Around the World with Josiah Allen's Wife

by Marietta Holley

With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me.

With the sweet gentleness and amiable nater of the Japans what will not the divine religion of the Lord Jesus do for them? It will be plantin’ seed in good ground that will spring up a hundredfold.

I spoze that it wuz on Robert Strong’s account (he is acquainted with so many big Chinamen and Japans) that we wuz invited to a elegant tiffen in one of the Mikado’s palaces at Tokio. The grounds wuz beautiful, the garden containing some of the most beautiful specimens of trees, trained into all shapes, some on ’em hundreds of years old, but havin’ their faculties yet, and growin’ jest as they wuz told to, and all the beautiful flowers and shrubs that Japan can boast of, 202 and palm trees, bananas, giant ferns and everything else beautiful in the way of vegetation.

The palace is one of the oldest in Tokio. It wuz only one story high, but the rooms wuz beautiful. The fan chamber wuz fifty feet square, the walls covered with fans of every size and shape and color. The only furniture in this room wuz two magnificent cabinets of lacquer work and four great, gorgeous bronze vases.

The tiffen wuz gin by a high official; there wuz fifty guests. The hour was two in the afternoon. There wuz ten ladies present––two beautiful Japanese ladies, dressed in the rich toilette of Japan. The lunch cards wuz little squares of scarlet paper, with black Japanese writing. Josiah looked at the card intently and then whispered to me:

“How be I goin’ to know what I am eatin’ from these duck tracks?”

But I whispered, “Le’s do what the rest do, Josiah, and we’ll come out all right.”

But we had a dretful scare, for right whilst we wuz partakin’ of the choice Japan viands a loud rumblin’ sound wuz hearn, and I see even as we rushed to the door the timbers of the ceilin’ part and then come together agin and the great bronze chandelier swing back and forth. My pardner ketched hold of my hand and hurried me along on a swift run and wouldn’t stop runnin’ for some time. I tried to stop him, for I got out of breath, but he wuz bound to run right back to Yokohama, thirty miles off. But I convinced him that we would be no safer there, for you can’t argy with earthquake shocks and tell when they’re comin’, they are very common in all parts of Japan. After the first heavy shock there wuz two lighter ones, and that ended it for that time. But though we all went back to the table, I can’t say that I took any great comfort in the tiffen after that.

A blow has fell onto me I wuzn’t prepared for. We found a number of letters waitin’ for us here at the tarven that Robert Strong had ordered to be forwarded there. It 203 seemed so good, whilst settin’ under a palm tree, seein’ jinrikishas go by, and Chinas and Japans, to set and read about the dear ones in Jonesville, and the old mair and Snip.

The letters wuz full of affection and cheer, and after readin’ ’em I gathered ’em up and sought my pardner to exchange letters with him, as I wuz wont to do, and I see he had quite a few, but what was my surprise to see that man sarahuptishushly and with a guilty look try to conceal one on ’em under his bandanna. And any woman will know that all his other letters wuz as dross to me compared to the one he was hidin’. I will pass over my argyments––and––and words, before that letter lay in my hand. But suffice it to say, that when at last I read it and all wuz explained to me, groans and sithes riz from my burdened heart deeper and despairener than any I had gin vent to in years and years.