"Put your head down on the matting, Take," her Father said, _The Japanese Twins

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This PG project is dedicated to retired teacher Betty Sheridan,

who read this little book to her elementary students while they

were studying Japan. She generously loaned the book to be

produced for PG.

The Japanese Twins

by Lucy Fitch Perkins

To the Dutch Twins and their friends

Also by Lucy Fitch Perkins

Geographical Series

THE DUTCH TWINS PRIMER. Grade I.

THE ESKIMO TWINS. Grade II.

THE DUTCH TWINS. Grade III.

THE JAPANESE TWINS. Grade IV.

THE SWISS TWINS. Grade IV.

THE FILIPINO TWINS. Grade V.

THE IRISH TWINS. Grade V.

THE ITALIAN TWINS. Grade V.

THE MEXICAN TWINS. Grade V.

THE SCOTCH TWINS. Grade VI.

THE BELGIAN TWINS. Grade VII.

THE FRENCH TWINS. Grade VII.

Historical Series

THE CAVE TWINS. Grade IV.

THE SPARTAN TWINS. Grade V.

THE COLONIAL TWINS OF VIRGINIA. Grade VI.

THE AMERICAN TWINS OF 1812. Grade VI.

THE PIONEER TWINS. Grade VI.

THE AMERICAN TWINS OF THE REVOLUTION. Grade VII.

THE PURITAN TWINS. Grade VII.

Each volume is illustrated by the author

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

The Riverside Press

CAMBRIDGE. MASSACHUSETTS PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION--THE JAPANESE TWINS AND BOT'CHAN.

I. THE DAY THE BABY CAME

II. MORNING IN THE LITTLE HOUSE

III. HOW THEY WENT TO THE TEMPLE.

IV. A RAINY DAY

V. TAKE'S BIRTHDAY.

VI. GOING TO SCHOOL

VII. TARO'S BIRTHDAY.

THE JAPANESE TWINS

THE JAPANESE TWINS AND BOT'CHAN

Away, away, ever so far away, near the western shores of the

Ocean of Peace, lie the Happy Islands, the Paradise of Children.

Some people call this ocean the "Pacific" and they call the

Happy Islands "Japan," but the meaning is just the same. Those

are only their grown-up names, that you find them by on the map,

in the geography.

They are truly Happy Islands, for the sun shines there so

brightly that all the people go about with pleasant, smiling

faces, and the children play out of doors the whole year through

without ever quarreling. And they are never, never spanked! Of

course, the reason for that is that they are so good they never,

never need it! Or maybe their fathers and mothers do not believe

in spanking.

I have even been told--though I don't know whether to think it's

true or not--that Japanese parents believe more in sugar-plums

than in punishments to make children good!

Anyway, the children there are very good indeed.

In a little town near a large city on one of the Happy Islands, there

is a garden. In the garden stands a house, and in that House there

live Taro, who is a boy, and Take (Pronounce Tah'-kay), who is a girl.

They are twins. They are Japanese Twins and they are just five

years old, both of them.

Of course, Taro and Take do not live alone in the house in the

garden. Their Father and Mother live there too, and their

Grandmother, who is very old, and the Baby, who is very young.

Taro and Take cannot remember when Grandmother and Father and

Mother happened, because they were all there when the Twins

came; and the Twins could not possibly imagine the world without

Father and Mother and Grandmother.

But with the Baby it was different. One day there wasn't any

Baby at all, and the next day after that, there he was, looking

very new but quite at home already in the little house in the

garden, where Taro and Take lived.

"Taro" means eldest son, and the Baby might have been called

"Jiro," because "Jiro" means "second," and he was the second

boy in the family; but from the day he came they called him just

"Bot'Chan." That is what they call boy babies in Japan.

"Take" means "bamboo," and the Twins' Father and Mother named

their little daughter "Take" because they hoped she would grow

up to be tall and slender and strong and graceful like the

bamboo tree.

Now, can you think of anything nicer in this world than being

Twins, and living with a Mother and Father and Grandmother and a

Baby Brother, in a dear little house, in a dear little garden,

in a dear little, queer little town in the middle of the Happy

Islands that lie in the Ocean of Peace?

Taro and Take thought it was the nicest thing that could

possibly have happened; though, as they hadn't ever lived

anywhere else, or been anybody but themselves for a single

minute, I don't see how they could be quite so sure about it.

This book is all about Taro and Take and the Baby, and what a

nice time they had living. And if you want to know some of the

things that happened on the very first day that the Twins and

Bot'Chan ever saw each other you can turn over to the next page

and read about the day the Baby came. That tells all about it,

just exactly as it was.

THE DAY THE BABY CAME

Taro and Take were standing right beside their Father early one

morning when the nurse came into the room with a bundle in her

arms.

It was a queer-looking, knobby kind of a bundle, and there was

something in it that squirmed!

The nurse looked so happy and smiling that the twins knew at

once there must be something very nice in the bundle, but what

it was they could not guess. Taro thought, "Maybe it's a puppy."

He had wanted a puppy for a long time. And Take thought,

"Perhaps it's a kitten! But it looks pretty large for a kitten,

and it doesn't mew. Kittens always mew." And they both thought,

"Anyway, it's alive."

The nurse carried the bundle across the room. She knelt down on

the floor before the Twins' Father and laid it at his feet.

The Twins' Father looked very much surprised, and as for Taro

and Take, they felt just exactly the way you feel when you look

at your stocking on Christmas morning.

