that martyrdom is not always suffered +for purest motives. Anthony finds the martyrs possessed of bigotry and +insincerity. He sees many compelled to die against their will; many who +would forswear their faith could it avail them aught. He beholds +heretics die for their heterodoxy more nobly than orthodox believers. + +He finds himself transported to the tombs of the martyrs. He witnesses +the meeting of Christian women at the sepulchres. He beholds the +touching ceremonies of prayer change into orgie,--lamentations give +place to amorous dalliance. + + + THE MAGICIANS + +Then the Tempter seeks to shake Anthony's faith in the excellence and +evidence of miracles. He assumes the form of a Hindoo Brahmin, +terminating a life of wondrous holiness by self-cremation;--he appears +as Simon Magus and Helen of Tyre,--as Apollonius of Tyana, greatest of +all thaumaturgists, who claim superiority to Christ. All the marvels +related by Philostratus are embodied in the converse of Apollonius and +Damis. + + + THE GODS + +Hilarion reappears, taller than ever, growing more gigantic in +proportion to the increasing weakness of the Saint. Standing beside +Anthony he evokes all the deities of the antique world. They defile +before him a marvellous panorama;--Gods of Egypt and India, Chaldæa and +Hellas, Babylon and Ultima Thule,--monstrous and multiform, phallic and +ithyphallic, fantastic and obscene. Some intoxicate by their beauty; +others appal by their foulness. The Buddha recounts the story of his +wondrous life; Venus displays the rounded daintiness of her nudity; Isis +utters awful soliloquy. Lastly the phantom of Jehovah appears, as the +shadow of a god passing away for ever. + +Suddenly the stature of Hilarion towers to the stars; he assumes the +likeness and luminosity of Lucifer; he announces himself as-- + + + SCIENCE + +And Anthony is lifted upon mighty wings and borne away beyond the world, +above the solar system, above the starry arch of the Milky Way. All +future discoveries of Astronomy are revealed to him. He is tempted by +the revelation of innumerable worlds,--by the refutation of all his +previous ideas of the nature of the Universe,--by the enigmas of +infinity,--by all the marvels that conflict with faith. Even in the +night of the Immensity the demon renews the temptation of reason; +Anthony wavers upon the verge of pantheism. + + + LUST AND DEATH + +Anthony, abandoned by the Spirit of Science, comes to himself in the +desert. Then the Tempter returns under a two-fold aspect: as the Spirit +of Fornication and the Spirit of Destruction. The latter urges him to +suicide,--the former to indulgence of sense. They inspire him with +strong fancies of palingenesis, of the illusion of death, of the +continuity of life. The pantheistic temptation intensifies. + + + THE MONSTERS + +Anthony in reveries meditates upon the monstrous symbols painted upon +the walls of certain ancient temples. Could he know their meaning he +might learn also something of the secret lien between Matter and +Thought. Forthwith a phantasmagoria of monsters commence to pass before +his eyes:--the Sphinx and the Chimera, the Blemmyes and Astomi, the +Cynocephali and all creatures of mythologic creation. He beholds the +fabulous beings of Oriental imagining,--the abnormities described by +Pliny and Herodotus,--the fantasticalities to be adopted later by +heraldry,--the grotesqueries of future mediæval illumination made +animate;--the goblinries and foulnesses of superstitious fancy,--the +Witches' Sabbath of abominations. + + + METAMORPHOSIS + +The multitude of monsters melts away; the land changes into an Ocean; +the creatures of the briny abysses appear. And the waters in turn also +change; seaweeds are transformed to herbs, forests of coral give place +to forests of trees, polypous life changes to vegetation. Metals +crystallize; frosts effloresce, plants become living things, inanimate +matter takes animate form, monads vibrate, the pantheism of nature makes +itself manifest. Anthony feels a delirious desire to unite himself with +the Spirit of Universal Being.... + +The vision vanishes. The sun arises. The face of Christ is revealed. The +temptation has passed; Anthony kneels in prayer. + + L. H. + + + + + VIII + + BOOKS ABOUT HEARN + + (Nos. 283-284) + + + No. 283. + +1906. THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF LAFCADIO HEARN. By Elizabeth Bisland. With +Illustrations. In two volumes. (Publisher's Vignette.) Boston and New +York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company (The Riverside Press, Cambridge), +1906. + +8vo., 2 vols., pp. (VIII), 475, 554, black cloth, Japanese characters on +small red disc, gold lettering, gilt top. + + Volume I. + (V-VIII) Preface by E. B. + +Contents:-- + + Introductory Sketch + I. Boyhood + II. The Artist's Apprenticeship + III. The Master Workman + IV. The Last Stage + + Letters + + List of Illustrations. + + Volume II. + + List of Illustrations. + + Letters (continued) + + Pages 519-529 Appendix. + + Pages 533-554 Index. + + +Articles and Reviews:-- + _Academy, The_, January 26, 1907, vol. 72, p. 88. + _Athenæum, The_, February 2, 1907, p. 126. + _Current Literature_, January, 1907, vol. 42, p. 49. Dunbar, Olivia + Howard, + _North American Review_, February 15, 1907, vol. 184, p. 417. + Greenslet, Ferris, + _Atlantic Monthly_, February, 1907, vol. 99, p. 261. Godkin, F. W., + _The Dial_, December 16, 1906, vol. 41, p. 447. Huneker, James, + _New York Times, The_, December 1, 1906, vol. 11, p. 817. + _Nation, The_, November 29, 1906, vol. 83, p. 464. + _New York Evening Post, The_, December 1, 1906. + _New York Tribune, The_, December 5, 1906. Tunison, J. S., + _Dayton (Ohio) Journal, The_, December 25, 1906. + + + No. 284. + +1907. LETTERS FROM THE RAVEN, being the Correspondence of Lafcadio Hearn +with Henry Watkin, with Introduction and critical comment by the editor, +Milton Bronner. (Vignette drawing of the Raven.) New York: Brentano's, +1907. + +12mo., pp. 201, half cloth brown. Ornamental black and gold back, gilt +top. + +Contents:-- + +Introduction Letters from the Raven Letters to a Lady Letters of Ozias +Midwinter + + * * * * * + + + + + IX + + ARTICLES AND CRITICAL REVIEWS ABOUT HEARN + + (Nos. 285-388) + + +ACADEMY, The + + No. 285. A review of "Gleanings in Buddha-Fields," November 13, + 1897, vol. 52, p. 395. + + No. 286. "Koizumi Yakumo--Lafcadio Hearn," by N. C., April 13, 1901, + vol. 60, p. 328. + + No. 287. Sketch and list of works, October 8, 1904, vol. 67, p. 305. + + No. 288. A review of "Japan: an Attempt at Interpretation," by W. + Teignmouth Shore, December 10, 1904, vol. 67, p. 584. + + No. 289. A review of "The Romance of the Milky Way," December 2, + 1905, vol. 69, p. 1257. + + No. 290. A review of "The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn," + January 26, 1907, vol. 72, p. 88. + + +AMENOMORI, NOBUSHIGE + + No. 291. _Atlantic Monthly_, "Lafcadio Hearn, the Man," October, + 1905, vol. 96, p. 510. + + +AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY, The + + No. 292. A review of "Japan: an Attempt at Interpretation," by + Edmund Buckley, of the University of Chicago, January, 1905, + vol. 10, p. 545. + + +AMERICAN MONTHLY REVIEW OF REVIEWS, The + + No. 293. "Lafcadio Hearn, Interpretator of Japan," November, 1904, + vol. 30, p. 561. + + +ATHENÆUM, The + + No. 294. A review of "Youma," August 30, 1890, p. 284. + + No. 295. A