"It is you, master, who are to pass this way!" said he.
"What?" said the Prince.
"It's written on the board," said Loo: "'The all-powerful Iwakura-Teroumoto-Mori, Prince of Nagato, will traverse this region on the tenth day of the fifth moon.'"
"Silence, Loo!" said the Prince; "let nothing surprise you, and be discreet ... Sado must be on his way to my dominions," he added aside to himself.
Already, in a light cloud of dust, the out-runners of the procession turned the corner of the road. Then came lackeys, scribes, and cooks, bearing all sorts of utensils.
The sailors knelt by the roadside; the Prince hid behind a hedge of wild roses.
The first group passed, followed by some twenty horses loaded with chests, boxes, and bundles wrapped in red leather; then by a large number of men carrying pikes, banners, swords, bows, quivers, and umbrellas.
A crowd of servants came next; each man bore on his shoulder a highly varnished box, which held the clothes and other personal property of the Prince.
Then appeared in succession, officers wearing magnificent weapons and princely lances, adorned with cock's plumes and leathern thongs,—grooms led along richly caparisoned horses; a Samurai, followed by two lackeys, holding at arm's length the hat with which, when he sets foot on the ground, the Prince protects himself from the sun; another lord carrying a parasol in a black velvet case; behind them the servants and baggage of these nobles marched in silence.
Then came twenty-eight pages wearing round hats, preceding the litter of the Prince. Those pages moved in a peculiar way; at each step they kicked back with one foot, lifting it as high as possible, and at the same time thrust one hand forward, as if to swim.