130 ST NICOTINE 



truth. Thus ensconced, peering through the holes I had 

 made for my eyes, I beheld in the man's hands a pipe of 

 surpassing beauty. I saw that he took from his tobacco- 

 pouch some shreds of the weed and rolled them up, and in 

 blissful ignorance of other eyes than his own to see and 

 admire his chased kiseru he caressingly handled it, and fed 

 it with the pabulum of peace. But when he bent forward 

 to the brazier and turned the bowl on one side to catch a 

 light from the live coal the little ball of tobacco fell out — 

 it was too small for the bowl ! Again and again this same 

 thing happened.' Then did Oka reveal himself to the 

 already convicted felon and charge him with the theft, 

 saying, ' Had the pipe been thine own, O son of infamy, 

 long and constant usage would have taught thy fingers to 

 make up the tobacco balls of the size needed to fit the 

 bowl.' This process of reasoning was conclusive. The 

 culprit was taken before the tribunal of justice and punished 

 according to the enormity of his offence. That no shadow 

 of unworthy doubt may rest upon the seat of wisdom, the 

 veracious chronicler adds, that when the unhappy man was 

 formally charged with the crime, he, with deep humility 

 confessed his guilt ; whereupon the judge restored to the 

 rightful owner the lost golden pipe, and the fame of Oka, 

 the wise spread throughout the land. 



To-day the smoking of tobacco in Japan is universal ; 

 so completely has the practice entered into the daily habits 

 of Japanese life that high and low, rich and poor — and of 

 both sexes — have come to look upon the introduction of the 

 tabako-bon — containing all their curious smoking apparatus — 

 on the occasion of the arrival of a visitor, as a social 

 function which could not be neglected without giving 

 offence. Even in the poorest man's house the tobacco 

 tray, with its fire-pot and ash-pot, is an essential part of the 



