Page:Japanese Gardens (Taylor).djvu/162

104 Even when the bridge does go directly from point to point, without lingering to enjoy itself on the way, the Japanese usually manage to avoid the straight line which is not that of beauty. Whether it is for that reason, or because the little stream may swell with the spring rains, so as to make additional height in the middle a safe precaution, most bridges, whether of wood or of stone, arch a little in the centre. Some arch a good deal, so that, when completed, by their reflection in the water below a perfect circle is formed. ‘Full-moon’ bridges these are called, and they come from China. And so steep is the incline, that, unless little steps are taken, it is hard, if not impossible, to walk over them. In the background of the picture of geishas fishing at Kameido, facing this page, two specimens are to be seen, but without the arch completed below. The naughty little nésans who bring one tea there giggle with joy at the efforts of people to scramble over them (for these are without steps), and greet the foreigner who succeeds in doing it with little tinkling shrieks of delight. The innocent appreciation by the Japanese of the very mildest jest is enough to set one up as a wit for life. One feels a real humorist there who has only made a mistake in pronunciation, and a master-wit who climbs the round bridge at Kameido.

Of bridges not so much curved a good example may be seen in the picture of the