A Japanese miscellany - University of Oregon

Songs of Japanese Children 189
— Yare, yare ! kitsui ane-san ja ! . . .
Hi — fu — mi — yo — itsu — mu — nana —
ya — kono — to !
A cat set out for Kuwana. On the road to Kuwana her
light went out. Though she tried and tried to rehght it,
she could not. Then, having seated herself on the veranda
of a tea-house, she asked : — " One cup of water will you
not kindly give me.'" — " It would be very easy to give
you water ; but the bottom of the well-bucket
taken out." — " Oh ! oh ! how
has been
harshly speaks this Elder
Then
Sister i
! Then will you not kindly give me a cup of tea?
— " To give you some tea were an easy matter ; but the
bottom of the tea-kettle has been taken out." — " Oh ! oh !
how merciless this Elder Sister !
will you not let
me have one pipeful of tobacco ?" — " To give you some
tobacco were an easy matter; but the bowl of the pipe has
fallen off " — " Oh ! oh ! what a merciless Elder
"
Sister !
— One— two — three — four — Jive — six—seven —
eight — nine — ten ! ^
Of course the cat, in the foregoing narration,
is a goblin-cat, — a cat having power to assume
divers shapes. She travels in human form ; but
this disguise is penetrated by the eye of the tea-
house servant, who answers her as goblins are
^ " Elder Sister " is still the title of courtesy by which the maid-servant
of an inn is addressed ; but the form Nesan, a contraction of Ane-
san, is more frequently used.
' The numbers here refer to a game played to the accompaniment of
the song.
"