Old Japanese Songs 179 



A stranger example of this mnemonic arrange- 

 ment is furnished by a children's song, composed 

 at least a hundred years ago. Little girls of 

 Yedo used to sing it while playing ball. You can 

 see the same ball-game being played by girls to- 

 day, in almost any quiet street of Tokyo. The 

 ball is kept bounding in a nearly perpendicular 

 line by skilful taps of the hand delivered in time 

 to the measure of a song; and a good player 

 should be able to sing the song through without 

 missing a stroke. If she misses, she must yield 

 the ball to another player. 1 There are many 

 pretty " ball-play songs ; " but this old-fashioned 

 and long-forgotten one is a moral curiosity : 



Hitotsu toy a : 



Hito wa ko na hito to lu ; 

 On wo shiraneba ko naraji. 



Futatsu toya: 



Fuji yori takaki chichi no on ; 

 Tsune-ni omoute wasure-naji. 



1 This is the more common form of the game; but 

 there are many other forms. Sometimes two girls play 

 at once with the same ball striking it alternately as it 

 bounds. 