review of "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan," November 10, + 1894, p. 634. + + No. 296. A review of "Out of the East," August 24, 1895, p. 249. + + No. 297. A review of "Kokoro," August 8, 1896, p. 185. + + No. 298. A review of "Gleanings in Buddha-Fields," November 13, + 1897, p. 664. + + No. 299. A review of "Exotics and Retrospectives," January 6, 1900, + p. 11. + + No. 300. A review of "Shadowings," January 5, 1901, p. 15. + + No. 301. A review of "A Japanese Miscellany," December 21, 1901, p. + 833. + + No. 302. A review of "Kottô," January 17, 1903, p. 77. + + No. 303. A review of "Kwaidan," September 17, 1904, p. 373. + + No. 304. A review of "The Romance of the Milky Way," March 31, 1906, + p. 389. + + No. 305. A review of "The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn," + February 2, 1907, p. 126. + + +ATLANTIC MONTHLY, The + + No. 306. A review of "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan," and "Out of the + East," by Mrs. M. McN. Scott, June, 1895, vol. 75, p. 830. + + No. 307. A review of "In Ghostly Japan," by Jukichi Inouye, + September, 1900, vol. 86, p. 399. + + No. 308. "Lafcadio Hearn: The Meeting of Three Ways," by Paul Elmer + More, February, 1903, vol. 91, p. 204. + + No. 309. A review of "Kwaidan," June, 1904, vol. 93, p. 857. + + No. 291. "Lafcadio Hearn: the Man," by Nobushige Amenomori, October, + 1905, vol. 96, p. 510. + + No. 310. "Lafcadio Hearn," by Ferris Greenslet, February, 1907, vol. + 99, p. 261. + + +AUTHOR, The + + No. 311. Sketch by O. P. Caylor (Reprinted from an article in the + _Philadelphia North American_), January 15, 1890, vol. 2, p. 51. + + +BOOKBUYER, The + + No. 312. "Lafcadio Hearn," by J. S. Tunison, May, 1896, vol. 13, p. + 209. + + No. 313. A review of "Kokoro," by Tozo Takayanagi, May, 1896, vol. + 13, p. 229. + + No. 314. "Through the Medium of a Temperament," by John Harrison + Wagner, June, 1898, vol. 16, p. 437. + + No. 315. A review of "Kottô," December, 1902, vol. 25, p. 416. + + +BOOKMAN, The + + No. 316. A review of "Shadowings," by F. T. C., February, 1901, vol. + 12, p. 582. + + No. 317. A review of "Kwaidan," November, 1904, vol. 20, p. 159. + + No. 318. "The Late Lafcadio Hearn," November, 1904, vol. 20, p. 190. + + +BUCKLEY, EDMUND + + No. 292. _The American Journal of Sociology_, a review of "Japan: an + Attempt at Interpretation," January, 1905, vol. 10, P. 545. + + +CAYLOR, O. P. + + No. 311. _The Author_, January 15, 1890, vol. 2, p. 51. + + +CHAUTAUQUAN, The + + No. 319. Short Sketch of Hearn, and reprints "Fragment," + "Juiroku-zakura," "Riki-Baka," "Yuki-Onna," "The Screen Maiden," + September, 1905, vol. 42, p. 245. + + +CHICAGO EVENING POST, The + + No. 320. "Lafcadio Hearn," by Francis Hackett. + + +COCKERILL, COLONEL JOHN A. + + No. 321. _Current Literature_, "Lafcadio Hearn: the author of + 'Kokoro.'" (Reprinted from the New York _Herald_.) June, 1896, + vol. 19, p. 476. + + +COLEMAN, JR., CHARLES W. + + No. 322. _Harper's Monthly_, "The Recent Movement in Southern + Literature," May, 1887, vol. 74, p. 855. + + +CRITIC, The + + No. 323. A review of "Gleanings in Buddha-Fields," April 9, 1898, + vol. 29, p. 248. + + No. 324. "Mr. Hearn's Japanese Shadowings," by Adachi Kinnosuké, + January, 1901, vol. 38, p. 29. + + No. 325. "Lafcadio Hearn's Funeral," by Margaret Emerson, January, + 1905, vol. 46, p. 34. + + No. 326. A review of "Japan: an Attempt at Interpretation," by Wm. + Elliot Griffis, February, 1905, vol. 46, p. 185. + + No. 327. "Hearn's Stories of Old Japan," by W. E. Griffis, March, + 1906, vol. 48, p. 222. + + No. 328. "Letters of a Poet to a Musician," by Henry E. Krehbiel, + April, 1906, vol. 48, p. 309. + + +CURRENT LITERATURE + + No. 321. "Lafcadio Hearn: the author of 'Kokoro,'" by Colonel John + A. Cockerill. (Reprinted from the New York _Herald_.) June, + 1896, vol. 19, p. 476. + + No. 329. "A Glimpse of Lafcadio Hearn," October, 1899, vol. 26, p. + 310. + + No. 330. "Lafcadio Hearn: a Dreamer," by Yone Noguchi. (Reprinted + from the _National Magazine_.) June, 1905, vol. 38, p. 521. + + No. 331. "The Mystic Dream of Lafcadio Hearn," January, 1907, vol. + 42, p. 49. + + +DAYTON, OHIO, JOURNAL, The + + No. 332. Editorial on Lafcadio Hearn, September 30, 1904. + + No. 333. "Lafcadio Hearn," by J. S. Tunison, December 25, 1906. + + +DIAL, The + + No. 334. A review of "Exotics and Retrospectives," July 16, 1899, + vol. 27, p. 52. + + No. 335. A review of "Shadowings," January 1, 1901, vol. 30, p. 19. + + No. 336. A review of "Japan: an Attempt at Interpretation," by Wm. + Elliot Griffis, December 1, 1904, vol. 36, p. 368. + + No. 337. A review of "The Romance of the Milky Way," November 1, + 1905, vol. 39, p. 276. + + No. 338. "Self-Revelation of Lafcadio Hearn," by F. W. Godkin, + December 16, 1906, vol. 41, p. 447. + + +DUNBAR, OLIVIA HOWARD + + No. 339. _North American Review_, a review of "The Life and Letters + of Lafcadio Hearn," February 15, 1907, vol. 184, p. 417. + + +EMERSON, MARGARET + + No. 325. _The Critic_, "Lafcadio Hearn's Funeral," January, 1905, + vol. 46, p. 34. + + +EVENING SUN, The New York + + No. 340. "A Native's Tribute to the Dead American Poet of Japan," + November 11, 1904. + + +EVENING POST, The New York + + No. 341. A review of "The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn," + December 1, 1906. + + +EVENING TRANSCRIPT, The Boston + + No. 342. A review of "Chita," November 2, 1889. + + +F. T. C. + + No. 316. _The Bookman_, a review of "Shadowings," February, 1901, + vol. 12, p. 582. + + +FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW, The + + No. 343. "Lafcadio Hearn: a Study of his Personality and Art," by + George M. Gould, October-November, 1906, vol. 86, pp. 685, 881. + + +GODKIN, F. W. + + No. 338. _The Dial_, "Self-Revelation of Lafcadio Hearn," December + 16, 1906, vol. 41, p. 447. + + +GOULD, GEORGE M. + + No. 343. _Putnam's Monthly_, "Lafcadio Hearn: a Study of his + Personality and Art," October-November, 1906, vol. 1, pp. 97, + 156. The Same, _Fortnightly Review_, October-November, 1906, + vol. 86, pp.685, 881. + + +GREENSLET, FERRIS + + No. 310. _Atlantic Monthly_, "Lafcadio Hearn," February, 1907, vol. + 99, p. 261. + + +GRIFFIS, WILLIAM ELLIOT + + No. 336. _The Dial_, a review of "Japan: an Attempt at + Interpretation," December 1, 1904, vol. 36, p. 308. + + No. 326. _The Critic_, a review of "Japan: an Attempt at + Interpretation," February, 1905, vol. 46, p. 185. + + No. 327. _The Critic_, "Hearn's Stories of Old Japan," March, 1906, + vol. 48, p. 222. + + +HACKETT, FRANCIS + + No. 320. Chicago _Evening Post_, "Lafcadio Hearn." + + +HARPER'S MONTHLY + + No. 322. "The Recent Movement in Southern Literature," by Charles W. + Coleman, Jr., May, 1887, vol. 74, p. 855. + + +HUNEKER, JAMES + + No. 344. The New York _Times_, "Exotic Lafcadio Hearn: The Life and + Letters of a Master of Nuance--Elizabeth Bisland's Sympathetic + Biography," December 1, 1906, vol. 11, p. 817. + + +HUTSON, CHARLES WOODWARD + + No. 345. _Poet-Lore_ "The English of Lafcadio Hearn," Spring, 1905, + vol. 16, p. 53. + + +INDEPENDENT, The + + No. 346. A review of "Gleanings in Buddha-Fields," November 24, + 1898, vol. 50, p. 1508. + + No. 347. "An Interpreter of the East" (A review of "Japan: an + Attempt at Interpretation"), October 27, 1904, vol. 57, p. 976. + + No. 348. A review of "The Romance of the Milky Way," December 21, + 1905, vol. 59, p. 