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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b05684e --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63256 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63256) diff --git a/old/63256-0.txt b/old/63256-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 11f194b..0000000 --- a/old/63256-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8637 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The American Diary of a Japanese Girl, by Yone Noguchi - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The American Diary of a Japanese Girl - -Author: Yone Noguchi - -Illustrator: Genjiro Yeto - -Release Date: September 21, 2020 [EBook #63256] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN DIARY OF A JAPANESE GIRL *** - - - - -Produced by ellinora, Barry Abrahamse, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - - -[Illustration] - - THE AMERICAN DIARY OF - A JAPANESE GIRL - - - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration: - - Drawn by Genjiro Yeto - THE GUEST OF HONOR -] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - The American Diary - of a Japanese Girl - - - BY MISS MORNING GLORY - - - Illustrated in colour and - in black-and-white - - - BY - - Genjiro Yeto - - - - ❦ - - - - NEW YORK - _Frederick A. Stokes Company_ - PUBLISHERS - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Copyright, 1901, by - Frank Leslie Publishing House. - - Copyright, 1902, by - Frederick A. Stokes Company. - ———— - All rights reserved. - - - - PUBLISHED IN SEPTEMBER, 1902. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - To Her Majesty - - HARUKO - - Empress of Japan - - - _January, 1902_ - -_Ever since my childhood, thy sovereign beauty has been all to me in -benevolence and inspiration._ - -_How often I watched thy august presence in happy amazement when thou -didst pass along our Tokio streets! What a sad sensation I had all -through me when thou wert just out of sight! If thou only knewest, I -prayed, that I was one of thy daughters! I set it in my mind, a long -time ago, that anything I did should be offered to our mother. =How I -wish I could say my own mother!= Mother art thou, heavenly lady!_ - -_I am now going to publish my simple diary of my American journey._ - -_And I humbly dedicate it unto thee, our beloved Empress, craving that -thou wilt condescend to acknowledge that one of thy daughters had some -charming hours even in a foreign land._ - - _Morning Glory_ - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - _List of Illustrations._ - - - “The guest of honour.” _Frontispiece._ - - “A new delight to catch the peeping tips 18 - of my shoes.” - - “Good night—Native land!” 20 - - “In Amerikey.” 32 - - “Such disobedient tools!” 50 - - “O ho, Japanese kimono!” 58 - - “So you like the Oriental woman?” 128 - - “How dare I swallow raw fishes!” 152 - - “Uncle, please count how many stories in 248 - that building.” - - Tail-piece 262 - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - BEFORE I SAILED - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - BEFORE I SAILED - - - TOKIO, Sept. 23rd - -My new page of life is dawning. - -A trip beyond the seas—Meriken Kenbutsu—it’s not an ordinary event. - -It is verily the first event in our family history that I could trace -back for six centuries. - -My to-day’s dream of America—dream of a butterfly sipping on golden -dews—was rudely broken by the artless chirrup of a hundred sparrows in -my garden. - -“Chui, chui! Chui, chui, chui!” - -Bad sparrows! - -My dream was silly but splendid. - -Dream is no dream without silliness which is akin to poetry. - -If my dream ever comes true! - - -24th—The song of gay children scattered over the street had subsided. -The harvest moon shone like a yellow halo of “Nono Sama.” All things in -blessed Mitsuho No Kuni—the smallest ant also—bathed in sweet inspiring -beams of beauty. The soft song that is not to be heard but to be felt, -was in the air. - -’Twas a crime, I judged, to squander lazily such a gracious graceful -hour within doors. - -I and my maid strolled to the Konpira shrine. - -Her red stout fingers—like sweet potatoes—didn’t appear so bad tonight, -for the moon beautified every ugliness. - -Our Emperor should proclaim forbidding woman to be out at any time -except under the moonlight. - -Without beauty woman is nothing. Face is the whole soul. I prefer death -if I am not given a pair of dark velvety eyes. - -What a shame even woman must grow old! - -One stupid wrinkle on my face would be enough to stun me. - -My pride is in my slim fingers of satin skin. - -I’ll carefully clean my roseate finger-nails before I’ll land in -America. - -Our wooden clogs sounded melodious, like a rhythmic prayer unto the sky. -Japs fit themselves to play music even with footgear. Every house with a -lantern at its entrance looked a shrine cherishing a thousand idols -within. - -I kneeled to the Konpira god. - -I didn’t exactly see how to address him, being ignorant what sort of god -he was. - -I felt thirsty when I reached home. Before I pulled a bucket from the -well, I peeped down into it. The moonbeams were beautifully stealing -into the waters. - -My tortoise-shell comb from my head dropped into the well. - -The waters from far down smiled, heartily congratulating me on going to -Amerikey. - - -25th—I thought all day long how I’ll look in ’Merican dress. - - -26th—My shoes and six pairs of silk stockings arrived. - -How I hoped they were Nippon silk! - -One pair’s value is 4 yens. - -Extravagance! How dear! - -I hardly see any bit of reason against bare feet. - -Well, of course, it depends on how they are shaped. - -A Japanese girl’s feet are a sweet little piece. Their flatness and -archlessness manifest their pathetic womanliness. - -Feet tell as much as palms. - -I have taken the same laborious care with my feet as with my hands. Now -they have to retire into the heavy constrained shoes of America. - -It’s not so bad, however, to slip one’s feet into gorgeous silk like -that. - -My shoes are of superior shape. They have a small high heel. - -I’m glad they make me much taller. - -A bamboo I set some three Summers ago cast its unusually melancholy -shadow on the round paper window of my room, and whispered, “Sara! Sara! -Sara!” - -It sounded to me like a pallid voice of sayonara. - -(By the way, the profuse tips of my bamboo are like the ostrich plumes -of my new American hat.) - -“Sayonara” never sounded before more sad, more thrilling. - -My good-bye to “home sweet home” amid the camellias and white -chrysanthemums is within ten days. The steamer “Belgic” leaves Yokohama -on the sixth of next month. My beloved uncle is chaperon during my -American journey. - - -27th—I scissored out the pictures from the ’Merican magazines. - -(The magazines were all tired-looking back numbers. New ones are -serviceable in their own home. Forgotten old actors stray into the -villages for an inglorious tour. So it is with the magazines. Only the -useless numbers come to Japan, I presume.) - -The pictures—Meriken is a country of woman; that’s why, I fancy, the -pictures are chiefly of woman—showed me how to pick up the long skirt. -That one act is the whole “business” of looking charming on the street. -I apprehend that the grace of American ladies is in the serpentine -curves of the figure, in the narrow waist. - -Woman is the slave of beauty. - -I applied my new corset to my body. I pulled it so hard. - -It pained me. - - -28th—My heart was a lark. - -I sang, but not in a trembling voice like a lark, some slices of school -song. - -I skipped around my garden. - -Because it occurred to me finally that I’ll appear beautiful in my new -costume. - -I smiled happily to the sunlight whose autumnal yellow flakes—how yellow -they were!—fell upon my arm stretched to pluck a chrysanthemum. - -I admit that my arm is brown. - -But it’s shapely. - - -29th—English of America—sir, it is light, unreserved and accessible—grew -dear again. My love of it returned like the glow in a brazier that I had -watched passionately, then left all the Summer days, and to which I -turned my apologetic face with Winter’s approaching steps. - -Oya, oya, my book of Longfellow under the heavy coat of dust! - -I dusted the book with care and veneration as I did a wee image of the -Lord a month ago. - -The same old gentle face of ’Merican poet—a poet need not always to -sing, I assure you, of tragic lamentation and of “far-beyond”—stared at -me from its frontispiece. I wondered if he ever dreamed his volume would -be opened on the tiny brown palms of a Japan girl. A sudden fancy came -to me as if he—the spirit of his picture—flung his critical impressive -eyes at my elaborate cue with coral-headed pin, or upon my face. - -Am I not a lovely young lady? - -I had thrown Longfellow, many months ago, on the top shelf where a grave -spider was encamping, and given every liberty to that reticent, -studious, silver-haired gentleman Mr. Moth to tramp around the -“Arcadie.” - -Mr. Moth ran out without giving his own “honourable” impression of the -popular poet, when I let the pages flutter. - -Large fatherly poet he is, but not unique. Uniqueness, however, has -become commonplace. - -Poet of “plain” plainness is he—plainness in thought and colour. Even -his elegance is plain enough. - -I must read Mr. Longfellow again as I used a year ago reclining in the -Spring breeze,—“A Psalm of Life,” “The Village Blacksmith,” and half a -dozen snatches from “Evangeline” or “The Song of Hiawatha” at the least. -That is not because I am his devotee—I confess the poet of my taste -isn’t he—but only because he is a great idol of American ladies, as I am -often told, and I may suffer the accusation of idiocy in America, if I -be not charming enough to quote lines from his work. - - -30th—Many a year I have prayed for something more decent than a marriage -offer. - -I wonder if the generous destiny that will convey me to the illustrious -country of “woman first” isn’t the “something.” - -I am pleased to sail for Amerikey, being a woman. - -Shall I have to become “naturalized” in America? - -The Jap “gentleman”—who desires the old barbarity—persists still in -fancying that girls are trading wares. - -When he shall come to understand what is Love! - -Fie on him! - -I never felt more insulted than when I was asked in marriage by one -unknown to me. - -No Oriental man is qualified for civilisation, I declare. - -Educate man, but—beg your pardon—not the woman! - -Modern gyurls born in the enlightened period of Meiji are endowed with -quite a remarkable soul. - -I act as I choose. I haven’t to wait for my mamma’s approval to laugh -when I incline to. - - -Oct. 1st—I stole into the looking-glass—woman loses almost her delight -in life if without it—for the last glimpse of my hair in Japan style. - -Butterfly mode! - -I’ll miss it adorning my small head, while I’m away from home. - -I have often thought that Japanese display Oriental rhetoric—only -oppressive rhetoric that palsies the spirit—in hair dressing. Its beauty -isn’t animation. - -I longed for another new attraction on my head. - -I felt sad, however, when I cut off all the paper cords from my hair. - -I dreaded that the American method of dressing the hair might change my -head into an absurd little thing. - -My lengthy hair languished over my shoulders. - -I laid me down on the bamboo porch in the pensive shape of a mermaid -fresh from the sea. - -The sportive breezes frolicked with my hair. They must be mischievous -boys of the air. - -I thought the reason why Meriken coiffure seemed savage and without art -was mainly because it prized more of natural beauty. - -Naturalness is the highest of all beauties. - -Sayo shikaraba! - -Let me learn the beauty of American freedom, starting with my hair! - -Are you sure it’s not slovenliness? - -Woman’s slovenliness is only forgiven where no gentleman is born. - - -2nd—Occasional forgetfulness, I venture to say, is one of woman’s -charms. - -But I fear too many lapses in my case fill the background. - -I amuse myself sometimes fancying whether I shall forget my husband’s -name (if I ever have one). - -How shall I manage “shall” and “will”? My memory of it is faded. - -I searched for a printed slip, “How to use Shall and Will.” I pressed to -explore even the pantry after it. - -Afterward I recalled that Professor asserted that Americans were not -precise in grammar. The affirmation of any professor isn’t weighty -enough. But my restlessness was cured somehow. - - * * * * * - -“This must be the age of Jap girls!” I ejaculated. - -I was reading a paper on our bamboo land, penned by Mr. Somebody. - -The style was inferior to Irving’s. - -I have read his gratifying “Sketch Book.” I used to sleep holding it -under my wooden pillow. - -Woman feels happy to stretch her hand even in dream, and touch something -that belongs to herself. “Sketch Book” was my child for many, many -months. - -Mr. Somebody has lavished adoring words over my sisters. - -Arigato! Thank heavens! - -If he didn’t declare, however, that “no sensible musume will prefer a -foreign raiment to her kimono!” - -He failed to make of me a completely happy nightingale. - -Shall I meet the Americans in our flapping gown? - -I imagined myself hitting off a tune of “Karan Coron” with clogs, in -circumspect steps, along Fifth Avenue of somewhere. The throng swarmed -around me. They tugged my silken sleeves, which almost swept the ground, -and inquired, “How much a yard?” Then they implored me to sing some -Japanese ditty. - -I’ll not play any sensational rôle for any price. - -Let me remain a homely lass, though I express no craft in Meriken dress. - -Do I look shocking in a corset? - -“In Pekin you have to speak Makey Hey Rah” is my belief. - - -3rd—My hand has seldom lifted anything weightier than a comb to adjust -my hair flowing down my neck. - -The “silver” knife (large and sharp enough to fight the Russians) -dropped and cracked a bit of the rim of the big plate. - -My hand tired. - -My uncle and I were seated at a round table in a celebrated American -restaurant, the “Western Sea House.” - -It was my first occasion to face an orderly heavy Meriken table d’hote. - -Its fertile taste was oily, the oppressive smell emetic. - -Must I make friends with it? - -I am afraid my small stomach is only fitted for a bowl of rice and a few -cuts of raw fish. - -There is nothing more light, more inviting, than Japanese fare. It is -like a sweet Summer villa with many a sliding shoji from which you smile -into the breeze and sing to the stars. - -Lightness is my choice. - -When, I wondered, could I feel at home with American food! - -My uncle is a Meriken “toow.” He promised to show me a heap of things in -America. - -He is an 1884 Yale graduate. He occupies the marked seat of the chief -secretary of the “Nippon Mining Company.” He has procured leave for one -year. - - * * * * * - -What were the questionable-looking fragments on the plate? - -Pieces with pock-marks! - -Cheese was their honourable name. - -My uncle scared me by saying that some “charming” worms resided in them. - -Pooh, pooh! - -They emitted an annoying smell. You have to empty the choicest box of -tooth powder after even the slightest intercourse with them. - -I dare not make their acquaintance—no, not for a thousand yens. - -I took a few of them in my pocket papers merely as a curiosity. - -Shall I hang them on the door, so that the pest may not come near to our -house? - -(Even the pest-devils stay away from it, you see.) - - -4th—The “Belgic” makes one day’s delay. She will leave on the seventh. - -“Why not one week?” I cried. - -I pray that I may sleep a few nights longer in my home. I grow sadder, -thinking of my departure. - -My mother shouldn’t come to the Meriken wharf. Her tears may easily stop -my American adventure. - -I and my maid went to our Buddhist monastery. - -I offered my good-bye to the graves of my grandparents. I decked them -with elegant bunches of chrysanthemums. - -When we turned our steps homeward the snowy-eyebrowed monk—how unearthly -he appeared!—begged me not to forget my family’s church while I am in -America. - -“Christians are barbarians. They eat beef at funerals,” he said. - -His voice was like a chant. - -The winds brought a gush of melancholy evening prayer from the temple. - -The tolling of the monastery bell was tragic. - -“Goun! Goun! Goun!” - - -5th—A “chin koro” barked after me. - -The Japanese little doggie doesn’t know better. He has to encounter many -a strange thing. - -The tap of my shoes was a thrill to him. The rustling of my silk -skirt—such a volatile sound—sounded an alarm to him. - -I was hurrying along the road home from uncle’s in Meriken dress. - -What a new delight I felt to catch the peeping tips of my shoes from -under my trailing koshi goromo. - -I forced my skirt to wave, coveting a more satisfactory glance. - -Did I look a suspicious character? - -I was glad, it amused me to think the dog regarded me as a foreign girl. - -Oh, how I wished to change me into a different style! Change is so -pleasing. - -My imitation was clever. It succeeded. - -When I entered my house my maid was dismayed and said: - -“Bikkuri shita! You terrified me. I took you for an ijin from Meriken -country.” - -“Ho, ho! O ho, ho, ho!” - -I passed gracefully (like a princess making her triumphant exit in the -fifth act) into my chamber, leaving behind my happiest laughter and shut -myself up. - - -[Illustration: - - Drawn by Genjiro Yeto - “A NEW DELIGHT TO CATCH THE PEEPING TIPS OF MY SHOES” -] - - -I confess that I earned the most delicious moment I have had for a long -time. - -I cannot surrender under the accusation that Japs are _only_ imitators, -but I admit that we Nippon daughters are suited to be mimics. - -Am I not gifted in the adroit art? - -Where’s Mr. Somebody who made himself useful to warn the musumes? - -Then I began to rehearse the scene of my first interview with a white -lady at San Francisco. - -I opened Bartlett’s English Conversation Book, and examined it to see if -what I spoke was correct. - -I sat on the writing table. Japanese houses set no chairs. - -(Goodness, mottainai! I sat on the great book of Confucius.) - -The mirror opposite me showed that I was a “little dear.” - - -6th—It rained. - -Soft, woolen Autumn rain like a gossamer! - -Its suggestive sound is a far-away song which is half sob, half odor. -The October rain is sweet sad poetry. - -I slid open a paper door. - -My house sits on the hill commanding a view over half Tokio and the Bay -of Yedo. - -My darling city—with an eternal tea and cake, with lanterns of -festival—looked up to me through the gray veil of rain. - -I felt as if Tokio were bidding me farewell. - -Sayonara! My dear city! - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -[Illustration: - - GOOD NIGHT—NATIVE LAND! -] - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ON THE OCEAN - - “BELGIC,” 7th - - Good night—native land! - Farewell, beloved Empress of Dai Nippon! - - -12th—The tossing spectacle of the waters (also the hostile smell of the -ship) put my head in a whirl before the “Belgic” left the wharf. - -The last five days have been a continuous nightmare. How many a time -would I have preferred death! - -My little self wholly exhausted by sea-sickness. Have I to drift to -America in skin and bone? - -I felt like a paper flag thrown in a tempest. - -The human being is a ridiculously small piece. Nature plays with it and -kills it when she pleases. - -I cannot blame Balboa for his fancy, because he caught his first view -from the peak in Darien. - -It’s not the “Pacific Ocean.” The breaker of the world! - -“Do you feel any better?” inquired my fellow passenger. - -He is the new minister to the City of Mexico on his way to his post. My -uncle is one of his closest friends. - -What if Meriken ladies should mistake me for the “sweet” wife of such a -shabby pock-marked gentleman? - -It will be all right, I thought, for we shall part at San Francisco. - -(The pock-mark is rare in America, Uncle said. No country has a special -demand for it, I suppose.) - -His boyish carelessness and samurai-fashioned courtesy are -characteristic. His great laugh, “Ha, ha, ha!” echoes on half a mile. - -He never leaves his wine glass alone. My uncle complains of his empty -stomach. - -The more the minister repeats his cup the more his eloquence rises on -the Chinese question. He does not forget to keep up his honourable -standard of diplomatist even in drinking, I fancy. - -I see charm in the eloquence of a drunkard. - - * * * * * - -I exposed myself on deck for the first time. - -I wasn’t strong enough, alas! to face the threatening grandeur of the -ocean. Its divineness struck and wounded me. - -O such an expanse of oily-looking waters! O such a menacing largeness! - -One star, just one sad star, shone above. - -I thought that the little star was trembling alone on a deck of some -ship in the sky. - -Star and I cried. - - -13th—My first laughter on the ocean burst out while I was peeping at a -label, “7 yens,” inside the chimney-pot hat of our respected minister, -when he was brushing it. - -He must have bought that great headgear just on the eve of his -appointment. - -How stupid to leave such a bit of paper! - -I laughed. - -He asked what was so irresistibly funny. - -I laughed more. I hardly repressed “My dear old man.” - -The “helpless me” clinging on the bed for many a day feels splendid -to-day. - -The ocean grew placid. - -On the land my eyes meet with a thousand temptations. They are here -opened for nothing but the waters or the sun-rays. - -I don’t gain any lesson, but I have learned to appreciate the -demonstrations of light. - -They were white. O what a heavenly whiteness! - -The billows sang a grand slow song in blessing of the sun, sparkling -their ivory teeth. - -The voyage isn’t bad, is it? - -I planted myself on the open deck, facing Japan. - -I am a mountain-worshipper. - -Alas! I could not see that imperial dome of snow, Mount Fuji. - - * * * * * - -One dozen fairies—two dozen—roved down from the sky to the ocean. - -I dreamed. - -I was so very happy. - - -14th—What a confusion my hair has suffered! I haven’t put it in order -since I left the Orient. Such negligence of toilet would be fined by the -police in Japan. - -I was busy with my hair all the morning. - - -15th—The Sunday service was held. - -There’s nothing more natural on a voyage than to pray. - -We have abandoned the land. The ocean has no bottom. - -We die any moment “with bubbling groan, without a grave, unknelled, -uncoffined, and unknown.” - -Only prayer makes us firm. - -I addressed myself to the Great Invisible whose shadow lies across my -heart. - -He may not be the God of Christianity. He is not the Hotoke Sama of -Buddhism. - -Why don’t those red-faced sailors hum heavenly-voiced hymns instead -of—“swear?” - - -16th—Amerikey is away beyond. - -Not even a speck of San Francisco in sight yet! - -I amused myself thinking what would happen if I never returned home. - -Marriage with a ’Merican, wealthy and comely? - -I had well-nigh decided that I would not cross such an ocean again by -ship. I would wait patiently until a trans-Pacific railroad is erected. - -I was basking in the sun. - -I fancied the “Belgic” navigating a wrong track. - -What then? - -Was I approaching lantern-eyed demons or howling cannibals? - -“Iya, iya, no! I will proudly land on the historical island of Lotos -Eaters.” I said. - -Why didn’t I take Homer with me? The ocean is just the place for his -majestic simplicity and lofty swing. - -I recalled a few passages of “The Lotos Eaters” by Lord Tennyson—it -sounds better than “the poet Tennyson.” I love titles, but they are -thought as common as millionaires nowadays. - -A Jap poet has a different mode of speech. - -Shall I pose as poet? - -’Tis no great crime to do so. - -I began my “Lotos Eaters” with the following mighty lines: - - - “O dreamy land of stealing shadows! - O peace-breathing land of calm afternoon! - O languid land of smile and lullaby! - O land of fragrant bliss and flower! - O eternal land of whispering Lotos Eaters!” - - -Then I feared that some impertinent poet might have said the same thing -many a year before. - -Poem manufacture is a slow job. - -Modern people slight it, calling it an old fashion. Shall I give it up -for some more brilliant up-to-date pose? - - -17th—I began to knit a gentleman’s stockings in wool. - -They will be a souvenir of this voyage. - -(I cannot keep a secret.) - -I tell you frankly that I designed them to be given to the gentleman who -will be my future “beloved.” - -The wool is red, a symbol of my sanguine attachment. - -The stockings cannot be much larger than my own feet. I dislike -large-footed gentlemen. - - -18th—My uncle asked if my great work of poetical inspiration was -completed. - -“Uncle, I haven’t written a dozen lines yet. My ‘Lotos Eaters’ is to be -equal in length to ‘The Lady of the Lake.’ Now, see, Oji San, mine has -to be far superior to the laureate’s, not merely in quality, but in -quantity as well. But I thought it was not the way of a sweet Japanese -girl to plunder a garland from the old poet by writing in rivalry. Such -a nice man Tennyson was!” I said. - -I smiled and gazed on him slyly. - -“So! You are very kind!” he jerked. - - -19th—I don’t think San Francisco is very far off now. Shall I step out -of the ship and walk? - -Has the “Belgic” coal enough? I wonder how the sensible steamer can be -so slow! - -Let the blank pages pass quickly! Let me come face to face with the new -chapter—“America!” - -The gray monotone of life makes me insane. - -Such an eternal absence of variety on the ocean! - - -20th—The moon—how large is the ocean moon!—sat above my head. - -When I thought that that moon must have been visiting in my dearest home -of Tokio, the tragic scene of my “Sayonara, mother!” instantly returned. - -Tears on my cheeks! - - -Morning, 21st—Three P.M. of to-day! - -At last! - -Beautiful Miss Morning Glory shall land on her dream-land, Amerikey. - -That’s my humble name, sir. - -18 years old. - -(Why does the ’Merican lady regard it as an insult to be asked her own -age?) - -My knitting work wasn’t half done. I look upon it as an omen that I -shall have no luck in meeting with my husband. - -Tsumaranai! What a barren life! - - * * * * * - -Our great minister was placing a button on his shirt. His trembling -fingers were uncertain. - -I snatched the shirt from his hand and exhibited my craft with the -needle. - -“I fancied that you modern girls were perfect strangers to the needle,” -he said. - -He is not blockish, I thought, since he permits himself to employ irony. - -My uncle was lamenting that he had not even one cigar left. - -Both those gentlemen offered to help me in my dressing at the landing. - -I declined gracefully. - -Where is my looking-glass? - -I must present myself very—very pretty. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -[Illustration: - - IN AMERIKEY -] - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - IN AMERIKEY - - SAN FRANCISCO, night, 21st - -“Good-bye, Mr. Belgic!” - -I delight in personifying everything as a gentleman. - - -What does it mean under the sun! Kitsune ni tsukamareta wa! Evil fox, I -suppose, got hold of me. “Gentlemen, is this real Amerikey?” I -exclaimed. - -Oya, ma, my Meriken dream was a complete failure. - -Did I ever fancy any sky-invading dragon of smoke in my own America? - -The smoke stifled me. - -Why did I lock up my perfume bottle in my trunk? - -I hardly endured the smell from the wagons at the wharf. Their rattling -noise thrust itself into my head. A squad of Chinamen there puffed -incessantly the menacing smell of cigars. - -Were I the mayor of San Francisco—how romantic “the Mayor, Miss Morning -Glory” sounds!—I would not pause a moment before erecting free -bath-houses around the wharf. - -I never dreamed that human beings could cast such an insulting smell. - -The smell of honourable wagon drivers is the smell of a M-O-N-K-E-Y. - -Their wild faces also prove their likeness to it. - -They must have furnished all the evidence to Mr. Darwin. “The better -part lies some distance from here,” said my uncle. - -I exclaimed how inhospitable the Americans were to receive visitors from -the back door of the city. - -We are not empty-stomached tramps rapping the kitchen door for a crust -of bread. - - * * * * * - -We refused hotel carriage. - -We walked from the Oriental wharf for the sake of the street -sight-seeing. - -Tamageta wa! A house was whirling along the street. Look at the -horseless car! How could it be possible to pull it with a rope under -ground! - -Everything reveals a huge scale of measurement. - -The continental spectacle is different from that of our islands. - -We 40,000,000 Japs must raise our heads from wee bits of land. There’s -no room to stretch elbows. We have to stay like dwarf trees. - -I shouldn’t be surprised if the Americans exclaim in Japan, “What a -petty show!” - -Such a riotous rush! What a deafening uproar! - -The lazy halt of a moment on the street must have been regarded, I -fancied, as a violation of the law. - -I wondered whether one dozen were not slain each hour on Market Street -by the cars. - -Cars! Cars! And cars! - -It was no use to look beautiful in such a cyclone city. Not even one -gentleman moved his admiring eyes to my face. - -How sad! - -I thought it must be some festival. - -“No, the usual Saturday throng!” my uncle said. - -Then I asked myself whether Tokio streets were only like a midnight of -this city. - -My beloved minister kept his mouth open—what heavy lips he had!—amazed -at the high edifices. - -“O ho, that’s astonishing!” he cried, throwing his sottish eyes on the -clock of the _Chronicle_ building. - -“Boys are commenting on you,” I whispered. - -I beseeched him not to act so droll. - -He tossed out in his careless fashion his everlasting heroic laughter, -“Ha, ha, ha——” - -A hawkish lad—I have not seen one sleepy fellow yet—drew near the -minister shortly after we left the wharf, and begged to carry his bag. - -He was only too glad to be assisted. The brown diplomatist thought it a -loving deed toward a foreigner. - -He bowed after some blocks, thanking the boy with a hearty “arigato.” - -“Sir, you have to pay me two bits!” - -His hand went to his pocket, when my uncle tapped his stooping back, -speaking: “This is the country of eternal ‘pay, pay, pay,’ old man!” - - * * * * * - -“What does a genuine American beggar look like?” was my old question. - -The Meriken beggar my friend saw at Yokohama park was dressed up in a -swallow-tail coat. Emerson’s essays were in his hand. He was such a -genteel Mr. Beggar, she said. - -I often heard that everybody is a millionaire in America. I thought it -likely that I should see a swell Mr. Beggar among the Americans. - -How many a time had I planned to make a special trip to Yokohama for -acquaintance with the honourable Emerson scholar! - -Alas, it was merely a fancy! - -I have seen Mr. Beggar on the street. - -He didn’t appear in the formal dignity of a dress coat. - -Where was his Emerson? - -He was not unlike his Oriental brothers, after all. - -He stood, because he wasn’t used to kneeling like the Japs. - -The only difference was that he carried pencils instead of a musical -instrument. - -He is a merchant,—this is a business country,—while the Japanese Mr. -Beggar is an artist, I suppose. - - * * * * * - -My little gold watch pointed eleven. - -I have been writing for some hours about my first impression of the city -from the wharf, and my journey from there to this Palace Hotel. - -The number of my room is 489. - -I fear I may not return if I once go out. It’s so hard to remember the -number. - -The large mirror reflected me as being so very small in the big room. - -Such a great room with high ceiling! - -I don’t feel at home at all. - -Not a petal of flower. No inviting picture on the wall! - -I was tired of hearing the artificial greeting, “Irasshai mashi,” or -“Honourable welcome,” of the eternally bowing Japanese hotel attendants. - -But the too simple treatment of ’Merican hotel is hardly to my taste. - -Not even one girl to wait on me here! - -No “honourable tea and cake.” - - -22nd—I need repose. The last few weeks have stirred me dreadfully. I -will slumber just comfortably day after day, I decided. - -But the same feeling as on the ocean returned. - -My American bed acted like water, waving at even my slightest motion. - -I fancied I was exercising even in sleep. - -It is too soft. - -Nothing can put me at complete ease like my hereditary lying on the -floor. - -I was restless all the night long. - -I got up, since the bed was no joy. - -Oh, the blue sky! - -I thought I should never again see a sapphire sky while I am here. I was -wrong. - -This is church day. - -The bells of the street-cars sounded musical. - -The sky appeared in best Sunday dress. - -I felt happy thinking that I should see the stars from my hotel window -to-night. - - * * * * * - -I made many useless trips up and down the elevator for fun. - -What a tickling dizziness I tasted! - -I close my eyes when it goes. - -It’s an awfully new thing, I reckon. - -Something on the same plan, I imagine, as a “seriage” of the Japanese -stage for a footless ghost rising to vanish. - -It is astonishing to notice what a condescending manner the white -gentlemen display toward ladies. - -They take off their hats in the elevator—some showing such a great bald -head, like a funny O Binzuru, that is as common as spectacled -children—if any woman is present. They stand humbly as Japs to the -august “Son of Heaven.” They crawl out like lambs after the woman steps -away. - -It puzzles me to solve how women can be deserving of such honour. - -What a goody-goody act! - -But I wonder how they behave themselves before God! - - -23rd—It is delightful to sit opposite the whitest of linen and—to -portray on it the face of an imaginary Mr. Sweetheart while eating. - -Whiteness is appetising. - -And the boldly-marked creases of the linen are so dear. Without them the -linen is not half so inviting. - -I was taught the beauty of single line in drawing class some years ago. - -But now for the first time I fully comprehended it from the Meriken -tablecloth. - -I wished I could ever stay gazing at it. - -If I start my housekeeping in this country—do I ever dream of it?—I -shall not hesitate to invest all my money in linen. - -I laughed when I fancied that I sat with my husband—where’s he in the -world?—spreading a skilfully ironed linen cloth on the Spring grasses -(what a gratifying white and green!), and I upset a teapot over the -linen, while he ran after water;—then I picked all the buttercups and -covered the dark red stain. - -The minister makes a ridiculous show of himself in the dining-room. - -His laughter draws the attention of every lady. - -This morning he exclaimed: “Americans have no courtesy for strangers, -except meaning money.” - -And he finished his speech with his boisterous “Ha, ha, ha!” - -A pale impatient lady, like a trembling winter leaf, sitting at the -table next to us, shrugged her shoulders and muttered, “Oh, my!” - -I hoped I could invent any scheme to make him hasten to his post—Kara or -Tenjiku, whatever place it be. - -He is good-natured like a rubber stamp. - -But I am sorry to say that he does not fit Amerikey. - -I was relieved when he announced that his departure would occur -to-morrow. - -My dignity was saved. - -I cut a square piece of paper. I pencilled on it as follows: - - - - To the Japanese Legation. - The City of Mexico. - Handle Carefully, Easily Broken. - - -I put it on the large palm of the minister. I warned him that he should -never forget to pin it on his breast. - -“Mean little thing you are!” he said. - -And his great happy “Ha, ha, ha!” followed as usual. - -Bye-bye! - - * * * * * - -The negroes are horrid. I scanned them on the first chance of my life. - -What is the standard of beauty of their tribe, I am eager to be -informed! - -I searched for “coon” in my dictionary. The explanation was -unsatisfactory. - -The ever-so-kind Americans don’t consider them, I am certain, as -“animals allied to the bear.” - -Tell me what it means. - - -24th—Spittoon! - -The American spittoon is famous, Uncle says. - -From every corner in this nine-story hotel—think of its eight hundred -and fifty-one rooms!—you are met by the greeting of the spittoon. - -How many thousand are there? - -It must be a tremendous task to keep them clean as they are. - -I wonder why the proprietor doesn’t give the city the benefit of some of -them. - -San Francisco ought to place spittoons along the sidewalk. - -The ladies wear such a long gaudy skirt. - -And it is quite a fashion of modern gents, it appears, to spit on the -pavements. - -This Palace Hotel is a palace. - -You drop into the toilet room, for instance. - -You cannot help exclaiming: “Iya, haya, Japan is three centuries -behind!” - -Everything presents to you a silent lecture of scientific modernism. - -Whenever I am bothered too much by my uncle I lock myself up in the -toilet room. There I feel the whole world is mine. - -I can take off my shoes. I can play acrobat if I prefer. - -Nobody can spy me. - -It is the place where you can pray or cry all you desire without one -interruption. - -My room is great, equipped with every new invention. Numbers of electric -globes dazzle with kingly light above my head. - -If I enter my room at dusk, I push a button of electricity. - -What a satisfaction I earn seeing every light appear to my honourable -service! - -I look upon my finger wondering how such an Oriental little thing can -make itself potent like the mighty thumb of Mr. Edison. - - -25th—What a novel sensation I felt in writing “San Francisco, U.S.A.,” -at the head of my tablet! - -(What agitation I shall feel when I write my first “Mrs.” before my -name! Woman must grow tired of being addressed “Miss,” sooner or later.) - -I have often said that I hardly saw any necessity for corresponding when -one lives on such a small island as Japan. - -I could see my friends in a day or two, at whatever place I was. - -I have now the ocean between me and my home. - -Letter writing is worth while. - -I did not know it was such a sweet piece of work. - -I should declare it to be as legitimate and inexpensive a game as ever -woman could indulge in. - - * * * * * - -I was stepping along the courtyard of this hotel. - -I have seen a gentleman kissing a woman. - -I felt my face catching fire. - -Is it not a shame in a public place? - -I returned to my apartment. The mirror showed my cheeks still blushing. - - * * * * * - -The Japanese consul and his Meriken wife—she is some inches higher than -her darling—paid us a call. - -I said to myself that they did not match well. It was like a hired haori -with a different coat of arms. - -The Consul looked proud, as if he carried a crocodile. - -Mrs. Consul invited us for luncheon next Sunday. - -“Quite a family party—O ho, ho!” - -Her voice was unceremonious. - -I noticed that one of her hairpins was about to drop. I thought that -Meriken woman was as careless as I. - -How many hairpins do you suppose I lost yesterday? - -Four! Isn’t that awful? - -My uncle innocently stated to her I was a great belle of Tokio. - -I secretly pinched his arm through his coat-sleeve. My little signal did -not influence him at all. He kept on his hyperbolical advertisement of -me. - -She promised a beautiful girl to meet me on Sunday. - -I fancied how she looked. - -I thought my performance of the first interview with Meriken woman was -excellent. But my rehearsal at home was useless. - - -26th—I lost my little charm. - -It worried me awfully. - -It was given me by my old-fashioned mother. She got it after a holy -journey of one month to the shrine of Tenno Sama. - -I should be safe, Mother said, from water, fire and highwayman (what -else, God only knows) as long as I should carry it. - -I sought after it everywhere. I begged my uncle to let me examine his -trunk. - -“Cast off an ancient superstition!” Uncle scorned. - -I sat languidly on the large armchair which almost swallowed my small -body. - -I imagined many a punishment already inflicted on me. - -The tick-tack of my watch from my waist encouraged my nervousness. - -There is nothing more irritating than a tick-tack. - -I locked up my watch in the drawer of the dresser. - -I still felt its tick-tack pursuing my ears. - -Then I put it under the pillow. - - -27th—How I wished I could exchange a ten-dollar gold-piece for a tassel -of curly hair! - -American woman is nothing without it. - -Its infirm gesticulation is a temptation. - -In Japan I regarded it as bad luck to own waving hair. - -But my tastes cannot remain unaltered in Amerikey. - -I don’t mind being covered with even red hair. - -Red hair is vivacity, fit for Summer’s shiny air. - -I remember that I trembled at sight of the red hair of an American woman -at Tokio. Japanese regard it as the hair of the red demon in Jigoku. - -I sat before the looking-glass, with a pair of curling-tongs. - -I tried to manage them with surprising patience. I assure you God -doesn’t vouchsafe me much patience. - -Such disobedient tools! - -They didn’t work at all. I threw them on the floor in indignation. - - -[Illustration: - - Drawn by Genjiro Yeto - “SUCH DISOBEDIENT TOOLS!” -] - - -My wrists pained. - -I sat on the floor, stretching out my legs. My shoe-strings were loosed, -but my hand did not hasten to them. - -I was exhausted with making my hair curl. - -I sent my uncle to fetch a hair-dresser. - - -28th—How old is she? - -I could never suggest the age of a Meriken woman. - -That Miss Ada was a beauty. - -It’s becoming clearer to me now why California puts so much pride in her -own girls. - -Ada was a San Franciscan whom Mrs. Consul presented to me. - -What was her family name? - -Never mind! It is an extra to remember it for girls. We don’t use it. - -How envious I was of her long eyelashes lacing around the large eyes of -brown hue! - -Brown was my preference for the velvet hanao of my wooden clogs. - -Long eyelashes are a grace, like the long skirt. - -I know that she is a clever young thing. - -She was learned in the art of raising and dropping her curtain of -eyelashes. That is the art of being enchanting. I had said that nothing -could beat the beauty of my black eyes. But I see there are other pretty -eyes in this world. - -Everything doesn’t grow in Japan. Noses particularly. - -My sweet Ada’s nose was an inspiration, like the snow-capped peak of O -Fuji San. It rose calmly—how symmetrically!—from between her eyebrows. - -I had thought that ’Merican nose was rugged, big of bone. - -I see an exception in Ada. - -She must be the pattern of Meriken beauty. - -I felt that I was so very homely. - -I stole a sly glance into the looking-glass, and convinced myself that I -was a beauty also, but Oriental. - -We had different attractions. - -She may be Spring white sunshine, while I am yellow Autumn moonbeams. -One is animation, and the other sweetness. - -I smiled. - -She smiled back promptly. - -We promised love in our little smile. - -She placed her hand on my shoulder. How her diamond ring flashed! She -praised the satin skin of my face. - -She was very white, with a few sprinkles of freckles. Their scattering -added briskness to the face in her case. (But doesn’t San Francisco -produce too many freckles in woman?) The texture of Ada’s skin wasn’t -fine. Her face was like a ripe peach with powdery hair. - -Is it true that dark skin is gaining popularity in American society? - -The Japanese type of beauty is coming to the front then, I am happy. - -I repaid her compliment, praising her elegant set of teeth. - -Ada is the free-born girl of modern Amerikey. - -She need never fear to open her mouth wide. - -She must have been using special tooth-powder three times a day. - -“We are great friends already, aren’t we?” I said. - -And I extended my finger-tips behind her, and pulled some wisps of her -chestnut hair. - -“Please, don’t!” she said, and raised her sweetly accusing eyes. Then -our friendship was confirmed. - -Girls don’t take much time to exchange their faith. - -I was uneasy at first, thinking that Ada might settle herself in a -_tête-à-tête_ with me, in the chit-chat of poetry. I tried to recollect -how the first line of the “Psalm of Life” went, for Longfellow would of -course be the first one to encounter. - -Alas, I had forgotten it all. - -I was glad that her query did not roam from the remote corner of poesy. - -“Do you play golf?” she asked. - -She thinks the same things are going on in Japan. - -Ada! Poor Ada! - - * * * * * - -The honourable consul and my uncle looked stupid at the lunch table. - -I thought they were afraid of being given some difficult question by the -Meriken ladies. - -Mrs. Consul and Ada ate like hungry pigs. (I beg their pardon!) - -“You eat like a pussy!” is no adequate compliment to pay to a Meriken -woman. - -I found out that their English was neither Macaulay’s nor Irving’s. - - -29th—I ate a tongue and some ox-tail soup. - -Think of a suspicious spumy tongue and that dirty bamboo tail! - -Isn’t it shocking to even incline to taste them? - -My mother would not permit me to step into the holy ground of any shrine -in Japan. She would declare me perfectly defiled by such food. - -I shall turn into a beast in the jungle by and by, I should say. - -My uncle committed a greater indecency. He ate a tripe. - -It was cooked in the “western sea egg-plant,” to taste of which brings -on the small-pox, as I have been told. - -He said that he took a delight in pig’s feet. - -Shame on the Nippon gentleman! - -Harai tamae! Kiyome tamae! - - -30th—“Chui, chui, chui!” - -A little sparrow was twittering at my hotel window. - -I could not believe that the sparrow of large America could be as small -as the Nippon-born. - -Horses are large here. Woman’s mouth is large, something like that of an -alligator. Policeman is too large. - -I fancied that little birdie might be one strayed from the bamboo bush -of my family’s monastery. - -“Sweet vagabond, did you cross the ocean for Meriken Kenbutsu?” I said. - -“Chui, chui! Chui, chui, chui!” he chirped. - -Is “chui, chui” English, I wonder? - -I pushed the window up to receive him. - -Oya, ma, he has gone! - -I felt so sorry. - -I was yearning after my beloved home. - -This is the great Chrysanthemum season at home. I missed the show at -Dangozaka. - -How gracefully the time used to pass in Dai Nippon, while I sat looking -at the flowers on a tokonoma. - -Every place is a strange gray waste to me without the intimate faces of -flowers. - -Flowers have no price in Japan, just as a poet is nothing, for everybody -there is poet. But they have a big value in this city—although I am not -positive that an American poet creates wealth. - -I purchased a select bouquet of violets. - -I passed by several young gentlemen. Were their eyes set on my flowers -or my hands? - -I don’t wear gloves. I don’t wish my hands to be touched harshly by -them. Truly I am vain of showing my small hands. - -I love the violet, because it was the favorite of dear John—Keats, of -course. - -It may not be a flower. It is decidedly a perfume, anyhow. - - -31st—I have heard a sad piece of news from Mrs. Consul about Mr. -Longfellow. - -She says that he has ceased to be an idol of American ladies. - -He has retired to a comfortable fireside to take care of school -children. - -Poor old poet! - - -Nov. 1st—American chair is too high. - -Are my legs too short? - -It was uncomfortable to sit erect on a chair all the time as if one were -being presented before the judge. - -And those corsets and shoes! - -They seized me mercilessly. - -I said that I would spend a few hours in Japan style, reclining on the -floor like an eloped angel. - -I brought out a crape kimono and my girdle with the phœnix embroidery, -after having locked the entrance of my room. - -“Kotsu, kotsu, kotsu!” - -Somebody was fisting on my door. - -Oya, she was Ada, my “Rose of Frisco” or “Butterfly of Van Ness.” - -(She was quartered in Van Ness Avenue, the most elegant street of a -whole bunch.) - -She was sprightly as a runaway princess. She blew her sunlight and -fragrance into my face. - -I was grateful that I chanced to be acquainted with such a delightful -Meriken lady. - -“O ho, Japanese _kimono_! If I might only try it on!” she said. - -I told her she could. - -“How lovely!” she ejaculated. - -We promised to spend a gala day together. - - -[Illustration: - - Drawn by Genjiro Yeto - “O HO, JAPANESE KIMONO!” -] - - -“We will rehearse,” I said, “a one-act Japanese play entitled ‘Two -Cherry Blossom Musumes.’” - -I assisted her to dress up. She was utterly ignorant of Oriental attire. - -What a superb development she had in body! Her chest was abundant, her -shoulders gracefully commanding. Her rather large rump, however, did not -show to advantage in waving dress. Japs prefer a small one. - -My physical state is in poverty. - -I was wrong to believe that the beauty of woman is in her face. - -It is so, of course, in Japan. The brown woman eternally sits. The face -is her complete exhibition. - -The beauty of Meriken woman is in her shape. - -I pray that my body may grow. - -The Japanese theatre never begins without three rappings of -time-honoured wooden blocks. - -I knocked on the pitcher. - -Miss Ada appeared from the dressing room, fluttering an open fan. - -How ridiculously she stepped! - -It was the way Miss What’s-her-name acted in “The Geisha,” she said. - -She was much taller than little me. The kimono scarcely reached to her -shoes. I have never seen such an absurd show in my life. - -I was tittering. - -The charming Ada fanned and giggled incessantly in supposed-to-be -Japanese _chic_. - -“What have I to say, Morning Glory?” she said, looking up. - -“I don’t know, dear girl!” I jerked. - -Then we both laughed. - -Ada caught my neck by her arm. She squandered her kisses on me. - -(It was my first taste of the kiss.) - -We two young ladies in wanton garments rolled down happily on the floor. - - -2nd—If I could be a gentleman for just one day! - -I would rest myself on the hospitable chair of a barber shop—barber -shop, drug store and candy store are three beauties on the street—like a -prince of leisure, and dream something great, while the man is busy with -a razor. - -I am envious of the gentleman who may bathe in such a purple hour. - -I never rest. - -American ladies neither! - -Each one of them looks worried as if she expected the door-bell any -moment. - -I suppose it is the penalty of being a woman. - - -3rd—My little heart was flooded with patriotism. - -It is our Mikado’s birthday. - -I sang “The Age of Our Sovereign.” I shouted “Ten thousand years! -Banzai! Ban banzai!” - -My uncle and I hurried to the Japanese Consulate to celebrate this grand -day. - - -4th—The gentlemen of San Francisco are gallant. - -They never permit the ladies—even a black servant is in the honourable -list of “ladies”—to stand in the car. - -If Oriental gentlemen could demean themselves like that for just one -day! - -I should not mind a bit if one proposed to me even. - -I love a handsome face. - -They part their hair in the middle. They have inherited no bad habit of -biting their finger-nails. I suppose they offer a grace before each -meal. Their smile isn’t sardonic, and their laughter is open. - -I have no dispute with their mustaches and their blue eyes. But I am far -from being an admirer of their red faces. - -Japs are pygmies. I fear that the Americans are too tall. My future -husband is not allowed to be over five feet five inches. His nose should -be of the cast of Robert Stevenson’s. - -Each one of them carries a high look. He may be the President at the -next election, he seems to say. How mean that only one head is in -demand! - -A directory and a dictionary are kind. The ’Merican husband is like -them, I imagine. - -I have no gentleman friend yet. - -To pace alone on the street is a melancholy discarded sight. - -What do you do if your shoe-string comes untied? - -I have seen a gentleman fingering the shoestrings of a lady. How glad he -was to serve again, when she said, “That’s too tight!” - -Shall my uncle fill such a part? - -Poor uncle! - -Old company, however, isn’t style. - -He is forty-five. - -Why can I not choose one to hire from among the “bully” young men -loitering around a cigar-stand? - - -5th—My uncle was going out in a black frock-coat and tea-coloured -trousers. I insisted that his coat and trousers didn’t match. - -How can a man be so ridiculous? - -I declared that it was as poor taste as for a darkey to wear a red -ribbon in her smoky hair. - -Uncle surrendered. - -He said, “Hei, hei, hei!” - -Goo’ boy! - -He dismissed the great tea-colour. - - -6th—We had a shower. - -The city dipped in a bath. - -The pedestrians threw their vaguely delicate shadows on the pavements. -The ladies voluntarily permitted the gentlemen to review their legs. If -I were in command, I would not permit the ladies to raise an umbrella -under the “para para” of a shower. Their hastening figures are so -fascinating. - -The shower stopped. The pavements were glossed like a looking-glass. The -windows facing the sun scattered their sparkling laughter. - -How beautiful! - -I am perfectly delighted by this city. - -One thing that disappoints me, however, is that Frisco is eternally -snowless, - -Without snow the year is incomplete, like a departure without sayonara. - -Dear snow! O Yuki San! - -Many Winters ago I modelled a doll of snow, which was supposed to be a -gentleman. - -How proud I used to be when I stamped the first mark with my high ashida -on the white ground before anyone else! - -I wonder how Santa Claus will array himself to call on this town. - -His fur coat is not appropriate at all. - - -7th—Why didn’t I come to Amerikey earlier—in the Summer season? - -I was staring sadly at my purple parasol against the wall by my dresser. - -I have no chance to show it. - -I have often been told that I look so beautiful under it. - - -8th—My darling O Ada came in a carriage. Her two-horsed carriage was -like that of our Japanese premier. - -She is the daughter of a banker. - -The sun shone in yellow. - -Ada’s complexion added a brilliancy. I was shocked, fearing that I -looked awfully brown. - -Ada said that I was “perfectly lovely.” Can I trust a woman’s eulogy? - -I myself often use flattery. - -A jewel and face-powder were not the only things, I said, essential to -woman. - -We drove to the Golden Gate Park and then to the Cliff House. - -What a triumphant sound the hoofs of the bay horses struck! I fancied -the horses were a poet, they were rhyming. - -I don’t like the automobile. - -Ada was sweet as could be. - -“Tell me your honourable love story!” she chattered. - -I did only blush. - -I hadn’t the courage to burst my secrecy. - -I loved once truly. - -It was an innocent love as from a fairy book. - -If true love could be realised! - -In the park I noticed a lady who scissored the “don’t touch” flowers and -stepped away with a saintly air. The comical fancy came to me that she -was the mother of a policeman guarding against intruders. - -We found ourselves in the Japanese tea garden. - -A tiny musume in wooden clogs brought us an honourable tea and o’senbe. - -The grounds were an imitation of Japanese landscape gardening. - -Homesickness ran through my fibre. - -The decorative bridge, a stork by the brook, and the dwarf plants hinted -to me of my home garden. - -A sudden vibration of shamisen was flung from the Japanese cottage close -by. - -“Tenu, tenu! Tenu, tsunn shann!” - -Who was the player? - -When I sat myself by the ocean on the beach I found some packages of -peanuts right before me. - -The beautiful Ada began to snap them. - -She hummed a jaunty ditty. Her head inclined pathetically against my -shoulder. My hair, stirred by the sea zephyrs, patted her cheek. - -She said the song was “My Gal’s a High-Born Lady.” - -Who was its author? Emerson did not write it surely. - - * * * * * - -When I returned to the hotel, I undertook to place on the wall the -weather-torn fragment of cotton which I had picked up at the park. - -These words were printed on it: - - “KEEP OFF - THE GRASS.” - -I decided to mail it to my Japan, requesting my daddy to post it upon my -garden grasses—somewhere by the old cherry tree. - - -9th—To-day is the third anniversary of my grandmother’s death. - -I will keep myself in devotion. - -I burned the incense I had bought from a Chinaman. I watched the -beautiful gesticulation of its smoke. - -Good Grandma! - -She wished she could live long enough to be present at my wedding -ceremony. She prayed that she might select the marriage equipage for me. - -I am alone yet. - -I wonder if she knows—does her ghost peep from the grasses?—that I am -drifting among the ijins she ever loathed. - -I don’t see how to manage myself sometimes—like an unskilful fictionist -with his heroine. - -When shall I get married? - - -10th—I yawned. - -Nothing is more unbecoming to a woman than yawning. - -I think it no offence to swear once in a while in one’s closet. - -I was alone. - -I tore to pieces my “Things Seen in the Street,” and fed the waste-paper -basket with them. - -The basket looked so hungry without any rubbish. An unkept basket is -more pleasing, like a soiled autograph-book. - -“I didn’t come to Amerikey to be critical, that is, to act mean, did I?” -I said. - -I must remain an Oriental girl, like a cherry blossom smiling softly in -the Spring moonlight. - -But afterwards I felt sorry for my destruction. - -I thrust my hand into the basket. I plucked them up. They were illegibly -as follows: - - - “ women coursing like a - ’rikisha of ’Hama their children - crying at home left somewhere - their womanliness - gentleman with stove-pipe hat blowing - nose with his fingers young - lady kept busy chewing gum - while walking. If you once show such a grace - at Tokio, you shall wait fruitlessly for the - marriage offer. - “ old grandma in gay red skirt - aged man arm-in-arm with wife - so young What a martyrdom - to marry for G-O-L-D! policeman - has no - - “San Francisco is a beautiful city, but - ’vertisements of ‘The Girl From Paris’ - W——d’s Beer - with the watches hanging on their breasts - God bless you, red necktie - gentleman woman at the corner - chattering like a street politician.” - - -And I missed some other hundred lines. - - -11th—A letter from the minister arrived. - -(I’d be a postman, by the way, if I were a man. A noble work that is to -deliver around the love and “gokigen ukagai.”) - -I clipped off the Mexican stamp. - -I will make a stamp book for my boy who may be born when I become a -wife. - -Before opening the letter I pressed it to my ear. My imaginative ear -heard his illustrious “Ha, ha, ha——” rolling out. - -How I missed his happy laughter! - -Can he now pronounce a “How do?” in Mexican? - - -12th—It surprises me to learn that many an American is born and dies in -a hotel. - -Such a life—however large rooms you may possess—is not distinguishable, -in my opinion, from that of a bird in a cage. - -Is hotel-living a recent fashion? - -Don’t say so! - -The business locality—like the place where this Palace Hotel takes its -seat—does not afford a stomachful of respectable air. - -I preferred some hospitable boarding house in a quiet street, where I -might even step up and down in nude feet. I wished to occupy a chamber -where the morning sun could steal in and shake my sleepy little head -with golden fingers as my beloved mama might do. - -We will move to the “high-toned” boarding house of Mrs. Willis this -afternoon. - -Her house is placed on the high hill of California Street. - -I am grateful there is no car quaking along there. - -My uncle says I shall have a whole lot of millionaires for neighbours. - -California must be one dignified street. - -The Chinese colony is close at hand from Mrs. Willis’,—the exotic -exposition brilliant with green and yellow colour. The incense surges. -So cute is the sparrow-eyed Asiatic girl—such a “karako”—with a small -cue on only one side of the head. Dear Oriental town! - -Good luck, I pray, my Palace Hotel! - -Sayonara, my graceful butlers! - -I shall hear no more of their sweet “Yes, Madam!” They talk gently as a -lottery-seller. - -The more they bow and smile the more you will press the button of tips. - -They are so funny. - -So long, everybody! - - -13th—The savour of the air is rich without being heavy. - -The Tokio atmosphere emits a lassitude. - -It’s natural that the Japs are prone to languor. - -A good while ago I pushed down my window facing the Bay of San -Francisco. I leaned on the sill, my face propped up by both my hands. - -The grand scenery absorbed my whole soul. - -“Ideal place, isn’t it?” I emphasised. - -The bay was dyed in profound blue. - -The Oakland boat joggled on happily as from a fairy isle. My visionary -eyes caught the heavenly flock of seagulls around it. - -If I could fly in their company! - -The low mountains over the bay looked inexpressively comfortable, like -one sleeping under a warm blanket. - -The moon-night view from here must be wonderful. - -I felt a new stream of blood beginning to swell within my body. - -I buzzed a silly song. - -I crept into my uncle’s room. - -I stole one stalk of his cigarettes. - -I bit it, aping Mr. Uncle, when my door banged. - - -14th—I bustled back to my room. - -My breast throbbed. - -A naked woman in an oil painting stood before me in the hall. - -Is Mrs. Willis a lady worthy of respect? - -It is nothing but an insulting stroke to an Oriental lady—yes sir, I’m a -lady—to expose such an obscenity. - -I brought down one of my crape haoris, raven-black in hue, with blushing -maple leaves dispersed on the sleeves, and cloaked the honourable -picture. - -My haori wasn’t long enough. - -The feet of the nude woman were all seen. - -I have not the least objection to the undraped feet. They were faultless -in shape. - -I myself am free to bestow a glimpse of my beautiful feet. - -I turned the key of my door. - -I stripped off my shoes and my stockings also. - -Dear red silken stockings! - -I scrutinised my feet for a while. Then I asked myself: - -“Which is lovelier, my feet or those in the painting?” - - -15th—I couldn’t rest last night. - -The long wail of a horn somewhere in the distance—at the gate of the -ocean perhaps—haunted me. The night was foggy. - -I had a wild dream. - -The fogs were not withdrawn this morning. - -I was discouraged, I had to go out in my best gown. - -Wasn’t it a shame that two buttons jumped out when I hurried to dress -up? - -“Are the buttons secure?” is my first worry and the last. - -Why don’t Meriken inventors take up the subject of buttonless clothes? - -Woman cannot be easy while her dress is fastened by only buttons. - - -16th—I wish I could pay my bill with a bank check. - -Have I money in the bank with my name? - -I fancied it a great idea to sleep with a big bank book under the -pillow. - -I decided to save my money hereafter. - -How often have I expressed my hatred of an economical woman! - -I detested the clinking “charin charan” of small coins in my purse. Very -hard I tried to get from them. - -Extravagance is a folly. Folly is only a mild expression for crime. - -I deducted ten dollars from the fifty that I had settled for my new -street gown. I dropped a card notifying my ladies’ tailor that I had -altered my mind for the second price. - -“Ten already for the bank!” I said. - -I took it to the “Yokohama Shokin Ginko” of this city. - -I was given a little book for the first time in my life. - -I thought myself quite a wealthy woman preserving my money in the bank. - -I pressed the book to my face. I held it close to my bosom as a tiny -girl with a new doll. - -And I smiled into a looking-glass. - - -17th—I went to the gallery of the photographer Taber, and posed in -Nippon “pera pera.” - -The photographer spread before me many pictures of the actress in the -part of “Geisha.” - -She was absurd. - -I cannot comprehend where ’Mericans get the conception that Jap girls -are eternally smiling puppets. - -Are we crazy to smile without motive? - -What an untidy presence! - -She didn’t even fasten the front of her kimono. - -Charm doesn’t walk together with disorder under the same Japanese -parasol. - -And I had the honour to be presented to an extraordinary mode in her -hair. - -It might be entitled “ghost style.” It suggested an apparition in the -“Botan Toro” played by kikugoro. - -The photographer handed me a fan. - -Alas! It was a Chinese fan in a crude mixture of colour. - -He urged me to carry it. - -I declined, saying: - -“Nobody fans in cool November!” - - -18th—We had a laugh. - -Ada, my sweet singer of “My Gal’s a High-Born Lady,” accompanied me to a -matinée of one vaudeville. - -This is the age of quick turn, sudden flashes. - -The long show has ceased to be the fashion. Modern people are tired of -the slowness of old times which was once supposed to be seriousness. - -Could anything be prouder than the face of the acrobat retiring after a -perilous performance? - -Woman tumbler! - -I wondered how Meriken ladies could enjoy looking at such a degeneration -of woman. - -I was glad, however, that I did not see any snake-charmer. - -What a delightful voice that negro had! Who could imagine that such a -silvery sound could come from such a midnight face? It was like clear -water out of the ground. - -I was struck by a fancy. - -I sprang up. - -I attempted to imitate the high-kick dance. - -I fell down abruptly. - -“Jap’s short leg is no use in Amerikey—can’t achieve one thing. I am -frankly tired of mine,” I grumbled. - - -19th—The Sunday chime was the voice of an angel. The city turned -religious. - -Mrs. Willis—I had no curiosity about her first name; it is meaningless -for the “Mrs.” of middle age—indulged in chat with me. - -If I say she was “sociable”?