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. fect rows of white tee!
BY ELWELL) PIOKARD & CO,
: 44 Exchange Street.
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Bie Sallepenilent
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iterature, Srience,
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- PORTLAND, MAINE, AUGUST 25,
187% 0.
ie VOLUME XLI—-NUMBER 21.
. Griginal Pacey. -
‘Written for the Portland Transcript,
», LINES.
‘Hoars have gone arkt hours are going,
ote them are bat
‘Tides are ebbing, tides are fowing—
Temuiueth trae,
‘You and I here oft have wandered,
lone:
Now I wander here
On the past 've often pondered,
‘To my thoughts oft given tone,
Sometimes, when I was unbeeding,
T have caused your heart di
‘You who ever used me kind
Now tha nino-onpshralts no longer,
sha the stronger
‘er your love forg
HT. G.
tar Story.
From “All the Year Round.
THE FORTUNES OF NARA.
AN OLD JAPANESE STORY. IN TWO .CHAP-
TERS, Ci BT
In the old days of feudal Japan, power | on bi
was ever built on fregeherous ralee to aed
A man Ww:
himself famous, could not cate with
his fame
8
g
&
5
g
EE
28
wo
5
5
&
a
Ty ‘people hitherto
treated by them as slave!
‘Thus it was with the great house of Na
ra. Possessing one of the vastest yash-
this, oF palaces, ia the ei holding the
unbounded confid he empe
pillars'of the State, the family had for
centurion governed with princely rule in
wSadenly the political wind veered.
The chief was accused and found guilty
of dangerous Hlottog, Fightly or wrongly
state; the family was
raced, the chief committed eeppuka, ‘hal
is, disemboweled himself aevord to cus:
the family blotted out from the political,
Bistory of the da
So Bisjamon, the young heir of Nara,
found himself thrown on the world. IIe
was, when the blow fell, in the full vigor
of his youth, fearless, chivalrous addicted
Dearing contempt for
min the
Characteristic of the Japanese noblesse of
al generous, orem:
d and accomplished . He
that isto say, he could rend
and write the Chinese characters; could
ride bis horee iont _Linehing 2 the
ivalrous accomplishment of using an
17.86
Tt was hard for him to leave the com-
forts and luxuries of his courtly home,but
it was a keener pang still to part with his
Kai Side-by-side ‘with the fair
figure, and her delicate ‘bands. and feel,
which ranked her high amongst the beau-
ties of the day, and which had complete-
ly won the heart of the young prince of
Nara at a river-party.
She was acort of kinswoman of his,
and t the aristocratic world ot Yedo looked
upon their union anged aituir,
ie {he cloud burst over his house, and
as obliged to depart yrithout even the
pile of bidding her farew
social vocals, 80 | but
quently men of good family, or who had
seen better days, dashing, careless fellows
who owned but little law and not ve
of religion butt their unscrupulous
sted hia, 0 he had
ry | alone, but side by side with a
he beheld Kaimiri, as she was when he
wooed her, young, beautiful, and gay, not
man who
treated her with the formal respect of a
wly-wedded husband. Ia the dream
effort which in his rage he made ‘ claare
the Satradee 0 the ground, he a
3
5
door to door old Japanese ‘Songs and. ro was but a dream, but it had left “the vivid
mances to the chords of his guitar. inprstons ot seta ity upon
he resolved more firmly than ever’ to ais
By degrees his skill as a ‘tinstzel bee
gan to be spread ‘abroad ‘ amongst. the
pleasant little villages which form the
within two
Bashi, or Bridge of J
old haughty splat would rush to his brow,
he fate which had
tient to half-cducated boors aad petty ro:
ral land-owners. Tis hand vol-
satay clutch the hilt of the “Manat
word—a family heirloom—whicl
ways carried half concealed eesti the
folds of his garments be would think of
the fair Kaimiri, wonder where she was,
and build we ail ion of castles in the air,
and than b ee ould rest upon
,on iis coarse blue cies
3
4a
3 t
Present there was wanting
three years he pursued hie wandor-
inge. Fortune had dealt lightly with
him, and he had contrived tosave a fe
hundred riyos; his living for the present
was secure, but his future remained blank,
and his mind would often wander back to
the happy day when he met Kaimiri in a
gondola at the great festival of the biess-
ing of the river Sumida—when beneath
the moon they exchanged their first love
vows, and ni was yet perceptible
on the horizon ‘o aim theis future, happf-
ness, Was she still thinking of him
he was of her, or with the fall of prosper
ity had her heart changed?
