THE JAPANESE SHOP
One day, not very long after Christmas, Mrs. Thornton said to Rose,--
“Rose, dear, I am going to the Japanese Shop to buy a wedding present,
and I think you would like to go, wouldn’t you?”
“What is a Japanese Shop?” asked Rose.
“Oh, it is a very wonderful shop,” said her mamma. “I can’t begin to
tell you about all the curious things which they sell in a Japanese
Shop. You must come and see for yourself.”
So Rose put on her hat and coat and went with her mother to the
Japanese Shop. What a wonderful place it was, indeed! Rose felt just
as if she were in some strange, new kind of Fairyland, such as she
had never before heard about. Everything was colored so bright and
beautiful! There were such queer-shaped things sitting about on the
floor and standing up in the corners! Curious lanterns swung from the
ceiling, and tall screens of black and gold, with pictures of wonderful
long-legged birds flying across, made dark nooks, in which strange
bronze animals lurked surprisingly. Everything smelt sweet and rich,
too, almost with the Christmas-tree fragrance of mamma’s holiday secret.
Rose wandered about by herself while her mother was looking at the
funny lamps hiding under colored umbrellas, which she called wedding
presents, though Rose did not understand why. They did not interest
her like Christmas presents, which were very different. But over in a
corner, all by itself, Rose found something which she thought would
make the loveliest Christmas present,--the most wonderful Christmas
present that any little girl could have. And oh! how she wanted it for
her very own!
It was a toy garden; the kind that is put into the guest-room of a
Japanese house to amuse visitors.
My! It was a wonderful little garden,--a real, truly live garden,
with growing trees and plants and moss. But it was all so tiny that
it could stand on a little table no wider than Rose’s arm was long.
And though the trees were really, truly grown-up trees, a great deal
older than Rose,--older even than her mamma, whom Rose thought very old
indeed,--they were no taller than Rose’s little hand.
This is the way the garden looked. First, it was almost square and
there was a little stone wall all around it, about an inch high. In the
middle of the garden was a hill built of rocks, and on the top of the
hill was a lawn of green moss, with a tiny pagoda, or Japanese house,
no bigger than a match-box. The sides of the hill sloped down, very
green and smooth, and at the foot was a little brook of real water,
winding around the whole garden. The tiniest path of sand crept zig-zag
down the hill to a bit of a red bridge that crossed the brook, for the
people in the house at the top of the hill to use. And all along the
brook grew little baby plants, and the wonderful dwarf trees that
I told you about. Pine-trees they were, most of them, and the pine
needles had fallen on the ground and had turned rusty brown, just as
everyday pine needles do. Only these were ten times smaller. Rose
wondered who lived in the little house at the top of the hill, and she
said to herself:--
“Oh, how I wish I were little enough to live in that dear little
house, and play in that sweet little garden, and climb up into those
darling little trees! Oh, how I wish I could be littler!” And that was
something which Rose had never before wished.
Just then Rose heard a cough behind her, and looking around she saw
that the funny Japanese Man who kept the store was standing close at
her elbow. He was smiling very pleasantly, so Rose said to him:--
“Oh, Mr. Japanese Man! I think you can tell me who lives in the dear
little house and plays in the dear little garden and paddles in the
dear little brook. Will you, please?”
The Japanese Man bowed and grinned, and looked at Rose for a minute
without saying anything. Then he went away to the other end of the
store. Presently he came back, and he had something in his hands. He
set a little Somebody down beside the house on the top of the hill; and
it was a tiny little old man made of china-stuff, in a long green gown,
with a knob of hair on the back of his head, like a lady.
“_He_ live in house, litty ol’ man,” said the Japanese. “And these, his
animals; live in garden.” As he said this the Japanese Man set down on
the bridge the littlest baby white rabbit, and in the brook a tiny-winy
duck, which floated on the water, and under one of the trees a wee-wee
mouse, with pink ears.
“Oh!” cried Rose, clapping her hands. “Oh! how I wish I could be little
enough to play there with them. Are they alive, Mr. Japanese Man?”
The Man grinned more than ever. Then he came close up to Rose and
whispered behind his hand, as though it were a great secret:--
“No, not alive _now_. But after dark, when moon shines, and store all
empty--all big folks gone away--then all come alive. My--my! Litty ol’
man walk down hill, go fishy in brook. Duck say ‘_Quack quack!_’ Litty
rabbit hop so-so over bridge. Litty mouse cry ‘_Wee, wee!_’ and climb
up pine-tree. My! Litty girl like to see?”
“Oh! Have _you_ ever seen?” cried Rose with her eyes very wide.
But just then her mamma came back, with a bundle under her arm, which
was probably a little Wedding Present, though Rose did not care enough
about it to inquire. But she was very sorry when the Japanese Man bowed
politely and walked away to the other end of the store. She had wanted
to ask him a great many more questions.
“Come, Rose,” said her mother; “we must go home now.”
[Illustration: THE LITTLEST BABY WHITE RABBIT]
“O Mamma! I want it!” sighed Rose wistfully.
“Want what? The garden? Oh, my Dear! I cannot buy you that,” said her
mamma sadly; “it costs dollars and dollars. But maybe I could buy you
the mouse, or the duck, or the rabbit, or the little old gentleman up
there. Would you like one of them, Dear?”
“Oh, no!” cried Rose. “It would be dreadful to take them away from
their lovely garden. I wouldn’t have one of them for anything. Think
how lonesome he would be when it grew dark and they all came alive!”
On the way home Rose told her mamma the great secret, which the
Japanese Man had told her. And her mamma thought it was all very
strange indeed, and said she wished that she too was little enough to
play in the wonderful garden with Rose and that interesting family.
When they reached home Rose told Kenneth all about the toy garden, and
the secret which the Japanese Man had told her. But Kenneth only said,
“Pooh! I don’t believe a word of it,” which was very disappointing.
But, of course, Kenneth had not seen the garden, nor heard the Japanese
Man tell the secret, which made a great difference.
When it was dark Rose went to bed, and in a little while her mamma came
to kiss her good-night. Rose held her tightly by the hand and made her
sit down on the edge of the bed, where the moonlight shone like silver.
“O Mamma!” she whispered. “Think of the shop, all dark and empty now,
with just one moonbeam shining on the little garden in the corner.
And the little old man comes alive, _pop_! like that! Now he goes
walking out of his house, down the little path over the hill. And the
bunny-rabbit scampers in front of him, _hoppity-hop_! Can’t you see
him, Mamma? Now they come to the little bridge; the funny duck says
‘_Quack, quack!_’ and swims away round and round the garden. Now the
little old man sits down under one of the tiny pine-trees and begins
to fish in the brook. And the wee-wee mouse runs up and down the tree
and nibbles the cheese which the old man has in his pocket for bait. O
Mamma, I can see it all, just as plainly! I wish I were there.”
“I can almost see it, too,” said Mamma.
“O Mamma, I think I could grow little just as easily as they could come
alive. Don’t you?” said Rose.
Her mother answered, “We-el, perhaps.”
But she would never take Rose to the Japanese shop after dark, to see
whether or not it could be done. Maybe she was afraid that Rose might
grow little and stay little always--which would have been a dreadful
thing for her mamma. But Rose thinks that she herself would like it
very well indeed,--to live always in that wonderful garden with the
mouse and the duck and the rabbit and the funny little old man,--if
only Kenneth would grow little, too. But Kenneth does not want to grow
little. He is trying just as hard as he can, every day, to grow big.