A BARBARIAN DINNER.
The girls stayed to dinner with Mrs. Davis. Koto had never eaten an
American dinner before, though Numè had grown quite used to it.
Following the national custom, she ate all placed before her by her
hostess, and Mrs. Davis, knowing of this little habit of hers, which was
more an act of compliment to her hostess than of liking for the food,
was always very careful not to serve her too much. She quite forgot that
Koto would be altogether unused to the food. The two little Japanese
women presented a very pretty contrast. Both were small and, in their
way, pretty. Koto had a round-faced, bright-eyed, shy prettiness; while
Numè's face was oval and pure in contour. She chatted very happily and
confidently, now in Japanese to Koto, now in pretty broken English to
Mr. and Mrs. Davis.
Koto ate her dinner in silence, her face strangely white and pitiful.
Very bravely she ate the strange food, however, stopping at nothing. She
looked with wonder at the butter (something the Japanese never use),
puzzling for a moment what she was supposed to do with it, then picked
the little round pat from the butter-plate, slipped it into her tea, and
drank the tea.
Mr. Davis saw this act, and choked.
"What is the matter, Walter?"
"Er--er--hum--nothing, my dear! I--a--Oh, Lord!" This last ejaculation
was provoked by another act of Koto's. On the table was a small plate of
chowchow. The servant passed it to Koto, thinking perhaps she would like
some with her meat. Instead of helping herself to some, the girl held
the dish in her hand, hesitated a moment, and then very heroically ate
the hot stuff all up with the small china spoon in the dish. Her eyes
were full of tears when she had finished.
"What is it, Koto-san?" Numè asked, gently.
"It is the barbarian food," the girl answered, desperately, in Japanese.
"I do not like it."
Numè translated this to the Americans, apologizing for the remark by
saying:
"Koto _always_ been geisha girl. Tha's why she is nod _most_ careful in
her speech. It was _most_ rude that she spik' so of the kind
Americazan's food, _bud_ the geisha girl is _only_ stylish, and nod
understan' to spik' polite to foreigners."
This elaborate, rather mixed apology, the Americans took very
good-naturedly, telling Numè to assure Koto that they bore her no malice
whatever, and that, in fact, they owed her an apology for not having
remembered that she was a stranger to their food. Besides, the Americans
were just as foolish when they had eaten Japanese food.