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244
THE WONDERFUL CITY OF TOKIO.
The castle officials were exceedingly polite to the visitors,
and took them all over it.
Upon ascending to the top of Kato's tower, they saw that
some of the old drill-grounds inside the castle were under
cultivation, noticing which, Mr. Nambo said, "Ah! in the old
times those places were crowded with brave samurai, now
they are full of dai-kon (radishes). How the noble ghosts
must grieve when they regard that sight."
" I reckon they wish they could eat some of the dai-kon"
said Fitz. 'They must be like the ghost of Benjamin Franklin
looking at a pot of beans."
At first Mr. Nambo did not understand the simile, but
when it was explained by Oto, he began to chuckle, and
presently remarked, " Fitz San, I fear you have no reverence
for anything."
" I am afraid that I do not exactly know what the word
means, sir," respectfully answered the boy.
The Professor shook his head reprovingly, and said to their
friend, " I would like to see the shrine containing the sacred
sword. Is it not somewhere hereabouts?"
"Yes, it is in Miya,"
said Mr. Nambo. "We can visit it
to-morrow. If you have seen enough of the castle, we will
return to our inn, as I fear your wife and daughter are becom-
ing weary."
On their way back they passed some images under the
trees, and Mr. Nambo said, "Those are nure-botoke (wet
saints). We call them so because they are exposed to the
rain."
" Not because they drank," said Fitz.
"Oh, no!" was the innocent rejoinder.
:? The one there
with the tablets on his dress is Ji-zo, but I do not know the
name of the other. I suppose the people have forgotten whom
the figure represents."