Caricature and Other Comic Art in All Times and Many Lands.Parton, James
History
Caricature and Other Comic Art in All Times and Many Lands.
Parton, James
Caricature -- History
"Chokichi, pretending not to know what has happened, beats the mats, and
keeps on saying, 'Come again the day before yesterday; come again the
day before yesterday.' [An incantation used to invite spiders, which are
considered unlucky by the superstitious, to come again at the Greek
Kalends.]
"But it's no use his trying to persuade his master that the little
cuttle-fish are spiders, for they are not the least like them. It's no
use hiding things--they are sure to come to light; and so it is with the
heart--its purposes will out. If the heart is enraged, the dark veins
stand out on the forehead; if the heart is grieved, tears rise to the
eyes; if the heart is joyous, dimples appear in the cheeks; if the heart
is merry, the face smiles. Thus it is that the face reflects the
emotions of the heart. It is not because the eyes are filled with tears
that the heart is sad, nor that the veins stand out on the forehead that
the heart is enraged. It is the heart which leads the way in every
thing. All the important sensations of the heart are apparent in the
outward appearance. In the 'Great Learning' of Kôshi it is written, 'The
truth of what is within appears upon the surface.' How, then, is the
heart a thing which can be hidden? To answer when reproved, to hum tunes
when scolded, show a diseased heart; and if this disease be not quickly
taken in hand, it will become chronic, and the remedy become difficult.
Perhaps the disease may be so virulent that even Giba and Henjaku [two
famous Indian physicians] in consultation could not effect a cure. So,
before the disease has gained strength, I invite you to the study of the
moral essays entitled 'Shingaku' [the "Learning of the Heart"]. If you
once arrive at the possession of your heart as it was originally by
nature, what an admirable thing that will be! In that case your
conscience will point out to you even the slightest wrong bias or
selfishness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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