=soporous=:—­Drowsy; sleep-producing.

=crepuscular=:—­Relating to twilight.

=Kamiyo=:—­The Age of the Gods in Japan.

=hakaba=:—­Cemetery.

=lentor=:—­Slowness.

="with woven paces,"= etc.  See Tennyson’s Idylls of the King:  “With woven paces and with waving arms.”

=tabi=:—­White stockings with a division for the great toe.

=ryo=:—­About fifty cents.

=Kishibojin=:—­Pronounced ki shi b[=o]’ jin. (See page 96 of Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan.)

=Sayonara=:—­Good-bye.

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY

Read the selection through rather slowly.  Do not be alarmed at the Japanese names:  they are usually pronounced as they are spelled.  Perhaps your teacher will be able to show you a Japanese print; at least you can see on a Japanese fan quaint villages such as are here described.  What sort of face has the host?  How does this Japanese inn differ from the American hotel?  Does there seem to be much furniture?  If the Americans had the same sense of beauty that the Japanese have, what changes would be made in most houses?  Why does the foreign influence make the Japanese manufactures “uninteresting” and “detestable”?  If you have been in a shop where Japanese wares are sold, tell what seemed most striking about the objects and their decoration.  What is meant by “the landscape of a tea-cup”?  Why does the author say so much about the remoteness of the village?  See how the author uses picture-words and sound-words to make his description vivid.  Note his use of contrasts.  Why does he preface his account of the dance by the remark that it cannot be described in words?  Is this a good method?  How does the author make you feel the swing and rhythm of the dance?  Do not try to pronounce the Japanese verses:  Notice that they are translated.  Why are the Japanese lines put in at all?  Why does the author say that he is ungrateful at the last?  Try to tell in a few sentences what are the good qualities of this selection.  Make a little list of the devices that the author has used in order to make his descriptions vivid and his narration lively.  Can you apply some of his methods to a short description of your own?

THEME SUBJECTS

A Flower Festival
A Pageant
The May Fete
Dancing out of Doors
A Lawn Social
The Old Settlers’ Picnic
The Russian Dancers
A Moonlight Picnic
Children’s Games in the Yard
Some Japanese People that I have Seen
Japanese Students in our Schools
Japanese Furniture
An Oriental Store in our Town
My Idea of Japan
Japanese Pictures
A Street Carnival
An Old-fashioned Square Dance
The Revival of Folk-Dancing
The Girls’ Drill
A Walk in the Village at Night
Why We have Ugly Things in our Houses
Do we have too much Furniture in our Houses? 
What we can Learn from the Japanese