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28 HONDA THE SAMURAI.
flight, the design easily made visible through the
thin boards, and making pretty effects of light and
shade, complete the partition between the rooms.
The cats of the country are not only bobtailed, but
so lazy that the rats multiply and run riot over the
ceilings and make a playground of the partition tops.
To keep them from nibbling and spoiling this beau-
tiful, carved woodwork, the carpenter has kindly
made a little square aperture at the end of each
partition top, so that they may pass through conveniently
and not spoil the fine art of the carver. The
rats fear nothing but the weasel.
The kitchen is called dai-dokoro, or " great place,"
which sufficiently indicates that even Japanese
women suspect that the seat of a man's affection is
in his stomach. The chief piece of kitchen furni-
ture is the furnace, made of earth or plaster, with
two cavities, one for rice-boiler and one for tea-
kettle. The fuel is of split wood, which is cheap in
Japan. The Japanese do everything upside down,
as we may think, for the blade of the axe for split-
to the handle. As we
ting wood is set at right angles
look at the cooked rice we find it snow-white and
each grain separate.
There is no burning, sogginess,
or hardness. Rice-cooking is a triumph of high art.
In lieu of a bellows an artifical pair of lungs to
blow the fire the maid uses nature's own, and a
bamboo tube carries the oxygen from the mouth to
the fire. In addition there are iron and brass cook-
ing-pots
with wooden covers. Charcoal is used for
broiling, when the birds, fish, or bean-curd are spitted