1478. + + +INOUYE, JUKICHI + + No. 307. _Atlantic Monthly_, a review of "In Ghostly Japan," + September, 1900, vol. 86, p. 399. + + +INTERNATIONAL STUDIO, The + + No. 349. A review of "Stories and Sketches of Japan," 1905, vol. 25, + p. XL. + + +KENNARD, NINA H. + + No. 350. _Nineteenth Century and After_, "Lafcadio Hearn," January, + 1906, vol. 59, p. 135. + + +KINNOSUKÉ, ADACHI + + No. 324. _The Critic_, "Mr. Hearn's Japanese Shadowings," January, + 1901, vol. 38, p. 29. + + +KREHBIEL, HENRY E. + + No. 328. _The Critic_, "Letters of a Poet to a Musician," April, + 1906, vol. 48, p. 309. + + No. 351. The New York _Tribune_, "Hearn and Folk-Lore Music." + + +LITERARY WORLD, The + + No. 352. A review of "The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard," February 15, + 1890, vol. 21, p. 59. + + No. 353. A review of "One of Cleopatra's Nights," February 14, 1891, + vol. 22, p. 56. + + No. 354. A review of "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan," October 20, + 1894, vol. 25, p. 347. + + No. 355. A review of "Out of the East," April 20, 1895, vol. 26, p. + 123. + + No. 356. A review of "Kokoro," April 18, 1896, vol. 27, p. 116. + + No. 357. A review of "Gleanings in Buddha-Fields," November 13, + 1897, vol. 28, p. 389. + + No. 358. A review of "A Japanese Miscellany," December 1, 1901, vol. + 32, p. 207. + + +LIVING AGE, The + + No. 359. "Lafcadio Hearn," by Robert Young, March 23, 1907, vol. + 252, p. 760. (Reprinted from the _Speaker_.) + + +MATHER, JR., F. J. + + No. 360. _The Nation_, "Lafcadio Hearn on Style" (editorial), + December 6, 1906, vol. 83, p. 478. + + +MESSENGER, The + + No. 361. "Mr. Lafcadio Hearn on the Jesuit Missions in Japan," by + Herbert Thurston, S. J., January, 1906, vol. 45, p. 1. + + +MORE, PAUL ELMER + + No. 308. _Atlantic Monthly_, "Lafcadio Hearn: the Meeting of Three + Ways," February, 1903, vol. 91, p. 204. + + +NATION, The + + No. 362. A review of "Gombo Zhèbes," April 23, 1885, vol. 40, p. + 349. + + No. 363. A review of "Some Chinese Ghosts," May 26, 1887, vol. 44, + p. 456. + + No. 364. A review of "Youma," May 7, 1891, vol. 52, p. 385. + + No. 365. A review of "Kokoro," July 9, 1896, vol. 63, p. 35. + + No. 366. A review of "Gleanings in Buddha-Fields," February 3, 1898, + vol. 66, p. 97. + + No. 367. A review of "Shadowings," November 8, 1900, vol. 71, p. + 372. + + No. 368. A review of "A Japanese Miscellany," January 9, 1902, vol. + 74, p. 39. + + No. 369. A review of "Kottô," March 26, 1903, vol. 76, p. 254. + + No. 370. A review of "Japan: an Attempt at Interpretation," December + 8, 1904, vol. 79, p. 465. + + No. 371. A review of "Stories and Sketches of Japan," January 26, + 1905, vol. 80, p. 68. + + No. 372. A review of "The Romance of the Milky Way," December 21, + 1905, vol. 81, p. 510. + + No. 373. A review of "The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn," + November 29, 1906, vol. 83, p. 464. + + No. 360. "Lafcadio Hearn on Style" (editorial), by F. J. Mather, + Jr., December 6, 1906, vol. 83, p. 478. + + +NINETEENTH CENTURY AND AFTER, The + + No. 350. "Lafcadio Hearn," by Nina H. Kennard, January, 1906, vol. + 59, p. 135. + + +NOGUCHI, YONE + + No. 330. _Current Literature_, "Lafcadio Hearn: a Dreamer." + (Reprinted from the _National Magazine_.) June, 1905, vol. 38, + p. 521. + + +NORTH AMERICAN, The + + No. 339. A review of "The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn," by + Olivia Howard Dunbar, February 15, 1907, vol. 184, p. 417. + + +OUTLOOK, The + + No. 374. A review of "Gleanings in Buddha-Fields," October 16, 1897, + vol. 57, p. 435. + + No. 375. A review of "The Romance of the Milky Way," November 9, + 1906, vol. 84, p. 503. + + +POET-LORE + + No. 345. "The