After Dinner Gossip AND Echoes of the Wee

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXIV, Issue 24, 17 June 1905, Page 16

After Dinner Gossip AND Echoes of the Wee

As Japanese Children See the War. The Japanese illustrated fairy story of “Little Peachling,” adapted to the present war and its causes and effects, which appears in another portion of this issue, will be found not a little instructive, as well as intensely comical and amusing. Below we print the fairy story itself, as it appears in Mr Milford's well-known book. “Tales of Old Japan’’ (kindly lent by the Rev. Gray Dixon), and it explains several points not originally quite clear in the brief notes of such English as the authorartist of the book possessed. It is quite significant, by the way. that only English and Japanese are given. There is no German, nor yet any French, and it is also to be noted—a point to be again referred to later—that America, or Columbia, as she is called in the story, is hand in glove with John Bull in his discovery of Japan and his encouragement. not to say his abetting, of her in her struggle with the bear. Our Artist’s English is a trifle vague, but always interesting. The preface—which, by the way. is not printed with the pictures—is as follows:— “Little Boys and Girls “Now we are for the audacious and proud Russia to making war. “This an account of the making war. “Now-have a nurseley tales to please you. * ■- r “This nurseley tales is the very likeness to old nursely tales Moto-taro. But how many likenesses must yours reading to the end of this book. “R. Nagagaroa. December, 1904.*’ It should be mentioned, for fear any should miss it. that the English translation of the pictures is on the prints themselves. Noticing each page individually, there is little to comment on in the first picture, save the admirable expressions of delight and pride on the faces of the old couple. The English here is also faultlessly correct. In the second picture we see the sudden realisation or discovery by America and England that there is a new Power in the world, and that the Jap. is civilised, while the sun of the new Power rises in the background. In the next, the youngster is shown to be strong enough to be seriously reckoned with. Exactly what nation is represented by the crosscornered referee at the back is unfortunately not explained. Probably it is England, bur, on the other hand, either the second or the fourth figure in the pulling group might be England. Readers can settle the poTnt for themselves. There is real drama in the next page illustrating Russia’s molestation of Corea And China. The Rooster belongs to Corea, and the pig to China. The excellence of the medallion showing America anti England urging young Japan to “go in ami win’’ is quite delightful, as is also the questioning look on the <oung warrior’s face. He is saying as plainly as print can. “Will you back me up?’’ Following this we set* what is the current Japanese opinion concerning the method of backing by ours; Ives and America. While Japan prepares for the contest. England and America provide the shells ami sinews of war. and generally help to get this ready. Despite the fact she is not in the treaty, America is particeps cri minis in the supply of war material to a belligerent. Probably this most indiscreet acknowledgment would somewhat scandalise both I’ncle Sam ami our own diplomatists. The other pictures are best understood through the fairy story which we now proceed to give: —

THE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE PEACH LI NG. Many hundred years ago there liv.?d an honest old wood-cutter and his wife. One tine morning the old man went off to the hills with his billhook, to gather a faggot of sticks, while his wife went down to the river, to wash the dirty clothes. When she came to the river. she saw a p?aeh floating down the stream; so she picked it up, and carried it home with her, thinking to give it to her husband to eat when he should come in. The old man soon came down from the hills, and the good wife set the peach before him, when, just as she was inviting him to eat it, the fruit split in two. and a little puling baby was born into the world. So the old couple took the babe, and brought it up as their own: and. because it had been born in a peach, they called it Moniotaro.* or Little Peachling. By degrees Little Peachling grew up to be strong and brave, and at last one day he said to his old foster-parents—. "I am going to the ogres’ island to carry off the riches that they have stored up there. Pray, then, make me some millet dumplings for my journey.” So the old folks ground the millet, and made the duiiiplings for him; and Little? Peachling. after taking an affectionate leave of them, cheerfully set out on his travels. As he was journeying on, h? fell in with an ape, who gibbered at him, and said, "Kia! kia ! kia! where are you off to. Little Peachling?” “I'm going to the ogres’ island, to carry off their treasure,” answered Little Peachling. hat are you carrying at your girdle?” "I'm carrying the very best millet dumplings in all Japan.” "If you’ll give me one, I will go with you,” said the ape. So Littfe Peaehling gave one of his dumplings to the ape, who received it and followed him. When he had gone a little further, he heard a pheasant calling— " Ken! ken! ken It where are you off to, Master Peaehling?” Little Peachling answered as before; • and the pheasant, having begged and obtained a millet dumpling, .entered his service, and followed him. A little while after this, they met a dog, who cried — "Bow! wow! wow! whither away, Master Peaehling?” "I’m going off to the ogres’ island, to carry off their treasure.” "If you will give me one of those nice millet dumplings of yours, I will go with you,” said the dog. "With all my heart,” said Little Peachling. So he went on his way, with the ape. the pheasant, and the dog following after him. When they got to the ogres’ island, the pheasant flew over the castle gate, and the ape clambered over the castle wall, while Little Peaehling, leading the dog, forced in tlv* gate, and got into the castle. Then they did battle with the ogres, and put thin to flight, and took their king prisoner. So all the ogres did homage to Little Peachling. and brought cut th? treasures which they had laid up. There were caps and coats that made their wearers invisible, jewels which governed the ebb and flow of the tide, coral, musk, emeralds, amber, and tortoiseshell, besides gold and silver. All these wen? laid before Little Peaehling by the conquered ogres. So Little Peaehling went home laden with riclies, and maintained his fosterparonts in peace and plenty for the remainder of their lives.

