Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1905-10-31
The Legs OF the
Honorable Cat D
By cLARENcn I. BRowNnLL

UDGE IPPAI NIHAI lived IN japan
al in the good old days when Japan
was really Japan. He had to decide
upon all the kinds OF cases that the
ingenious subjects OF the Shotgun were
able to create-everything from muir.
der and manslaughter to mistaken
marriages. Once he had to decide upon
a cat. 1t happened thus:
Mr. Mountain (Oyama SAM, MIR
Pinetree (OmatsW. Mr.. Forest Hay
ashi SAM, and Mr.. Temple (Otera
SAM had gone into partnership They
were rich merchants. Oyama San was
| a snail bit of a man. even for a
Japanese; Omatsu San was fat and
| round like a ball. Hayashi San was
like a bean pole, and Otera San had
such a small head, one wondered we're
'here room in it for any brains at all.
These four men lived in a village
near Nagoya. where the golden dolph-
ms stand on their heads on the ridge
pole OF the roof of the ancient castle
palace and considering the size of the
village they did an excellent business.
Just as in this country folk speculate
in wheat, over in Japan they speculate
in rice. They had a produce ex-
change there, or a rice exchange, long
| before anyone in this country thought
Of that sort of thing.
Being partners, they belonged to the
same guild-an ancient one that chung
to customs that dated back to nobody
knew when. Among these customs one
had 70 do with dress If the market
" ent against the members Of this guild
in winter time, they appeared on the
streets in the gauziest of summer cos
tunes. II the market went wrong IN
summer, they walked about muffled in
tippets to their eyes, thick hoods on
their heads, and their bodies wrapped
in the heaviest padded kmono. No
one has been able to trace the origin
cf this custom, but only recently has
it disappeared. Probably were one to
scrutinize carefully he would fnd |
traces of it even to-day.
Well, one summer day the market |
had behaved badly, and the four part
ners went down the street together |
cooking like bales of cotton on parade. |
Hayashi San led the procession. He |
looked like two bales, one on top of |
the other Then came Otera San; he |
looked like cotton pyramid Omatsu |
San followed looking like nothing but |
bal! of WOOL and Oyama San |
brought up the rear looking like a |
little Omatsu San.
AS they drew near the exchange |
where the trouble of the day had !
come about, Oyama San saw cat
He rolled towards it, saying:
"Aha! the very thing Now We
shall have good luck"
what is it?" asked the three in
front through their wraps and per-
sDiIation.
"Tbe cat" replied the painting
Oyama.
"And what of the cat? There are
many cats. We see cats every day and
hear them every night"
at is true indie ID augustly, honorably
true"
"Well, them" All were exceeding
ly warm. and not patient, probably,
/ but Oyama San maraged to puff sufii-
GENTLY to explain
4 "Behold, the cat has four colors,
brown, and back, and white, and
gray; and we are four--that is a sign
Then, like all cats, she has four legs
and our warehouse has four corners.
Thus have we four and four, and four
and four The sixteen sacred emblems
Of the mystic double eight We must
buy this cat
BY appealing TO is sacred emblems
the perspiring Oyama San persuaded
his perspiring partners to Join him
in purchasing The cat. The four pro-
ceeded through the gate before which
The cat sat- and at the entrance to the
house within. On reaching the en-
trance to the house, Oyama San, in a
voice lined with flannel called out.
august pardon deignW He meant
that he wished the master of the
house TO pardon him for venturing to
approach-that is. theoretically, he
meant Independently. he was doing
no more than letting the servant know
That he was there; knocking with his
voice, so to speak; there are neither
door bells nor door knockers in Japan.
In this lack they are neither Amer
lean nor English
There was a reply to Oyama's
August pardon deign!" II sounded
: like the word high" long drawn CIT:
[ "Hai-i-i-i-i-i-i"
Then the door slid 10 one side. and
t the face of maid appeared.
: Oyama San blew out through his
! ippet another August pardon deignl"
. and asked II the honorable cat august
+, ly sitting at the honorable gate, au-