—it sounds so graceful. - -She announced herself a bigot of poetry. She was bending to make a full -poetical demonstration. - -Of course it was more pleasing than a mourning-gowned narrative of her -lamented husband. (I suppose he is dead, as divorce is too commonplace.) - -But it were treachery, if I were put under her long recital of the -insignificant works of local poets. - -Tasukatta wa! - -A little girl came as a relief. - -Dorothy! She is a boarder of Mrs. Willis’, the golden-haired daughter of -Mrs. Browning. - -(Mrs. Browning was a disappointment, however. I fancied she might be a -relative of the poet Browning. I asked about it. Her response was an -unsympathetic “No!”) - -“O’ hayo!” Dorothy said, spattering over me her familiarity. - -It takes only an hour to be friends with the Meriken girl, while it is -the work of a year with a Japanese musume. - -“Great girl! Your Nippon language is perfect! Would you like to learn -more?” I said. - -“I’d like it,” was her retort. - -Then we slipped to my room. - -I wonder how Mrs. Willis fared without an audience! - -I was sorry, thinking that she might regard me as an uncivil Jap. - -“Chon kina! Chon kina!” - -Thus Dorothy repeated. It was a Japanese song, she said, which the -geisha girls sung in “The Geisha.” - -Tat, tat, tat, stop, Dorothy! - -Truly it was the opening sound—not the words—of a nonsensical song. - -I presume that “The Geisha” is practising a plenteous injustice to Dai -Nippon. - -I recalled one Meriken consul who jolted out that same song once at a -party. - -He became no more a gentleman to me after that. - - -20th—I pasted my little card on my door. - -I wrote on it “Japanese Lessons Given.” - -I gazed at it. - -I was exceedingly happy. - - -21st—A gardener came to fix our lawn. - -There is nothing lovelier than verdant grasses trimmed neatly. They are -like the short skirt of the Meriken little girl. - -We women could be angels, I thought, if our speech lapped justly. Women -talk superfluously. I do often. - -What language did that gardener use? - -It must be the English of Carlyle, I said, for its meaning was -intangible. - -I discovered, by and by, that German English was his honourable choice. - -My eyes could express more than my English uttered in Nippon voice. My -gestures helped to make my meaning plain. - -He became my friend. - -He carried a red square of cotton to wipe his mouth, like the furoshiki -in which a Japanese country “O’ ba san” wraps her New Year’s present. - -And again as he was leaving I saw a red thing around his neck. - -Was it not the same furoshiki which served for his nose? - -It wouldn’t be a bad idea to play amateur gardener. - -The season wasn’t fitting for such a performance, however. - -A large summer hat! That was the customary attire. - -But my light-hearted straw one with its laughing bouquet was not adapted -to November, however gorgeously the sun might shine. - -And it’s sheer stupidity to track after a tradition. - -I wound a large flapping piece of black crape about my head. (How -awfully becoming the garb of a Catholic nun would be! I do not know what -is dear, if it is not the rosary. A writhing rope around the waist is -celestial carelessness.) - -I appeared on the lawn, but without a sprinkler and rake. It would have -been too theatrical to carry them. - -I gathered the small stones from amid the grasses into a wheelbarrow -near by. - -Just as my new enterprise was beginning to seem so delightful, the -luncheon gong gonged. - -My uncle goggled from the hall, and said: - -“Where have you been? I was afraid you had eloped.” - -“I’ve no chance yet to meet a boy,” I spoke in an undertone. - -Afterward I was ashamed that I had been so awkwardly sincere. - - -22nd—There was one thing that I wanted to test. - -My uncle went out. I understood that he would not be back for some -hours. - -I found myself in his room, pulling out his drawer. - -“Isn’t it elegant?” I exclaimed, picking up his dress-suit. - -At last I had an opportunity to examine how I would look in a tapering -coat. - -Gentleman’s suit is fascinating. - -“Where is his silk hat?” I said. - -I reached up my arms to the top shelf of a closet, standing on the -chair. - -The door swung open. - -Tamageta! My liver was crushed by the alarm. - -A chambermaid threw her suspicious smile at me. - -Alas! - -My adventure failed. - - -23rd—I mean no one else but O Ada San, when I say “my sweet girl.” - -She was tremendously nice, giving a tea-party in my honour. - -The star actress doesn’t appear on the stage from the first of the first -act. I thought I would present myself a bit later at the party, when -they were tattling about my delay. - -I delight in employing such little dramatic arts. - -I dressed all in silk. It’s proper, of course, for a Japanese girl. - -I chose cherry blossoms in preference to roses for my hat. Roses are -acceptable, however, I said in my second thought, for they are given a -thorn against affronters. - -I went to Miss Ada’s looking my best. - -They—six young ladies in a bunch—stretched out their hands. I was coaxed -by their hailing smile. - -Ada kissed me. - -I had no charming manner in receiving a kiss before the people no more -than in giving one. I blushed miserably. I knew I was bungling. - -O Morning Glory, you are one century late! - -They besieged me. - -None of them was so pretty as Ada. Beauty is rare, I perceive, like good -tweezers or ideal men. - -I distributed my Japanese cards. - -All of my new friends held them upside down. - -Is it a modern vogue to be ignorant? - -Ada played skilfully her role of hostess, which was a middle-aged part. -She didn’t even spill the tea in serving. Her “Sugar? Two lumps?” -sounded fit. She divided her entertaining eye-flashes among us. - -Tea is the thing for afternoon, when woman is excused if she be silly. - -We all undressed our too-tight coat of rhetoric in the sipping of tea. - -We laughed, and laughed harder, not seeing what we were laughing at. - -I couldn’t catch all of their names. - -Such a delicious name as “Lily” was absurdly given to a girl with red -blotches on her face. - -(A few blemishes are a fascination, however, like slang thrown in the -right place.) - -Her flippancy was like the “buku buku” of a stream. - -Lightness didn’t match with her heavy physique. - -“How lovely an earthquake must be!” she chirruped. “Shall I go to Japan -just on that account? A jolly moment I had last February. A baby -earthquake visited here, as you know. I was drinking tea. The worst of -it was that I let the cup tumble on to my pink dress. I prayed a whole -week, nevertheless, to be called again.” - -Woman has nothing to do with a hideous make-up. Miss Lily should not -select a pink hue. - -“You are awful!” I said. - -I told about the horror of a certain famous Japanese earthquake. They -all breathed out “Good heavens!” - -There was one second of silence. - -Ada struck a gushing melody on the piano. - -The lively Meriken ladies prompted themselves to frisk about. - -I was ready to cry in my destitution. - -One girl hauled me up violently by the hand. - -“Come and dance!” - -Her arm crawled around my waist, while she directed: - -“Right foot—now, left!” - -I returned to Mrs. Willis’, my thoughts absorbed in a dancing academy. - -“I must learn how to skip,” I said. - - -24th—I hate the alarm clock, simply because it is always so punctual. - -“I was too late” is a delightful expression. - -“Mrs. Willis’ breakfast is at quarter-past eight!” - -Isn’t that “quarter-past” interesting? - -And I can never be ready before nine. - - -25th—I dragged my uncle off to the Chute to enrich my store of zoology. - -“One gape more, Uncle, to count up one dozen!” I said, and pulled his -mustache in the car. - -It was lucky that no one saw my act. - -Poor Oji San! Playing chaperon is not a very promising occupation, is -it? - -I stood by the “happy family” of monkeys. I tried to descry their point -of view in orations. - -I gave it up. - -The vain Miss Polly worked hard to bring everybody to an understanding -with one eternal “Hello, dear!” - -I found such grace in the elephant when he waved his honourable trunk. - -The stupid Mr. Elephant wasn’t stupid a bit in accepting my present. - -How philosophically he gazed at me! Very likely I was the first Jap girl -to his audience. - -What respectable eyes! - -“You’ll bankrupt yourself in peanuts,” my uncle warned. - - -26th—A white apron on my black dress makes me so cute. - -I am just suited to be a chambermaid. Shall I volunteer as a servant? - -I bought an apron. - -To-day is house-cleaning day. - -I kept busy a good while arranging my theatrical costume as a maid. - -Wasn’t it fun? - -I was ready to scrub the floor, when I heard “kotsu kotsu,” on my door. - -It was Annie with a broom. - -“I’m your help. Just a moment! I have forgotten the finishing glance in -my mirror.” - - -27th—I have been studying the catechism. - -I am afraid to go to church, for the minister may put many a question to -me. - -Is Miss Ada a dutiful church-goer? - -I don’t think so. - -She would rather mumble a nigger song than a chapter from the Bible. - -I will ask her a few things from the catechism at my first opportunity. - - -28th—“Hand me your cup after you are done with your tea!” Mrs. Browning -requested. “I will ponder on your fortune.” - -“How delightful!” I said. - -My fortune? - -I remembered how I used to scatter my pocket money among the -fortune-tellers, pleased to be informed of a lot of nice things. - -What meaning she could find in a cup! - -I felt like a mother with her children already in bed, when I dropped my -spoon into my tea. - -I felt mistress of the situation. - -Was there ever anything more welcome than to learn your fortune? - -“A young American (rich, very rich—indeed) will win your affection. The -marriage will be a happy one,” she prophesied. - -Is that so? - -Life is becoming very interesting. - -I wonder where my would-be husband is seeking me. - -Shall I advertise in a paper? - -How? - -If my first-rate picture by Mr. Taber were printed, it would be a whole -thing in such a business. - -I thought the picture beautiful enough to sell at any stationer’s of -U.S.A. - -How many thousand could I sell in a week? - -Could I make money out of it? Some decent fortune, I mean, of course. - - -29th—Ho, ho, such a day! - -I was aroused by the roar of a milk-wagon early in the morning. - -I sought a pin in vain. - -I tore my skirt on a sneering nail at the door. - -I upset my flower-vase. - -I sat by my window. A vegetable pedlar howled to me, “Potatoes? -Potatoes?” - -I couldn’t recall a sweet dream I had last night. - -The clamour of a Chinese funeral passed under my room. The carriages -were packed with hired “crying women.” Isn’t it a farce? - -I went out. My street-car ran off the track. - -A fire-engine deafened me. - -I passed by an undertaker’s. It was cold like a grave. - -The sight stunned me. - - -30th—Is my nose high enough? - -I bought a pair of “nose spectacles.” - -Those with wires to circle the ears, which are Oriental (that is to say -old-fashioned), would suit even a noseless Formosa Chinee. - -But how many Japs could show themselves ready for nose spectacles? - -The Optician asked if they were for myself. - -He was a trifle uncertain about my nose, I suppose. - -“No! For my friend,” I said. - -It was a white lie. - -I blushed as if I had committed a heavy crime. - -I hoped I had not. - -I put my new spectacles on my nose, as soon as I returned to my room. -Very well they stayed. Mother Nature was specially kind to me. - -But what a depression—also what torture—I felt from their clutch! - -I was pleased, however, seeing myself somewhat scholarly. - -Aren’t spectacles an emblem of wisdom? - -The first requirement to be a critic should be spectacles. The second is -a pessimistic smile, of course. - -My mirror told me that I looked quite modern. - -“Book!” I exclaimed. - -I must see what effect I could produce with a book on my lap. - -I leaped from the chair to fetch one. - -My spectacles dropped from my honourable nose on to the hearthstone. My -nose was exceedingly stupid. - -Alas, and alas! - -The spectacles were crushed to pieces. - -I was broken also. - -I buried my face in the pillow for some time. - -Then I said: “I’m not short in my sight. I have no use for them except -for fun.” - -I wiped my disturbed eyes with a handkerchief. My finger felt the rude -marks printed on both sides of my nose. - - -Dec. 1st—I bought a Louisiana lottery ticket through Annie. - -Like any other domestic girl, she has no key to her mouth. She is like a -sentence that has forgotten to add the period. - -I begged all sorts of gods to drop the capital prize on me. - -Thirty thousand dollars! Think! - -How shall I manage with them when I have won? - - -2nd—If I were a painter! - -My eyes were fixed upon the dying sun. Its solemnity was like the -passing of a mighty king. - -Some time glided by. - -My thought was pursuing the sun. - -The twilight! - -Oh, twilight pacifying me as with the odour from a magical palace! - -Hush! - -The melody of a piano effused from my neighbour. - -The best thing in the world is to play music. The very best is to listen -to the profuse melody evoked by a master. - -Was it a superb execution? - -My soul was dissolved, anyhow, in the rapture. - -I left my uncle’s room where I saw the grand sun pass away. - -I put me in my bed, because my visionary mood was not to be stirred for -the world, and because I wished to dream a romance without the delay of -a moment. - -But I could not slumber. - -And I missed my dinner. - -I petitioned my uncle to step out into the street for my beloved -chestnuts. - -Dear Italian chestnut vendor! - -I never pass by without buying. - - -3rd—We start to-morrow for Los Angeles of Southern California. - -Mr. and Mrs. Schuyler have invited us to spend some weeks with them. - -The gentleman was the former consul at Yokohama. My uncle is his -intimate friend. - -My new trunk was brought in from the store. - -It bears my name in Roman of commanding type. - -I stared at the characters as upon an ancient writing whose meaning -could only be imagined. - -“Doesn’t ‘Miss Morning Glory’ suggest that the owner is a charming young -lady?” - -My little smile smiled, as I thought that it would, of course. - -A new trunk, I am sorry to say, lacks a historical look. An old one is -more gratifying, like old brocade or an old ring. - -Au revoir, my Ada! - - -South-bound train, 4th—I was lavish of my art of “bothering.” - -My poor uncle—my eternally “poor uncle” was the victim. I wanted some -diversion at any price. - -His face scowled as I bored him with my successive questions. - -I thought his irritated face fascinating. - -When I presented another question, he was droning a genteel snore. - -I twisted an edge of a newspaper into a roll. I thrust it into his nose. - -There was no doubt about his starting. - -“Bikkurishita!” he exclaimed. - -Then he begged to be allowed some chance to rest. - -This is a “bad year for cucumbers” for him. He made a mistake in -accompanying me on Meriken Kenbutsu. - -Honestly I have to behave nicely. - -My opening question to Uncle was: “What’s the derivation of ‘damn’?” - -“Imperialism” was my last. - -I have a high regard for the people dignified by using the capital “I” -for the personal pronoun. - -But if I were the President I should not wish to be addressed with that -hackneyed, unromantic “Mr.” - -The cartoonists making sport of the President shock me. - -How big-hearted the President is! - -Those “devils” would be beheaded in the Orient. - - -Los Angeles, 5th—No one bangs the door at Schuyler’s. - -The servants drop their eyes meekly before they speak. - -A well-bred atmosphere circulates. - -A woman over forty-five is nothing if she isn’t motherly enough to let -one feel at home. Mrs. Schuyler’s silence is a smile. I loved her from -my first glance. I thought I could ask her to wash my hair some sunny -day. I could fancy how pleasant it would be to immerse myself in her -chat—such sort of talk as an old-bonneted “how to keep house”—while I -was drying my hair in the indolence of a sea-nymph. Modern topic is like -black coffee, it is too stimulating. There is nothing dearer than a -domestic subject. - -I have no hesitation in accepting her as my Meriken mother. - -I am positive I would feel more comfortable if I had one in this -country. - -How good-naturedly she was fattened! - -A somewhat stout woman looks so proper for a mother. - -I wished I could lean on her plump shoulder from the back in Japanese -girl’s way, and play with her hair, and ask a few innocent questions -like “What have I to eat for dinner?” - -She talked about the Japanese woman, principally praising her shapely -mouth. - -I felt conceitedly, because I was given one classical little mouth, if I -had nothing else to be noticed. - -Mr. Schuyler grasped my hand ever so hard. My hand was buried in his -palm. His manner was courteously boyish. - -His body is erect like a redwood. - -Such an old gentleman gives me the impression of another race from the -divine realm of everlasting youth. A Jap after fifty is capped with -“retired.” - -But the work of the American gentleman is only finished when he dies. - -Great Meriken Jin! - -Mr. Schuyler shows more civility to his servants than to his wife. - -Here I can study the typical household of America’s best caste. - - -6th—“Anata donata?” - -I rubbed my dreamy eyes, scanning my room. - -Who was the Japanese speaker? - -I crept to the door, and opened it slightly. - -Not a soul was there. - -I heard the trivial clatter of the kitchen stepping up. - -I dipped into my bed again. I smiled sceptically, thinking that I must -have been dreaming. - -“Gokigen ikaga?” - -I was addressed again by the same voice. - -I said that there was positively some mischief in my room. - -I leaped down from the bed. - -I inspected my slippers. I made sure there was nothing strange under the -pictures on the wall. I tugged at the drawers. I tumbled every blanket. -I pried in the pitcher. - -I sat on the bed wrapped in fog. - -The blind rustled. - -The sunbeams crawled in marvellously. - -Then I was frightened by another speech, “Nihonjin desu.” - -I declared that it flew in from the outside. - -I rolled up the blind. - -Oya, oya! There was a parrot perching in a cage by my window! - -He adjusted his showy coat first, and then sent me his inquisitive eyes. - -“Anata donata?” he repeated. - -“Morning Glory is my insignificant name, sir,” I replied. - -A trifling toss of his head showed his satisfaction in my name. I -thought he was trying to set me at ease with his smile. - -“Gokigen ikaga?” - -“I feel splendidly, thank you, Mr. Parrot!” I said. - -Then pressing his head backward he looked haughtily at me with fixed -eyes, and announced: - -“Nihonjin desu.” - -“I’m also a Jap,” I muttered. - -He was the most profound Japanese scholar, Mrs. Schuyler said, in all -Los Angeles. Mr. Schuyler Jr. brought him from Kobe last spring. - -I told her the incident of this morning. - -She laughed, she said she expected it. - -Bad Mother Schuyler! - - -17th—Dear Baby! Kawaii koto! - -I hugged the baby of Mrs. Schuyler Jr. and kissed it. - -Her husband is away in Japan for the tea business. - -It was the darling baby, I thank the gods, who received my first kiss. - -It’s heavenly to stamp love with a kiss. Lips are the portal of the -human heart. - -Kiss is sweet. - -I say that it marks an epoch in the spiritual evolution of the Japanese -when they learn what a kiss is—but not how to kiss. - -The baby crawled like a sportive crab. It orationed. It! I felt sorry -that “It” would soon be changed to “He” or “She.” It caught sight of a -piece of burnt match in the course of its expedition. It turned its way -and clinched it with its fingers. It hastened to the mother to exhibit -it, and waited patiently with its great game for Mamma’s praise. - -I nearly cried in my excitement at such a pathetic revelation. - -Lovely thing! - -The baby had blue eyes. - -My preference wasn’t for blue eyes. I often snapped at them, saying that -they were like a dead fish’s eyes. - -But how long can I keep up my ill-will, when I look with delight upon -the blueness in water, sky and mountain? - -Isn’t it precious to see the blue pictures on china? - -A blue pencil is just the thing to mark on the margin of a pleasing -book. - -Blue is a poetical hue. - -Robert Burns was blue-eyed. - -I recalled the first American I met in Tokio, who seriously questioned -whether it was a fact that Japs butcher a blue-eyed baby. - -Bakabakashii wa! - -Japan has no blue eye. - -And Japanese are worshippers of any sort of baby. - -If American babies were like Chinese girls! - -I would pile up all my coins to buy one. - -Meriken baby understood how to smile before how to cry. It is a lady or -gentleman already. - -I will serve as baby’s nurse if I must support myself. - -It’s a high task to be useful to the baby, and watch its growth as a -silent astronomer watches the stars. - -I wish I could roll the baby’s carriage day after day. - -How sweetly the world would be turning then! - -Shall I hire Schuyler’s baby for one day? - - -8th—Is there any more gratifying word than dinner? - -I had a “hipp goo’” dinner. (Permit a Chinese-English expression for -once.) - -Its inviting heaviness was like an honourable poem by Milton. - -Schuyler’s house has a Miltonic presence. - -Electric light is too imposing. - -Candelabra are like a moon whose beams are a lenitive song. - -The nude shoulders of Mrs. Schuyler, Jr., crimsoned in the rays from the -candelabra. - -The exposure of some part of the skin is the highest order of art. How -to show it is just as serious a study as how to clothe it. - -If I had such supreme shoulders as hers, I would not pause before -displaying them. - -What falling shoulders are mine! - -The slope of the shoulders is prized in Japan. Amerikey is another -country, you know. - -I appeared at the dinner in my native gown. - -The things on the table had a high-toned excellence. - -I will not forget to have my initials engraved if I happen to buy any -silver. - -Coffee was served. I felt that an old age had returned, when eating was -only a dissipation. - -I’m growing to love Meriken food. - -I am glad that I don’t see any musty pudding at Schuylers’, a sight that -makes me ten years older. - -And another thing I hate is the smell of cabbage. - -How pleased I was to see a “chabu chabu” of shallow water in my finger -bowl! Just a glimpse of water is tasty. - -Our taciturn butler retired from the dining-room with graceful dignity. - -The butler has ceased to be a common servant. He has advanced, I -suppose, to the rank of an ornament of the Meriken household. - -The sister of Mother Schuyler and her husband dined with us. - -The funniest thing about her was that she kept a few long hairs on her -cheek. They grew from a mole. - -It may be good luck to preserve them. - -Her husband was surprised when he heard that we do not use knife and -fork at home. - -Bamboo chop-sticks! How dear! - - -9th—I have no belief in the earring. - -It is a savage mode, like the deformed feet of the Chinese woman. - -But why did the Meriken lady discard her veil? - -Her face behind the veil would appear like a rose through the Spring -mist. It is a charming thing as ever was fashioned for woman. - -I have seen no lady with a veil in this town. - -I suppose the Los Angeles women confide in their faces. - -They strew more liberty in their grace than the San Franciscans. - -Their beauty is informal. - -The city is enchanting. - -I am pleased that I am not shown here so many a “To Let” as in Frisco. - -Even the barefooted Arabs, those street sparrows, are quite a picture. - - -10th—I promised Mrs. Schuyler, Jr., good care of her baby for half an -hour. - -I carried it firm on my arms. - -I jogged out to the garden. - -The baby faced toward me and said: - -“Bu, bu! Bu, bu, bu!” - -I felt grateful, thinking that it counted me among its friends. - -I laid its head on my breast. - -I sang a little Japanese lullaby: - - - “Nenneko, nenneko, - Nennekoyo! - Oraga akanbowa - Itsudekita? - Sangatsu sakurano - Sakutokini! - Doride okawoga. - Sakurairo.” - - -(Sleep, sleep, sleep! When was our baby made? Third month, when the -cherry blossoms. So the honourable face of our child is cherry-blossom -coloured.) - -The breezes billed and cooed upon the grasses. An imperial palm cast its -rich shadow. - -The affectionate sunlight made me think of a “little Spring” of the -Japanese September. Everything inclined to a siesta in the yellow air. - -A tropical touch is the touch of passion. - -Can you fancy this is the month of December? - -I cannot. - -After I put the baby to its nurse, I paced around a bronze statue upon -the lawn, losing myself in Greek beauty. - -Then I snatched a rose. - -I pressed it to my nose-tip. - - -12th—Where’s my painstaking description of Echo Mountain? - -I made a pleasant trip there yesterday with Schuyler’s party. - -I lost my writing penned last night. - -Such a heedless tomboy! - -I idled, watching a spider from my window. It was framing a net amid the -garden trees. An awfully dignified tom cat glared from under a bush. I -was sorry no game came upon the scene to his honour. My profound -Japanese scholar was not discouraged by the lack of an audience. He was -busy presenting his polite “Gokigen ikaga?” - -Then I found what I did with my yesterday’s diary. - -Areda mono! - -I wiped my oily hands with it and buried it in a trash basket. - -I fixed my hair this morning. - -Morning Glory San, you have to keep your Nikki in a safe! - -Great Carlyle wrote his “French Revolution” twice. - -I wish I had been given a slice of his persistency. - - -13th—A Bishop visited and lunched with us. - -Bishop! How I desired to meet one! - -It had been my fancy, ever since I read of the venerable Bishop who -threw out candle-sticks to Jean Valjean in Hugo’s book. - -His name was Myriel. - -What is my friend’s name? After a man reaches the bishop’s see, his own -name should retire from actual service. People call him “Bishop! -Bishop!” as if it were a nickname. - -My bishop had a holy face. - -“Who is this good man who is staring at me?” I said to myself at first -sight, as Napoleon said when he saw Myriel. - -A young churchman is unnatural. - -The customarily pessimistic face of the Japanese priest causes aversion. - -I got what I wanted in my new friend. - -If I were his daughter, I would comb his silken hair before he goes to -church on Sunday. - -I was glad he was not thin. - -Ho, ho, ho! He ate meat like anybody else. - -He would seem holier if he merely bit a crust of bread, and sipped three -spoonfuls of tea. - -After luncheon we strolled through the garden arm in arm. - -Not a bit I blushed. I was as completely at ease with him as with my -papa. - -He told me of the beauty of Christ. His soft, deep voice was as from a -far-away forest. - -I plucked a few stems of violets. I fitted them to his buttonhole. - -Such a little thing pleased him immensely. - -Dear, simple Bishop! - -I digested what he spoke. I declared that Christianity was the sun, -while Buddhism was the moon. - -The sun is day and life, and the moon night and rest. - -How can we live without the sun? The moon is poetry. - - -14th—The sky became low, its colour frowning gray. - -The winds snarled. - -December was suddenly calling us. - -We sat by a snug fire at evening. - -Its yellow flame suggested a preacher uplifting his hands in prayer. The -fire flickered in jollity. - -“Pachi, pachi, pachi!” - -The parlour was not lighted. - -The pictures on the wall were impressive in the firelight. - -Any woman looks charming at night and by the fireside. I felt happy -imagining that I must appear lovely. - -The fireplace is so dear, like mamma’s lap. - -Mr. Schuyler brought a chess-board and challenged. - -I offered me for a fight. - -I used to play American chess with a Meriken missionary who lived in my -neighbourhood. I thought it fun to beat an old man. - -“Namu Tenshoko Daijingu!” I repeated. - -The gentleman asked what I muttered. - -“Never mind! Only a little spell!” I replied in the lightest fashion. - -The chess-board was placed between us. - -“Mr. Schuyler, can you sacrifice anything for the game?” - -“Whatever you please, my little woman!” - -“Well!” - -“Well, then!” - -“Suppose you make Mrs. Schuyler your stake! My uncle will be mine.” - -“Ha, ha! Very well!” - -He was a tactician. I fought hard. - -Alas, my game was lost! - -My second stake was myself. - -“It means that I may marry you, doesn’t it?” - -“As you please, sir!” - -Iyani natta! - -He was far superior. - -Oya, oya, I was a loser again! - -I looked sadly on my uncle, and said: - -“Uncle, you cannot return home! We are the property of Mr. Schuyler. -Isn’t it really too bad?” - - -15th—Shall I make a little kimono for Schuyler’s baby? - -It would be a souvenir of my visit. - -The crape kept in the Jap stores of this town isn’t appropriate for a -baby’s “bebe.” My flower-dyed under-kimono should be utilized. - -I opened my trunk. - -Mother Schuyler brought in a young lady. She was her niece, that is to -say the daughter of Mrs. Ellis. Mrs. Ellis is the one with the long hair -on her cheek. - -I told them of my new drift. - -They were surprised at my determination. - -Miss Olive applied to be my pupil in Japanese sewing. - -What a southern name! Olive perfectly fits for a girl born in the -passionate breeze. - -Her “Is that so?” or “Don’t you?” fluttered affectionately like golden -sunshine. - -Mrs. Schuyler bade her servant to move in the machine. - -I objected. - -Machine-clicking is not Oriental. The “bebe” has to be done in pure -Japanese. - - -16th—I found a hammock on the veranda. - -It is the thing for summer, of course. - -I never laid me in it before in my life. - -I thought that I would see how I would feel. - -I hanged it. - -I romped in it. - -It was delightful. I fancied that we—I and who?—hammocked among the -summer breezes. Then a star appeared. He said, “How beautiful the star -is!” - -What did I fancy next? - -Oh, never mind! - -I tossed my feet. The skirt fluttered. My new satin slippers—number one -and a half—were all seen. I drew up my skirt a little, and made a whole -show of my honourable legs. - -I prayed that somebody would pass by to fling an adoring glance at them. - -No one roamed along. I scorned my frivolity. - -The Bible by me wasn’t open at all. - -I decided to read it to-day, although religion isn’t so becoming. - -My Bishop sent it this morning. Dear old Bishop! He thought me quite a -docile “nenne.” - -I stretched my body in the hammock. - -Alas, ma! - -My hana kanzashi with the butterflies was caught by the meshes. The -wings of one butterfly were tortured. Yes, I had put a Japanese pin on -my hair this morning. - -I hoped I could pay a bit more attention to my head all the time. - -I was sad for a while. - -17th—Good Annie wrote me from Mrs. Willis’. - -What a scrawl! - -But woman’s bad grammar and infirm penmanship are pathetic, don’t you -think so? - -It might look better on a thin blue tablet. - -But poor Annie chose such thick smooth paper. - -Oya! What? - -A five-dollar check? - -My goodness, I had forgotten all about my lottery! Even the ticket I -have lost. It drew out five dollars. - -Why not thirty thousand dollars? - -It was better than a blank, anyway, I said philosophically. - -Now let me send a little present to my home! - -A little thing is a deal sweeter. - -I ordered fourteen packets of N. Y. Central Park lawn seed from a -nursery. - -New York Central Park! - -Doesn’t it sound grand? - -And other flower seeds also. - -The dwarf sweet pea is named “Cupid.” - -It will be no wonder if my father mistakes it for a kibisho. - -Cupid is a handsome boy, not a bullfrog-looking teapot, funny papa! - -He is garden crazy. I can imagine how conceited he will be showing -around his western sea flowers when they are in bloom. - -I asked my uncle to translate the directions. - -Isn’t it handy to keep a secretary? - -I’ll not miss signing my name on the translation. - -My daddy may think it was done by myself. - -Woman is a snob. - -Now what for mamma? - - -18th—Mother Schuyler took me to her church. - -Such a heathen me! - -I felt that I was “sitting on needles,” when I slipped into the Meriken -church without glancing at even one page of the Bible. It was as risky a -venture as to face an examination before fitting. - -The service hadn’t begun. - -Many ladies were introduced to me by Mrs. Schuyler. - -They talked about—what?—anything but religion. - -I was fanned continually by an offensive odor. Some one had left her -perfume at home. - -Honourable arm-pit smell! - -Amerikey cultivates many a disagreeable sort of thing, doubtless. - -The ladies seemed to regard the church as another drawing parlor. - -My mind was calmed within ten minutes. - -Ureshiya! - -The Meriken church is not a difficult place at all. - -A Japanese church is ever so sad-faced. No woman under thirty is seen -there. I laughed at the thought of an “incense-smelling” young girl. - -Isn’t it strange that Meriken girls love the church? - -Is it because they cannot marry without it? - -Sunday amusement doesn’t begin before noon. What would girls do if there -were no church where they could burst into song? - -How classically the bald head of the minister shone! - -There is nothing more pleasing than a sweeping sermon on a bright day. - -But my mind strayed, wondering why all those ladies were so homely. - -I snatched my hat off, wishing to be different from the rest. - -I fancied the reason why their hats were eternally glued to their heads -was because their hair was never in first-rate order for exhibition. - -Many years ago I used to steal into a Buddha temple, being a little -“otenba,” and tap an idol’s shoulder, saying: “How are you getting -along, Hotoke Sama?” - -Not one idol here! - -No incense! - -How uninteresting! - -How silly I was inventing some clever thing for the occasion when I -should be forced to confess! The church was not Catholic. - -When we returned home, Mrs. Schuyler asked me what was the text. - -“Let me see——” - -I made as if I had been a listener to the sermon. - -“Dear Mrs. Schuyler, what was it?” I exclaimed as if I had accidentally -forgotten. - - -19th—Miss Olive offered to show me how to play golf. - -I went to her home at Pasadena. - -Pasadena is a luxurious Winter resort of cheerful aspect. - -Its water is blessed. - -Even the street cars run like a well-bred gentleman. The dog never -growls around. It only wags its tail. No beggars. - -America’s outdoor diversion demands a great deal of strength. - -What an imbecile “anego!” - -After fifteen minutes I found two bean-like blisters on each palm. - -I gave up the game. - -I bought a golf outfit, nevertheless, in a store on my way home. The -sight of a lady carrying it once stamped itself on my mind as so -charming. - -What attire would be becoming to me? - -I said that my waist should be of deep red wool. Skirt? It must also be -of wool, of course, with a large checkerboard pattern. Silk isn’t -gamesome, is it? And the hat should be a mouse-coloured felt, which must -be thrust carelessly by my big gold pin with a coral head. - -I well-nigh decided to dye my hair red. - -What will my uncle say? - - -20th—Schuyler’s cook wasn’t acquainted with the art of rice-cooking. - -Mother Schuyler said explanatorily that she had never tasted properly -cooked rice since the day at Yokohama. - -The rice was pasty. - -I thought I would boil the rice according to Japanese prescription for -to-day’s dinner. - -I stepped down to the kitchen. - -I put three cupfuls of rice in a saucepan, and dipped my hand in it, and -supplied water as much as to my wrist. - -I placed it on the splendid fire till the agitated water pushed up the -lid. Then I moved it on to a gentle fire. The cooking was done after -twenty minutes. - -I was honoured by everybody at the dinner. The rice was singularly fine. -The grains kept their own perfect shapes. - -After the dinner I approached Mrs. Schuyler with ink and paper. - -“Will you write your recommendation of my rice-cooking?” I said. - -She gazed at me questioningly. - -“What a funny girl! What shall I say?” - -Then I dictated solemnly thus: - - “_To whom it may concern:_ - - “I highly recommend Miss Morning Glory with her honourable art - of rice-cooking. Her method is Japanese, that is to say, the - best in the world. - - MRS. SCHUYLER” - - -21st:—Without a nephew Mother Schuyler wouldn’t be a complete old dear. - -She has one fortunately. - -Olive San told me a whole lot about her great brother. - -He is a promising artist. - -Artist? - -Doesn’t an artist affect boorish hair? I was anxious to know how his -hair was, because I hated anything long except a frock-coat. - -Miss Olive declared him one handsome boy. (I thought how ridiculous is -the American girl to praise her brother. It is Japanese etiquette to -undervalue one’s relatives in describing them.) - -I finished my imaginary sketch of his face before we intruded in his -studio. - -Olive presented me to him. - -He was a comely young man. - -What gratified me most about him was his shapely shoes, well-polished. - -He knew how to talk with girls. - -I was instantly put on unceremonious terms. - -How beautifully he once slipped “Miss” in addressing me! His -gracefully-sounding “Pardon me, I mean Miss Morning Glory!” pleased me -enormously. - -I told him that it was a regular humbug to be particular. - -“I will call you Oscar, shall I?” I said, winking. - -I felt some fervid water oozing down my cheeks. I was blushing. - -I was glad that he was not Mr. Ellis, Jr. The word “Jr.” appears to me -like a ragged papa’s old coat which is dreadfully out of fashion. - -“Will you let me paint you?” he requested. - -“Am I beautiful enough, do you think?” I said, dropping my eyelids. - -“Only too charming!” he said bravely. - -I always think every gentleman whom I meet falls in love with me. - -I regarded Mr. Oscar Ellis already as an adorer. - -O sentimental Morning Glory! - -When I returned to Schuyler’s my mind was completely occupied with an -absurd fancy. - -I was thinking what I shall do when he proposes to me. Shall I say yes? - -For a girl to fall in love with one while she is staying at his aunt’s -isn’t romantic a bit, is it? - -I don’t care, anyhow, for an artist lover. - -It is a worn-out hero in old fiction. - -Doesn’t the word “artist” ring like a synonym for poverty? - - -22nd—Mrs. Ellis invited me to dinner. - -I went to Pasadena with Mrs. Schuyler, Jr. - -The evening was fragrant. - -After the dinner we stepped out to the garden. It was dusky. - -By and by, twenty Japanese lanterns were candled among the trees in my -honor. - -I was in a sprightly bent. - -I was whispering a little Jap song, when Oscar led out two donkeys. - -Olive sprang upon the back of one in gracious audacity. - -“Jump, Morning Glory!” she exclaimed. - -I was wavering about my action, when I felt Oscar’s firm arms around my -waist. My small body was lifted on to the donkey’s by his careless -gallantry. - -What a sensation ran through me! It was the first occasion to put me -into so close contact with a Meriken young man. - -My skirt was caught by the saddle. I made a whole exhibition of my leg. - -But I was glad the stocking was beautiful. - -Oscar held my bridle, pacing by my side. - -Alas! - -My donkey acted awfully. - -Did he take it as a degradation to be whipped by a Jap? - -Suddenly it dropped its honourable rump. I should have been pitifully -thrown out, if my arm had not seized Oscar’s neck. I looked -apologetically at him. He turned his delighted face. - -I could not stay a minute longer. - -When I got me off from the donkey, I observed the new moon over my right -shoulder. - -“Good luck!” Olive San said. - -Why? - -Mr. Oscar began to whistle somewhat as follows: - -“Ho pop pop pop, ho pop pop pa!” - - -23rd—To-day is Mrs. Schuyler’s reception day. - -She set two Japanese screens in the drawing room, moving them from her -chamber. She sprinkled a great lot of exotic bric-a-bric about. - -She opened a regular Chinese bazar which expressed every poor taste. -Such confusion! - -I fancied she wanted the callers to recollect that she was Mrs. -Ex-Consul of the Orient. - -Japan teaches nothing but simplicity. Simplicity is the philosophy of -art. - -I wondered how she lived there without learning it. - -Every inch of Schuyler’s parlour means a heap of money. - -But is there anything more displeasing than tasteless luxury? -Sufficiency is grateful, but superfluity is nothing but offence. - -I thought that Americans buy things because they love to buy, not -because they have to buy. - -Meriken jin has to study the high art of concealing. - -The brown people look upon the scattering of things (however costly they -be) as lower than barbarity. Japs believe in the sublimity of space. - -Isn’t it delightful to sit on the new matting of a Japanese guest-room? -Its fresh whiteness used to cure my headache. - -Isn’t it taste to place just one seasonable picture on the tokonoma? - -So many a Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Smith called. - -They surrounded me. - -I asked myself whether they paid a visit to Mother Schuyler or to me. - -They incessantly threw the following questions at me: - -“How do you like America?” - -“How long do you expect to stay?” - -Such an inquisitive Meriken woman! - -I wished I had been bright enough to print a slip with my reply. - -Each lady wore four rings at least. - -Are they real things? - -Diamond is hardly my choice. Haughtily cold, isn’t it? - -I declared that their shapeless fingers were not fit to show without -embellishment. - -If I had money for a ring I would use it for 365 pairs of silk -stockings. Isn’t it a joy to change every day? - -Schuyler’s baby made a hit with its kimono. - -All the ladies kissed and kissed. - -The baby wondered at their act, rolling its eyes. - -Mother Schuyler was quite fussy with a little speech about the history -of its Japanese gown. - -Funny old dear! - - -24th—Mr. Oscar Ellis came to paint me. - -Dear Oscar! - -I have never before left my face alone for such a close scrutiny. - -I was restless at first, fancying that he was gathering all my flaws. - -Then it happened in my thought that his absorption had something of -religious devotion in it. - -I grew easy. - -I began to feel like a star with all the admirers in the earth. - -A garden tree sent its shadow through the window. The time passed as -gracefully as a fairy on tiptoe. The air was purple. - -Oscar San chatted freely. - -I never took the part of a listener before in my life. I found listening -honourable. - -“So you like the Oriental woman?” I said. - -He said American beauty was rather external, like a street shop window. -He would like to know, he said, if there was any word more pathetic than -“sayonara.” - -“Isn’t the Japanese woman like it?” he asked. - -I thought he was correct. - -He continued: - -“I read in a modern poet the following lines: - - - ‘ .... full of whispers and of shadows, - Thou art what all the winds have uttered not, - What the still night suggesteth to the heart.’ - - -Such is the vague Japanese beauty in my idea.” - -“I am not so nobly sweet, am I?” I exclaimed. - -He cast a strong look, as if he were trying to put his final judgment -upon me. - -He moved his brush slowly on the canvas. - -I bowed a profound bow. - -“Gomen kudasai!” I said. - -And I laid me on the floor, stretching out my legs. - - -[Illustration: - - Drawn by Genjiro Yeto - “SO YOU LIKE THE ORIENTAL WOMAN?” -] - - -25th—I bought two dolls. - -One for Schuyler’s baby, as my Christmas gift. - -I slept with the other last night. I squeezed my ear to the dolly, -fancying I might hear a few scratches of human voice. I kissed it. I -laughed, saying that the doll was the thing for my starting to learn how -to kiss. - -“Sleep till mamma comes back, darling!” I said in the morning when I -stepped down for my breakfast. - -I left the table before I had half-finished, on account of my anxiety -lest the upstairs girl might tattle of my childishness, if she found the -doll in my bed. - -Thank Heavens! - -The girl hadn’t come around yet. - -I locked it up in my trunk. - -What name shall I give it? - -Charley? - -I was disgusted at the thought, because every Chinee—ten thousand -Mongols in all—is named one Charley. - -Merry Christmas, all of you! - - -26th—It rained. - -I implored Mother Schuyler to select a book from her library. - -All the literature was packed in there, beginning with Socrates, sane as -a silver dollar. - -Every book was without finger-marks. Book without finger-mark is like -bread without brown crust. Dear finger-mark! - -The fashion is to buy books and to glance at their covers, I suppose, -but not to read them. Modern publications aren’t meant to be read, are -they? The authors have degenerated to the place of upholsterers. Isn’t -it a shame? - -Mrs. Schuyler picked out for me “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.” - -My uncle said: “American woman can’t keep away from Omar and -chicken-salad.” - -I began to peruse it. - -The raindrops by my window tuned: - -“Tap, tap, tip, tap, tap!” - -I thumped the book on the floor, and exclaimed: - -“Mr. Khayyam!” - -Rubaiyat is a menace against civilisation. - -Americanism is nothing but the delight in life and the world. - -I wonder why the wise government of Washington does not oppose its pagan -circulation. - -It is leprosy. - -But I thought how truly true was his “I came like Water, and like Wind I -go.” - -I took up the book and opened it again. - -Then I shut it. - -I listened to the “Tap, tap, tip!” - -Doesn’t it sound like a wan voice of Omar? - -Yes! - - -27th—A lady whom I met at Mrs. Schuyler’s reception sent me a mass of -distinguished roses. - -Loving American! - -I said I would arrange them in Japanese cult. - -My style is the enshin. - -Amerikey is destitute of flowers. - -Nippon is known as a paradise of botanists. The “scientists” of flower -decoration (if I may call them so) are given a great advantage in their -craft of delineating beauty. - -The rose is not much of a flower to the Jap mind. - -They never employ it in their work. It has no grace of line. Its perfume -cannot indemnify for its being thorny. Things not qualified to convey -charm are declined from the tokonama. - -I love roses awfully well myself. - -I will make the best of them in my art. - -Is there any proper vase in Schuyler’s house? - -Mother Schuyler fetched me two pieces. - -One was a silver vase and the other a china one. - -I couldn’t use them, I was sorry. Silver was commercial-looking. The -painting on the china a hodge-podge of a joss house. - -Then I was seized with a thought. - -I ran down to the kitchen. - -I borrowed an old scrubbing bucket. - -“Such a soft antique hue!” I exclaimed with delight. - -I elected one imperial rose and one little one for a “retainer.” - -I fixed them in the bucket. - -I thought it was verily the simplicity of the illustrious Mr. Rikiu. - -I presented the rest of the roses to Mrs. Schuyler, Jr. - -She stared at the bucket without a word. I knew that her silence was the -most forcible irony. She didn’t approve of setting such a bucket on the -table. - -“Meriken jins don’t know any art!” I said, when she left. - -My uncle begged me not to act so fantastically. - - -28th—“Here’s a shamisen, Morning Glory!” Mother Schuyler cried from the -hall. - -I darted out of my room. - -“Well!” I exclaimed. - -Shamisen? - -It is a three-stringed guitar of Japan. - -Mr. Schuyler, Jr., had sent it from Yokohama, as she explained. - -She wished me to tinkle a little gamboling music in the parlour before -dinner. - -It is a hard implement to handle. It has no notation. Attainment is -through unending blind practice. - -I was compelled to learn by mother, many a year ago, but I soon gave it -up for an English spelling-book. - -But I daresay I can play. - -I regulated the key to begin with. - -“Ting, ting! Chang, Chang, ting!” - -“What to hum, Uncle?” I asked, facing aside. - -“Love ditty is desirable,” Oji San considered. - -“Don’t fancy me a geisha!” I said in defending laughter. - -Then I murmured an old hauta, “Haori kakushite,” which was Englished by -some one. - - - “She hid his coat, - She plucked his sleeve, - ‘To-day you cannot go! - To-day, at least, you will not leave, - The heart that loves you so!’ - The mado she undid - And back the shoji slid: - And clinging cried, ‘Dear Lord, perceive - The whole world is snow!’” - - -29th—We went to a theatre last evening. - -Dear, classical “flower path”! - -How I missed it in the Meriken stage! - -Flower path? - -It is a projection into the auditorium used to represent when one starts -out of the house or returns. - -So the American stage has no front gate scene! Every one enters very -likely from the kitchen door. - -The stage never turns round like the Japanese stage. - -Oh, dear, iyadawa! - -American play has too much kissing. Each time I was electrified. - -The pit was filled with a well-behaved throng. All the ladies took off -their hats. Do they pay more respect than in church? The gentlemen never -whiffed smoke. - -Japan theatre is a hurly-burly. - -The “boys” roar up “Honourable tea—O’cha wa yoroshi? Honourable cake?” -The attendants of tea houses bow around to the beneficent habitues, like -inclining puppets. - -Women sob. They laugh, stuffing their sleeves into their mouths. They -are ready to put themselves in the play. They are sentimental. - -Meriken women place themselves above the play. - -I doubted whether they were criticising or enjoying. - -Some lady even used a spy-glass to examine the face of a player. - -I thought it decidedly an impertinence. - -What a pry! - -I will not act to such an assembly, if I ever happen to be an actress. - -What was the title of the play? - -I could hardly understand half of it. - -I tried hard to swallow my gape. - - -30th—Mr. Oscar Ellis came to put the finishing touch to my picture. - -The execution was subtle sureness. - -He said that he would offer it to his beloved aunty—Mother Schuyler, of -course—begging to let it ornament the wall of my room. - -My room? - -It is “my room” for a few days yet. - -I thought it exceedingly sweet. - -The wall is duskily red. The effect would be superb. - -When I announced to him that our leave would take place on the -approaching fourth, he started as if he had received a stroke. - -“So soon?” he said. - -“Yes,” I said, turning my uneasy face. - -“We are only beginning to understand each other.” - -“I am a bird of passage, as you know. I have to fly on my road.” - -The air grew tragic. - -Then Oscar said: - -“What will you do when you tire of flying?” - -“Sah!” - -“Well?” - -“I’ll return to Los Angeles and induce you to marry me with my -honourable Oriental oratory. Will that do?” - -We interchanged our nimble look. We laughed afterward. - -After he left Schuyler’s, I said to myself that I would not mind -positively if he would kiss me. The kiss must be on my brow, however. -Lips are too personal. - -I wrote a note, beseeching him not to forget to kiss me at my farewell. - -Then I chewed the note. - -I reviled my folly. - - -31st—Street walking is a delight. - -I’ll mirror my face in the glass of the shop windows ambling by. - -I dropped a handkerchief to-day. - -A gentle gentleman—man behind me should be young and good looking -always—picked it up. His respectful “Pardon me—” made me feel as if I -were living in the silver-armoured age of chivalry. - -Shall I drop something again? - -I observed a variety of form in raising the skirt. - -One lifted a bit of the left by her finger-tips. Another pulled up the -right edge of her front. Another clinched out the centre of her back, -showing a significant fist. A corpulent one stepped, holding up both -sides of her front. The miserable underskirt revealed itself in red. - -Which mode is becoming to me? - - -Jan. 1st, 1900—Is to-day the opening of another century? - -Happy New Year! - -I will send a lot of “Shinnen omedeto” to Tokio. - -Isn’t this a queer New Year? - -No shimenawa along the façades with flitting gohei! - -No “gate pine tree”! - -No sambow for an oblation unto the gods in any room! - -No rice-bread! No golden toso for the cup! - -I mingled with a neighbour’s girls for a “rope-jumping.” - -We played hide-and-seek. I offered ten cents reward to the one who -detected me. I abandoned the unprofitable job after emptying out all my -change. - -Miss Olive called on a bicycle. - -I persuaded her to let me try on her bloomers. She exchanged them for my -walking skirt which was four inches shorter. - -We hurried to the garden. - -She helped me on the wheel. - -Such a bad Meriken girl! - -She slipped her hand from it. I fell on a bush. The touchy rose thorned -in my hand. - - -2nd—I made a discovery. - -Mother Schuyler’s teeth are all false. - -I have no chance to explore whether her hair is a wig. - -She chains a big bunch of keys to her waist. Its rattle sounds -housewifely. - -She forgot it, laying it on the sitting-room table. - -I knotted it to my waist-strap. - -I jiggled it. - -“Jaran, jaring, jaran, jaran!” - - -3rd—The sayonara dinner was given. Mrs. Ellis’ folks joined us. - -Mother Schuyler repeated every ten minutes her query, “when would I -visit them again?” - -Mr. Oscar set his depressive look on me. I wasn’t brave enough to -encounter it. - -I slid away from confronting him. - -I found him an elegant young man. He impressed me as an image of Apollo. - -Only God knows when I will reprint my footsteps on the soil of Los -Angeles! - -I felt awfully sorry in leaving such an agreeable company. - - - “Fold your tent like the Arabs, - And silently steal away.” - - -How sad! - - -4th—Good-bye, Mr. Parrot! - - SAN FRANCISCO, 5th. - -I am again at Mrs. Willis’. - -San Francisco! - -Such miraculous San Francisco water! - -I will taste bliss again in drinking the midnight water, stretching out -my arm from the bed. - - -6th—I tied Dorothy’s hair in Nippon style. - -She pleased me much by remembering the Japanese words I taught her. - -She is a cute dear. - -The mode had been the “O’tabaco bon.” - -I straightened her hair with my wet hand. - -I added a tiny bit of crimson crape. - -She looked a lovely fairy. - - -7th—Rainy day! - -The heavily reserved weather confines me in the pose of genius. - -My hair lounged down my shoulders. Disorder is the first step in being a -genius, I fancy. My eyes should be rolled up to the sky in divine -tragicalness. - -I have had a greediness for the name of novelist. - -To-day I found myself in the crisis where I must scribble or die. - -I regret to say that mine is a love story also, as every beginner’s book -has been. I hope everybody will be contented with “The Destiny,” a -respectable title for my fiction. Who says it is the style of name -employed one hundred years ago? - -The book will be concluded with three hundred pages. - -Now I wonder whether a long story is in demand. - -Chapter I, is as follows: - - - WHEN THE MOON ROSE. - -This story begins when the moon rose. - -Its silvery rays—it was six P.M. of April—fell on the Shiba park in -laughter. - -My heroine jogged along into the park, singing a light song. - - - “Miss Honourable Moon, how old are you? - Thirteen and seven, you say? - You are young enough to marry——” - - -Let me explain about her a bit! - -Her name is O Hana San. - -Thirteen years old. Thirteen? It is the age when the flower of girlhood -starts to bloom. - -Bewitching Hana! - -Do you remember a well by the glorious cherry tree in the park? The -’rikisha men moisten their parched lips at the “Heaven-Sent.” That is -its name, sir. - -Miss Hana looked down into the well. - -She began to adjust her hair. The first worry of a girl after thirteen -would naturally be about her hair. - -She gazed up to the cherry blossoms and exclaimed: - -“Utsukushii nah! Lovely!” - -Then she found her face again in the well-mirror, thinking what a -charming O Hana San it would make with the flowers on her hair. - -My worthy readers, I suppose it is the time some one must enter. - -He came. - -He was a little boy. - -I will not mention his name just yet. - -He came close to her and pinched her little back. Both blushed, facing -each other. They were quite strangers. - -The evening zephyrs stirred the cherry blossoms. They planted themselves -silently among the falling petals, as ethereal as snow. - -“I delight to stand in the storm of petals, don’t you?” Hana inclined -her head a trifle in speaking. - -The woman always speaks first. - -“Let me see your school book!” again she said. - -“Why?” - -He put it in her tiny hand. - -“Thanks! Arigato!” - -She bowed low. When she put the book on her shoulder, she was running -away, singing: - - - “Miss Honourable Moon, how old are you?” - - -The boy stood aghast. - - * * * * * * * - -The author of this story found O Hana San again by the same well on the -next evening. - -The boy’s book in her hand, of course. - -She paced around the well, muttering: - -“He must come, because the moon rose.” - -But he was not seen. - - * * * * * - -My next chapter will be “The Second Meeting.” - - -8th—My precious Ada again! - -How could I live without her? - -We hastened to a circus. - -If I were a boy, I could earn a heap of money selling “Pea—nuts! -Lemon—ade!” - -How those clowns did tumble! - -If I could share in such fun! - -The ringmaster was the handsomest man in the world, in shiny boots and -heavenly hat. How splendidly his whip cracked! - -The clack dashed like a burst of bamboo. - -“Wouldn’t you be glad to be the lady on horseback? I would truly. Glance -at her daring grace!” I whispered to Miss Ada. - -Even the seal performed. - -We laughed till tears dropped. - -The circus had twenty elephants. Think! - -Our Imperial Menagerie of Tokio has only one. How poor! - - -9th—Last night I went over to Mrs. Consul’s to be given a lesson in -card-playing. - -“Cribbage would be the thing. Why? Because the Lambs took much pleasure -in it,” she said. - -“How is poker?” I suggested. - -“Gambling game!” she protested. - -“I delight in gambling, Mrs. Consul,” I proclaimed. - - * * * * * - -I had a wicked dream. - -What do you imagine? - -I ran away with a circus rider. - - -10th—I made the acquaintance of a Japanese woman. - -She must have been passing her thirty springs. I could be accurate in my -scale, being one of her sisterhood. - -A cigar-stand keeper in Dupont Street. - -Her name is O Fuji San. - -Mrs. Wistaria brought a box of cigarettes that my uncle had ordered. - -The morning is unoccupied in such a retail shop. Nobody puffs much -before lunch. She set herself in a tête-à-tête. - -The chastity of a wife may be measured by her solo on her husband. -Woman’s greatest joy often lies in lamenting the faults of her teishu. - -Mrs. Wistaria spoke of her husband’s being ill. I was to accept any -chance for squandering my feelings. I sympathised, repeating, “Komaru -nei! How sad!” - -She said that she was going to leave the city for a week for the spring -of San Jose, to take care of her infirm dear. - -“I fear I may lose my customers,” she flagged. - -Her husband was afflicted with rheumatism. - -I promised to call at her store. - -Japs never visit an invalid without a present. - -Champagne? It’s too ostentatious a drink. It’s like a highly rouged -woman. - -The loving-eyed claret should be chosen. - -I sent half a dozen bottles to Mrs. Wistaria’s. - -A charity woman should be dressed in black and white. I went to Dupont -street, however, in my grey dress. - -Her husband struggled to entertain me. His clumsy smile appeared all the -time at the wrong cue. - -Poor Mr. What’s-his-name! - -Their business was an absurdly small affair. - -The whole stock hardly valued above one hundred dollars. - -I thought I could conduct it rightly. - -I was carried away by a sudden fancy. - -“Can’t you leave your store in my hands, while you are away? Say yes! -No?” I pressed myself upon them eagerly. - -They were amazed. - -“High-born lady like you? Oh, no! Doshite, doshite! Think! Do you know -this is the toughest part of the town?” Mrs. Wistaria tried to make me -retreat. - -I couldn’t listen to her, my whole soul being absorbed in my new -caprice. - -I thought it remarkably romantic. - -I left the store to bring uncle to talk the matter over. - -Mrs. Wistaria’s store was neighboured by every saloon. The fuddling -sounds overflowed in song: - - - “Hello ma baby, hello ma honey——” - - -11th—Now he is my beloved uncle. - -He assured me of his help in carrying out my freak. - -“You are fitting me for a slightly better rôle, I fancy,” he said, -venturing to add even one or two of his good-natured giggles. “The -secretaryship of a cigar-stand is a rather more hopeful occupation than -carrying your wraps through the street.” - -Everything was arranged. - -Mrs. Wistaria and her husband set off for San Jose. - -I am a merchant-lady. - -The first thing I did was to put up a dignified sign with the following -black letters: - - - MORNING GLORY CIGAR STORE. - - -I borrowed a picture from Mrs. Willis’ parlour, and placed it by the -slot machine. - -It is the picture of a dear Injun sitting against a woodland fire with a -respectable pipe, whose smoke sails up to the yellow moon. What -resignation! What dream! What joy! It did suit beautifully for the -cigar-stand. - -I love to see a man smoking. The elfish smoke acts like a merry-hearted -May gossamer. When I observe a man’s eye pursuing his smoke, I say to -myself that his soul must be stepping nearer to his ideal. The road of -smoke is the road of poesy. - -A noble trade is tobacco. - -Man’s hermitage is situated only in smoking, I should say. - -I divested my uncle of his coat. I begged him to hold a bucket and a -piece of cloth for a moment. - -“Are you ready to wash the windows, Uncle?” I said. - -“Traitor, Morning Glory!” He flashed his accusing glare. - -Docile old man! - -He cleaned four windows of the kitchen, which was also the dining-room -and the parlour. - -I paid him five cents for each. - -I said: “It’s good fun to hire the chief secretary of the Nippon Mining -Company to rub windows, isn’t it?” - -And I laughed. - -Then I forced him to buy a cigar. - -“You made some twenty cents out of me. Your turn is coming, my uncle!” I -said. - -I sold him a box of Lillian Russell cigars for three dollars. The real -price was two. - -Ha, ha, ha! - - -12th—I invited my precious Ada to my store to dine _à la Japonaise_. - -One Jap restaurant catered to it. - -“Irrashaimashi! Condescend to enter!” I showered my wooden-clogged -greeting over Ada. - -From “The Klondyke,” my neighbouring saloon, a nigger song was flapping -in. - - - “If you ain’t got no money, you needn’t come round.” - - -Happy Ada San! - -She was about to join in it, when I brought her into my great -dining-room. - -(Beg pardon, it was a paltry kitchen!) - -Everything was seen on the table. - -Japanese dinner has no strict order of courses. You are a frolicsome -butterfly among the dishes set like flowers before you. You may flit -straight to any one which catches your whim. - -“Take your honourable chop-sticks!” I said. - -Poor Miss Ada! - -“How shall I manage with one stick?” she raised her eyelids in -questioning meekness. - -I bade her to split the stick in two. It was a brand new wooden one. I -showed her how to finger it. - -She nibbled a bit from each dish. Every time she tasted she looked upon -me with a suspicious smile. - -And how she slipped her sticks at the critical moment! - -The sight amused me hugely. - -“How dare I swallow raw fishes!” she said shrinking. - -“What delight I taste in them!” I slammed back at her timidity. - -Then I dipped a few cuts of the fishes into a porcelain soy pan for my -mouth. - -I even trampled into her fish-dish by and by. - -She was literally terrified. - -The feast was over. I said, “Go yukkuri! Honourable -not-to-be-in-a-hurry!” I slid away. - -I tied my white apron like a shop girl. I was glad that I did not forget -to push a lead-pencil through my hair. I presented myself to Ada -carrying a cigarette box. - -“Will you buy tobacco for your lord?” - -I spread the box before her. - -“How much for one packet,” she asked with the charming arrogance of a -customer. - -She was acting also. - -“To-day is the memorial day of Lord Nono Sama. My sweet Oku San, allow -me to make a reduction!” - -Then we laughed. - - -[Illustration: - - Drawn by Genjiro Yeto - “HOW DARE I SWALLOW RAW FISHES!” -] - - -13th—I created much noise in the Jap colony! - -Why not? - -Many brown men pause by my store and buy, simply because they can -address a word or two to me. - -They are silly, aren’t they? - -I announce that I am tired of their faces. I have never met one -progressive-seeming Oriental since I landed. They are like a dry tree. -Are their souls dying? - -“Well, that’s why, they have no girl,” my uncle conclusioned. - -He is so bright once in a while. - -Why not make love with Meriken musume? - -I said I would petition the Tokio government to transplant her women. - -It may ruin the Japanese girl’s name, was my afterthought, if they ship -only the homely gang. - -Lovely girl has no longing to sail over the ocean. She has plenty of -chance to grow a flower bride at home. - -I pity my native boys of this city. - -“Jap! Jap!” - -They are dashed with such exclamations from every corner. - -As for me the sound of “Jap” is my taste, so I spray it in my writing. - -I took up again my knitting work which I had commenced on the seas. -Nothing could be more decent to fill up my leisure in the store. - -My little neck fell, as I was intent on my stocking. - -Some one spoke above my head: “How is business?” - -“So, so!” I replied in businesslike reserve. - -I lifted my face. - -Oya, he was Mr. Consul. - -“Will you sell me a cigar?” - -“Things are becoming awfully high. Mine is a distinctly dear store. Do -you know it, Mr. Consul?” - -“I’m prepared to pay more at the beautiful girl’s,” he began to titter. - -“General Arthur cigar has leaped one dollar higher since Monday, and——” - -“You don’t mean it!” He mimicked a sudden alarm. - - -14th—O funny drunkard! - -To-day one fellow established himself before my store. He fixed his -amazing eyes on my face, and extended his hairy hand. - -“Hel-lo, Japanese!” he stuttered. - -He wanted to shake hands with me. - -I lengthened my arm, and slapped his face. I withdrew directly within, -and watched him from a hole. - -“Ha, ha! She got mad—ha, ha, ha!” - -He was in a tip-top state of mind. - -“Let me help myself!” - -He pilfered one cigar from the shelf. He struck a match. He bit the -cigar. - -“Good!” he muttered. - -He tossed himself away with ludicrous dignity, singing: - -“Pon pili, yon, pon, pon!” - -“This is undeniably a tough place!” I exclaimed. - - -15th—Night has just arrived. - -Only ten minutes ago a white-capped “Jim” (I overheard people calling -him so) lighted a paper lantern labelled “Tomales.” He is an -eating-stand keeper across the street. The loafers passed. There was -some time to watch the lazy parade. It was a blank hour of Saturday when -he could puff a whiff of smoke. - -The prankish songs ceased. - -Even in Dupont Street I am given a page of dream. - -The barkeeper of “Remember the Maine” called at my store. - -“Remember the Maine?” - -It is a name cheap as the grimness of a toothless woman. - -Mr. Barkeeper had something to say, I imagined. - -I offered a stem of cigarette. - -“Do you ever hear a bloody cry at night?” he began his chapter, -gathering a medley of gravity on his brow. - -“Scream? No!” - -“Never mind!” - -He turned aside. I thought he was playing a threadbare artifice of a -story-teller to tantalise my fancy. - -“Tell me why!” - -I knew I became his victim. - -“I fear I do scare you.” - -“No! I never——” I leaned forward. - -“To begin with——” - -He stopped, looking around. - -“Your kitchen—don’t be scared—is close by a haunted room of a house on -Pine Street. It’s no story. A chorus girl lived—well, some five years -ago—in that house with her step-mother. Just think! The old hen of -sixty-five fell in love with her daughter’s lover. Do you understand? -She saw one morning the young fellow kissing her daughter. She went -crazy. She shot him. Isn’t it awful? The murderess leaned against the -wall by your kitchen, and cried, ‘I killed him!’ I swear to you that it -is all true. So, people say, a wail is heard at night from your side.” - -“Mah! Mah!” I breathed. - -“That is all.” - -He retired heavily. - -Do I believe it? - -“No! No!” I denied. - -But I was thickly swarmed by sickening air. How could I trust me in the -kitchen! - -I closed the store. - -I pasted up a piece of paper whereon was written: “NO BUSINESS -TO-NIGHT.” - - -16th—I had a stomach-ache this morning. I couldn’t rise. - -The maid fetched me some toast and a cup of coffee. - -I think it is very nice to eat in bed. - - -17th—Mrs. Wistaria and her husband returned from San Jose. - -She lavished on me her thousand arigatos. - -She said I sold sixty per cent more than on any previous week. - -She wished me to condescend to accept a “meagre” fifteen dollars as a -share of the profits. - -I refused it. - - -18th—My letter to Miss Pine Leaf (who wept with me reading Keats’ -love-letters one mournful night) is as follows: - - “MATSUBA SAN: - - ‘Hitofude mairase soro. - - ‘I have the honour to present a brief writing.’ - - “Let me omit the shopworn form of Japanese letter-writing! Its - redundant ‘honourables’ are more cheap than honourable. - - “Satetoya! - - “Shall I begin my letter with a deep bow? - - “Bow? - - “I use it occasionally before Meriken San for sport’s sake. But - it is degenerating, in my opinion, to comic opera, like the - tortoise-shell-framed spectacles of a Chinese doctor. - - “Now I address you with a thousand kisses. - - “The kiss is the thing to begin with for up-to-date girls. - - “It is useful, as a poem is useful in filling up space in - magazine-making. Woman—even a loftily learned American - woman—cannot be ready always with her rhetoric of expression. - The kiss comes to her relief in the crisis whenever she fails in - speech. - - “The kiss is everything. - - “The Jap girl is intimate with the art of crying. - - “A kiss is as eloquent as a tear. - - “I suppose the cleverness of American woman is graded by the way - she handles it. It strikes me that every white girl is perfectly - at home with it. - - “She is awfully bright. - - “You wonder why she is so? - - “There is one reason that I can tell you. It is because she has - a serious job to pick out her husband herself. I don’t think it - is fair to blame her growing insipid after marriage. Every one - feels tired when a weighty work is done. What would be her doom - if she were stupid? An old maid is such a sad sight, like a - broken clock, or a cradle after baby’s death. Isn’t it dreadful - to have nothing to rejoice in but a customary tea or books? - Literary critic is one occupation left for her. Worse than - death! - - “I am pained to state that our brown sisters are extremely - behind time. - - (“There are lots of exceptions, of course, like honourable you - and Miss M. G.) - - “I am talking of common Jap musumes. - - “Naturally so. - - “They are like those waiting at the station for the next train. - They have only to doze and wait for the footsteps of a - matchmaker with a young man. - - “I am grateful to the Nippon government for stimulating - education in women. - - “But I advise her to imprison all the matchmakers. Then the - girls will wake up at once, like one who has everything on her - back after papa’s passing. - - “That is one process to brighten them, I think. - - “Am I not logical? - - “Your last tegami questioned me whether the American lady was - charming. - - “Are you attentive to western sea painting? - - “How does it impress you when you are close by it? Only a jumble - of paint, isn’t it? So with Meriken woman! - - “You should be off half a dozen steps to estimate her beautiful - captivation. You would be horrified, otherwise, by her hairy - skin. - - “I love her. - - “She has no headache like the Japs. (By the way, I will call - Japan, hereafter, the country of headache.) She lives in a - comedy. - - “Nothing turns bad in Amerikey. - - “‘Tragedy To Be a Woman,’ could only be seen on a fiction thrown - in a moth-trodden second-hand store. - - “Police never bother. - - “Such a deliverance! - - “I am delighted with my Meriken Kenbutsu. - - “Sayonara! - - Yours, - - “MORNING GLORY” - - -19th—I forced Uncle to swear to me that he would overlook everything I -did, in consideration of my great service in darning his socks. - -I peeled off my shoes to begin with. - -I sat like a Turk. - -“Why do you frown like an Oni in hell?” I acidified my smile. I held my -needle and thread suspended in the air, while I said: “What is a Trust?” - -“Be quiet!” he exclaimed. - -He didn’t even glance at me, being engaged in writing in the other nook. - -“Uncle, your hair ought to be curled. I will step in to-morrow morning, -and turn it up before you awake. What do you think, Uncle? Oji San!” - -“Morning Glory San!” - -He emitted a growl of satanic despotism, and soon resumed his work -gracefully. - -I thought what a scandal if he were penning a love letter to Mrs. -Schuyler, junior. - -I rose. I approached him with secret step. I fell on him from his massy -back and cried: - -“What are you scribbling?” - -Erai, my honourable uncle! - -He was translating Gibbon’s “History of Rome.” - -I was stunned from the shame of taking him to be in such a wretched line -even in fancy. - -I vowed to myself—with three low bows—to take perfect care of my noble -worker. - -Then I gave him my sweet smile. - -“Uncle, let me fix something more! Haven’t you anything? Tear your shirt -or pull off the buttons, then!” - - -20th—Already I could suck from the agile air the flavour of spring upon -the lawn. - -I was roving by the rose-bushes along the street with scissors. - -A gentleman passed by me. How sluggish his shoes sounded! He stopped, -waving his old-scented smile, and addressed me: - -“Good morning, young lady!” - -“Ohayo!” - -“I perceive that you are Japanese.” - -“Yes, sir!” - -He stepped nearer to me. I took a peep at the Bible under his arm. - -“Are you a Christian?” he lowered his tone. - -“Don’t you read the Gospel?” his voice rose higher. - -“Don’t you attend church?” his sound grew higher still. - -“I love to be shocked. I couldn’t sustain myself against a bore. Church? -It’s too sleepy, don’t you know? I have remarked that God is with me -without any sort of prayer, if I trace the path of righteousness. A -minister is only a meddling grandmamma to my mind. If I ever build my -ideal city, two things shall not be tolerated. One is a lawyer’s office -and the other is a church. Church, sir! May I present you with one -rose?” - -I raised me to place it in his coat. - -“Here’s a letter for you, Morning Glory!” - -I was rescued by my uncle. How angelic his voice rang! - -“I’m sorry, I’m much occupied this very morning,” I said, bowing -slightly. - -I pushed myself within the door. - -Poor preacher! - - -21st—My answer to Oscar is as follows: - - “DEAR HONOURABLE MR. ELLIS: - - “Let me begin in respectable fashion! - - “A Jap girl is awfully formal. - - “Do you know, Mr. Ellis, whom you are addressing? - - “I am an Oriental. - - “Nippon daughters believe ‘ev’rithin’ a gentleman mentions. - - “They have been fooled enough, I should declare, in American - fiction. Oscar—no, Mr. Ellis—don’t let me earn the anecdote that - I drifted to Ameriky to be toyed with! My ancestor did a - harakiri. I am pretty sure I have, then, to kill myself. - - “Don’t recite again your honourable confession of love! - - “It made me cry. - - “My dark face with drenched eyes will degrade me to a hired - Chinese ‘crying woman.’ - - “Your narration was dramatic. - - “Your cleverness is the most lamentable thing about you. Woman - used to love a bright fellow many years ago. Do you know that - the modern girl woos a stupid man? - - “Please, don’t repeat again such an adjective as ‘heavenly’ for - my face! No one utters the word ‘heaven’ except in swearing. - Even ministers juggle with it for a jest in church, I suppose. - My face isn’t heavenly at all. You know it, don’t you? - - “You amused me, however, when you told how you had pillaged my - picture from Mother Schuyler’s room to put in your own, feigning - that it needed to be retouched. - - “Poor Mother Schuyler! - - “If she knew your secret! - - “Frankly, I fear that such a gentleman as you does commit - forgery always. Have you no consanguinity with a convict? - - “O such a wretched boy! - - “The saddest thing about a woman is that she is glad to fall in - love with the worthless. - - “Do I love you? - - “Give me time to reply to the question! - - “Everything is tardy with a Japanese. I was educated by - slowness; I bow one dozen times before I speak. - - “O Oscar, you got to think of my side a little bit! - - “Every girl claims that she has half a population as adorers in - her pocket handkerchief. - - “You are the only one young American I ever met. - - “If I accept your love, I am afraid one may satirise my - destitution. - - “You’ll write me soon, won’t you? - - “Yours, M. G. - - “P.S.—I wish I could show you how charmingly I smoke. I learned - the art recently. I tap the cigarette with my middle finger to - knock the ashes off. It is delightful to heap a hill of ashes on - the table edge. When I puff, finding no word after ‘And—’ the - smoke seems to be speaking for me. - - “But I assure you that I smoked only before my uncle. - - “I was a pretty naughty girl at home, but I flatter myself that - I can easily be classed among the best in this country. - - “White women behave terribly, you know.” - - -22nd—I passed the afternoon at Mrs. Consul’s. She gave me her -“favourite” discourse on Walt Whitman. - -I delivered to my uncle what I had learned. - -“No newness in it. It is what dear John Burroughs or Mr. Stedman said.” - -He overturned my castle with one blow, and lit his cigar with a -victorious air. - -I was enraged. - -“Yes, yes, eraiwa! Oriental gentleman knows everything we poor women -know,” I said. - -I sulkily drew away to my room with Mr. Whitman’s fat book, that I -borrowed from Mrs. Consul. - - -23rd—A letter from my father arrived. - -“O Papa, please don’t! I am tired of such a dirty conference.” I -scoffed. - -I tore the paper into shreds. - -“What a sullen lady! What did Otto San write? Marriage proposal, I -reckon!” my uncle intruded. - -“Papa threatened me with a list of suitors. He cried, ‘Chance, chance!’ -like the gate-man of an ennichi show. Pray grant me for once in my life, -Uncle, to say: ‘The marriage lottery go to the dogs!’ How many Jap girls -kill themselves from the burden of such a glued union, do you suppose?” - -“Then, ‘free marriage’?” - -“Of course!” - -“It’s very beautiful, Miss Morning Glory.” - -“Why not?” - -“You are Japanese, aren’t you?” - -“Did you ever think I was a Meriken jin?” - -“Well, then, how did you come to know young men in a country where -familiarity with one is regarded as a crime for a girl?” - -“Things all wrong in Nippon, Uncle!” - -“I am sorry you were born a Jap.” - -“I’ll never go back to Japan, I think. The dictionary for Jap girls -comprises no such word as ‘No.’ But you must remember, Uncle, I have the -capital ‘No’ in my head. I am a revolutionist,” I proclaimed. - -Then I thought much of my dear Oscar. - - -24th—My worthy labourer upon Gibbon’s work sat before the table for some -hours. - -I stood behind him and dropped the fluid from a bottle on his head. - -“Cold! What are you doing, my little romp?” He looked up in a fright. - -“No harm, Uncle! It is only a remedy. Your hair is growing so thin. Do -you know it? I think it a shame to appear in Greater New York with a -bald gentleman.” - -I bought the bottle this morning. - - -25th—A bamboo table in my room reminded me of a take bush in the -neighbouring churchyard of my Tokio home. - -(I cannot sound Meriken jin’s curiosity in prizing such a cheap thing. -The bamboo was painted. The cross nails glared from everywhere. I never -saw such a Jap work in Nippon.) - -Dear take, O bamboo bush! - -How I used to laugh, breaking the dreams of sparrows by wriggling the -bush! - -I was so ungoverned. - -If I could be a grammar school girl again! - -I secured a reader at a bookstall. My mind was made up to present myself -in the Lincoln night school and mingle with the girls in “SEE THE BOY -AND THE DOG!” - -What fun! - -I went to see the stooping principal. His tarnished frock-coat—I fancied -he was an old bachelor, as one button was off—was just the thing for -such a _rôle_. - -I seemed to him a regular nenne of thirteen. - -He was heartily pleased with my greediness for learning English. - -Poor soul! - -He ushered me into the class for which I had brought the book. - -It was the hour for composition. “Ocean,” the subject. - -When I was seated, the girl next me winked charmingly. She threw me a -note within a minute, to which I promptly replied, “Morning Glory.” My -note was answered “Miss Madge, 340 Mission Street.” I wrote her, “May I -call on you to-morrow?” for which she wrote, “As you please.” - -I was placed on the dangerous verge of clapping Byron’s poem into my -“Ocean.” I manufactured one dozen of spelling errors. - -“You should belong to some higher class. Take this slip to the -principal!” the teacher said. “You have an imagination.” She wiped her -spectacles slowly. - -I left the room remarking, “Because I am a Japanese.” - -I slipped away from the school altogether. - -“One experience is plenty,” I declared. - - -26th—I went to Mission Street to call on Madge. - -From both sides of the street peeped the famous Jewish noses. The -second-hand clothing shops parade. How droll to see those noses -shrivelling like a lobster! - -Madge’s father owns a despicable restaurant with only four eating -tables. Mamma cooks, while she sits on the counter. - -When I appeared, she shot out, greeting me: “Hello, Morning Glory!” - -“Awfully glad to see you! I have come to help you, haven’t I?” - -I was ready to strip off my jacket and wind myself in her apron. - -Her papa was dumbfounded by my sudden action. - -The outside board with the bill of fare was scraped out by this -morning’s rain. It looked as miserable as an Italian vegetable wagon -under the rain. - -My first work was to rewrite it. - -I saw a Jew at a neighbouring door striving with one about the value of -pants. A shoemaker’s “pan, pan” hammered on my head from the opposite -house. - -Mission Street is the street of horse-dung. - -When my job was over, an honourable Mr. Wagon Driver leaped in, bidding -me serve some soup. - -I ran into the kitchen to fetch it. - -I spilled it on the table. - -“That’s all right, honey!” he said in patronising aloofness, and pierced -my face with his gummy red eyes. - -O Kowaya! Shocking! - -I put one five-dollar piece of gold on Madge’s palm when I left her. - -Because her shoes were heelless. - -Pity the musume! - - -27th—I bought one book, being captivated by its title. Isn’t “When -Knighthood was in Flower” beautifully chivalrous? - -I have remarked that every Imperial cruiser anchors at an isle close by -Loo Choo, just on account of the enticement in the name “Come and See.” - -I found in my trunk an introduction to Miss Rose by my professor friend -of Tokio ’versity. - -Miss Rose? - -My imagination started to move like a watch. I fancied she should be -nineteen, since she was a Miss. No Rose girl can be homely. - -I went to see her. - -Alas! - -She was a lady like a beer-barrel. Her finger-nails were black. - -I left her like a miner stepping out of a gold mountain with empty -hands. - -I wonder why the mayor didn’t object to letting an ugly woman be crowned -with a pretty name. - -Fifty-years-old Miss Rose! - -Now I fear to read Mr. Major’s book. - - -28th—The following is my letter to Mr. Oscar: - - “OSCAR SAN! ELLIS SAN! - - “I never liked your profession, simply because it is too - beautiful. - - “I don’t see why you cannot transfer to some other business. - - “I have been ever so much fascinated with odd sorts of manual - work. If I were a gentleman, I would very likely pursue the - calling of grave-digger or sea-diver. - - “Yesterday I passed by some labourers breaking massive stones. - They lifted their hammers (O Oscar, look at their muscles!) and - knocked them down to the sound of ‘Sara bagun!’ They jerked the - ‘sara bagun,’ Oscar. Does it mean ‘ready?’ Mrs. Willis’ Century - dictionary must be imperfect, since it does not contain such a - word. Am I mis-spelling? - - “Suppose I marry one of those! - - “He will return home awfully tired. He will naturally doze after - dinner. When his smoking pipe has slipped from his lips and - burned my best tablecloth, isn’t it possible that I will be - mad?... I startled him, pulling his hair ever so hard. Now you - must think that he grew mad also. He seized my arm, and beat me. - O Oscar, he beat me surely!... Then he will repent his conduct, - and kneel by my side, begging my forgiveness. He will say, ‘My - dear sweet wife—’ - - “Do you know how interesting it is to be beaten by a husband? - - “I well-nigh fixed my mind never to affiance with a man too - genteel to hit me. - - “Woman is a revolting little bit of thing. - - “If you say ‘Yes,’ I am quite ready to slam my ‘No!’ - - “Oscar San! - - “I am afraid that you are too amiable. - - “What you have to do for your next missive is to collect every - kind of dreadful adjectives from your dictionary, and throw them - in. - - “You know what to do when I get angry, don’t you? - - “Ellis San! - - “You are too handsome. - - “I am fond of a comely face as anybody else. - - “But I fancy often how it would be if I fell in love with a - deformity. - - “People would laugh at me doubtless. But how dramatic it would - be when I proclaimed, ‘Because I love him!’ - - “What a romantic phrase that is! - - “Can’t you deform yourself? - - “Sayonara, - - “With a thousand bows, - - “M. G. - - “P.S.—My letter never finishes without a P.S. - - “Isn’t that awful? - -“My uncle asked me whom I was corresponding with. I mentioned ‘Olive.’ - -“Old man is jealous always. - -“So you got to counterfeit your sister’s penmanship for your envelope.” - - -29th—I drank the last drop of my coffee. - -“Oji San, when shall we go to New York?” I said, pillowing my face on my -hands on the breakfast table. - -“As soon as spring begins to flicker in the East, my little woman! It’s -snow and snow there at present.” - -“I love snow, Uncle.” - -“Old gentleman can’t bear tyrannical cold, Morning Glory.” - -“Don’t you notice how tired I am of Frisco? Aren’t you tired?” - -“Yes—frankly!” - -“Why don’t you then contrive some novel diversion to pass a month?” - -“I’ve a fancy, but——” - -“What is it?” - -“It may not strike you as romantic.” - -“Tell me!” - -“I am known to one poet who dreams and erects a stone wall on the -hillside. He is unlike another. His garden and cottage are open to -everybody. I ever incline to loaf in an irregular puff of odour from his -acacia trees. If you lean towards a poetical life, I have no hesitation -in seeing him to make an arrangement.” - -“Great Uncle, it’s romantic! Is he married?” - -“Why?” - -“Because a poet is not one woman’s property, but universal. My ideal -poet is melancholy. Fat poet is ridiculous. Happy poet isn’t of the -highest order. Tennyson? I wish his life had been more hard up. I -suppose your friend-poet won’t mind if I sleep all day. Is he particular -about the dinner time? Does he look up to the stars every night? Does he -wash his shirt once in a while?” - -“Stop!” - -Then I asked respectably: - -“Is the sight from there beautiful?” - -“Wonderful! The only place where you can breathe the air of divinity!” - -“Very well, Uncle. We will settle there, and hasten to become poets.” - -“It wouldn’t be a bad idea, I say, to start again with your honourable -‘Lotos Eaters!’” - -“‘Paradise Lost’ shall be my next subject.” - -“If nobody publishes it?” - -“I will present it solemnly to our Empress. She is a poetess, you know.” - -My uncle went to see Mr. Poet. - - -30th—Uncle said that the poet said: “You are welcome, sir. The cottage -for your young lady lies by one willow tree. The waters, the air, the -grand view, are God’s. It costs a wee bit of money to provide the best -coffee. I tell you that my claret is superb. You shall be my guest as -long as you please. Present my love to Miss Morning Glory! Everything -will be ready when you come.” - -“Isn’t he adorable?” I ejaculated. - -I stirred my trunk, and sifted out the things needful for my adventure. - - -31st—To-morrow! - - THE HEIGHTS, Feb. 1st - -Let me recline heart-to-heart on the breast of Mother Nature! Let me -retreat to a hillside not far from the city, yet verily near to God! Let -me go to my poet abode! - -We abandoned the Fruitvale car at the hill-foot. - -My uncle picked out our destination from the speckles in the distance. - -The breeze (how heavenly is a country breeze!) enticed my soul—a Jap -girl also is provided with some soul—into “Far-Beyond.” - -“I feel myself another girl, Uncle.” - -“How?” - -“I’m a poet already. The poet without poem is greater, don’t you know?” - -We climbed the hill slowly. Every step enlarged the spectacle. - -When we attained to one wildly well-kept garden, the whole bay of the -Golden Gate stretched before us. A thousand villages knelt humbly like -vassals. - -I saw a tiny gate with the sign: - - “Fruit Grower.” - -An old gentleman appeared from a cottage, singing. - - - “Ah, take the Cash, and let the Credit go, - Nor heed the rumble of a distant Drum!” - - -“Poet!” Uncle whispered. - -Let me now examine him! - -What lengthy hair he wore! - -It didn’t annoy me, however, because he stamped himself on my mind as if -he were an ancient statue. I imagined him a type of mediæval squire. I -thought of him truly as one metamorphosed from the frontispiece of a -wholly forgotten volume in a cobwebbed recess of a library. - -His courteous voice was simply dignified. - -“Nature never hurries. God commands you every happiness and all repose. -Here’s your little home, my gentle lady! I am at your service any time. -I hope you will find it comfortable.” - -He set me at the “Willow Cottage.” - -He slipped gracefully away. - -There was some time before I heard his “kotsu kotsu” on my door. - -I opened it. - -“Greeting from the host!” Mr. Heine offered me a tuft of brisk roses. - -Heine was the poet’s name. - -How loving! - -I buried myself in the thought of straying to a fairy isle, and being -accepted romantically by the dwellers. - -I suspected that I was dreaming. - -“Arcadia!” I exclaimed, when the poet announced that supper would be -prepared within half an hour. - -I spied him through the window, gathering the loppings of trees and -leaves. He made a camp-fire. Its soft smoke surged into the sky. Oh, -smell it! - -How fascinating is the Poet’s life! - -I ran out, crying: - -“Pray, make me useful!” - - -2nd—Dream and reality are not marked here by different badges. They -waltz round. Dear poet home! - -Was it in my dream that I heard the tinkle of bells? - -I thought something was going on. - -I parted from the bed. I pushed out my face from the window. - -Look at the procession of cows! - -I have read much of them, but I admit that it was my first occasion to -admire them. I am a trivial Jap, only acquainted with cherry blossoms -and lanterns. How I wished to knot the bells round my waist, and whisk -down the path by the violets! - -“Lover’s lane!” - -It should be the title for that path, I thought, if I were Mr. Poet. - -I finished my toilet. I leaped out upon the grasses smiling up to the -sunlight. - -I congratulated myself on my new life. - -Then I found my uncle sitting by the camp-fire. - -“Ohayo!” I said, filling the seat on another side. - -I remember one Japanese essay, “The Poetry of a Tea Kettle.” Indeed! The -kettle was a singer. Its melody was far-reaching. It was like a harp of -pine leaves fingered by the zephyr. - -I faced up, and saw my poet moving down from the lily pond. Two frogs in -his hand. - -“Frogs?” I cried. - -“They will complete our table. How did you sleep, my lady?” - -“Splendid!” - -“Do you love the country?” - -“I begin to taste a greater joy in Nature.” - -“I’m happy to hear it, my dear. My life is like the life of a bird. I -awake when the sun rises. I lay me in the bed at the bird’s dipping into -its nest. God made the night for keeping quiet. That is better than -prayer itself. I light neither lamp nor candle. I presume that every -young lady has certain secret work at night. Let me offer you a few -candles!” - -We ate breakfast from the table by the fire. - -Frogs supplied a special dish. - -I couldn’t touch it, thinking of the songs of frogs that I had heard all -the night long. - -Such a song! It was the muddy-booted song of the countryside. No -valuable quality in it, of course. But I should say that they tried the -best they could. - -Poor Messrs. Frog! - -I fancied the leg in my dish was that of one who volunteered to sing my -lullaby. - -I almost cried in grief. - -The poet was ready to wash the dishes. I was quick to snatch his job. My -uncle wiped them. - -Stupid uncle! - -He broke two dishes. - -I collected the bones of the frogs, and buried them. On the stone above -them I wrote with a pencil: - -“Tomb of Unknown Singers.” - -What time was it when we were done with our breakfast? - -I couldn’t tell. - -The first thing I did yesterday was to stop the tick-tack of my watch, -and hide it in the lowest drawer. - -The watch is a nuisance since I am thrown in THE GARDEN OF ETERNITY. - - -3rd—I searched for a pen and ink in my Willow Cottage. - -Nothing like those. - -Foxy Poet! - -He hid them from view, I fancied, in the opinion that playing with them -for a girl is more jeopardous than swallowing needles. - -I say that letter-writing—particularly a decent love letter, if there is -one—isn’t half so grave a crime as rhyming. - -I was spraying some water on a rose by the gate, when I caught sight of -a white quill by my shoes. - -“This will serve me perfectly,” I said. - -I had not one thing with any tooth except my comb. (Comb? Luckily I have -not lost it Ara, ma, my hairpins! Five of them vanished from my head -while I was springing amid the rocks. By and by the stems of acacia -leaves shall be used in their places. Don’t you know this is quite a -remote spot from civilisation?) A kitchen knife shaped my quill as a -pen. - -Now only ink! - -I begged Uncle to run down three miles to fetch one bottle. - - -4th—We went to “breathe the song of the forest.” - -The forest laces the poet’s canyon. - -(By the way, poet’s ground spreads over one hundred and fifty acres. -Does he pay taxes?) - -We climbed the “Road to the Milky Way.” I beseech your forgiveness, it -was merely the name I wished for the path to the poet’s hilltop. I felt -as if I were hurrying to the “Sermon on the Mount.” You would hardly -believe Morning Glory if she said that sublimity vibrated in her soul, -because she was just a little Oriental. How grand! We faced toward the -Gate of the Pacific Ocean. We were still. Why? Because we were thinking -the same thing. - -We traversed the poet’s graveyard. - -How romantic to put up a tombstone while living! - -How romantic to lie in the ecstasy of a marvellous view! We could be -nearer the stars here. - -We stepped down to the canyon. - -The poet said solemnly: - -“Lady and gentleman, this is a holy place where you can pray heartily.” - -My uncle started to drone Bryant’s hymn: - - - “The groves were God’s first temples.” - - -“Did you ever read Thanatopsis, my dear?” Mr. Heine asked. - -“Yes, sir!” - -“It’s a noble piece. So many thousand Asiatics converted every year to -the English alphabet. Wonderful!” he soliloquised. - -We seated ourselves by a brook. - -“Such a lesson in Nature! We endeavour to transcribe, but fail,” he -sighed, looking on the trees. - -Then he turned to me questioning: - -“Do you hear the silent song of the forest?” - -I nodded. - -“Silence! Silence!” he muttered. - -We walked among the trees. We came back to the same hilltop, when the -large red ball of the sun sank heavily from the Gate. - -“Bye-bye!” I shook my handkerchief. - -The playful breeze carried it away. It glimmered like a silvery -inspiration. Who knows how far it sailed? - -I thought a huge statue of the Muse bidding sayonara to the dying sun -would be the fitting ornamentation for these Heights. Countless numbers -of people would look upon it from the valley. It would be a salvation, -if they could bind themselves with Poesy by its noble figure. There was -no question it would be more effective than a thousand pages of poem. - -“I have no coin to build it,” the poet said, in dear openness. - -“Let me present it by and by!” - -“When? - -“When? It must be after I get married to a rich philanthropist.” - -We laughed. - -We rolled down the hill in the purple fragrance of evening. The evening -was sweet like a legend. - - -5th—I wrote a letter to the artist: - - “MY SWEET OSCAR: - - “You will love no more your Morning Glory, I am certain, - when you are informed how she looks nowadays. - - “She inclines against a willow trunk by her cottage. Were you - ever acquainted with the great repose of a poetess? Her eyes - flash in divine sarcasm. She will shoot them down to the mortal - domain (she lives on the mountain), while she murmurs in - tragical accents: ‘I pity you, ant-mortals!’ - - “Isn’t she shocking? - - “Oscar, I have withdrawn to the Heights, and am prying into the - Incomprehensible of Nature with Mr. Heine. - - “He is unique. - - “I take it upon me to say that he is a great poet. Because, in - the first place, he never asked me yet, ‘Do poems pay in Japan?’ - - “It’s such a trying work for an old man like him to pose as a - poet all the time. - - “Poet is a sensitive creation. He fancies, I think, the whole - world is staring at him. Poor Poet! He keeps up, and tries to be - picturesque as he can. - - “I am grieved to state, however, that his picturesqueness - frequently drops into silliness. - - “The absurd thing is that even my uncle takes a part in his - farce. - - “We had no meat to bite yesterday. - - “The poet had no shot left for his gun. - - “What did he plan, do you imagine? - - “He went up the hill, shouldering his pick. My uncle retainered - him with a spade. - - “‘We will soon bring back a squirrel which we will dig out, Miss - Morning Glory,’ the poet said. - - “Could you ever suppose, Oscar, that any animal except an - invalid (an animal who has four feet at that, instead of two - like my venerable gentlemen) could permit itself to be so slow - like them? - - “I laughed till my side ached. - - “Funny old men! - - “Every sort of sweat fell from their brows when they dragged - their fatigued feet home not accompanied by even one inch of any - animal tail. - - “‘I have never heard yet, Mr. Poet, of a squirrel turned to - turnip,’ I gibed. - - “I dread old age, because it makes woman inquisitive, and man - silly. Inquisitiveness is tasteless like wax, while silliness is - helpless, like a fish on the sand. - - “I fear you are silly already, when you say that you sat up late - looking at my picture. - - “Sat up late? - - “What will you do if your mamma thinks you can’t sleep from hard - drink when you yawn continually at the table? - - “Please, don’t do it again! - - “Step to your bed at half-past six as I do! - - “Are you sure that my picture approved your act? - - “I guess it shrugged its shoulders from contempt, the delicious - moment of blushing being passed. - - “If my picture is so precious, I advise you to alter it to - ashes. You will take two spoonfuls of the ashes every morning. I - am sure, then, your soul will be saved. - - “O my darling, I love you! - - “I am your - - “LITTLE JAP GIRL - - “P.S.—This letter was written by my duck-quill. My new - invention, you know. - - “My handwriting is clumsy enough, I suppose, to sell as high as - any ancient author’s autograph. - - “Sayonara!” - - -6th—O poppy, beloved harbinger of California spring! - -I “hung on the honourable eyes” of a poppy by my door. Its quaking cup -burnt in love (for a meadow-lark perhaps). - -“Let me feed you, my new friend!” I said, and brought out a cupful of -water. - -I moistened it. - -A golden flake of the sun-ray came down to it. It smiled, daintily -thanking me for my humble treat. - -I stared at it, slowly fabricating a fable of its love affair, when the -breeze sent me a dreamy song. - -The song was old-fashioned, like the afternoon snore of a water-wheel. - -I plunged into the song, not knowing who was the singer. - -“Ara, ara, Grandmamma’s song!” I exclaimed. - -She is the aged mother of our poet. She is within the rim of ninety. I -suspected her of having discovered the “Elixir for Preserving Eternal -Girlhood.” You cannot help esteeming her a philosopher when you are told -that she has visited San Francisco only twice in ten years. I have no -bit of doubt that she would die if you were to rob her of the sight of -her flower garden and one stout scrap-book about her son’s poems. They -work a miracle. What a mystery is human life! - -I say that I’m touched by superstition. - -I have read of a villainous fox who masquerades in the shape of an old -woman. - -My wretched fantasy about Mrs. Heine passed, when I heard that no fox -resided in the hill. - -She is such a dear grandma. - -She has no hostile grimace against age. She welcomes it. Her wrinkles -are all her beauty. Natural ripening in age is but another form of -girlhood. - -She is happy as a sparrow. - -(Sparrow never forgets, it is said in Nippon, to dance in its hundredth -year.) - -She hoes round her garden. Her vanity is to make her table rich with her -own potatoes and roses. - -She lives alone by herself in a cottage some hundred steps from mine. - -Did you ever taste her cooking? - -“Good morning, Mrs. Heine!” I said. - -“Come in!” - -She showed herself, extending her large hands. They were damp. I thought -she was employing herself in washing. - -Is there any sweeter occupation than service to an old lady? - -“Let me help you!” - -I carried out a bucket to a spring in the backyard. - -I brimmed it with the waters. It was so weighty. A naughty stone bounced -under my heel. I was thrown down like a toy. - -Alas! - -My bucket was upset over my skirt. - -I had made myself a specimen of misery. “O grandma, it’s raining awfully -outside!” I cried. - - -7th—To-day I was the _chef_, while my uncle was second cook. - -I placed a heroic iron pot over the camp-fire I dropped a lump of beef -in, and afterward the mass of potatoes, carrots, and onions. Mr. Poet’s -directions were that they should boil for two hours. - -Mr. Heine intruded, saying that he would like to season them himself. - -“Longfellow, Lowell—they all loved high seasoning as I,” he said, -snatching a pepper-box from my hand. - -He kept tapping the bottom of the box, when the cover fell into the pot. - -Oya! - -The red pepper garmented the whole thing. - -“Go, Mr. Poet! Why don’t you mind your own business? You are butler -to-day.” I spoke in rough sweetness, and drove him away. - -He began to place a linen cloth on the table, while I dipped up all the -pepper. He picked up one dozen pebbles to weight the tablecloth. The -first thing he put on the table was his claret bottle. How could he lose -it from sight! When he said that everything was in place, he had -forgotten the knives and forks. Dear old poet! - -We sat at the table under the wild rose bushes. - -Mr. Heine read aloud the following menu: - - “PERFUME OF OMAR’S ROSE - WATER OF JORDAN RIVER - MOTHER LOVE BROTH - MEAT OF WISDOM - POTATOES OF SIMPLICITY - PASSION CARROT - ONION OF WIT - DREAM COFFEE. - - DESSERT - - TYPICAL TOKIO SMILE OF MISS MORNING GLORY.” - -My grandmamma was our guest. - -“Mother, you talk too much always. Remember, this is a sacred service. -Silence helps your digestion. Eat slowly, think something higher, and be -content!” Poet said. - -We smelled the “Perfume of Omar’s Rose,” and wet our lips with the -“Water of Jordan River.” - -The broth was served. - -Everybody choked with its pungent fire. - -Poor Mrs. Heine! - -She was showering her tear-beans. - -“This is perfectly seasoned. Send up your bowl again, ladies and -gentlemen!” - -Mr. Poet’s performance was beautifully buffoonish. - -We finished our meat and vegetables. - -I smiled lightly, and said: “Are you ready for the Tokio smile?” - -“Just ten minutes yet, my dear!” The poet smoothed such a lengthy gray -beard. - -I winked to Grandma. We looked upon him slyly. - - -8th—The poet was hoeing in his vegetable garden. - -His attire was theatrical. - -His red crape sash laxly surrounding his trousers lacked, I am sorry to -say, a large Japanese tobacco bag. The cap with gay ribbons was like one -of Li Hung Chang’s. His back carried a bearskin, inside of which some -slovenly yellow silk flapped down. - -How tall he was! - -“Please, don’t dig over there, Mr. Heine, because I buried my poem -there,” I said. - -“What poem, my lady?” he asked. - -“The poem to be read at the unveiling of my statue of the Muse on your -mountain top, which may occur possibly within five years. The opening -lines sound thus: - - - ‘Victor of Life and Song, - O Muse of golden grace!’” - - -“That’s great! Why did you bury it?” - -“Don’t you bury your poems? The best poems are those not published. The -very best are those not written. Dante Gabriel Rosetti buried his ‘House -of Life,’ because they were not for a gaping millionaire’s wife, but -only for his own little wife. But his greatness was ruined when he dug -them up and sold them. Poor poet! What all the poets ought to do, I -think, is to bury their poems in a potato garden. What a shame even the -poets have to eat once in a while! They should wait till the potatoes -grow, and then sell them in a vegetable stand, calling ‘Poetical -Potatoes!’ Do you sell your poems, Mr. Heine?” - -“Yes.” - -“Aren’t you making your living with your fruits?” - -“I never sell them, my dear.” - -“What do you do?” - -“I give them to needy persons. But I was obliged, last year, to hang up -a sign, ‘No Fruit Lover is Wanted.’ I told an Oakland minister to come -up and eat _some_ plums. He brought his wife and children, even his -grand-mother. They shouldered away every bit of fruit from half a dozen -trees. Next day so many people trampled in with an introduction from the -minister.” - -“Such a minister! I see no use to have the sign, ‘Fruit Grower,’ if you -don’t sell.” - -“Well, my dear lady, God will be merciful to let me use it in place of -‘Poem Manufacturer!’” - -My uncle announced that tea was boiled. - -We left the garden. - - -9th—The fogs held possession of our world, like the darkness of night. - -Where did they invade from? - -Pacific Ocean? - -Our hillside cottages looked like a tottering ship having no hope for -any haven. - -Tremendous sight! - -I planted me on the hilltop. My mind merged in Japanese mythology. I -felt as if I were the first goddess, Izanagi, standing on the “Floating -Bridge of Heaven,” before the creation. - -The divine ghastliness bit my little soul. - -I couldn’t stand against it. I crept down like a mouse. - -The poet said he was preparing a lecture. Its title was “Not in Books.” - -He in his bed—there he passes every forenoon—was reciting his song. - -The words leapt like a leaping sword: - - - “Sail on! Sail! Sail on! And on!” - - -I threw a bunch of roses over to his bed as an admirer does to a star. - -Then I clapped my hands. - -“Pan, pan! Pan, pan!” - - -10th—I went up the hill to gather mushrooms and watercresses. - -I filled a huge basket with them. - -I carried it down on my shoulder in Chinese laundry style. I paused -every twenty steps. - -I slipped within the gate of Mrs. Heine’s back garden. - -“Mush—rooms! Water—cresses!” I called boisterously. - -“My dear girl!” Grandma smiled out from her door. - -“Keep your hands off, please! They are things for sale. To-day they are -uncommonly cheap. Will you buy them?” - -“How much do you charge?” - -“Two thousand words of the story about your illustrious son’s life.” - -“What a funny vendor!” - -“Tell me something about him! I’m ready to leave you the whole -business.” - -“Shall I narrate to you how he started to write?” - -“How interesting!” I ejaculated. - -“Let me see your things first!” she said, tugging the basket nearer. - -“My dear child, they aren’t watercresses, but baby weeds. I don’t -consider they are legitimate mushrooms, either.” - -She turned upon me with compassionate objection. - -“Oya, oya, you don’t say so!” I exclaimed. “Then, no story, Grandma?” I -looked up meekly. - - -11th—We had sipped our supper tea some time ago. - -A band from the bay sent up irregularly the melody of the love and -prowess of dear mariners. - -The white moon rose. - -I sat alone on my front step, and watched tenderly by the poppy. - -My darling Miss Poppy shook herself prettily, as if she uttered a sweet -word out of her heart. I imagined every sort of speech that may come -from such a tiny bit of flower. - -“Sodah, she said that she loved me!” I murmured. - -I made a little letter. - - “MISS POPPY: - - “I love you too. - - “Yours, - - “MORNING GLORY.” - -I rolled it to a ball. I dropt it in her cup. - -The moon turned gold. The evening odour filled the air. - -Look! - -She was folding her cup, pressing my missive to her breast. There was no -question that she understood. - -Dearest friend! - -Was it silly that I cried? - - -12th—The poet left the Heights to exchange his MS. for a gallon of -whiskey. - -He carried a demijohn, which was as apt to him as a baby to a woman. - -I volunteered to clean his holy grotto. - -The little cottage brought me a thought of one Jap sage who lived by -choice in a ten-foot square mountain hut. The venerable Mr. Chomei Kamo -wrote his immortal “Ten-Foot Square Record.” A bureau, a bed, and one -easy chair—everything in the poet’s abode inspires repose—occupy every -bit of space in Mr. Heine’s cottage. The wooden roof is sound enough -against a storm. A fountain is close by his door. Whenever you desire, -you may turn its screw and hear the soft melody of rain. - -That’s plenty. What else do you covet? - -The closetlessness of his cottage is a symbol of his secretlessness. How -enviable is an open-hearted gentleman! Woman can never tarry a day in a -house without a closet. - -He never closes his door through the year. - -A piece of wire is added to his entrance at night. He would say that -that will keep out the tread of a dog and a newspaper reporter. - -Not even one book. - -He would read the history written on the brow of a star, he will say if -I ask him why. - -Every side was patched by pictures and a medley of paper clippings. Is -there anything sweeter to muse upon than personal knick-nacks? - -O such a dust! - -I swept it. - -But I thought philosophically afterward, why should people be so fussy -with the dust, when things are but another form of dust. What a far-away -smell the dust had! What an ancient colour! - -I observed on the wall an odd coat and boots that dear old Santa Claus -might have lost. - -“Klondyke costume!” I exclaimed. - -I undressed myself, and tried them on. - -When I was ready to put on a fur cap, Mrs. Heine wandered down, calling -me. - -“Morning Glory! Morning Glory!” - -I trembled in deadly fear. - -I hid me promptly by the bureau, under the bed. I shut my eyes, praying: - -“Namu Daijingu, don’t let her find me!” - - -13th—Last midnight (O voicelessness of the hillside yonaka!) I woke up. -The moon peeped into my sitting-room. She laid a square looking-glass on -the floor. - -I abandoned my bed, and sat by the glass. - -I spread on it the letter from my sweetheart. - -I read it over and over, till I couldn’t read any more, the moon being -kidnapped by the cloud-highwayman. - -“O Oscar!” - -I cried in the darkness. - -I could not slumber all the night, on account of my thought of him. - -A letter was written to him to-day. - -Nature and love! I am now living with them. - - -14th—I elaborated a nosegay. - -The poet and uncle dignified themselves in frock-coats. - -The coming of the coffin was slow. - -Mr. Poet had proffered his own graveyard to let an unknown poet lodge -there. “Is it because you want some one to greet you when you die?” I -said in laughter. - -I seated myself by a creek. - -I entered involuntarily into the riddle of Life and Death. - -The water under my feet rolled down, positively not knowing why nor -whence. The wind passed, “willy-nilly blowing.” I wondered whither it -went. Mr. Omar is unquestionably a true poet. The petals of a rose -before me fell. - -I murmured: - - - “Each Morn a thousand Roses brings, you say; - Yes, but where leaves the Rose of Yesterday?” - - -I was crying in sadness when the coffin arrived. - -Mr. Heine and my uncle lifted it by either edge. The neighbouring -farmers and two sardonically cool gentlemen from the undertaker’s aided -them. The jaw-fallen papa of the dead carried all the posies. - -And Miss Morning Glory (who is the belle of Tokio) shouldered a bench -for the purpose of sustaining the coffin when they were tired. - -The hill is precipitous. - -The gentlemen stopped numberless times, before they stationed themselves -on the top. - -The grave was hollowed behind Mr. Poet’s monument. They sank the coffin. - -What a tremor of silence sharpened the air! I was shaking. - -The poor papa read a chapter from the Bible. He described his loving -son’s life, in doleful honourableness. - -“There are a thousand flowers in Spring,”—the poet spoke—“whose repute -is not extensively spoken, like that of the rose or violet. Some of them -are not given even a name. They spend their smile and odour into the -breeze, and die without any repining. They are content, because they are -true to God. So a poet’s life should be. What is celebrity? Keats was -told of his beautiful graveyard, and he said: ‘I have already seemed to -feel the flowers growing over me.’ If this poet, whom we now bury, had -been told of this hill, he might have said: ‘I see already the -butterflies beaming over my head.’ Spring is coming. The poppies and -buttercups shall dress the hill.” - -A church-bell chimed from the valley. - -We left the buried to his solitude. - - * * * * * - -My uncle and I sat under an acacia tree, silent for some time. - -“Look, Morning Glory!” he said, exhibiting a silver piece. - -“Is there any story about that dollar?” - -“The father of the dead paid me for carrying the coffin.” - -“Uncle, did you accept it?” - -“Yes.” - -“Such a funny uncle!” - -“Why not?” - -“You have spoiled all your nobility for only one dollar.” - -I upturned my face, afterward, appealing in gleeful tone: - -“O Uncle, you ought to give me half of it. Fifty cents! I carried the -bench, you know.” - - -15th—I arose at the first whistling of a meadow-lark. - -Hearken to its hailing morning voice! - -O simple bird! - -Its so various moods are expressed only in its eternally changeless -syllables. What a magical song! - -How bungling seemed our human vocabularies! - -I trod the garden in bare feet. - -Naked feet, sir! - -The delicious chilliness of the ground animated me rapturously. Do you -believe me if I confess that I knelt and kissed it? I said that I would -not mind burying my nude body for a few hours. Mother earth is so sweet. - -I ran up the hill, humming an Oriental ditty. - -The air was relishable, like an ice-cream on a summer midnight. - -The beautiful sun was rising. - -I clapped my palms thrice, reverently bowing. - -Am I a sun-worshipper? - -Yes! - -I cleansed my feet in the water of the creek when I returned from the -hill. I sat me on a rock, extending my bare feet in the sunlight. I -thought that towel-wiping was too much of a modernism. - -“Uncle! O Uncle!” I called. - -“What is it, Miss Morning Glory?” - -The poet jutted out from a bamboo bush by the wooden bridge over the -creek. - -“Such charming feet!” he said. - -I instantly lowered my skirt, blushing. - -He was carrying a spade and hoe. He said that he had been planting -flowers about the grave of our friend, ever since four o’clock. “To make -it beautiful is high poetry,” he philosophised. - -“What do you wish with Uncle, my child?” he continued. - -“I want my shoes.” - -“Let me have the honour of fetching them for you!” he said in amiably -dignified docility. - - -16th—The poet gave me five feet square, behind the Willow Cottage, for -my potato garden. - -I sticked a stick at each corner. I encircled it with my crape sash. - -The note hanging on it read, “Graveyard of Morning Glory’s Poem.” - -I hired uncle for ten cents, to clear off every weed. - -I raked. - -I set the seeds. - -I got a suspicious coat and pants from a nook in the unrespectable barn. -It was fortunate that the horse—who may also be a poet, he is so -philosophically thin,—didn’t shout, “Hoa, clothes-thief!” - -I put them on the limbs of an acacia tree. - -I planted it on my graveyard to scare away wild intruders. - -It is holy ground. - -I wondered when the potatoes would grow. - - -17th—Squirrel! - -What admirable eyes! - -He projected his head from a hole by my window. He withdrew it a bit, -and bent it to one side, as if he were solving a question or two. - -Then his eyes stabbed my face. - -“I’m no questionable character, Mr. Squirrel,” I said. - -He hid himself altogether. - -I amassed some crusts of bread by his hole, and watched humbly for his -honourable presence. - -He did not peep out at all. - -The bread was not a worthy invitation. I varied it with a fragment of -ham. - -Mr. Squirrel wasn’t void-stomached. - -I thought he needed something to read. I tore a poem from the wall. I -left it by his respectable cavern. - -Lo! - -His head sprouted out to pull it in. - -“Aha, even the squirrel is a poetry devotee, in this hill!” I said in -humourous mood. - - -18th— - -“MOST BELOVED: - - “Mamma was flogged with a bamboo rod some hundred times when she -was a girl, her exchanging of a word with a boy over the fence being -deemed an obscenity. My papa spent his lonely days in a room with -Confucious till one night a middleman left him with my mamma as with a -dolly. I do believe they never wrote any love letter. - -“What would they say, I wonder, if they knew that their daughter had -taken to Love-Letter Writing as a profession in Amerikey? - -“You shouldn’t censure my penury in writing, knowing that I am a musume -from such a source. - -“Oscar, are your windows clean? - -“Every window of my Willow Cottage was washed yesterday. Is there -anything more happy to see (your beautiful eyes excepted) than a shiny -window? I pressed my cheek to the window mirthfully, when Mr. Poet tried -to pinch it from the outside. My dearest, if he had been my very Mr. -Ellis! - -“I made a discovery while I was trimming about the kitchen. - -“Can you guess what it was? - -“‘Love-Letter Writer!’ - -“‘Gift from Heaven!’ I said, trusting it would help me in my -composition. - -“I lit a candle last night. I hid it behind the cover of such a huge -bible which I had borrowed for the purpose. I was heedful of two old men -who might disturb me, mistaking the light for a sign that something had -happened. Poor Mrs. Heine almost cried, she was so pleased to think that -I loved the Bible. Do I love it? Oho, ho, ho—— - -“Bakabakashi, how sad! - -“The whole bunch of letters wasn’t fit for my taste at all, at all. - -“I’m sorry that I used up two candles that were all we had in this hill. - -“So, my darling, my letter has to be woven from my truest heart. - -“Good morning, my sweet lord! How are you? Have you breakfasted? Did you -eat a beefsteak? I dislike a hearty morning eater. My ideal man -shouldn’t be given more than a cup of coffee and one trembling leaf of -bacon. - -“Mr. Poet kills a frog every morning. He says that his fancy springs -like a pond singer when he tastes it. I should say that his idea bounds -too far in his case. - -“Do you eat frog? - -“I beseech you not to incline toward it. - -“What should I do if your thought ran off from me? - -“Failure of my life! Love is the whole business of woman, you know. - -“Have you any shirt to mend? - -“I have been fixing the poet’s. - -“Pray, express it to me! - -“Should you ask such a pleasure of any other girl, it would be a fatal -mistake for you. Remember, Oscar, that the Japanese girl is a mightily -jealous thing! - -“My sweetheart, I dreamed a dream. - -“You were a dragonfly, while I was a butterfly. It is needless to say -that we loved. One spring day we floated down along the canyon from a -mountain a thousand miles afar. Our path was suddenly barred by a dense -bush. We couldn’t attain to the Garden of Life without adventuring in -it. So, then, you stole in from one place, I from another. Alas! We got -parted forever. - -“Isn’t that a terrible indication? - -“Do you know any spell to turn it good? I am awfully agitated by it. - -“Oh, kiss! - -“Kiss me, my dear! - -“I have to ascertain your love in it. - - “Your - - “MORNING GLORY” - - -19th—A little “chui chui” was building a nest under the roof, by my -door. - -Dear jovial toiler! - -I must help him in some way. - -I unravelled one of my stockings, hoping it might be serviceable in -bettering his home. - -I stood me on a chair, raising up my arms with my gift. - -The poor sparrow was scared. He cast a gray “honourableness” on my hand. - -O naughty “chui chui!” - -He winged away, twittering, “chui, chui, chui!” - - -20th—The squirrel by my window shows a great fancy for me. He honoured -me three times already this morning. He bore a somewhat scholarly air. A -retired professor, I reckon. - -Is he regular with his diary? - -Possibly he is idle with a pen, like any other professor. - -Let me scribble for him to-day! - -My one bottle of ink has some time to dry up yet. - -I will name it “The Cave Journal.” I will leave it to the Professor for -a souvenir upon my sayonara to this hill. - - - A - -Where are my spectacles? - - - B - -Upon my soul, I believe that some mischief is raging. I can never trust -even the poet abode. Who stole my two-cent stamp? - -God bless you, my precious daughter at Sierra Nevada! - -By and by I will erect my private telegraph between us. - - - C - -The idea of an idiotic spider tying his net across my front gate! - -How ever could he be so ambitious as even to incline to arrest me! - -He may very likely be a detective. A railroad brigand is hiding in these -Heights, I suppose. - -The world is running worse every day. - -How shocking! - -It was a fundamental error of God, to create that adventuress Eve. The -offspring of a crow can’t be other than a crow. - -Our squirrel history is not blotted by any criminal. I feel a bit -conceited in speaking about it. How can I help it? - -The trouble with God is that he was awfully vain to express his own -ability by so many useless things. - -Rifle, for instance. - -My poor wife! - - - D - -To-day is the anniversary of my beloved. She was shot by one two-legged -barbarian. - -I appealed to the police. American police are rotten, through and -through. The murderer bribed them, I fancy. - -I found my wife, but she was only a skin. - -How often did I tell her that she was risking too much in sporting -around! But she didn’t mind me, insisting that sight-seeing was a better -education. - -I carried her skin into my home. - -I cleansed it, and altered its form a trifle, because it was a lady’s. I -am still keeping it for church-wear. - -I feel dreadful, thinking of her. - - - E - -A butterfly passed by my cavern, a hundred times. - -Each time she threw me a vulgar laugh. - -Her face was thickly powdered in yellow. Does she think herself -charming? I should say that I would prefer a girl in tights from a -saloon-stage to her indecency. - -Such a flirt! - -I suppose that she wanted me to marry her. - -No! - -Am I not old enough to avoid running into such foolishness? - - - F - -Rainy day! - -I sat in a memorial corner of my cave, with an unfinished novel of my -wife’s. - -I do judge she had flashes of genius. She was so deep, like the sky. I -never suspected that she could gracefully have beaten George Eliot, if -she had only survived. - -Poor girl! - -One tenderly loved by God passes away young. - -I have fallen into the habit of crying unmanfully nowadays. - -I cannot help it, can I? - - - G - -One thing I must furnish is a bathroom. - -Cleanliness is the first rule of heaven, I am told. - -I went to the lily pond to take a gracious bath. - -O such water gamins! Dirty-handed frogs! - -How could I dip me in the turbid water? - -The frogs ought to go to a reformatory school. They have no culture, -whatever. - - - H - -Camera hunters are thick as fogs. - -To-day I came near being a victim. - -No, sir! - -I can’t permit my picture to be seen with those of cheap matinee idols. -I must keep some dignity. - -Americans are too commercial altogether. The pictures of our race are in -demand, I imagine. - - - I - -Beautiful moon, last night! - -I filled my stomach with the divine water from a creek. - -My face waved in the water. I flattered myself that I was a pretty -handsome gentleman. - -I sang an ancient Chinese song: - - - “Come ’long, to-morrow moon, - Carrying a harp!” - - - J - -Stop your empty noise, meadow-larks! - -Silence is the first study of this hill and the last, don’t you know? - -I am absorbed in my grave work, “The Secret of the World.” - - - K - -My neighbouring Jap girl is rather attractive, isn’t she? - -I heard a few scratches of her native bubbling. - -The pagan speech is not so bad as I thought. - - - L - -If there is one thing I cannot endure, it is ignorance. - -What is the state of your roses, old boy? - -The poet Heine is utterly alien to rose culture. Shall I order “How to -Raise Roses” from a London publisher? - - - M - -I went up the hill to pray to God. The higher the nearer. - -When I came back, my honourable vestibule was blocked, I found, by the -dirt. The poet was ditching close by my residence. - -I couldn’t blame his conduct, however, because no one could see my home. -I don’t hang out a sign like a quack doctor. - -It occurred to me that I would strike into his cottage, and snatch the -best poems from his drawer, and sell them with my name. - -“I must secure the international copyright,” I said. - -But I couldn’t dare it, my impulse being thwarted. - -I am no wicked reporter, don’t you see? - -I hid me in his historical iron pot all day. - - - N - -Heine was posting around the following card: - - _No Shooting._ - -I venture to say that he is the only one civilised Two-Legged in the -whole world. - - - O - -Where is my napkin? - -Chinese laundry isn’t punctual in delivery. - - - P - -I think I must learn how to swear for a pastime. - - - Q - -My fellow brother Mr. —— was shot this morning. - -The paper says that there is a possibility of war between Russia and -Japan. A preacher prophesies the disappearance of the universe. - -Everything is precarious in the extreme. - -I will not poke around outside during the day. I will loaf in the poet’s -orchard under the breezy moonlight. - -Poetical existence is just enough. I will withdraw me to the sanctuary -of the Muses. - - - R - -Heaven be with my soul! Amen! - - - S - -Good-bye, my dear old world! - - -21st—A Chinaman passed with a weighty load of washing on his shoulder. - -“Friend, stop a minute! Take a glass with me before you go!” - -The poet rolled out with a claret bottle. - -Did you ever see a Chinee in love? Did you ever see one smile? - -Mr. Charley smiled a serene smile of the Flower Kingdom pattern. - -“God bless the Empress Dowager!” Mr. Poet said. Both raised their wine. - -“The load is too heavy for you. You are killing yourself. I can’t bear -to see it. My friend, obey me! Let me help you! Don’t leave till I come -back!” - -The poet, hurried for his questionable buggy and horse. He cracked his -whip—he never whips the horse, but he carries it for fashion’s sake, as -he remarks—when Mr. Charley protested, “Me oll-righ, you savvy!” - -The Chinaman was dumbfounded, for the poet was unknown to him. - -Mr. Heine pushed him in. - -When he leaped up, he noticed his horse in tender tone: - -“Go on, baby!” - -“What a goody-goody! His act never parts from poetry, however,” I said. - -I was simply dying for an opportunity to explode my good heart, when I -invited one tramp to my Willow Cottage. - -I fed him with one dozen eggs. - -I emptied out all my change for him. - -“Don’t you feel cold, lying outdoors?” I said. - -“Yes, Miss!” - -“Don’t you need an overcoat?” - -“Yes, Miss!” - -When Mr. Tramp left me with an overcoat in his hand, looking like a -proud Mayor of Tokio, my uncle was coming from Mrs. Heine’s. - -“Uncle, you do want to be good to a poor man, don’t you? You have made -yourself a great philanthropist with your overcoat.” - -“What have you done?” - -“I presented it to a tramp.” - -“Morning Glory!” - -“Never mind, Uncle! I will buy a swell coat in New York. You have some -more, haven’t you?” - -“It cost me forty yens at ’Hama. You really are a foolish girl, Asagao!” - -(Asagao is my humble name in Japanese.) - -Then I kissed his hand most pathetically—in fun for my part, of course. - - -22nd—My superstitious Mamma! - -She mailed me an o mikuji from the holy box of the Akiwa god. - -The number written on the slip was fifty-one. The divine will read as -follows: - -“Faith in the Well-God will result fortunately.” - -Mamma bade me make my prayer long (not mixing it with any laughter -whatever). - -I wondered whether there was any well around here. - -I explored. I came across one (such a doubtful well) by an apple tree. - -I hastened to my cottage to cut a paper flag. - -The poet gave me one cup of claret for the Well-God. - -I sat by the well. - -What did I pray? - -I pried into the well for the fin of a fish. Well without a funa fish -isn’t holy to a Jap mind. - - -23rd—Uncle left the Heights for Frisco. - -I have encountered somewhere one picture, “Stolen Kiss,” symbolising -sweetness. - -I dare say the sweetest thing in the world is to steal into a -gentleman’s room and over-turn his things. - -The gentleman smell is provocative. - -My uncle? - -I can only say that he is more desirable than an old woman. Old woman is -sad as a dry persimmon. - -I stole into his room. - -God will overlook my petty crime—how lovely to be scratched by guilt!—in -consideration of the fact that a Jap girl never profanes. - -I turned his pillow. Pillow is a fascination for me ever since I have -read of a poet who hid his diary under it. - -Look at the book, “A Random Note!” - -He was working to beat me with his journal, I derided. - -I sat on his bed, opening it. - -“How original!” I exclaimed. - -Uncle, you are a cynic, aren’t you? - -Let me pick a few pieces from his pen! - - * * * * * - -“Unfortunately! Japanese are accustomed from babyhood to depend on -another’s back. The hereditary fashion of nursing the baby on the back -has thoroughly taught them dependence. Independence is only a coat of -arms to distinguish man from the beasts—that is all. I urge that -Emerson’s essays be adopted in the Nippon schools. His ‘Self-reliance’ -should be the first of all. - -“Most unhappily! I have observed the Japanese fad in America for years, -and it has not yet reached its culmination. Each month the books on -Japan are placed before the public. It is verily sad even to cut their -edges. (The practical Americans prove themselves unpractical in leaving -the leaves of books uncut.) I say that our Japan is entitled to regard -for worthier things than geisha girls or a fashion in bowing. We should -decline your love, Americans, if it is rooted merely in your fancy for -our paper lanterns. I have frequently come to conclude that Americans -are eminently the freakish nation. I feel not only occasionally that -they lack the reasoning power. I do not assume the phenomena of the -yellow journals as my proof. - -“A year or two ago, one Japanese theatrical troup roamed. They are not -catalogued at home as actors. They chose to skip on the stage, simply -because a bit more money is in it than in the calling of -‘lantern-carrying for politicians.’ Any wild animal can skip. I am now -confronted with the question whether American generosity is not without -sense. They piled up their money for them. Even the first-class critics -struggled to find out something from such poor art. I am bound to be -thankful, however, for the Americans saved these poor players from -bankruptcy in Japan. It reminds me of a story. Our Nippon government -many years ago appointed a certain loafing sailor as an English -instructor, giving him a monthly pay of three hundred dollars. Sailor -with an anchor-tatoo on his hand! Three hundred dollars are no small -coin in Japan. Our sailor professor said, I am told, that he had not -heard of any Milton. Ignorance can easily be a philanthropist, if it can -be anything. - -“Japanese love Nature? They do. But how sad to glance at Japanese -garden! It is painful to notice the dwarf trees. Japs never permit one -thing to grow naturally. Country of deformity! America, most natural, -most manly nation!” - - -24th—My uncle didn’t come back yesterday. Mr. Poet condescended to the -town. - -I am alone. - -I spent the entire forenoon with Grandma, peeling potatoes, strewing -sweet pea seeds on the ground. - -I ascended the hill with the root of a white rose—believing in the -Nippon idea that blossoms for the dead should be white—and set it by the -grave. - -Then I stole into the canyon. - -I amassed the dead leaves of redwood by the brook for a camp-fire. - -The smoke rose like a soul unto heaven. - -I watched its beautiful confusion. - -When I left, a snake obstructed my path, flashing its needle of a -tongue. - -Snake, one of my greatest foes! (The others being cheese and -mathematics.) - -I turned pale. - -But I bravely faced it, hoping that it would speak a word or two, as one -did to Eve. I placed my eyes on it, though in fear. Perhaps it wasn’t as -intelligent as the one in the garden of Eden. Maybe it thought it -nothing but a waste of time to address a Jap poorly stored in English. -It crept away. - -I ran down the hill. - -A storm of laughter struck me from within when I came to my Willow -Cottage. I examined it from the window. Half a dozen young ladies were -biting pie. (Pie! Rustic pastry I ever so hate!) - -“Picnic!” I murmured. - -My blood gushed up. I was on the verge of denouncing their irruption. -The cottage belongs to any one, I said in my afterthought, as it does to -me. - -I slipped away. - -I found myself in the plum orchard with a hoe. - -I began to root the weeds. I waited silently for their departure. - - -25th—The spring hills were coquetting like a tea-house maiden, singing: - - - “The air is lovely like wine; - Come, Lord! Come, Lord!” - - -The curtain for the spring comedy has not yet risen. - -Already the picnic band invades. - -To-day I will make myself mistress of a hillside coffee-house. - -The poet—the eternally sweet poet—hastened to borrow a tent from a -neighbour. - -He set it on the greenest spot of grass before my cottage. I must excuse -his conceit, he entreated, in showing his skill by baking a cake for me. - -“Accept my hundred arigatos!” - -I bowed demonstratively. - -I pasted a paper—such a bashful brown piece from a butcher’s table—with -the sign of - - “BISHOPS’ REST.” - -The poet tacked “Ten Cents for Coffee and Cake” on the fence by the -tent. - -The cups (what a shame that their arms were all off) were rinsed, when -he showed me an imperial poundcake, declaring it his own manufacture. - -At three o’clock I was fully prepared for an honorable guest. - -The coffee on the oil-stove was surging, when two parties went by, not -spending even one look at my sign. - -“Times are awfully hard, I think. People have not luxury enough to spare -even a dime,” I murmured sadly. - -I said that I would have no business, if I didn’t make the next party my -victim. - -I appeared before the tent, when a few girls—who were born for laughing, -but not for thinking—came close by. - -“Will you rest and taste the cake that the poet made, ladies?” I said. - -“That’s nice,” they said, rolling into the tent. - -I served them with coffee and cake. - -“Is this surely the poet’s cake? It looks like baker’s cake,” one girl -said. - -“Mr. Poet assured me it was of his own making,” I replied in cool -reserve. - -After they left, I scrutinised the cake. Oya! A little bakery mark was -seen. - -“Mighty liar!” I grumbled. - -Abrupt clouds clouded the sun. The winds scolded bitterly. I decided -there was no business remaining. - -I called Mr. Heine and uncle into the Bishops’ Rest. - -“Your cake was fine, Mr. Poet.” - -“I know it, Miss Morning Glory. I’m a pretty good cook, you see. I -cooked once in a Sierra camp for fifty miners. I was paid twenty dollars -a week. Alas! It was the biggest money I ever earned.” - -“By the way, Mr. Heine, the bakery sent a bill for you.” - -I placed before him a slip that I had prepared for the purpose. - -“Ha! Ha, ha, ha!” - -His open laughter was as from a simple Faun. - -I noticed, afterward, a black mass heaped in a ditch. The whole -situation grew plain to me. He couldn’t bake, but only burn, in the -oven, and had despatched his neighbour for the cake. - -Dear Poet! - - -26th—We pressed the poet to receive some money as just a sign of our -gratitude. - -Mr. Heine despised our thought. - -Honourable gentleman! - -I found a tin box. I put the money in—ask me not how much! - -I dug a hole by the willow tree beside the lily pond, and buried the -money box. I tumbled a stone over it to mark it. - -“I’ll write him about it from New York. See, Uncle! Isn’t it unique?” I -said. - -Uncle wasn’t enthusiastic in approving my idea. He couldn’t check me, -however, as the money was mine. - -He said he would order an elegant vase from Tokio. - - -27th—I intended to keep a sweet fashion of old Japan in presenting a -poem at my sayonara. - -We will take leave to-morrow. - -O gracious graceful poet abode! - -My farewell poem in seventeen syllable form is as follows: - - - “Sayonara no - Ureiya nokore - Mizu no neni!” - - “Remain, oh, remain, - My grief of sayonara, - There in water sound!” - - -28th—Mrs. Heine kissed me. - -Dear old Grandma! - -“Do you know what this is, Miss Morning Glory?” the poet said, plucking -a leaf from a tree by his door. - -“Fig-leaf! Isn’t it?” - - -[Illustration: - - MY SAYONARA POEM IN JAPANESE AUTOGRAPH. -] - - -“Yes, my child! It is a fig-leaf. Do you know the fig tree? It is the -shyest tree in the world. Classical tree, indeed! It has no blossom, -being so modest of display, but it has the fruits. Remember, my young -lady, its teaching of ‘Modesty! Modesty!’” - -“Sayonara, Mr. Poet!” - -“One minute, Uncle!” I said. - -I ran into the Willow Cottage to get a cupful of water. I watered my -friend Miss Poppy with love. - -Bye-bye, little girl! - - - SAN FRANCISCO, March -1st - -Civilisation again! - -The first thing was to buy a cake of the best soap. - -Because my hands had perfected their transformation into worthless -leather while I dwelt on the hill. - -What kind of soap did I use, do you suppose? - -Laundry soap. - - -2nd—Delightful Ada! - -We drove to the Cliff House, Ada to laugh at the stupid song of the -seals, I to say my adieu. - -Good-bye, Pacific Ocean! - -We cried in hugging. - -We shall not see each other for some time,—maybe never again! - -Ada! - -O Ada San! - - -3rd—This afternoon! - -Eastward, ho, ho! - - - OVERLAND TRAIN, March -4th - -“Madame Butterfly” lay by me, appealing to be read. - -“No, iya, I’ll never open! I erred in buying you,” I said. - -I dislike that “Madame.” It sounds indecent ever since the “gentleman” -Loti spoiled it with his “Madame Chrysanthème.” - -The honourable author of “Madame Butterfly” is Mr. Wrong. (Do you know -that Japanese have no boundary between L and R?) Undoubtedly, he is -qualified to be a Wrong. - -Authorship is nothing at all, nowadays, since authors are thick as -Chinese laundries. - -Well, still, it can be honourable, if it is honourable. - -Japanese fiction penned by the tojin! - -It is a completely sad affair. I wonder why the author (God bless him) -didn’t fit himself for brooming the streets instead of scrawling. - -The characters in his book—I am grateful I see no lady writer of -Japanese novels yet—remind me of the “devils of mixture” swarming in -Yokohama or Kobe, whose Jap mother was a professional “hell.” It is -lamentable to set the verdict on them that they have inherited the art -of framing lies from their mamma. - -Do I vex you, gentleman, when I say that your Japanese type could only -be an unprincipled half-caste? - -Your Nippon character eyed in blue, and hairy-skinned always. Isn’t it -absurd when it puts a ’Merican shoe on one foot and a wooden clog on the -other? - -And if you insist on registering it as a Jap, I shall merely laugh -loudly. - -One heroine I have read of placed a light summer haori over her heavily -padded mid-winter clothes. - -Your Oriental novel, let me be courageous enough to say, is a farce at -its best. - -Oh, just wait, my sweet Americans! A genuine one will soon be offered to -you by Morning Glory. - -I stepped out to the platform, and threw out “Madame Butterfly.” - -Poor “Madame!” - -I trust in the mountain lions of high Nevada to cherish her lovingly. - - -5th— - - “Matsuba Sama, the following letter creeps ‘under your - honourable table.’ - - “How is yourself? - - “I imagine that the breeze fills your bower with the odour of - ume flowers. I am definite in saying that the Japanese ume is of - different origin from the California plum tree, which has no - expression in divine fragrance as I am told. I see your indolent - face in the air, awaiting poetical inspiration on your bamboo - piazza where the ume petals are beautifully blotched. - - “There are several months yet till we shall quarrel face-to-face - over the superiority of English or Oriental literature. - - “Miss Pine Leaf, I—or rather we—have said farewell to Frisco. - - “It was sad that I never saw any battleship (excepting one - shamefaced gunboat) in the bay of the Golden Gate. A bay without - battleship is like a door without a lock. - - “Can you fancy any Japanese city without soldiers? - - “American soldier? - - “I am sorry to say that I have met no soldier in my four months - at the Pacific. - - “I presume that the practical Meriken jins can’t bear to see - such a useless ornamentation. Yes! Soldiers are degenerating, in - my opinion, to the rank of a fireplace on a hot summer day. How - stimulating, however, was the sound of the fearless hoofs of a - cavalier! When the sabres of a regiment flashed in the sunlight, - I could never keep from fluttering my paper handkerchief. - - “I shall not excite myself in such a joy in Amerikey. - - “I made the acquaintance of one colonel at Mrs. Willis’. He is a - jolly business man. Just think of a colonel plus merchant! Is it - possible? He changes his white shirt every morning, and shines - his shoes twice a day. I should say that he will carry a sheet - and opera hat, and leave his gun behind, whenever he is summoned - to a battle-field. Possibly he has hidden his colonelship in his - trunk. - - “I found afterward that every old gentleman is a colonel or - judge. - - “Everything in California is made for just a woman. - - “California gentleman isn’t privileged to raise one question - against a lady. He is provided with all sorts of exclamations to - please the woman. If he should ever miss one dinner with his - wife, he would be divorced in court on the morrow. - - “Uncle says that the Eastern gents are not so devoted to the - lady. - - “If it be true! - - “Am I now entering the city of Man? - - “How sad! - - “Have you any experience of writing by the car-window? - - “I feel a strange delight in scanning my romantically tremulous - handwriting. A certain famous Jap penman takes wine before he - begins, for the sake of putting his mind in a fine frenzy, as - you know. The shaking of the car produces in me the same effect. - Isn’t this letter great enough to be honoured on your tokonama? - - “Can you ever imagine how vast Amerikey is? - - “Yesterday our car ran all day long, over the mountains and - prairies, seeing only a few huts. - - “O such a snowstorm in the evening! - - “The train rushed like a maddened dragon. It was verily an - astonishingly ghastly spectacle as any human thought could ever - picture. I thrilled with a feeling of tragic ecstasy, which is - the highest emotion. - - “Can you recollect that you and I once stood under the darkest - rains without an umbrella, and laughed hysterically? - - “I love shocking emotion. - - “Since I was touched by the continental air, I measure my lungs - dilating two inches bigger. How sorry I shall be for you when I - return! You are so tiny! I expect myself to be five inches - higher within the next few months. - - “Amerikey is the country where everything grows, don’t you know? - - “Even the stars look a deal larger than in Japan. - - “Looking back at the Rocky Mountains, - - “Yours, - - “ASAGAO” - - -6th—The rocking of the train makes us babies in the cradle. - -The car is a modern opium resort, where we sleep and sleep. - -I shouldn’t wonder if we all turned into nodding Rip Van Winkles. - -To-day I had a sleeping contest with uncle. - -I was defeated. - - - CHICAGO, 7th - -Chicago water is a perfect horror. - -Gomenyo! That’s no way to begin, is it? - -I never waver in saying that California girls borrow their fairness from -their water. - -There is no question in my mind why the Chicago women—certain hundreds I -saw, if you please—are barren in their complexion. - -“O Uncle, how many days have we to tarry here?” I asked, within an hour -after we had set foot in this city. - -I grieve over my contact with such a city. It is no place for a lady. -(Is here any lady?) It is just the place for a man. - -No show marked “Only for a Man” is respectable, I dare say. - -Are Chicago men “gentlemen?” - -They are not sensitive about their hats in the hotel elevator. The -laundry work isn’t superb, I judge, as not every one’s shirt is snowy as -a San Franciscan’s. I cannot blame their black finger-nails, as they -live in smoke. - -Even the Frisco smoke hindered my breath at my opening moment in -Amerikey. I should have died, if it had been Chicago. - -Bodily cleanliness is the first chapter in the whitening of the soul. -How many mortals are there here with a clear soul? - -“Chicago is Mr. Nobody without the smoke, like Japan without a fan. The -prosperity of a modern city is measured by the bulk of its smoke, -Morning Glory. But I don’t approve of their using a cheap coal. Health -has to be guarded,” my uncle said. - -A driver carried us from the station as if we were pigs. - -Mind you, this is Chicago illustrious for its hams. - -I barred my ears with my hands in the carriage. The thunderous noise -menaced me so. - -Do roses blossom well in the turbulent air? - -I have no doubt that Chicago has no poet. - -“Cook County fosters three thousand poets, one paper says, my young -woman,” Uncle said in laughter. - -“Don’t say so!” - -“As soon as I had established myself in the hotel, I inscribed—with the -longest apologetical ojigi to Mr. Shelley—as follows: - - - “Hell is a city much like Chicago, - A populous and a smoky city.” - - -8th—How sad I felt, not to be greeted by even one star from my hotel -window last night! - -I was disgusted with the poor taste of the coffee. Such a first-class -hotel! Coffee and maxim, I have said, should be of the very best. -Commonplace words with the golden heading of Maxim would be as cheap as -a negress with white powder. I would choose even a bread pudding rather -than a suspicious cup of coffee. - -Uncle failed to secure a box of cigarettes. - -The most delicate shape for smoking is the slender stalk of a cigarette. -The cigar ever so much impresses me as barbarous. Chicagoans might say -it was the only manly smoke. - -Truly! - -Chicago is the City of Man (whatever that means). - -I’m glad that the young gentlemen with genteel canes under their arms -don’t open any cigar-stand conference here. Such an abomination in -Frisco! - -No drones, whatever. - -My uncle was going out sight-seeing with me in a silk hat. - -I objected to it. - -Plug hat doesn’t suit informal Chicago. - -He changed his frock-coat for a sack-coat. - -“Now, Uncle, you look more like a Chicago gentleman!” I said. - -Yes, this is a plain sack-coat city. - -He was fussing with a handkerchief. I said, laughing: “Never mind, -Uncle! I am sure the men don’t carry it here, since the women never -carry a purse in their hand.” - -Isn’t it awful that one (even a stranger) ought to know everything in -Chicago? A slight question to the street people would be condemned as a -nuisance. - -Even the policeman shows no chivalry. - -I was sorry that the colour of his suit was bitterly faded. - -Isn’t Chicago rich enough to furnish a new one? - -I suppose many dogs must be hanging around here, because the policeman -arms himself with a piece of wood for chasing them off. - -I should like to know if there is any blacker house than the City Hall. - -It will be a matter of a short time before the Chicago River turns to -ink. - -Then we went to observe the Lake of Michigan from Lincoln Park. - -I scoffed at my absurdity in being ready with the first line for my poem -on the lake. If you knew that “O minstrel of Heaven and Truth!” was the -beginning, you would laugh surely. The lake wasn’t a huge singer like -the Pacific Ocean, at all. - - -[Illustration: - - Drawn by Genjiro Yeto - “UNCLE. PLEASE COUNT HOW MANY STORIES IN THAT BUILDING.” -] - - -“Uncle, please, count how many stories in that building!” I begged. - -Chicago structures “crush my little liver” completely. Did I ever dream -that I would eye such pillars of the sky in my life? - -When I returned to my hotel, I declared that I would not open my trunk, -because my everyday dress was good enough for Chicago. - -I regret to say that the gentlemen are so homely. - - -9th—How dear is the green crispy paper money. - -What a historical look! - -It made me feel as if I were at home. - -I hated ever so much the gold coin in California. Its threateningly -mercantile aspect made me shudder as at a speculator of Kakigara Cho of -Tokio. - -If I like Chicago it must be on account of its soiled paper money. - -I will exchange all my gold to it. - -I went to one store for a short skirt like that Chicago woman wears. - -It may be a change, though shortness in hair and dress is my aversion. -It may be advantageous in showing one’s shoes, though eternal exhibition -isn’t tasty. - -It would be an accurate account of my reason for buying to say that I -singularly wished to use up a few jumbles of money. - -I dulled myself reading the advertising bills through my hotel window. - -There’s no block free from them. - -’Vertisement! - -Isn’t it horrid? - -I laughed, wondering why those enterprising Meriken jins don’t employ -the extensive backs of prizefighters in the ring. - -Uncle and I went to see the Injuns dance. - -How fantastically they sang! - -There was a Japanese tea-house. - -It is no “tea-house” at all. It was the saddest thing I ever saw. - -I thought that Chicagoans were not fastidious with anything. - -“Any old thing will do!” they might say jollily. - -Open, hard-working Chicago! - -Has she much education? - - -10th—My uncle wanted me to join him in visiting a stockyard to see the -doomed pigs groaning, “Fu, fu, fu!” - -I declined. - -Uncle started off alone. - -There was some time before I heard someone fisting on my door. - -“A Japanese gentleman wishes to see your husband, madam,” a hotel -attendant addressed me. - -“Good God! My husband?” I cried. - -Satemo! - -How could any porter be such an ignoramus as not to distinguish between -Mrs. and Miss! - -Possibly he esteemed me “modern” enough to marry an old man for money’s -sake. - -Oya, he was Mr. Consul of Chicago. - -“Walk in, sir! Uchino hito will return within an hour or so.” - -Then I explained about “my husband.” - -We both laughed. - -There is nothing more pleasing when in an alien country than a chit-chat -in our native “becha becha.” - -Japanese speech! - -Such a beautifully indefinite, poetically untidy language! - -I love it. - - -11th—It would be too much of a risk of one’s life to stay in Chicago. - -Good-bye! - -Flowerless, birdless city, sayonara! - - - BUFFALO, 12th - -Niagara Falls was a disappointment. - -Uncle says I have still to learn how to be appreciative of things. - -A red brick chimney by the Fall spoils the whole affair, I do think. - -My uncle was cross, saying that he had eaten the toughest beef of his -life. - -He seized two Canadian dimes and a bogus half-dollar in an hour. - -“Poor Uncle! Isn’t this Buffalo town awful?” I said. - - - NEW YORK, 13th - -Miss Morning Glory has stepped into Greater New York, at last. - -Thirteenth of March, 1900. - -To-day will be the special day of my family history. - -My entrance was delightful to the full. - -The train stole gracefully into the city at early morn. The sky was -distinct like the lake of Biwa. The respectable face of the city -accepted us charmingly. - -I bounced my little body in my happy thought of another chapter of life. - -I felt like Dante crawled out of darkest Hell, after the torture of the -terrible show. (O Chicago!) - -Our kind Japanese consul of New York was looking after our arrival with -a carriage. - -I saw a horse-car trotting. - -It encouraged me to think that even an ignorant Jap girl might find her -own living here, since such an old-fashioned thing exists perfectly. - -I secretly fixed in my mind that I will adventure my independent life -when the crisis demands. - -Our carriage rolled up Fifth Avenue to Central Park. - -How often had I imagined laying me in this celebrated ground! - -“Pray, let me off to smell the smell of the New York breeze!” I -exclaimed. - -When I was stationed on the third floor of an edifice on Riverside -Drive—what a brisk name in the world!—which was Mr. Consul’s home, my -bubbling fancies hastened down with the waters of the Hudson River under -my window. - -Hudson River? - -It is my dear old acquaintance, introduced by the ever so pleasing Mr. -Irving. - -See its classical profundity before my face! - -Where’s “Sleepy Hollow,” I wonder! - -The spectacle of the river reminded me of the Sumida Gawa of Tokio, -mirroring the clouds of affectionate cherry blossoms which border its -bank. It would be a remarkable idea, I thought, to petition the Mayor of -New York for the Japanese cherry-trees to parade on this side of the -Hudson. When they are in flower, I will open a tea-house under them, of -course. My attire as a mistress should be a little red crape apron to -begin with. My head will be wound with a Japanese towel to endow my -Oriental eyes with certain better results. I will raise my voice, -calling, “Honourable rest! Honourable tea plucked by the choicest -musumes!” What a novel! - -Romance! - -How can I live without it! - -In that case I must entreat the removal of the characters on the other -side, which are: - -“Lots For Sale!” - -Because I don’t see any such unaristocratic sign by the Sumida Gawa. - - -14th—O snow, yukiya fure, fure! - -The season of the city is still within the fence of winter. I was -grateful to my fate that conveyed me here to overtake my loving snow. - -I settled me by my window in absorption with the snow view of Hudson -Gawa. - -How busily the snowflakes fall! - -Their cautiously silent hurry made me recollect the drama of the -China-Japan war. How stealthily the soldiers marched at midnight! Can I -ever forget how I tugged my shoji, crying “Victory, Dai Nippon!” - -I raised the window, stretching out my arm. I collected the snow-petals -in the hollow of my palm. I tasted them. - -“Uncle, New York snow is as deliciously savoured as at home,” I said. - -Central Park must have been artistically attired. - -“Oji San, let us go to the park for snow-viewing! I advise you to till a -bit more poetry in yourself, Uncle,” I announced. - -I began to change my dress before his decision. - - -15th—We went to the famous Brooklyn Bridge. - -Verily, New York gentlemen are interested with their papers in the car. -Newspapers, O newspapers! There’s no slip of a doubt that they would die -without the sight of their newspapers. The unheroic part about them is -that they forget neatly to offer their seats to a lady. Woman loves an -absent-minded man once in a while, but never on the car, I do say. - -I suppose every woman of this city has to be rich. - -Must I equip a carriage? - -I do not see why I could not win the first prize with my Louisiana -ticket. - -How I wish to fabric an every-inch-a-Japanese mansion on Fifth Avenue, -and welcome a thousand tojins to hear my Jap song on Sunday! - -“Is this bridge built for Americans or Europeans, Uncle? People crossing -here use no English,” I said. - -“Liberty Statue!” - -I will let the Beauty statue hail from the Bay of Yedo, when I am -wealthy enough to afford it. - -Doesn’t Nippon signify beauty? - -“How dear is that sign, ‘Beware of Pick-pockets!’ It makes me just feel -as if I were at Shinbashi station in Tokio, doesn’t it you, Uncle?” - -Humbly humble ’rikisha men! - -If I were besieged by them imploring me to take a little honourable -ride, the scene would be complete. - -I miss such a merry car in Amerikey. - -We walked down Broadway. We came to a graveyard. - -Tombstones in the midst of commerce! - -O romantic New York! - -I wondered how Wall Street gentlemen would be struck glancing at them. - -What a soft silence hovered! - -The old Gothic Church was my own ideal. - -“Uncle, let us fall in and rest!” I cried. - -The morning service was proceeding. - -Alas and alas! - -Not one soul was there. - -Is this a religious city? - -The inside was compact of heavenly purple air. Mr. Bishop—whatever he -may be—gestured like another being from a loftier realm. A beautiful boy -(there’s no greater fascination than a boy with a prayer-book) supported -the service. Intangibleness of speech is itself a divine charm. - -“Will you mind asking Mr. Bishop whether he wants a sweeping girl? I -wish I were given just a chance to clean such a holy church, uncle.” - -Then I looked up to Mr. Secretary. - - -16th—It seems to me a recent style that New York ladies discard their -babies to leave them in the hands of European immigrants (very likely -they want them to learn an ungrammatical hodge-podge, as respectableness -is old-fashioned) and accompany a dog with mighty affection. - -O my dear “chin” that I left at home! - -Shall I call it to Amerikey? - -Little loyal thing, pathetic, clinging! - -I am sure it would beat any other in a dog contest. - - -17th—I never saw such hungry eyes in my life as those of an -organ-grinder, set upon the windows for a dropping penny. - -To an artist they would hint of a prisoner’s bloodshot eyes numbed by -useless gazing toward the light of the world. - -Poor Italians! - -They don’t know one thing but turning the handle. - -The last two days they placed their organ—read their sign, “Garibaldi & -Co.”