Europeans are soon tired of both performances. The geisha, with
her face whitened with powder, and her lips painted a bright red, and her
elaborately-dressed hair full of ornaments, sits down to a sort of guitar
called a samisen and sings, but her song has no music in it. It is a kind
of long-drawn wail, very monotonous and tuneless to European ears. The
dancing is a kind of acting in dumb show, and consists of a number of
postures, while the movements of the fan take a large share in conveying
the dancer's meaning.
When our foreigner starts home from this long and rather fatiguing
entertainment, he finds that he has by no means finished with his dinner.
On his way to his carriage he will be waylaid by the little moosmes who
have waited upon him, and their arms will be filled with flat white wooden
boxes. These contain the food that was offered to him and left uneaten, and
Japanese etiquette demands that he shall take home with him his share of
the scraps of the banquet.
CHAPTER XVI
TEA-HOUSES AND TEMPLES (_continued_)
The Japanese are very fond of their temples, and visit them constantly.
They do this not only to pray to their gods, but to enjoy themselves as
well, for the temple grounds are the scene of great fairs and festivals.
If you visit a temple on the day of some great function, you will find its
steps outside packed with rows upon rows of clogs and umbrellas, placed
there by the worshippers inside. You enter, and find the latter seated
on the floor, and if the service is not going on at the moment they are
smoking and chatting together, and the children are crawling about in the
crowd.
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