[1] Noble officer in the service of a daimio or prince.
[2] Temple at Kioto containing 33,333 idols.
[3] These fish actually exist, and are valued at an immense sum, many placing it as high as a million dollars.
[CHAPTER III.]
FEAST OF THE SEA-GOD.
Next day, from early dawn, the streets of Osaka were full of movement and mirth. The people prepared for the feast, rejoicing in the thought of coming pleasures. Shops, the homes of artisans and citizens, opening full upon the street, afforded a free view of their modest interiors, furnished only with a few beautifully colored screens.
Voices were heard, mixed with bursts of laughter; and now and then some mischievous child struggled out of his mother's arms, while she was trying to dress him in his holiday attire, and frisked, and danced with glee upon the wooden stairs leading from the house to the road. He was then recalled with cries of pretended anger from within, the father's voice was heard, and the child returned to his mother, trembling with impatience.