Page:Things Japanese (1905).djvu/161

Rh from impious hands, or rather lips. But when the great scholar, Motoori, disdaining all mumbo-jumbo, brought the light of true philological criticism to bear on the texts in question, lo and behold! one of the mysterious birds proved to be none other than the familiar wagtail, the second remained difficult to fix accurately, and the third name was not that of any particular species, but merely a general expression signifying the myriad little birds that twitter in spring. The three mysterious trees were equally commonplace.

Foolish as the three bird secret was (and it was but one among a hundred such), it had the power to save the life of a brave general, Hosokawa Yūsai, who, being besieged in A.D. 1600 by a son of the famous ruler Hideyoshi, was on the point of seeing his garrison starved into a surrender. This came to the ears of the Mikado; and His Majesty, knowing that Hosokawa was not only a warrior, but a learned man, well-versed in the mysteries of the Kokinshū—three birds and all—and fearing that this inestimable store of erudition might perish with him and be lost to the world for ever, exerted his personal influence to such good effect that an edict was issued commanding the attacking army to retire.

Viewed from a critical standpoint, Chinese and Japanese esoterics well deserve thorough investigation by some competent hand. We ourselves do not think that much would be added thereby to the world's store of wisdom. But we do think that a flood of light would be shed upon some of the most curious nooks and crannies of the human mind.

 Eta. The origin of the Eta, or Japanese pariahs, is altogether obscure. Some see in them the descendants of Korean captives, brought to Japan during the wars of the latter part of the sixteenth century. By others they are considered to be the illegitimate descendants of the celebrated generalissimo Yoritomo, who lived as far back as the twelfth century. Even the etymology of the name is a subject of dispute among the learned, some of whom believe it to be from the Chinese characters 穢 多 e-ta, "defilement abundant," while others