Our Little Japanese CousinWade, Mary Hazelton Blanchard
General
Our Little Japanese Cousin
Wade, Mary Hazelton Blanchard
Children -- Japan -- Juvenile literature; Japan -- Social life and customs -- Juvenile literature
One morning not long after this, poor little Lotus Blossom woke up
with a bad pain in her stomach. Her face and hands were hot. She was
not able to get up and go to school. Mamma felt very sad, and at once
sent to ask the priest for something to make her little daughter
well. You say at once, "Is the priest in Japan a doctor? And will he
prepare medicine marked in some such way as this: 'One teaspoonful to
be taken each hour?'" No, indeed. Lotus Blossom's mamma received from
her queer physician two "moxas," with orders that one of them should be
placed on the back of the sick child, and the other on her foot. The
direction of the priest was followed, although it made Lotus Blossom
very unhappy. I think you would not like it, if you were in her place,
for a moxa makes a burn far worse than a mustard plaster does. You know
the punk that you use on the Fourth of July to light your firecrackers
and fireworks? The moxas are made of a certain kind of pith, and burn
slowly just as the punk does. The Japanese believe in the use of moxas
for many things,--bad children, sickness, and I can't tell you what
else. The impolite boy I told you about, at the beginning of the story,
was burned with a moxa, in such a way that he never forgot himself
again. As for fevers, why, the moxa is certain to drive away the bad
spirits that cause them.
No doubt you wonder at it, as I do myself, but Lotus Blossom got well
enough in two or three days to sit up and be dressed. But she did not
care for her dolls or games; she felt tired all the time. Her loving
and most honoured father said a change of air would do her good. It
would be well for her to spend some days at the house of an aunt who
lived several miles out in the country. Toyo was allowed to go, too.
How were they to get there? In steam or electric cars? What can you
be thinking of to ask such questions? Two jinrikishas were brought to
the door; one was for Lotus Blossom and one for her brother. Strong
men were hired to draw them. I wonder if you ever saw anything like a
jin-riki-sha, or man-power-carriage, for that is what the word means.
They are very comfortable, much like baby-carriages, and are lined with
soft cushions. The men look strong and kind. They are nearly naked, so
that they can run easily and rapidly.
It will take only an hour to carry the children to their aunt's, if
they do not stop on the way. But there are so many things to see to-day
that Lotus Blossom forgets all about her sickness and burns, and wants
her runners to stop every few minutes to rest. The children spend at
least five minutes bidding their mother a proper good-bye. Then, at the
word, off they go, down "Dog" Street into "Turtle" Street. There are no
sidewalks, but they are not needed, for horses and wagons are rarely
seen.
[Illustration: THE CANDY MAN.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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