34 THE JAPANESE FLORAL CALENDAR. 



This means, literally translated, "By asagao bucket being taken, 

 begged water." But Sir Edwin Arnold's poetical version is also 

 worth quoting: 



"The morning-glory 

 Her leaves and bells has bound 

 My bucket-handle round. 

 I could not break the bands 

 Of those soft hands, 

 The bucket and the well to her I left ; 

 'Lend me some water, for I come bereft.' " 



With the recommendation to read Miss Scidmore's illustrated 

 article, quoted above, for an insight into the occult features of 

 morning-glory culture in Japan, we close with her final sentence: 

 "The asagao is the flower of Japanese flowers, the miracle of their 

 floriculture, and one may best ascribe it to pure necromancy, and 

 cease to question and pursue." 