‘Yet he had almays trusted bers and it
was so foreiga m that she
was other ‘tan trae, tbat te ould shud.
der at bis own suspicion
It was early summer, ‘snd theto was a
Samaat the village of Yoji,
miles from the city.
most remains of old romantic Japan have
about tree
w, wh
with all the attributes of a
Japanese pleasure-making, it was espec-
ially beautiful. Groves of many. tinted
trees hide the village from the traveller's
view until he is within a few yards of it;
on festive occasions inkling
and ‘invested
ing hucksters set up on eith
road for a full half mile before reaching
i
it.
On three sides of the village rise mass-
08 or deeply wooded hills, jumbled togeth-
in the: eonteston peculiar to the hand of
ature in Japan; a panorama of the cit
of Yedo and the surrouniting counteys
pounded in the distance. by yam
range of mountains with tremomnses Fu-
ji, forms the fourth side. The village it-
self is small and unpretending, but dar-
ing the festival ot Toara is as gay and ani-
a tow!
Bo
Hither the yous prince of Nara wan-
dered in his usual guise of a strolling
player; after having ‘paid his devotions to
the shrine of a god, he strolled amongst
the rows of tea Sans and booths, tuning
the strings of bis of
Sod hero a *0 dear to Japanese
tars, Prom some he got a hand-
ful of c
vited to partake of rice, fish and wine as
iy | a reward for his minstrelsy, now he would
request of sot
Ki
g
from ‘nes ‘one crawl in
had enabled him to play aud sing more
than correctly, but the feeling with which
he had ispired his verues was artifln
cad ahmonent the gay laughing face
ato im, he was ever sckng e few.
tures seat hie ‘aarling Kaiti
Wearied at Jength, bavig tearped and
ver, by a faithful pie he sent | sung for some! hours bens ie relent-
her a letter—tied in f cherry | less sun, whicl onde spe med bam-
se her with his fate, and | boo hat in keptot a 5 hrobing head,
betler times.
necessaries, ‘ond ed in plebeian garb, he
set forth to combat the world,
‘For some months he joined a band of
eg
sank down on the bench of a more r
mote tea-booth, vealled for some wine, and
gazed on the scene,
Fatigued and dazed he soon dropped of
into a light sleep; his day thoughts
Ronins, or wandering adventurers—fre-
moulded themselves into hia dreams, and
festival ‘in honor of the rustic deity Inara | “P
either been swept away, or spoilt in the | There
| sraceful form, the
It
thee dead or departed int
1a
cover his old Tove, or die in the attempt,
He sat up, dazed, and hovering between
the two worlds of dreamland and truth,as
men do who have, been suddenly awaken-
d ep. It was evening, and the
majority of the folk had left the scene of
the festival
merry party still Jaugbed and sang around
the wine cups, whilst pairs of Tovers seat-
tered about declared vows and exchanged
cemeaces beneath the bright cold rays of t
the
Suey theft motos ota mal known | *
w
air fellon h called
- | back vivid rcolictions oe the happiest
part of bis old life, an air which he had
never heard but from the lips of one per-
son—Kaimiri. ’ ,
ni
¢ was the quaint,’ pathetic lament of
the Princess of Senda he cout not mis
take the tou itar, and t
voice, though more tremulous than of ou,
mini. i
th is owa profession,
wandering f rom tea-house to tea-house,
and gathering here and there rei
one shape or another. Eagerly he strain
ed Ma e7ot 10 catch a gllmpoe of the per-
former, und when at length he discerned
te veritable Kaimit of old, disguised in
fe gown and broad-brim-
thed hat of ho miustvel clas, bie eect
beat as though it would
passed, still rocco vlaging ‘he ou
lament, he would have leaped forward to
embrace her, “put he Checked himself aud
resolved to follow her, and doolare him-
self in a less frequented plac
One by one the High i te teachouses
disappeared, the sow
fainter, anda! last ceased ttogetnors ‘the
pairs of lovers bad ‘wandered. away,’ and
he was alone within a few yards of her
on whom for the last three years his
t had been centered. He
adly and slowly take her
rds the shrine of Inara,
&
ing aside the bamboo hat and guitar, bur-
t, ‘
ee the. padl ott St ied her face in her hands and sobbed as
aaana the Leceliest season of the. yeur, | 2'Y Women caa sob in keen, deep agony.
