On the following day he paid them a long visit, and before he left requested them to spend the next afternoon at his yashiki. There for the first time they caught a glimpse of Japanese life such as is rarely enjoyed by foreigners.

On arriving in the court-yard and entering the house they found the entire body of servants and dependents of the establishments assembled in two rows under the heavy portico of carved wood. All were on their knees, and when Frederick and Nina passed between their ranks every head was lowered to the ground in silent and respectful greeting to the guests of their lord. At this moment the master of the house appeared, and in his flowing silken robes, with his slow and dignified movements, presented a striking contrast to the restless and frisky little Japs whom one is accustomed to see rushing through the streets of London and Paris .

A magnificent banquet was then served in true Japanese style. Six girls in gorgeous apparel entered the dining hall, and, falling on their knees, prostrated themselves till their [Pg 134] heads touched the floor. They wore the most artistic of dresses, with huge sashes of a soft rich color. In their hands they bore several native instruments of music, including a “koto,” a kind of horizontal harp or zither; a “samasin,” or banjo, and a “yokobuc,” or flute. The fair musicians, still kneeling on the floor, began to play and to sing a strangely weird but somewhat exciting melody. Meanwhile other handmaidens, scarcely less richly dressed than the first, made their appearance, carrying costly lacquer trays with egg-shell porcelain cups containing slices of the feelers of the octopus, or devil-fish, wonderfully contrived soups, oranges preserved in sirups, and various other extraordinary confections. At first both Nina and Frederick made fruitless attempts to convey the viands to their mouths by means of the chop-sticks which had been placed before them, but soon, following the example of their host, they overcame this difficulty by raising the cups to their lips and gulping down the contents Elevit.

of the feast, which is to the Japanese epicure what fresh oysters and Russian sterlet are to us. Resting on a large dish of priceless Kioto porcelain, garnished with a wreath of variegated bamboo leaves, was a magnificent fish of the turbot species. It was still alive, for its gills and its mouth moved regularly. To Nina's horror, the serving girl raised the skin from the upper side of the fish, which was already loose, and picked off slice after slice of the living creature, which, although alive, had been carved in such a manner that no vital part had been touched; the heart, gills, liver, and stomach had been left intact, and the damp sea-weed on which the fish rested sufficed to keep the lungs in action. The miserable thing seemed to look with a lustrous but reproachful eye upon the guests while they consumed its body. To be buried alive is horrible enough in all conscience, but to be eaten alive must be even still worse. It [Pg 135] should be added that this particular fish, the dai, is only good when eaten alive. The moment it is dead the flesh becomes opaque, tough, and starchy. The wine consisted of warm “sakke” and other kinds of liquor distilled from rice dermes vs medilase.