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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
April-May, 1933
each by a different road, but at the top it is all the same beauty and glory of ethical achievement. He said this was pretty belief if true, but it is not true and would I give him opportunity to prove it is not true? He smiled, so my heart felt very warm, and I promised him. Every day I have eaten cabbage, but it is not so good as before. Perhaps foreign nations do eat some other vegetables also for their vitamins. J anuary 31. Matsumura San has taken a cold. I visited him today and described my talk with Mr. McEdward. He will go with me Thursday night to the Bible class if he is recovered. I wish we could be taught other than Bible. One of our professors in school last year taught us some of Sir Arthur
bered he wished to bring a notebook and pencil, but had not them, so we returned to his house for it. There we drank tea and played with his kitten for some time. It is so lively a cat and turned herself downside up after a string. When at last we reached to the foreigner’s house, I was much surprised, for it is a house the same as ours, only larger, a little. There was a small garden and shrubs, with pine tree leaning over the gate, and the bamboo also to touch its fingers to the front veranda. The wooden night doors were not yet closed, and we could view through the glass in the paper doors that many men were present, They were drinking tea and walking about freely as though it were their own house. We waited a long time and became very cold. Then they came forth, and I counted twenty-two men.
Conan Doyle’s detective stories, and they were ex traordinary in teresting . At present, I am studying Adam Bede, as well as Kipling’s poems and Ba con’s Essays. But Adam Bede is most pleasant. It seems like it cannot be that a woman wrote such a book. I inquired of Matsu Chan if he had eaten all his cabbage. He said no, that he hated it now and had thrown it over the hedge. There is an im age of Hotei Sama, the god of happiness, in his garden, back of the aza lea bushes, and he wished to stand the cabbage on the head of the idol, but did not dare. We laugh ed a long time about it. He is quite a wag some times. Their servant brought us tea, and some cakes made of mashed brown beans and choco late.
One smaller boy discov ered the two cowards hid den behind the bamboo and led us into the en trance hall at once. Mr. McEdward a r r iv e d to welcome us in. Oh, the house was so warm—I was never before in such comfortable place in win ter ! There was sitting a big, dirty, black stove, as tall as my sister Akiko, and we sat down beside it. But it was extremely ugly. Mrs. M c E d w a r d
seems very young, but I wonder why she does not oil the hair. It flies about in curls and does not stay close. Her eyes shine, and she seemed glad all the time about something. So Mr. Me. did also. Their two rooms are large and very busy, for even the walls do not have unoc cupied spaces. There are printed cards hanging, and I memorized one of them: He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.” But I do not understand the meaning of any of them. There was an organ in the room and Christian sing books on it. And the sacred place by the veranda had no flowers or scroll, but a large bamboo case of books. There were many chairs and two tables placed together, around which the men had sat. We had tea and sweet biscuits, but I did not see the maid. Mrs. Me. served us herself. I won der why she is so happy a lady. F e b r u a r y 11. • • T^ ay Is a matter of sincere congratulation, being as it is, the Kigen-setsu, or great national holiday in memory H i First Emperor of Japan, Jimmu Tenno. He reigned 2,58Q years ago, and the royal line has never been broken since that time, neither has any foreign people ever con quered our great nation. Always she is victor in wars, and always will she be. Very early this morning, I helped uncle raise the large flag with glorious red sun blazing on white ground. Everywhere we heard later the children singing national anthem, “Kimi ga y o ” I felt my heart blaze with exultation as I walked down the streets and saw many flags and happy children playing. For, of course, there is holiday from every school this day. We are now soon to enter the Great Cold of the year.
I felt my heart blaze with exultation as I walked down the streets and saw many flags and happy children playing.
They were shaped like footballs and very delicious. His father had received them as a present. I wished in my heart to eat all on the plate. When I returned home, I was likewise disgusted with my cabbage and threw it beneath the house, saying, like the Englishman, “Vitamins be hanged!” Then I recol lected that the cabbage would smell when it grew warmer, so I crawled under to get it again, and to my sorry, I tore my kimono so the silk wadding pours out. It is my only kimono for winter wear and is good brown silk. Now I shall have to wear my school uniform until Aunt will mend it for me. If she asks me how did I tear it, I must say I caught it on the bare maple tree by the veranda. Nor did I find the cabbage, and it can stay where it is. F e b r u a r y 6. Tonight Matsu Chan came to my house, and we went together to the public bath. It is always better to go early, for later the water becomes like bean soup since many of lower classes come to get into it. After we returned, we studied rhetoric and idioms, but we did not make much headway, as we both heartily wished to go to the house of Mr. McEdward. At length we set forth, but very slowly. We passed the road to my friend’s house, then he remem
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