The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1878-10-03

honors it with his approval, SAID rama
ko.
"It is impossible to be sufficiently
respectful to you," said Nobutaro.
How shall I dare to persuade myself
of what you say ?" said Tama-ko.
"Well, well," said Nobutaro, making
a grave obeisance and Withdrawing, "I
have not treated you with sufficient dis
tinction."
Tama-ko, less ridgidly cynical than
Nobutaro, did not conceal from herself
the Joy which this interview afforded
her. All that she had heard of the
agreeable Nobutaro was abundantly veri-
fed. And she discovered, too, graces
and attractions of which she had not
been warned. "But alas" she said to
herself, she loves not women, and each
day strives more and more to harden his
heart against our inferior and unprofit-
able SEX"
Nobutaro feared to admit the sus-
picion that his fancy had been touched.
He resisted with much coldness the inn
putation of Iriye Ichigoro.
"Ah. Nobutaro," said that good
natured friend, "the refreshing Tama-ko
has inspired you once more"
"Acute Iriye, this time you are wrong.
If, now, she had the gift of silence with
her other visible advantages, there would
be something to talk about"
"Noble cousin" answered Iriye,
"you are always sensible and we'll
informed, but this time you are also
very absurd. Her language is the Ian
guage of purity and evident propriety." I"
"I do not like the language of the
woman at ALL" said Nobutaro. "Better
a speechless daughter of the yeta than
the fairest and richest of the loose
tongued kuge."
"Estimable Nobutaro, you have too
much ginger in your temper"
"Very well, Iriye, only shall see
the beautiful but talkative Tama-ko no
more"
sob, Nobutaro |"
Precisely, my Ichigoro. AS she
dazzles the eye, so might she confuse
the understanding. In time she might
| destroy my principles and compel me to
endure the female tongue. No, Ichi-
goro, my resolution is not to be unfixed.
Remember that restless tongue is one
of the five causes allowed by the phi
| losophers for divorce"
When Tama-ko heard this, as she
very speedily did, q gloom came like a
vail Of chirimen over her face, and she
expressed tear, as round and as pure
as the most priceless of the jewels of
which she was the namesake. Then it
was observed by her family that she
sank iuto revery, out of which she
emerged an hour later. smiling and con-
tented.
Two days after, the court circles of
Kioto were convulsed with the intelli-
gence of sorrowful calamity. The
beautiful Tama-ko, during visit of
duty to the temple of 4<iomidzu, had
thoughtlessly ventured too near the
edge of its perilously exposed platform
and had fallen, not, fortunately, from
the EXTREMIST height, but from an ele-
vation sufficient to injure her in gen.
eral way, but principally in the region
of the head. For two entire days her
condition was deemed dangerous, ac-
, cording to report, but then her we'll.
organized constitution triumphed, and
she began to recover. One startling
misfortune, however, clung to her. She
had lost the power of speech forever.
When Oshikoji Nobutaro heard this,
he was agitated with mingled sadness
and delight. He could not overcome
his qualification on finding that no i'm
pediment need now oppose the progress
of his affections and yet the conviction
of bis supreme selfshness was at times
| too bitter for him. But one thing, at
least, was clear. It would no longer be
possible for him to forego the presence of
the beautiful Tama-ko.
So, as soon as the circumstances of
her recovery would permit, he sought
an interview, and communed with her.
The language of her eyes told him all
that he most wished to know, and he
was thoroughly happy in her oral iu-
competency. Tama-ko was happy too.
| For many weeks their course of COM
panionship ran swift and smooth, and
all Kiotos nobility smiled sympathetic
and complacent. By day they were
never parted, and each night tender
chants, expressive of hopeful passion,
sustained by the throbbing koto, re-
sounded in the dell which lay contiguous
to Sanio no Nishi's garden that lovely
dell which in all ages has been the
moonlit resort of artist and poet where
the river rustles in harmony with happy
thoughts and the snipe sings soft en-
couragement to youthful hearts.
soBUTARos sERENADE.
| There is a maiden.
| There is little maiden whom love.
| Her name it is easy to utter
The night winds are always breathing it in my
| ear.
Something has been telling it to me all the
night.
But who shall convey the extent Of her
| beauties,
| Or the graces Of her mind?
To others she is frigid.
But to me she is as the moonbesm, radiant and
She is exempt from the ordinary weaknesses of
Her piety is the theme Of admiration among
| all classes.
Her virtues are SO lofty that they reach the
| stars.
She reads all the sacred books and knows them
| by heart.
With strong moral principles she immingles a
cheerful spirit,
And her rich black hair is involved in unctuous
gum.
Numbers Of costly ornaments shine in her hair
They shine like clusters of stars relieved by a
| jet-black sky.
/ Soft silken scarfs encircle her throat;
Oh enviable soft silken scarfs.
A radiant satin obi, Of princely dimensions and
incalculable price enfolds her waist !
Oh enviable satin obi Of princely dimensions
| and incalculable price.
Her countenance needs not the additional glow
| of paint;,
| And her neck scorns the inferior luster of DOW,
| der.
Her form is enveloped in many colored marveli
! of millinery
And her petticoat is embroidered with hun.
| dred butterflies iuttering among flowers