They dropped down on their knees beside the bundle, one on each

side of their Father. They wanted dreadfully to open it. They

wanted so dreadfully to open it that they had to hold their

hands hard to keep from touching it, but they never even laid a

finger on it, because the nurse had given it to their Father!

Taro just said aloud: "Is it a puppy?"

At the very same moment Take said: "Is it a kitten?"

And then their Father said: "I haven't opened the bundle yet, so

how can I tell? We must ask the nurse. What is it, Natsu?"

And Natsu, the nurse, put her two hands together on the matting

in front of her, bobbed her head down nearly to the floor, and

said: "It is a little son, Master. Will you accept him?"

Then the Father sat right down on the floor, too, between Taro

and Take. He took the little squirming bundle in his arms, and

turned back the covers--and there was a beautiful baby boy, with

long, narrow eyes and a lock of hair that stood straight up on

the top of his head!

"Oh! oh! Is he truly ours--a real live baby, for us to keep?"

cried Take.

"Would you like to keep him?" her Father asked.

Take clapped her hands for joy. "Oh, yes, yes!" she said. "For

then I can have a little brother of my own to carry on my back,

just the way O Kiku San carries hers! I've never had a thing but

borrowed babies before! And O Kiku San is not polite about

lending hers at all! Please, please let me hold him!"

She held up her arms, and the Father laid the little baby in

them very, very gently.

Taro was so surprised to see a baby in the bundle that he had

not said a word. He just sat still and looked astonished.

"Well, Taro, how is it with you?" said his Father. "Would you

like to keep the Baby, too?"

"I'd even rather have him than a puppy!" said Taro very

solemnly. And that was a great deal for Taro to say, for he had

wanted a puppy for ever so many weeks.

"So would I rather have him than a puppy," the Father said;

"ever so much rather."

Just then the Baby puckered up his nose, and opened his little

bit of a mouth--and a great big squeal came out of it! You would

never have believed that such a big squeal could possibly come

out of such a little mouth. And he squirmed more than ever.

Then Natsu, the nurse, said, "There, there, little one! Come to

your old Natsu, and she will carry you to Mother again."

"Let me carry him," Take begged.

"No, let me," said Taro.

But Natsu said, "No, no, I will carry him myself. But you may

come with me, if you want to, and see your Mother."

So Taro and Take and their Father all tiptoed quietly into the

Mother's room, and sat down on the floor beside her bed.

They sat on the floor because everybody sits on the floor in

Japan. The bed was on the floor, too.

It was made of many thick quilts, and the pillow a little block

of wood! We should think it very uncomfortable, but the Twins'

Mother did not think so. She lay with the wooden pillow under

her head in such a way that her hair was not mussed by it--

instead, it looked just as neat as if she were going to a party.

And it was just as nice as a party, because they all had such a

happy time together watching the new baby.

Bot'Chan acted just like all the other babies in the world.

First he got his fist into his mouth by accident, and sucked it.

Then he got it out again without meaning to, and punched himself

in the nose with it--such a funny little nose, no bigger than a

small button! Then he opened his mouth wide and yawned.

"See how sleepy the little mouse is," said the Mother. "Run out

and play now, my children, and let him rest."

Taro and Take left the room softly and went out on the porch.

They sat down on the top step to talk over the wonderful thing

that had happened.

It was springtime and the flowers in the garden were just

pushing their leaves through the ground. The sun was shining,

and a little new yellow butterfly, that had only just crept out

of its snug cocoon that very day, was dancing about in the

sunshine.

"I suppose we were new once, too, weren't we?" said Take,

watching the butterfly.

"I suppose we were," Taro answered. "We grew right up out of the

root of a tree. Natsu told me so."

"I wonder which tree it was," Take said.

"It must have been one of the trees in our own garden, of

course," Taro answered; "or else we shouldn't be here."

"Wouldn't it have been a terrible accident if we had happened to

grow in some other garden?" said Take. She looked quite scared

just at the very thought of such a thing.

"Maybe if we had we shouldn't have been ourselves at all," Taro

answered. He looked a little scared, too.

"Who should we have been, then?" asked Take.

"I don't know, I'm sure," Taro said. "I can't think. But,

anyway, we're lucky that it didn't happen. We're here--and we're

ourselves!"

"Let's go into the garden this minute and see if we can find

Bot'Chan's tree," said Take. "He's so new that maybe we can find

the very spot where he grew."

"The fairies would surely hide the place so we couldn't find

it," said Taro; "but we can try. Let's go softly; then maybe

they won't hear us."

They tiptoed out into the garden. How I wish you could see their

garden! There are all sorts of wonderful places in it! It isn't

very large, but it has in it a little bit of a toy mountain, and

a tiny lake with little weeny goldfish in it, and a little

stream of water, like a baby river, that runs into the lake.

And, best of all, there is a curved bridge, painted red, just

big enough for the Twins to walk over, if they are very careful

and don't bounce! The Twins' Grandfather made this garden for

their Father to play in when he was a little boy, so they all

love it dearly.

There are iris plants and lilies beside the tiny lake, and a

funny little pine tree--a very little pine tree, just a few feet

high--grows out of some rocks on the side of the mountain.

The Twins crossed the tiny red bridge and crept up the stepping-stones

on the mountain-side until they reached the little pine tree.

"Do you s'pose it could be the pine tree?" Take whispered.

"Maybe; it's so small--just the right size for Bot'Chan," Taro

whispered back.