—under my apartment at the same hour for my bit money. - -I thought one of them might be a grandson of the renowned Italian -patriot. How interesting it would be to be told of his shipwreck in -life! - -Now three o’clock. - -There’s one more hour before their frolic music will gush. - -I must wrap some money in paper for them. - -God bless them—simple creatures who work hard! - - -18th—Mr. Consul—an old man who sips the grayness of celibacy—never -strays out from his official duty. He calls society and novels two -recent pieces of foolery. - -The family of Uncle’s intimate is off in Europe. - -The possibility of a nice time for me is verily illegible. Tsumaranai! - -Last night I sketched an adventure of enlisting in the band of -domestics. - -“Capital idea to examine a New York household!” I said, when I left my -breakfast table. - -I humbled myself to a newspaper office with the following shamefaced -advertisement: - -“Jap girl, nineteen, good-looking, longs for a place in a family of the -first rank.” - -I used every kind of oratory to bring my uncle to agree to my two weeks -of freedom. - - -19th—Two letters were waiting me at the office. - -One from No. 296 of a certain part. - -296? - -Unfortunately it sounds like “nikumu” in Japanese, meaning hatred. - -And the other was from Fifth Avenue. - -Parlour maid. - -Twelve dollars for a month. - -I shall accept it, since it is the proper quarter for seeing the -high-toned New Yorker. - -I feel already a servant feeling. - -I am sorry that I didn’t discipline myself before in dusting. - -I will style me an honest worker for awhile. “Toiling for my daily -bread,” does ring an American sound, doesn’t it? - -“Domestic girl has no right, I think, to sit with Messrs. Consul and -Secretary,” I said, moving my dinner plate to the kitchen table. - -Morning Glory, isn’t it time you changed the book of your diary? - -Really, sir! - -Let me close now with a ceremonious bow! - -My next book shall be entitled: - - “THE DIARY OF A PARLOUR MAID.” - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ● Transcriber’s Notes: - ○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. - ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected. - ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only - when a predominant form was found in this book. - ○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_); - text that was bold by “equal” signs (=bold=). - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The American Diary of a Japanese Girl, by -Yone Noguchi - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN DIARY OF A JAPANESE GIRL *** - -***** This file should be named 63256-0.txt or 63256-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/2/5/63256/ - -Produced by ellinora, Barry Abrahamse, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The American Diary of a Japanese Girl - -Author: Yone Noguchi - -Illustrator: Genjiro Yeto - -Release Date: September 21, 2020 [EBook #63256] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN DIARY OF A JAPANESE GIRL *** - - - - -Produced by ellinora, Barry Abrahamse, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<p class='c001'> </p> -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/halftitle.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div> - <h1 class='c002'>THE AMERICAN DIARY OF<br />A JAPANESE GIRL</h1> -</div> -<p class='c003'> </p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c004' /> -</div> -<div id='frontis' class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/frontis.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Drawn by Genjiro Yeto</i></span><br /><span class='sc'>The Guest of Honor</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c005' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div><i><span class='xxlarge'>T</span><span class='xlarge'>he</span></i> <span class='xxlarge'>A</span><span class='xlarge'>merican</span> <span class='xxlarge'>D</span><span class='xlarge'>iary</span></div> - <div><i><span class='xlarge'>of a</span></i> <span class='xxlarge'>J</span><span class='xlarge'>apanese</span> <span class='xxlarge'>G</span><span class='xlarge'>irl</span></div> - <div class='c005'><span class='large'><span class='sc'>By Miss Morning Glory</span></span></div> - <div class='c005'><span class='large'><span class="blackletter">Illustrated in colour and</span></span></div> - <div><span class='large'><span class="blackletter">in black-and-white</span></span></div> - <div class='c005'>BY</div> - <div class='c000'><span class='large'>Genjiro Yeto</span></div> - <div class='c006'><span class='c007'>❦</span></div> - <div class='c006'>NEW YORK</div> - <div><span class='large'><em class='gesperrt'>Frederick A. Stokes Company</em></span></div> - <div>PUBLISHERS</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c005' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div>Copyright, 1901, by</div> - <div>Frank Leslie Publishing House.</div> - <div class='c000'>Copyright, 1902, by</div> - <div>Frederick A. Stokes Company.</div> - <div>————</div> - <div><i>All rights reserved.</i></div> - <div class='c006'><span class='sc'>Published in September, 1902.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c004' /> -</div> -<div class='imprint'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div><span class='large'>To Her Majesty</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='xxlarge'>HARUKO</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='xxlarge'>Empress of Japan</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<p class='c008'><i>January, 1902</i></p> - -<p class='c009'><i>Ever since my childhood, thy sovereign -beauty has been all to me in benevolence -and inspiration.</i></p> - -<p class='c009'><i>How often I watched thy august presence in -happy amazement when thou didst pass along -our Tokio streets! What a sad sensation I had -all through me when thou wert just out of sight! -If thou only knewest, I prayed, that I was one -of thy daughters! I set it in my mind, a long -time ago, that anything I did should be offered -to our mother. <b>How I wish I could say my -own mother!</b> Mother art thou, heavenly lady!</i></p> - -<p class='c009'><i>I am now going to publish my simple diary -of my American journey.</i></p> - -<p class='c009'><i>And I humbly dedicate it unto thee, our beloved -Empress, craving that thou wilt condescend -to acknowledge that one of thy daughters -had some charming hours even in a foreign land.</i></p> -<p class='c010'><i>Morning Glory</i></p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c005' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c011'><i>List of Illustrations.</i></h2> -</div> -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='88%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>“The guest of honour.”</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#frontis'><i>Frontispiece.</i></a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>“A new delight to catch the peeping tips of my shoes.”</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#i018'>18</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>“Good night—Native land!”</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#i020'>20</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>“In Amerikey.”</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#i032'>32</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>“Such disobedient tools!”</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#i050'>50</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>“O ho, Japanese kimono!”</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#i058'>58</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>“So you like the Oriental woman?”</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#i128'>128</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>“How dare I swallow raw fishes!”</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#i152'>152</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>“Uncle, please count how many stories in that building.”</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#i248'>248</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>Tail-piece</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#i262'>262</a></td> - </tr> -</table> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c005' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div><span class='xxlarge'>BEFORE I SAILED</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c004' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c011'>BEFORE I SAILED</h2> -</div> -<p class='c008'><span class='sc'>Tokio</span>, Sept. 23rd</p> - -<p class='c009'>My new page of life is dawning.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A trip beyond the seas—Meriken Kenbutsu—it’s -not an ordinary event.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is verily the first event in our family history -that I could trace back for six centuries.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My to-day’s dream of America—dream of a -butterfly sipping on golden dews—was rudely -broken by the artless chirrup of a hundred -sparrows in my garden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Chui, chui! Chui, chui, chui!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bad sparrows!</p> - -<p class='c009'>My dream was silly but splendid.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dream is no dream without silliness which is -akin to poetry.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If my dream ever comes true!</p> -<p class='c014'>24th—The song of gay children scattered -over the street had subsided. The harvest -moon shone like a yellow halo of “Nono -Sama.” All things in blessed Mitsuho No -Kuni—the smallest ant also—bathed in sweet -inspiring beams of beauty. The soft song that -is not to be heard but to be felt, was in the air.</p> - -<p class='c009'>’Twas a crime, I judged, to squander lazily -such a gracious graceful hour within doors.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I and my maid strolled to the Konpira -shrine.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her red stout fingers—like sweet potatoes—didn’t -appear so bad tonight, for the moon -beautified every ugliness.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Our Emperor should proclaim forbidding -woman to be out at any time except under -the moonlight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Without beauty woman is nothing. Face -is the whole soul. I prefer death if I am not -given a pair of dark velvety eyes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a shame even woman must grow old!</p> - -<p class='c009'>One stupid wrinkle on my face would be -enough to stun me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My pride is in my slim fingers of satin skin.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I’ll carefully clean my roseate finger-nails -before I’ll land in America.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Our wooden clogs sounded melodious, like -a rhythmic prayer unto the sky. Japs fit -themselves to play music even with footgear. -Every house with a lantern at its entrance -looked a shrine cherishing a thousand idols -within.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I kneeled to the Konpira god.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I didn’t exactly see how to address him, -being ignorant what sort of god he was.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt thirsty when I reached home. Before -I pulled a bucket from the well, I peeped -down into it. The moonbeams were beautifully -stealing into the waters.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My tortoise-shell comb from my head -dropped into the well.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The waters from far down smiled, heartily -congratulating me on going to Amerikey.</p> -<p class='c014'>25th—I thought all day long how I’ll look -in ’Merican dress.</p> -<p class='c014'>26th—My shoes and six pairs of silk stockings -arrived.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How I hoped they were Nippon silk!</p> - -<p class='c009'>One pair’s value is 4 yens.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Extravagance! How dear!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I hardly see any bit of reason against bare -feet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Well, of course, it depends on how they are -shaped.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A Japanese girl’s feet are a sweet little -piece. Their flatness and archlessness manifest -their pathetic womanliness.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Feet tell as much as palms.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have taken the same laborious care with -my feet as with my hands. Now they have -to retire into the heavy constrained shoes of -America.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It’s not so bad, however, to slip one’s feet -into gorgeous silk like that.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My shoes are of superior shape. They -have a small high heel.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I’m glad they make me much taller.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A bamboo I set some three Summers ago -cast its unusually melancholy shadow on the -round paper window of my room, and whispered, -“Sara! Sara! Sara!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>It sounded to me like a pallid voice of -sayonara.</p> - -<p class='c009'>(By the way, the profuse tips of my bamboo -are like the ostrich plumes of my new American -hat.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Sayonara” never sounded before more -sad, more thrilling.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My good-bye to “home sweet home” amid -the camellias and white chrysanthemums is -within ten days. The steamer “Belgic” -leaves Yokohama on the sixth of next month. -My beloved uncle is chaperon during my -American journey.</p> -<p class='c014'>27th—I scissored out the pictures from the -’Merican magazines.</p> - -<p class='c009'>(The magazines were all tired-looking back -numbers. New ones are serviceable in their -own home. Forgotten old actors stray into -the villages for an inglorious tour. So it is -with the magazines. Only the useless numbers -come to Japan, I presume.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>The pictures—Meriken is a country of -woman; that’s why, I fancy, the pictures are -chiefly of woman—showed me how to pick up -the long skirt. That one act is the whole -“business” of looking charming on the street. -I apprehend that the grace of American ladies -is in the serpentine curves of the figure, in the -narrow waist.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Woman is the slave of beauty.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I applied my new corset to my body. I -pulled it so hard.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It pained me.</p> -<p class='c014'>28th—My heart was a lark.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sang, but not in a trembling voice like a -lark, some slices of school song.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I skipped around my garden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Because it occurred to me finally that I’ll -appear beautiful in my new costume.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I smiled happily to the sunlight whose -autumnal yellow flakes—how yellow they -were!—fell upon my arm stretched to pluck a -chrysanthemum.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I admit that my arm is brown.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But it’s shapely.</p> -<p class='c014'>29th—English of America—sir, it is light, -unreserved and accessible—grew dear again. -My love of it returned like the glow in a brazier -that I had watched passionately, then left all -the Summer days, and to which I turned my -apologetic face with Winter’s approaching -steps.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oya, oya, my book of Longfellow under -the heavy coat of dust!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I dusted the book with care and veneration -as I did a wee image of the Lord a month -ago.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The same old gentle face of ’Merican poet—a poet - need not always to sing, I assure -you, of tragic lamentation and of “far-beyond”—stared -at me from its frontispiece. -I wondered if he ever dreamed his volume -would be opened on the tiny brown palms of a -Japan girl. A sudden fancy came to me as if -he—the spirit of his picture—flung his critical -impressive eyes at my elaborate cue with -coral-headed pin, or upon my face.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Am I not a lovely young lady?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I had thrown Longfellow, many months -ago, on the top shelf where a grave spider -was encamping, and given every liberty to -that reticent, studious, silver-haired gentleman -Mr. Moth to tramp around the “Arcadie.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Moth ran out without giving his own -“honourable” impression of the popular poet, -when I let the pages flutter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Large fatherly poet he is, but not unique. -Uniqueness, however, has become commonplace.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poet of “plain” plainness is he—plainness -in thought and colour. Even his elegance is -plain enough.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I must read Mr. Longfellow again as I -used a year ago reclining in the Spring -breeze,—“A Psalm of Life,” “The Village -Blacksmith,” and half a dozen snatches from -“Evangeline” or “The Song of Hiawatha” -at the least. That is not because I am his -devotee—I confess the poet of my taste isn’t -he—but only because he is a great idol of -American ladies, as I am often told, and I -may suffer the accusation of idiocy in America, -if I be not charming enough to quote -lines from his work.</p> -<p class='c014'>30th—Many a year I have prayed for -something more decent than a marriage offer.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wonder if the generous destiny that will -convey me to the illustrious country of “woman -first” isn’t the “something.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am pleased to sail for Amerikey, being a -woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Shall I have to become “naturalized” in -America?</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Jap “gentleman”—who desires the -old barbarity—persists still in fancying that -girls are trading wares.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When he shall come to understand what is -Love!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Fie on him!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I never felt more insulted than when I was -asked in marriage by one unknown to me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>No Oriental man is qualified for civilisation, -I declare.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Educate man, but—beg your pardon—not -the woman!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Modern gyurls born in the enlightened -period of Meiji are endowed with quite a remarkable -soul.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I act as I choose. I haven’t to wait for my -mamma’s approval to laugh when I incline to.</p> -<p class='c014'>Oct. 1st—I stole into the looking-glass—woman -loses almost her delight in life if without -it—for the last glimpse of my hair in -Japan style.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Butterfly mode!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I’ll miss it adorning my small head, while -I’m away from home.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have often thought that Japanese display -Oriental rhetoric—only oppressive rhetoric -that palsies the spirit—in hair dressing. Its -beauty isn’t animation.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I longed for another new attraction on my -head.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt sad, however, when I cut off all the -paper cords from my hair.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I dreaded that the American method of -dressing the hair might change my head into -an absurd little thing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My lengthy hair languished over my -shoulders.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I laid me down on the bamboo porch in the -pensive shape of a mermaid fresh from the -sea.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The sportive breezes frolicked with my -hair. They must be mischievous boys of the -air.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought the reason why Meriken coiffure -seemed savage and without art was mainly -because it prized more of natural beauty.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Naturalness is the highest of all beauties.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Sayo shikaraba!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Let me learn the beauty of American freedom, -starting with my hair!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Are you sure it’s not slovenliness?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Woman’s slovenliness is only forgiven where -no gentleman is born.</p> -<p class='c014'>2nd—Occasional forgetfulness, I venture to -say, is one of woman’s charms.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But I fear too many lapses in my case fill -the background.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I amuse myself sometimes fancying whether -I shall forget my husband’s name (if I ever -have one).</p> - -<p class='c009'>How shall I manage “shall” and “will”? -My memory of it is faded.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I searched for a printed slip, “How to use -Shall and Will.” I pressed to explore even -the pantry after it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Afterward I recalled that Professor asserted -that Americans were not precise in grammar. -The affirmation of any professor isn’t weighty -enough. But my restlessness was cured -somehow.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>“This must be the age of Jap girls!” I -ejaculated.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was reading a paper on our bamboo land, -penned by Mr. Somebody.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The style was inferior to Irving’s.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have read his gratifying “Sketch Book.” -I used to sleep holding it under my wooden -pillow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Woman feels happy to stretch her hand even -in dream, and touch something that belongs -to herself. “Sketch Book” was my child for -many, many months.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Somebody has lavished adoring words -over my sisters.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Arigato! Thank heavens!</p> - -<p class='c009'>If he didn’t declare, however, that “no -sensible musume will prefer a foreign raiment -to her kimono!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He failed to make of me a completely happy -nightingale.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Shall I meet the Americans in our flapping -gown?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I imagined myself hitting off a tune of “Karan -Coron” with clogs, in circumspect steps, -along Fifth Avenue of somewhere. The -throng swarmed around me. They tugged my -silken sleeves, which almost swept the ground, -and inquired, “How much a yard?” Then -they implored me to sing some Japanese ditty.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I’ll not play any sensational rôle for any -price.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Let me remain a homely lass, though I -express no craft in Meriken dress.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Do I look shocking in a corset?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“In Pekin you have to speak Makey Hey -Rah” is my belief.</p> -<p class='c014'>3rd—My hand has seldom lifted anything -weightier than a comb to adjust my hair flowing -down my neck.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The “silver” knife (large and sharp enough -to fight the Russians) dropped and cracked a -bit of the rim of the big plate.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My hand tired.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle and I were seated at a round -table in a celebrated American restaurant, the -“Western Sea House.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was my first occasion to face an orderly -heavy Meriken table d’hote.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Its fertile taste was oily, the oppressive -smell emetic.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Must I make friends with it?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am afraid my small stomach is only fitted -for a bowl of rice and a few cuts of raw fish.</p> - -<p class='c009'>There is nothing more light, more inviting, -than Japanese fare. It is like a sweet Summer -villa with many a sliding shoji from which you -smile into the breeze and sing to the stars.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Lightness is my choice.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When, I wondered, could I feel at home -with American food!</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle is a Meriken “toow.” He promised -to show me a heap of things in America.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He is an 1884 Yale graduate. He occupies -the marked seat of the chief secretary of the -“Nippon Mining Company.” He has procured -leave for one year.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>What were the questionable-looking fragments -on the plate?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Pieces with pock-marks!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Cheese was their honourable name.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle scared me by saying that some -“charming” worms resided in them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Pooh, pooh!</p> - -<p class='c009'>They emitted an annoying smell. You have -to empty the choicest box of tooth powder -after even the slightest intercourse with them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I dare not make their acquaintance—no, not -for a thousand yens.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I took a few of them in my pocket papers -merely as a curiosity.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Shall I hang them on the door, so that the -pest may not come near to our house?</p> - -<p class='c009'>(Even the pest-devils stay away from it, you -see.)</p> -<p class='c014'>4th—The “Belgic” makes one day’s delay. -She will leave on the seventh.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Why not one week?” I cried.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I pray that I may sleep a few nights longer -in my home. I grow sadder, thinking of my -departure.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My mother shouldn’t come to the Meriken -wharf. Her tears may easily stop my American -adventure.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I and my maid went to our Buddhist -monastery.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I offered my good-bye to the graves of my -grandparents. I decked them with elegant -bunches of chrysanthemums.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When we turned our steps homeward the -snowy-eyebrowed monk—how unearthly he appeared!—begged -me not to forget my family’s -church while I am in America.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Christians are barbarians. They eat beef -at funerals,” he said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>His voice was like a chant.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The winds brought a gush of melancholy -evening prayer from the temple.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The tolling of the monastery bell was tragic.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Goun! Goun! Goun!”</p> -<p class='c014'>5th—A “chin koro” barked after me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Japanese little doggie doesn’t know -better. He has to encounter many a strange -thing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The tap of my shoes was a thrill to him. -The rustling of my silk skirt—such a volatile -sound—sounded an alarm to him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was hurrying along the road home from -uncle’s in Meriken dress.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a new delight I felt to catch the peeping -tips of my shoes from under my trailing -koshi goromo.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I forced my skirt to wave, coveting a more -satisfactory glance.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Did I look a suspicious character?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was glad, it amused me to think the dog -regarded me as a foreign girl.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oh, how I wished to change me into a different -style! Change is so pleasing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My imitation was clever. It succeeded.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When I entered my house my maid was dismayed -and said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Bikkuri shita! You terrified me. I took -you for an ijin from Meriken country.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Ho, ho! O ho, ho, ho!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I passed gracefully (like a princess making -her triumphant exit in the fifth act) into my -chamber, leaving behind my happiest laughter -and shut myself up.</p> -<div id='i018' class='figcenter id004'> -<img src='images/i018.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Drawn by Genjiro Yeto</i></span><br />“<span class='sc'>A new delight to catch the peeping tips of my shoes</span>”</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>I confess that I earned the most delicious -moment I have had for a long time.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I cannot surrender under the accusation that -Japs are <i>only</i> imitators, but I admit that we -Nippon daughters are suited to be mimics.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Am I not gifted in the adroit art?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Where’s Mr. Somebody who made himself -useful to warn the musumes?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I began to rehearse the scene of my -first interview with a white lady at San Francisco.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I opened Bartlett’s English Conversation -Book, and examined it to see if what I spoke -was correct.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sat on the writing table. Japanese houses -set no chairs.</p> - -<p class='c009'>(Goodness, mottainai! I sat on the great -book of Confucius.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>The mirror opposite me showed that I was -a “little dear.”</p> -<p class='c014'>6th—It rained.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Soft, woolen Autumn rain like a gossamer!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Its suggestive sound is a far-away song -which is half sob, half odor. The October -rain is sweet sad poetry.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I slid open a paper door.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My house sits on the hill commanding a -view over half Tokio and the Bay of Yedo.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My darling city—with an eternal tea and -cake, with lanterns of festival—looked up to -me through the gray veil of rain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt as if Tokio were bidding me farewell.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Sayonara! My dear city!</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c005' /> -</div> -<p class='c014'> </p> -<div id='i020' class='figcenter id005'> -<img src='images/i020.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>GOOD NIGHT—NATIVE LAND!</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c004' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c011'>ON THE OCEAN</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>“<span class='sc'>Belgic</span>,” 7th</p> - -<div class='lg-container-l c016'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Good night—native land!</div> - <div class='line'>Farewell, beloved Empress of Dai Nippon!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>12th—The tossing spectacle of the waters -(also the hostile smell of the ship) put my -head in a whirl before the “Belgic” left the -wharf.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The last five days have been a continuous -nightmare. How many a time would I have -preferred death!</p> - -<p class='c009'>My little self wholly exhausted by sea-sickness. -Have I to drift to America in skin and -bone?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt like a paper flag thrown in a tempest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The human being is a ridiculously small -piece. Nature plays with it and kills it when -she pleases.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I cannot blame Balboa for his fancy, -because he caught his first view from the peak -in Darien.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It’s not the “Pacific Ocean.” The breaker -of the world!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Do you feel any better?” inquired my -fellow passenger.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He is the new minister to the City of -Mexico on his way to his post. My uncle is -one of his closest friends.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What if Meriken ladies should mistake me -for the “sweet” wife of such a shabby pock-marked -gentleman?</p> - -<p class='c009'>It will be all right, I thought, for we shall -part at San Francisco.</p> - -<p class='c009'>(The pock-mark is rare in America, Uncle -said. No country has a special demand for -it, I suppose.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>His boyish carelessness and samurai-fashioned -courtesy are characteristic. His -great laugh, “Ha, ha, ha!” echoes on half a -mile.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He never leaves his wine glass alone. My -uncle complains of his empty stomach.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The more the minister repeats his cup the -more his eloquence rises on the Chinese -question. He does not forget to keep up his -honourable standard of diplomatist even in -drinking, I fancy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I see charm in the eloquence of a drunkard.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>I exposed myself on deck for the first time.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wasn’t strong enough, alas! to face the -threatening grandeur of the ocean. Its -divineness struck and wounded me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>O such an expanse of oily-looking waters! -O such a menacing largeness!</p> - -<p class='c009'>One star, just one sad star, shone above.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought that the little star was trembling -alone on a deck of some ship in the sky.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Star and I cried.</p> -<p class='c014'>13th—My first laughter on the ocean burst -out while I was peeping at a label, “7 yens,” -inside the chimney-pot hat of our respected -minister, when he was brushing it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He must have bought that great headgear -just on the eve of his appointment.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How stupid to leave such a bit of paper!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I laughed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He asked what was so irresistibly funny.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I laughed more. I hardly repressed “My -dear old man.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The “helpless me” clinging on the bed for -many a day feels splendid to-day.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The ocean grew placid.</p> - -<p class='c009'>On the land my eyes meet with a thousand -temptations. They are here opened for nothing -but the waters or the sun-rays.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I don’t gain any lesson, but I have learned -to appreciate the demonstrations of light.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They were white. O what a heavenly -whiteness!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The billows sang a grand slow song in blessing -of the sun, sparkling their ivory teeth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The voyage isn’t bad, is it?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I planted myself on the open deck, facing -Japan.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am a mountain-worshipper.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Alas! I could not see that imperial dome -of snow, Mount Fuji.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>One dozen fairies—two dozen—roved down -from the sky to the ocean.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I dreamed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was so very happy.</p> -<p class='c014'>14th—What a confusion my hair has suffered! -I haven’t put it in order since I left the Orient. -Such negligence of toilet would be fined by -the police in Japan.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was busy with my hair all the morning.</p> -<p class='c014'>15th—The Sunday service was held.</p> - -<p class='c009'>There’s nothing more natural on a voyage -than to pray.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We have abandoned the land. The ocean -has no bottom.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We die any moment “with bubbling groan, -without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and -unknown.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Only prayer makes us firm.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I addressed myself to the Great Invisible -whose shadow lies across my heart.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He may not be the God of Christianity. -He is not the Hotoke Sama of Buddhism.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Why don’t those red-faced sailors hum -heavenly-voiced hymns instead of—“swear?”</p> -<p class='c014'>16th—Amerikey is away beyond.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Not even a speck of San Francisco in sight -yet!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I amused myself thinking what would happen -if I never returned home.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Marriage with a ’Merican, wealthy and -comely?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I had well-nigh decided that I would not -cross such an ocean again by ship. I would -wait patiently until a trans-Pacific railroad is -erected.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was basking in the sun.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I fancied the “Belgic” navigating a wrong -track.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What then?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Was I approaching lantern-eyed demons or -howling cannibals?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Iya, iya, no! I will proudly land on the -historical island of Lotos Eaters.” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Why didn’t I take Homer with me? The -ocean is just the place for his majestic simplicity -and lofty swing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I recalled a few passages of “The Lotos -Eaters” by Lord Tennyson—it sounds better -than “the poet Tennyson.” I love titles, but -they are thought as common as millionaires -nowadays.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A Jap poet has a different mode of speech.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Shall I pose as poet?</p> - -<p class='c009'>’Tis no great crime to do so.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I began my “Lotos Eaters” with the following -mighty lines:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“O dreamy land of stealing shadows!</div> - <div class='line in1'>O peace-breathing land of calm afternoon!</div> - <div class='line in1'>O languid land of smile and lullaby!</div> - <div class='line in1'>O land of fragrant bliss and flower!</div> - <div class='line in1'>O eternal land of whispering Lotos Eaters!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Then I feared that some impertinent poet -might have said the same thing many a year -before.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poem manufacture is a slow job.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Modern people slight it, calling it an old -fashion. Shall I give it up for some more -brilliant up-to-date pose?</p> -<p class='c014'>17th—I began to knit a gentleman’s stockings -in wool.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They will be a souvenir of this voyage.</p> - -<p class='c009'>(I cannot keep a secret.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>I tell you frankly that I designed them to be -given to the gentleman who will be my future -“beloved.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The wool is red, a symbol of my sanguine -attachment.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The stockings cannot be much larger than -my own feet. I dislike large-footed gentlemen.</p> -<p class='c014'>18th—My uncle asked if my great work of -poetical inspiration was completed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Uncle, I haven’t written a dozen lines yet. -My ‘Lotos Eaters’ is to be equal in length to -‘The Lady of the Lake.’ Now, see, Oji San, -mine has to be far superior to the laureate’s, -not merely in quality, but in quantity as well. -But I thought it was not the way of a sweet -Japanese girl to plunder a garland from the -old poet by writing in rivalry. Such a nice -man Tennyson was!” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I smiled and gazed on him slyly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“So! You are very kind!” he jerked.</p> -<p class='c014'>19th—I don’t think San Francisco is very -far off now. Shall I step out of the ship and -walk?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Has the “Belgic” coal enough? I wonder -how the sensible steamer can be so slow!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Let the blank pages pass quickly! Let me -come face to face with the new chapter—“America!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The gray monotone of life makes me -insane.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such an eternal absence of variety on the -ocean!</p> -<p class='c014'>20th—The moon—how large is the ocean -moon!—sat above my head.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When I thought that that moon must have -been visiting in my dearest home of Tokio, -the tragic scene of my “Sayonara, mother!” -instantly returned.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Tears on my cheeks!</p> -<p class='c014'>Morning, 21st—Three P.M. of to-day!</p> - -<p class='c009'>At last!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Beautiful Miss Morning Glory shall land on -her dream-land, Amerikey.</p> - -<p class='c009'>That’s my humble name, sir.</p> - -<p class='c009'>18 years old.</p> - -<p class='c009'>(Why does the ’Merican lady regard it as -an insult to be asked her own age?)</p> - -<p class='c009'>My knitting work wasn’t half done. I look -upon it as an omen that I shall have no luck -in meeting with my husband.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Tsumaranai! What a barren life!</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>Our great minister was placing a button on -his shirt. His trembling fingers were uncertain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I snatched the shirt from his hand and -exhibited my craft with the needle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I fancied that you modern girls were -perfect strangers to the needle,” he said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He is not blockish, I thought, since he -permits himself to employ irony.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle was lamenting that he had not -even one cigar left.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Both those gentlemen offered to help me -in my dressing at the landing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I declined gracefully.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Where is my looking-glass?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I must present myself very—very pretty.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c005' /> -</div> -<p class='c014'> </p> -<div id='i032' class='figcenter id006'> -<img src='images/i032.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>IN AMERIKEY</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c004' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c011'>IN AMERIKEY</h2> -</div> -<p class='c018'><span class='sc'>San Francisco</span>, night, 21st</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Good-bye, Mr. Belgic!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I delight in personifying everything as a -gentleman.</p> -<p class='c014'>What does it mean under the sun! Kitsune -ni tsukamareta wa! Evil fox, I suppose, -got hold of me. “Gentlemen, is this real -Amerikey?” I exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oya, ma, my Meriken dream was a complete -failure.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Did I ever fancy any sky-invading dragon -of smoke in my own America?</p> - -<p class='c009'>The smoke stifled me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Why did I lock up my perfume bottle in -my trunk?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I hardly endured the smell from the wagons -at the wharf. Their rattling noise thrust -itself into my head. A squad of Chinamen -there puffed incessantly the menacing smell of -cigars.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Were I the mayor of San Francisco—how -romantic “the Mayor, Miss Morning Glory” -sounds!—I would not pause a moment before -erecting free bath-houses around the wharf.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I never dreamed that human beings could -cast such an insulting smell.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The smell of honourable wagon drivers is the -smell of a M-O-N-K-E-Y.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Their wild faces also prove their likeness to -it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They must have furnished all the evidence -to Mr. Darwin. “The better part lies some -distance from here,” said my uncle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I exclaimed how inhospitable the Americans -were to receive visitors from the back door of -the city.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We are not empty-stomached tramps rapping -the kitchen door for a crust of bread.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>We refused hotel carriage.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We walked from the Oriental wharf for the -sake of the street sight-seeing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Tamageta wa! A house was whirling along -the street. Look at the horseless car! How -could it be possible to pull it with a rope under -ground!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Everything reveals a huge scale of measurement.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The continental spectacle is different from -that of our islands.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We 40,000,000 Japs must raise our heads from -wee bits of land. There’s no room to stretch -elbows. We have to stay like dwarf trees.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I shouldn’t be surprised if the Americans exclaim -in Japan, “What a petty show!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such a riotous rush! What a deafening -uproar!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The lazy halt of a moment on the street -must have been regarded, I fancied, as a violation -of the law.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wondered whether one dozen were not -slain each hour on Market Street by the cars.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Cars! Cars! And cars!</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was no use to look beautiful in such a -cyclone city. Not even one gentleman moved -his admiring eyes to my face.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How sad!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought it must be some festival.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“No, the usual Saturday throng!” my uncle -said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I asked myself whether Tokio streets -were only like a midnight of this city.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My beloved minister kept his mouth open—what -heavy lips he had!—amazed at the high -edifices.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“O ho, that’s astonishing!” he cried, throwing -his sottish eyes on the clock of the <i>Chronicle</i> -building.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Boys are commenting on you,” I whispered.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I beseeched him not to act so droll.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He tossed out in his careless fashion his -everlasting heroic laughter, “Ha, ha, ha——”</p> - -<p class='c009'>A hawkish lad—I have not seen one sleepy -fellow yet—drew near the minister shortly after -we left the wharf, and begged to carry his bag.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was only too glad to be assisted. The -brown diplomatist thought it a loving deed -toward a foreigner.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He bowed after some blocks, thanking the -boy with a hearty “arigato.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Sir, you have to pay me two bits!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>His hand went to his pocket, when my uncle -tapped his stooping back, speaking: “This is -the country of eternal ‘pay, pay, pay,’ old man!”</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>“What does a genuine American beggar -look like?” was my old question.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Meriken beggar my friend saw at -Yokohama park was dressed up in a swallow-tail -coat. Emerson’s essays were in his hand. -He was such a genteel Mr. Beggar, she said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I often heard that everybody is a millionaire -in America. I thought it likely that I should -see a swell Mr. Beggar among the Americans.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How many a time had I planned to make a -special trip to Yokohama for acquaintance with -the honourable Emerson scholar!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Alas, it was merely a fancy!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have seen Mr. Beggar on the street.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He didn’t appear in the formal dignity of a -dress coat.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Where was his Emerson?</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was not unlike his Oriental brothers, -after all.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He stood, because he wasn’t used to kneeling -like the Japs.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The only difference was that he carried -pencils instead of a musical instrument.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He is a merchant,—this is a business -country,—while the Japanese Mr. Beggar is -an artist, I suppose.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>My little gold watch pointed eleven.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have been writing for some hours about my -first impression of the city from the wharf, and -my journey from there to this Palace Hotel.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The number of my room is 489.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I fear I may not return if I once go out. -It’s so hard to remember the number.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The large mirror reflected me as being so -very small in the big room.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such a great room with high ceiling!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I don’t feel at home at all.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Not a petal of flower. No inviting picture -on the wall!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was tired of hearing the artificial greeting, -“Irasshai mashi,” or “Honourable welcome,” -of the eternally bowing Japanese hotel attendants.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the too simple treatment of ’Merican -hotel is hardly to my taste.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Not even one girl to wait on me here!</p> - -<p class='c009'>No “honourable tea and cake.”</p> -<p class='c014'>22nd—I need repose. The last few weeks -have stirred me dreadfully. I will slumber -just comfortably day after day, I decided.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the same feeling as on the ocean returned.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My American bed acted like water, waving -at even my slightest motion.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I fancied I was exercising even in sleep.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is too soft.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Nothing can put me at complete ease like -my hereditary lying on the floor.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was restless all the night long.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I got up, since the bed was no joy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oh, the blue sky!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought I should never again see a sapphire -sky while I am here. I was wrong.</p> - -<p class='c009'>This is church day.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The bells of the street-cars sounded musical.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The sky appeared in best Sunday dress.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt happy thinking that I should see the -stars from my hotel window to-night.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>I made many useless trips up and down the -elevator for fun.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a tickling dizziness I tasted!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I close my eyes when it goes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It’s an awfully new thing, I reckon.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Something on the same plan, I imagine, as -a “seriage” of the Japanese stage for a footless -ghost rising to vanish.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is astonishing to notice what a condescending -manner the white gentlemen display -toward ladies.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They take off their hats in the elevator—some -showing such a great bald head, like a -funny O Binzuru, that is as common as spectacled -children—if any woman is present. -They stand humbly as Japs to the august -“Son of Heaven.” They crawl out like lambs -after the woman steps away.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It puzzles me to solve how women can be -deserving of such honour.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a goody-goody act!</p> - -<p class='c009'>But I wonder how they behave themselves -before God!</p> -<p class='c014'>23rd—It is delightful to sit opposite the -whitest of linen and—to portray on it the face -of an imaginary Mr. Sweetheart while eating.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Whiteness is appetising.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And the boldly-marked creases of the linen -are so dear. Without them the linen is not -half so inviting.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was taught the beauty of single line in -drawing class some years ago.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But now for the first time I fully comprehended -it from the Meriken tablecloth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wished I could ever stay gazing at it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If I start my housekeeping in this country—do -I ever dream of it?—I shall not hesitate to -invest all my money in linen.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I laughed when I fancied that I sat with my -husband—where’s he in the world?—spreading -a skilfully ironed linen cloth on the Spring -grasses (what a gratifying white and green!), -and I upset a teapot over the linen, while he -ran after water;—then I picked all the buttercups -and covered the dark red stain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The minister makes a ridiculous show of -himself in the dining-room.</p> - -<p class='c009'>His laughter draws the attention of every -lady.</p> - -<p class='c009'>This morning he exclaimed: “Americans -have no courtesy for strangers, except meaning -money.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And he finished his speech with his boisterous -“Ha, ha, ha!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>A pale impatient lady, like a trembling winter -leaf, sitting at the table next to us, shrugged -her shoulders and muttered, “Oh, my!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I hoped I could invent any scheme to make -him hasten to his post—Kara or Tenjiku, -whatever place it be.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He is good-natured like a rubber stamp.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But I am sorry to say that he does not fit -Amerikey.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was relieved when he announced that his -departure would occur to-morrow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My dignity was saved.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I cut a square piece of paper. I pencilled -on it as follows:</p> -<p class='c003'> </p> -<div class='box3'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>To the Japanese Legation.</div> - <div>The City of Mexico.</div> - <div>Handle Carefully, Easily Broken.</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c014'>I put it on the large palm of the minister. -I warned him that he should never forget to -pin it on his breast.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Mean little thing you are!” he said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And his great happy “Ha, ha, ha!” followed -as usual.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bye-bye!</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>The negroes are horrid. I scanned them -on the first chance of my life.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What is the standard of beauty of their -tribe, I am eager to be informed!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I searched for “coon” in my dictionary. -The explanation was unsatisfactory.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The ever-so-kind Americans don’t consider -them, I am certain, as “animals allied to the -bear.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Tell me what it means.</p> -<p class='c014'>24th—Spittoon!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The American spittoon is famous, Uncle -says.</p> - -<p class='c009'>From every corner in this nine-story hotel—think -of its eight hundred and fifty-one -rooms!—you are met by the greeting of the -spittoon.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How many thousand are there?</p> - -<p class='c009'>It must be a tremendous task to keep them -clean as they are.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wonder why the proprietor doesn’t give -the city the benefit of some of them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>San Francisco ought to place spittoons along -the sidewalk.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The ladies wear such a long gaudy skirt.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And it is quite a fashion of modern gents, it -appears, to spit on the pavements.</p> - -<p class='c009'>This Palace Hotel is a palace.</p> - -<p class='c009'>You drop into the toilet room, for instance.</p> - -<p class='c009'>You cannot help exclaiming: “Iya, haya, -Japan is three centuries behind!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Everything presents to you a silent lecture -of scientific modernism.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Whenever I am bothered too much by my -uncle I lock myself up in the toilet room. There -I feel the whole world is mine.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I can take off my shoes. I can play acrobat -if I prefer.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Nobody can spy me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is the place where you can pray or cry all -you desire without one interruption.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My room is great, equipped with every new -invention. Numbers of electric globes dazzle -with kingly light above my head.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If I enter my room at dusk, I push a button -of electricity.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a satisfaction I earn seeing every light -appear to my honourable service!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I look upon my finger wondering how such -an Oriental little thing can make itself potent -like the mighty thumb of Mr. Edison.</p> -<p class='c014'>25th—What a novel sensation I felt in writing -“San Francisco, U.S.A.,” at the head of -my tablet!</p> - -<p class='c009'>(What agitation I shall feel when I write -my first “Mrs.” before my name! Woman -must grow tired of being addressed “Miss,” -sooner or later.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have often said that I hardly saw any -necessity for corresponding when one lives on -such a small island as Japan.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I could see my friends in a day or two, at -whatever place I was.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have now the ocean between me and my -home.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Letter writing is worth while.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I did not know it was such a sweet piece of -work.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I should declare it to be as legitimate and -inexpensive a game as ever woman could indulge -in.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>I was stepping along the courtyard of this -hotel.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have seen a gentleman kissing a woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt my face catching fire.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Is it not a shame in a public place?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I returned to my apartment. The mirror -showed my cheeks still blushing.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>The Japanese consul and his Meriken -wife—she is some inches higher than her darling—paid -us a call.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I said to myself that they did not match well. -It was like a hired haori with a different coat -of arms.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Consul looked proud, as if he carried a -crocodile.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mrs. Consul invited us for luncheon next -Sunday.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Quite a family party—O ho, ho!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her voice was unceremonious.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I noticed that one of her hairpins was about -to drop. I thought that Meriken woman was -as careless as I.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How many hairpins do you suppose I lost -yesterday?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Four! Isn’t that awful?</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle innocently stated to her I was a -great belle of Tokio.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I secretly pinched his arm through his coat-sleeve. -My little signal did not influence him -at all. He kept on his hyperbolical advertisement -of me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She promised a beautiful girl to meet me on -Sunday.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I fancied how she looked.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought my performance of the first -interview with Meriken woman was excellent. -But my rehearsal at home was useless.</p> -<p class='c014'>26th—I lost my little charm.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It worried me awfully.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was given me by my old-fashioned mother. -She got it after a holy journey of one month -to the shrine of Tenno Sama.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I should be safe, Mother said, from water, -fire and highwayman (what else, God only -knows) as long as I should carry it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sought after it everywhere. I begged my -uncle to let me examine his trunk.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Cast off an ancient superstition!” Uncle -scorned.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sat languidly on the large armchair which -almost swallowed my small body.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I imagined many a punishment already inflicted -on me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The tick-tack of my watch from my waist -encouraged my nervousness.</p> - -<p class='c009'>There is nothing more irritating than a tick-tack.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I locked up my watch in the drawer of the -dresser.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I still felt its tick-tack pursuing my ears.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I put it under the pillow.</p> -<p class='c014'>27th—How I wished I could exchange a -ten-dollar gold-piece for a tassel of curly hair!</p> - -<p class='c009'>American woman is nothing without it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Its infirm gesticulation is a temptation.</p> - -<p class='c009'>In Japan I regarded it as bad luck to own -waving hair.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But my tastes cannot remain unaltered in -Amerikey.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I don’t mind being covered with even red -hair.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Red hair is vivacity, fit for Summer’s shiny air.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I remember that I trembled at sight of the -red hair of an American woman at Tokio. -Japanese regard it as the hair of the red demon -in Jigoku.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sat before the looking-glass, with a pair -of curling-tongs.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I tried to manage them with surprising patience. -I assure you God doesn’t vouchsafe -me much patience.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such disobedient tools!</p> - -<p class='c009'>They didn’t work at all. I threw them on -the floor in indignation.</p> -<div id='i050' class='figcenter id007'> -<img src='images/i050.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Drawn by Genjiro Yeto</i></span><br />“<span class='sc'>Such Disobedient Tools!</span>”</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>My wrists pained.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sat on the floor, stretching out my legs. -My shoe-strings were loosed, but my hand did -not hasten to them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was exhausted with making my hair curl.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sent my uncle to fetch a hair-dresser.</p> -<p class='c014'>28th—How old is she?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I could never suggest the age of a Meriken -woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>That Miss Ada was a beauty.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It’s becoming clearer to me now why California -puts so much pride in her own girls.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ada was a San Franciscan whom Mrs. Consul -presented to me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What was her family name?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Never mind! It is an extra to remember it -for girls. We don’t use it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How envious I was of her long eyelashes -lacing around the large eyes of brown hue!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Brown was my preference for the velvet -hanao of my wooden clogs.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Long eyelashes are a grace, like the long -skirt.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I know that she is a clever young thing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She was learned in the art of raising and -dropping her curtain of eyelashes. That is -the art of being enchanting. I had said that -nothing could beat the beauty of my black -eyes. But I see there are other pretty eyes -in this world.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Everything doesn’t grow in Japan. Noses -particularly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My sweet Ada’s nose was an inspiration, -like the snow-capped peak of O Fuji San. It -rose calmly—how symmetrically!—from between -her eyebrows.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I had thought that ’Merican nose was -rugged, big of bone.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I see an exception in Ada.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She must be the pattern of Meriken beauty.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt that I was so very homely.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I stole a sly glance into the looking-glass, -and convinced myself that I was a beauty also, -but Oriental.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We had different attractions.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She may be Spring white sunshine, while I -am yellow Autumn moonbeams. One is animation, -and the other sweetness.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I smiled.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She smiled back promptly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We promised love in our little smile.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She placed her hand on my shoulder. How -her diamond ring flashed! She praised the -satin skin of my face.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She was very white, with a few sprinkles of -freckles. Their scattering added briskness to -the face in her case. (But doesn’t San Francisco -produce too many freckles in woman?) -The texture of Ada’s skin wasn’t fine. Her -face was like a ripe peach with powdery -hair.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Is it true that dark skin is gaining popularity -in American society?</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Japanese type of beauty is coming to -the front then, I am happy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I repaid her compliment, praising her elegant -set of teeth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ada is the free-born girl of modern -Amerikey.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She need never fear to open her mouth wide.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She must have been using special tooth-powder -three times a day.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“We are great friends already, aren’t we?” -I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And I extended my finger-tips behind her, -and pulled some wisps of her chestnut hair.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Please, don’t!” she said, and raised her -sweetly accusing eyes. Then our friendship -was confirmed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Girls don’t take much time to exchange -their faith.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was uneasy at first, thinking that Ada -might settle herself in a <i>tête-à-tête</i> with me, in -the chit-chat of poetry. I tried to recollect -how the first line of the “Psalm of Life” went, -for Longfellow would of course be the first -one to encounter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Alas, I had forgotten it all.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was glad that her query did not roam from -the remote corner of poesy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Do you play golf?” she asked.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She thinks the same things are going on in -Japan.