prayed—it
was for him—and in the clear moonlight
he could trace every well-known feature,
but how sadly altered! - ‘There were the
tresses of raven hait, escaped from their
bonds at the unloosening of the hat, the
white hands and ‘eet;
but the sadnsss of the face, the great
brilliancy of the eyes, the sharpness of
“| the features, betokeued that the woman
he saw before him was not the Kaimiri of
old, happy days.
Tie could withstand no longer, and as
sho turned to depart, issued from his am-
bush behind * rage bronze lantern, and
stood before
Seeing a snags ds orm, at eo weird a
time and at so desolate a place,she started
back, and pulled the bamboo hat over her
eyes; then she recognized her love, and
sprang towards him with a great cry; ina
moment they were locked in each other’s
embrace.
«“Kaimiri, my own old love,” were the
first words that Bisjamon could utter af-
ter the emotion of this sudden meeting;
“the darling of long past days, is it indeed
thee whom I embrace after these years
of sane aad wandering?
But sh lent.
«Speuk, Raimi, ree at thou still
true tome, and have the gods designed
that we should thus meet ever to part
again??
wl the -ansrerad not for some mo
e raised her head, and
ged into! his face and said:
on, thou are indeed in my
e of old times,but—
and ho trembled as she paused; “{ thought
to a far-distant
nd, and in an evil hour I yielded to the
soft words of one whom I call husband,
and who should acknowledge me aa wife.
The gods alone know what [ have suffer-
et at his hands; how, Mer the first gash
e
5
5
a
3
his wife, and as we h:
must part. , Yet think not that I hath de-
coived thee. The goia are ever kind to
those who carry into their worldly actions
gq
€
arts aud henest consciences. Fare-
well, Bisjamon, think not of me, but
for home; here and there al
ward im | wi
w | tion, I may eny
strive a be worthy of a better and nobler
33
‘Ere! te could embrace her for the last
time, she bal disappeared into the black.
nes of the tebe be
ong time stood gateanced byshe
svittness and tudes of the
for vision it seemed yet to hi
real event. ‘Then sighing deeply, he wan-
dered away, he kuew not whither.
veer after ( the events narrated in the
tna chapter, the pelitioal world of Japan
again underwent one of its erioioale con-
vulsions, and the house of Nara
store xed fe its ancient aflluence and owes
Bisjamon led @ lowly but in-
dependent life, and se little seraction did
court life in Yedo hold out to him, now
that be had lost Kaimiri, thathe preferred
x entirely deserted him; he felt
that Kimi was fodeed bis s by right, and
could not believe that the cloud now hang-
ing over their fortunes was never. to be
dispelled.
> He was praying one day at a little vil-
lage temple, with his eyes bent on the
ground, when he spied amongst the dust
and weeds at his fect a golden hair-pin,
such as are worn by ladies of qualil
a
=
Japan. He picked it up, nud. exam 1g
it, eaw engraved thereon, ia manta Chi-
nese characters, the name Kai
gold. But, like a t
superstitious, fad regar
© | as a good omen; 80, placing the pin in his
wallet, he waged fe ervently for the grace
and help of the gods, ith
t cheerful heart on bie wy, vening,
as was his wont, he hated ata little may
ide tea-house, and sat amongst the
Arymen who were dvivking, smoking, nd
gossiping after the labors of the day. It
was rarely that he joined in or even lis-
to the conversation of those with
whom he was brought in contact during
his journeys, but the talk now bazzing
around hie interested him, inasmuch a:
i was about the revival’ of the Nara
family.
