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'Hidegori Sama is marrying

The tradesman considered a moment. his daughter to-day,' he said at last: the preparations for the feast are not finished. No doubt you will get the full worth of your wares from the bridegroom; for the house is of rich and of good name.'

Sa Fou, quite delighted, went towards the dwelling of Hidegori Sama. Servants loaded with mats, kitchen utensils, a spinning-wheel, and a loom, were at that moment coming out of the house, conveying the maiden's wardrobe and furniture to the bridegroom's house. Sa Fou

stopped one of them.

'Is the feast ready? or

'I caught a red-lady yesterday,' he said. shall I be able to sell my fish at the bridegroom's?' 'Possibly,' answered the servants.

'Red-ladies are scarce.'

And Sa Fou set out for the young man's house.

It was in the same street, or quarter of the town, which was shut up every night with gates. It was early morning, and the citizens were beginning to come out of their houses, attracted by the preparations for the wedding.

It is thought very important in the Japanese towns to be well acquainted with the neighbours. The inhabitants of a street cannot remove without the permission of the Ottoma, or governor of the quarter ; they cannot sell one house, or buy another, without the consent of their neighbours; and they are likewise responsible for one another, so that any disorderly conduct that takes place in a street is imputed to the whole community, which could not prevent it.

Young Kei-Siu, the betrothed of Sibata, Hidegori Sama's daughter, was much beloved in his quarter; and his establishment there was viewed with pleasure, when his father gave up his house and business to him, although he was as yet only twenty-three years old.

Sa Fou had sold his red-lady at a price exceeding all his hopes; but he remained in the street, mingling with the crowd of servants, who were unrolling the mats, and arranging the furniture, in Kei Siu's house. The mats, all of the same size, and uniformly bordered with fringes and fine embroideries, were already hanging on the walls of the different rooms in the house, only one story high, according to Japanese custom, because of the earthquakes; the partitions had just been removed which separated the private rooms from those for company, which were usually plainer and less adorned than the part of the house occupied by the women; and the moveable screens, which divided the apartments, had just been carefully replaced by the servants, when young Kei Siu came forth in person from his house to go to his bride. He was splendidly arrayed in a sweeping silken robe, adorned with gold and silver flowers, a magnificent brocade, woven by the exiled nobles in the island of Tatsisio; an embroidered sash girded the tunic below, and contained a sword and dagger richly set with diamonds. His hair was drawn up to the top of his head, and fastened in with a feather, falling back in a tail on his shoulders; sandals of plaited straw pro

tected his feet; and he had a magnificent fan in his hand. Many servants accompanied him, loaded with presents for the parents and friends of the young maiden whom he was about to wed. On each tray-beside rolls of silk, fine porcelain, or lacquer-ware boxes-lay a slice of dried fish, an indispensable gift to every Japanese, as the venerated memorial of the original simplicity of manners in that country. Sa Fou was seized with a fit of curiosity, and mingling with Kei Siu's servants, followed him as far as Hidegori Sama's house. The door was open. Even the rope matting which usually closed the entrance had been taken away, so as to allow the inhabitants to see what was passing in the street without being seen. An altar had been erected in the middle of the principal hall, beside which stood a Bonze, with a torch in his hand.

As Kei Siu crossed the threshold, his bride, accompanied by her parents, came out of the inner chambers, dressed in white, and covered with a wide veil. The folds of the muslin were slightly disturbed; a little hand, with nails dyed red, appeared for a moment, and two great black eyes shone furtively through. Young Sibata had never seen the husband whom her parents intended for her; Kei Siu had not long been returned from the university of Miaco, where he had studied. The glance she had obtained of her spouse was satisfactory; she closed her veil again, and approached the altar.

Sa Fou was still looking through the half-open door. 'The Bonze did not give us the honour of his presence at our marriage,' he said; 'for we could hardly have given him alms. What is he going to do here?'

At that moment, the priest of Camis, or Son of the Sun-the ancient religion of Japan, which was professed by Hidegori Sama and his family-held out a lighted torch to the maiden; Kei Siu likewise received a torch, which he kindled at the flame of the one held by Sibata. She bent gently towards him, as though to acknowledge her master, and their union was consecrated. Sibata's mother, weeping aloud, closed still more tightly the folds of the veil that enveloped her daughter as a shroud, betokening that she was dead to her own family, and was henceforth to live only for her husband.

A handsome norimon, a sort of palanquin, or sedan-chair, awaited her at the door. Sa Fou saw her ascend it, followed by a magnificent suite. The bearers paraded her throughout the quarter; and when they brought her back to the door of the house which had become her home, her husband had preceded her thither, and was awaiting her in the principal ball, surrounded by his relations.

She advanced timidly, with her veil thrown back, and leaning on the arms of two bridesmaids, called, on that day, by the odd term of butterflies. Kei Siu rose, and made his young wife sit down by his side while, on the table before them, were a young dwarfed oak tree, and a plum-tree in full blossom; master-pieces of the Japanese gardener,

who can reproduce in miniature all the trees of the orchard and the forest. Beside the shrubs were seen a group of silver cranes, and two little tortoises, emblems of beauty, health, and longevity. The banquet was served, and the cups were already filled with saki, (an extract of rice, which supplies the place of all fermented liquors in Japan ;) but wedding-feasts are simple, and preserve the ancestral traditions of moderation; and there was more talking than drinking. The women were present at the feast. Although they usually eat with their husbands, contrary to the usual habits of the East, they seldom appear on state occasions; but wedding-suppers form an exception.

Sibata, seated beside her husband, watched him by stealth: she listened when he spoke, and secretly admired the good sense of his replies, the modesty of his attitude, the respect which he paid to the aged men.

Yesterday's tempest was mentioned.