The Twins looked carefully all around the pine tree, but its

trunk was gnarled and old. It is hard to believe that so little

a tree could be so old, but the Japanese know how to keep a tree

small, like a toy tree, even if it has been growing for a

hundred years.

This tree wasn't a hundred years old, because their Grandfather

had set it out when the Twins' Father was a little boy, and the

Twins' Father wasn't anywhere near a hundred years old.

"I don't believe a darling little pink baby could ever grow

here," said Take, when she had looked all around the pine tree.

"Let's look at the plum tree."

They ran to the plum tree that stood at the other end of the

garden. They looked all about it.

On the south side of the plum tree, in the sunshine, there was a

long branch near the ground; and on the branch--what do you

think?--there was a whole row of tiny pink buds, almost ready to

burst into bloom!

"Oh, Taro, Taro, look here!" Take cried. "Here's the Baby's very

own branch; I'm sure of it, for there aren't any other buds on

the whole tree that are as near out as these!"

"Let's cut off this spray and carry it into the house to put in

the vase," said Taro.

"Oh, yes, and I'll show Mother how beautifully I can arrange it--

just the way I was taught to do it," Take answered. "Nothing

could be nicer for a baby's flower than a dear little branch

like this with pink buds on it!"

"I'll break it for you," said Taro. "I'm strong." He broke the

branch carefully, just where Take told him to. He took great

pains not to tear the bark or hurt the tree.

Then they carried it into the house. In one corner of the room

there was a little alcove. There is one in every Japanese house.

It is called the "honorable recess," and it is where their most

beautiful things are placed. There is always a picture--or

perhaps two or three of them--hanging like long banners on the

wall at the back of the "honorable recess." These banner

pictures are called kakemono. There is also a small table with a

vase on it standing near. In this vase there are always flowers,

or a beautiful branch with green leaves. In Japan the little

girls are taught to arrange flowers just as carefully as they

are taught to read, so that the "honorable recess" may be kept

beautiful to look at.

Take filled the vase with water. She fitted a little forked

stick into the top of the vase, and stuck the plum branch

through the crotch of the forked stick, so it wouldn't fall

over. She twisted it this way and that until it looked just

right. Then she called Taro to see it.

On the wall of the recess was the picture of a black crow

perched on the branch of a pine tree, in a rainstorm. His

shoulders were all hunched up to shed the rain, and he didn't

look happy at all. He looked funny and miserable.

The Twins looked at the honorable recess a long time. Their

Father came and looked too. Then Taro said, "I don't think that

crow in the rainstorm looks right hanging up beside the plum

branch. The crow looks so sorry, and we are all so glad."

"I think just the same," said Take.

"So do I," said their Father. "How would you like to go out to

the Kura and see if we can find a real happy picture to hang up

there?"

Taro and Take jumped up and down and clapped their hands for

joy, they were so glad to go out to the "Kura."

The "Kura" is a little fireproof house in the garden. You can

see the corner of the roof sticking out from behind the mountain

in the picture. In it Taro and Take and their Father and Mother

and Grandmother keep all their greatest treasures. That is why

Taro and Take were so glad to go there.

Nearly everybody in Japan has just such a safe little house in

the garden. Maybe you can guess the reason why. It isn't only

because of fires. It's because of earthquakes too.

Every once in a while--almost every day, in fact--the earth

trembles and shakes in the Happy Islands. The houses are built

mostly of wood and paper, and if the earthquakes tumble them

over, they sometimes catch fire, but if the nicest things are

safe in the Kura, it doesn't matter so much, if the house is

burned up, you see.

There are always plenty of fires for boys to see in Japan.

Taro had seen ever so many, before he was five years old, and

the Twins had both felt ever so many earthquakes. They were so

used to them that they didn't mind them any more than you mind a

thundershower.

All of Taro's kites were kept in the Kura. The big dragon kite

had a box all to itself; Take's thirty-five dolls were there,

too;--but, dear me,--here I am telling you about kites and

dolls, when I should be telling you about the picture of the

crow, and what they did with it!

First the Twins' Father took it down off the wall and rolled it

up. Then he took it in his hand, and he and Taro and Take all

went out into the garden.

When they reached the Kura, the Father unlocked the door, and

all three stepped inside.

It was not very light, but the air was sweet and spicy. On the

shelves about the room were many beautiful boxes of all sizes

and shapes.

The Father reached up to a high shelf and took down three boxes,

that looked just alike on the outside. He opened the first and

took out a roll neatly wrapped and tied with a silk string. It

was this picture of a Japanese lady who has run out quickly to

take her washing off the line because of a shower of rain.

He held it up high so the Twins could see it.

"Ho, ho," laughed Taro. "The lady has lost her clog, she is in

such a hurry!"

"She's just as wet as the crow," Take said, "and I don't believe

she feels a bit happier!"

"She'll be wetter still before she gets her washing in, won't

she?" the Father said. "The clouds seem to have burst just over

her head! And, dear me,--how the wind is blowing her about! No,

she won't do beside the plum branch."

He opened another box and unrolled the next picture. Here it is.

Taro and Take looked at it a long time.

Then Take said, "What a beautiful dress the lady has on! I'd

like to dress just like that when I grow up!"

"But she is walking out in the snow with an umbrella over her

head," said Taro. "It isn't winter now."

Then the Father unrolled the third.

"How do you like this one?" he asked.

It was a picture of a bird with a grasshopper in her bill,

flying to a nest with three little birds in it. The little birds

had their mouths wide open.

