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A Japanese miscellany - University of Oregon

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266 <strong>Japanese</strong> Miscellany<br />

solemnity <strong>of</strong> that rite, the outburst <strong>of</strong> merriment<br />

was almost startling; but I found it also very<br />

natural, and pleasant, and human. Meanwhile<br />

the seven priests departed in many-colored pro-<br />

cession, — their acolytes trudging wearily behind<br />

them, under much weight <strong>of</strong> stands and stools<br />

and bells. Soon the assembly scattered,— all the<br />

rice-cakes having been distributed and appropriated<br />

— ; then the altar, the awnings, the mattings<br />

were removed ; — and in a surprisingly short time<br />

every trace <strong>of</strong> the strange ceremony had disap-<br />

peared. ... I looked about me; — I was alone<br />

upon the beach. . . . There was no sound but<br />

the sound <strong>of</strong> the returning tide: a muttering<br />

enormous, appalling, — as <strong>of</strong> some Life innom-<br />

inable, that had been at peace, awakened to<br />

immeasurable pain. . . .

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