*
I found that the manuscript was inscribed, on the outside sheet, with the title, Mukashi-hanashi: "A Story of Old Times." According to circumstances, the word mukashi may signify either "long ago," in reference to past centuries, or "old times," in reference to one's own past life. The latter is the obvious meaning in the present case.
Mukashi-Banashi
On the evening of the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month of the twenty-eighth year of Meiji [1895]? man of the opposite house came and asked:—
"As for the eldest daughter of this family, is it agreeable that she be disposed of in marriage?"
Then the answer was given:—
"Even though the matter were agreeable [to our wishes], no preparation for such an event has yet been made."[2]
The man of the opposite house said:—
"But as no preparation is needed in this case, will you not honourably give her to the person for whom I speak? He is said to be a very steady man; and he is thirty-eight years of age. As I thought your eldest girl to be about twenty-six, I proposed her to him...."
"No,—she is twenty-nine years old," was answered.