The Red Cloud chief., 1883-06-15
JAPANESE

Probably in no country in the world
a there be found such. a wealth OF
folklore. fairy tales and legends rs in
Japan. and the existence of these crea.
tons of the fancy is quite in keeping
with that gay, light-hcarted character
which has won for the inhabitants the
title, among many Others. of ..rhe
French of the East" The study OF
Japanese fairy tales is especially inter
esting to US, because in them we are
struck with the very strong resemblance
to u W m st popular nursery le-
gends. Cinderella, Jack the Giant
killer, Valentine and Orson NAV be
found exactly reproduced by any one
who will take the trouble t. examine
the quaint paper-bound volumes which
strew the mats Of every Japanese house
where there are children, and rs il has
been proved beyond doubt that the
origin of most of our tales is to be found
in the East, whittier they came together
with our chemical nomenclature and our
system Of enumeration, there seems no
cause to laughat the idea that originally
they may have come from Japan, espe-
cially when we remember that ..west-
ward the course Of empire takes its
way"
The stories which follow have been
chosen for their dissimilarity from any
thing in our language. and. although
capable OF being appreciated by people
OF mature years as well as BY children, are
translated from a curious old volume
which the writer picked up in a by
street of the city of Yeddo, entitled "A
Hundred Lessons in Virtue for Youthful
Minds" A literal translation has been
impossible. owing to the innumerable
puns. bubbles and eccentricities which
abound in the original text, but its sig.
ni6cance has been faithfully preserved.
One story is entitled:
INARI's JoURsEY.
The great fox-god. Inari. once deter.
mined that he would make 3 journey
through the city to find out where true
honesty and goodness existed. II was
a bad age of crime and corruption.
Civil wars tore the heart of the fair
island; the rich plundered the poor; the
poor could get neither justice nor repa-
ration; mems minds were sfiame with
avarice, and the sun shone on IS foul a
scene Of deprayity as it had ever seen
since the days Of the fifth great Deluge.
The first place that Inari visited was
the counting-house of one Of the great
est merchants Of the city Of Yeddo. AT
any rate" he said, Il shall find fair
dealing and honesty here, for this mans
junks foat on q hundred waters, his word
is % good IS . bond, and his name is
by-word for uprightness and integrity"
He took up his figure in the shape of
. cObweb in corner of the sample
room. The tide Of customers and mer-
chants flowed in and out; the money
into the Golfers; the clerks were
busy with pen and scroll; but no one
saw what Inari saw. His he Art smote
him to see the tricks of trade and the
practiced; the chests of tea
were filed with colored leaves and dust
sweepings; the bales of silk we're weight
ed With false materials, and their con-
tents dyed with false ~colors; lacquer and
bronze manufactured in the next street
were sold q the veritable production Of
old times; the very scales used were
lalae; the entries IN the scrolls were
lnlse: and the stories told TO the Gus
were false. The next day the
whele city was thrown into . state al
IN tefnaiion ct the news that the great
I'm had filled, and that the head part
~ had gone sway one knew whither.
IL Raxt journey Il TIE sod WAS to