THE LITTLE TEA BOOK 



lanashi, meaning tea-stories, or Hiti- 

 Kucha " one mouth stories," short 

 stories told at one sitting. At times 

 professional story-tellers are em- 

 ployed. Of these there are two kinds : 

 Story- Tellers and " Cross-Road Tra- 

 dition Narrators/' both of whom 

 since olden times have been the faith- 

 ful custodians and disseminators of 

 native folk -lore and tales. 



These professionals are divided 

 into a number of classes, the most 

 important being the Hanashi-Ka, 

 members of a celebrated company 

 under a well-known manager, who 

 unites them into troops of never 

 less than five or more than seven in 

 number. Such companies are often 

 advertised weeks before their arrival 

 in a place by hoisting flags or stream- 

 ers with the names of the performers 



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