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THE DEEAM-WORLD. 49
children at bedtime by telling about certain people
and creatures that are visible in waking hours as
pictures or as toys. Mr. Rai did not object to this
way of amusing the children, thinking fairy tales
much less harmful than fiction which is received for
truth, or than truth which is
wrongly understood,
though he had long ceased to tell such tales himself.
Let us look at the little
boy Kozo in the land of
dreams on the evening, say, of August 22, 1852, the
seventh day of the seventh month. It is the night
of the festival of the Weaver star, or that called by
us Vega.
There he is, all tired out after a day among the
lotus gardens and fish-ponds, with his pet monkey,
and his bamboo poles tied full of bright streamers.
These strips of gayly colored paper are written all
over with messages to " "
the farmer-boy and " the
spinning-girl," who live on either side of the avenue
of stars which we call " the Milky Way," and
the Japanese "the River of Heaven."
With eyelids too heavy to keep open,
little Kozo
lay down on his silk bed, and his little shaven head
had no sooner touched the red crepe pillow than he
was asleep. Mamma did not need to coax his eyes
shut that night with the usual fairy tale of " Peach
Prince," or " The Wonderful Tea-kettle," or " The
Ashes that made Cherry-trees bloom," or " The
Monkey and the Crab." Instead of these stories, he
saw in his dreams a whole book of wonders.
To tell the truth, the little fellow's hearty supper
of rice-pastry and sweets was too much for him.