English of Lafcadio Hearn," by Charles Woodward + Hutson, Spring, 1905, vol. 16, p. 53. + + +PUBLIC OPINION + + No. 376. A review of "Gleanings in Buddha-Fields," November 25, + 1897, vol. 23, p. 694. + + No. 377. A review of "Shadowings," October 18, 1900, vol. 29, p. + 504. + + No. 378. A review of "Japan: an Attempt at Interpretation," October + 27, 1904. vol. 37, p. 537. + + +PUTNAM'S MONTHLY + + No. 343. "Lafcadio Hearn: A Study of his Personality and Art," by + George M. Gould, October-November, 1906, vol. I, pp. 97, 156. + + +SCOTT, MRS. M. MCN. + + No. 306. _Atlantic Monthly_, a review of "Glimpses of Unfamiliar + Japan," and "Out of the East," June, 1895, vol. 75, p. 830. + + +SHORE, W. TEIGNMOUTH + + No. 288. _Academy_, a review of "Japan: an Attempt at + Interpretation," December 10, 1904, vol. 67, p. 584. + + +SPECTATOR, The + + No. 379. A review of "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan," November 17, + 1894, vol. 73, p. 698. + + No. 380. A review of "Out of the East," October 12, 1895, vol. 75, + p.459. + + No. 381. A review of "Kokoro," May 23, 1896, vol. 76, p. 739. + + No. 382. A review of "Gleanings in Buddha-Fields," November 20, + 1897, vol. 79, p. 736. + + No. 383. A review of "Japan: an Attempt at Interpretation," January + 14, 1905, vol. 94, p. 54. + + TAKAYANAGI, TOZO + + No. 313. _The Book Buyer_, a review of "Kokoro," May, 1896, vol. 13, + p. 229. + + +THURSTON, S. J., Herbert + + No. 361. _The Messenger_, "Mr. Lafcadio Hearn on the Jesuit Missions + in Japan," January, 1906, vol. 45, p. 1. + + +TIMES-DEMOCRAT, The New Orleans + + No. 384. "A Strange Career," August 5, 1906. + + No. 385. "Lafcadio Hearn and His Friends," August 20, 1906. + + No. 386. "Silken Fetters," May 26, 1907. + + +TIMES, The New York + + No. 387. A review of "Two Years in the French West Indies," + September 1, 1890. + + No. 344. "Exotic Lafcadio Hearn: The Life and Letters of a Master of + Nuance--Elizabeth Bisland's Sympathetic Biography," by James + Huneker, December 1, 1906, vol. 11, p. 817. + + +TRIBUNE, The New York + + No. 388. A review of "The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn," + December 5, 1906. + + No. 351. "Hearn and Folk-Lore Music," by H. E. Krehbiel. + + +TUNISON, J. S. + + No. 312. _The Book Buyer_, "Lafcadio Hearn," May, 1896, vol. 13, p. + 209. + + No. 333. _The Dayton (Ohio) Journal_, "Lafcadio Hearn," December 25, + 1906. + + +WAGNER, JOHN HARRISON + + No. 314. _The Book Buyer_, "Through the Medium of a Temperament," + June, 1898, vol. 16, p. 437. + + +YOUNG, ROBERT + + No. 359. _The Living Age_, "Lafcadio Hearn," March 23, 1907, vol. + 252, p. 760. + + * * * * * + + + + + X + + FOREIGN ARTICLES AND CRITICAL REVIEWS UPON HEARN + + (Nos. 389-398) + + + DANISH + +NYA PRESSEN + + No. 389. "Ur en författares lif," af Konni Zilliacus, February 2, + 1899. + + + FRENCH + +BENTZON, TH. + + No. 390. _Revue des deux Mondes_, "Un Peintre du Japon: Lafcadio + Hearn,"[45] June 1, 1904, vol. 21, p. 556. + + +CAHIERS DE LA QUINZAINE + + No. 391. "Impressions sur la vie japonaise," par Félicien Challayé, + June, 1902, 3rd Series, 17th Cahier. + + +CHALLAYÉ, FÉLICIEN + + No. 391. _Cahiers de la quinzaine_, "Impressions sur la vie + japonaise," June, 1902, 3rd Series, 17th Cahier. + + No. 392. _Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale_. "Un Philosophe + japonisant, Lafcadio Hearn,"[45] 1903, vol. 11, p. 338. + + No. 393. _Revue de Paris_, "Lafcadio Hearn et le Japon,"[45] + December 1, 1904, vol. 6, p. 655. + + [45] Translations by M. B. Easton, unpublished, in MSS., + in the possession of Dr. Gould. + + +REVUE DES DEUX MONDES + + No. 390. "Un Peintre du Japon: 'Lafcadio Hearn,'"[45] par Th. + Bentzon, June 