The Japanese Twins [16]
Oh, you can't think how good he was! He was only six years old. He was a beautiful child, with a tender, fine skin and bright eyes. He lived with his parents in a little town among the rice-fields. The fields were so wet in the spring that there were millions and millions of mosquitoes around their home. Everybody was nearly bitten to death by them. The little boy saw how miserable and unhappy his parents were from the mosquito-bites. He could not bear to see his dear parents suffer; so every night he lay naked on his mat so the mosquitoes would find his tender skin and bite him first, and spare his father and mother." "Oh, my!" said Take. "How brave that was! I don't like mosquito- bites a bit!" "You don't like beetle-bites any better, do you?" Taro said. "Well," said Take, "I'd rather the beetle should bite me than Mother." "Well, now, maybe you'll be a Paragon yourself sometime," the Mother said. "There weren't any women paragons, were there? " asked Taro. "Oh, yes," said the Mother. "Once there was a young girl who loved her father dearly, and honored him above everything in the world, as a child should. Once she and her father were in a jungle, and a tiger attacked them. The young girl threw herself upon the tiger and clung to his jaws so that her father could escape." "Did the tiger eat her up?" said Taro. "I suppose he did," the Mother answered. "Was it very noble of her to be eaten up so her father could get away?" Take asked, "Oh, very noble!" said the Mother. "Well, then," said Take, "was it very noble of the father to run away and let her stay and be eaten up?" "The lives of women are not worth so much as those of men," her Mother answered. Take bounced on her cushion. "I don't see how she could honor a man who was so mean," she said. Take's mother held up her hands. She was shocked. "Why, Take!" she said. "The man was her father!" "Tell us another," said Taro. "Please, honored Mother, don't tell me about any more Paragons," said Take. Her Mother was still more shocked. "Why, little daughter," she said, " don't you want to hear about the Paragon that lay down on the cold, cold ice to warm a hole in it with his body so he could catch some fish for his cruel stepmother to eat?" "No, if you please, dear Mother," said Take, "because all the Paragons had such horrid parents." "My dear little girl," the Mother said, "you must not say such dreadful things! We must honor and obey our parents, no matter what kind of persons they are." "Well," said Take, "we love and honor you and our Father--you are so good and kind." She put her hands on the matting in front of her, and bowed to the floor before her Mother. Taro saw Take do this, and he wanted to be just as polite as she was; so he rolled over on his cushion and bowed to the floor, too. "Now, tell us about the 'Lucky Tea-Kettle,'" begged Take. Their Mother began: "Once upon a time--" But just as she got as far as that they heard a little sound from Bot'Chan's cushion in the corner, and the covers began to wiggle. "There's Bot'Chan awake," said the Mother. "I must take care of him now. The 'Lucky Tea-Kettle' must wait until another time." And just at that minute bright spots of sunshine appeared on the paper screen, and the shadows of leaves in pretty patterns fluttered over it. "The sun is out! The sun is out!" cried the Twins. They ran to the door, put on their clogs, and were soon dancing about in the bright sunshine.
TAKE'S BIRTHDAY TAKE'S BIRTHDAY Taro and Take loved their birthdays the best of all the days in the year. They had two of them. Most twins have only one birthday between them, but Japanese twins have two. That is because all the boys in Japan celebrate their birthdays together on one day, and all the girls celebrate theirs together on another day. So, you see, though they were twins, Taro and Take didn't have the same birthday at all. Take's birthday came first. She knew days beforehand that it was coming, for every once in a while she would say to her Mother, "How many days is it now?" and her Mother always knew she meant, "How many days is it to my
TAKE'S BIRTHDAY TAKE'S BIRTHDAY Taro and Take loved their birthdays the best of all the days in the year. They had two of them. Most twins have only one birthday between them, but Japanese twins have two. That is because all the boys in Japan celebrate their birthdays together on one day, and all the girls celebrate theirs together on another day. So, you see, though they were twins, Taro and Take didn't have the same birthday at all. Take's birthday came first. She knew days beforehand that it was coming, for every once in a while she would say to her Mother, "How many days is it now?" and her Mother always knew she meant, "How many days is it to my