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76 HONDA THE SAMURAI.
flower of twelve years, appeared with tea and
refreshments. These she set near the guest. Then
bowing gracefully on hands and knees, and laying
her forehead for a moment on her hands spread
prone on the matting, she sat up again. She poured
out a tiny cup full of the delicate green brewing,
and, setting it in a silver socket, handed to her
father's customer the fragrant tea.
After a sip of tea Mr. Kai mentioned his business.
He did not want a name-ticket for his son made
of a common sheet of brass as big as a child's palm,
but one of the black bronze made of copper and
gold.
It was to be inscribed on the inside with the
boy's name, thus :
BAI ASAHT,
SON OF RAI GORO,
HOARY-BEARD STREET,
CASTLE ENCLOSURE,
FUKUI.
"And what on the back?" asked the metal-
worker, expecting
that Mr. Rai would have one of
"
Why
the animals of the zodiac engraved on it.
so?" do you ask? Because the Japanese zodiac is
represented by a menagerie. Here are the twelve
animals in the ring : rat, dog, hog, serpent, goat,
ox, monkey, hare, cock, horse, tiger, and dragon.
Strange to say, the hours are named after these,
and the dial or face of a Japanese clock is a picturebook,
suggesting a catalogue of Noah's ark. The
farmer-folk imagine that these creatures have in-