Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-07-05
THE RIVER GOD.

kami Sauna was Il river god who
owned shrine in the corner of our
garden lot; Yano, small heather OF
10, the youngest and brightest OF my
Japanese d0meSticS.
Was the day too hot for my stately
cook to risk the bespattering Of his
lacquered clogs and immaculate tabi'
(SOckS)? Then Yano was sent 10 do
the shopping and marketing.
When the pretty housemaid, Suga,
happened to lose any Of her relatives,
which she did frequently, and always,
by Il strange coincidence, on the eve of
some great matsuri GesuyaD, Yano
was brought in to make beds and wash
dishes. The gardener made him fill
the goldfish pond and weed my foreign
posies. If anything was lost YanO
lost it. When Il cup appeared minus
the handle, IanO was invariably the
culprit.
He was IA general scapegOat as well
as drudge among the servants, and
when called into my presence to an
SWer for some mlSdemeanOr, which,
i'll all probability, he had not commit
ted, he attempted not the slightest
excuse, but would fall prone to his
feet, his jetty, close-cropped head upon
the floor, and his hands spread pigeon
tOed before him in such a touching
manner that my heart always melted
at the sight.
| think that the little rascal strongly
suspected this weakness on my part
there was such a knowing fash in his
small, shining eyes and he raised his
head to thank me for my great elem
ency and mercy, and he could scarcely
wait until he got outside Of the door
before bursting into one of those
strange, quiyering, falsett songs of the
Japanese peasantry which express for
them lightness of heart
Although YanoS incidental duties
were legion, he was originally engaged
to amuse Q Alan San, and sleep on the
floor of his little room at night. O
Alan San was the one Juvenile mem
Der of our small family, a fair haired
boy of ), Yanos sole defender and
admirer.
Some weeks after our installation in
this quaint SatSuma home, l was
strolling about the spacious grounds,
with Alan and Yano at my heels, when
1 discovered in neglected corner a
small and ancient shrine. 1t was of
gray stone, lichen-covered, and about
three feet high. Its scooped and
pointed roof surmounted Ia hollow
curb of stone with creScent-Shaped
windows at each end and two deeply
chiseled Chinese letters on the face.
1t seemed to me too groteSque and
ornamental to be left i'll SO remote a
spot, so l called Inosky, the gardener,
and by dint of pigeon-EngliSh and
many gestures, made him understand
that l wished it taken to the front
garden. | gave it a quick little push
to see if it was movable, when Yano
fell on his knees before me, clutching
upward at my sleeve to draw my hand
away, His round face was green with
terror.
"Okasan! Okasanr' he cried in sort
of hoarse whisper, "Kemi Sama! Kor-
oshimashor' He struck himself on the
forehead and threw back his head,
with closed eyes, to simulate death.
turned, in bewilderment, toward
InoSky. He, too, was pale and agi-
tated. He pointed to the shrine, then
to the front garden, and, shaking his
head, said earnestly, 'tShoshi mo deld
masen," which being literally inter
tod 40 +
little"
That evening l learned from an in
terpreter the cause of their terror.
l had, unwittingly, been guilty of
one of the most deadly sins, that of
violating a shrine. The peasants of
Japan implicitly believe that the Of
Tense is punished by instant death;
hence the terror of the servants.
Each spring, brook or river which
flows in that land of poetry has its
deity, and must possess at least one
shrine, and the one which l had dis
covered was placed there hundreds OF
years before in honor of a little spring
which crept down the mountain be-
hind our home. Until we came it had
trickled contentedly among the ferns
and camphor roots, but now it was led,
in underground bamboo pipes, to a
broad, shallow we'll in the rear of the
kitchen. This situation in itself, must
have been narrowing to the feelings of
a water god, so l decided not to cast
further indignity upon him by making
a toy of his little temple, and soon for
got all about the affair.
1t was months and months after
this that l began to notice a change in
Yano. He no longer startled me with
sudden outburStS of unmelodiouS song:
he moved more slowly about his end
less tasks, and his bright eyes were
fast losing their sparkle. He neglected
nothing, but he seemed to have lost
all the young joy living which had
first attracted me in him. Even the
delightful task of catching for o Alan
San the big yellow mountain spiders,
which were favorite playthings with
japanese children, had lost its joy,
and in his daily role of highway rob
Der in the bamboo hedge, I noticed