1, 1904, vol. 21, p. 556. + + +REVUE DE MÉTAPHYSIQUE ET DE MORALE + + No. 392. "Un Philosophe japonisant, Lafcadio Hearn,"[45] par + Félicien Challayé, 1903, vol. 11, p. 338. + + +REVUE DE PARIS + + No. 393. "Lafcadio Hearn et le Japon,"[45] par Félicien Challayé, + December 1, 1904, vol. 6, p. 655. + + + GERMAN + +BRANDT, M. VON + + No. 394. _Deutsche Rundschau_ "Lafcadio Hearn: Volksglaube und + Volkssitte in Japan," October, 1900, vol. 105, p. 68. + + +DEUTSCHE RUNDSCHAU + + No. 394. "Lafcadio Hearn: Volksglaube und Volkssitte in Japan," von + M. von Brandt, October, 1900, vol. 105, p. 68. + + + HERZOG, WILHELM + + No. 395. _Die Nation_, a review of "Kokoro,"[45] January 6, 1906, + vol. 23, p. 217. + + + HIRN, PROFESSOR YRIÖ + + No. 396. _Neue Freie Presse_, "Lafcadio Hearn," March 26, 1905, vol. + 31, p. 14580. + + + NATION, Die + + No. 395. A review of "Kokoro,"[45] von Wilhelm Herzog, January 6, + 1906, vol. 23, p. 217. + + + NEUE FREIE PRESSE + + No. 396. "Lafcadio Hearn," von Professor Yrjö Hirn, March 26, 1905, + vol. 31, p. 14580. + + + WAGE, Die + + No. 397. "Ein englischer Japaner," von Th. Bentzon. (Deutsche von + Leo Fried.) A condensation of Mme. Bentzon's article in _Revue + des deux Mondes_. October 22-29, 1904, Year 7, Nr. 43, 44, pp. + 987, 1001. + + + SWEDISH + +HIRN, MRS. KARIN + + No. 398. _Ord od Bild_, 1905. + + + ORD OD BILD + + No. 398. Mrs. Karin Hirn, 1905. + + * * * * * + + + + + XI + + SUPPLEMENTAL LIST + + (Nos. 399-424) + + + No. 399. The Last of the New Orleans Fencing Masters, _Southern + Bivouac_, Louisville, Ky., New Series, vol. 2, Nov., 1886. + +Speaks of the Story of Jean Louis, from Vigeant's _Un Maître d'armes + sous la restauration_, and tells the tale of Don José Llulla. Six + double column, 8vo. pages, size and style of _Atlantic Monthly_. + +No. 400. The Legend of Skobeleff. Looks like an editorial in + T.-D.[46] (No date, etc.) + + [47] The New Orleans _Times-Democrat_. + +No. 401. A Voudoo Dance. In style of T.-D. and of Hearn; unsigned, + undated, was evidently in T.-D. + +No. 402. The Future of France in the Orient. Editorial, doubtless in + T.-D., undated. + +No. 403. Pierre Loti. Translation by Hearn. "From the Original + Manuscript," signed by "Pierre Loti" and "Translated by Lafcadio + Hearn." Subheading: "Fragments from my Diary." Undated. Probably in + T.-D. + +No. 404. Death of the Great Danseuse of the Century. Unsigned and + undated. Not in type of editorial, but of contributed matter in + T.-D. Probably by Hearn. + +No. 405. The First Muezzin. With Arabic Sub-title, under which is + "Bilâl," and 15-line poetic excerpt from Edwin Arnold. Contains a + musical setting of Prayer by Villoteau, Description de l'Egypte: + Vol. XIV. Probably in T.-D. Without date, etc. + +No. 406. Dorodom the Last. Editorial, probably in T.-D. Undated. + +No. 407. The Naval Engagements of the Future. Translation from _Le + Figaro_. + +No. 408. Cable and the Negroes. Editorial, probably in T.-D. and by + Hearn. No date. + +No. 409. The Most Original of Modern Novelists (Loti). Editorial, + probably in T.-D. Undated. + +No. 410. Heroic Deeds at Sea. Editorial in T.-D. Undated. + +No. 411. Study and Play. Editorial in T.-D. Undated. + +No. 412. Arabian Women. Article contributed probably to T.-D. + Undated. + +No. 413. The Roar of a Great City. Editorial contributed probably to + T.-D. Undated. + +No. 414. Some Fossil Anthropology. Editorial probably by Hearn, and + probably in T.-D. Undated. + +No. 415. A Word for the Tramps. Editorial possibly by Hearn, and + probably in T.-D. + +No. 416. Torn Letters. Signed original story in T.-D. Undated. Later + enlarged and published as "Chita." + +No. 417. Death and Resurrection in the Soudan. Editorial, probably + in T.