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ada! Poor Ada!</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>The honourable consul and my uncle looked -stupid at the lunch table.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought they were afraid of being given -some difficult question by the Meriken ladies.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mrs. Consul and Ada ate like hungry pigs. -(I beg their pardon!)</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You eat like a pussy!” is no adequate -compliment to pay to a Meriken woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I found out that their English was neither -Macaulay’s nor Irving’s.</p> -<p class='c014'>29th—I ate a tongue and some ox-tail soup.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Think of a suspicious spumy tongue and -that dirty bamboo tail!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Isn’t it shocking to even incline to taste -them?</p> - -<p class='c009'>My mother would not permit me to step -into the holy ground of any shrine in Japan. -She would declare me perfectly defiled by such -food.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I shall turn into a beast in the jungle by -and by, I should say.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle committed a greater indecency. -He ate a tripe.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was cooked in the “western sea egg-plant,” -to taste of which brings on the small-pox, -as I have been told.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He said that he took a delight in pig’s feet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Shame on the Nippon gentleman!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Harai tamae! Kiyome tamae!</p> -<p class='c014'>30th—“Chui, chui, chui!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>A little sparrow was twittering at my hotel -window.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I could not believe that the sparrow of large -America could be as small as the Nippon-born.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Horses are large here. Woman’s mouth is -large, something like that of an alligator. -Policeman is too large.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I fancied that little birdie might be one -strayed from the bamboo bush of my family’s -monastery.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Sweet vagabond, did you cross the ocean -for Meriken Kenbutsu?” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Chui, chui! Chui, chui, chui!” he -chirped.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Is “chui, chui” English, I wonder?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I pushed the window up to receive him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oya, ma, he has gone!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt so sorry.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was yearning after my beloved home.</p> - -<p class='c009'>This is the great Chrysanthemum season at -home. I missed the show at Dangozaka.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How gracefully the time used to pass in -Dai Nippon, while I sat looking at the flowers -on a tokonoma.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Every place is a strange gray waste to me -without the intimate faces of flowers.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Flowers have no price in Japan, just as a -poet is nothing, for everybody there is poet. -But they have a big value in this city—although -I am not positive that an American -poet creates wealth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I purchased a select bouquet of violets.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I passed by several young gentlemen. -Were their eyes set on my flowers or my -hands?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I don’t wear gloves. I don’t wish my hands -to be touched harshly by them. Truly I am -vain of showing my small hands.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I love the violet, because it was the favorite -of dear John—Keats, of course.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It may not be a flower. It is decidedly a -perfume, anyhow.</p> -<p class='c014'>31st—I have heard a sad piece of news from -Mrs. Consul about Mr. Longfellow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She says that he has ceased to be an idol of -American ladies.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He has retired to a comfortable fireside to -take care of school children.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poor old poet!</p> -<p class='c014'>Nov. 1st—American chair is too high.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Are my legs too short?</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was uncomfortable to sit erect on a chair -all the time as if one were being presented before -the judge.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And those corsets and shoes!</p> - -<p class='c009'>They seized me mercilessly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I said that I would spend a few hours in -Japan style, reclining on the floor like an -eloped angel.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I brought out a crape kimono and my girdle -with the phœnix embroidery, after having -locked the entrance of my room.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Kotsu, kotsu, kotsu!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Somebody was fisting on my door.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oya, she was Ada, my “Rose of Frisco” or -“Butterfly of Van Ness.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>(She was quartered in Van Ness Avenue, -the most elegant street of a whole bunch.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>She was sprightly as a runaway princess. -She blew her sunlight and fragrance into my -face.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was grateful that I chanced to be acquainted -with such a delightful Meriken lady.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“O ho, Japanese <i>kimono</i>! If I might only -try it on!” she said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I told her she could.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How lovely!” she ejaculated.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We promised to spend a gala day together.</p> -<div id='i058' class='figcenter id008'> -<img src='images/i058.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Drawn by Genjiro Yeto</i></span><br />“<span class='sc'>O ho, Japanese kimono!</span>”</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>“We will rehearse,” I said, “a one-act -Japanese play entitled ‘Two Cherry Blossom -Musumes.’”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I assisted her to dress up. She was utterly -ignorant of Oriental attire.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a superb development she had in -body! Her chest was abundant, her shoulders -gracefully commanding. Her rather -large rump, however, did not show to advantage -in waving dress. Japs prefer a small -one.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My physical state is in poverty.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was wrong to believe that the beauty of -woman is in her face.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is so, of course, in Japan. The brown -woman eternally sits. The face is her complete -exhibition.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The beauty of Meriken woman is in her -shape.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I pray that my body may grow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Japanese theatre never begins without -three rappings of time-honoured wooden -blocks.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I knocked on the pitcher.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Miss Ada appeared from the dressing room, -fluttering an open fan.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How ridiculously she stepped!</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was the way Miss What’s-her-name acted -in “The Geisha,” she said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She was much taller than little me. The -kimono scarcely reached to her shoes. I have -never seen such an absurd show in my life.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was tittering.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The charming Ada fanned and giggled incessantly -in supposed-to-be Japanese <i>chic</i>.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What have I to say, Morning Glory?” -she said, looking up.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I don’t know, dear girl!” I jerked.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then we both laughed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ada caught my neck by her arm. She -squandered her kisses on me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>(It was my first taste of the kiss.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>We two young ladies in wanton garments -rolled down happily on the floor.</p> -<p class='c014'>2nd—If I could be a gentleman for just one -day!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I would rest myself on the hospitable chair -of a barber shop—barber shop, drug store and -candy store are three beauties on the street—like -a prince of leisure, and dream something -great, while the man is busy with a razor.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am envious of the gentleman who may -bathe in such a purple hour.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I never rest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>American ladies neither!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Each one of them looks worried as if she -expected the door-bell any moment.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I suppose it is the penalty of being a woman.</p> -<p class='c014'>3rd—My little heart was flooded with patriotism.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is our Mikado’s birthday.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sang “The Age of Our Sovereign.” I -shouted “Ten thousand years! Banzai! Ban -banzai!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle and I hurried to the Japanese -Consulate to celebrate this grand day.</p> -<p class='c014'>4th—The gentlemen of San Francisco are -gallant.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They never permit the ladies—even a black -servant is in the honourable list of “ladies”—to -stand in the car.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If Oriental gentlemen could demean themselves -like that for just one day!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I should not mind a bit if one proposed to -me even.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I love a handsome face.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They part their hair in the middle. They -have inherited no bad habit of biting their -finger-nails. I suppose they offer a grace before -each meal. Their smile isn’t sardonic, -and their laughter is open.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have no dispute with their mustaches and -their blue eyes. But I am far from being an -admirer of their red faces.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Japs are pygmies. I fear that the Americans -are too tall. My future husband is not -allowed to be over five feet five inches. His -nose should be of the cast of Robert Stevenson’s.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Each one of them carries a high look. He -may be the President at the next election, he -seems to say. How mean that only one head -is in demand!</p> - -<p class='c009'>A directory and a dictionary are kind. The -’Merican husband is like them, I imagine.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have no gentleman friend yet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>To pace alone on the street is a melancholy -discarded sight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What do you do if your shoe-string comes -untied?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have seen a gentleman fingering the shoestrings -of a lady. How glad he was to serve -again, when she said, “That’s too tight!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Shall my uncle fill such a part?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poor uncle!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Old company, however, isn’t style.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He is forty-five.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Why can I not choose one to hire from -among the “bully” young men loitering -around a cigar-stand?</p> -<p class='c014'>5th—My uncle was going out in a black -frock-coat and tea-coloured trousers. I insisted -that his coat and trousers didn’t match.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How can a man be so ridiculous?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I declared that it was as poor taste as for a -darkey to wear a red ribbon in her smoky -hair.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Uncle surrendered.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He said, “Hei, hei, hei!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Goo’ boy!</p> - -<p class='c009'>He dismissed the great tea-colour.</p> -<p class='c014'>6th—We had a shower.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The city dipped in a bath.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The pedestrians threw their vaguely delicate -shadows on the pavements. The ladies voluntarily -permitted the gentlemen to review their -legs. If I were in command, I would not permit -the ladies to raise an umbrella under the -“para para” of a shower. Their hastening -figures are so fascinating.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The shower stopped. The pavements were -glossed like a looking-glass. The windows -facing the sun scattered their sparkling laughter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How beautiful!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am perfectly delighted by this city.</p> - -<p class='c009'>One thing that disappoints me, however, is -that Frisco is eternally snowless,</p> - -<p class='c009'>Without snow the year is incomplete, like a -departure without sayonara.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dear snow! O Yuki San!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Many Winters ago I modelled a doll of -snow, which was supposed to be a gentleman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How proud I used to be when I stamped -the first mark with my high ashida on the -white ground before anyone else!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wonder how Santa Claus will array himself -to call on this town.</p> - -<p class='c009'>His fur coat is not appropriate at all.</p> -<p class='c014'>7th—Why didn’t I come to Amerikey -earlier—in the Summer season?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was staring sadly at my purple parasol -against the wall by my dresser.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have no chance to show it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have often been told that I look so beautiful -under it.</p> -<p class='c014'>8th—My darling O Ada came in a carriage. -Her two-horsed carriage was like that of our -Japanese premier.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She is the daughter of a banker.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The sun shone in yellow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ada’s complexion added a brilliancy. I -was shocked, fearing that I looked awfully -brown.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ada said that I was “perfectly lovely.” -Can I trust a woman’s eulogy?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I myself often use flattery.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A jewel and face-powder were not the only -things, I said, essential to woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We drove to the Golden Gate Park and -then to the Cliff House.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a triumphant sound the hoofs of the -bay horses struck! I fancied the horses were -a poet, they were rhyming.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I don’t like the automobile.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ada was sweet as could be.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Tell me your honourable love story!” she -chattered.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I did only blush.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I hadn’t the courage to burst my secrecy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I loved once truly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was an innocent love as from a fairy -book.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If true love could be realised!</p> - -<p class='c009'>In the park I noticed a lady who scissored -the “don’t touch” flowers and stepped away -with a saintly air. The comical fancy came to -me that she was the mother of a policeman -guarding against intruders.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We found ourselves in the Japanese tea -garden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A tiny musume in wooden clogs brought us -an honourable tea and o’senbe.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The grounds were an imitation of Japanese -landscape gardening.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Homesickness ran through my fibre.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The decorative bridge, a stork by the brook, -and the dwarf plants hinted to me of my -home garden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A sudden vibration of shamisen was flung -from the Japanese cottage close by.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Tenu, tenu! Tenu, tsunn shann!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Who was the player?</p> - -<p class='c009'>When I sat myself by the ocean on the -beach I found some packages of peanuts right -before me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The beautiful Ada began to snap them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She hummed a jaunty ditty. Her head inclined -pathetically against my shoulder. My -hair, stirred by the sea zephyrs, patted her -cheek.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She said the song was “My Gal’s a High-Born -Lady.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Who was its author? Emerson did not -write it surely.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>When I returned to the hotel, I undertook -to place on the wall the weather-torn fragment -of cotton which I had picked up at the park.</p> - -<p class='c009'>These words were printed on it:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='large'>“KEEP OFF</span></div> - <div class='line in1'><span class='large'>THE GRASS.”</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>I decided to mail it to my Japan, requesting -my daddy to post it upon my garden grasses—somewhere -by the old cherry tree.</p> -<p class='c014'>9th—To-day is the third anniversary of my -grandmother’s death.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will keep myself in devotion.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I burned the incense I had bought from a -Chinaman. I watched the beautiful gesticulation -of its smoke.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Good Grandma!</p> - -<p class='c009'>She wished she could live long enough to -be present at my wedding ceremony. She -prayed that she might select the marriage -equipage for me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am alone yet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wonder if she knows—does her ghost -peep from the grasses?—that I am drifting -among the ijins she ever loathed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I don’t see how to manage myself sometimes—like -an unskilful fictionist with his -heroine.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When shall I get married?</p> -<p class='c014'>10th—I yawned.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Nothing is more unbecoming to a woman -than yawning.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I think it no offence to swear once in a -while in one’s closet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was alone.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I tore to pieces my “Things Seen in the -Street,” and fed the waste-paper basket with -them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The basket looked so hungry without any -rubbish. An unkept basket is more pleasing, -like a soiled autograph-book.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I didn’t come to Amerikey to be critical, -that is, to act mean, did I?” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I must remain an Oriental girl, like a cherry -blossom smiling softly in the Spring moonlight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But afterwards I felt sorry for my destruction.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thrust my hand into the basket. I plucked -them up. They were illegibly as follows:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“ women coursing like a</div> - <div class='line'>’rikisha of ’Hama their children</div> - <div class='line'>crying at home left somewhere</div> - <div class='line'>their womanliness </div> - <div class='line'>gentleman with stove-pipe hat blowing</div> - <div class='line'>nose with his fingers young</div> - <div class='line'>lady kept busy chewing gum</div> - <div class='line'>while walking. If you once show such a grace</div> - <div class='line'>at Tokio, you shall wait fruitlessly for the</div> - <div class='line'>marriage offer.</div> - <div class='line'>“ old grandma in gay red skirt</div> - <div class='line'> aged man arm-in-arm with wife</div> - <div class='line'>so young What a martyrdom</div> - <div class='line'>to marry for G-O-L-D! policeman</div> - <div class='line'>has no</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“San Francisco is a beautiful city, but</div> - <div class='line'>’vertisements of ‘The Girl From Paris’</div> - <div class='line'> W——d’s Beer</div> - <div class='line'>with the watches hanging on their breasts</div> - <div class='line'> God bless you, red necktie</div> - <div class='line'>gentleman woman at the corner</div> - <div class='line'>chattering like a street politician.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>And I missed some other hundred lines.</p> -<p class='c014'>11th—A letter from the minister arrived.</p> - -<p class='c009'>(I’d be a postman, by the way, if I were a -man. A noble work that is to deliver around -the love and “gokigen ukagai.”)</p> - -<p class='c009'>I clipped off the Mexican stamp.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will make a stamp book for my boy who -may be born when I become a wife.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Before opening the letter I pressed it to my -ear. My imaginative ear heard his illustrious -“Ha, ha, ha——” rolling out.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How I missed his happy laughter!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Can he now pronounce a “How do?” in -Mexican?</p> -<p class='c014'>12th—It surprises me to learn that many an -American is born and dies in a hotel.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such a life—however large rooms you may -possess—is not distinguishable, in my opinion, -from that of a bird in a cage.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Is hotel-living a recent fashion?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Don’t say so!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The business locality—like the place where -this Palace Hotel takes its seat—does not -afford a stomachful of respectable air.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I preferred some hospitable boarding house -in a quiet street, where I might even step up -and down in nude feet. I wished to occupy a -chamber where the morning sun could steal in -and shake my sleepy little head with golden -fingers as my beloved mama might do.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We will move to the “high-toned” boarding -house of Mrs. Willis this afternoon.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her house is placed on the high hill of -California Street.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am grateful there is no car quaking along -there.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle says I shall have a whole lot of -millionaires for neighbours.</p> - -<p class='c009'>California must be one dignified street.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Chinese colony is close at hand from -Mrs. Willis’,—the exotic exposition brilliant -with green and yellow colour. The incense -surges. So cute is the sparrow-eyed Asiatic -girl—such a “karako”—with a small cue on -only one side of the head. Dear Oriental -town!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Good luck, I pray, my Palace Hotel!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Sayonara, my graceful butlers!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I shall hear no more of their sweet “Yes, -Madam!” They talk gently as a lottery-seller.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The more they bow and smile the more you -will press the button of tips.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They are so funny.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So long, everybody!</p> -<p class='c014'>13th—The savour of the air is rich without -being heavy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Tokio atmosphere emits a lassitude.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It’s natural that the Japs are prone to -languor.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A good while ago I pushed down my window -facing the Bay of San Francisco. I -leaned on the sill, my face propped up by -both my hands.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The grand scenery absorbed my whole soul.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Ideal place, isn’t it?” I emphasised.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The bay was dyed in profound blue.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Oakland boat joggled on happily as -from a fairy isle. My visionary eyes caught -the heavenly flock of seagulls around it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If I could fly in their company!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The low mountains over the bay looked inexpressively -comfortable, like one sleeping -under a warm blanket.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The moon-night view from here must be -wonderful.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt a new stream of blood beginning to -swell within my body.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I buzzed a silly song.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I crept into my uncle’s room.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I stole one stalk of his cigarettes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I bit it, aping Mr. Uncle, when my door -banged.</p> -<p class='c014'>14th—I bustled back to my room.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My breast throbbed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A naked woman in an oil painting stood -before me in the hall.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Is Mrs. Willis a lady worthy of respect?</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is nothing but an insulting stroke to an -Oriental lady—yes sir, I’m a lady—to expose -such an obscenity.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I brought down one of my crape haoris, -raven-black in hue, with blushing maple leaves -dispersed on the sleeves, and cloaked the -honourable picture.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My haori wasn’t long enough.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The feet of the nude woman were all seen.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have not the least objection to the undraped -feet. They were faultless in shape.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I myself am free to bestow a glimpse of my -beautiful feet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I turned the key of my door.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I stripped off my shoes and my stockings -also.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dear red silken stockings!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I scrutinised my feet for a while. Then I -asked myself:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Which is lovelier, my feet or those in the -painting?”</p> -<p class='c014'>15th—I couldn’t rest last night.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The long wail of a horn somewhere in the -distance—at the gate of the ocean perhaps—haunted -me. The night was foggy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I had a wild dream.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The fogs were not withdrawn this morning.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was discouraged, I had to go out in my -best gown.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Wasn’t it a shame that two buttons jumped -out when I hurried to dress up?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Are the buttons secure?” is my first -worry and the last.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Why don’t Meriken inventors take up the -subject of buttonless clothes?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Woman cannot be easy while her dress is -fastened by only buttons.</p> -<p class='c014'>16th—I wish I could pay my bill with a -bank check.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Have I money in the bank with my name?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I fancied it a great idea to sleep with a big -bank book under the pillow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I decided to save my money hereafter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How often have I expressed my hatred of -an economical woman!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I detested the clinking “charin charan” of -small coins in my purse. Very hard I tried -to get from them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Extravagance is a folly. Folly is only a -mild expression for crime.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I deducted ten dollars from the fifty that I -had settled for my new street gown. I -dropped a card notifying my ladies’ tailor -that I had altered my mind for the second -price.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Ten already for the bank!” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I took it to the “Yokohama Shokin Ginko” -of this city.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was given a little book for the first time -in my life.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought myself quite a wealthy woman -preserving my money in the bank.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I pressed the book to my face. I held it -close to my bosom as a tiny girl with a new doll.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And I smiled into a looking-glass.</p> -<p class='c014'>17th—I went to the gallery of the photographer -Taber, and posed in Nippon “pera -pera.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The photographer spread before me many -pictures of the actress in the part of “Geisha.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>She was absurd.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I cannot comprehend where ’Mericans get -the conception that Jap girls are eternally -smiling puppets.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Are we crazy to smile without motive?</p> - -<p class='c009'>What an untidy presence!</p> - -<p class='c009'>She didn’t even fasten the front of her -kimono.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Charm doesn’t walk together with disorder -under the same Japanese parasol.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And I had the honour to be presented to an -extraordinary mode in her hair.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It might be entitled “ghost style.” It suggested -an apparition in the “Botan Toro” -played by kikugoro.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The photographer handed me a fan.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Alas! It was a Chinese fan in a crude mixture -of colour.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He urged me to carry it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I declined, saying:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Nobody fans in cool November!”</p> -<p class='c014'>18th—We had a laugh.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ada, my sweet singer of “My Gal’s a -High-Born Lady,” accompanied me to a matinée -of one vaudeville.</p> - -<p class='c009'>This is the age of quick turn, sudden flashes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The long show has ceased to be the fashion. -Modern people are tired of the slowness -of old times which was once supposed to be -seriousness.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Could anything be prouder than the face of -the acrobat retiring after a perilous performance?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Woman tumbler!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wondered how Meriken ladies could enjoy -looking at such a degeneration of woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was glad, however, that I did not see any -snake-charmer.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a delightful voice that negro had! -Who could imagine that such a silvery sound -could come from such a midnight face? It -was like clear water out of the ground.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was struck by a fancy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sprang up.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I attempted to imitate the high-kick dance.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I fell down abruptly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Jap’s short leg is no use in Amerikey—can’t -achieve one thing. I am frankly tired -of mine,” I grumbled.</p> -<p class='c014'>19th—The Sunday chime was the voice of -an angel. The city turned religious.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mrs. Willis—I had no curiosity about her -first name; it is meaningless for the “Mrs.” of -middle age—indulged in chat with me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If I say she was “sociable”?—it sounds so -graceful.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She announced herself a bigot of poetry. -She was bending to make a full poetical -demonstration.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Of course it was more pleasing than a -mourning-gowned narrative of her lamented -husband. (I suppose he is dead, as divorce is -too commonplace.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>But it were treachery, if I were put under her -long recital of the insignificant works of local -poets.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Tasukatta wa!</p> - -<p class='c009'>A little girl came as a relief.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dorothy! She is a boarder of Mrs. Willis’, -the golden-haired daughter of Mrs. Browning.</p> - -<p class='c009'>(Mrs. Browning was a disappointment, however. -I fancied she might be a relative of the -poet Browning. I asked about it. Her response -was an unsympathetic “No!”)</p> - -<p class='c009'>“O’ hayo!” Dorothy said, spattering over -me her familiarity.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It takes only an hour to be friends with the -Meriken girl, while it is the work of a year -with a Japanese musume.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Great girl! Your Nippon language is perfect! -Would you like to learn more?” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’d like it,” was her retort.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then we slipped to my room.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wonder how Mrs. Willis fared without an -audience!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was sorry, thinking that she might regard -me as an uncivil Jap.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Chon kina! Chon kina!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Thus Dorothy repeated. It was a Japanese -song, she said, which the geisha girls sung in -“The Geisha.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Tat, tat, tat, stop, Dorothy!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Truly it was the opening sound—not the -words—of a nonsensical song.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I presume that “The Geisha” is practising -a plenteous injustice to Dai Nippon.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I recalled one Meriken consul who jolted -out that same song once at a party.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He became no more a gentleman to me after -that.</p> -<p class='c014'>20th—I pasted my little card on my door.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wrote on it “Japanese Lessons Given.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I gazed at it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was exceedingly happy.</p> -<p class='c014'>21st—A gardener came to fix our lawn.</p> - -<p class='c009'>There is nothing lovelier than verdant -grasses trimmed neatly. They are like the -short skirt of the Meriken little girl.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We women could be angels, I thought, if -our speech lapped justly. Women talk superfluously. -I do often.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What language did that gardener use?</p> - -<p class='c009'>It must be the English of Carlyle, I said, for -its meaning was intangible.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I discovered, by and by, that German English -was his honourable choice.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My eyes could express more than my English -uttered in Nippon voice. My gestures -helped to make my meaning plain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He became my friend.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He carried a red square of cotton to wipe -his mouth, like the furoshiki in which a Japanese -country “O’ ba san” wraps her New -Year’s present.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And again as he was leaving I saw a red -thing around his neck.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Was it not the same furoshiki which served -for his nose?</p> - -<p class='c009'>It wouldn’t be a bad idea to play amateur -gardener.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The season wasn’t fitting for such a performance, -however.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A large summer hat! That was the customary -attire.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But my light-hearted straw one with its -laughing bouquet was not adapted to November, -however gorgeously the sun might shine.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And it’s sheer stupidity to track after a -tradition.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wound a large flapping piece of black crape -about my head. (How awfully becoming the -garb of a Catholic nun would be! I do not -know what is dear, if it is not the rosary. A -writhing rope around the waist is celestial -carelessness.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>I appeared on the lawn, but without a -sprinkler and rake. It would have been too -theatrical to carry them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I gathered the small stones from amid the -grasses into a wheelbarrow near by.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Just as my new enterprise was beginning -to seem so delightful, the luncheon gong -gonged.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle goggled from the hall, and said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Where have you been? I was afraid you -had eloped.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’ve no chance yet to meet a boy,” I spoke -in an undertone.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Afterward I was ashamed that I had been -so awkwardly sincere.</p> -<p class='c014'>22nd—There was one thing that I wanted -to test.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle went out. I understood that he -would not be back for some hours.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I found myself in his room, pulling out his -drawer.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Isn’t it elegant?” I exclaimed, picking up -his dress-suit.</p> - -<p class='c009'>At last I had an opportunity to examine how -I would look in a tapering coat.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Gentleman’s suit is fascinating.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Where is his silk hat?” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I reached up my arms to the top shelf of a -closet, standing on the chair.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The door swung open.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Tamageta! My liver was crushed by the -alarm.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A chambermaid threw her suspicious smile -at me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Alas!</p> - -<p class='c009'>My adventure failed.</p> -<p class='c014'>23rd—I mean no one else but O Ada San, -when I say “my sweet girl.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>She was tremendously nice, giving a tea-party -in my honour.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The star actress doesn’t appear on the stage -from the first of the first act. I thought I -would present myself a bit later at the party, -when they were tattling about my delay.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I delight in employing such little dramatic -arts.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I dressed all in silk. It’s proper, of course, -for a Japanese girl.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I chose cherry blossoms in preference to -roses for my hat. Roses are acceptable, however, -I said in my second thought, for they are -given a thorn against affronters.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I went to Miss Ada’s looking my best.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They—six young ladies in a bunch—stretched -out their hands. I was coaxed by -their hailing smile.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ada kissed me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I had no charming manner in receiving a -kiss before the people no more than in giving -one. I blushed miserably. I knew I was -bungling.</p> - -<p class='c009'>O Morning Glory, you are one century -late!</p> - -<p class='c009'>They besieged me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>None of them was so pretty as Ada. Beauty -is rare, I perceive, like good tweezers or ideal -men.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I distributed my Japanese cards.</p> - -<p class='c009'>All of my new friends held them upside -down.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Is it a modern vogue to be ignorant?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ada played skilfully her role of hostess, -which was a middle-aged part. She didn’t even -spill the tea in serving. Her “Sugar? Two -lumps?” sounded fit. She divided her entertaining -eye-flashes among us.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Tea is the thing for afternoon, when woman -is excused if she be silly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We all undressed our too-tight coat of -rhetoric in the sipping of tea.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We laughed, and laughed harder, not seeing -what we were laughing at.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I couldn’t catch all of their names.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such a delicious name as “Lily” was -absurdly given to a girl with red blotches on -her face.</p> - -<p class='c009'>(A few blemishes are a fascination, however, -like slang thrown in the right place.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her flippancy was like the “buku buku” of -a stream.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Lightness didn’t match with her heavy -physique.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How lovely an earthquake must be!” she -chirruped. “Shall I go to Japan just on -that account? A jolly moment I had last -February. A baby earthquake visited here, -as you know. I was drinking tea. The -worst of it was that I let the cup tumble on -to my pink dress. I prayed a whole week, -nevertheless, to be called again.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Woman has nothing to do with a hideous -make-up. Miss Lily should not select a pink -hue.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You are awful!” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I told about the horror of a certain famous -Japanese earthquake. They all breathed out -“Good heavens!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>There was one second of silence.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ada struck a gushing melody on the piano.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The lively Meriken ladies prompted themselves -to frisk about.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was ready to cry in my destitution.</p> - -<p class='c009'>One girl hauled me up violently by the hand.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Come and dance!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her arm crawled around my waist, while -she directed:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Right foot—now, left!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I returned to Mrs. Willis’, my thoughts -absorbed in a dancing academy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I must learn how to skip,” I said.</p> -<p class='c014'>24th—I hate the alarm clock, simply because -it is always so punctual.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I was too late” is a delightful expression.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Mrs. Willis’ breakfast is at quarter-past -eight!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Isn’t that “quarter-past” interesting?</p> - -<p class='c009'>And I can never be ready before nine.</p> -<p class='c014'>25th—I dragged my uncle off to the Chute -to enrich my store of zoology.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“One gape more, Uncle, to count up one -dozen!” I said, and pulled his mustache in the -car.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was lucky that no one saw my act.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poor Oji San! Playing chaperon is not a -very promising occupation, is it?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I stood by the “happy family” of monkeys. -I tried to descry their point of view in orations.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I gave it up.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The vain Miss Polly worked hard to bring -everybody to an understanding with one eternal -“Hello, dear!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I found such grace in the elephant when he -waved his honourable trunk.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The stupid Mr. Elephant wasn’t stupid a -bit in accepting my present.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How philosophically he gazed at me! Very -likely I was the first Jap girl to his audience.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What respectable eyes!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You’ll bankrupt yourself in peanuts,” my -uncle warned.</p> -<p class='c014'>26th—A white apron on my black dress -makes me so cute.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am just suited to be a chambermaid. Shall -I volunteer as a servant?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I bought an apron.</p> - -<p class='c009'>To-day is house-cleaning day.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I kept busy a good while arranging my -theatrical costume as a maid.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Wasn’t it fun?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was ready to scrub the floor, when I -heard “kotsu kotsu,” on my door.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was Annie with a broom.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’m your help. Just a moment! I have -forgotten the finishing glance in my mirror.”</p> -<p class='c014'>27th—I have been studying the catechism.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am afraid to go to church, for the minister -may put many a question to me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Is Miss Ada a dutiful church-goer?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I don’t think so.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She would rather mumble a nigger song than -a chapter from the Bible.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will ask her a few things from the catechism -at my first opportunity.</p> -<p class='c014'>28th—“Hand me your cup after you are -done with your tea!” Mrs. Browning requested. -“I will ponder on your fortune.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How delightful!” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My fortune?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I remembered how I used to scatter my -pocket money among the fortune-tellers, -pleased to be informed of a lot of nice things.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What meaning she could find in a cup!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt like a mother with her children already -in bed, when I dropped my spoon into my -tea.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt mistress of the situation.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Was there ever anything more welcome than -to learn your fortune?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“A young American (rich, very rich—indeed) -will win your affection. The marriage -will be a happy one,” she prophesied.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Is that so?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Life is becoming very interesting.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wonder where my would-be husband is -seeking me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Shall I advertise in a paper?</p> - -<p class='c009'>How?</p> - -<p class='c009'>If my first-rate picture by Mr. Taber were -printed, it would be a whole thing in such a -business.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought the picture beautiful enough to -sell at any stationer’s of U.S.A.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How many thousand could I sell in a week?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Could I make money out of it? Some decent -fortune, I mean, of course.</p> -<p class='c014'>29th—Ho, ho, such a day!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was aroused by the roar of a milk-wagon -early in the morning.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sought a pin in vain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I tore my skirt on a sneering nail at the -door.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I upset my flower-vase.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sat by my window. A vegetable pedlar -howled to me, “Potatoes? Potatoes?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I couldn’t recall a sweet dream I had last -night.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The clamour of a Chinese funeral passed -under my room. The carriages were packed -with hired “crying women.” Isn’t it a farce?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I went out. My street-car ran off the -track.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A fire-engine deafened me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I passed by an undertaker’s. It was cold -like a grave.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The sight stunned me.</p> -<p class='c014'>30th—Is my nose high enough?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I bought a pair of “nose spectacles.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Those with wires to circle the ears, which -are Oriental (that is to say old-fashioned), -would suit even a noseless Formosa Chinee.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But how many Japs could show themselves -ready for nose spectacles?</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Optician asked if they were for myself.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was a trifle uncertain about my nose, -I suppose.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“No! For my friend,” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was a white lie.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I blushed as if I had committed a heavy -crime.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I hoped I had not.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I put my new spectacles on my nose, as -soon as I returned to my room. Very well -they stayed. Mother Nature was specially -kind to me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But what a depression—also what torture—I -felt from their clutch!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was pleased, however, seeing myself somewhat -scholarly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Aren’t spectacles an emblem of wisdom?</p> - -<p class='c009'>The first requirement to be a critic should -be spectacles. The second is a pessimistic -smile, of course.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My mirror told me that I looked quite -modern.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Book!” I exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I must see what effect I could produce with -a book on my lap.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I leaped from the chair to fetch one.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My spectacles dropped from my honourable -nose on to the hearthstone. My nose was -exceedingly stupid.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Alas, and alas!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The spectacles were crushed to pieces.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was broken also.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I buried my face in the pillow for some time.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I said: “I’m not short in my sight. -I have no use for them except for fun.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wiped my disturbed eyes with a handkerchief. -My finger felt the rude marks printed -on both sides of my nose.</p> -<p class='c014'>Dec. 1st—I bought a Louisiana lottery -ticket through Annie.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Like any other domestic girl, she has no -key to her mouth. She is like a sentence -that has forgotten to add the period.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I begged all sorts of gods to drop the capital -prize on me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Thirty thousand dollars! Think!</p> - -<p class='c009'>How shall I manage with them when I have -won?</p> -<p class='c014'>2nd—If I were a painter!</p> - -<p class='c009'>My eyes were fixed upon the dying sun. -Its solemnity was like the passing of a mighty -king.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Some time glided by.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My thought was pursuing the sun.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The twilight!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oh, twilight pacifying me as with the odour -from a magical palace!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Hush!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The melody of a piano effused from my -neighbour.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The best thing in the world is to play -music. The very best is to listen to the profuse -melody evoked by a master.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Was it a superb execution?</p> - -<p class='c009'>My soul was dissolved, anyhow, in the -rapture.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I left my uncle’s room where I saw the -grand sun pass away.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I put me in my bed, because my visionary -mood was not to be stirred for the world, and -because I wished to dream a romance without -the delay of a moment.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But I could not slumber.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And I missed my dinner.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I petitioned my uncle to step out into the -street for my beloved chestnuts.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dear Italian chestnut vendor!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I never pass by without buying.</p> -<p class='c014'>3rd—We start to-morrow for Los Angeles -of Southern California.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. and Mrs. Schuyler have invited us to -spend some weeks with them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The gentleman was the former consul at -Yokohama. My uncle is his intimate friend.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My new trunk was brought in from the -store.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It bears my name in Roman of commanding -type.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I stared at the characters as upon an ancient -writing whose meaning could only be imagined.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Doesn’t ‘Miss Morning Glory’ suggest -that the owner is a charming young lady?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>My little smile smiled, as I thought that it -would, of course.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A new trunk, I am sorry to say, lacks a -historical look. An old one is more gratifying, -like old brocade or an old ring.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Au revoir, my Ada!</p> -<p class='c014'>South-bound train, 4th—I was lavish of my -art of “bothering.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>My poor uncle—my eternally “poor uncle” -was the victim. I wanted some diversion at -any price.</p> - -<p class='c009'>His face scowled as I bored him with my -successive questions.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought his irritated face fascinating.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When I presented another question, he was -droning a genteel snore.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I twisted an edge of a newspaper into a -roll. I thrust it into his nose.</p> - -<p class='c009'>There was no doubt about his starting.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Bikkurishita!” he exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then he begged to be allowed some chance -to rest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>This is a “bad year for cucumbers” for him. -He made a mistake in accompanying me on -Meriken Kenbutsu.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Honestly I have to behave nicely.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My opening question to Uncle was: “What’s -the derivation of ‘damn’?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Imperialism” was my last.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have a high regard for the people dignified -by using the capital “I” for the personal -pronoun.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But if I were the President I should not wish -to be addressed with that hackneyed, unromantic -“Mr.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The cartoonists making sport of the President -shock me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How big-hearted the President is!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Those “devils” would be beheaded in the -Orient.</p> -<p class='c014'>Los Angeles, 5th—No one bangs the door -at Schuyler’s.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The servants drop their eyes meekly before -they speak.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A well-bred atmosphere circulates.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A woman over forty-five is nothing if she -isn’t motherly enough to let one feel at home. -Mrs. Schuyler’s silence is a smile. I loved -her from my first glance. I thought I could -ask her to wash my hair some sunny day. I -could fancy how pleasant it would be to immerse -myself in her chat—such sort of talk as -an old-bonneted “how to keep house”—while -I was drying my hair in the indolence of a -sea-nymph. Modern topic is like black coffee, -it is too stimulating. There is nothing dearer -than a domestic subject.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have no hesitation in accepting her as my -Meriken mother.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am positive I would feel more comfortable -if I had one in this country.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How good-naturedly she was fattened!</p> - -<p class='c009'>A somewhat stout woman looks so proper -for a mother.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wished I could lean on her plump shoulder -from the back in Japanese girl’s way, and play -with her hair, and ask a few innocent questions -like “What have I to eat for dinner?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>She talked about the Japanese woman, -principally praising her shapely mouth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt conceitedly, because I was given one -classical little mouth, if I had nothing else to -be noticed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Schuyler grasped my hand ever so -hard. My hand was buried in his palm. -His manner was courteously boyish.</p> - -<p class='c009'>His body is erect like a redwood.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such an old gentleman gives me the impression -of another race from the divine -realm of everlasting youth. A Jap after fifty -is capped with “retired.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the work of the American gentleman is -only finished when he dies.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Great Meriken Jin!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Schuyler shows more civility to his -servants than to his wife.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Here I can study the typical household of -America’s best caste.</p> -<p class='c014'>6th—“Anata donata?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I rubbed my dreamy eyes, scanning my room.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Who was the Japanese speaker?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I crept to the door, and opened it slightly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Not a soul was there.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I heard the trivial clatter of the kitchen stepping -up.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I dipped into my bed again. I smiled sceptically, -thinking that I must have been dreaming.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Gokigen ikaga?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was addressed again by the same voice.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I said that there was positively some mischief -in my room.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I leaped down from the bed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I inspected my slippers. I made sure there -was nothing strange under the pictures on the -wall. I tugged at the drawers. I tumbled -every blanket. I pried in the pitcher.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sat on the bed wrapped in fog.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The blind rustled.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The sunbeams crawled in marvellously.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I was frightened by another speech, -“Nihonjin desu.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I declared that it flew in from the outside.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I rolled up the blind.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oya, oya! There was a parrot perching in a -cage by my window!</p> - -<p class='c009'>He adjusted his showy coat first, and then -sent me his inquisitive eyes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Anata donata?” he repeated.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Morning Glory is my insignificant name, -sir,” I replied.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A trifling toss of his head showed his satisfaction -in my name. I thought he was trying -to set me at ease with his smile.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Gokigen ikaga?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I feel splendidly, thank you, Mr. Parrot!” -I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then pressing his head backward he looked -haughtily at me with fixed eyes, and announced:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Nihonjin desu.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’m also a Jap,” I muttered.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was the most profound Japanese scholar, -Mrs. Schuyler said, in all Los Angeles. Mr. -Schuyler Jr. brought him from Kobe last -spring.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I told her the incident of this morning.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She laughed, she said she expected it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bad Mother Schuyler!</p> -<p class='c014'>17th—Dear Baby! Kawaii koto!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I hugged the baby of Mrs. Schuyler Jr. and -kissed it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her husband is away in Japan for the tea -business.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was the darling baby, I thank the gods, -who received my first kiss.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It’s heavenly to stamp love with a kiss. -Lips are the portal of the human heart.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Kiss is sweet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I say that it marks an epoch in the spiritual -evolution of the Japanese when they learn -what a kiss is—but not how to kiss.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The baby crawled like a sportive crab. It -orationed. It! I felt sorry that “It” would -soon be changed to “He” or “She.” It -caught sight of a piece of burnt match in -the course of its expedition. It turned its -way and clinched it with its fingers. It hastened -to the mother to exhibit it, and waited -patiently with its great game for Mamma’s -praise.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I nearly cried in my excitement at such a -pathetic revelation.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Lovely thing!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The baby had blue eyes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My preference wasn’t for blue eyes. I often -snapped at them, saying that they were like a -dead fish’s eyes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But how long can I keep up my ill-will, when -I look with delight upon the blueness in water, -sky and mountain?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Isn’t it precious to see the blue pictures on -china?</p> - -<p class='c009'>A blue pencil is just the thing to mark on -the margin of a pleasing book.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Blue is a poetical hue.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Robert Burns was blue-eyed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I recalled the first American I met in Tokio, -who seriously questioned whether it was a fact -that Japs butcher a blue-eyed baby.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bakabakashii wa!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Japan has no blue eye.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And Japanese are worshippers of any sort of -baby.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If American babies were like Chinese girls!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I would pile up all my coins to buy one.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Meriken baby understood how to smile -before how to cry. It is a lady or gentleman -already.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will serve as baby’s nurse if I must support -myself.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It’s a high task to be useful to the baby, and -watch its growth as a silent astronomer watches -the stars.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wish I could roll the baby’s carriage day -after day.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How sweetly the world would be turning -then!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Shall I hire Schuyler’s baby for one day?</p> -<p class='c014'>8th—Is there any more gratifying word than -dinner?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I had a “hipp goo’” dinner. (Permit a -Chinese-English expression for once.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>Its inviting heaviness was like an honourable -poem by Milton.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Schuyler’s house has a Miltonic presence.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Electric light is too imposing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Candelabra are like a moon whose beams -are a lenitive song.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The nude shoulders of Mrs. Schuyler, Jr., -crimsoned in the rays from the candelabra.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The exposure of some part of the skin is the -highest order of art. How to show it is just -as serious a study as how to clothe it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If I had such supreme shoulders as hers, I -would not pause before displaying them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What falling shoulders are mine!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The slope of the shoulders is prized in -Japan. Amerikey is another country, you -know.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I appeared at the dinner in my native gown.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The things on the table had a high-toned -excellence.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will not forget to have my initials -engraved if I happen to buy any silver.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Coffee was served. I felt that an old age -had returned, when eating was only a -dissipation.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I’m growing to love Meriken food.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am glad that I don’t see any musty -pudding at Schuylers’, a sight that makes me -ten years older.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And another thing I hate is the smell of -cabbage.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How pleased I was to see a “chabu chabu” -of shallow water in my finger bowl! Just a -glimpse of water is tasty.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Our taciturn butler retired from the dining-room -with graceful dignity.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The butler has ceased to be a common servant. -He has advanced, I suppose, to the -rank of an ornament of the Meriken household.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The sister of Mother Schuyler and her husband -dined with us.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The funniest thing about her was that she -kept a few long hairs on her cheek. They -grew from a mole.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It may be good luck to preserve them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her husband was surprised when he heard -that we do not use knife and fork at home.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bamboo chop-sticks! How dear!</p> -<p class='c014'>9th—I have no belief in the earring.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is a savage mode, like the deformed feet -of the Chinese woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But why did the Meriken lady discard her -veil?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her face behind the veil would appear like -a rose through the Spring mist. It is a -charming thing as ever was fashioned for -woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have seen no lady with a veil in this town.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I suppose the Los Angeles women confide -in their faces.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They strew more liberty in their grace than -the San Franciscans.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Their beauty is informal.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The city is enchanting.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am pleased that I am not shown here so -many a “To Let” as in Frisco.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Even the barefooted Arabs, those street -sparrows, are quite a picture.