Sail one sturdy tiller of the rounds
with his hoe in one hand and a square
ooden measure of wine in the other:
“These are indeed strange times. This
month last year, the Nara palace was de-
serted, and the name never mentioned.
Denkichi, the . fish-seller, (old me this
moraing that he passed by the gates, that
in the olden
that
men were busy in all aeetos rain
and patching up the walis and
roofs, which had been sui ert fl into
decay since the disgrace of the family.”
“That is very true,” reioarked the vil-
lnge mazon, who, pordered with profess.
ional dust, had just joined the group.
“But they say there is tome diffeulty.
‘The old prince committed Hara Kiri at
the news of the family disgrace, and the
faiher's denth aud of the family disgrace,
he went away and_has since not been
heard of; consequently, although the fam.
ily is by right in possession, there is no
one in person to claim, the chieftain.
ship.
Ab, but,” added a third bystanders “x
hora that he has turn and th
will be invested. with pon
Newton
‘At these words, Bisjamon started | s0
suddenly, that the notice of the host was
attracted, and he eaid: “From your
emotion, sit, it would appear that you are
interested in the matte er. Pra ay, have you
heard anything about
mmered B sj on, “I know
nothing about it, exeept ‘that the. young
prince is said to have died some years
since, and that the preset claimant’ can-
not possibly be
“And how i “you assert that?’? said
the trio at once.
was
prince,” replied Bisjamon, Mand I helped
If he ha
him to esea pin diag a in-
deed power, ho would have
return
y | surely remembered me, for I was his most | old
constant attendant, and, saving his posi-
that we were brought up
together.
Spat rejoined the. host, “men who
have received benefits when in need of
thom, too often forget their benefactors
hon they rise above the necessity of re-
ceiving them.
rr the fu-| gay
d| which road he should take.
e
in the service of the young | i
Startled by the news, and fearing to
commit himself by joining further in the
discussion, Bisjam thdrew. to the
self in the quilts, he resolved that
would take immediate ection, for preferr-
might his humble wandering
life to the glittering Sue ce of @ go
per to wield the sovereiguty of the house,
and to occupy the seat honored through
oontuztea by the great aud noble men his
ivas the dawn broke through the open
casements’on the next day, he rose, left
the tea-house, and was soon well on his
road to the capital. At mid-day he enter-
ed the great Shinagawa "Gate, the stones
of whioh still remain, although the gate
itself with its towers and walls lave long
since gone the way ot most relies of feu-
Sapan.
‘The bustle aa saimation of Yedo was
vey ach, greater. tha an ak presents
led there
ian ite, snd sedan tain hook,
up all r at Ww pied
the thro onge ota laughing eehatning how
ing, _geaticnlating ped
was it since Bisjemon tad “edged mie way
and pushed amongst the crowds of a great
city, that amidst this scene of confusion
He'soon lost himself, and stood gaping and
x
7a
wondering in the very centre of the street,
't| jostled and sworn at by the passers- 3,
is a) chaffed by Pannen fan
wits’-ond as to
At length he
ventured to a common wite-house, at the
door of which stood the customary group
of loafers and jie fers, and asked the road
to the Nara pi
ho Nari etna? said a huge square-
shouldered fellow, gitt with two swords,
ant rustic, and fairly at bis
is ‘no more like the court of old times than.
id it merely
was the custom, and not that
he had any liking for it; and what with
the women and the mountebanks he gath-
ers here, the place resembles rather a-
rt, | buge fair than a school of chivalry and
honor. Hoa Nara! Not a bitof it”
“As for taking an interest in his follow-
ers,” said athird, “he teats us like dogs;
and, if we were all to be’ palsied to-mor-
row, would merely give orders for fresh
mon to be enrolled, without. so much as
enquiring after our welfare,”
they growled, and Bisjamon saw
that the seeds of disaffection thus deeply:
sown would not! need much fostering t-
ripen into open , rev Ady.
dreampt that the hapny © omen soot the ‘ind
ing of the hair-pin was on the point of be-
ing fulfilled.
