A JAPANESE DINNER

As "example is better than precept," so the account of a real happening may be more suggestive for imitation, and thus more practical, than the most minute rules and regulations in didactic form.

To the hostess, ambitious of offering her guests an entertainment that shall not be stereotyped, and like those of every one else, the account of a Japanese dinner once much enjoyed may be told, by way of suggestion. The invitations were in red script on Japanese paper napkins.

Upon our arrival we were requested, much to our dismay, to divest ourselves of shoes and accept in their stead list slippers, which at once gave a feeling of remoteness from our everyday selves as we slid and sluffed our way to the reception-room. Here the walls were concealed behind sliding paper screens and wall-panels (hired for the occasion, it was confided) adorned with flying storks and fiery dragons, its floors covered with mats of straw. There was scarcely any furniture, but some choice bits of pottery were seen, and in the corners were massed branches of artificial cherry-blossoms, recalling the spring festival of the Flowery Kingdom. The light all came from paper lanterns of many shapes and colours suspended from the ceiling.

Our hostess was gowned à la "Madame Butterfly" in a richly embroidered kimono of pale blue, with crimson flowers rambling over its surface, tied about with a crimson Obi that might almost have served as wings.

The host, with hands concealed in his large sleeves, joined his wife in a series of calisthenic exercises of graceful bows, drawing in his breath between his teeth with great frequency. and murmuring:

"Kon ban wa" (Good evening). "Yoku oide nasatta (welcome), while Madame Butterfly smilingly added, "Ikaga de gozarimas?" (How do you do?). "Go so ken de ornedito gozarimas" (I hope you are well).

The more literal translation of her greeting would be: "How are your honourable insides? I congratulate you on your good health."

We were then called upon to admire certain curios which were taken from their place of concealment for our appreciation-according to the Japanese custom. An obliging friend drew our attention to the fact that the contents of the vases had been chosen with hospitable intention, each having its special significance, and conveying complimentary good wishes. A tiny pine tree was there to carry the message that the hosts wished long life and happiness for all. A bamboo implied the hope for their prosperity, and a plum branch for peace and plenty.

These were all in the recess called a "toko no ma," and each guest was expected to bow solemnly in front of this recess, in acknowledgment of the compliments offered by the flower arrangement, and to linger a few moments, presumably for the due appreciation of every branch and stem.

Many of the guests came in Japanese costume, which enabled them with the greater ease to take their places on the mats before the little low, four-legged trays. Each guest was provided with one of these lacquer tables.

The feast began with tea and sweetmeats, the usual prelude to all Japanese good-cheer, accompanied by cakes of rice flour and honeycomb-after which the following "Kordate" or menu was served: A fish soup called "Suomoro" (not unlike a chowder), accompanied with bamboo sprouts, raw sliced halibut with a sauce,

boned turkey with pickled chrysanthemum petals, and a dish of seaweed and rice, chicken cooked in sherry and served with stewed chestnuts, mushrooms, lily roots and rice in bowls, and a shrimp salad, called “sashimi." The repast concluded with confectionery. At each cover was a pair of chop-sticks, split apart for only half their length-the assurance of their newness. All was served in small dishes of lacquer or porcelain, and certain ones were garnished with butterflies and flowers, cut with great skill from vegetables.

Every now and then weak saké was served, and we were instructed how to drink healths according to Japanese fashion-each proposing some one else until all present had been included in the compliment. The cup was rinsed each time, refilled, raised to the forehead and drained while the eyes were fixed upon the recipient of the good wishes implied.

As we rose stiffly to our feet, after our cramped position, we returned in a measure to our natural selves and enjoyed a concession to habitual customs in the serving of ices and cakes, in the form of birds, flowers, butterflies, and odd, grotesque little idols. A small orchestra meanwhile discoursed music, Oriental in character, but happily more pleasing to Western ears than the genuine article.

As in Japan the usual after-dinner entertainment of dancing Geishas and singing girls was not possible, we divided ourselves into groups and played the Japanese game of "Goban" (elsewhere described in this volume). Each victory was marked by a gift from the hostess of a tiny paper fan with very long handle. The women put them in their hair, Japanese fashion, and the men through the buttonhole in their coat-lapels.

A chime of Japanese bells announced that the time

limit had been reached, and the one whose score was the best received a Japanese fan as a prize-wrapped in white tissue-paper, tied with a red-and-white string, with a tiny red-and-white paper kite attachment, that in Japan marks an article as a gift.

With the Japanese the fan is the emblem of life. The rivet end is regarded as the starting-point, and as the rays of the fan expand, so the road of life widens out towards a prosperous future. The fan's rivet has also for them the signification of security.

A FROLIC COTILLION

In circles where the social conventions are habitually observed, the following manner of dancing the cotillion will not degenerate into a romp, but be found an amusing and enjoyable frolic. It is especially adapted to LeapYear parties and very informal little dances among friends.

Partners are determined by lot. Cockades of various shades are drawn from two baskets, much beribboned and adorned with folly-bells and flowers-symbolic of gaiety. The men draw from one, the girls from the other basket, and the pair matching colours dance together.

The music plays alternately loud and low, in slow and stately measure and then fast and yet faster, until a furious pace is reached, when suddenly comes a loud crash and then silence. The dancers, of course, must

follow the time.

All are supposed to know each other, and may choose to favour strangers as well as acquaintances, according to the European custom, where it is considered that "the roof is an introduction." All, as friends of the hostess, may be regarded as at least one's social equals

and not undesirable acquaintances, but only where an introduction has been solicited and allowed does the recognition continue beyond that evening.

The favours are chiefly tissue-paper articles of grotesque apparel, which must be put on and worn for the rest of the evening, or-if the hostess choose—until the young women shall retire from the ballroom to assume mask and domino, returning to puzzle their former cavaliers as to their identity.

The first of April is an appropriate time for such a merrymaking, as a masquerade gives ample opportunity for April-fooling.

The hostess remains unmasked, as do the masculine guests, but the rest conceal themselves by wearing over their gowns the long capes with hoods known as dominoes-made of light-coloured cambrics. The hoods are drawn over the head, and tiny black velvet or satin masks conceal the upper part of the face, and a fall of lace from the mask, the lower.

Every one is privileged to speak to every one else in the room. A woman may address a man with the freedom that is usually the monopoly of his sex, and the more she piques his curiosity about her identity the better she carries out the spirit and fun of a masquerade.

She may reveal, if she can, a knowledge of his affairs and chaff him upon subjects calculated to increase his mystification-only remembering that she may be discovered, and that a measure of discretion is advisable.

Sometimes girls will exchange dominoes, and all whisper and seek to disguise their voices in order to further puzzle and bewilder their victims.

At supper, the masks and dominoes are removed, whereupon ensue much mirth and excitement in making discoveries. A "sheet and pillow-case mas