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'I do not know,' said an old man, whether it be a benefit or an evil that the wind has cast on our shores; but Auger, who had, as you know, disappeared two years ago, after the murder that he involuntarily committed, has come back with his two servants in a Chinese junk, bringing with him the ministers of an unknown God. They are said to be meanly clad, ignorant of the Japanese language, and only able to make themselves understood by signs; but Auger's relations declare that his countenance is beaming with joy, that the troubles of his conscience are at rest, and that he is entreating his wife and daughter, his friends, and all he meets, to embrace the religion that makes him so happy.'

'He may do as he will,' said the auditors, with as little curiosity as anger; any man may believe what he likes; and besides, it is said that the King has asked the Viceroy of the Indies to send him some ministers of the Cross. Perhaps the new-comers belong to that religion, like the Portuguese.'

When the bride had alighted from her norimon at Kei Siu's gate, Sa Fou had slowly pursued his way homewards. The magnificence of the dresses, the number of the servants, the refined elegance of both houses, had excited a certain degree of envy in his mind; he thought of the poverty that constantly threatened him; and the price of the red-lady, so carefully secured in his belt, now seemed a mere trifle, unworthy of his attention.

Suddenly, at the turn of the street, at the entrance of the suburb of the city, a small cluster of passengers, who had stopped for a moment on the public road, obstructed the way. He looked up. Three Japanese, wearing the dress of persons in easy circumstances, seemed to be pointing out the public monuments to their companion. He was tall; his face was thin, but his limbs looked strong; his eyes were blue, lively, and piercing; his features regular, his brow broad and commanding, his complexion clear; a crown of nearly white hair

His

encircled his head, and he was dressed in a plain black robe. glances travelled from the town, over the country, as if he were measuring the extent of the territory. Sometimes he paused on his walk, and looked attentively at the passers-by; and meantime he was talking to his companions in an unknown language; but some Japanese words that mingled from time to time in the conversation, seemed to show that he was asking the meaning of those he heard spoken in the

street.

Sa Fou had stopped opposite the stranger, towards whom he felt himself drawn by a strange attraction. An irresistible force constrained him to follow the movements of this man, whom he had never seen before, whose language he did not understand, and whose eye he had not even met. The serene dignity, the restrained ardour, the gentle power, that seemed to shine around the stranger, attached to his steps those of the young fisherman, who had already turned back; and instead of walking homewards, he continued to follow behind the four travellers.

Suddenly, the foreigner turned round, and looking full in Sa Fou's face, made a step towards him, as if he experienced the same attraction which had seized the young man; then calling his companions, in a tone full of feeling, he said in Portuguese, 'Yonder man will be ours; and the first fruits that Japan will offer to JESUS CHRIST.'

Sa Fou could not understand; but agitated and confused, he cast down his eyes beneath the penetrating gaze of the missionary, and hastily resumed his way to his cottage; but the sale of his fish, the marriage of Kei Siu, the jealousy that had lately disturbed his mind, all were forgotten; and he only remembered the stranger, and the powerful yet mild accents of his voice. 'I shall see him again,' he said to himself, as he entered his house. And his answers to the eager

questions of his young wife and old father were absently given.

(To be continued.)

POLYGLOTT PARSING.

CHAPTER I.

ARYAN LANGUAGES.

Florence. Cousin Polly, I do wish we could find something to do all together these holidays that would be really sensible.

Elvira. Yes, something that would give us a little substance for the rest of the day, a sort of weight to our thistle-down fun, and that would interest the boys.

Polly. Have you any ideas?

Florence. No; except that most of us want to get on with some language or other; only, unluckily, we don't agree. I want George to teach me Greek, and he wants to learn German; and Gertrude is the only one who knows any of that, but all her spare time goes in reading Spanish with Elvira.

Elvira. And neither Mark's Latin nor his French ought to be standing still, if he is to stand for that school.

Florence. And to make Frances or Edith look at a word of their Italian or French is vain while the boys are near.

Polly. I have a notion, which I think might unite all the scholars, and give at least a little insight into the different relationships of their several languages. Suppose we were to attempt some universal

parsing?

Elvira. What, take a sentence, and each translate it, and then parse?

. Polly. We had better take one already translated, and then compare. Elvira. Where shall we find the same in all-French, Italian, Spanish, German, Latin, Greek?

Florence. A text of the Bible, perhaps. But would that be right? Polly. We need not handle it irreverently, I hope, nor take one containing words or subjects that we could not so deal with; but there is nothing else so carefully rendered, or so accessible. Besides, in the New Testament, we have the original as a standard.

Florence. George must take the Greek, and Mark the Latin. How grand they will be!

Polly. You, Florence, the lingua Toscana; and Frances must be our Frenchwoman; Elvira can be no one but the Spanish dame; Gertrude the German, and little Edith the true Englishwoman. Look out the Testaments, and we will begin this evening, if the boys like. I will try what I can do with Clark's Comparative Grammar.

Florence. And we'll call it Polyglott parsing.

Polly. Hexaglott, rather. It is very presumptuous work.

Mark. Well, what are we to do? I shall like to hear Polly and the girls parsing their Greek.

Polly. No, we shall leave you and George to instruct us. This is a mutual improvement society.

George. Where are we to begin? Not with the Genealogy in St. Matthew, I suppose?

Polly. Certainly not, though there the changes in the Hebrew names tell a curious tale of the variations of speech; but Gospel ground is too sacred for us. Turn to the third chapter of the Epistle of St. James. Read the first clause of the 6th verse, in your order as you

sit.

George. I wonder what good that is to do? πυρ ὁ κόσμος τῆς ἀδικίας. *

Well: καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα

* Kai he glōssa pur, ho kosmos tēs adikias.

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