MORAL LIFE OF THE JAPANESE. 343 



carvings, vases and embroideries, palace and court were all gone. 

 All was blighted. She and her maidens were standing in the 

 middle of a shady recess in the woods ; before her gaped only the 

 dark opening of a fox's hole; and around them, instead of the 

 splendors of the feast table, were refuse, offal, and all manner of 

 offensive things. At this moment a horse and rider galloped up 

 hurriedly beside them, and told the weeping maiden that he was 

 the real son of the neighboring prime minister. He had heard 

 that a deceiver had made use of his name, and had carried off the 

 lovely daughter of the minister of Mikawa. He had come to find 

 the wretch and avenge the dishonor, but had met no one but this 

 little group of weeping girls in the wood. 



Good counsel was dearly purchased. Heart-struck, the young 

 bride, with weak hand, motioned him to be silent, for she knew 

 now that she had been enchanted by the cruel fox, and that all 

 that had occurred was a wizard's revenge. Sad and ashamed, 

 with one beseeching glance, she turned away ; and with her maids 

 and servants entered her father's house again, and recounted all 

 that had befallen her with browbeaten air, her fair form trem- 

 bling with apprehension. 



The minister was shocked and overcome with emotion, but 

 carefully commanded that the affair should be kept a profound 

 secret ; as it was considered an entailed disgrace when a samurai, 

 or high noble, or his children, allowed themselves to be bewitched 

 by a fox. 



Despite all warnings and every precaution on the part of his 

 minister and his retainers, the rumor of the disgraceful enchant- 

 ment reached the ears of the prince. He was terribly angry. 

 " Surely, it must be a weak-minded fool/' thought he, " who could 

 so easily fall a victim to the intrigues of a fox," and he at once 

 determined to banish the minister and his family from his king- 

 dom. The honorable minister w*aited upon his princely master, 

 and entreated a milder punishment, but without any success ; 

 leave he must with his daughter and servants. He journeyed to a 

 distant province and died soon after, heartbroken by the dis- 

 grace. His daughter never married. It is true, her hand was 

 sought by other men of rank, but she had had more than enough 

 experience with her first bridegroom, and refused all others. 



This was the revenge of the fox ! 



The system of legalized concubinage, still existing in Japan, 

 is far from being akin to polygamy in a social sense. In taking 

 up this question, I am forcibly reminded of Pierre Loti's " Madame 

 Chrysantheme." This story, while in many respects faulty in its 

 portrayal of Japanese life, and at best revealing a rather degrad- 

 ing and unfortunate view, by no means typical except in seaport 