The Queatioa of the Case. The evergreen question of corpora! punishment in our schools has again been very much before the public during the last week or so. There can be no possible doubt that a tremendous change has eome over public opinion in regard to this matter within the last deeade or so. Not only is corporal punishment rapidly becoming almost obsolete in our secondary and primary schools, amongst elder pupils, at all events, but even in the administration of home discipline the small boy of to-day is far less acquainted with the slipper, tlie strap, or the stick, than were his forebears. Does anyone ever read to their children nowadays that most delightful of juvenile stories “Holiday House,” and, if so, are they not struck with the tremendous place occupied by corporal punishment in the early days of the Victorian era? What modern parent or guardian would allow a nurse to beat a child with a tawse, er leather cat-o’-ninetails, for some purely mischievous prank, as were the nephew- anil niece of Lady Harrier by the redoubtable Mrs Crabtree, a capital portrait of the head nurse of those days, by' the way. But is it not evident, indeed, that corpora! punishment is being evolved out of existence? The good mammas of “Good Queen Bess’ glorious days’? carried fans with long handles of some three feet of tough canes, and were wont therewith to chastise their grown-up daughters if they became unduly pert. And this was amongst persons of quality. One can only surmise what happened amongst we commoners. Personally, I eannot range myself on the side of those who see in the disappearance of the stick a degeneration and dangerous effeminacy- of society. For certain qffenees, at certain ages, nothing can be better than a spanking, but thrashing children who can be made to understand other forms of correction, and to beat a child for being unable to spell or manage the three K’s as quickly as his or her fellows, is mischievous and stupid. It is an axiom of education that the teacher who eannot keep moderate order and discipline without a ready recourse to the cane must be a weak fellow, and unfit to be in the charge of youth. Tinies there are, as has been said, when the cane is necessary, and when it is applied it should be in such style as not to ba easily forgotten. But a teacher who is everlastingly using the cane is good for nothing. The writer well remembers being beaten twice and three times in a morning, as a child of 10 or 11. for inability to do certain arithmetic studies conducted on the blackboard. The matter went on for weeks, and the strict unwritten law which compels a public

school boy, even in the Preparatory, not to sneak, or write home, marie it impossible to explain. Tire master —a thorough bully, by the way—wftuld listen to no excuse, and constant heatings naturally soon produced complete stupidity. It was only a elianee visit of the “Heml” in .one of these painful scenes which revealed the faet that I could really not see what the figures were, but made wild shots thereat. The school doctor speedily discovered serious short sight, glasses were provided, and the number of callings much reduced. The ease is by to means exceptional. a similar instance coming under my notice only a week or so ago. The shyness and reserve of a schoolboy c.n certain subjects is profound and incomprehensible when one thinks of his other characteristics.

Do Dogs Reason ? Some of us who possess a faithful hound, of which we are more than fond, would at once answer this question in the affirmative. Have we not had dozens of instances of his almost human wisdom? For example. I have an intimate acquaintance with a beautiful collie, who if he doesn’t think does the next thing to it. Where he lives there “is a low wicket gate with an ordinary “fall over” latch. The collie has never been tied up. and all parts of the premises arc free to him. This particular gate hung between him ami about half of his freedom, and when it was closed he was particularly “worrit ted.” Nothing remarkable happened till his proprie ors began to notice lately that, gate shut or open, doggie wandered about at his own sweet will. An investigation proved that the collie was his own turnkey. Putting one paw on the lower brace of the gate, he nosed away at the latch which, after one or two tries, he threw up out of the catch, and so opened the way to fresh fields. Nobody taught him, and he could only have learned his trick by putting two and two together after watching the people of the house passing in ami out by this gate. While I was writing this story, which 1 can assure the gentle reader is a true one, a colleague told me of another, which is even more conclusive. Some years ago there was a surveying patty out in the bush in the North Island, and, as is very common in such eases, the men had nothing but salt junk to eat. To get rid of as much of the salt as was possible, it was the custom to tie a lump on the end of a bit of flax, and let it soak ill a neighbouring creek till tea time. The flax, 1 should mention, was fastened to an old tree stump, which ran out into the water. One day “cookie” went to fish up the evening meal. but. sad to relate, it was missing. All that remained was a few inches of the flax, which had evidently been severed by some blunt instrument. Eels, Maoris, and half a dozen oilier suggestion were made, w hen the s'range disappearance was discussed that night 1 round the camp fire by the supperless gentlemen