"Oh, that's the very one!" cried Take. "It's just like Mother,

taking care of Taro and the Baby and me! Let's take that one."

So they left that one out and carefully rolled up the others and

put them back in place. They put the crow away too.

The Twins were just turning round to go out the door when their

Father reached down one more package from a high shelf. "Wait a

minute," he said; "I have some thing else to show you."

The package was long and thin, and the covering was a piece of

silk with the family crest embroidered on it in colored silks.

This was the crest.

Taro and Take knew it at once, for it was embroidered or stamped

upon the sleeves of their kimonos. It was the sign of their

family.

The Father took off this cover. Under it was a covering of

brocaded silk.

It seemed a long time to the Twins before it was all unwrapped,

they were so eager to see what was in the package.

At last their Father held up a beautiful sword with both his

hands.

It was a long sword, with a handle of carved ivory, and a sheath

with curious designs on it.

The Father bowed to the sword.

"You bow to the sword also, my son," he said to Taro. "It is

wonderfully made. It commands respect."

Taro bowed to the sword.

Then his Father drew the long blade from the sheath. He turned

the edge carefully toward himself, and away from the Twins. "I

want you to see this sword, Taro," he said, "for some time it

will be yours, because you are my oldest son."

"Whose was it?" asked Taro.

"It was your Grandfather's sword," his Father answered, "and you

are old enough now to know what it means. I want you to remember

what I say to you as long as you live.

"Your Grandfather was a gentleman, a Samurai of Japan. This was

the sword he always wore. Many years ago there was trouble in

Japan, and to help the Emperor, all the great dukes in the

kingdom gave up their dukedoms. The Samurai also gave up their

honorable positions in the service of these dukes, and became

common citizens.

"Then your Grandfather put away his sword. Years after, when he

was old, he gave it to me. But I do not wear it either, although

I too am of the Samurai, and the sword is their badge of honor.

It is much better to keep it safely here, and think sometimes of

what it means, than to wear it only for display. You can show

that you are a son of the Samurai, by acting as a gentleman

should act. You do not need the sword for that. A Samurai should

never do a mean thing. He should keep his life clean and

shining, like the sword. And he must always do what is best for

Japan, whether it is best for him or not."

This was a long speech. The Twins listened with all their ears,--

four of them,--but they did not quite understand it all. They

understood that their Father loved the sword, and that some time

it was to be Taro's, and that he must be a brave, good boy or he

would not be worthy of it; and that was a good deal, after all.

"May I touch it?" Taro asked.

"You may take it in your own hands," said his Father. And he

gave it to Taro almost as tenderly as he had given Bot'Chan to

Take that morning.

He showed him the polite way to hold it, with the edge toward

himself.

Then while Taro held the sword, his Father said: "I want to tell

you a poem that our Emperor's father wrote while he was Emperor,

and by and by when you are bigger I want you to learn it by

heart. Then, when you are a man, and look at the sword, you will

remember it. This is the poem:

"There is no second way whereby to show

The love of Fatherland, Whether one stand,

A soldier under arms, against the foe,

Or stay at home a peaceful citizen,

The way of loyalty is still the same."

The Father's voice was very solemn as he said this verse.

The Twins were quite still as he wrapped the sword in its silken

coverings and put it back again on the high shelf.

This was a long time for Take to be quiet, but she was thinking.

When their Father had locked the Kura and they were on their way

to the house with the picture of the birds, she said to him,

"Father, am I not a child of the Samurai, too?"

"Yes, my daughter," her Father answered, "but you are a girl. It

is not your fault, little one," he added kindly. "We cannot all

be boys, of course. But to the keeping of the Sons is given the

honor of the Family. It is a great trust."

"Don't I do anything at all for the honor of my Family?" asked

Take.

"When you are grown up you will marry and live with your

husband's family and serve them in every way you can," her

Father answered. "You will belong to them, you see. Now, you

must just be a good girl and mind your Father and Grandmother,

and Mother, and your brothers."

"I'm just as old as Taro," said little Take, "and I think I know

just as much. Why can't he mind me some of the time? I think it

would be fair to take turns!"

"But Taro is a boy," said her Father. "That makes all the

difference in the world. Japanese girls must always mind their

brothers!"

"Must I mind Bot'Chan, too?" asked Take.

"Yes, Bot'Chan, too."

"Won't anybody ever mind me at all?" asked Take.

"When you get to be a mother-in-law, then you can have your

turn," said her Father, smiling. "Your son's wife will obey

you."

"Will my son obey me, too?" asked Take.

"No, you must obey him if he is the head of the house," her

Father explained.

"It's a very long time to wait," sighed Take, "and nothing but a

daughter-in-law to mind me at last."

Her under lip puckered a little and she frowned--a little frown--

right in the middle of her forehead.

"Tut, tut," said her Father. "Girls and women should always be

gentle and smiling. You must never frown."

He looked quite shocked at the very idea of such a thing.

Take tried to look pleasant, and a funny thing is that when you

make yourself look pleasant, you begin to feel so, too. Take

felt pleasant almost right away.

They went into the house and hung the picture of the mother bird

in the place of the crow, beside the spray of plum. When it was

all done, this is the way the honorable recess looked.

Take looked at it for a while, and then she said, "I don't

believe I shall feel sorry about minding Bot'Chan after all,

because I love him so much."

"That's the way a little Japanese girl should feel," said her

Father. "Now, come in and let us take a look at him."

