The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-02-24
THE GEISHA.
adapted from the Italian by c. F,
McG.)

Human life is like fan covered on
both sides with enigmatical charac-
ters.-Japanese proverb.
Upon a straw mat, white as the
dripping snow, lay the body of XII
manura, father of o Fana.
According to the custom of the
country the home of the deceased was
all in disorder; doors thrown open,
Japanese screens folded and lying on
the ground; musical instruments,
fans, wearing apparel, small sticks of
perfume and objects of wax were scat
tered about in profusion on the floor.
In the midst of this upheaval a Bud
dhist priest added solemnity, standing
in grave and serious pose beside the
deceased, and in scarcely audible
tone softly singing the hymn of the
dead.
In an outer apartment the youthful
o Fana, squatted on the flood before
the image of her father, poured forth
sweet music on the koto, or lutte, to
give rest to the spirit of her parent.
AS the mournful strains floated
through the evening twilight, the
daughter of Kumanura followed, on
the wings of imagination, the Kami,
or glorified spirit of her father, that
journeyed on toward the haven of
eternal rest.
A woman of middle age now ap-
peared before the screens that formed
the small apartment of o Fana. She
bent down carefully, gently pushed
aside one of the screens, and entered,
squatting down before her daughter
o Fana raised her eyes from the pic
ture towards her mother, and unable
to keep back the torrent of tears
that now rushed forth unbidden, wept
bitterly.
20 Fana," exclaimed the woman,
do not weep. The Girls of Kumanu-
*The Girl is a sort of fate which
placed in each individual moves him
irresistibly to do good or i'll, and also
to die.
IA commanded him to depart from
this world. Nirvana awaited him
The Kami of thy father will cause
fortune to smile upon our family; he
has scented the flowers that we have
gathered for him, the sacred incense
we have burned in his honor has sur
rounded him with an aura of frag.
rance; he has drunk of the crystal
water from the cup of golden wax
and thou hast played the koto before
his image. Tomorrow at dawn we
shall complete the funeral rites, and
his soul will rest in peace"
The young girl instead of answer.
ing arose, laid aside her lutte, brushed
away the tears with the back of her
hand, and stepped forward to touch
with her forehead the small statue OF
the goddess Kwannon that adorned
the only wall of the apartment.
The mother watched every move OF
her child, and she thought that the
goddess Kwannon, the goddess OF
p1ety, OF beauty, and of the sorrowful
eyes, smiled lovingly upon o Fana.
The sun rises with a golden BRILL
ancy on the inland sea of Japan. The
neighboring hills and the mountains
in the distance appear in all their
variegated glories. The lotus flowers
closing their blue white petals sleep
TRANQUILITY on the bosoms of the many
lakes, concealed by the sinuous wind
ings of the mountainous and broken
coast line of. the great bay OF
Nagasaki.
To the west stands the city of Maya
saki in the midst of vast amphi
theater of verdant hills, crowned by
temples and pagodas, that reflect the
suns rays from their roofs of gold
and thus CONTRAST hrilliantIv with The