3 182202465 1721 s$J%*mf- m^W Jfe*'^^*^ *'* WWW;: -'W

SCENES AT A HERO'S SHRINE. 173
would be like " building a bridge to the clouds " or " scatter-
ing a fog with a fan." It can not be done. My heart, like
a galloping horse, in spite of the reins of my will, runs
away with my thought, and I find myself writing poems to
you and praising my darling in songs. I want nothing but
your kind words to make me happy. Your favorable response
to my supplications will open for me a new life of
unspeakable happiness. I have no hope of living other
than as a miserable creature without you. It would be
better to be born again and live as an animal than to be
myself as a human being without you. Listen to me, my
gem, my flower, my life, and have pity on me. Return my
passion. With love and regards,
HONDA JIRO.
To Miss ASAI HOSHI.
7th month, 2d day, 3d year of Ka-yei.
(August 9th, 1850.)
In Japan the matters of love, betrothal, and mar-
riage were by long custom taken in charge by parents,
and in many, perhaps a majority, of cases the young
people who were made husband and wife had little
to say about match-making. In not a few instances
bride and groom never saw each other until the
lady's face was unveiled at the drinking of the
sacramental wine during the three-times-three, or
wedding ceremony. It was considered that love
was something to be cultivated after marriage, not
before it.
Nevertheless in the Mikado's empire, as in republics
and kingdoms, love laughed at locksmiths, and
young people often own affairs of
arranged for themselves their
the hrart, the parents only insisting
on the outward forms being strictly observed. Or,