</p> -<p class='c014'>10th—I promised Mrs. Schuyler, Jr., good -care of her baby for half an hour.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I carried it firm on my arms.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I jogged out to the garden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The baby faced toward me and said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Bu, bu! Bu, bu, bu!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt grateful, thinking that it counted me -among its friends.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I laid its head on my breast.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sang a little Japanese lullaby:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Nenneko, nenneko,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Nennekoyo!</div> - <div class='line in1'>Oraga akanbowa</div> - <div class='line in1'>Itsudekita?</div> - <div class='line in1'>Sangatsu sakurano</div> - <div class='line in1'>Sakutokini!</div> - <div class='line in1'>Doride okawoga.</div> - <div class='line in1'>Sakurairo.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>(Sleep, sleep, sleep! When was our baby -made? Third month, when the cherry blossoms. -So the honourable face of our child is -cherry-blossom coloured.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>The breezes billed and cooed upon the -grasses. An imperial palm cast its rich -shadow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The affectionate sunlight made me think of -a “little Spring” of the Japanese September. -Everything inclined to a siesta in the yellow -air.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A tropical touch is the touch of passion.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Can you fancy this is the month of December?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I cannot.</p> - -<p class='c009'>After I put the baby to its nurse, I paced -around a bronze statue upon the lawn, losing -myself in Greek beauty.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I snatched a rose.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I pressed it to my nose-tip.</p> -<p class='c014'>12th—Where’s my painstaking description -of Echo Mountain?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I made a pleasant trip there yesterday with -Schuyler’s party.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I lost my writing penned last night.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such a heedless tomboy!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I idled, watching a spider from my window. -It was framing a net amid the garden trees. -An awfully dignified tom cat glared from under -a bush. I was sorry no game came upon -the scene to his honour. My profound Japanese -scholar was not discouraged by the lack of -an audience. He was busy presenting his polite -“Gokigen ikaga?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I found what I did with my yesterday’s -diary.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Areda mono!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wiped my oily hands with it and buried it -in a trash basket.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I fixed my hair this morning.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Morning Glory San, you have to keep your -Nikki in a safe!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Great Carlyle wrote his “French Revolution” -twice.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wish I had been given a slice of his persistency.</p> -<p class='c014'>13th—A Bishop visited and lunched with -us.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bishop! How I desired to meet one!</p> - -<p class='c009'>It had been my fancy, ever since I read of -the venerable Bishop who threw out candle-sticks -to Jean Valjean in Hugo’s book.</p> - -<p class='c009'>His name was Myriel.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What is my friend’s name? After a man -reaches the bishop’s see, his own name should -retire from actual service. People call him -“Bishop! Bishop!” as if it were a nickname.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My bishop had a holy face.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Who is this good man who is staring at -me?” I said to myself at first sight, as Napoleon -said when he saw Myriel.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A young churchman is unnatural.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The customarily pessimistic face of the -Japanese priest causes aversion.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I got what I wanted in my new friend.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If I were his daughter, I would comb his -silken hair before he goes to church on Sunday.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was glad he was not thin.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ho, ho, ho! He ate meat like anybody -else.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He would seem holier if he merely bit a -crust of bread, and sipped three spoonfuls of -tea.</p> - -<p class='c009'>After luncheon we strolled through the garden -arm in arm.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Not a bit I blushed. I was as completely -at ease with him as with my papa.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He told me of the beauty of Christ. His -soft, deep voice was as from a far-away forest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I plucked a few stems of violets. I fitted -them to his buttonhole.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such a little thing pleased him immensely.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dear, simple Bishop!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I digested what he spoke. I declared that -Christianity was the sun, while Buddhism was -the moon.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The sun is day and life, and the moon night -and rest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How can we live without the sun? The -moon is poetry.</p> -<p class='c014'>14th—The sky became low, its colour frowning -gray.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The winds snarled.</p> - -<p class='c009'>December was suddenly calling us.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We sat by a snug fire at evening.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Its yellow flame suggested a preacher uplifting -his hands in prayer. The fire flickered -in jollity.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Pachi, pachi, pachi!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The parlour was not lighted.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The pictures on the wall were impressive in -the firelight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Any woman looks charming at night and by -the fireside. I felt happy imagining that I -must appear lovely.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The fireplace is so dear, like mamma’s lap.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Schuyler brought a chess-board and -challenged.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I offered me for a fight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I used to play American chess with a Meriken -missionary who lived in my neighbourhood. -I thought it fun to beat an old man.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Namu Tenshoko Daijingu!” I repeated.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The gentleman asked what I muttered.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Never mind! Only a little spell!” I replied -in the lightest fashion.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The chess-board was placed between us.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Mr. Schuyler, can you sacrifice anything -for the game?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Whatever you please, my little woman!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well, then!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Suppose you make Mrs. Schuyler your -stake! My uncle will be mine.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Ha, ha! Very well!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was a tactician. I fought hard.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Alas, my game was lost!</p> - -<p class='c009'>My second stake was myself.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“It means that I may marry you, doesn’t -it?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“As you please, sir!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Iyani natta!</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was far superior.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oya, oya, I was a loser again!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I looked sadly on my uncle, and said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Uncle, you cannot return home! We are -the property of Mr. Schuyler. Isn’t it really -too bad?”</p> -<p class='c014'>15th—Shall I make a little kimono for -Schuyler’s baby?</p> - -<p class='c009'>It would be a souvenir of my visit.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The crape kept in the Jap stores of this -town isn’t appropriate for a baby’s “bebe.” -My flower-dyed under-kimono should be -utilized.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I opened my trunk.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mother Schuyler brought in a young lady. -She was her niece, that is to say the daughter -of Mrs. Ellis. Mrs. Ellis is the one with the -long hair on her cheek.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I told them of my new drift.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They were surprised at my determination.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Miss Olive applied to be my pupil in Japanese -sewing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a southern name! Olive perfectly -fits for a girl born in the passionate breeze.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her “Is that so?” or “Don’t you?” fluttered -affectionately like golden sunshine.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mrs. Schuyler bade her servant to move in -the machine.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I objected.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Machine-clicking is not Oriental. The -“bebe” has to be done in pure Japanese.</p> -<p class='c014'>16th—I found a hammock on the veranda.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is the thing for summer, of course.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I never laid me in it before in my life.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought that I would see how I would feel.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I hanged it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I romped in it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was delightful. I fancied that we—I and -who?—hammocked among the summer -breezes. Then a star appeared. He said, -“How beautiful the star is!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>What did I fancy next?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oh, never mind!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I tossed my feet. The skirt fluttered. My -new satin slippers—number one and a half—were -all seen. I drew up my skirt a little, and -made a whole show of my honourable legs.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I prayed that somebody would pass by to -fling an adoring glance at them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>No one roamed along. I scorned my -frivolity.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Bible by me wasn’t open at all.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I decided to read it to-day, although religion -isn’t so becoming.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My Bishop sent it this morning. Dear old -Bishop! He thought me quite a docile -“nenne.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I stretched my body in the hammock.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Alas, ma!</p> - -<p class='c009'>My hana kanzashi with the butterflies was -caught by the meshes. The wings of one -butterfly were tortured. Yes, I had put a -Japanese pin on my hair this morning.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I hoped I could pay a bit more attention to -my head all the time.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was sad for a while.</p> - -<p class='c009'>17th—Good Annie wrote me from Mrs. -Willis’.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a scrawl!</p> - -<p class='c009'>But woman’s bad grammar and infirm penmanship -are pathetic, don’t you think so?</p> - -<p class='c009'>It might look better on a thin blue tablet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But poor Annie chose such thick smooth -paper.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oya! What?</p> - -<p class='c009'>A five-dollar check?</p> - -<p class='c009'>My goodness, I had forgotten all about my -lottery! Even the ticket I have lost. It -drew out five dollars.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Why not thirty thousand dollars?</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was better than a blank, anyway, I said -philosophically.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now let me send a little present to my home!</p> - -<p class='c009'>A little thing is a deal sweeter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I ordered fourteen packets of N. Y. Central -Park lawn seed from a nursery.</p> - -<p class='c009'>New York Central Park!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Doesn’t it sound grand?</p> - -<p class='c009'>And other flower seeds also.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The dwarf sweet pea is named “Cupid.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>It will be no wonder if my father mistakes -it for a kibisho.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Cupid is a handsome boy, not a bullfrog-looking -teapot, funny papa!</p> - -<p class='c009'>He is garden crazy. I can imagine how -conceited he will be showing around his -western sea flowers when they are in bloom.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I asked my uncle to translate the directions.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Isn’t it handy to keep a secretary?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I’ll not miss signing my name on the translation.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My daddy may think it was done by myself.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Woman is a snob.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now what for mamma?</p> -<p class='c014'>18th—Mother Schuyler took me to her -church.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such a heathen me!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt that I was “sitting on needles,” when -I slipped into the Meriken church without -glancing at even one page of the Bible. It -was as risky a venture as to face an examination -before fitting.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The service hadn’t begun.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Many ladies were introduced to me by Mrs. -Schuyler.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They talked about—what?—anything but -religion.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was fanned continually by an offensive -odor. Some one had left her perfume at -home.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Honourable arm-pit smell!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Amerikey cultivates many a disagreeable -sort of thing, doubtless.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The ladies seemed to regard the church as -another drawing parlor.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My mind was calmed within ten minutes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ureshiya!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Meriken church is not a difficult place -at all.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A Japanese church is ever so sad-faced. -No woman under thirty is seen there. I -laughed at the thought of an “incense-smelling” -young girl.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Isn’t it strange that Meriken girls love the -church?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Is it because they cannot marry without it?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Sunday amusement doesn’t begin before -noon. What would girls do if there were no -church where they could burst into song?</p> - -<p class='c009'>How classically the bald head of the minister -shone!</p> - -<p class='c009'>There is nothing more pleasing than a -sweeping sermon on a bright day.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But my mind strayed, wondering why all -those ladies were so homely.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I snatched my hat off, wishing to be different -from the rest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I fancied the reason why their hats were -eternally glued to their heads was because -their hair was never in first-rate order for exhibition.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Many years ago I used to steal into a Buddha -temple, being a little “otenba,” and tap an -idol’s shoulder, saying: “How are you getting -along, Hotoke Sama?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Not one idol here!</p> - -<p class='c009'>No incense!</p> - -<p class='c009'>How uninteresting!</p> - -<p class='c009'>How silly I was inventing some clever thing -for the occasion when I should be forced to -confess! The church was not Catholic.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When we returned home, Mrs. Schuyler -asked me what was the text.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Let me see——”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I made as if I had been a listener to the -sermon.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Dear Mrs. Schuyler, what was it?” I exclaimed -as if I had accidentally forgotten.</p> -<p class='c014'>19th—Miss Olive offered to show me how -to play golf.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I went to her home at Pasadena.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Pasadena is a luxurious Winter resort of -cheerful aspect.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Its water is blessed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Even the street cars run like a well-bred -gentleman. The dog never growls around. -It only wags its tail. No beggars.</p> - -<p class='c009'>America’s outdoor diversion demands a -great deal of strength.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What an imbecile “anego!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>After fifteen minutes I found two bean-like -blisters on each palm.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I gave up the game.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I bought a golf outfit, nevertheless, in a -store on my way home. The sight of a lady -carrying it once stamped itself on my mind as -so charming.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What attire would be becoming to me?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I said that my waist should be of deep red -wool. Skirt? It must also be of wool, of -course, with a large checkerboard pattern. -Silk isn’t gamesome, is it? And the hat -should be a mouse-coloured felt, which must be -thrust carelessly by my big gold pin with a -coral head.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I well-nigh decided to dye my hair red.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What will my uncle say?</p> -<p class='c014'>20th—Schuyler’s cook wasn’t acquainted -with the art of rice-cooking.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mother Schuyler said explanatorily that she -had never tasted properly cooked rice since -the day at Yokohama.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The rice was pasty.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought I would boil the rice according to -Japanese prescription for to-day’s dinner.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I stepped down to the kitchen.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I put three cupfuls of rice in a saucepan, -and dipped my hand in it, and supplied water -as much as to my wrist.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I placed it on the splendid fire till the -agitated water pushed up the lid. Then I -moved it on to a gentle fire. The cooking -was done after twenty minutes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was honoured by everybody at the dinner. -The rice was singularly fine. The grains -kept their own perfect shapes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>After the dinner I approached Mrs. Schuyler -with ink and paper.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Will you write your recommendation of -my rice-cooking?” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She gazed at me questioningly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What a funny girl! What shall I say?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I dictated solemnly thus:</p> - -<p class='c019'>“<i>To whom it may concern:</i></p> - -<p class='c020'>“I highly recommend Miss Morning -Glory with her honourable art of rice-cooking. -Her method is Japanese, that is to say, the -best in the world.</p> -<p class='c021'><span class='sc'>Mrs. Schuyler</span>”</p> -<p class='c014'>21st:—Without a nephew Mother Schuyler -wouldn’t be a complete old dear.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She has one fortunately.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Olive San told me a whole lot about her -great brother.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He is a promising artist.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Artist?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Doesn’t an artist affect boorish hair? I was -anxious to know how his hair was, because I -hated anything long except a frock-coat.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Miss Olive declared him one handsome boy. -(I thought how ridiculous is the American girl -to praise her brother. It is Japanese etiquette -to undervalue one’s relatives in describing -them.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>I finished my imaginary sketch of his face -before we intruded in his studio.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Olive presented me to him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was a comely young man.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What gratified me most about him was his -shapely shoes, well-polished.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He knew how to talk with girls.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was instantly put on unceremonious terms.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How beautifully he once slipped “Miss” in -addressing me! His gracefully-sounding -“Pardon me, I mean Miss Morning Glory!” -pleased me enormously.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I told him that it was a regular humbug to -be particular.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I will call you Oscar, shall I?” I said, -winking.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt some fervid water oozing down my -cheeks. I was blushing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was glad that he was not Mr. Ellis, Jr. -The word “Jr.” appears to me like a ragged -papa’s old coat which is dreadfully out of -fashion.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Will you let me paint you?” he requested.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Am I beautiful enough, do you think?” -I said, dropping my eyelids.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Only too charming!” he said bravely.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I always think every gentleman whom I -meet falls in love with me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I regarded Mr. Oscar Ellis already as an -adorer.</p> - -<p class='c009'>O sentimental Morning Glory!</p> - -<p class='c009'>When I returned to Schuyler’s my mind -was completely occupied with an absurd fancy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was thinking what I shall do when he -proposes to me. Shall I say yes?</p> - -<p class='c009'>For a girl to fall in love with one while she -is staying at his aunt’s isn’t romantic a bit, is -it?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I don’t care, anyhow, for an artist lover.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is a worn-out hero in old fiction.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Doesn’t the word “artist” ring like a -synonym for poverty?</p> -<p class='c014'>22nd—Mrs. Ellis invited me to dinner.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I went to Pasadena with Mrs. Schuyler, Jr.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The evening was fragrant.</p> - -<p class='c009'>After the dinner we stepped out to the -garden. It was dusky.</p> - -<p class='c009'>By and by, twenty Japanese lanterns were -candled among the trees in my honor.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was in a sprightly bent.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was whispering a little Jap song, when -Oscar led out two donkeys.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Olive sprang upon the back of one in -gracious audacity.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Jump, Morning Glory!” she exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was wavering about my action, when I felt -Oscar’s firm arms around my waist. My -small body was lifted on to the donkey’s by -his careless gallantry.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a sensation ran through me! It was -the first occasion to put me into so close -contact with a Meriken young man.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My skirt was caught by the saddle. I made -a whole exhibition of my leg.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But I was glad the stocking was beautiful.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oscar held my bridle, pacing by my side.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Alas!</p> - -<p class='c009'>My donkey acted awfully.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Did he take it as a degradation to be -whipped by a Jap?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Suddenly it dropped its honourable rump. -I should have been pitifully thrown out, if my -arm had not seized Oscar’s neck. I looked -apologetically at him. He turned his delighted -face.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I could not stay a minute longer.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When I got me off from the donkey, I -observed the new moon over my right shoulder.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Good luck!” Olive San said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Why?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Oscar began to whistle somewhat as -follows:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Ho pop pop pop, ho pop pop pa!”</p> -<p class='c014'>23rd—To-day is Mrs. Schuyler’s reception -day.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She set two Japanese screens in the drawing -room, moving them from her chamber. -She sprinkled a great lot of exotic bric-a-bric -about.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She opened a regular Chinese bazar which -expressed every poor taste. Such confusion!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I fancied she wanted the callers to recollect -that she was Mrs. Ex-Consul of the Orient.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Japan teaches nothing but simplicity. -Simplicity is the philosophy of art.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wondered how she lived there without -learning it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Every inch of Schuyler’s parlour means a -heap of money.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But is there anything more displeasing than -tasteless luxury? Sufficiency is grateful, but -superfluity is nothing but offence.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought that Americans buy things because -they love to buy, not because they have -to buy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Meriken jin has to study the high art of -concealing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The brown people look upon the scattering -of things (however costly they be) as lower -than barbarity. Japs believe in the sublimity -of space.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Isn’t it delightful to sit on the new matting -of a Japanese guest-room? Its fresh whiteness -used to cure my headache.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Isn’t it taste to place just one seasonable -picture on the tokonoma?</p> - -<p class='c009'>So many a Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Smith called.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They surrounded me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I asked myself whether they paid a visit to -Mother Schuyler or to me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They incessantly threw the following questions -at me:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How do you like America?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How long do you expect to stay?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such an inquisitive Meriken woman!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wished I had been bright enough to print -a slip with my reply.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Each lady wore four rings at least.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Are they real things?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Diamond is hardly my choice. Haughtily -cold, isn’t it?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I declared that their shapeless fingers were -not fit to show without embellishment.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If I had money for a ring I would use it for -365 pairs of silk stockings. Isn’t it a joy to -change every day?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Schuyler’s baby made a hit with its kimono.</p> - -<p class='c009'>All the ladies kissed and kissed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The baby wondered at their act, rolling its -eyes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mother Schuyler was quite fussy with a -little speech about the history of its Japanese -gown.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Funny old dear!</p> -<p class='c014'>24th—Mr. Oscar Ellis came to paint me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dear Oscar!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have never before left my face alone for -such a close scrutiny.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was restless at first, fancying that he was -gathering all my flaws.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then it happened in my thought that his -absorption had something of religious devotion -in it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I grew easy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I began to feel like a star with all the admirers -in the earth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A garden tree sent its shadow through the -window. The time passed as gracefully as a -fairy on tiptoe. The air was purple.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oscar San chatted freely.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I never took the part of a listener before in -my life. I found listening honourable.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“So you like the Oriental woman?” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He said American beauty was rather external, -like a street shop window. He would -like to know, he said, if there was any word -more pathetic than “sayonara.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Isn’t the Japanese woman like it?” he -asked.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought he was correct.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He continued:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I read in a modern poet the following -lines:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘ .... full of whispers and of shadows,</div> - <div class='line'>Thou art what all the winds have uttered not,</div> - <div class='line'>What the still night suggesteth to the heart.’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c022'>Such is the vague Japanese beauty in my -idea.”</p> -<p class='c009'>“I am not so nobly sweet, am I?” I exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He cast a strong look, as if he were trying -to put his final judgment upon me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He moved his brush slowly on the canvas.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I bowed a profound bow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Gomen kudasai!” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And I laid me on the floor, stretching out -my legs.</p> -<div id='i128' class='figcenter id009'> -<img src='images/i128.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Drawn by Genjiro Yeto</i></span><br />“<span class='sc'>So you like the Oriental woman?</span>”</p> -</div> -</div> -<p class='c014'>25th—I bought two dolls.</p> - -<p class='c009'>One for Schuyler’s baby, as my Christmas -gift.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I slept with the other last night. I -squeezed my ear to the dolly, fancying I might -hear a few scratches of human voice. I kissed -it. I laughed, saying that the doll was the -thing for my starting to learn how to kiss.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Sleep till mamma comes back, darling!” -I said in the morning when I stepped down for -my breakfast.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I left the table before I had half-finished, on -account of my anxiety lest the upstairs girl -might tattle of my childishness, if she found -the doll in my bed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Thank Heavens!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The girl hadn’t come around yet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I locked it up in my trunk.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What name shall I give it?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Charley?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was disgusted at the thought, because -every Chinee—ten thousand Mongols in all—is -named one Charley.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Merry Christmas, all of you!</p> -<p class='c014'>26th—It rained.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I implored Mother Schuyler to select a book -from her library.</p> - -<p class='c009'>All the literature was packed in there, beginning -with Socrates, sane as a silver dollar.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Every book was without finger-marks. -Book without finger-mark is like bread without -brown crust. Dear finger-mark!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The fashion is to buy books and to glance -at their covers, I suppose, but not to read -them. Modern publications aren’t meant to -be read, are they? The authors have degenerated -to the place of upholsterers. Isn’t it a -shame?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mrs. Schuyler picked out for me “Rubaiyat -of Omar Khayyam.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle said: “American woman can’t -keep away from Omar and chicken-salad.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I began to peruse it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The raindrops by my window tuned:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Tap, tap, tip, tap, tap!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thumped the book on the floor, and exclaimed:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Mr. Khayyam!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Rubaiyat is a menace against civilisation.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Americanism is nothing but the delight in -life and the world.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wonder why the wise government of -Washington does not oppose its pagan circulation.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is leprosy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But I thought how truly true was his “I -came like Water, and like Wind I go.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I took up the book and opened it again.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I shut it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I listened to the “Tap, tap, tip!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Doesn’t it sound like a wan voice of Omar?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Yes!</p> -<p class='c014'>27th—A lady whom I met at Mrs. Schuyler’s -reception sent me a mass of distinguished -roses.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Loving American!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I said I would arrange them in Japanese -cult.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My style is the enshin.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Amerikey is destitute of flowers.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Nippon is known as a paradise of botanists. -The “scientists” of flower decoration (if I -may call them so) are given a great advantage -in their craft of delineating beauty.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The rose is not much of a flower to the Jap -mind.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They never employ it in their work. It -has no grace of line. Its perfume cannot indemnify -for its being thorny. Things not -qualified to convey charm are declined from -the tokonama.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I love roses awfully well myself.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will make the best of them in my art.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Is there any proper vase in Schuyler’s -house?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mother Schuyler fetched me two pieces.</p> - -<p class='c009'>One was a silver vase and the other a china -one.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I couldn’t use them, I was sorry. Silver -was commercial-looking. The painting on the -china a hodge-podge of a joss house.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I was seized with a thought.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I ran down to the kitchen.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I borrowed an old scrubbing bucket.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Such a soft antique hue!” I exclaimed -with delight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I elected one imperial rose and one little -one for a “retainer.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I fixed them in the bucket.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought it was verily the simplicity of the -illustrious Mr. Rikiu.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I presented the rest of the roses to Mrs. -Schuyler, Jr.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She stared at the bucket without a word. I -knew that her silence was the most forcible -irony. She didn’t approve of setting such a -bucket on the table.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Meriken jins don’t know any art!” I said, -when she left.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle begged me not to act so fantastically.</p> -<p class='c014'>28th—“Here’s a shamisen, Morning -Glory!” Mother Schuyler cried from the hall.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I darted out of my room.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well!” I exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Shamisen?</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is a three-stringed guitar of Japan.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Schuyler, Jr., had sent it from Yokohama, -as she explained.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She wished me to tinkle a little gamboling -music in the parlour before dinner.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is a hard implement to handle. It has -no notation. Attainment is through unending -blind practice.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was compelled to learn by mother, many -a year ago, but I soon gave it up for an English -spelling-book.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But I daresay I can play.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I regulated the key to begin with.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Ting, ting! Chang, Chang, ting!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What to hum, Uncle?” I asked, facing -aside.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Love ditty is desirable,” Oji San considered.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t fancy me a geisha!” I said in defending -laughter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I murmured an old hauta, “Haori kakushite,” -which was Englished by some one.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“She hid his coat,</div> - <div class='line'>She plucked his sleeve,</div> - <div class='line in2'>‘To-day you cannot go!</div> - <div class='line'>To-day, at least, you will not leave,</div> - <div class='line in2'>The heart that loves you so!’</div> - <div class='line in2'>The mado she undid</div> - <div class='line in2'>And back the shoji slid:</div> - <div class='line'>And clinging cried, ‘Dear Lord, perceive</div> - <div class='line in2'>The whole world is snow!’”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>29th—We went to a theatre last evening.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dear, classical “flower path”!</p> - -<p class='c009'>How I missed it in the Meriken stage!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Flower path?</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is a projection into the auditorium used -to represent when one starts out of the house -or returns.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the American stage has no front gate -scene! Every one enters very likely from the -kitchen door.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The stage never turns round like the Japanese -stage.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oh, dear, iyadawa!</p> - -<p class='c009'>American play has too much kissing. Each -time I was electrified.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The pit was filled with a well-behaved throng. -All the ladies took off their hats. Do they pay -more respect than in church? The gentlemen -never whiffed smoke.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Japan theatre is a hurly-burly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The “boys” roar up “Honourable tea—O’cha -wa yoroshi? Honourable cake?” The attendants -of tea houses bow around to the beneficent -habitues, like inclining puppets.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Women sob. They laugh, stuffing their -sleeves into their mouths. They are ready to -put themselves in the play. They are sentimental.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Meriken women place themselves above the -play.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I doubted whether they were criticising or -enjoying.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Some lady even used a spy-glass to examine -the face of a player.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought it decidedly an impertinence.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a pry!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will not act to such an assembly, if I ever -happen to be an actress.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What was the title of the play?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I could hardly understand half of it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I tried hard to swallow my gape.</p> -<p class='c014'>30th—Mr. Oscar Ellis came to put the finishing -touch to my picture.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The execution was subtle sureness.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He said that he would offer it to his beloved -aunty—Mother Schuyler, of course—begging -to let it ornament the wall of my room.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My room?</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is “my room” for a few days yet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought it exceedingly sweet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The wall is duskily red. The effect would -be superb.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When I announced to him that our leave -would take place on the approaching fourth, he -started as if he had received a stroke.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“So soon?” he said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Yes,” I said, turning my uneasy face.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“We are only beginning to understand each -other.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I am a bird of passage, as you know. I -have to fly on my road.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The air grew tragic.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then Oscar said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What will you do when you tire of flying?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Sah!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’ll return to Los Angeles and induce you -to marry me with my honourable Oriental oratory. -Will that do?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>We interchanged our nimble look. We -laughed afterward.</p> - -<p class='c009'>After he left Schuyler’s, I said to myself -that I would not mind positively if he would -kiss me. The kiss must be on my brow, however. -Lips are too personal.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wrote a note, beseeching him not to forget -to kiss me at my farewell.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I chewed the note.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I reviled my folly.</p> -<p class='c014'>31st—Street walking is a delight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I’ll mirror my face in the glass of the shop -windows ambling by.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I dropped a handkerchief to-day.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A gentle gentleman—man behind me should -be young and good looking always—picked it -up. His respectful “Pardon me—” made me -feel as if I were living in the silver-armoured -age of chivalry.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Shall I drop something again?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I observed a variety of form in raising the -skirt.</p> - -<p class='c009'>One lifted a bit of the left by her finger-tips. -Another pulled up the right edge of her front. -Another clinched out the centre of her back, -showing a significant fist. A corpulent one -stepped, holding up both sides of her front. -The miserable underskirt revealed itself in red.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Which mode is becoming to me?</p> -<p class='c014'>Jan. 1st, 1900—Is to-day the opening of -another century?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Happy New Year!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will send a lot of “Shinnen omedeto” to -Tokio.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Isn’t this a queer New Year?</p> - -<p class='c009'>No shimenawa along the façades with flitting -gohei!</p> - -<p class='c009'>No “gate pine tree”!</p> - -<p class='c009'>No sambow for an oblation unto the gods in -any room!</p> - -<p class='c009'>No rice-bread! No golden toso for the cup!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I mingled with a neighbour’s girls for a -“rope-jumping.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>We played hide-and-seek. I offered ten -cents reward to the one who detected me. I -abandoned the unprofitable job after emptying -out all my change.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Miss Olive called on a bicycle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I persuaded her to let me try on her bloomers. -She exchanged them for my walking skirt -which was four inches shorter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We hurried to the garden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She helped me on the wheel.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such a bad Meriken girl!</p> - -<p class='c009'>She slipped her hand from it. I fell on a -bush. The touchy rose thorned in my hand.</p> -<p class='c014'>2nd—I made a discovery.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mother Schuyler’s teeth are all false.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have no chance to explore whether her -hair is a wig.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She chains a big bunch of keys to her waist. -Its rattle sounds housewifely.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She forgot it, laying it on the sitting-room -table.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I knotted it to my waist-strap.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I jiggled it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Jaran, jaring, jaran, jaran!”</p> -<p class='c014'>3rd—The sayonara dinner was given. Mrs. -Ellis’ folks joined us.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mother Schuyler repeated every ten minutes -her query, “when would I visit them again?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Oscar set his depressive look on me. -I wasn’t brave enough to encounter it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I slid away from confronting him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I found him an elegant young man. He -impressed me as an image of Apollo.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Only God knows when I will reprint my -footsteps on the soil of Los Angeles!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt awfully sorry in leaving such an -agreeable company.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Fold your tent like the Arabs,</div> - <div class='line in2'>And silently steal away.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>How sad!</p> -<p class='c014'>4th—Good-bye, Mr. Parrot!</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='sc'>San Francisco</span>, 5th.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am again at Mrs. Willis’.</p> - -<p class='c009'>San Francisco!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such miraculous San Francisco water!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will taste bliss again in drinking the -midnight water, stretching out my arm from -the bed.</p> -<p class='c014'>6th—I tied Dorothy’s hair in Nippon style.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She pleased me much by remembering the -Japanese words I taught her.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She is a cute dear.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The mode had been the “O’tabaco bon.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I straightened her hair with my wet hand.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I added a tiny bit of crimson crape.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She looked a lovely fairy.</p> -<p class='c014'>7th—Rainy day!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The heavily reserved weather confines me -in the pose of genius.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My hair lounged down my shoulders. -Disorder is the first step in being a genius, I -fancy. My eyes should be rolled up to the sky -in divine tragicalness.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have had a greediness for the name of -novelist.</p> - -<p class='c009'>To-day I found myself in the crisis where I -must scribble or die.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I regret to say that mine is a love story also, -as every beginner’s book has been. I hope -everybody will be contented with “The -Destiny,” a respectable title for my fiction. -Who says it is the style of name employed one -hundred years ago?</p> - -<p class='c009'>The book will be concluded with three hundred -pages.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now I wonder whether a long story is in -demand.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Chapter I, is as follows:</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>WHEN THE MOON ROSE.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>This story begins when the moon rose.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Its silvery rays—it was six P.M. of April—fell -on the Shiba park in laughter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My heroine jogged along into the park, -singing a light song.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Miss Honourable Moon, how old are you?</div> - <div class='line in1'>Thirteen and seven, you say?</div> - <div class='line in1'>You are young enough to marry——”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Let me explain about her a bit!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her name is O Hana San.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Thirteen years old. Thirteen? It is the -age when the flower of girlhood starts to bloom.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bewitching Hana!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Do you remember a well by the glorious -cherry tree in the park? The ’rikisha men -moisten their parched lips at the “Heaven-Sent.” -That is its name, sir.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Miss Hana looked down into the well.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She began to adjust her hair. The first -worry of a girl after thirteen would naturally -be about her hair.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She gazed up to the cherry blossoms and -exclaimed:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Utsukushii nah! Lovely!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then she found her face again in the well-mirror, -thinking what a charming O Hana San -it would make with the flowers on her hair.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My worthy readers, I suppose it is the time -some one must enter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He came.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was a little boy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will not mention his name just yet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He came close to her and pinched her little -back. Both blushed, facing each other. -They were quite strangers.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The evening zephyrs stirred the cherry -blossoms. They planted themselves silently -among the falling petals, as ethereal as snow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I delight to stand in the storm of petals, -don’t you?” Hana inclined her head a trifle -in speaking.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The woman always speaks first.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Let me see your school book!” again she -said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Why?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He put it in her tiny hand.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Thanks! Arigato!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>She bowed low. When she put the book -on her shoulder, she was running away, singing:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Miss Honourable Moon, how old are you?”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The boy stood aghast.</p> -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>* * * * * * *</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>The author of this story found O Hana -San again by the same well on the next -evening.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The boy’s book in her hand, of course.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She paced around the well, muttering:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“He must come, because the moon rose.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But he was not seen.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>My next chapter will be “The Second -Meeting.”</p> -<p class='c014'>8th—My precious Ada again!</p> - -<p class='c009'>How could I live without her?</p> - -<p class='c009'>We hastened to a circus.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If I were a boy, I could earn a heap of -money selling “Pea—nuts! Lemon—ade!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>How those clowns did tumble!</p> - -<p class='c009'>If I could share in such fun!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The ringmaster was the handsomest man in -the world, in shiny boots and heavenly hat. -How splendidly his whip cracked!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The clack dashed like a burst of bamboo.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Wouldn’t you be glad to be the lady on -horseback? I would truly. Glance at her -daring grace!” I whispered to Miss Ada.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Even the seal performed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We laughed till tears dropped.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The circus had twenty elephants. Think!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Our Imperial Menagerie of Tokio has only -one. How poor!</p> -<p class='c014'>9th—Last night I went over to Mrs. Consul’s -to be given a lesson in card-playing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Cribbage would be the thing. Why? -Because the Lambs took much pleasure in it,” -she said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How is poker?” I suggested.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Gambling game!” she protested.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I delight in gambling, Mrs. Consul,” I -proclaimed.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>I had a wicked dream.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What do you imagine?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I ran away with a circus rider.</p> -<p class='c014'>10th—I made the acquaintance of a Japanese -woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She must have been passing her thirty -springs. I could be accurate in my scale, being -one of her sisterhood.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A cigar-stand keeper in Dupont Street.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her name is O Fuji San.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mrs. Wistaria brought a box of cigarettes -that my uncle had ordered.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The morning is unoccupied in such a retail -shop. Nobody puffs much before lunch. She -set herself in a tête-à-tête.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The chastity of a wife may be measured by -her solo on her husband. Woman’s greatest -joy often lies in lamenting the faults of her -teishu.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mrs. Wistaria spoke of her husband’s being -ill. I was to accept any chance for squandering -my feelings. I sympathised, repeating, -“Komaru nei! How sad!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>She said that she was going to leave the -city for a week for the spring of San Jose, to -take care of her infirm dear.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I fear I may lose my customers,” she -flagged.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her husband was afflicted with rheumatism.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I promised to call at her store.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Japs never visit an invalid without a present.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Champagne? It’s too ostentatious a drink. -It’s like a highly rouged woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The loving-eyed claret should be chosen.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sent half a dozen bottles to Mrs. Wistaria’s.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A charity woman should be dressed in black -and white. I went to Dupont street, however, -in my grey dress.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her husband struggled to entertain me. -His clumsy smile appeared all the time at the -wrong cue.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poor Mr. What’s-his-name!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Their business was an absurdly small affair.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The whole stock hardly valued above one -hundred dollars.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought I could conduct it rightly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was carried away by a sudden fancy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Can’t you leave your store in my hands, -while you are away? Say yes! No?” I -pressed myself upon them eagerly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They were amazed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“High-born lady like you? Oh, no! Doshite, -doshite! Think! Do you know this is -the toughest part of the town?” Mrs. Wistaria -tried to make me retreat.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I couldn’t listen to her, my whole soul being -absorbed in my new caprice.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought it remarkably romantic.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I left the store to bring uncle to talk the -matter over.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mrs. Wistaria’s store was neighboured by -every saloon. The fuddling sounds overflowed -in song:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Hello ma baby, hello ma honey——”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>11th—Now he is my beloved uncle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He assured me of his help in carrying out -my freak.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You are fitting me for a slightly better -rôle, I fancy,” he said, venturing to add even -one or two of his good-natured giggles. “The -secretaryship of a cigar-stand is a rather more -hopeful occupation than carrying your wraps -through the street.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Everything was arranged.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mrs. Wistaria and her husband set off for -San Jose.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am a merchant-lady.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The first thing I did was to put up a dignified -sign with the following black letters:</p> -<div class='bodoni'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div><span class='xxlarge'>MORNING GLORY CIGAR STORE.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<p class='c014'>I borrowed a picture from Mrs. Willis’ parlour, -and placed it by the slot machine.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is the picture of a dear Injun sitting -against a woodland fire with a respectable pipe, -whose smoke sails up to the yellow moon. -What resignation! What dream! What joy! -It did suit beautifully for the cigar-stand.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I love to see a man smoking. The elfish -smoke acts like a merry-hearted May gossamer. -When I observe a man’s eye pursuing his -smoke, I say to myself that his soul must be -stepping nearer to his ideal. The road of -smoke is the road of poesy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A noble trade is tobacco.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Man’s hermitage is situated only in smoking, -I should say.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I divested my uncle of his coat. I begged -him to hold a bucket and a piece of cloth for a -moment.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Are you ready to wash the windows, -Uncle?” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Traitor, Morning Glory!” He flashed -his accusing glare.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Docile old man!</p> - -<p class='c009'>He cleaned four windows of the kitchen, -which was also the dining-room and the parlour.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I paid him five cents for each.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I said: “It’s good fun to hire the chief -secretary of the Nippon Mining Company to -rub windows, isn’t it?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And I laughed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I forced him to buy a cigar.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You made some twenty cents out of me. -Your turn is coming, my uncle!” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sold him a box of Lillian Russell cigars -for three dollars. The real price was two.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ha, ha, ha!</p> -<p class='c014'>12th—I invited my precious Ada to my -store to dine <i>à la Japonaise</i>.</p> - -<p class='c009'>One Jap restaurant catered to it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Irrashaimashi! Condescend to enter!” -I showered my wooden-clogged greeting over -Ada.</p> - -<p class='c009'>From “The Klondyke,” my neighbouring -saloon, a nigger song was flapping in.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“If you ain’t got no money, you needn’t come round.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Happy Ada San!</p> - -<p class='c009'>She was about to join in it, when I brought -her into my great dining-room.</p> - -<p class='c009'>(Beg pardon, it was a paltry kitchen!)</p> - -<p class='c009'>Everything was seen on the table.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Japanese dinner has no strict order of -courses. You are a frolicsome butterfly -among the dishes set like flowers before you. -You may flit straight to any one which catches -your whim.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Take your honourable chop-sticks!” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poor Miss Ada!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How shall I manage with one stick?” she -raised her eyelids in questioning meekness.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I bade her to split the stick in two. It was -a brand new wooden one. I showed her how -to finger it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She nibbled a bit from each dish. Every -time she tasted she looked upon me with a -suspicious smile.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And how she slipped her sticks at the critical -moment!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The sight amused me hugely.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How dare I swallow raw fishes!” she said -shrinking.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What delight I taste in them!” I slammed -back at her timidity.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I dipped a few cuts of the fishes into -a porcelain soy pan for my mouth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I even trampled into her fish-dish by and by.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She was literally terrified.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The feast was over. I said, “Go yukkuri! -Honourable not-to-be-in-a-hurry!” I slid away.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I tied my white apron like a shop girl. I -was glad that I did not forget to push a lead-pencil -through my hair. I presented myself -to Ada carrying a cigarette box.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Will you buy tobacco for your lord?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I spread the box before her.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How much for one packet,” she asked -with the charming arrogance of a customer.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She was acting also.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“To-day is the memorial day of Lord Nono -Sama. My sweet Oku San, allow me to make -a reduction!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then we laughed.</p> -<div id='i152' class='figcenter id010'> -<img src='images/i152.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Drawn by Genjiro Yeto</i></span><br />“<span class='sc'>How dare I swallow raw fishes</span>!”</p> -</div> -</div> -<p class='c014'>13th—I created much noise in the Jap -colony!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Why not?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Many brown men pause by my store and -buy, simply because they can address a word -or two to me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They are silly, aren’t they?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I announce that I am tired of their faces. -I have never met one progressive-seeming -Oriental since I landed. They are like a dry -tree. Are their souls dying?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well, that’s why, they have no girl,” my -uncle conclusioned.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He is so bright once in a while.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Why not make love with Meriken musume?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I said I would petition the Tokio government -to transplant her women.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It may ruin the Japanese girl’s name, was my -afterthought, if they ship only the homely gang.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Lovely girl has no longing to sail over the -ocean. She has plenty of chance to grow a -flower bride at home.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I pity my native boys of this city.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Jap! Jap!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>They are dashed with such exclamations -from every corner.</p> - -<p class='c009'>As for me the sound of “Jap” is my taste, -so I spray it in my writing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I took up again my knitting work which I -had commenced on the seas. Nothing could -be more decent to fill up my leisure in the -store.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My little neck fell, as I was intent on my -stocking.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Some one spoke above my head: “How is -business?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“So, so!” I replied in businesslike reserve.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I lifted my face.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oya, he was Mr. Consul.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Will you sell me a cigar?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Things are becoming awfully high. Mine -is a distinctly dear store. Do you know it, -Mr. Consul?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’m prepared to pay more at the beautiful -girl’s,” he began to titter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“General Arthur cigar has leaped one dollar -higher since Monday, and——”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You don’t mean it!” He mimicked a -sudden alarm.</p> -<p class='c014'>14th—O funny drunkard!</p> - -<p class='c009'>To-day one fellow established himself before -my store. He fixed his amazing eyes on my -face, and extended his hairy hand.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Hel-lo, Japanese!” he stuttered.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He wanted to shake hands with me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I lengthened my arm, and slapped his face. -I withdrew directly within, and watched him -from a hole.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Ha, ha! She got mad—ha, ha, ha!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was in a tip-top state of mind.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Let me help myself!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He pilfered one cigar from the shelf. He -struck a match. He bit the cigar.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Good!” he muttered.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He tossed himself away with ludicrous dignity, -singing:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Pon pili, yon, pon, pon!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“This is undeniably a tough place!” I exclaimed.</p> -<p class='c014'>15th—Night has just arrived.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Only ten minutes ago a white-capped “Jim” -(I overheard people calling him so) lighted a -paper lantern labelled “Tomales.” He is an -eating-stand keeper across the street. The -loafers passed. There was some time to -watch the lazy parade. It was a blank hour -of Saturday when he could puff a whiff of -smoke.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The prankish songs ceased.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Even in Dupont Street I am given a page -of dream.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The barkeeper of “Remember the Maine” -called at my store.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Remember the Maine?