-D. Undated. + +No. 418. A Memory of Two Fannies (Fanny Elssler, and Fanny Cerrito). + Editorial, probably in T.-D. Undated. + +No. 419. Shapira. Editorial, probably in T.-D. Undated. + +No. 420. To the Fountain of Youth. Original, signed contribution: + T.-D., May 24, 1885. + +No. 421. The Creole Doctor. Some Curiosities of Medicine in + Louisiana. From an Occasional Correspondent of _The Tribune_, New + Orleans, Dec. 28th. Probably in New York _Tribune_. Undated. Signed + Contribution. + +No. 422. A Story of Hands. The Hand and its Gestures. Translation, + Eugene Mouton, "From advance sheets." Undated. + +No. 423. The Legend of the Tea-Plant. Original contribution, + probably to the T.-D. Undated. Published later in "Some Chinese + Ghosts," 1887. + +No. 424. Academical Triumphs. Editorial, probably by Hearn, T.-D., + Dec. 20, 1885. + + + + + RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, + BREAD STREET HILL, E.C., AND + BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. + + + + +Transcriber Notes: + +Some of the illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up +paragraphs and so they correspond to the text, thus the page number of +the illustration no longer matches the page number in the List of +Illustrations. + +Throughout the document, vowels having macrons in Japanese words are +indicated by vowels having circumflexes. For example, English word for +the Japanese capital (currently written in Japanese romanji as toukyou) +used to be written as Tokyo, but with macrons associated with each +letter "o". In this text the Japanese capital would be written as Tôkyô. + +On page 8, "ludricrous" was replaced with "ludicrous". + +On page 28, "Lokis'" was replaced with "Loki's". + +On page 55, "An E volutional History" was replaced with "An Evolutional +History". + +On page 56, the [OE] ligature was replaced with "OE". + +On page 85, "As, mine are" was replaced with "As mine are". + +On page 91, "it it incapable" was replaced with "it is incapable". + +On page 97, the single quotation mark after "What insect stings so!" was +changed to a double quotation mark. + +On page 129, "gnored" was replaced with "ignored". + +On page 133, "refocussed" was replaced with "refocused". + +On page 159, "la belle negrésse" was replaced with "la belle négresse". + +On page 188 through 190, there is a long quotation that is marked by a +single set of quotation marks, which differs than the quotation scheme +used elsewhere in the book. This inconsistency was not corrected. + +On page 236, a quotation mark was removed from before "His book is a +re-reading". + +On page 252, "Karin Kirn" was replaced with "Karin Hirn". + +On page 259, "n aye" was replaced with "n'aye". + +On page 278, the closing single quotation mark after "Madame Bovary" was +replaces with a closing double quotation mark. + +On page 286, in the item No. 277, the period after "Raynal" was replaced +with a comma, to be in agreement with the previous item. + +On page 293, in the item 307, "p." was added before the page number. + +On page 295, in the item 334, a quotation mark was added after "Exotics +and Retrospectives,". + +On page 295, in the item 341, a period was added after the date December +1, 1906. + +On page 298, in the item 366, a stray comma was deleted after the word +"February". + +On page 299, in the item 387, a single quotation mark was replaced with +a double quotation mark. + +On page 301, in the item 390, the unmatched quotation marks were +corrected. + +Sometimes, a single footnote had multiple links to it. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Concerning Lafcadio Hearn, by George M. 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