One bitter winter night, whon all was
the silence of slee;
shed a flickering glare over the apartment, .
revealing the forms of his sleeping com-
rades, and glancing brightly against be
armor suspended on the walls.:
midnight, and mot a sound could be heard
but the steps. of the. sentinel on guard an and
the baying dog. He
dozing off, wien he ‘heard the aiding
screen of his apartment gently pushed
aside; starting up, he seized his sw
mn
espied through the opening a and hold-
ing a piece of paper; ho could see that
the hand was smal tad ‘Te feminine, but no
more, for th ped, the
hand immediately tna n, aud the
4 or shut ai
Loe
Opening the paper rh read as follows:
and having the appearance of a man-at.| _,““Bisjamon, in two hours the dreams
“ 5, of the last five © years of your life will be
arms, what on earth cartios you there, | Of se Bee ihe a ne lifes |
mon, d, “in seal
doubt. Well, tne new prince is beatin;
up recruits, and as I ama retainer,”’show-
ing the crest of chequere whit was the
Nara badge, “for a ou ine I will
guide you ‘There myse
So the wine was dered, consumed,and
isjamon ‘found himselt
as a sworn fightin;
‘The next morning vg he was formally pre-
sented to is new master, and so great was
his anxiety to see the had
dared to claim headship of tho greathouse,
that he coula soarooly buckle on the girths
arm nelt before the
, tow wrowed, ‘il-faced man, in
ig were
his position;
band of retainers standing round there
were but two or three who had served in
the old days; and he resolved to bide his
time, and received the customar;
ad address with as much good grace ashe
ce mms
§
328
thre
er, and pen formed his duties with a res-
and precision which gained for
tint fe esteem even af the usurper bine
He had, meanwhile, won golde
enone from all his. fellow-retainers by
yy, pleasant manner, and his various
arked
born an
Meanwhile, the acting p
secure, as he thought, in his newly-gotten
gain, Dogan to display his character in its
peevish, passionate,
a debauchee in
aheont in Japan, ai
repro men of wen station to hold
orgies w night after night, and to Deglect
business in the pursuit of pleasure.
polluted by the crowds of profligate rev-
ellers who nightly disturb the whele quar-
ter around with their drunken orgi
“No,” added another; “and the court
a deeming it best not to awaken his
arges | #
ths he served his new | #
ere was no signal
ever to the authorship ‘ot the cqisttey “the
6 8
jecture, for the women in the palace were
either favorites of the prince, or wives of
he retainers, with nove of whom was be
even on speaking acquaintance. How.
the dressed. himeelf. and. waited,
coms
panions, but totrusttochance. Anxious ;
ner his hopes and dreams were to be real~
ized,
‘The night, which ta now haa been se-
rene and calm, beg
rough, ‘empentuons ‘sy, the sind ‘howled
round h the old buildings,
shaking the: frall shatters as though they
were pine branche, and drivi
against rn
and opening 1!
that the mala puldieg of the yashil
a other fire-bells took up
was aroused,
gh the gates poured
the fire brigade with theis ensigns, en-
gines, battering-rams, ladders and hooks,..
eader i
for, although them man was
a bound himself by ‘the
feudalism could
frame to serve hi With thie ob-
ject in view, therefore, he ran towards the
lock, and would
ame time observed that the other re-
tainers, clad in full war costume, were
i progtess. of the
ate men, driven
goading to assert their independence, in a
not con aldered fiendish in those
roughandready de day
refected “That amongst the re-
who were still
vm the many ere
fare, and ‘who would have fought for