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208 HONDA THE SAMURAI.
" We '11
put up at the inn of the Big Gold-fish,"
said Ban.
" Good name, that ! Did the proprietor select it
from the title of Bakin's famous novel ? I read his
'
Biography of a Gold-fish ' last summer."
" No ;
the name is more matter-of-fact than the
heroine of our novelist, who, you remember, was a
pretty girl whose filial piety made her a paragon.
You will see when you look into the water of the
castle moat to-morrow gold-fishes larger than elsewhere
in Japan. The tea-house is named after an
actual fish with fins and scales."
" Very good ;
but are you not afraid to go under
the very knee of the lord of Yedo ? The inn is near
the very gate of his castle."
" Not at all," answered his comrade "
;
I shall act
'
on the principle of the proverbs, It is dark at the
lantern's base,' and * While the hunter looks afar,
the bird starts up at his feet.' Here in the crowded
city I shall be unknown, and as hard to find as ' one
hair of nine oxen.' '
There was a strange sound in Honda's ears as he
lay early down to sleep, tired after his long walk. It
was the hum and stir of the great city of a million
souls. It being a moonlight night, thousands of
people crowded the larger streets where all sorts of
venders displayed their wares, and the total effect
of the countless voices and noises was that of a prolonged
hum. Fortunately " the flower of Yedo " did
not bloom that night
; or, in plain prose, there was
no conflagration
to disturb their sleep, though the
watchman's hourly cry was, "Look out for fire!"