of the theodolite, hut the jury disagreed and an open verdict was returned. A few days later the member of ;h ■ party who tells the story had to return to camp somewhat earlier than usual. He was accompanied by the camp canine- a strikingly ugly bulldog of much cunning and acumen. When they reached eamp the surveyor set about warming up some cohl tea and busied himself wi h the lire. While be was thus engaged Bully, after a furtive glance or two round the scene, made off into the bush. Curiosity led my informant’s friend to follow him, as the dog’s demeanour was somewhat strange. By a round-about path the dog made oif to the river, and the surveyor stationed himself behind a tree to watch the proceedings. Bully made right for the log. and went gingerly along to the end—it was somewhat rickety. Arriving at the spot where the (tax was tied, he steadied hiluself and began to pull in the ilax with his paw. Something made him look round just then, and he visibly caught the eye of the peeping surveyor. Dropping the flax back into the water very discreetly, he pretended to be violently thirsty. After several vigorous and ostentatious laps, he backed gingerly off the log and made straight for camp without the slightest hint that he had observed the presence of the watcher. The old humbug couldn’t have been the slightest bit thirsty, as the par.y he was with had been working in and near water all day. When my friend got hack to camp Bully was lying round with a most child-like expression on his ill-favoured countenance, but the surveyors had very little doubt as to who chewed their salt meat anchor rope. At the risk of being tedious 1 would like to quote a couple of good dog stories I came across the other day. One is related in the “Practitioner,” a London publication. Two fox-terriers, who had been treated at King’s College Hospital for some trifling ailment, appeared at the institution with a collie early

one Sunday morning. The collie’s right leg was damaged and bleeding, and its injuries were promptly attended to. The portraits of the dogs are preserved in the board room of the hospital. Mr George R. Sims tells a good story of a dog impostor in the “Referee.” The animal is a terrier, and one night was found on a doorstep in Rotherhithe. He was taken in, fed, and given a night’s lodging, and all the time he hopped about on three legs. He was lame in the morning and had a good breakfast, continuing lame till some one opened the front door. Then he put his lame foot down and ran off at top speed, entirely cured of his lameness. But

that evening the same dog was observed lying on a doorstep in artother part of Rotherhithe. When the door was open-

ed he held up one leg and limped in on the other three. The occupants of that house had a pet cat, and didn’t want a terrier. So the cripple was gently put out into the street again, and to the surprise of everybody he trotted off without showing a symptom of lameness.

A librarian at one of the principal London free libraries (says the “Pictorial Magazine”), was recently talking about animal stories, and the growing interest in that line of literature, des-

pite the preposterousness of aonte of the tales, and the almost iuqtossible things credited by authors to horses, digs. and oilier animals. “Time months ago," said the librarian, “a neighbour of mine died. At the house they kept a very ordinary dog. which my neighiiour hud never made much of: but. being a kind, good-natured man. he had never abused him. After my neighbour’s death this old dog would take his place on the path outside the gate to meet his ipaster, who had always reached at a certain hour. The family noticed the dog’s actions, but not one of the members of it could remember having ever before seen him wa:ch for his master. Yesterday 1 called at their home. ;md found a stranger there. The old dog trotted across the room, but stopped'when he heard the stranger’s voice. He looked at me. and I spoke to him. The stranger spoke again, and the dog turned and faced him. The man had not paid the slightest attention to the dog. but the animal's actions were so unusual that I could not take my eyes from him. The old fellow tilted his head to one side, took a few steps forward, and then sat in front of the man, and gazed into his fire. Next he put his front feet on the man’s knees, and listened intently while the man. heedless of the dog’s familiarity, talked to nre. He climbed into the'inan’s lap. ami looked up into his face. Then he stood on his hind feet, put a paw cn each of the man’s shoulders, and gazed into his eyes. It may have been only my imagination, hut it seemed to me that I had never before seen such a troubled puzzled look in an animal’s eyes as that dog wore as he stared into the man’s face and tried to reason it out. What was the cause of his behaviour? The stranger was the dead man’s brother, whom the dog till that day had never seen.”