The Boy Travellers in the Far East [Part First]: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Japan and ChinaKnox, Thomas Wallace
General
The Boy Travellers in the Far East [Part First]: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Japan and China
Knox, Thomas Wallace
China -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature; Japan -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature
This completed the furniture of the room. When it was removed after
dinner, Frank remarked that the only furniture remaining was Doctor
Bronson, Fred, and himself. And, as they were quite weary after their
ride, they were disposed to be as quiet as well-regulated furniture
usually is.
[Illustration: HOW THE JAPANESE SLEEP.]
When it was time to go to sleep, the servant was called and the beds
were made up. A thickly wadded quilt was spread on the floor for each
person, and another was used for the covering. The quilt was not quite
thick enough to take away all suggestion of hardness from the floor, and
the covering was not the most convenient one in the world. Frank said
that when the quilt was over him, he was altogether too warm, and when
it was off he was too cold. Fred declared that his experience was
exactly like that of Frank, except that it was more so. He had been
bitten by fleas during the night, and, as he couldn't speak Japanese, he
could not tell them to go away--at least, not in any language they would
understand. Then the walls of the room were thin, or, rather, there were
no walls at all. They had heard all the noises that the house afforded;
and, as pilgrims were coming and going all night, and some of those in
the building were engaged in a noisy game of an unknown character, sleep
was not easy. The boys were more weary after their night's rest than
before they took it, and they agreed that they could not recommend a
Japanese inn as the most quiet spot in the world. They rose very early,
and would have been up much sooner if there had been any way of getting
up.
[Illustration: A JAPANESE FISHING SCENE.]
They went down to the water-side to try the effects of a bath in the
surf as it rolled in from the Pacific Ocean. They found it refreshing,
and were tempted to linger long in the foam-crested waves. Near by there
was a fishing-place, where several Japanese were amusing themselves with
rod and line, just as American boys and men take pleasure in the same
way. Fish seemed to be abundant, as they were biting freely, and it took
but a short time to fill a basket. In the little harbor formed between
the island and the shore several junks and boats were at anchor, and in
the foreground some smaller boats were moving about. There was not an
American feature to the scene, and the boys were thoroughly delighted at
this perfect picture of Japanese life. It was sea-life, too; and they
had island and main, water and mountain, boats and houses, all in a
single glance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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