The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1888-09-20
A JAPANESE LEGEND.
The Ancient Story of the Old Bamboo
Hewer's Adopted Daughter.

One Of the best Of the early stories
Of the japanese is the ''Taketori no
Okina no Monogatari." or, as trans
lated by Mr.. Victor Dickins and pub
lished under the title Of The Old
Bamboo Hewer's Story The under
lying ideas in it are obviously Chinese,
but the treatment bears the impress OF
a more imaginative race and, told in
the words of Mr.. Dickins. it becomes a
graceful and interesting story. Of the
bamboo newer little is said and no
hint given of the hidden virtue which
marked him out as a ~favorite of the
gods. But just as the glory of Buddha
appears only to the eyes Of the faith
full on the bosom Of the mists which
spread over the valleys beneath the
mountain temples of the god, and the
relies which to ordinary mortals have
the semblance of dusky beads shine il
the sight of devout believers as lus-
trous tear drops. so to the pious bam-
pO' lI'Ntl tllpIf " sa ltNNulNb III IL
heart of n bamboo stem Il shining
light accomplishing a lovely figure Of
a tiny infant.
With reverent care the woodman ar
ried home the child. who grew into a
maiden Of such surprising loveliness
that all the mobiles in the land sought
her in marriage. With her presence
came fortune TO her protector, whose
only dread was that the time would ar
rive when he should lose the delight of
her society by her marriage. But to
his JOY he found that she was as unwill-
ing to accept the homage of her suitors
as he was to bestOw her hand. Five
of her noble lovers. however, so per-
sistently urged their suits that she had
recourse to the ~expedient which in
fairy tales Of all nations is invariably
adopted by unwilling brides. 70 each
she set a task as difficult to accom-
plish as numbering sands and drink
ing oceans dry"
The first she sent in quest OF the
Holy Grail, the sacred begging bowl
Of Buddha: the second was ordered to
bring and lay at her feet a branch
from the tree whose roots are of silver,
whose trunk is of gold and whose
fruitage is of pure white jade, which
grows on the sacred mountain of Horai;
the third was commanded to present
her with a fur robe of the pelt OF the
hame-proof rat; from the fourth she
required 1.-The rainbOw-hued jewel that
hides its sparkle deep in the dragons
head" and the fifth was charged with
the search Of the cowry-shell which the
swallows bring over the broad sea
plain.
1t is needless to say that n and all
failed to fulfill the required conditions.
Meanwhile the Mikado heard of the
beauty Of the maiden, and, like the
Kings in the German forests, the Rus
sian wilds, and the Indian mountains,
he, under the pretense of hunting, ap-
preached the woodman's cottage and
succeeded in catching a glimpse of the
lovely form Of the Lady Kaguya. Sc
enamored did he become of the vision
that he besOught her to share his
throne. But no better did he fare than
the other lovers, and was fain to put
up with an occasional letter in reply to
the missives which he constantly des.
patched to the woodlands hut. A,
length the Lady Kaguya announced To
her protector that TIE time had come
for her to return to her home in the
capital of the moon, whence she had
originally descended to earth. And,
though on the appointed night d
strong guard was posted round the
house by order of the Mikado to pre-.
vent the flight of the maiden, a troop
Of heavenly beings, escorting a chariot,
descended through the air and bore
away their prize to her celestial abode.
London Athen9um.
The Oldest rose In the world Is a