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is a name cheap as the grimness of a -toothless woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Barkeeper had something to say, I -imagined.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I offered a stem of cigarette.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Do you ever hear a bloody cry at night?” -he began his chapter, gathering a medley of -gravity on his brow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Scream? No!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Never mind!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He turned aside. I thought he was playing -a threadbare artifice of a story-teller to tantalise -my fancy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Tell me why!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I knew I became his victim.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I fear I do scare you.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“No! I never——” I leaned forward.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“To begin with——”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He stopped, looking around.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Your kitchen—don’t be scared—is close -by a haunted room of a house on Pine Street. -It’s no story. A chorus girl lived—well, some -five years ago—in that house with her step-mother. -Just think! The old hen of sixty-five -fell in love with her daughter’s lover. Do -you understand? She saw one morning the -young fellow kissing her daughter. She went -crazy. She shot him. Isn’t it awful? The -murderess leaned against the wall by your -kitchen, and cried, ‘I killed him!’ I swear to -you that it is all true. So, people say, a wail -is heard at night from your side.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Mah! Mah!” I breathed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“That is all.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He retired heavily.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Do I believe it?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“No! No!” I denied.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But I was thickly swarmed by sickening air. -How could I trust me in the kitchen!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I closed the store.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I pasted up a piece of paper whereon was -written: “NO BUSINESS TO-NIGHT.”</p> -<p class='c014'>16th—I had a stomach-ache this morning. I -couldn’t rise.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The maid fetched me some toast and a cup -of coffee.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I think it is very nice to eat in bed.</p> -<p class='c014'>17th—Mrs. Wistaria and her husband returned -from San Jose.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She lavished on me her thousand arigatos.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She said I sold sixty per cent more than on -any previous week.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She wished me to condescend to accept a -“meagre” fifteen dollars as a share of the -profits.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I refused it.</p> -<p class='c014'>18th—My letter to Miss Pine Leaf (who -wept with me reading Keats’ love-letters one -mournful night) is as follows:</p> - -<p class='c019'>“<span class='sc'>Matsuba San</span>:</p> - -<p class='c021'>‘Hitofude mairase soro.</p> - -<p class='c020'>‘I have the honour to present a brief writing.’</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Let me omit the shopworn form of Japanese -letter-writing! Its redundant ‘honourables’ -are more cheap than honourable.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Satetoya!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Shall I begin my letter with a deep bow?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Bow?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I use it occasionally before Meriken San for -sport’s sake. But it is degenerating, in my -opinion, to comic opera, like the tortoise-shell-framed -spectacles of a Chinese doctor.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Now I address you with a thousand -kisses.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“The kiss is the thing to begin with for up-to-date -girls.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“It is useful, as a poem is useful in filling up -space in magazine-making. Woman—even a -loftily learned American woman—cannot be -ready always with her rhetoric of expression. -The kiss comes to her relief in the crisis whenever -she fails in speech.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“The kiss is everything.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“The Jap girl is intimate with the art of -crying.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“A kiss is as eloquent as a tear.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I suppose the cleverness of American woman -is graded by the way she handles it. It -strikes me that every white girl is perfectly at -home with it.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“She is awfully bright.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“You wonder why she is so?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“There is one reason that I can tell you. It -is because she has a serious job to pick out -her husband herself. I don’t think it is fair to -blame her growing insipid after marriage. -Every one feels tired when a weighty work is -done. What would be her doom if she were -stupid? An old maid is such a sad sight, like -a broken clock, or a cradle after baby’s death. -Isn’t it dreadful to have nothing to rejoice in -but a customary tea or books? Literary critic -is one occupation left for her. Worse than -death!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I am pained to state that our brown sisters -are extremely behind time.</p> - -<p class='c020'>(“There are lots of exceptions, of course, like -honourable you and Miss M. G.)</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I am talking of common Jap musumes.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Naturally so.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“They are like those waiting at the station -for the next train. They have only to doze -and wait for the footsteps of a matchmaker -with a young man.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I am grateful to the Nippon government -for stimulating education in women.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“But I advise her to imprison all the matchmakers. -Then the girls will wake up at once, -like one who has everything on her back after -papa’s passing.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“That is one process to brighten them, I -think.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Am I not logical?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Your last tegami questioned me whether the -American lady was charming.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Are you attentive to western sea painting?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“How does it impress you when you are -close by it? Only a jumble of paint, isn’t it? -So with Meriken woman!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“You should be off half a dozen steps to estimate -her beautiful captivation. You would -be horrified, otherwise, by her hairy skin.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I love her.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“She has no headache like the Japs. (By -the way, I will call Japan, hereafter, the country -of headache.) She lives in a comedy.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Nothing turns bad in Amerikey.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“‘Tragedy To Be a Woman,’ could only -be seen on a fiction thrown in a moth-trodden -second-hand store.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Police never bother.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Such a deliverance!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I am delighted with my Meriken Kenbutsu.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Sayonara!</p> -<p class='c021'>Yours,</p> -<p class='c023'>“<span class='sc'>Morning Glory</span>”</p> - -<p class='c014'>19th—I forced Uncle to swear to me that -he would overlook everything I did, in consideration -of my great service in darning his -socks.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I peeled off my shoes to begin with.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sat like a Turk.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Why do you frown like an Oni in hell?” -I acidified my smile. I held my needle and -thread suspended in the air, while I said: -“What is a Trust?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Be quiet!” he exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He didn’t even glance at me, being engaged -in writing in the other nook.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Uncle, your hair ought to be curled. I -will step in to-morrow morning, and turn it up -before you awake. What do you think, -Uncle? Oji San!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Morning Glory San!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He emitted a growl of satanic despotism, -and soon resumed his work gracefully.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought what a scandal if he were penning -a love letter to Mrs. Schuyler, junior.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I rose. I approached him with secret step. -I fell on him from his massy back and cried:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What are you scribbling?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Erai, my honourable uncle!</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was translating Gibbon’s “History of -Rome.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was stunned from the shame of taking -him to be in such a wretched line even in -fancy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I vowed to myself—with three low bows—to -take perfect care of my noble worker.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I gave him my sweet smile.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Uncle, let me fix something more! -Haven’t you anything? Tear your shirt or -pull off the buttons, then!”</p> -<p class='c014'>20th—Already I could suck from the agile -air the flavour of spring upon the lawn.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was roving by the rose-bushes along the -street with scissors.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A gentleman passed by me. How sluggish -his shoes sounded! He stopped, waving -his old-scented smile, and addressed me:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Good morning, young lady!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Ohayo!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I perceive that you are Japanese.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Yes, sir!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He stepped nearer to me. I took a peep -at the Bible under his arm.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Are you a Christian?” he lowered his tone.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t you read the Gospel?” his voice -rose higher.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t you attend church?” his sound grew -higher still.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I love to be shocked. I couldn’t sustain -myself against a bore. Church? It’s too -sleepy, don’t you know? I have remarked -that God is with me without any sort of -prayer, if I trace the path of righteousness. -A minister is only a meddling grandmamma to -my mind. If I ever build my ideal city, two -things shall not be tolerated. One is a lawyer’s -office and the other is a church. Church, sir! -May I present you with one rose?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I raised me to place it in his coat.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Here’s a letter for you, Morning Glory!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was rescued by my uncle. How angelic -his voice rang!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’m sorry, I’m much occupied this very -morning,” I said, bowing slightly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I pushed myself within the door.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poor preacher!</p> -<p class='c014'>21st—My answer to Oscar is as follows:</p> - -<p class='c024'>“<span class='sc'>Dear Honourable Mr. Ellis:</span></p> -<p class='c025'>“Let me begin in respectable fashion!</p> -<p class='c020'>“A Jap girl is awfully formal.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Do you know, Mr. Ellis, whom you are -addressing?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I am an Oriental.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Nippon daughters believe ‘ev’rithin’ a -gentleman mentions.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“They have been fooled enough, I should -declare, in American fiction. Oscar—no, Mr. -Ellis—don’t let me earn the anecdote that I -drifted to Ameriky to be toyed with! My -ancestor did a harakiri. I am pretty sure I -have, then, to kill myself.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Don’t recite again your honourable confession -of love!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“It made me cry.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“My dark face with drenched eyes will -degrade me to a hired Chinese ‘crying -woman.’</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Your narration was dramatic.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Your cleverness is the most lamentable -thing about you. Woman used to love a bright -fellow many years ago. Do you know that -the modern girl woos a stupid man?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Please, don’t repeat again such an adjective -as ‘heavenly’ for my face! No one utters -the word ‘heaven’ except in swearing. Even -ministers juggle with it for a jest in church, I -suppose. My face isn’t heavenly at all. You -know it, don’t you?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“You amused me, however, when you told -how you had pillaged my picture from Mother -Schuyler’s room to put in your own, feigning -that it needed to be retouched.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Poor Mother Schuyler!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“If she knew your secret!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Frankly, I fear that such a gentleman as -you does commit forgery always. Have you -no consanguinity with a convict?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“O such a wretched boy!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“The saddest thing about a woman is that -she is glad to fall in love with the worthless.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Do I love you?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Give me time to reply to the question!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Everything is tardy with a Japanese. I -was educated by slowness; I bow one dozen -times before I speak.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“O Oscar, you got to think of my side a -little bit!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Every girl claims that she has half a population -as adorers in her pocket handkerchief.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“You are the only one young American I -ever met.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“If I accept your love, I am afraid one may -satirise my destitution.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“You’ll write me soon, won’t you?</p> -<p class='c021'>“Yours, M. G.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“P.S.—I wish I could show you how charmingly -I smoke. I learned the art recently. I -tap the cigarette with my middle finger to -knock the ashes off. It is delightful to heap -a hill of ashes on the table edge. When I -puff, finding no word after ‘And—’ the smoke -seems to be speaking for me.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“But I assure you that I smoked only before -my uncle.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I was a pretty naughty girl at home, but I -flatter myself that I can easily be classed -among the best in this country.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“White women behave terribly, you know.”</p> -<p class='c014'>22nd—I passed the afternoon at Mrs. Consul’s. -She gave me her “favourite” discourse -on Walt Whitman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I delivered to my uncle what I had learned.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“No newness in it. It is what dear John -Burroughs or Mr. Stedman said.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He overturned my castle with one blow, and -lit his cigar with a victorious air.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was enraged.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Yes, yes, eraiwa! Oriental gentleman -knows everything we poor women know,” I -said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sulkily drew away to my room with Mr. -Whitman’s fat book, that I borrowed from Mrs. -Consul.</p> -<p class='c014'>23rd—A letter from my father arrived.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“O Papa, please don’t! I am tired of such -a dirty conference.” I scoffed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I tore the paper into shreds.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What a sullen lady! What did Otto San -write? Marriage proposal, I reckon!” my -uncle intruded.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Papa threatened me with a list of suitors. -He cried, ‘Chance, chance!’ like the gate-man -of an ennichi show. Pray grant me for -once in my life, Uncle, to say: ‘The marriage -lottery go to the dogs!’ How many Jap -girls kill themselves from the burden of such -a glued union, do you suppose?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Then, ‘free marriage’?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Of course!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“It’s very beautiful, Miss Morning Glory.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Why not?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You are Japanese, aren’t you?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Did you ever think I was a Meriken jin?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well, then, how did you come to know -young men in a country where familiarity with -one is regarded as a crime for a girl?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Things all wrong in Nippon, Uncle!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I am sorry you were born a Jap.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’ll never go back to Japan, I think. The -dictionary for Jap girls comprises no such -word as ‘No.’ But you must remember, -Uncle, I have the capital ‘No’ in my head. -I am a revolutionist,” I proclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I thought much of my dear Oscar.</p> -<p class='c014'>24th—My worthy labourer upon Gibbon’s -work sat before the table for some hours.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I stood behind him and dropped the fluid -from a bottle on his head.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Cold! What are you doing, my little -romp?” He looked up in a fright.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“No harm, Uncle! It is only a remedy. -Your hair is growing so thin. Do you know -it? I think it a shame to appear in Greater -New York with a bald gentleman.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I bought the bottle this morning.</p> -<p class='c014'>25th—A bamboo table in my room reminded -me of a take bush in the neighbouring -churchyard of my Tokio home.</p> - -<p class='c009'>(I cannot sound Meriken jin’s curiosity in -prizing such a cheap thing. The bamboo was -painted. The cross nails glared from everywhere. -I never saw such a Jap work in -Nippon.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dear take, O bamboo bush!</p> - -<p class='c009'>How I used to laugh, breaking the dreams -of sparrows by wriggling the bush!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was so ungoverned.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If I could be a grammar school girl again!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I secured a reader at a bookstall. My mind -was made up to present myself in the Lincoln -night school and mingle with the girls in -“SEE THE BOY AND THE DOG!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>What fun!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I went to see the stooping principal. His -tarnished frock-coat—I fancied he was an old -bachelor, as one button was off—was just the -thing for such a <i>rôle</i>.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I seemed to him a regular nenne of thirteen.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was heartily pleased with my greediness -for learning English.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poor soul!</p> - -<p class='c009'>He ushered me into the class for which I -had brought the book.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was the hour for composition. “Ocean,” -the subject.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When I was seated, the girl next me winked -charmingly. She threw me a note within a -minute, to which I promptly replied, “Morning -Glory.” My note was answered “Miss -Madge, 340 Mission Street.” I wrote her, -“May I call on you to-morrow?” for which -she wrote, “As you please.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was placed on the dangerous verge of -clapping Byron’s poem into my “Ocean.” I -manufactured one dozen of spelling errors.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You should belong to some higher class. -Take this slip to the principal!” the teacher -said. “You have an imagination.” She wiped -her spectacles slowly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I left the room remarking, “Because I am -a Japanese.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I slipped away from the school altogether.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“One experience is plenty,” I declared.</p> -<p class='c014'>26th—I went to Mission Street to call on -Madge.</p> - -<p class='c009'>From both sides of the street peeped the -famous Jewish noses. The second-hand clothing -shops parade. How droll to see those -noses shrivelling like a lobster!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Madge’s father owns a despicable restaurant -with only four eating tables. Mamma cooks, -while she sits on the counter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When I appeared, she shot out, greeting me: -“Hello, Morning Glory!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Awfully glad to see you! I have come to -help you, haven’t I?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was ready to strip off my jacket and wind -myself in her apron.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her papa was dumbfounded by my sudden -action.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The outside board with the bill of fare was -scraped out by this morning’s rain. It looked -as miserable as an Italian vegetable wagon -under the rain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My first work was to rewrite it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I saw a Jew at a neighbouring door striving -with one about the value of pants. A shoemaker’s -“pan, pan” hammered on my head -from the opposite house.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mission Street is the street of horse-dung.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When my job was over, an honourable Mr. -Wagon Driver leaped in, bidding me serve -some soup.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I ran into the kitchen to fetch it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I spilled it on the table.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“That’s all right, honey!” he said in patronising -aloofness, and pierced my face with -his gummy red eyes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>O Kowaya! Shocking!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I put one five-dollar piece of gold on -Madge’s palm when I left her.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Because her shoes were heelless.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Pity the musume!</p> -<p class='c014'>27th—I bought one book, being captivated -by its title. Isn’t “When Knighthood was in -Flower” beautifully chivalrous?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have remarked that every Imperial cruiser -anchors at an isle close by Loo Choo, just on -account of the enticement in the name “Come -and See.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I found in my trunk an introduction to Miss -Rose by my professor friend of Tokio ’versity.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Miss Rose?</p> - -<p class='c009'>My imagination started to move like a watch. -I fancied she should be nineteen, since she was -a Miss. No Rose girl can be homely.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I went to see her.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Alas!</p> - -<p class='c009'>She was a lady like a beer-barrel. Her -finger-nails were black.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I left her like a miner stepping out of a gold -mountain with empty hands.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wonder why the mayor didn’t object to -letting an ugly woman be crowned with a pretty -name.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Fifty-years-old Miss Rose!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now I fear to read Mr. Major’s book.</p> -<p class='c014'>28th—The following is my letter to Mr. -Oscar:</p> - -<p class='c019'>“<span class='sc'>Oscar San! Ellis San!</span></p> - -<p class='c020'>“I never liked your profession, simply because -it is too beautiful.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I don’t see why you cannot transfer to -some other business.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I have been ever so much fascinated with -odd sorts of manual work. If I were a gentleman, -I would very likely pursue the calling of -grave-digger or sea-diver.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Yesterday I passed by some labourers -breaking massive stones. They lifted their -hammers (O Oscar, look at their muscles!) -and knocked them down to the sound of ‘Sara -bagun!’ They jerked the ‘sara bagun,’ -Oscar. Does it mean ‘ready?’ Mrs. Willis’ -Century dictionary must be imperfect, since -it does not contain such a word. Am I mis-spelling?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Suppose I marry one of those!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“He will return home awfully tired. He will -naturally doze after dinner. When his smoking -pipe has slipped from his lips and burned -my best tablecloth, isn’t it possible that I will -be mad?... I startled him, pulling his -hair ever so hard. Now you must think that -he grew mad also. He seized my arm, and -beat me. O Oscar, he beat me surely!... -Then he will repent his conduct, and kneel -by my side, begging my forgiveness. He will -say, ‘My dear sweet wife—’</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Do you know how interesting it is to be -beaten by a husband?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I well-nigh fixed my mind never to affiance -with a man too genteel to hit me.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Woman is a revolting little bit of thing.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“If you say ‘Yes,’ I am quite ready to slam -my ‘No!’</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Oscar San!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I am afraid that you are too amiable.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“What you have to do for your next missive -is to collect every kind of dreadful adjectives -from your dictionary, and throw them in.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“You know what to do when I get angry, -don’t you?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Ellis San!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“You are too handsome.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I am fond of a comely face as anybody -else.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“But I fancy often how it would be if I fell -in love with a deformity.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“People would laugh at me doubtless. But -how dramatic it would be when I proclaimed, -‘Because I love him!’</p> - -<p class='c020'>“What a romantic phrase that is!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Can’t you deform yourself?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Sayonara,</p> -<p class='c021'>“With a thousand bows,</p> -<p class='c023'>“M. G.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“P.S.—My letter never finishes without a -P.S.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Isn’t that awful?</p> - -<p class='c003'>“My uncle asked me whom I was corresponding -with. I mentioned ‘Olive.’</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Old man is jealous always.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“So you got to counterfeit your sister’s penmanship -for your envelope.”</p> -<p class='c014'>29th—I drank the last drop of my coffee.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Oji San, when shall we go to New York?” -I said, pillowing my face on my hands on the -breakfast table.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“As soon as spring begins to flicker in the -East, my little woman! It’s snow and snow -there at present.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I love snow, Uncle.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Old gentleman can’t bear tyrannical cold, -Morning Glory.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t you notice how tired I am of Frisco? -Aren’t you tired?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Yes—frankly!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Why don’t you then contrive some novel -diversion to pass a month?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’ve a fancy, but——”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What is it?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“It may not strike you as romantic.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Tell me!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I am known to one poet who dreams and -erects a stone wall on the hillside. He is unlike -another. His garden and cottage are -open to everybody. I ever incline to loaf in -an irregular puff of odour from his acacia trees. -If you lean towards a poetical life, I have no -hesitation in seeing him to make an arrangement.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Great Uncle, it’s romantic! Is he -married?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Why?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Because a poet is not one woman’s property, -but universal. My ideal poet is melancholy. -Fat poet is ridiculous. Happy poet -isn’t of the highest order. Tennyson? I -wish his life had been more hard up. I suppose -your friend-poet won’t mind if I sleep all -day. Is he particular about the dinner time? -Does he look up to the stars every night? -Does he wash his shirt once in a while?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Stop!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I asked respectably:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Is the sight from there beautiful?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Wonderful! The only place where you -can breathe the air of divinity!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Very well, Uncle. We will settle there, -and hasten to become poets.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“It wouldn’t be a bad idea, I say, to start -again with your honourable ‘Lotos Eaters!’”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“‘Paradise Lost’ shall be my next subject.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“If nobody publishes it?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I will present it solemnly to our Empress. -She is a poetess, you know.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle went to see Mr. Poet.</p> -<p class='c014'>30th—Uncle said that the poet said: “You -are welcome, sir. The cottage for your young -lady lies by one willow tree. The waters, the -air, the grand view, are God’s. It costs a wee -bit of money to provide the best coffee. I tell -you that my claret is superb. You shall be -my guest as long as you please. Present my -love to Miss Morning Glory! Everything -will be ready when you come.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Isn’t he adorable?” I ejaculated.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I stirred my trunk, and sifted out the things -needful for my adventure.</p> -<p class='c014'>31st—To-morrow!</p> -<p class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Heights</span>, Feb. 1st</p> - -<p class='c009'>Let me recline heart-to-heart on the breast -of Mother Nature! Let me retreat to a -hillside not far from the city, yet verily near -to God! Let me go to my poet abode!</p> - -<p class='c009'>We abandoned the Fruitvale car at the -hill-foot.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle picked out our destination from -the speckles in the distance.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The breeze (how heavenly is a country -breeze!) enticed my soul—a Jap girl also is -provided with some soul—into “Far-Beyond.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I feel myself another girl, Uncle.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’m a poet already. The poet without -poem is greater, don’t you know?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>We climbed the hill slowly. Every step -enlarged the spectacle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When we attained to one wildly well-kept -garden, the whole bay of the Golden Gate -stretched before us. A thousand villages -knelt humbly like vassals.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I saw a tiny gate with the sign:</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>“Fruit Grower.”</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>An old gentleman appeared from a cottage, -singing.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Ah, take the Cash, and let the Credit go,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Nor heed the rumble of a distant Drum!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>“Poet!” Uncle whispered.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Let me now examine him!</p> - -<p class='c009'>What lengthy hair he wore!</p> - -<p class='c009'>It didn’t annoy me, however, because he -stamped himself on my mind as if he were an -ancient statue. I imagined him a type of -mediæval squire. I thought of him truly as -one metamorphosed from the frontispiece of a -wholly forgotten volume in a cobwebbed recess -of a library.</p> - -<p class='c009'>His courteous voice was simply dignified.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Nature never hurries. God commands -you every happiness and all repose. Here’s -your little home, my gentle lady! I am at -your service any time. I hope you will find it -comfortable.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He set me at the “Willow Cottage.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He slipped gracefully away.</p> - -<p class='c009'>There was some time before I heard his -“kotsu kotsu” on my door.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I opened it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Greeting from the host!” Mr. Heine -offered me a tuft of brisk roses.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Heine was the poet’s name.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How loving!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I buried myself in the thought of straying -to a fairy isle, and being accepted romantically -by the dwellers.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I suspected that I was dreaming.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Arcadia!” I exclaimed, when the poet -announced that supper would be prepared -within half an hour.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I spied him through the window, gathering -the loppings of trees and leaves. He made a -camp-fire. Its soft smoke surged into the sky. -Oh, smell it!</p> - -<p class='c009'>How fascinating is the Poet’s life!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I ran out, crying:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Pray, make me useful!”</p> -<p class='c014'>2nd—Dream and reality are not marked -here by different badges. They waltz round. -Dear poet home!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Was it in my dream that I heard the tinkle -of bells?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought something was going on.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I parted from the bed. I pushed out my -face from the window.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Look at the procession of cows!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have read much of them, but I admit that -it was my first occasion to admire them. I am -a trivial Jap, only acquainted with cherry -blossoms and lanterns. How I wished to knot -the bells round my waist, and whisk down the -path by the violets!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Lover’s lane!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>It should be the title for that path, I thought, -if I were Mr. Poet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I finished my toilet. I leaped out upon the -grasses smiling up to the sunlight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I congratulated myself on my new life.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I found my uncle sitting by the camp-fire.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Ohayo!” I said, filling the seat on another -side.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I remember one Japanese essay, “The -Poetry of a Tea Kettle.” Indeed! The kettle -was a singer. Its melody was far-reaching. -It was like a harp of pine leaves fingered by the -zephyr.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I faced up, and saw my poet moving down -from the lily pond. Two frogs in his hand.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Frogs?” I cried.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“They will complete our table. How did -you sleep, my lady?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Splendid!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Do you love the country?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I begin to taste a greater joy in Nature.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’m happy to hear it, my dear. My life is -like the life of a bird. I awake when the sun -rises. I lay me in the bed at the bird’s dipping -into its nest. God made the night for keeping -quiet. That is better than prayer itself. -I light neither lamp nor candle. I presume -that every young lady has certain secret work -at night. Let me offer you a few candles!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>We ate breakfast from the table by the fire.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Frogs supplied a special dish.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I couldn’t touch it, thinking of the songs of -frogs that I had heard all the night long.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such a song! It was the muddy-booted -song of the countryside. No valuable quality -in it, of course. But I should say that they -tried the best they could.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poor Messrs. Frog!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I fancied the leg in my dish was that of one -who volunteered to sing my lullaby.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I almost cried in grief.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poet was ready to wash the dishes. I -was quick to snatch his job. My uncle wiped -them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Stupid uncle!</p> - -<p class='c009'>He broke two dishes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I collected the bones of the frogs, and buried -them. On the stone above them I wrote -with a pencil:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Tomb of Unknown Singers.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>What time was it when we were done with -our breakfast?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I couldn’t tell.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The first thing I did yesterday was to stop -the tick-tack of my watch, and hide it in the -lowest drawer.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The watch is a nuisance since I am thrown -in <span class='sc'>The Garden of Eternity</span>.</p> -<p class='c014'>3rd—I searched for a pen and ink in my -Willow Cottage.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Nothing like those.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Foxy Poet!</p> - -<p class='c009'>He hid them from view, I fancied, in the -opinion that playing with them for a girl is -more jeopardous than swallowing needles.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I say that letter-writing—particularly a decent -love letter, if there is one—isn’t half so -grave a crime as rhyming.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was spraying some water on a rose by the -gate, when I caught sight of a white quill by -my shoes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“This will serve me perfectly,” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I had not one thing with any tooth except -my comb. (Comb? Luckily I have not lost -it Ara, ma, my hairpins! Five of them vanished -from my head while I was springing -amid the rocks. By and by the stems of acacia -leaves shall be used in their places. Don’t -you know this is quite a remote spot from civilisation?) -A kitchen knife shaped my quill -as a pen.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now only ink!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I begged Uncle to run down three miles to -fetch one bottle.</p> -<p class='c014'>4th—We went to “breathe the song of the -forest.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The forest laces the poet’s canyon.</p> - -<p class='c009'>(By the way, poet’s ground spreads over -one hundred and fifty acres. Does he pay -taxes?)</p> - -<p class='c009'>We climbed the “Road to the Milky Way.” -I beseech your forgiveness, it was merely the -name I wished for the path to the poet’s hilltop. -I felt as if I were hurrying to the “Sermon -on the Mount.” You would hardly believe -Morning Glory if she said that sublimity -vibrated in her soul, because she was just a -little Oriental. How grand! We faced -toward the Gate of the Pacific Ocean. We -were still. Why? Because we were thinking -the same thing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We traversed the poet’s graveyard.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How romantic to put up a tombstone while -living!</p> - -<p class='c009'>How romantic to lie in the ecstasy of a marvellous -view! We could be nearer the stars -here.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We stepped down to the canyon.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poet said solemnly:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Lady and gentleman, this is a holy place -where you can pray heartily.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle started to drone Bryant’s hymn:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The groves were God’s first temples.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>“Did you ever read Thanatopsis, my dear?” -Mr. Heine asked.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Yes, sir!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“It’s a noble piece. So many thousand -Asiatics converted every year to the English -alphabet. Wonderful!” he soliloquised.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We seated ourselves by a brook.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Such a lesson in Nature! We endeavour -to transcribe, but fail,” he sighed, looking -on the trees.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then he turned to me questioning:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Do you hear the silent song of the forest?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I nodded.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Silence! Silence!” he muttered.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We walked among the trees. We came -back to the same hilltop, when the large red -ball of the sun sank heavily from the Gate.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Bye-bye!” I shook my handkerchief.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The playful breeze carried it away. It -glimmered like a silvery inspiration. Who -knows how far it sailed?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought a huge statue of the Muse bidding -sayonara to the dying sun would be the -fitting ornamentation for these Heights. -Countless numbers of people would look upon -it from the valley. It would be a salvation, if -they could bind themselves with Poesy by its -noble figure. There was no question it would -be more effective than a thousand pages of -poem.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I have no coin to build it,” the poet said, -in dear openness.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Let me present it by and by!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“When?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“When? It must be after I get married to -a rich philanthropist.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>We laughed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We rolled down the hill in the purple fragrance -of evening. The evening was sweet -like a legend.</p> -<p class='c014'>5th—I wrote a letter to the artist:</p> - -<p class='c019'>“<span class='sc'>My sweet Oscar:</span></p> -<p class='c025'>“You will love no more your Morning -Glory, I am certain, when you are informed -how she looks nowadays.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“She inclines against a willow trunk by her -cottage. Were you ever acquainted with the -great repose of a poetess? Her eyes flash in -divine sarcasm. She will shoot them down to -the mortal domain (she lives on the mountain), -while she murmurs in tragical accents: ‘I pity -you, ant-mortals!’</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Isn’t she shocking?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Oscar, I have withdrawn to the Heights, -and am prying into the Incomprehensible of -Nature with Mr. Heine.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“He is unique.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I take it upon me to say that he is a great -poet. Because, in the first place, he never -asked me yet, ‘Do poems pay in Japan?’</p> - -<p class='c020'>“It’s such a trying work for an old man like -him to pose as a poet all the time.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Poet is a sensitive creation. He fancies, I -think, the whole world is staring at him. Poor -Poet! He keeps up, and tries to be picturesque -as he can.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I am grieved to state, however, that his -picturesqueness frequently drops into silliness.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“The absurd thing is that even my uncle -takes a part in his farce.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“We had no meat to bite yesterday.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“The poet had no shot left for his gun.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“What did he plan, do you imagine?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“He went up the hill, shouldering his pick. -My uncle retainered him with a spade.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“‘We will soon bring back a squirrel which -we will dig out, Miss Morning Glory,’ the poet -said.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Could you ever suppose, Oscar, that any animal -except an invalid (an animal who has four -feet at that, instead of two like my venerable -gentlemen) could permit itself to be so slow like -them?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I laughed till my side ached.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Funny old men!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Every sort of sweat fell from their brows -when they dragged their fatigued feet home -not accompanied by even one inch of any animal -tail.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“‘I have never heard yet, Mr. Poet, of a -squirrel turned to turnip,’ I gibed.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I dread old age, because it makes woman -inquisitive, and man silly. Inquisitiveness is -tasteless like wax, while silliness is helpless, -like a fish on the sand.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I fear you are silly already, when you say -that you sat up late looking at my picture.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Sat up late?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“What will you do if your mamma thinks -you can’t sleep from hard drink when you -yawn continually at the table?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Please, don’t do it again!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Step to your bed at half-past six as I -do!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Are you sure that my picture approved -your act?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I guess it shrugged its shoulders from contempt, -the delicious moment of blushing being -passed.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“If my picture is so precious, I advise you to -alter it to ashes. You will take two spoonfuls -of the ashes every morning. I am sure, then, -your soul will be saved.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“O my darling, I love you!</p> -<p class='c021'>“I am your</p> -<p class='c023'>“<span class='sc'>Little Jap Girl</span></p> - -<p class='c020'>“P.S.—This letter was written by my duck-quill. -My new invention, you know.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“My handwriting is clumsy enough, I suppose, -to sell as high as any ancient author’s -autograph.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Sayonara!”</p> -<p class='c014'>6th—O poppy, beloved harbinger of California -spring!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I “hung on the honourable eyes” of a -poppy by my door. Its quaking cup burnt -in love (for a meadow-lark perhaps).</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Let me feed you, my new friend!” I said, -and brought out a cupful of water.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I moistened it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A golden flake of the sun-ray came down to -it. It smiled, daintily thanking me for my -humble treat.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I stared at it, slowly fabricating a fable of -its love affair, when the breeze sent me a -dreamy song.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The song was old-fashioned, like the afternoon -snore of a water-wheel.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I plunged into the song, not knowing who -was the singer.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Ara, ara, Grandmamma’s song!” I exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She is the aged mother of our poet. She -is within the rim of ninety. I suspected her -of having discovered the “Elixir for Preserving -Eternal Girlhood.” You cannot help -esteeming her a philosopher when you are -told that she has visited San Francisco only -twice in ten years. I have no bit of doubt -that she would die if you were to rob her of -the sight of her flower garden and one stout -scrap-book about her son’s poems. They work -a miracle. What a mystery is human life!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I say that I’m touched by superstition.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have read of a villainous fox who masquerades -in the shape of an old woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My wretched fantasy about Mrs. Heine -passed, when I heard that no fox resided in -the hill.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She is such a dear grandma.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She has no hostile grimace against age. -She welcomes it. Her wrinkles are all her -beauty. Natural ripening in age is but -another form of girlhood.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She is happy as a sparrow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>(Sparrow never forgets, it is said in Nippon, -to dance in its hundredth year.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>She hoes round her garden. Her vanity is -to make her table rich with her own potatoes -and roses.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She lives alone by herself in a cottage some -hundred steps from mine.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Did you ever taste her cooking?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Good morning, Mrs. Heine!” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Come in!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>She showed herself, extending her large -hands. They were damp. I thought she was -employing herself in washing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Is there any sweeter occupation than service -to an old lady?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Let me help you!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I carried out a bucket to a spring in the -backyard.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I brimmed it with the waters. It was so -weighty. A naughty stone bounced under -my heel. I was thrown down like a toy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Alas!</p> - -<p class='c009'>My bucket was upset over my skirt.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I had made myself a specimen of misery. -“O grandma, it’s raining awfully outside!” -I cried.</p> -<p class='c014'>7th—To-day I was the <i>chef</i>, while my uncle -was second cook.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I placed a heroic iron pot over the camp-fire -I dropped a lump of beef in, and afterward -the mass of potatoes, carrots, and onions. -Mr. Poet’s directions were that they should -boil for two hours.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Heine intruded, saying that he would -like to season them himself.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Longfellow, Lowell—they all loved high -seasoning as I,” he said, snatching a pepper-box -from my hand.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He kept tapping the bottom of the box, -when the cover fell into the pot.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oya!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The red pepper garmented the whole thing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Go, Mr. Poet! Why don’t you mind -your own business? You are butler to-day.” -I spoke in rough sweetness, and drove him -away.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He began to place a linen cloth on the -table, while I dipped up all the pepper. He -picked up one dozen pebbles to weight the -tablecloth. The first thing he put on the -table was his claret bottle. How could he -lose it from sight! When he said that everything -was in place, he had forgotten the knives -and forks. Dear old poet!</p> - -<p class='c009'>We sat at the table under the wild rose -bushes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Heine read aloud the following menu:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span class='sc'>Perfume of Omar’s Rose</span></div> - <div class='line in1'><span class='sc'>Water of Jordan River</span></div> - <div class='line in1'><span class='sc'>Mother Love Broth</span></div> - <div class='line in1'><span class='sc'>Meat of Wisdom</span></div> - <div class='line in1'><span class='sc'>Potatoes of Simplicity</span></div> - <div class='line in1'><span class='sc'>Passion Carrot</span></div> - <div class='line in1'><span class='sc'>Onion of Wit</span></div> - <div class='line in1'><span class='sc'>Dream Coffee.</span></div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'> <span class='sc'>Dessert</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Typical Tokio Smile of Miss Morning Glory.</span>”</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>My grandmamma was our guest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Mother, you talk too much always. Remember, -this is a sacred service. Silence helps -your digestion. Eat slowly, think something -higher, and be content!” Poet said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We smelled the “Perfume of Omar’s Rose,” -and wet our lips with the “Water of Jordan -River.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The broth was served.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Everybody choked with its pungent fire.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poor Mrs. Heine!</p> - -<p class='c009'>She was showering her tear-beans.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“This is perfectly seasoned. Send up your -bowl again, ladies and gentlemen!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Poet’s performance was beautifully -buffoonish.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We finished our meat and vegetables.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I smiled lightly, and said: “Are you ready -for the Tokio smile?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Just ten minutes yet, my dear!” The -poet smoothed such a lengthy gray beard.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I winked to Grandma. We looked upon -him slyly.</p> -<p class='c014'>8th—The poet was hoeing in his vegetable -garden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>His attire was theatrical.</p> - -<p class='c009'>His red crape sash laxly surrounding his -trousers lacked, I am sorry to say, a large -Japanese tobacco bag. The cap with gay -ribbons was like one of Li Hung Chang’s. -His back carried a bearskin, inside of which -some slovenly yellow silk flapped down.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How tall he was!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Please, don’t dig over there, Mr. Heine, -because I buried my poem there,” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What poem, my lady?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“The poem to be read at the unveiling of -my statue of the Muse on your mountain top, -which may occur possibly within five years. -The opening lines sound thus:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘Victor of Life and Song,</div> - <div class='line in1'>O Muse of golden grace!’”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>“That’s great! Why did you bury it?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t you bury your poems? The best -poems are those not published. The very -best are those not written. Dante Gabriel -Rosetti buried his ‘House of Life,’ because -they were not for a gaping millionaire’s wife, -but only for his own little wife. But his greatness -was ruined when he dug them up and -sold them. Poor poet! What all the poets -ought to do, I think, is to bury their poems in -a potato garden. What a shame even the -poets have to eat once in a while! They -should wait till the potatoes grow, and then -sell them in a vegetable stand, calling ‘Poetical -Potatoes!’ Do you sell your poems, Mr. -Heine?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Yes.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Aren’t you making your living with your -fruits?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I never sell them, my dear.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What do you do?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I give them to needy persons. But I was -obliged, last year, to hang up a sign, ‘No -Fruit Lover is Wanted.’ I told an Oakland -minister to come up and eat <i>some</i> plums. He -brought his wife and children, even his grand-mother. -They shouldered away every bit of -fruit from half a dozen trees. Next day so -many people trampled in with an introduction -from the minister.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Such a minister! I see no use to have -the sign, ‘Fruit Grower,’ if you don’t sell.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well, my dear lady, God will be merciful -to let me use it in place of ‘Poem Manufacturer!’”</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle announced that tea was boiled.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We left the garden.</p> -<p class='c014'>9th—The fogs held possession of our world, -like the darkness of night.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Where did they invade from?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Pacific Ocean?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Our hillside cottages looked like a tottering -ship having no hope for any haven.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Tremendous sight!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I planted me on the hilltop. My mind -merged in Japanese mythology. I felt as if I -were the first goddess, Izanagi, standing on the -“Floating Bridge of Heaven,” before the -creation.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The divine ghastliness bit my little soul.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I couldn’t stand against it. I crept down -like a mouse.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poet said he was preparing a lecture. -Its title was “Not in Books.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He in his bed—there he passes every forenoon—was -reciting his song.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The words leapt like a leaping sword:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Sail on! Sail! Sail on! And on!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>I threw a bunch of roses over to his bed as -an admirer does to a star.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I clapped my hands.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Pan, pan! Pan, pan!”</p> -<p class='c014'>10th—I went up the hill to gather mushrooms -and watercresses.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I filled a huge basket with them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I carried it down on my shoulder in -Chinese laundry style. I paused every twenty -steps.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I slipped within the gate of Mrs. Heine’s -back garden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Mush—rooms! Water—cresses!” I -called boisterously.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“My dear girl!” Grandma smiled out from -her door.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Keep your hands off, please! They are -things for sale. To-day they are uncommonly -cheap. Will you buy them?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How much do you charge?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Two thousand words of the story about -your illustrious son’s life.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What a funny vendor!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Tell me something about him! I’m ready -to leave you the whole business.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Shall I narrate to you how he started to -write?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How interesting!” I ejaculated.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Let me see your things first!” she said, -tugging the basket nearer.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“My dear child, they aren’t watercresses, -but baby weeds. I don’t consider they are -legitimate mushrooms, either.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>She turned upon me with compassionate -objection.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Oya, oya, you don’t say so!” I exclaimed. -“Then, no story, Grandma?” I looked up -meekly.</p> -<p class='c014'>11th—We had sipped our supper tea some -time ago.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A band from the bay sent up irregularly the -melody of the love and prowess of dear -mariners.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The white moon rose.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sat alone on my front step, and watched -tenderly by the poppy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My darling Miss Poppy shook herself -prettily, as if she uttered a sweet word out of -her heart. I imagined every sort of speech -that may come from such a tiny bit of flower.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Sodah, she said that she loved me!” I -murmured.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I made a little letter.</p> - -<p class='c026'>“<span class='sc'>Miss Poppy</span>:</p> -<p class='c025'>“I love you too.</p> -<p class='c027'>“Yours,</p> -<p class='c028'>“<span class='sc'>Morning Glory</span>.”</p> - -<p class='c003'>I rolled it to a ball. I dropt it in her cup.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The moon turned gold. The evening odour -filled the air.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Look!</p> - -<p class='c009'>She was folding her cup, pressing my missive -to her breast. There was no question that she -understood.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dearest friend!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Was it silly that I cried?</p> -<p class='c014'>12th—The poet left the Heights to exchange -his MS. for a gallon of whiskey.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He carried a demijohn, which was as apt to -him as a baby to a woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I volunteered to clean his holy grotto.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The little cottage brought me a thought of -one Jap sage who lived by choice in a ten-foot -square mountain hut. The venerable Mr. -Chomei Kamo wrote his immortal “Ten-Foot -Square Record.” A bureau, a bed, and one -easy chair—everything in the poet’s abode -inspires repose—occupy every bit of space in -Mr. Heine’s cottage. The wooden roof is -sound enough against a storm. A fountain is -close by his door. Whenever you desire, you -may turn its screw and hear the soft melody -of rain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>That’s plenty. What else do you covet?</p> - -<p class='c009'>The closetlessness of his cottage is a symbol -of his secretlessness. How enviable is an -open-hearted gentleman! Woman can never -tarry a day in a house without a closet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He never closes his door through the year.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A piece of wire is added to his entrance -at night. He would say that that will keep -out the tread of a dog and a newspaper reporter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Not even one book.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He would read the history written on the -brow of a star, he will say if I ask him why.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Every side was patched by pictures and a -medley of paper clippings. Is there anything -sweeter to muse upon than personal knick-nacks?</p> - -<p class='c009'>O such a dust!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I swept it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But I thought philosophically afterward, why -should people be so fussy with the dust, when -things are but another form of dust. What a -far-away smell the dust had! What an -ancient colour!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I observed on the wall an odd coat and boots -that dear old Santa Claus might have lost.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Klondyke costume!” I exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I undressed myself, and tried them on.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When I was ready to put on a fur cap, Mrs. -Heine wandered down, calling me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Morning Glory! Morning Glory!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I trembled in deadly fear.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I hid me promptly by the bureau, under the -bed. I shut my eyes, praying:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Namu Daijingu, don’t let her find me!”</p> -<p class='c014'>13th—Last midnight (O voicelessness of the -hillside yonaka!) I woke up. The moon -peeped into my sitting-room. She laid a -square looking-glass on the floor.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I abandoned my bed, and sat by the glass.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I spread on it the letter from my sweetheart.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I read it over and over, till I couldn’t read -any more, the moon being kidnapped by the -cloud-highwayman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“O Oscar!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I cried in the darkness.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I could not slumber all the night, on account -of my thought of him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A letter was written to him to-day.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Nature and love! I am now living with -them.</p> -<p class='c014'>14th—I elaborated a nosegay.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poet and uncle dignified themselves in -frock-coats.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The coming of the coffin was slow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Poet had proffered his own graveyard -to let an unknown poet lodge there. “Is it -because you want some one to greet you when -you die?” I said in laughter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I seated myself by a creek.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I entered involuntarily into the riddle of Life -and Death.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The water under my feet rolled down, positively -not knowing why nor whence. The -wind passed, “willy-nilly blowing.” I wondered -whither it went. Mr. Omar is unquestionably -a true poet. The petals of a rose -before me fell.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I murmured:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Each Morn a thousand Roses brings, you say;</div> - <div class='line in1'>Yes, but where leaves the Rose of Yesterday?”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>I was crying in sadness when the coffin -arrived.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Heine and my uncle lifted it by either -edge. The neighbouring farmers and two -sardonically cool gentlemen from the undertaker’s -aided them. The jaw-fallen papa of -the dead carried all the posies.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And Miss Morning Glory (who is the belle -of Tokio) shouldered a bench for the purpose -of sustaining the coffin when they were tired.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The hill is precipitous.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The gentlemen stopped numberless times, -before they stationed themselves on the top.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The grave was hollowed behind Mr. Poet’s -monument. They sank the coffin.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a tremor of silence sharpened the air! -I was shaking.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poor papa read a chapter from the -Bible. He described his loving son’s life, in -doleful honourableness.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“There are a thousand flowers in Spring,”—the -poet spoke—“whose repute is not extensively -spoken, like that of the rose or violet. -Some of them are not given even a name. -They spend their smile and odour into the -breeze, and die without any repining. They -are content, because they are true to God. -So a poet’s life should be. What is celebrity? -Keats was told of his beautiful graveyard, and -he said: ‘I have already seemed to feel the -flowers growing over me.’ If this poet, whom -we now bury, had been told of this hill, he -might have said: ‘I see already the butterflies -beaming over my head.’ Spring is coming. -The poppies and buttercups shall dress the -hill.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>A church-bell chimed from the valley.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We left the buried to his solitude.</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle and I sat under an acacia tree, -silent for some time.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Look, Morning Glory!” he said, exhibiting -a silver piece.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Is there any story about that dollar?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“The father of the dead paid me for carrying -the coffin.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Uncle, did you accept it?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Yes.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Such a funny uncle!