106 Shadowings 



It were better, alone and unarmed, to meet a tiger 

 than to invite the caress of a Rose-Girl. 



Now the appellation of Bara-Musume much 

 more rational as a simile than many of our own 

 floral comparisons can seem strange only be 

 cause it is not in accord with our poetical usages 

 and emotional habits. It is one in a thousand 

 possible examples of the fact that Japanese sim 

 iles and metaphors are not of the sort that he 

 who runs may read. And this fact is particularly 

 well exemplified in i\\t yobina, or personal names 

 of Japanese women. Because a yobina happens 

 to be identical with the name of some tree, or 

 bird, or flower, it does not follow that the per- 

 sonal appellation conveys to Japanese imagination 

 ideas resembling those which the corresponding 

 English word would convey, under like circum 

 stances, to English imagination. Of the yobina 

 that seem to us especially beautiful in translation, 

 only a small number are bestowed for aesthetic 

 reasons. Nor is it correct to suppose, as many 

 persons still do, that Japanese girls are usually 

 named after flowers, or graceful shrubs, or other 

 beautiful objects. ^Esthetic appellations are in 

 use ; but the majority of yobina are not aesthetic. 

 Some years ago a young Japanese scholar pub- 



