New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-16

"A HISTORY OF JAPANESE L1TERATU,hn1Eo r 1s
" G. Aston or 6 e. tes at Toxic s1O PIP,
i xi. 4oe b. Appleton Co.
: This hook will satisfy natural and at pres
sent very lively curiosity among western reao-
fers We know what the japanese are ooins TO-
day. putting themselves In the van or cNiizeu
nations. We are most OF us eager to know what
their modes OF thought are and have been IN
the mast. Mr.. Aston cannot put us all at once
IN possession of the information we desire the
barrier of language is too great. and the very
texture OF Oriental intellect is such as TO be-
wilder en- alien student. But this book. the first
popular history of japanese literature TO be
published in English, paves the way for a
clearer and more sympathetic understanding OF
the subject We may say at the outset that rev
students are ever likely TO read Japanese books
for the sheer pleasure of II until the lire OF 'he
empire has been amagamated with the nle
OF the world at large as 10 make It's natlVe IN
terpreters active citizens in the Republic Oh
Letters which knows national boundaries'
yet II is probable that even the most cosmo-
politan writers OF Japan in the next century
will bear traces in their work Of the old tradl-
tons which Mr.. Aston illustrates by skliiui
analyses and copious citations.
Thus our historian observes that "a feature
which strikingly distinguishes the japanese
poetic muse from that of Western nations Is
certain lack of Imaginative power The Japa-
reese are slow TO endow inanimate objects with
life" The highest level attained by the classi-
cal literature OF the country is marked by n
rovel THE CENT Monogatari," written by a
woman at the beginning OF the eleventh CEN
tury named Murasaki This author, Mr. Aston
Tells us. somewhat resembles Samuel Richard
son In her work. She realist. painting
the men and women OF her day exactly as she
saw them II anything dramatic entered into
The wool Of her story il was there matter Of
course not because she bad any desire to
achieve a sensational effect. She eschewed IN
lher style the redundancies Characteristic of
1ater Japanese literature. When she was or
nate It was simply because the customs Of her
country we're themselves complex. and called for
O certain eaborateness OF diction. ITO a Japa-
nese" SAYS Mr. Aston. 1T would he simply
ishccking 20 say that a Mikado has breakfast
Ire sugustly degns to partake OF a morning
meal and so on" Accordingly, beneath the
'ecmetmes howery language Of the Genjl Mono
,eatari there flows clear stream Of human feel
ing revealing TO the careful reader the traits
and deeds Of veritable men and women. Mr..
Aston makes several extracts from MurasaN,
but We prefer TO quote more cOncisely Illus
trative OF The old japanese way Of writing a
shonagon a woman who is ranked by her coun-
1rymen with the novelist to whom we have just
alluded. We may explain in passing the title
Of this book. The author was a ady-in-wait-
fng to the Empress who offered her one day
quantity of paper. which the recipient remarked
would do nicely for pillows Then Sci Shona-
eon exhausted the fair sheets jotting down
upon them the ideas and fancies and incidents
that occurred TO her at odd moments. This is
what she says of an exorcist:
What pity 1t is TO make a priest OF child
whom one loves How painful ii must be to
have TO regard as so MANY bits Of stick the
things which are In life the most desirable
Priests have to go TO bed after meal Of
wTetched fasting diet. and are blamed II, when
young. they much take sly peep into
places where there are attractive girls. The life
Of exorcist priest Is particularly hard What
dreadful experiences he must have on his pill
Frimages to intake Humane and all the other
sacred monasteries, Even after he has gained a
fame for JUNCTION and is sent for on all occasions
his very reputation is a bar 70 his repose. What
labor IL must he to drive out the evil spirit
from the sick man he is In attendance on. And
Yet II he dozes little out Of sheer exhaustion
he is promptly reprmanded and told that he
does nothing but sleep. How embarrassed he
must feel
Before we leave the PILLOW Sketches we
must lay stress upon the fact that they and the
"Genji Monogatari" were written by women.
Mr.. Aston tells us that women produced very
large and important part Of the best literature
OF Japan. He ascribes this not only 10 the con-
tempt Of the men for what they regarded as the
frivoty Of writing poetry and romances. but to
the fact that before the ascendancy Of Chinese
sdeas in the country women constantly bore a
conspicuous part in the life OF the community.
We have alluded TO the imaginative limitations
Of the Japanese authors. These sometimes
cause prolixity the writer meardering through
49,. o1cI
s,fostered methods Of concentration. Some of
s1helr poetry for example is extraordinarily con-
else There Is a tale OF lover separated from
mis- mistress and gazing with intense melancholy
upon the place where they were accustomed to
Sneet. Finally he sings:
Moon9 There is none.
SPRING. 'Tis not the spring
or former days:
II is / alone
Who have remained unchanged.
AS Mr.. Aston says. a Western writer would
nave based a sonnet on the motive Of this lyric,