They found Bot'Chan awake. Take knelt down on the mat in front

of him, to see him better.

"Put your head down on the matting, Take," her Father said, and

Take bowed her head to the floor.

Then the Father took the Baby in his arms and placed his tiny

foot on Take's neck.

"That means that you must always do what he wants you to," he

said.

"I will," said little Take. The Mother smiled at Take as she

knelt on the floor with the Baby's foot on her neck.

Then she turned her face the other way on her little wooden

pillow and sighed--just a very gentle little sigh, that nobody

heard at all.

MORNING IN THE LITTLE HOUSE

One morning when Bot'Chan was just one month old, his big

brother Taro woke up very early. The birds woke him. They were

singing in the garden. "See, see, see," they sang. "Morning is

here! Morning is here!" Taro heard them in his sleep. He turned

over. Then he stretched his arms and legs and sat up in bed,

rubbing his eyes.

The candle in the tall paper lamp beside his bed had burned

almost out, but it was light enough so he could see that Take,

in her bed across the room, was still asleep, with her head on

her little cushion.

Taro called very softly, "Take, Take, wake up!" But Take slept

so soundly she did not hear him.

Father and Mother and the Baby were all asleep in the next room.

He did not want to wake them, because it was still so early in

the morning. So he crept softly along the floor to Take's bed,

and whispered in her ear, "Wake up, wake up!" But she didn't

wake up. Then Taro took a jay's feather which he had found in

the garden the day before, and tickled Take's nose!

First she rubbed her nose. Then she sneezed. Then she opened her

eyes and looked at Taro.

"Sh-sh," whispered Taro.

"But I haven't said a single word!" Take whispered back.

"You sneezed, though," said Taro. "That's just as bad. It will

wake up our honorable parents just the same."

"Well, you shouldn't tickle my poor little nose, then," said

Take.

"Your honorable nose was tickled so that you would wake up and

hear the birds sing," said Taro. "It is much nicer than sleeping!

Besides, do you remember what is going to happen to-day? We are

going to take Bot'Chan to the Temple!"

A temple is something like a church, only they do not do the

same things in temples that we do in our churches.

The Twins loved to go to the Temple, because they had a very

good time when they went there. They liked it as much as you

like Thanksgiving Day and the Fourth of July.

When Take remembered that they were going to take Bot'Chan to

the Temple, she clapped her little brown hands. "Oh, I'm so

glad!" she said. Then she popped out from under the covers of

her bed and stood up on the soft straw matting.

She was no sooner out of bed than from far away came the

"Cling-cling-clang" of a great gong. And then, "Tum-tum-t-y-y-rum"

rolled a great drum.

"Hark!" said Taro. "There go the Temple bells, and the priests

are beating the sunrise drums! It's not so very early, after

all."

"Now, you'll hear Grannie's stick rapping for the maids to get

up," Take answered. "The Temple bells always wake her."

And at that very minute, "Rat-tat-tat" sounded Grannie's stick

on the woodwork of the room where the maids slept.

In the little house in the garden where the Twins lived, there

are no thick walls. There are only pretty wooden screens covered

with fine white paper. These screens slide back and forth in

grooves, and when they are all shoved back at once the whole

house is turned into one big, bright room. This is why the Twins

had to be so careful not to make any noise. Even a tiny noise

can be heard all through a house that has only paper walls, you

see.

But every one is supposed to get up at sunrise in the little

house in the garden, anyway.

The maids were stirring as soon as Grannie called them. They

rolled back the shutters around the porch and made so much noise

in doing it that Father and Mother woke up too.

Then the Twins didn't keep so quiet any more. "I'll beat you

dressing," Take said to Taro.

She ran to the bathroom to wash her face and hands, and Taro ran

to wash his in a little brass basin on the porch.

"Be sure you wash behind your ears, Taro," Take called to him.

"And it's no fair unless you brush your teeth hard!"

Taro didn't say anything. His toothbrush was in his mouth, and

there wasn't room for words too. So he just scrubbed away as

hard as he could. Then he ran back to his room and dressed so

quickly that he was all done and out in the garden before Take

began to put on her little kimono! You see, all Taro's clothes

opened in front, and there wasn't a single button to do up; so

he could do it all himself--all but the sash which tied round

his waist and held everything together. Take always tied this

for him.

When Take came out into the garden she had her sash in her hand.

Taro had his in his hand.

"I beat!" Taro called to her.

"You haven't got your sash on yet," Take called back.

"You haven't either," said Taro.

"We both of us didn't beat then," said Take. "Come here and I'll

tie yours for you."

Taro backed up to Take, and she tied his sash in a twinkling.

Then she held up her sash. "Now, you tie mine for me, Taro," she

said.

"Wait until Mother can help you," said Taro. "Boys shouldn't do

girls' work."

"Oh, please, Taro," said Take. "I tied yours for you. I don't

see why you can't tie mine for me!"

"Well, you know what Father said," Taro answered. "He said you

are a girl and must mind me. You get Mother to do it."

"He said you should be kind and noble, too," said Take. "It

would be kind and noble of you to tie my sash, because I'm just

suffering to have it tied." She looked at him sidewise. "Please

do," she said.

Taro thought it over. Then he said, "Well, come behind the

lantern, and just this once I'll do it. But don't you tell, and

don't you ask me to again."

"Cross my heart, Taro," Take promised. "I won't tell. You are a

good, kind boy."

Taro tied the sash the best he could, but it looked very queer.

It looked so queer that when, after a while, their Mother saw it

she said, "Come here, my child; your sash is tied upside down!

