The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-07

From the Chicago News.
That curious commingling of The East
and West which centers in Lafcadio Hearn
is seen at it's best in his recently publish
ed volume. In Ghostly Japan" BY birth
Irish, Greek. American and French Mr..
Hearn is a japanese by adoption, and IS
the lecturer on English literature in the
great imperial university at Tokyo. He
speaks with an authority hardly gained by
any man from Europe or America in re-
spect of the real life of the japanese pc D
pie, and in his book there IS nothing which
shows his understanding of them better
than his translation of the proverbs in
common use among the Buddhists of the
island empire.
Since all the religious in the community,
both men and women shave the head in
token of their VOWS, proverb runs to the
effect 1T is better to shave the heart than
the head a simple version of a sentiment
hnding root In the West as well, that con-
duct is better than intention, or a bad
creed and a good life to be preferred to a
good creed and bad life. To the direct
contrary. however runs this: zone must
so outside to hear the true doctrine or
the rain on straw roof" By this it is in
tended to show that the world, with all its
greed and passion. must be left if one IS
to perceive the highest spiritual truths. A
wise commentary on the futiliiy of human
intentions lies in the simple statement,
Meeting is only the beginning of separa-
alton No sermon on human nothing
ness could be stronger.
Many of the proverbs in English have
their japanese counterparts-a thing true
of all peoples having proverbs enough to
permit collection. and the best of proofs
that all mankind is at heart the same.
Children crying for the moon" becomes
in the land of the Aikado Like monkeys
trying to snatch the moons reelection on
w for ha IND a,
almost the same, lone blind man leafs
many blind men A common remark in
America to the effect that a
lonely man welcome the wag
of a yellow dogs tail becomes
Even in he'll old acquaintance are
welcome" a two-edeged saying since it
calls TO mind the familiar Misery loves
company" Shakespeares gliding refined
gold and painting the lily, or the epitaph
Keats wrote for himself, My name is writ
in water" is in Japanese ITO inlay ice;
to paint upon water"
a real humOr runs through others of
these bits of misunderstanding their
word ''gah,' meaning stupid or inefficient,
by our vernacular term, "chump" a pleas
ing result is reached in Even gaki can
made crowd" A single line, Like a lot
of blind men feeling a great elephant"
tells long story from the Avadanas about
a number of blind men who, stationed at
over what it was they had found, the man
at the leg saying it was a tree the man
at the side calling it a wall, the man at
the trunk certain it was a snake and he
man at the tail sure he had a rope in his
hand.
Shakespeares 1.-THE evil men do
lives after them, the good is oft
inferred with their bones" comes
out almost idenucally in Good
actions go not outside the gate;
bad deeds travel thousand miles" The
tongue is an unruly member; see how
great matter a little fire kindleth" of the
scriptures appears in The mouth is the
front gate of all misfortune" So Mil
toms They also serve who only stand ami
watt and the even better known, An
things come to him who waits" are, in
japanese, IF you wish for good luck,
sleep and wait" which is not bad advice
for hustlers. The French phrase for the
delicious bloom of early maidenhood, lie
beaute du diable," is literally turned into
Even devil is pretty at 49," !"Ftghting
the devil with fire. is IAN iron club for
a demon"
A long series of sayings net always too
complimentary to women, TO be found in
all languages, are also in japanese. with
one hair of woman you can tether even
an elephant is one of them, and another
runs "A woman's eyebrow is the ak that
cuts down the wisdom of man." But Mr.
Heam does not give many of these, owing
possibly to the pious Buddhist flying from
feminine wies in so many cases that he
prefers not to think of them at all. But
the idea in Better husbands better
wives" appears somewhat reversed in "A
devil takes a goblin to wife" The entire
collection, 100 in number, is interesting in
the extreme.