Year: 1873

Many of these fan-pictures are Illus
trations of national classics, fairy tales,
and historic legends. On this neutral
tinted reverse, for instance, a curved
line dashed across the disk is slack
rope on it is nOndescript dancing,
and below half-kneeling figure repre-
sents the juggler or Snowman. He is
gesticulating wildly with his fan, his
mouth is wide open with well-simulated
astonishment at the antics of the crea-
ture on the slack-rope. This performer
is like badger; yet it resembles tea
kettle. Its body is the kettle one cum
ningly curved paw is the spout; another,
which swings the inevitable umbrella,
is the handle; and the tail and hind
legs form the tripod on which the kettle
sits. The story of The Accomplished
Tea kettle is very old, and numberless
versions of it form a staple dramatic,
poetic or artistic diversion of the ia
panese. Briefly, it is related that a
company of priests, who dwelt by them
selves in a temple, were affrighted by
their tea kettle suddenly becoming COW
cred with fur and walking about the
room. 1t bothered them very much
by its pranks, being part of the time a
useful and sober culinary utensil and
partly a mischievous badger. Catching
it and shutting it up in box, they sold
it to travelling tinker for trifie,
thinking themselves well rid of it. But
the tinker, though sorely affrighted
when he found what a bargain he had
gotten, shrewdly put his bewitched tea
kettle to good account. He travelled
far and wide exhibiting his wonderful
beast, which diligently performed on
the slack-rope. Princes and mobiles
came in throngs to see his show; and
so he made himself very rich by his
unique entertainment. The lucky tin
ker and his accomplished tea-kettle
furnish forth adventures for the Japa-
nese play-goer as numerous and various
as those of our own Humpty Dumpty,
dear to the heart of every English
speaking child. On the reverse of
another fan you discover an illustration
of fairy lore. A hare and badger,
grotesquely dressed in watermen's garb,
are each padding about in boats on a
small sheet of water. They glare at
each other defantly, but the hare, not
withstanding he keeps his simple ex-
preston, seems to have the advantage
of the other. The hare and the badger
in the story of The Cracking Mountain,
were old foes, and had many tussle,
in which the hare usually got the better
of his adversary. Finally the hare,
having built wooden boat. set off on a
voyage to the capital of the moon, in
viting his enemy to accompany him.
The wary badger refused, but building
boat of clay. he followed the hare.
The waves washed the clay so that it
began to dissolve; then the hare, pad
ding his craft full upon the luckless
badger, crushed his sinking boat, and
the wicked animal perished miserably
in the waters. In these fanciful picto
rial conceits the japanese greatly excel.
Hoksai, Japanese artist, says an in
telligent writer on Asiatic art, has mod
estly protested that it is more easy to
draw things one has never seen than to
represent objects with which everybody
is familiar. But these fantastic crea-
tions of the imagination are all so care
fully and Enthusiastically limned that
they deceive by their realism. You
think that these odd creatures must
have been studied from life. You pay
an unconscious tribute to the artists
wise Interpretation of nature for his
fundamental Ideals natural.
MOnthIy.