But I know it is hard to reach behind you. I must teach you how

to make a nice big bow all by yourself." And Take never told her

that Taro did it. No one ever knew it until this minute!

When they were all dressed, the Twins ran out into the garden.

There had been a shower in the night, and the leaves were all

shiny, they had been washed so clean by the rain. The dew

sparkled on the green iris leaves beside the tiny river, and the

sunshine made the fish look like lumps of living gold in the

blue waters of the little lake. The birds were singing in the

wistaria vine that grew over the porch, and two doves were

cooing on the old stone lantern that stood by the little lake.

They were Taro's pet doves.

Taro held out his fingers. "I haven't forgotten to bring you

something," he called.

The doves flew down and lit upon his shoulders. Taro took a few

rice kernels from the sleeve of his kimono--which he used as a

pocket--and fed the birds from his hand. They were so tame they

even picked some from his lips.

"I will feed the fish too," Take said. And she ran to the

kitchen where the maids were preparing breakfast. She came back

with some white rice wafers in her fingers. First she threw some

tiny bits of the wafer into the water. The fish saw them and

came to the surface. Then Take reached down and held the wafer

in her fingers. The little fish came all about her hand and

nibbled the wafer without fear. One of them even nibbled her

finger!

Take laughed. "Mind your manners," she said to the little fish.

"It's not polite to try to eat me up when I'm feeding you! I'm

not your breakfast, anyway!"

Just then they heard the tinkling sound of a little gong.

"Ting--ting--ting!" sang Take to the sound of the gong.

"Breakfast is ready." And she danced up the gravel walk to the

house, her hair bobbing up and down, and her sash flying in the

wind, so that she looked like a big blue butterfly.

Taro came too, and they sat down on mats in the kitchen, to eat

their breakfast.

Their Mother was already serving their Father's breakfast to him

in the next room. By and by she and Grandmother would have their

breakfast with the servants.

This is a picture of the Twins eating their breakfast.

They each had a tiny table of red lacquered wood. On each table

were two bowls. In one bowl was soup, and in the other rice.

Taro took up his soup-bowl with both hands. He was in a hurry.

"Oh, Taro!" Take said. "What would Mother say! You must be more

polite. You know that isn't the way to hold your bowl."

Taro set his bowl down again, and took it up carefully with one

hand, just as you see him in the picture.

Take began to eat her rice. She had two little sticks in her

right hand. She used these sticks instead of a fork or spoon.

But Take was in a hurry too. She spilled a little rice on the

front of her kimono.

Taro saw it. "You're just as impolite as I am," he said. "It's

just as bad to spill as it is to hold your bowl wrong."

"Oh, dear me! Then we're both impolite," said Take. "What would

Mother say!"

"She'd be ashamed of us," said Taro.

"Let's see if we can't remember every single one of our manners

after this," said Take.

Just as they were finishing their rice there came the sound of

steps--Clumpity--clumpity-clump!

"Who's coming?" said Taro.

"I think it's the hairdresser," Take answered.

She ran out to see. An old woman was on the porch. She had just

slipped off her clogs.

In Japan no one thinks of such a thing as wearing street shoes

in the house. It would bring in dirt and soil the pretty white

mats. That was why she took them off.

Take bowed to the old woman. "Oha-yo?" she said politely.

"Oha-yo?" said the old woman to Take.

The Twins' Mother heard them. She came to the door. She bowed to

the old woman, and the old woman bowed to her.

"Come in," said the Mother. "I hope you will make my hair look

very nice to-day, because we are going to the Temple."

The old woman smiled. "I will make it shine like satin," she

said.

The Mother got out her little mirror and sat down on the floor.

The hairdresser stood behind her and began to take down the

Mother's long black hair.

Bot'Chan had been awake a long time. Taro was playing with him

on the floor.

The Mother called Take. "Daughter," she said, "a little nap

would make our baby wide awake and happy when we start for the

Temple. Would you like to put him to sleep?"

Take loved to put Bot'Chan to sleep better than anything else in

the world. She took him in her arms and hugged him close. Then

she swayed back and forth, and sang this little song:

"How big and beautiful Sir Baby Boy is growing.

"When he becomes a good boy, too, then I will make our

garden larger, and build a little treasure house for

him.

"Next to the treasure-house I will plant pine trees.

Next to the pine trees I will plant bamboo. Next to the

bamboo I will plant plum trees.

"To the branches of the plum trees shall be hung little

bells! When those little bells ring, O Sir Baby Boy, how

happy you will be!"

(Adapted from translation by Sir Edwin Arnold.)

She sang over and over, and softer and softer, about the little

bells; and by the time the hairdresser had finished the Mother's

hair and gone away, Bot'Chan was fast asleep.

Then Natsu put him down on some soft mats, and combed Take's

hair.

Take stood still, like a brave little girl, though there were

three snarls in it, and Natsu pulled dreadfully!

When every one was ready to go, they looked very splendid

indeed. They all wore kimonos of the finest silk, with the

family crest embroidered on the back and left sleeve. And

Bot'Chan had new clothes that Grannie and Mother had made

especially for him to wear on his first visit to the Temple.

When everybody else was dressed and ready, Natsu waked Bot'Chan

and put his new clothes on him.

"Now, we can start," said the Mother.

She took Bot'Chan in her arms. Natsu slid open the door, and

they all stepped out on the porch.

