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make the pilgrimage seem finer that the bourne itself should not be
fine。 Large and curious architecturally for its roof; the temple is
otherwise a very ordinary structure; more than ordinarily besoiled。
There is nothing rich about it; not much that is imposing。 Yet in
spite of poverty and dirt it speaks with a certain grandeur to the
heart。 True shrine; whose odor of sanctity is as widespread as the
breeze that wanders through its open portals; and which comes so near
the wants of the world that the very pigeons flutter in to homes
among its rafters。 The air…beats of their wings heighten the hush
they would seem to break; and only enhance the sacred quiet of the
nave;a stillness such that the coppers of the faithful fall with
exaggerated ring through the lattice of the almsbox; while the
swiftly mumbled prayers of the givers rise in all simplicity straight
to heaven。
In and about the courtyard live the sacred doves; and he who will may
have their company for the spreading of a feast of crumbs。 And the
rush of their wings; as they descend to him from the sky; seems like
drawing some strange benediction down。
V。
No。
My quest still carrying me westward along the line of the new railway;
I took the train again; and in the compartment of the carriage I found
two other travelers。 They were a typical Japanese couple in middle
life; and in something above middle circumstances。 He affected
European clothes in part; while she still clung to the costume of her
ancestors。 Both were smoking;she her little pipe; and he the
fashionable cigarette。 Their mutual relations were those of substance
to shadow。 She followed him inevitably; and he trod on her feelings
regardless of them。 She had been pretty when he took her to wife;
and though worn and withered she was happy still。 As for him; he was
quite satisfied with her; as he would have been quite satisfied
without her。
The roadbed soon left the Shinano plain; across which peered the
opposite peaks; still hooded with snow; and wound up through a narrow
valley; to emerge at last upon a broad plateau。 Three mountains
flanked the farther side in file; the last and highest of the three;
Myokosan; an extinct volcano; indeed; hardly more than the ruins of one。
Time has so changed its shape; and the snow whitens its head so
reverently; it would be possible to pass it by without a suspicion of
its wild youth。 From the plateau it rose proudly in one long sweep
from moor to shoulder; from shoulder to crag; from crag to snow; up
into the leaden sky; high into its second mile of air。 Subtly the
curve carried fancy with it; and I found myself in mind slowly
picking my way upward; threading an arete here and scaling a slope
there; with all the feelings of a genuine climb。 While I was still
ascending in this insubstantial manner; clouds fell upon the summit
from the sky; and from the summit tumbled down the ravines into the
valley; and met me at Naoyetsu in a drizzling rain。
Naoyetsu is not an enlivening spot to be landed at in a stress of
weather; hardly satisfactory; in fact; for the length of time needed
to hire jinrikisha。 It consisted originally of a string of fishermen's
huts along the sea。 To these the building of the railway has
contributed a parallel row of reception booths; a hundred yards
in…shore; and to which of the two files to award the palm for
cheerlessness it would be hard to know。 The huts are good of a kind
which is poor; and the booths are poor of a kind which is good。
To decide between such rivals is a matter of mood。 For my part;
I hasted to be gone in a jinrikisha; itself not an over…cheerful
conveyance in a pour。
The rain shut out the distance; and the hood and oil…paper apron
eclipsed the foreground。 The loss was not great; to judge by what
specimens of the view I caught at intervals。 The landscape was a
geometric pattern in paddyfields。 These; as yet unplanted; were
swimming in water; out of which stuck the stumps of last year's crop。
It was a tearful sight。 Fortunately the road soon rose superior to
it; passed through a cutting; and came out unexpectedly above the
sea;a most homesick sea; veiled in rain…mist; itself a
disheartening drab。 The cutting which ushered us somewhat proudly
upon this inhospitable outlook proved to be the beginning of a pass
sixty miles long; between the Hida…Shinshiu mountains and the sea of
Japan。
I was now to be rewarded for my venture in an unlooked…for way; for I
found myself introduced here to a stretch of coast worth going many
miles to see。
The provinces of Hida and Etchiu are cut off from the rest of Japan
by sets of mountain ranges; impassable throughout almost their whole
length。 So bent on barring the way are the chains that; not content
with doing so in mid…course; they all but shut it at their ocean end;
for they fall in all their entirety plumb into the sea。 Following
one another for a distance of sixty miles; range after range takes
thus its header into the deep。 The only level spots are the deltas
deposited by the streams between the parallels of peak。 But these
are far between。 Most of the way the road belts the cliffs; now near
their base; now cut into the precipice hundreds of feet above the
tide。 The road is one continuous observation point。 Along it our
jinrikisha bowled。 In spite of the rain; the view had a grandeur
that compensated for much discomfort。 It was; moreover; amply
diversified。 Now we rushed out to the tip of some high cape; now we
swung round into the curve of the next bay; now we wound slowly
upward; now we slipped merrily down。 The headlands were endless; and
each gave us a seascape differing from the one we folded out of sight
behind; and a fringe of foam; curving with the coast; stretched like
a ribbon before us to mark the way。
We halted for the night at a fishing village called No: two lines of
houses hugging the mountain side; and a single line of boats drawn
up; stern on; upon the strand; the day and night domiciles of the
amphibious strip of humanity; in domestic tiff; turning their backs
to one another; a stone's throw apart。 As our kuruma men knew the
place; while we did not; we let them choose the inn。 They pulled up
at what caused me a shudder。 I thought; if this was the best inn;
what must the worst be like! However; I bowed my head to fate in the
form of a rafter lintel; and passed in。 A dim light; which came in
part from a hole in the floor; and in part from an ineffective lamp;
revealed a lofty; grotto…like interior。 Over the hole hung a sort of
witches' caldron; swung by a set of iron bars from the shadowy form
of a soot…begrimed rafter。 Around the kettle crouched a circle of
gnomes。
Our entrance caused a stir; out of which one of the gnomes came forward;
bowing to the ground。 When he had lifted himself up enough to be seen;
he turned out quite human。 He instantly bustled to fetch another light;
and started to lead the strangers across the usual slippery sill and
up the nearly perpendicular stairs。 Why I was not perpetually
falling down these same stairways; or sliding gracefully or otherwise
off the corridors in a heap; will always be a mystery to me。 Yet;
with the unimportant exception of sitting down occasionally to put on
my boots; somewhat harder than I meant; I remember few such mishaps。
It was not the surface that was unwilling; for the constant scuffle
of stocking feet has given the passageways a polish mahogany might
envy。
The man proved anything but inhuman; and very much mine host。
How courteous he was; and in what a pleased mind with the world;
even its whims of weather; his kind attentions put me! He really did
so little; too。 Beside numberless bows and profuse politeness;
he simply laid a small and very thin quilt upon the mats for me to
sit on; and put a feeble brazier by my side。 So far as mere comfort
went; the first act savored largely of supererogation; as the mats
were already exquisitely clean; and the second of insufficiency;
since the brazier served only to point the cold it was powerless to
chase。 But the manner of the doing so charmed the mind that it
almost persuaded the grumbling body of content。
As mine host bowed himself out; a maid bowed herself in; with a tray
of tea and sugar…plums; and a grace that beggared appreciation。
〃His Augustness is well come;〃 she said; as she sank on her knees and
bowed her pretty head till it touched the mats; and the voice was
only too human for heaven。 Unconsciously it made the better part of
a caress。
〃Would his Augustness deign to take some tea? Truly he must be very
tired;〃 and; pouring out a cup; she placed it beside me as it might
have been some beautiful rite; and then withdrew; leaving me; beside
the tea; the perfume of a presence; the sense that something
exquisite had come and gone。
I