Shadowings Part 21

_Firstly_ (or "Number One"),--

The first ship, filled up with fish, squeezes her way through the river-mouth, with a great shouting.[103]

[103] _o-yagoe._ The chorus-cry or chant of sailors, pulling all together, is called yagoe.

_O this ship of great fishing!_[104]

[104] _Tai-ryo bune_, lit.:--"great-fishing," or "great-catching-ship." The adjective refers to the fishing, not to the ship. The real meaning of the refrain is, "this-most-successful-in-fishing of ships."

_Secondly_,--

From the offing of Futaba even to the Togawa,[105] the ships, fast following, press in, with a great shouting.

_O this ship of great fishing!_

[105] Perhaps the reference is to a village at the mouth of the river Togawa,--not far from Choshi on the Tonegawa. The two rivers are united by a ca.n.a.l.

But the text leaves it uncertain whether river or village is meant.

_Thirdly_,--

When, all together, we hoist our signal-flags, see how fast the cargo-boats come hurrying!

_O this ship of great fishing!_

_Fourthly_,--

Night and day though the boiling be, there is still too much to boil--oh, the heaps of _iwashi_ from the three ships together!

_O this ship of great fishing!_

_Fifthly_,--

Whenever you go to look at the place where the dried fish are kept,[106] never do you find any room,--not even a crevice.

_O this ship of great fishing!_

[106] _Hoshika-ba_: lit., "the hoshika-place" or "hoshika-room." "Hoshika" is the name given to dried fish prepared for use as fertilizer.

_Sixthly_,--

From six to six o'clock is cleaning and washing: the great cutting and the small cutting are more than can be done.

_O this ship of great fishing!_

_Seventhly_,--

All up and down the famous river Tonegawa we send our loads of oil and fertilizer.

_O this ship of great fishing!_

_Eighthly_,--

All the young folk, drawing the _Yatai-bune_,[107] with ten thousand rejoicings, visit the shrine of the G.o.d.

_O this ship of great fishing!_

[107] _Yatai_ is the name given to the ornamental cars drawn with ropes in a religious procession.

_Yatai-bune_ here seems to mean either the model of a boat mounted upon such a car, or a real boat so displayed in a religious procession. I have seen real boats mounted upon festival-cars in a religious procession at Mionoseki.

_Ninthly_,--

Augustly protecting all this coast, the Deity of the river-mouth shows to us his divine favor.

_O this ship of great fishing!_

A stranger example of this mnemonic arrangement is furnished by a children's song, composed at least a hundred years ago. Little girls of Yedo used to sing it while playing ball. You can see the same ball-game being played by girls to-day, in almost any quiet street of Tokyo. The ball is kept bounding in a nearly perpendicular line by skilful taps of the hand delivered in time to the measure of a song; and a good player should be able to sing the song through without missing a stroke. If she misses, she must yield the ball to another player.[108] There are many pretty "ball-play songs;" but this old-fashioned and long-forgotten one is a moral curiosity:--

[108] This is the more common form of the game; but there are many other forms. Sometimes two girls play at once with the same ball--striking it alternately as it bounds.

_Hitotsu to ya:_--

Hito wa ko na hito to iu; On wo shiraneba ko naraji.

_Futatsu to ya:_--

Fuji yori takaki chichi no on; Tsune-ni omoute wasure-naji.

_Mitsu to ya:_--

Mizu-umi kaette asashi to wa, Haha no on zo ya omou-beshi.

_Yotsu to ya:_--

Yoshiya mazushiku kurasu tomo, Sugu-naru michi wo maguru-moji.

_Itsutsu to ya:_--

Itsumo kokoro no kawaranu wo, Makoto no hito to omou-beshi.

_Mutsu to ya:_--

Munashiku tsukihi wo kurashi-naba, Nochi no nageki to shirinu-beshi.

_Nanatsu to ya:_--

Nasaki wa hito no tame narode, Waga mi no tame to omou-beshi.

_Yatsu to ya:_--