HOW THEY WENT TO THE TEMPLE

THE Twins were just stepping into their clogs when the front

gate opened, and what do you think they saw! In came trotting

three brown men, each one pulling a little carriage behind him!

They came right up to the porch. Take was just standing on one

foot, ready to slip her other one into the strap of her clog,

when they came in. She was so surprised she fell right over

backward! She picked herself up again quickly, and hopped along,

with one shoe on and one shoe off:

"Are we going to ride?" she gasped.

Her Father laughed. "Yes, little pop-eyes," he said; "we are

going to ride to the Temple, and you and Taro shall ride in one

rickshaw all by yourselves."

The name of these little carriages drawn by men instead of

horses is "jinrickshas," but he called them "rickshaws" for

short.

The Twins were so happy they could hardly keep still. They

looked at all three rickshaws and all three men, and then they

said to their Father:

"May we ride in this one?"

It had red wheels.

"Yes, you may ride in that one," he said.

Then he got into the one with green wheels, and rode away.

Mother and Grannie and the Baby got into the next one, and their

rickshaw man trotted away after Father.

"Keep close behind us," the Mother called back to the Twins.

They got into the rickshaw with the red wheels, and away they

flew.

The Twins had never been in a rickshaw alone before in all their

lives. They sat up very straight, and held on tight because it

bounced a good deal, and the rickshaw man could run very fast.

"I feel as grand as a princess," Take whispered to Taro. "How do

you feel?"

"I feel like a son of the Samurai," Taro whispered back. That

was the proudest feeling he could think of.

There were so very many interesting things to see that the Twins

didn't talk much for a while. You see, it's hard work to use

your mouth and your eyes and your ears all at once. So the Twins

just used their eyes.

It was still quite early in the morning when they reached the

city streets. Here they saw men with baskets hung from poles

going from house to house. Some were selling vegetables, some

had fish, and others were selling flowers, or brooms.

They saw little girls with baby brothers on their backs,

skipping rope or bouncing balls. The baby's head wobbled

dreadfully when his little sister skipped, but he didn't cry

about it. He just let it wobble!

The Twins rode by fruit-shops, and clothing-shops with gay

kimonos flapping in the breeze; by little shops where people

were making paper lanterns, by tea-shops and silk-shops, by

houses and gardens in strange places they had never seen before.

They saw an old priest going from door to door, holding out his

bowl for money.

In one street carpenters were putting up a new house, and once

they caught a glimpse of the very bridge that leads to the

Emperor's palace.

By and by they reached the gate of the Temple grounds. All the

rickshaws stopped here, and everybody got out.

The Mother put Bot'Chan on her back, and they all started in a

procession for the Temple. First walked the Father, looking very

proud. Then came the Twins, looking quite proud, too. Then came

Mother and Grannie and Bot'Chan and they looked proudest of all!

When they got inside the gate, the Twins thought they were in

fairyland. You would have thought so, too, if you could have

been there with them.

They saw so many wonderful things that day that if I were to

tell you about every one of them it would fill up this whole

book!

First of all, they came into a broad roadway with beautiful

great cedar trees on each side. Under these trees were little

booths. Great paper lanterns and banners of all colors hung in

front of the booths; and when they waved gayly in the wind, the

place looked like a giant flower-garden in full bloom.

Near the Temple entrance was a great stone trough full of clear

water. There was a long-handled wooden dipper floating on it.

"Come here," said the Father.

The Twins, Grandmother, and Mother, with Baby on her back, all

came at once and stood in a row beside the trough. They put out

their hands. The Father took the dipper and poured water on

their hands.

When their hands were quite clean, they rinsed their mouths,

too. Then they entered the Temple vestibule.

There were more little booths in the Temple vestibule, and there

were so many people, big and little, crowding about that the

Father took the Twins' hands so they wouldn't get lost.

First he led them to a place where they bought some cooked peas

on a little plate, and some rice. He gave the peas to Taro and

some of the rice to Take.

The Twins wondered what in the world their Father wanted with

peas and rice. They soon found out. In the very next place was a

little stall, and in the little stall was a tiny, tiny white

horse--no bigger than a big dog! Even its eyes were white.

"Oh, Father," the Twins said, both together, "whose little horse

is it?"

"It's Kwannon's little horse," the Father said. "Taro, you may

give him the peas."

Taro held out the plate. The little white pony put his nose in

the plate and ate them all up! He sniffed up Taro's sleeve as if

he wanted more.

Take patted his back. "Who is Kwannon?" she asked.

"Kwannon is a beautiful goddess who loves little children," said

the Father.

"Does she live here?" asked Taro.

"This is her Temple, where people come to worship," the Father

answered. "We are going to pray to her to-day to take good care

of Bot'Chan always."

"Did you ask her to take care of us, too?" asked Take.

"Yes; we brought you both here when you were a month old, just

as we are bringing Bot'Chan now," the Father replied.

"Does she take care of all little children?" Take said.

"She loves them all, and takes care of all who ask for her

protection."

"My!" said Take. "She must have her hands full with such a large

family!"

Her Father laughed, "But, you see, she has a great many hands,"

he said. "If she had only two, like us, it would be hard for her

to take care of so many."

"I never saw her take care of me," said Taro.

"We do not see the gods," their Father answered. "But we must

worship and obey them just the same."

"I think Kwannon must love little children," said Take, "because

she wants them to have such good times in her Temple."

They said good-bye to the little horse, and walked through an

opening into a courtyard beyond. The moment they stepped into

the courtyard a flock of white pigeons flew down and settled all

about them.

