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CHAPTER VIII.
HOW JAPAN'S DOUBLE GOVEKNMENT BEGAN.
longest nights of the year were now com-
--
ing on, and as there was a good while to be
occupied between supper and bedtime, the children
longed for more stories. They were beginning, even
the younger one, to notice the difference between
those told by their father and those which they
heard from nurse, maid, and grandmother. On the
whole, they liked better the fairy stories and funny
things which the women told them, but the historical
anecdotes or the instructive legends, of which
their father knew so many, were very pleasant to
hear.
Mr. Rai had a habit of first
making
the children
obedient and then rewarding obedience with a story.
Though very indulgent, he was also very firm. He
commanded and made no explanation, expecting and
receiving instant obedience. Then, if it were best,
he showed the reason for what he had commanded,
and usually told a story to enforce it. He especially
wanted all his children, girls as well as boys, to
have a good education, to be good writers, able to
pen an elegant and legible letter, to know their own
country's history, and to be able to read the best
books. He cared far less for Chinese learning than
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