The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-29
a. 1'.I Is', =, VIZ, q q: LAFCADIO HEARN
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
BY YoNE NooucHI.

I was In the Japanese house-the guest
room--of the late Lafcadio Hearn. There
was not an American touch! Above the
tol1anoma Cthe honored place raised a few
inches above the floor was a small tablet
inscribed with legend in the Chinese
script. An iron vase glowing with chrys-
anthemums, a wooden brazier and some
tea utensils-that was all.
Mrs. Hearn. or Mrs. Koizumi, as we
say in Japan, greeted me cordially. 1t
was but few weeks since her husband
died. bowed. speaking our sorrow for
his death.
You have lost your husband I said.
Your children have lost their beloved
father. And we japanese have lost the
most able spokesman of Japan TO ths
I1nglish-speaking world l regret his
death in the name of Japan"
And she answered with her simple dig
nifty;
II thank you. It is indeed beyond my
expression to thank you properly-to
speak my gratitude for the peoples kind
ness and sympathy. There is no time like
today when I need 1t so much"
We were silent for little space and
I then asked her concerning his Illness;
if he had been Ill for some time
"Oh, no." she replied The has never
been Ill before It was about week be-
fore he died that he was taken with
heart trouble 1 felt frightened then,
when I saw his deadly pale face, and l
approached him, wishing to give some
help. But he would not let me come
close. He said that he did ont wish to
show his terribly troubled face even to
his wife. Go away, and please let me
be alone he said. 1 could not do any
thing. Then under such a bitter suffer
ing he wrote a letter. 1t was one which
/ believe was intended for Professor Ume
asking him to look after the family after
his death. But he destroyed 1t when he
grew better, a half hour or so later. l
felt / was almost dead a while ago. he
said to me- And he was again attacked
on the 18th, when he passed away. Yes
he was cremated 1t was his desire to
have his own ashes put in a tiny bottle
or urn, when he died. and to have the lat
ter buried at the loneliest spot in the
world. He left no will to speak of. He
used to say that he would not like any
of the family, or anyone else, to cry at
his funeral, but that we must be Jolly,
playing at cards, or some game, He
hated to have an unhappy face around
him. But he was sad hmself-he was so
sadl'
yes" I replied, che was the poet Of
loneliness. He was a spirit of sadness
that is to say. a Japanese poet like Saigyo
or Basho, who prayed to be lonely. l am
sure he will be glad to be remembered
as a Japanese-a Japanese poet. How he
loved autumn-the Japanese autumn. |
believe that he died at the right time
If he must die. And I am sure that he
will be glad to be buried at the lonely
Zoshigaya."
Mrs Koizumi looked sad for a moment.
IT am grateful to Mr. TaSada for sug-
costing Zoshigaya, for that was one of
my husbands favorite places, where he
used to take his afternoon walk, and he
loved to roam around slowly over there
especially in autumn. How often l have
Joined him in his walks! And we would
stop at the Kishibo1in shrine. He loved
the neighborhood of the Omokage bridge
(Omokage means face-in-imagination I
shall go there soon again and stand on
the bridge and think Of him. Often he
would say in our walk: Listen to the
voice Of the crow-how strangely sad it
isr He was so sensitive! And he was
always deeply impressed with the mel
ancholy Of the Japanese crow"
1T am glad that his funeral service was
held at the Kobutera temple" said I.
'"rhat was his most beloved temple, was
1t not, Mrs. Kozumi?'
Eyes, 1t was He studies tie temple.
or rather its cemetery and the literature
of the dead in his "Exotics" and Retro
spectives' was its result. l suppose you
have read It?
"For some years we lived by the tenn
ple," she continued and its cemetery
was his roaming garden. He wrote:
like to wander In that cemetery, partly
because in the twilight of its great trees
and In the silence of centuries which has
gathered about them one can forget the
city in its turmoil, and dream out of
space and time-but much more, because
II Is full of beauty and the poetry of
great faith. His love of Buddhistic beauty
and faith was born in him"
WAS he a Buddhist, as was often said
in the papers?" 1 asked.
mo, l don't think he was" she replied;
sin fact, he was Indifferent to any re-
ligion He studied Buddhism as a philos-