Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 6.djvu/36

 moon, of a mantis, and of a "flower-thief." Mencius rides side by side with a lass that pilfers blossoms, but is not insulted by the companionship, for nature alone suffers by the theft. A conspicuous object in the Gion procession is the chief danseuse, a girl of twelve or thirteen who dances on a dais in the centre of the halberd dashi. Nothing that Kyōtō can contribute of beautiful or costly is neglected in decking out this damsel for the fête. On either side of her another virgin postures in unison, but the little lady in the middle is the goddess of the hour, the queen of the summer festival. Her reign does not end when the deities, the savants, and the symbols have been reconsigned to their twelve months' seclusion in shrines and storehouses. It is then, indeed, that her triumph reaches its acme, for a procession is formed all on her own account. At the head march five samurai, in the old-time uniform of their rank; then comes a glaivesman; then two bearers of gorgeously lacquered boxes, the wardrobes of the little dame; then her palanquin, glowing with bright colours and sparkling ornaments, carried by four lads in correspondingly rich costume and flanked by the chief local officials as well as by the two companion virgins, objects almost as brilliant as the queen herself. Over the palanquin is carried a monster umbrella with handle and ribs of rose-red lacquer, cherry-blossoms and the ideograph for longevity blazoned on its surface, and a tasselled bag of brocade con-