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102
HONDA THE SAMURAI.
That night Mr. Rai allowed all the children to
stay up while he told the story of "The Court
Noble and the Rain Frog."
" In the grand and ancient days when the Mikado's
court was at Nara, there lived a noble named Ono
no Tofu who was very proud of his rank and robes
and high cap. At this time learning was held in
high honor by the emperor and his people, and a
man, however rich and high in office, could not enjoy
the honors which a scholar, however humble, might
win.
" So great was the ardor of the nobility for learn-
ing that the proverb
was then made which is still so
often quoted, ' One day at school is worth a thousand
gold coins.' The necessity of perseverance in study
and the dangers of idleness were exposed by another
proverb, '
Learning is like a wagon going up hill.'
These sentiments were often inscribed in great black
letters made with wide brush-pens and hung up on
tablets in the palaces and schools.
"Now this Ono no Tofu, when a boy, had neglected
to learn, and when grown up had not the
patience to attempt an education. He could write
very little. He could not read the books of the
sages. While the composition of poetry was one of
the accomplishments of every nobleman and court
lady, Ono no Tofu could not write a single line nor
get the meter of it correctly, even if he had been able
to compose a verse. For this reason Ono was often
snubbed by the literary men, who slyly laughed at
him behind his back, in their baggy sleeves, and