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Why not?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You have spoiled all your nobility for only -one dollar.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I upturned my face, afterward, appealing in -gleeful tone:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“O Uncle, you ought to give me half of it. -Fifty cents! I carried the bench, you know.”</p> -<p class='c014'>15th—I arose at the first whistling of a -meadow-lark.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Hearken to its hailing morning voice!</p> - -<p class='c009'>O simple bird!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Its so various moods are expressed only in -its eternally changeless syllables. What a -magical song!</p> - -<p class='c009'>How bungling seemed our human vocabularies!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I trod the garden in bare feet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Naked feet, sir!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The delicious chilliness of the ground animated -me rapturously. Do you believe me if -I confess that I knelt and kissed it? I said -that I would not mind burying my nude body -for a few hours. Mother earth is so sweet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I ran up the hill, humming an Oriental ditty.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The air was relishable, like an ice-cream on -a summer midnight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The beautiful sun was rising.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I clapped my palms thrice, reverently bowing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Am I a sun-worshipper?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Yes!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I cleansed my feet in the water of the creek -when I returned from the hill. I sat me on a -rock, extending my bare feet in the sunlight. -I thought that towel-wiping was too much of -a modernism.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Uncle! O Uncle!” I called.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What is it, Miss Morning Glory?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poet jutted out from a bamboo bush -by the wooden bridge over the creek.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Such charming feet!” he said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I instantly lowered my skirt, blushing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was carrying a spade and hoe. He said -that he had been planting flowers about the -grave of our friend, ever since four o’clock. -“To make it beautiful is high poetry,” he -philosophised.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What do you wish with Uncle, my child?” -he continued.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I want my shoes.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Let me have the honour of fetching them -for you!” he said in amiably dignified docility.</p> -<p class='c014'>16th—The poet gave me five feet square, -behind the Willow Cottage, for my potato -garden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sticked a stick at each corner. I encircled -it with my crape sash.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The note hanging on it read, “Graveyard -of Morning Glory’s Poem.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I hired uncle for ten cents, to clear off every -weed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I raked.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I set the seeds.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I got a suspicious coat and pants from a -nook in the unrespectable barn. It was fortunate -that the horse—who may also be a -poet, he is so philosophically thin,—didn’t -shout, “Hoa, clothes-thief!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I put them on the limbs of an acacia tree.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I planted it on my graveyard to scare away -wild intruders.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is holy ground.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wondered when the potatoes would grow.</p> -<p class='c014'>17th—Squirrel!</p> - -<p class='c009'>What admirable eyes!</p> - -<p class='c009'>He projected his head from a hole by my -window. He withdrew it a bit, and bent it to -one side, as if he were solving a question or -two.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then his eyes stabbed my face.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’m no questionable character, Mr. -Squirrel,” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He hid himself altogether.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I amassed some crusts of bread by his hole, -and watched humbly for his honourable presence.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He did not peep out at all.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The bread was not a worthy invitation. I -varied it with a fragment of ham.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Squirrel wasn’t void-stomached.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought he needed something to read. I -tore a poem from the wall. I left it by his respectable -cavern.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Lo!</p> - -<p class='c009'>His head sprouted out to pull it in.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Aha, even the squirrel is a poetry devotee, -in this hill!” I said in humourous mood.</p> -<p class='c014'>18th—</p> - -<p class='c029'>“<span class='sc'>Most Beloved</span>:</p> -<p class='c030'>“Mamma was flogged with a bamboo -rod some hundred times when she was a girl, -her exchanging of a word with a boy over the -fence being deemed an obscenity. My papa -spent his lonely days in a room with Confucious -till one night a middleman left him with -my mamma as with a dolly. I do believe they -never wrote any love letter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What would they say, I wonder, if they -knew that their daughter had taken to Love-Letter -Writing as a profession in Amerikey?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You shouldn’t censure my penury in writing, -knowing that I am a musume from such a -source.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Oscar, are your windows clean?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Every window of my Willow Cottage was -washed yesterday. Is there anything more -happy to see (your beautiful eyes excepted) -than a shiny window? I pressed my cheek to -the window mirthfully, when Mr. Poet tried -to pinch it from the outside. My dearest, if -he had been my very Mr. Ellis!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I made a discovery while I was trimming -about the kitchen.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Can you guess what it was?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“‘Love-Letter Writer!’</p> - -<p class='c009'>“‘Gift from Heaven!’ I said, trusting it -would help me in my composition.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I lit a candle last night. I hid it behind the -cover of such a huge bible which I had borrowed -for the purpose. I was heedful of two old -men who might disturb me, mistaking the -light for a sign that something had happened. -Poor Mrs. Heine almost cried, she was so -pleased to think that I loved the Bible. Do -I love it? Oho, ho, ho——</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Bakabakashi, how sad!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“The whole bunch of letters wasn’t fit for my -taste at all, at all.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’m sorry that I used up two candles that -were all we had in this hill.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“So, my darling, my letter has to be woven -from my truest heart.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Good morning, my sweet lord! How are -you? Have you breakfasted? Did you eat -a beefsteak? I dislike a hearty morning eater. -My ideal man shouldn’t be given more than a -cup of coffee and one trembling leaf of bacon.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Mr. Poet kills a frog every morning. He -says that his fancy springs like a pond singer -when he tastes it. I should say that his idea -bounds too far in his case.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Do you eat frog?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I beseech you not to incline toward it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What should I do if your thought ran off -from me?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Failure of my life! Love is the whole business -of woman, you know.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Have you any shirt to mend?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I have been fixing the poet’s.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Pray, express it to me!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Should you ask such a pleasure of any other -girl, it would be a fatal mistake for you. Remember, -Oscar, that the Japanese girl is a -mightily jealous thing!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“My sweetheart, I dreamed a dream.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You were a dragonfly, while I was a butterfly. -It is needless to say that we loved. One -spring day we floated down along the canyon -from a mountain a thousand miles afar. Our -path was suddenly barred by a dense bush. We -couldn’t attain to the Garden of Life without -adventuring in it. So, then, you stole in from -one place, I from another. Alas! We got -parted forever.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Isn’t that a terrible indication?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Do you know any spell to turn it good? I -am awfully agitated by it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Oh, kiss!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Kiss me, my dear!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I have to ascertain your love in it.</p> -<p class='c030'>“Your</p> -<p class='c031'>“<span class='sc'>Morning Glory</span>”</p> -<p class='c014'>19th—A little “chui chui” was building a -nest under the roof, by my door.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dear jovial toiler!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I must help him in some way.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I unravelled one of my stockings, hoping it -might be serviceable in bettering his home.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I stood me on a chair, raising up my arms -with my gift.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poor sparrow was scared. He cast a -gray “honourableness” on my hand.</p> - -<p class='c009'>O naughty “chui chui!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He winged away, twittering, “chui, chui, -chui!”</p> -<p class='c014'>20th—The squirrel by my window shows a -great fancy for me. He honoured me three -times already this morning. He bore a somewhat -scholarly air. A retired professor, I -reckon.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Is he regular with his diary?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Possibly he is idle with a pen, like any other -professor.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Let me scribble for him to-day!</p> - -<p class='c009'>My one bottle of ink has some time to dry -up yet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will name it “The Cave Journal.” I will -leave it to the Professor for a souvenir upon -my sayonara to this hill.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>A</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Where are my spectacles?</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>B</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Upon my soul, I believe that some mischief -is raging. I can never trust even the poet -abode. Who stole my two-cent stamp?</p> - -<p class='c009'>God bless you, my precious daughter at -Sierra Nevada!</p> - -<p class='c009'>By and by I will erect my private telegraph -between us.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>C</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>The idea of an idiotic spider tying his net -across my front gate!</p> - -<p class='c009'>How ever could he be so ambitious as even -to incline to arrest me!</p> - -<p class='c009'>He may very likely be a detective. A railroad -brigand is hiding in these Heights, I -suppose.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The world is running worse every day.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How shocking!</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was a fundamental error of God, to create -that adventuress Eve. The offspring of a crow -can’t be other than a crow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Our squirrel history is not blotted by any -criminal. I feel a bit conceited in speaking -about it. How can I help it?</p> - -<p class='c009'>The trouble with God is that he was awfully -vain to express his own ability by so many -useless things.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Rifle, for instance.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My poor wife!</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>D</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>To-day is the anniversary of my beloved. -She was shot by one two-legged barbarian.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I appealed to the police. American police -are rotten, through and through. The murderer -bribed them, I fancy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I found my wife, but she was only a skin.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How often did I tell her that she was risking -too much in sporting around! But she -didn’t mind me, insisting that sight-seeing was -a better education.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I carried her skin into my home.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I cleansed it, and altered its form a trifle, -because it was a lady’s. I am still keeping it -for church-wear.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I feel dreadful, thinking of her.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>E</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>A butterfly passed by my cavern, a hundred -times.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Each time she threw me a vulgar laugh.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her face was thickly powdered in yellow. -Does she think herself charming? I should -say that I would prefer a girl in tights from a -saloon-stage to her indecency.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such a flirt!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I suppose that she wanted me to marry her.</p> - -<p class='c009'>No!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Am I not old enough to avoid running into -such foolishness?</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>F</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Rainy day!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sat in a memorial corner of my cave, with -an unfinished novel of my wife’s.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I do judge she had flashes of genius. She -was so deep, like the sky. I never suspected -that she could gracefully have beaten George -Eliot, if she had only survived.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poor girl!</p> - -<p class='c009'>One tenderly loved by God passes away -young.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have fallen into the habit of crying unmanfully -nowadays.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I cannot help it, can I?</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>G</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>One thing I must furnish is a bathroom.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Cleanliness is the first rule of heaven, I am -told.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I went to the lily pond to take a gracious -bath.</p> - -<p class='c009'>O such water gamins! Dirty-handed frogs!</p> - -<p class='c009'>How could I dip me in the turbid water?</p> - -<p class='c009'>The frogs ought to go to a reformatory -school. They have no culture, whatever.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>H</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Camera hunters are thick as fogs.</p> - -<p class='c009'>To-day I came near being a victim.</p> - -<p class='c009'>No, sir!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I can’t permit my picture to be seen with -those of cheap matinee idols. I must keep -some dignity.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Americans are too commercial altogether. -The pictures of our race are in demand, I -imagine.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>I</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Beautiful moon, last night!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I filled my stomach with the divine water -from a creek.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My face waved in the water. I flattered -myself that I was a pretty handsome gentleman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sang an ancient Chinese song:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Come ’long, to-morrow moon,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Carrying a harp!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>J</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Stop your empty noise, meadow-larks!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Silence is the first study of this hill and the -last, don’t you know?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am absorbed in my grave work, “The -Secret of the World.”</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>K</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>My neighbouring Jap girl is rather attractive, -isn’t she?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I heard a few scratches of her native bubbling.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The pagan speech is not so bad as I thought.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>L</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>If there is one thing I cannot endure, it is -ignorance.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What is the state of your roses, old boy?</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poet Heine is utterly alien to rose culture. -Shall I order “How to Raise Roses” -from a London publisher?</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>M</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>I went up the hill to pray to God. The -higher the nearer.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When I came back, my honourable vestibule -was blocked, I found, by the dirt. The poet -was ditching close by my residence.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I couldn’t blame his conduct, however, because -no one could see my home. I don’t -hang out a sign like a quack doctor.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It occurred to me that I would strike into -his cottage, and snatch the best poems from -his drawer, and sell them with my name.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I must secure the international copyright,” -I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But I couldn’t dare it, my impulse being -thwarted.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am no wicked reporter, don’t you see?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I hid me in his historical iron pot all day.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>N</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Heine was posting around the following -card:</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><i>No Shooting.</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>I venture to say that he is the only one civilised -Two-Legged in the whole world.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>O</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Where is my napkin?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Chinese laundry isn’t punctual in delivery.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>P</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>I think I must learn how to swear for a -pastime.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>Q</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>My fellow brother Mr. —— was shot this -morning.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The paper says that there is a possibility of -war between Russia and Japan. A preacher -prophesies the disappearance of the universe.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Everything is precarious in the extreme.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will not poke around outside during the -day. I will loaf in the poet’s orchard under -the breezy moonlight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poetical existence is just enough. I will -withdraw me to the sanctuary of the Muses.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>R</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Heaven be with my soul! Amen!</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>S</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Good-bye, my dear old world!</p> -<p class='c014'>21st—A Chinaman passed with a weighty load of washing on his shoulder.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Friend, stop a minute! Take a glass -with me before you go!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poet rolled out with a claret bottle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Did you ever see a Chinee in love? Did -you ever see one smile?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Charley smiled a serene smile of the -Flower Kingdom pattern.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“God bless the Empress Dowager!” Mr. -Poet said. Both raised their wine.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“The load is too heavy for you. You are -killing yourself. I can’t bear to see it. My -friend, obey me! Let me help you! Don’t -leave till I come back!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poet, hurried for his questionable -buggy and horse. He cracked his whip—he -never whips the horse, but he carries it for -fashion’s sake, as he remarks—when Mr. -Charley protested, “Me oll-righ, you savvy!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Chinaman was dumbfounded, for the -poet was unknown to him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Heine pushed him in.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When he leaped up, he noticed his horse in -tender tone:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Go on, baby!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What a goody-goody! His act never -parts from poetry, however,” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was simply dying for an opportunity to -explode my good heart, when I invited one -tramp to my Willow Cottage.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I fed him with one dozen eggs.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I emptied out all my change for him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t you feel cold, lying outdoors?” I -said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Yes, Miss!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t you need an overcoat?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Yes, Miss!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Mr. Tramp left me with an overcoat -in his hand, looking like a proud Mayor -of Tokio, my uncle was coming from Mrs. -Heine’s.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Uncle, you do want to be good to a poor -man, don’t you? You have made yourself a -great philanthropist with your overcoat.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What have you done?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I presented it to a tramp.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Morning Glory!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Never mind, Uncle! I will buy a swell -coat in New York. You have some more, -haven’t you?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“It cost me forty yens at ’Hama. You -really are a foolish girl, Asagao!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>(Asagao is my humble name in Japanese.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I kissed his hand most pathetically—in -fun for my part, of course.</p> -<p class='c014'>22nd—My superstitious Mamma!</p> - -<p class='c009'>She mailed me an o mikuji from the holy -box of the Akiwa god.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The number written on the slip was fifty-one. -The divine will read as follows:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Faith in the Well-God will result fortunately.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mamma bade me make my prayer long (not -mixing it with any laughter whatever).</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wondered whether there was any well -around here.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I explored. I came across one (such a -doubtful well) by an apple tree.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I hastened to my cottage to cut a paper -flag.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poet gave me one cup of claret for the -Well-God.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sat by the well.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What did I pray?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I pried into the well for the fin of a fish. -Well without a funa fish isn’t holy to a Jap -mind.</p> -<p class='c014'>23rd—Uncle left the Heights for Frisco.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have encountered somewhere one picture, -“Stolen Kiss,” symbolising sweetness.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I dare say the sweetest thing in the world -is to steal into a gentleman’s room and over-turn -his things.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The gentleman smell is provocative.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I can only say that he is more desirable -than an old woman. Old woman is sad as a -dry persimmon.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I stole into his room.</p> - -<p class='c009'>God will overlook my petty crime—how -lovely to be scratched by guilt!—in consideration -of the fact that a Jap girl never profanes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I turned his pillow. Pillow is a fascination -for me ever since I have read of a poet who -hid his diary under it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Look at the book, “A Random Note!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was working to beat me with his journal, -I derided.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I sat on his bed, opening it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How original!” I exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Uncle, you are a cynic, aren’t you?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Let me pick a few pieces from his pen!</p> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<p class='c009'>“Unfortunately! Japanese are accustomed -from babyhood to depend on another’s back. -The hereditary fashion of nursing the baby on -the back has thoroughly taught them dependence. -Independence is only a coat of arms -to distinguish man from the beasts—that is -all. I urge that Emerson’s essays be adopted -in the Nippon schools. His ‘Self-reliance’ -should be the first of all.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Most unhappily! I have observed the -Japanese fad in America for years, and it has -not yet reached its culmination. Each month -the books on Japan are placed before the public. -It is verily sad even to cut their edges. -(The practical Americans prove themselves -unpractical in leaving the leaves of books -uncut.) I say that our Japan is entitled -to regard for worthier things than geisha girls -or a fashion in bowing. We should decline -your love, Americans, if it is rooted merely in -your fancy for our paper lanterns. I have -frequently come to conclude that Americans -are eminently the freakish nation. I feel not -only occasionally that they lack the reasoning -power. I do not assume the phenomena of -the yellow journals as my proof.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“A year or two ago, one Japanese theatrical -troup roamed. They are not catalogued -at home as actors. They chose to skip on the -stage, simply because a bit more money is in -it than in the calling of ‘lantern-carrying for -politicians.’ Any wild animal can skip. I am -now confronted with the question whether -American generosity is not without sense. -They piled up their money for them. Even -the first-class critics struggled to find out something -from such poor art. I am bound to be -thankful, however, for the Americans saved -these poor players from bankruptcy in Japan. -It reminds me of a story. Our Nippon government -many years ago appointed a certain -loafing sailor as an English instructor, giving -him a monthly pay of three hundred dollars. -Sailor with an anchor-tatoo on his hand! -Three hundred dollars are no small coin in -Japan. Our sailor professor said, I am told, -that he had not heard of any Milton. Ignorance -can easily be a philanthropist, if it can be -anything.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Japanese love Nature? They do. But -how sad to glance at Japanese garden! It -is painful to notice the dwarf trees. Japs never -permit one thing to grow naturally. Country -of deformity! America, most natural, most -manly nation!”</p> -<p class='c014'>24th—My uncle didn’t come back yesterday. Mr. Poet condescended to the town.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am alone.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I spent the entire forenoon with Grandma, -peeling potatoes, strewing sweet pea seeds on -the ground.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I ascended the hill with the root of a white -rose—believing in the Nippon idea that blossoms -for the dead should be white—and set it -by the grave.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I stole into the canyon.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I amassed the dead leaves of redwood by -the brook for a camp-fire.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The smoke rose like a soul unto heaven.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I watched its beautiful confusion.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When I left, a snake obstructed my path, -flashing its needle of a tongue.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Snake, one of my greatest foes! (The -others being cheese and mathematics.)</p> - -<p class='c009'>I turned pale.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But I bravely faced it, hoping that it would -speak a word or two, as one did to Eve. I -placed my eyes on it, though in fear. Perhaps -it wasn’t as intelligent as the one in the garden -of Eden. Maybe it thought it nothing but a -waste of time to address a Jap poorly stored -in English. It crept away.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I ran down the hill.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A storm of laughter struck me from within -when I came to my Willow Cottage. I examined -it from the window. Half a dozen -young ladies were biting pie. (Pie! Rustic -pastry I ever so hate!)</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Picnic!” I murmured.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My blood gushed up. I was on the verge -of denouncing their irruption. The cottage -belongs to any one, I said in my afterthought, -as it does to me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I slipped away.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I found myself in the plum orchard with a -hoe.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I began to root the weeds. I waited silently -for their departure.</p> -<p class='c014'>25th—The spring hills were coquetting like a tea-house maiden, singing:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The air is lovely like wine;</div> - <div class='line'>Come, Lord! Come, Lord!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The curtain for the spring comedy has not -yet risen.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Already the picnic band invades.</p> - -<p class='c009'>To-day I will make myself mistress of a -hillside coffee-house.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poet—the eternally sweet poet—hastened -to borrow a tent from a neighbour.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He set it on the greenest spot of grass before -my cottage. I must excuse his conceit, -he entreated, in showing his skill by baking a -cake for me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Accept my hundred arigatos!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I bowed demonstratively.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I pasted a paper—such a bashful brown -piece from a butcher’s table—with the sign of</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>“BISHOPS’ REST.”</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>The poet tacked “Ten Cents for Coffee -and Cake” on the fence by the tent.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The cups (what a shame that their arms -were all off) were rinsed, when he showed me -an imperial poundcake, declaring it his own -manufacture.</p> - -<p class='c009'>At three o’clock I was fully prepared for an -honorable guest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The coffee on the oil-stove was surging, when -two parties went by, not spending even one -look at my sign.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Times are awfully hard, I think. People -have not luxury enough to spare even a dime,” -I murmured sadly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I said that I would have no business, if I -didn’t make the next party my victim.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I appeared before the tent, when a few -girls—who were born for laughing, but not -for thinking—came close by.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Will you rest and taste the cake that the -poet made, ladies?” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“That’s nice,” they said, rolling into the -tent.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I served them with coffee and cake.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Is this surely the poet’s cake? It looks -like baker’s cake,” one girl said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Mr. Poet assured me it was of his own -making,” I replied in cool reserve.</p> - -<p class='c009'>After they left, I scrutinised the cake. -Oya! A little bakery mark was seen.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Mighty liar!” I grumbled.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Abrupt clouds clouded the sun. The winds -scolded bitterly. I decided there was no -business remaining.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I called Mr. Heine and uncle into the Bishops’ -Rest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Your cake was fine, Mr. Poet.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I know it, Miss Morning Glory. I’m a -pretty good cook, you see. I cooked once in -a Sierra camp for fifty miners. I was paid -twenty dollars a week. Alas! It was the -biggest money I ever earned.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“By the way, Mr. Heine, the bakery sent a -bill for you.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I placed before him a slip that I had prepared -for the purpose.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Ha! Ha, ha, ha!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>His open laughter was as from a simple -Faun.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I noticed, afterward, a black mass heaped in -a ditch. The whole situation grew plain to -me. He couldn’t bake, but only burn, in the -oven, and had despatched his neighbour for the -cake.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dear Poet!</p> -<p class='c014'>26th—We pressed the poet to receive some money as just a sign of our gratitude.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mr. Heine despised our thought.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Honourable gentleman!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I found a tin box. I put the money in—ask -me not how much!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I dug a hole by the willow tree beside the -lily pond, and buried the money box. I tumbled -a stone over it to mark it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’ll write him about it from New York. -See, Uncle! Isn’t it unique?” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Uncle wasn’t enthusiastic in approving my -idea. He couldn’t check me, however, as the -money was mine.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He said he would order an elegant vase -from Tokio.</p> -<p class='c014'>27th—I intended to keep a sweet fashion of old Japan in presenting a poem at my sayonara.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We will take leave to-morrow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>O gracious graceful poet abode!</p> - -<p class='c009'>My farewell poem in seventeen syllable form -is as follows:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Sayonara no</div> - <div class='line'>Ureiya nokore</div> - <div class='line'>Mizu no neni!”</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Remain, oh, remain,</div> - <div class='line'>My grief of sayonara,</div> - <div class='line'>There in water sound!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>28th—Mrs. Heine kissed me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dear old Grandma!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Do you know what this is, Miss Morning -Glory?” the poet said, plucking a leaf from a -tree by his door.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Fig-leaf! Isn’t it?”</p> -<div class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i236.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p><span class='sc'>My Sayonara Poem in Japanese Autograph.</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<p class='c014'>“Yes, my child! It is a fig-leaf. Do you -know the fig tree? It is the shyest tree in the -world. Classical tree, indeed! It has no -blossom, being so modest of display, but it -has the fruits. Remember, my young lady, -its teaching of ‘Modesty! Modesty!’”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Sayonara, Mr. Poet!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“One minute, Uncle!” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I ran into the Willow Cottage to get a cupful -of water. I watered my friend Miss Poppy -with love.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bye-bye, little girl!</p> -<p class='c008'><span class='sc'>San Francisco</span>, March 1st</p> - -<p class='c009'>Civilisation again!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The first thing was to buy a cake of the -best soap.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Because my hands had perfected their transformation -into worthless leather while I dwelt -on the hill.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What kind of soap did I use, do you suppose?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Laundry soap.</p> -<p class='c014'>2nd—Delightful Ada!</p> - -<p class='c009'>We drove to the Cliff House, Ada to laugh -at the stupid song of the seals, I to say my -adieu.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Good-bye, Pacific Ocean!</p> - -<p class='c009'>We cried in hugging.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We shall not see each other for some time,—maybe -never again!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Ada!</p> - -<p class='c009'>O Ada San!</p> -<p class='c014'>3rd—This afternoon!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Eastward, ho, ho!</p> -<p class='c008'><span class='sc'>Overland Train</span>, March 4th</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Madame Butterfly” lay by me, appealing -to be read.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“No, iya, I’ll never open! I erred in buying -you,” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I dislike that “Madame.” It sounds indecent -ever since the “gentleman” Loti spoiled -it with his “Madame Chrysanthème.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The honourable author of “Madame Butterfly” -is Mr. Wrong. (Do you know that -Japanese have no boundary between L and -R?) Undoubtedly, he is qualified to be a -Wrong.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Authorship is nothing at all, nowadays, -since authors are thick as Chinese laundries.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Well, still, it can be honourable, if it is honourable.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Japanese fiction penned by the tojin!</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is a completely sad affair. I wonder why -the author (God bless him) didn’t fit himself -for brooming the streets instead of scrawling.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The characters in his book—I am grateful I -see no lady writer of Japanese novels yet—remind -me of the “devils of mixture” swarming -in Yokohama or Kobe, whose Jap mother was -a professional “hell.” It is lamentable to set -the verdict on them that they have inherited -the art of framing lies from their mamma.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Do I vex you, gentleman, when I say that -your Japanese type could only be an unprincipled -half-caste?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Your Nippon character eyed in blue, and -hairy-skinned always. Isn’t it absurd when it -puts a ’Merican shoe on one foot and a wooden -clog on the other?</p> - -<p class='c009'>And if you insist on registering it as a Jap, -I shall merely laugh loudly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>One heroine I have read of placed a light -summer haori over her heavily padded mid-winter -clothes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Your Oriental novel, let me be courageous -enough to say, is a farce at its best.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oh, just wait, my sweet Americans! A -genuine one will soon be offered to you by -Morning Glory.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I stepped out to the platform, and threw -out “Madame Butterfly.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poor “Madame!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I trust in the mountain lions of high Nevada -to cherish her lovingly.</p> -<p class='c014'>5th—</p> -<p class='c019'>“Matsuba Sama, the following letter creeps -‘under your honourable table.’</p> - -<p class='c020'>“How is yourself?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I imagine that the breeze fills your bower -with the odour of ume flowers. I am definite -in saying that the Japanese ume is of different -origin from the California plum tree, which -has no expression in divine fragrance as I am -told. I see your indolent face in the air, -awaiting poetical inspiration on your bamboo -piazza where the ume petals are beautifully -blotched.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“There are several months yet till we shall -quarrel face-to-face over the superiority of -English or Oriental literature.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Miss Pine Leaf, I—or rather we—have -said farewell to Frisco.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“It was sad that I never saw any battleship -(excepting one shamefaced gunboat) in the -bay of the Golden Gate. A bay without -battleship is like a door without a lock.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Can you fancy any Japanese city without -soldiers?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“American soldier?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I am sorry to say that I have met no soldier -in my four months at the Pacific.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I presume that the practical Meriken jins -can’t bear to see such a useless ornamentation. -Yes! Soldiers are degenerating, in my opinion, -to the rank of a fireplace on a hot summer -day. How stimulating, however, was the -sound of the fearless hoofs of a cavalier! -When the sabres of a regiment flashed in the -sunlight, I could never keep from fluttering -my paper handkerchief.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I shall not excite myself in such a joy in -Amerikey.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I made the acquaintance of one colonel at -Mrs. Willis’. He is a jolly business man. -Just think of a colonel plus merchant! Is it -possible? He changes his white shirt every -morning, and shines his shoes twice a day. I -should say that he will carry a sheet and opera -hat, and leave his gun behind, whenever he is -summoned to a battle-field. Possibly he has -hidden his colonelship in his trunk.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I found afterward that every old gentleman -is a colonel or judge.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Everything in California is made for just a -woman.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“California gentleman isn’t privileged to -raise one question against a lady. He is provided -with all sorts of exclamations to please -the woman. If he should ever miss one dinner -with his wife, he would be divorced in -court on the morrow.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Uncle says that the Eastern gents are not -so devoted to the lady.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“If it be true!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Am I now entering the city of Man?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“How sad!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Have you any experience of writing by the -car-window?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I feel a strange delight in scanning my romantically -tremulous handwriting. A certain -famous Jap penman takes wine before he begins, -for the sake of putting his mind in a fine -frenzy, as you know. The shaking of the car -produces in me the same effect. Isn’t this letter -great enough to be honoured on your tokonama?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Can you ever imagine how vast Amerikey -is?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Yesterday our car ran all day long, over the -mountains and prairies, seeing only a few huts.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“O such a snowstorm in the evening!</p> - -<p class='c020'>“The train rushed like a maddened dragon. -It was verily an astonishingly ghastly spectacle -as any human thought could ever picture. -I thrilled with a feeling of tragic ecstasy, which -is the highest emotion.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Can you recollect that you and I once -stood under the darkest rains without an -umbrella, and laughed hysterically?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“I love shocking emotion.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Since I was touched by the continental air, -I measure my lungs dilating two inches bigger. -How sorry I shall be for you when I return! -You are so tiny! I expect myself to -be five inches higher within the next few -months.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Amerikey is the country where everything -grows, don’t you know?</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Even the stars look a deal larger than in -Japan.</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Looking back at the Rocky Mountains,</p> -<p class='c027'>“Yours,</p> -<p class='c032'>“<span class='sc'>Asagao</span>”</p> -<p class='c014'>6th—The rocking of the train makes us -babies in the cradle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The car is a modern opium resort, where we -sleep and sleep.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I shouldn’t wonder if we all turned into -nodding Rip Van Winkles.</p> - -<p class='c009'>To-day I had a sleeping contest with uncle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was defeated.</p> -<p class='c008'><span class='sc'>Chicago</span>, 7th</p> - -<p class='c009'>Chicago water is a perfect horror.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Gomenyo! That’s no way to begin, is it?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I never waver in saying that California girls -borrow their fairness from their water.</p> - -<p class='c009'>There is no question in my mind why the -Chicago women—certain hundreds I saw, if -you please—are barren in their complexion.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“O Uncle, how many days have we to tarry -here?” I asked, within an hour after we had -set foot in this city.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I grieve over my contact with such a city. -It is no place for a lady. (Is here any lady?) -It is just the place for a man.</p> - -<p class='c009'>No show marked “Only for a Man” is respectable, -I dare say.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Are Chicago men “gentlemen?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>They are not sensitive about their hats in -the hotel elevator. The laundry work isn’t -superb, I judge, as not every one’s shirt is -snowy as a San Franciscan’s. I cannot -blame their black finger-nails, as they live in -smoke.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Even the Frisco smoke hindered my breath -at my opening moment in Amerikey. I should -have died, if it had been Chicago.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bodily cleanliness is the first chapter in the -whitening of the soul. How many mortals are -there here with a clear soul?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Chicago is Mr. Nobody without the smoke, -like Japan without a fan. The prosperity of a -modern city is measured by the bulk of its -smoke, Morning Glory. But I don’t approve -of their using a cheap coal. Health has to be -guarded,” my uncle said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A driver carried us from the station as if we -were pigs.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Mind you, this is Chicago illustrious for its -hams.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I barred my ears with my hands in the carriage. -The thunderous noise menaced me so.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Do roses blossom well in the turbulent air?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I have no doubt that Chicago has no poet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Cook County fosters three thousand poets, -one paper says, my young woman,” Uncle said -in laughter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t say so!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“As soon as I had established myself in the -hotel, I inscribed—with the longest apologetical -ojigi to Mr. Shelley—as follows:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Hell is a city much like Chicago,</div> - <div class='line in1'>A populous and a smoky city.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>8th—How sad I felt, not to be greeted by -even one star from my hotel window last -night!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was disgusted with the poor taste of the -coffee. Such a first-class hotel! Coffee -and maxim, I have said, should be of the -very best. Commonplace words with the -golden heading of Maxim would be as cheap -as a negress with white powder. I would -choose even a bread pudding rather than a -suspicious cup of coffee.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Uncle failed to secure a box of cigarettes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The most delicate shape for smoking is the -slender stalk of a cigarette. The cigar ever -so much impresses me as barbarous. Chicagoans -might say it was the only manly -smoke.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Truly!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Chicago is the City of Man (whatever that -means).</p> - -<p class='c009'>I’m glad that the young gentlemen with -genteel canes under their arms don’t open any -cigar-stand conference here. Such an abomination -in Frisco!</p> - -<p class='c009'>No drones, whatever.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle was going out sight-seeing with -me in a silk hat.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I objected to it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Plug hat doesn’t suit informal Chicago.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He changed his frock-coat for a sack-coat.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Now, Uncle, you look more like a Chicago -gentleman!” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Yes, this is a plain sack-coat city.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was fussing with a handkerchief. I said, -laughing: “Never mind, Uncle! I am sure -the men don’t carry it here, since the women -never carry a purse in their hand.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Isn’t it awful that one (even a stranger) -ought to know everything in Chicago? A -slight question to the street people would be -condemned as a nuisance.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Even the policeman shows no chivalry.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I was sorry that the colour of his suit was -bitterly faded.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Isn’t Chicago rich enough to furnish a new -one?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I suppose many dogs must be hanging around -here, because the policeman arms himself with -a piece of wood for chasing them off.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I should like to know if there is any blacker -house than the City Hall.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It will be a matter of a short time before the -Chicago River turns to ink.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then we went to observe the Lake of -Michigan from Lincoln Park.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I scoffed at my absurdity in being ready -with the first line for my poem on the lake. -If you knew that “O minstrel of Heaven and -Truth!” was the beginning, you would laugh -surely. The lake wasn’t a huge singer like -the Pacific Ocean, at all.</p> -<div id='i248' class='figcenter id012'> -<img src='images/i248.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Drawn by Genjiro Yeto</i></span><br />“<span class='sc'>Uncle. please count how many stories in that building.</span>”</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>“Uncle, please, count how many stories in -that building!” I begged.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Chicago structures “crush my little liver” -completely. Did I ever dream that I would -eye such pillars of the sky in my life?</p> - -<p class='c009'>When I returned to my hotel, I declared -that I would not open my trunk, because my -everyday dress was good enough for Chicago.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I regret to say that the gentlemen are so -homely.</p> -<p class='c014'>9th—How dear is the green crispy paper -money.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a historical look!</p> - -<p class='c009'>It made me feel as if I were at home.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I hated ever so much the gold coin in -California. Its threateningly mercantile aspect -made me shudder as at a speculator of -Kakigara Cho of Tokio.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If I like Chicago it must be on account of -its soiled paper money.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will exchange all my gold to it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I went to one store for a short skirt like -that Chicago woman wears.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It may be a change, though shortness in -hair and dress is my aversion. It may be advantageous -in showing one’s shoes, though -eternal exhibition isn’t tasty.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It would be an accurate account of my reason -for buying to say that I singularly wished -to use up a few jumbles of money.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I dulled myself reading the advertising bills -through my hotel window.</p> - -<p class='c009'>There’s no block free from them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>’Vertisement!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Isn’t it horrid?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I laughed, wondering why those enterprising -Meriken jins don’t employ the extensive -backs of prizefighters in the ring.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Uncle and I went to see the Injuns dance.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How fantastically they sang!</p> - -<p class='c009'>There was a Japanese tea-house.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is no “tea-house” at all. It was the saddest -thing I ever saw.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought that Chicagoans were not fastidious -with anything.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Any old thing will do!” they might say -jollily.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Open, hard-working Chicago!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Has she much education?</p> -<p class='c014'>10th—My uncle wanted me to join him in -visiting a stockyard to see the doomed pigs -groaning, “Fu, fu, fu!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I declined.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Uncle started off alone.</p> - -<p class='c009'>There was some time before I heard someone -fisting on my door.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“A Japanese gentleman wishes to see your -husband, madam,” a hotel attendant addressed -me.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Good God! My husband?” I cried.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Satemo!</p> - -<p class='c009'>How could any porter be such an ignoramus -as not to distinguish between Mrs. and Miss!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Possibly he esteemed me “modern” enough -to marry an old man for money’s sake.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oya, he was Mr. Consul of Chicago.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Walk in, sir! Uchino hito will return within -an hour or so.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I explained about “my husband.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>We both laughed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>There is nothing more pleasing when in an -alien country than a chit-chat in our native -“becha becha.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Japanese speech!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Such a beautifully indefinite, poetically untidy -language!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I love it.</p> -<p class='c014'>11th—It would be too much of a risk of one’s -life to stay in Chicago.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Good-bye!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Flowerless, birdless city, sayonara!</p> -<p class='c008'><span class='sc'>Buffalo</span>, 12th</p> - -<p class='c009'>Niagara Falls was a disappointment.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Uncle says I have still to learn how to be -appreciative of things.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A red brick chimney by the Fall spoils the -whole affair, I do think.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My uncle was cross, saying that he had eaten -the toughest beef of his life.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He seized two Canadian dimes and a bogus -half-dollar in an hour.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Poor Uncle! Isn’t this Buffalo town awful?” -I said.</p> -<p class='c008'><span class='sc'>New York</span>, 13th</p> - -<p class='c009'>Miss Morning Glory has stepped into -Greater New York, at last.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Thirteenth of March, 1900.</p> - -<p class='c009'>To-day will be the special day of my family -history.</p> - -<p class='c009'>My entrance was delightful to the full.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The train stole gracefully into the city at -early morn. The sky was distinct like the -lake of Biwa. The respectable face of the city -accepted us charmingly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I bounced my little body in my happy -thought of another chapter of life.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I felt like Dante crawled out of darkest -Hell, after the torture of the terrible show. -(O Chicago!)</p> - -<p class='c009'>Our kind Japanese consul of New York was -looking after our arrival with a carriage.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I saw a horse-car trotting.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It encouraged me to think that even an ignorant -Jap girl might find her own living here, -since such an old-fashioned thing exists perfectly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I secretly fixed in my mind that I will adventure -my independent life when the crisis -demands.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Our carriage rolled up Fifth Avenue to -Central Park.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How often had I imagined laying me in this -celebrated ground!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Pray, let me off to smell the smell of the -New York breeze!” I exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When I was stationed on the third floor of -an edifice on Riverside Drive—what a brisk -name in the world!—which was Mr. Consul’s -home, my bubbling fancies hastened down -with the waters of the Hudson River under -my window.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Hudson River?</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is my dear old acquaintance, introduced -by the ever so pleasing Mr. Irving.</p> - -<p class='c009'>See its classical profundity before my face!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Where’s “Sleepy Hollow,” I wonder!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The spectacle of the river reminded me of -the Sumida Gawa of Tokio, mirroring the -clouds of affectionate cherry blossoms which -border its bank. It would be a remarkable -idea, I thought, to petition the Mayor of New -York for the Japanese cherry-trees to parade -on this side of the Hudson. When they are -in flower, I will open a tea-house under them, -of course. My attire as a mistress should be -a little red crape apron to begin with. My -head will be wound with a Japanese towel to -endow my Oriental eyes with certain better -results. I will raise my voice, calling, “Honourable -rest! Honourable tea plucked by the -choicest musumes!” What a novel!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Romance!</p> - -<p class='c009'>How can I live without it!</p> - -<p class='c009'>In that case I must entreat the removal of -the characters on the other side, which are:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Lots For Sale!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Because I don’t see any such unaristocratic -sign by the Sumida Gawa.</p> -<p class='c014'>14th—O snow, yukiya fure, fure!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The season of the city is still within the -fence of winter. I was grateful to my fate -that conveyed me here to overtake my loving -snow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I settled me by my window in absorption -with the snow view of Hudson Gawa.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How busily the snowflakes fall!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Their cautiously silent hurry made me -recollect the drama of the China-Japan war. -How stealthily the soldiers marched at midnight! -Can I ever forget how I tugged my -shoji, crying “Victory, Dai Nippon!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I raised the window, stretching out my arm. -I collected the snow-petals in the hollow of -my palm. I tasted them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Uncle, New York snow is as deliciously -savoured as at home,” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Central Park must have been artistically -attired.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Oji San, let us go to the park for snow-viewing! -I advise you to till a bit more -poetry in yourself, Uncle,” I announced.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I began to change my dress before his -decision.</p> -<p class='c014'>15th—We went to the famous Brooklyn -Bridge.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Verily, New York gentlemen are interested -with their papers in the car. Newspapers, -O newspapers! There’s no slip of a doubt -that they would die without the sight of their -newspapers. The unheroic part about them -is that they forget neatly to offer their seats -to a lady. Woman loves an absent-minded -man once in a while, but never on the car, I -do say.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I suppose every woman of this city has to -be rich.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Must I equip a carriage?</p> - -<p class='c009'>I do not see why I could not win the first -prize with my Louisiana ticket.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How I wish to fabric an every-inch-a-Japanese -mansion on Fifth Avenue, and welcome -a thousand tojins to hear my Jap song on -Sunday!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Is this bridge built for Americans or -Europeans, Uncle? People crossing here use -no English,” I said.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Liberty Statue!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will let the Beauty statue hail from the -Bay of Yedo, when I am wealthy enough to -afford it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Doesn’t Nippon signify beauty?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How dear is that sign, ‘Beware of Pick-pockets!’ -It makes me just feel as if I were -at Shinbashi station in Tokio, doesn’t it you, -Uncle?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Humbly humble ’rikisha men!</p> - -<p class='c009'>If I were besieged by them imploring me to -take a little honourable ride, the scene would -be complete.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I miss such a merry car in Amerikey.</p> - -<p class='c009'>We walked down Broadway. We came to -a graveyard.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Tombstones in the midst of commerce!</p> - -<p class='c009'>O romantic New York!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I wondered how Wall Street gentlemen -would be struck glancing at them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What a soft silence hovered!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The old Gothic Church was my own ideal.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Uncle, let us fall in and rest!” I cried.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The morning service was proceeding.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Alas and alas!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Not one soul was there.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Is this a religious city?</p> - -<p class='c009'>The inside was compact of heavenly purple -air. Mr. Bishop—whatever he may be—gestured -like another being from a loftier realm. -A beautiful boy (there’s no greater fascination -than a boy with a prayer-book) supported the -service. Intangibleness of speech is itself a -divine charm.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Will you mind asking Mr. Bishop whether -he wants a sweeping girl? I wish I were -given just a chance to clean such a holy church, -uncle.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then I looked up to Mr. Secretary.</p> -<p class='c014'>16th—It seems to me a recent style that -New York ladies discard their babies to leave -them in the hands of European immigrants -(very likely they want them to learn an ungrammatical -hodge-podge, as respectableness -is old-fashioned) and accompany a dog with -mighty affection.</p> - -<p class='c009'>O my dear “chin” that I left at home!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Shall I call it to Amerikey?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Little loyal thing, pathetic, clinging!</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am sure it would beat any other in a dog -contest.</p> -<p class='c014'>17th—I never saw such hungry eyes in my -life as those of an organ-grinder, set upon the -windows for a dropping penny.</p> - -<p class='c009'>To an artist they would hint of a prisoner’s -bloodshot eyes numbed by useless gazing toward -the light of the world.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poor Italians!</p> - -<p class='c009'>They don’t know one thing but turning the -handle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The last two days they placed their organ—read -their sign, “Garibaldi & Co.”—under my -apartment at the same hour for my bit money.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I thought one of them might be a grandson -of the renowned Italian patriot. How interesting -it would be to be told of his shipwreck -in life!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now three o’clock.</p> - -<p class='c009'>There’s one more hour before their frolic -music will gush.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I must wrap some money in paper for them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>God bless them—simple creatures who work -hard!</p> -<p class='c014'>18th—Mr. Consul—an old man who sips the -grayness of celibacy—never strays out from -his official duty. He calls society and novels -two recent pieces of foolery.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The family of Uncle’s intimate is off in -Europe.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The possibility of a nice time for me is verily -illegible. Tsumaranai!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Last night I sketched an adventure of enlisting -in the band of domestics.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Capital idea to examine a New York -household!” I said, when I left my breakfast -table.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I humbled myself to a newspaper office with -the following shamefaced advertisement:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Jap girl, nineteen, good-looking, longs for -a place in a family of the first rank.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>I used every kind of oratory to bring my -uncle to agree to my two weeks of freedom.</p> -<p class='c014'>19th—Two letters were waiting me at the -office.</p> - -<p class='c009'>One from No. 296 of a certain part.</p> - -<p class='c009'>296?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Unfortunately it sounds like “nikumu” in -Japanese, meaning hatred.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And the other was from Fifth Avenue.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Parlour maid.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Twelve dollars for a month.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I shall accept it, since it is the proper quarter -for seeing the high-toned New Yorker.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I feel already a servant feeling.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I am sorry that I didn’t discipline myself -before in dusting.</p> - -<p class='c009'>I will style me an honest worker for awhile. -“Toiling for my daily bread,” does ring an -American sound, doesn’t it?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Domestic girl has no right, I think, to sit -with Messrs. Consul and Secretary,” I said, -moving my dinner plate to the kitchen table.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Morning Glory, isn’t it time you changed -the book of your diary?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Really, sir!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Let me close now with a ceremonious bow!</p> - -<p class='c009'>My next book shall be entitled:</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>“<span class='sc'>The Diary of a Parlour Maid.</span>”</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div id='i262' class='figcenter id013'> -<img src='images/i262.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c005' /> -</div> -<p class='c009'> </p> -<div class='tnbox'> - - <ul class='ul_1 c005'> - <li>Transcriber’s Notes: - <ul class='ul_2'> - <li>Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. - </li> - <li>Typographical errors were silently corrected. - </li> - <li>Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant - form was found in this book. - </li> - </ul> - </li> - </ul> - -</div> -<p class='c009'> </p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The American Diary of a Japanese Girl, by -Yone Noguchi - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN DIARY OF A JAPANESE GIRL *** - -***** This file should be named 63256-h.htm or 63256-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/2/5/63256/ - -Produced by ellinora, Barry Abrahamse, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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