Page:Things Japanese (1905).djvu/530

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Which is, being interpreted:

"Though gay in hue, [the blossoms] flutter down, alas! Who then, in this world of ours, may continue forever? Crossing to-day the uttermost limits of phenomenal existence, I shall see no more fleeting dreams, neither be any longer intoxicated." In other words, "All is transitory in this fleeting world. Let me escape from its illusions and vanities!"

In both syllabaries, consonants can be softened by placing two dots to the right of the letter. Thus カ is ka, but ガ is ga; テ is te, but デ is de, and so on. In this way the number of letters is raised considerably. There are various other peculiarities, Japanese orthography almost rivalling our own in eccentricity. Very few books are written in Hiragana alone—none in Katakana alone. Almost all are written in a mixture of Chinese characters and Kana of one kind or another, the Chinese characters being employed for the chief ideas, for nouns and the stems of verbs, while the Kana serves to transcribe particle and terminations. It is also often printed at the side of Chinese characters, especially difficult ones, as a sort of running comment, which indicates sometimes the pronunciation, sometimes the meaning. Add to this that the Chinese characters are commonly written and even printed in every sort of style—from the standard, or so-called "square," to the most sketchy