I have become very strong, and weigh about 20 lbs. more than I did
last summer. But I can't tell just why. Perhaps because I am eating
three full meals a day instead of two. My house is not quite so large
as the one I had in Matsue. We are five here now--myself and wife,
the cook, the _kurumaya_, and O-Yone. It was very funny about O-Yone
when she first came. Nobody could understand her Izumo dialect (she is
from Imaichi); but both she and the _kurumaya_ can now get along. The
hotels here are outrageously expensive: at least some of them. I cannot
recommend the Shirakuin for cheapness. I paid, including tea-money, 24
yen for 6-1/2 days. No more of that!
About the boys? Yes, Ōtani writes to me, and Azukizawa,--and I got a
charming letter from Tanabe, late of the 5th Class.
I was surprised to hear of the decision of the Council. But I cannot
help thinking this is much better than that the boys should be taught
by a missionary; 99 out of 100 will not teach conscientiously and
painstakingly. And a clever Japanese teacher can do so much. I have now
no one to prepare some of my classes for the English lesson; and I know
what it means. The main use of a foreign teacher is to teach accent and
conversational habits. But I suspect that within another generation few
foreign teachers will be employed for English--except in higher schools
and for special purposes. There will be thousands of Japanese teachers,
speaking English perfectly well. I hope you will be the new Director.
Please kindly remember me to Mr. Sato, Mr. Katayama, Mr. Nakamura (I
wish I could hear him laugh now), and all friends.
* * * * *
P. S. Setsu insists that I shall tell you that the _kurumaya_ of this
town are _oni_, and that one must be careful in hiring them;--so that
if you should come down here when the weather is better, you must be as
careful as in Tōkyō,--where they are also _oni_. Also that rent is
high: my house is eleven yen. But with any Izumo cook, living is just as
cheap as in Matsue; and there is much good bread and meat and sake and
food of all kinds.
I am sorry about that Tamatsukuri affair; for I wrote, as you will see,
words of _extreme_ praise,--never suspecting such possibilities. Why,
the first duty of gentlemen is to face death like soldiers,--not like
sailors on a sinking ship, who stave in the casks--sometimes. However,
don't such things make you wish for the chance to do the same duty
better? They do me. That is one good effect of a human weakness: it
makes others wish to be strong and to do strong things.