Ninthly,—
Augustly protecting all this coast, the Deity of the river-mouth shows to us his divine favor.
O this ship of great fishing!
A stranger example of this mnemonic arrangement is furnished by a children's song, composed at least a hundred years ago. Little girls of Yedo used to sing it while playing ball. You can see the same ball-game being played by girls to-day, in almost any quiet street of Tōkyō. The ball is kept bounding in a nearly perpendicular line by skilful taps of the hand delivered in time to the measure of a song; and a good player should be able to sing the song through without missing a stroke. If she misses, she must yield the ball to another player.[108] There are many pretty "ball-play songs;" but this old-fashioned and long-forgotten one is a moral curiosity:—
[108] ] This is the more common form of the game; but there are many other forms. Sometimes two girls play at once with the same ball—striking it alternately as it bounds.
Hitotsu to ya:—
Hito wa kō na hito to iu;
On wo shiranéba kō naraji.
Futatsu to ya:—
Fuji yori takaki chichi no on;
Tsuné-ni omouté wasuré-naji.
Mitsu to ya:—
Mizu-umi kaetté asashi to wa,
Haha no on zo ya omou-beshi.
Yotsu to ya:—
Yoshiya mazushiku kurasu tomo,
Sugu-naru michi wo maguru-moji.
Itsutsu to ya:—
Itsumo kokoro no kawaranu wo,
Makoto no hito to omou-beshi.
Mutsu to ya:—
Munashiku tsukihi wo kurashi-naba,
Nochi no nagéki to shirinu-beshi.
Nanatsu to ya:—
Nasaki wa hito no tamé narodé,
Waga mi no tamé to omou-beshi.
Yatsu to ya:—
Yaku-nan muryō no wazawai mo
Kokoro zen nara nogaru-beshi.
Kokonotsu to ya:—
Kokoro kotoba no sugu-naraba,
Kami ya Hotoké mo mamoru-beshi.
Tō to ya:—
Tōtoi hito to naru naraba,
Kōkō mono to iwaru-beshi.
This is the first:—
[Only] a person having filial piety is [worthy to be] called a person:[109]
If one does not know the goodness of parents, one has not filial piety.