On arriving in the court-yard and entering the house they found the entire body of servants and dependents of the establishments assembled in two rows under the heavy portico of carved wood. All were on their knees, and when Frederick and Nina passed between their ranks every head was lowered to the ground in silent and respectful greeting to the guests of their lord. At this moment the master of the house appeared, and in his flowing silken robes, with his slow and dignified movements, presented a striking contrast to the restless and frisky little Japs whom one is accustomed to see rushing through the streets of London and Paris.
A magnificent banquet was then served in true Japanese style. Six girls in gorgeous apparel entered the dining hall, and, falling on their knees, prostrated themselves till their heads touched the floor. They wore the most artistic of dresses, with huge sashes of a soft rich color. In their hands they bore several native instruments of music, including a “koto,” a kind of horizontal harp or zither; a “samasin,” or banjo, and a “yokobuc,” or flute. The fair musicians, still kneeling on the floor, began to play and to sing a strangely weird but somewhat exciting melody. Meanwhile other handmaidens, scarcely less richly dressed than the first, made their appearance, carrying costly lacquer trays with egg-shell porcelain cups containing slices of the feelers of the octopus, or devil-fish, wonderfully contrived soups, oranges preserved in sirups, and various other extraordinary confections. At first both Nina and Frederick made fruitless attempts to convey the viands to their mouths by means of the chop-sticks which had been placed before them, but soon, following the example of their host, they overcame this difficulty by raising the cups to their lips and gulping down the contents.
Then came the most dainty morsel of the feast, which is to the Japanese epicure what fresh oysters and Russian sterlet are to us. Resting on a large dish of priceless Kioto porcelain, garnished with a wreath of variegated bamboo leaves, was a magnificent fish of the turbot species. It was still alive, for its gills and its mouth moved regularly. To Nina's horror, the serving girl raised the skin from the upper side of the fish, which was already loose, and picked off slice after slice of the living creature, which, although alive, had been carved in such a manner that no vital part had been touched; the heart, gills, liver, and stomach had been left intact, and the damp sea-weed on which the fish rested sufficed to keep the lungs in action. The miserable thing seemed to look with a lustrous but reproachful eye upon the guests while they consumed its body. To be buried alive is horrible enough in all conscience, but to be eaten alive must be even still worse. It should be added that this particular fish, the dai, is only good when eaten alive. The moment it is dead the flesh becomes opaque, tough, and starchy. The wine consisted of warm “sakke” and other kinds of liquor distilled from rice.
Toward the end of the repast, which lasted several hours, a sliding panel was suddenly drawn aside and an elderly Japanese lady made her appearance, crawling on her hands and knees. She was followed by a considerably younger looking woman and two little girls. On Frederick looking inquiringly at his host, the latter, with a contemptuous jerk backward of his thumb, said:
“Oh! my wife,” at which words the good lady touched the floor with her forehead.
The younger woman was equally briefly introduced as “Okamisan,” and was the second wife of the worthy host. Of the two little girls one was a daughter by the first wife and the other by Okamisan, who all dwelt on the best of terms together.
Both Frederick and Nina were about to rise from the cushions on which they were sitting on the floor in order to greet the ladies, but they were forced by their entertainer to keep their places, while with an important wave of the hand he dismissed his family.
On her way home that night Nina complained of feeling very ill, but attributing it to the effects of the extraordinary and mysterious dishes of which she had partaken, she attached no particular importance thereto.
On the following day she was but little better, and from that time forth was scarcely ever well. Her languor and loss of appetite increased day by day. At Frederick's suggestion one of the best European doctors at Yokohama was summoned to attend to her case, but the remedies which he prescribed proved of no avail. She was rarely able to leave the grounds of the villa, and grew more feeble as the time passed by. Frederick was unremitting in his attention, and nursed her with what was apparently the most tender solicitude.
Their residence at the “vashiki” was brought to a sudden close shortly afterward by a tragic incident. A valuable gold bracelet belonging to Nina had disappeared, and as the young Samurai (nobleman) who acted as interpreter and major-domo, had engaged the servants and rendered himself personally responsible for their honesty, Frederick laid the blame on him, and reproached him about the theft in the most violent and unmeasured terms. The poor fellow seemed to take the matter to heart very much, but uttered no word of response.