Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 2.djvu/291

 The phraseology employed with reference to all matters bearing on the ceremony is precisely fixed, but this part of the affair has little meaning for Westerners. It is enough to mention that one never speaks of "drinking" tea, but of "taking" it; that to "abridge" any part of the ceremony becomes to "apologise;" that all objects of art which have received the approval of the old masters are respectfully alluded to as "models;" and that in indicating dimensions the plait of a mat is used as a unit, such vulgar terms as "feet" and "inches" being carefully eschewed.

The details of carrying out the ceremony vary, but there are some general customs which scarcely permit alteration. The first care of the host is to see that the pavilion is thoroughly cleansed, and that every apparatus of an ignoble character is removed. Similar scrutiny is extended to the outer passage, which should be sprinkled lightly with pure water. A tobacco-box is then placed in the outer waiting-place, after which the condition of the inner waiting-place is attended to, and cushions, one for each guest, are there arranged. On the first day of the tenth month pine sprays are spread all over the garden, and from the first day of the first month these are taken up, little by little, commencing with the parts in the immediate vicinity of the tea pavilion. This is by way of welcoming the gradual advent of spring. At the begin-