Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1871-12-28

ER B, 1871. aal
cites Of saints, and sucli sacred ami.
mails as the crane. ,stork, tortoise, and
the fantastic Corean dog.
"Next to the master pieces OF
bronze and porcelain, tho triumph Of
Japanese industry is IN the fabrica-
ton of furniture and utensils Of lac
quered wood. Such is the talent
with whic'. the native artisans utilize
1.-THE Incompatible Japan varnish, the
produce of tho shrub which bears
tha. name; such Is, their skill in com.
fbining its effects with the resnlts Of
their decorative art, that articles of
furniture constructed OF material
which Is almost valueless finally riva!
in beauty and almost in durability,
those which we make of marble and
precious metals. The ebony work
ers OF Yede initiate works IN oil lac.
quer 20 closely that only an cxpe-
rienced eye can detect the difference.
In the interior decoration OF boxes,
cabinets or caskets Of modern taste,
lhey generally use lacquer of a brown
color, aprlnkied with gold. On the
outside tho lacquersis uniform, either
rcd, brown or black. with ornameni
tai drawing IN two or three tints.D
,,l sApAxEsr coxcEsrs.
"Metricsl romances and legendary
songs are lett to the women, who
gain their bread - singers and musi-
clans. They form very numerous
class;E but only the intenor artists
lead an entirely nou.adic kie. We
generally meet then. very respecta
bly, dressed, under the verandahs OF
the tea-houses, or in . sort Of porta-
bic booth In the more freqaeas62
gardens there are payilions which
seem to be specially constructed for
their. .use, often actual bowers OF TO-
liages and flowers, formed by the
magnificent trees which abound in
Japan. camellias and maguolias, paul
ownias and wisteriaS, edy gE4a
"The most distinguished singers
only appear in company with three
or foar musicians, and do not them
selves perform on any instrument.
The orchestra which accompanies the
pieces they offer, whether recitations
or songs, consists of one or two
samsins, or guitars, species of NO
loncello, played with OF, without a
bow, anc . dulcimer with nine
strings. ~ ,ttT Ia.ssoi no
Zone evening when we ha1 attend 4
ed . concert Of musicians, ! said to
bur yakounalns. on the way home,
that I regretted not being able to'un:
derstand the words of theiF natiehal
[baiiads. They assured NE, s&isingt
and, ,shrngxing tlleir shoGldsrss that ]
really loSt nothidg.,, Ono. ot them,
nevertheless, politely added that col
lections OF the songs and legends
chanted a. the YEA a-hodses could be
obta,ued at she book storesin The
clty.S commissioned .. courier to
buy, me what he could find. and ! bad
reason to believe that he faithfully
executed my orders, for he brought
me whole libsary Of stories, anec-
dotes and ballads. Most Of them be-
ing, illussr,ted, i was mot di@cnlt for
| me 70, recogaixe tle most popular
! subjects. sa s;iii la. asi@tnc .sr
"They ware ,principalt1 heroic ex-
ploiss, Of the most astonishing and lnar
pcssibis character. But it weald be
dificatS to give on ides ofthe moro
fantastic legends. The merit Of the:
latter, which are expressed in -ysry
| bret poems, seems to cepsist in tlse
choice Of expressions, 10 The :erncii
tuse Of the verse; in 2 word, ln 90,
straos elegances ofstylc. for the trans
lasion very often gives something to-
tally trivial, with no significance
whatever. nfs.sr.s. ksya-t..a ri .r4
aFor. example. what can be the
point Of the following T. The soul Of
q very, thievish weasel was hidden in
the kittlo of IN old priest. The lat
ter saw it issue therefrom, one day,
when he had exposed the kettle to .
hotter fire than usual. This is all.
and this stuff is the subject Of one Of
the fayorite pictures OF the people" /"
faa * JAPANESE RoMANcE.
Our cosmopolitan age, 90 eager
tor commercial outlets. will also 20
ouire new sources 'ot intellect lual in
terests. Our European literature
will lose nothing bv itsulng from Its
somewhat restricted horizon. Al
ready the contemporary poetry Of Ger
many has been enriched with many =
level drawn from che inexhaustlble
stores Of Persia and India; but the
extreme Orient Is still an untouched
mine. From the littlo that has been
given to the world, take the follow
ing Japanese story. which is quoted
by . Dutch author, Dekke-, in his
Max Havelaar':: s.si sH s
THE STONE CUTTER. :
Once upon q lime there was in ia
pan q poor stone cutter, . simple
workman in tho quarrics, His life
was rude, ne WORKED mucn, Galnc0
little and was not at all contented
viii, his fate. .
20. if | could only be rich enough
TO rest, to sleep on thick mating.
wrapped in q kirimon Of soft silkr
| Such was the sigh he breathed 10
heaven. An angel Interrupted 1t.
ut shall be according to thy desire,
said the angel TO- him, Aud be at
| once became rioh, and hc rested.
slept upon thick mating, and wrap
| ed himself in . kirimon of soft silk. ].
1t happened that the Emperor
passed. BY, He was preceded by
heralds on foot and on horseback,
followed BY brilliant escort Of cav
H.. 1>.S sur~DnuAo1 ev marianne