The Japanese Twins [21]
he placed beside each of them a cunning little set of drawers, like a doll's bureau. In the little bureau were India ink and brushes. The teacher sat down on his cushion before the school. He told the children where to open their books. Taro and Take couldn't even find the place, but O Kiku San, who sat next, found it for them. The teacher gave Taro and Take each a little stick. "Now I will tell you the names of these letters," he said, "and when I call the name of each one, you can point to it with the little stick. That will help you to remember it." He began to read. Taro and Take punched each letter as he called it. They tried so hard to remember that they punched a hole right through the paper! But you might have punched something, too, if you had thousands of letters to learn! That's what Taro and Take have to do, while you have only twenty-six letters. They were glad when the teacher said, "Now we will learn how to count." Taro and Take took out their new sorobans. The teacher showed them how to count the beads. They thought it as much fun as a game. Then they tried to make some letters in their copy-books with a brush. That's the way they write in Japan. Taro's and Take's letters were very big and queer-looking, and the paper got so wet that the teacher said, "Children, you may all carry your copy-books outdoors and hang them up to dry, and you may eat your rice out of doors." The children took their copy-books and their bags of rice and ran out. The Twins found a nice shady place to eat their luncheon. O Kiku San ate her rice with Taro and Take. They had a real picnic. At half-past three all their lessons were finished, and the Twins ran home. Their Mother was waiting for them on the porch, with Bot'Chan in her arms. "See what we made for you!" the Twins cried. They gave her the letters they had made that morning. "You have made them beautifully, for the first time," she said. She put the blistered papers with the staggery letters away in the cupboard to keep. "I will show them to Father when he comes home," she said.
VII TARO'S BIRTHDAY TARO'S BIRTHDAY I wish there was room in this book to tell you about all the good times that Taro and Take have, but they have so many holidays and such good times on every one of them that it would take two books to tell about it all. They have cherry festivals and wistaria festivals and chrysanthemum festivals when everybody goes to picnics and spends the whole day with the flowers. On the day of the Lotus Festival they go very early in the morning, before the sun is up, to a pond where the lotus flowers bloom. They go with their teacher and all the children. When they get to the pond, the teacher says, "Listen!" Every one is still as a mouse. Just as the sun comes up, the lotus flowers open. Pop, pop, pop, they go, like fairy guns! The children love to hear them pop. "The flowers salute the sun," they say. One of the best days of all is New Year's Day, when all the boys and their fathers and grandfathers fly kites. And such wonderful kites! The air is full of dragons and boxes and all sorts of queer shapes. Sometimes the dragons have a battle in the air! But one day I must tell you about, anyway, and that is Taro's birthday! It isn't only Taro's birthday, you know. All the boys celebrate together. The girls--even if they are your very own twins--don't have a thing to do with it. And it lasts five days! On the first morning Taro woke very early. He was just as excited as Take was on the day of the Festival of Dolls. But Take didn't stay in bed on Taro's birthday. She flew out early, for she wanted to see all the fun, even if she wasn't in it. First she went to the Kura with Taro and their Father to get out the flags. The boys' birthday is called the Feast of Flags. They took Bot'Chan with them to the Kura. Take carried him on her back. "It's Bot'Chan's birthday, too," she said, "so he must go." In the Kura was a long bamboo pole. The Twins' Father took the pole and set it up in the street before their house. Then he brought out two great paper fish. They were almost larger
VII TARO'S BIRTHDAY TARO'S BIRTHDAY I wish there was room in this book to tell you about all the good times that Taro and Take have, but they have so many holidays and such good times on every one of them that it would take two books to tell about it all. They have cherry festivals and wistaria festivals and chrysanthemum festivals when everybody goes to picnics and spends the whole day with the flowers. On the day of the Lotus Festival they go very early in the morning, before the sun is up, to a pond where the lotus flowers bloom. They go with their teacher and all the children. When they get to the pond, the teacher says, "Listen!" Every one is still as a mouse. Just as the sun comes up, the lotus flowers open. Pop, pop, pop, they go, like fairy guns! The children love to hear them pop. "The flowers salute the sun," they say. One of the best days of all is New Year's Day, when all the boys and their fathers and grandfathers fly kites. And such wonderful kites! The air is full of dragons and boxes and all sorts of queer shapes. Sometimes the dragons have a battle in the air! But one day I must tell you about, anyway, and that is Taro's birthday! It isn't only Taro's birthday, you know. All the boys celebrate together. The girls--even if they are your very own twins--don't have a thing to do with it. And it lasts five days! On the first morning Taro woke very early. He was just as excited as Take was on the day of the Festival of Dolls. But Take didn't stay in bed on Taro's birthday. She flew out early, for she wanted to see all the fun, even if she wasn't in it. First she went to the Kura with Taro and their Father to get out the flags. The boys' birthday is called the Feast of Flags. They took Bot'Chan with them to the Kura. Take carried him on her back. "It's Bot'Chan's birthday, too," she said, "so he must go." In the Kura was a long bamboo pole. The Twins' Father took the pole and set it up in the street before their house. Then he brought out two great paper fish. They were almost larger