"Take may feed the pigeons," the Father said. "They are

Kwannon's pigeons."

Take threw her rice on the ground. The pigeons picked it all up.

So many people fed them that they were almost too fat to fly!

At another booth their Father bought some little rings of

perfumed incense. He put them in his sleeve. His sleeves could

hold more things than all a boy's pockets put together!

When they reached the great door of the Temple itself, the

Father said: "Now, we must take off our shoes." So they all

slipped their toes out of their clogs, and went into the Temple

just as the bell in the courtyard rang out with a great--boom--

BOOM--BOOM! that made the air shiver and shake all about them.

The Temple was one big, shadowy room, with tall red columns all

about.

"It's just like a great forest full of trees, isn't it?" Taro

whispered to Take, as they went in.

"It almost scares me," Take whispered back; "it's so big."

Directly in front of the entrance there was another bell. A long

red streamer hung from its clapper, and under it was a great box

with bars over the top. On the box there perched a great white

rooster!

The Father pulled the red streamer and rang the bell. Then he

threw a piece of money into the box. It fell with a great noise.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo," crowed the rooster! He seemed very much

pleased about the money, though it was meant for the priests and

not for him. "The rooster is saying thank you," cried Take.

"Hush," said her Mother.

Then the Father drew from his sleeve a little rosary of beads.

He placed it over his hands, and bowed his head in prayer while

Grannie and Mother and Baby and the Twins stood near him and

kept very still. When he had finished, a priest came up.

The Father bowed to the priest. "Will you show us the way to the

shrine of Kwannon?" he asked.

Away off at the farther end of the Temple, the Twins could see a

great altar. Banners and lanterns hung about it, and people were

kneeling on the floor before it, praying. Before the altar was

an open brazier with incense burning in it.

"Come this way," said the priest. He led them to the altar.

The Father took Bot'Chan from his Mother, and held him in his

arms. The priest said a prayer to Kwannon, and blessed the Baby.

Then the Father threw incense rings on the little fire that

burned in the brazier before the altar. Wreaths of smoke began

to curl about their heads. The air was filled with the sweet

odor of it. Some of it went up Bot'Chan's nose. It smarted.

Bot'Chan didn't like it. He had behaved beautifully up to that

time, and I am sure if the incense hadn't gone up his nose he

would have kept on behaving beautifully. But it did, and

Bot'Chan sneezed just as the priest finished the prayer.

Then he gave a great scream. Then another, and another. Three of

them!

The priest smiled. But the Father didn't smile. He gave Bot'Chan

back to his mother just as quickly as he could.

He said, "The honorable worshippers will be disturbed. We must

go out at once."

They hurried back to the entrance and found their clogs, and the

moment they were outdoors again, in the sweet, fresh air,

Bot'Chan cuddled down on his Mother's back and went to sleep

without another sound.

Near the Temple they found an orchard of cherry trees in full

bloom. People were sitting under the cherry trees, looking at

the blossoms. Some of them were writing little verses, which

they hung on the branches of the trees. They did this because

they loved the blossoms so much. Children were playing all

about. Near by was a pretty little tea-house.

Grannie saw it first. "I am thirsty," she said.

"So am I," said Take.

"So am I," said Taro.

"We're all thirsty," the Father said.

Outside the tea-house, under the trees there were wooden

benches. They sat down on these, and soon little maids from the

tea-house brought them trays with tea and sweet rice-cakes.

They sat on the benches and sipped their tea, and watched the

people moving about, and looked up at the cherry blossoms

against the blue sky, and were very happy, indeed.

The Mother had carried Bot'Chan all the way on her back, so

maybe she was a little tired. Anyway, she said to the Father:--

"If you and the Twins want to go farther, let Grannie and me

stay here and rest. You can come back for us."

"Would you like to see the animals?" the Father asked the Twins.

Taro and Take jumped right up, and took their Father's hands,

one on each side, and then they all walked away together under

the blossoming trees to another part of the park.

In this part of the park there were cages, and in the cages were

lions, and tigers, and monkeys, and zebras, and elephants, and

all kinds of animals! There were birds, too, with red and blue

plumage and beautiful golden tails. There were parrots and

cockatoos and pheasants. Wild ducks were swimming in the ponds;

and two swans sailed, like lovely white ships, to the place

where the Twins stood, and opened their bills to be fed.

In the Father's sleeve was something for each one. Taro and Take

took turns. Take fed the swans, and Taro fed the great fish that

swam up beside them and looked at them with round eyes. When

they saw the food the fish leaped in the water and fought each

other to get it, and when they ate it they made curious noises

like pigs.

"I don't think they have very good manners," said Take.

By and by they came to a queer little street. This little street

must have been made on purpose for little boys and girls to have

fun in, for there were all sorts of astonishing things there.

There were jugglers doing strange tricks with tops and swords.

There were acrobats, and candy-sellers and toy-sellers going

about with baskets hung from long poles over their shoulders. It

was almost like a circus.

The street was full of people, and every one was gay. The Twins

and their Father had gone only a little way up the street when

an old woman met them. She had a pole on her shoulder, and from

it swung a little fire of coals in a brazier. She had a little

pot of batter and a little jar of sweet sauce, a ladle, a

griddle, and a cake-turner!

"Would you like to make some cakes?" she said to Take.

Take clasped her hands. "Oh, Father, may I?" she said.

The Father gave the old woman some money out of his sleeve. She

set the brazier on the ground.