3 182202465 1721 s$J%*mf- m^W Jfe*'^^*^ *'* WWW;: -'W - Library

THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 245
" Friends, this coming of Perry and the foreigners
will change the whole face of our garden-land, long
ago named ' the luxuriant field of reedy moors ' ;
the
asarum trefoil will be rooted out of the center and
be put in the shady corner, while the chrysanthemum
will be planted on the sunny banks and fill all the
garden with its gold, silver, and purple glory, while
on all the slopes and hills will flourish the kiri-tree
in a perpetual fourth month of bloom. Beside the
great world our country is a tiny flower-pot. In it
a skillful gardener may raise a plum, pine, and bamboo
together; but a sheep-sorrel and a chrysanthemum
can not grow together when foreigners enter
our land. The one must overshadow the other, and
that one is the golden flower."
" Master," said Rai Goro with a troubled look,
" we feel with you, even if we can not see so far, but
you will not say such things outside our circle.
Remember the spies are everywhere, and the big
Yedo ear hears every whisper in the empire."
" I shall be discreet, friend Rai ;
but let me tell
you
that before "
twenty years go by that flower pointing
to the golden bloom on the veranda "shall
shine on the frontlets of the helmets and on the
banners of a national army, and on the pennants of
a national navy, and be stamped on the edicts, docu-
We
ments, and laws promulgated from one capital.
must have national unity, of which the doctor's peerless
single-stemmed flower is the symbol."
"I love to hear you predict, for you are a true
prophet, teacher ;
but do not get excited," said Rai.