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208 HONDA THE SAMURAI. " We '11 put up at the inn of the Big Gold-fish," said Ban. " Good name, that ! Did the proprietor select it from the title of Bakin's famous novel ? I read his ' of ' a Gold-fish last summer." Biography " No ; the name is more matter-of-fact than the heroine of our novelist, who, you remember, was a pretty girl whose filial piety made her a paragon. You will see when you look into the water of the castle moat to-morrow gold-fishes larger than else- where in Japan. The tea-house is named after an actual fish with fins and scales." " Very good ; but are you not afraid to go under the very knee of the lord of Yedo ? The inn is near the very gate of his castle." " Not at all," answered his comrade ; on the principle of the proverbs, ' " I shall act It is dark at the lantern's base,' and * While the hunter looks afar, the bird starts up at his feet.' Here in the crowded city I shall be unknown, and as hard to find as ' one hair of nine oxen.' ' There was a strange sound in Honda's ears as he lay early down to sleep, tired after his long walk. It was the hum and stir of the great city of a million souls. It being a moonlight night, thousands of people crowded the larger streets where all sorts of venders displayed their wares, and the total effect of the countless voices and noises was that of a pro- longed hum. Fortunately " the flower of Yedo " did not bloom that night ; or, in plain prose, there was no conflagration to disturb their sleep, though the watchman's hourly cry was, "Look out for fire!"
CHAPTER XVI. AT THE SIGN OF THE BIG GOLD-FISH. THE quarter of great Yedo in which Honda Jiro was lodging was at the base of the highland at the north of the castle enclosure. This plateau is called Suruga Dai, or the table of Suruga, because one seemed to be in that province while looking at Mount Fuji, as if it were set on a table near by. A few steps from the inn took one up to the highland, where the glorious mountain stood revealed from base to crown. The moats, walls, ramparts, drawbridges, and towers of the castle extended to this quarter of the city, forming the extreme north-western angle of the circuit. Two great double gateways with their ponderous iron-banded, rivet-studded gates, copper-clad towers, and named respectively the Pheasant and Pure Water gates, were within sight. The high, grassy counterscarp, the parapet of gray stone masonry, and the white rampart of plaster and tiling were mirrored in threefold richness of color in the deep moat of fresh running water. Here in the crystal depths swam, unharmed, hundreds of huge silver and golden carp, many of them two feet long. Farther round to the west, where the water was shallower, millions of wild fowl of various species enjoyed summer sunshine in the lotus-beds or 209
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CHAPTER XVI.<br />
AT THE SIGN OF THE BIG GOLD-FISH.<br />
THE quarter of great Yedo in which Honda Jiro<br />
was lodging was at the base of the highland<br />
at the north of the castle enclosure. This plateau is<br />
called Suruga Dai, or the table of Suruga, because<br />
one seemed to be in that province while looking at<br />
Mount Fuji, as if it were set on a table near by. A<br />
few steps from the inn took one up to the highland,<br />
where the glorious mountain stood revealed from<br />
base to crown. The moats, walls, ramparts, drawbridges,<br />
and towers of the castle extended to this<br />
quarter of the city, forming the extreme north-western<br />
angle of the circuit. Two great double gateways<br />
with their ponderous iron-banded, rivet-studded<br />
gates, copper-clad towers, and named respectively the<br />
Pheasant and Pure Water gates, were within sight.<br />
The high, grassy counterscarp, the parapet of gray<br />
stone masonry, and the white rampart of plaster<br />
and tiling were mirrored in threefold richness of<br />
color in the deep moat of fresh running water.<br />
Here in the crystal depths swam, unharmed, hundreds<br />
of huge silver and golden carp, many of them<br />
two feet long. Farther round to the west, where the<br />
water was shallower, millions of wild fowl of various<br />
species enjoyed summer sunshine in the lotus-beds or<br />
209