lapantsj <fair 2 Calc Series. II 0 . 10. 
 
 Tai M&TBBTIMI MIEE©E. 
 
 Told to 
 
 Children 
 by 
 
 Jrrs. 'T. It. lames. 
 
 rifMfehe5 bli fi)e 
 
 5!0St!fSWil I0KS0. 
 
^ e «. cr 
 
 TUB 
 
 MA1PSIT¥AMA 
 
 long long time ago, there 
 lived in a quiet spot, a 
 young man and his wife. They 
 had one child, a little daughter, 
 whom they both loved with all their 
 hearts. I cannot tell you their 
 
 r 
 
 names, for they have been long 
 since forgotten, but the name 
 of the place where they lived was 
 Matsuyama, in the province of 
 
 
— - 
 
 It happened once, while the 
 little girl was still a baby, that 
 the father was obliged to go to the 
 great city, the capital of Japan, 
 upon some business. It was too 
 far for the mother and her little 
 baby to go, so he set out alone, 
 after bidding them good bye, and 
 promising to bring them home 
 I some pretty present. 
 
 The mother had never been 
 
 % 
 
 further from home than the next 
 
 village, and she could not help 
 
 being a little frightened at the 
 
 thought of her husband taking 
 
 
 
fr 
 
 
 such a long journey, and yet 
 she was a little proud too, for he 
 was the first man in all that 
 country side who had been to the 
 big town where the King and 
 his great lords lived, and where 
 there were so many beautiful and 
 curious things to be seen. 
 
 At last the time came when she 
 might expect her husband back, 
 so she dressed the baby in its 
 best clothes, and herself put on 
 a pretty blue dress which she 
 knew her husband liked. 
 
 You may fancy how glad this 
 
 vt 
 
- ■ : . 
 
 good wife was to see him come 
 home safe and sound, and how 
 the little girl clapped her hands, 
 and laughed with delight, when 
 
she saw the pretty toys her 
 father had brought for her. He had 
 much to tell of all the wonderful 
 things he had seen upon the 
 journey, and in the town itself. 
 
 I have brought you a very 
 pretty thing/’ said he to his wife: 
 
 it is called a mirror. Look and tell 
 me what you see inside.” He 
 gave to her plain, white wooden 
 box, in which, when she had 
 opened it, she found a round 
 piece of metal. One side was white 
 like frosted silver, and ornamented 
 with raised figures of birds and 
 flowers, the other was bright as 
 
 Vis 
 
the clearest crystal. Into it the 
 young mother looked with delight 
 and astonishment, for, from its 
 depths was looking at her with 
 parted lips and bright eyes, a 
 smiling happy face. 
 
What do you see ? ” again as- 
 ked the husband, pleased at her 
 astonishment, and glad to show 
 that he had learned Something 
 while he had been away. see 
 a pretty woman looking at me, and 
 she moves her lips as if she was 
 speaking, and— dear me, how odd, 
 she has on a blue dress just like 
 mine!” ^^Why, you silly woman, 
 it is your own face that you see,” 
 said the husband, proud of know- 
 ing something that his wife 
 didn’t know. That round piece of 
 metal is called a mirror, in the 
 town every body has one, although 
 
 
 j 
 
 I 
 
 S 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 V 
 
we have not seen them in this I 
 
 i r 
 
 country place before. ! 
 
 The wife was charmed with her 
 present, and, for a few days could 
 not look into the mirror often 
 
 enough, for you must remember, 
 that, as this was the first time 
 
 1 
 
 she had seen a mirror, so, of 
 course, it was the first time she j 
 
 had ever seen the reflection of j 
 
 ; 
 
 her own pretty face. But she con- [ 
 sidered such a wonderful thing far 
 too precious for every day use, 
 and soon shut it up in its box 
 again, and put it away carefully 
 among her most valued treasures. 
 
> ' - u ... — . o 
 
 Years past on, and the husband 
 and wife still lived happily. The 
 joy of their life was their little 
 daughter, who grew up the very 
 image of her mother, and who was 
 so dutiful and affectionate that 
 every body loved her. Mindful of 
 her own little passing vanity on 
 finding herself so lovely, the mother 
 kept the mirror carefully hidden 
 away, fearing that the use of it 
 might breed a spirit of pride in her 
 little girl. 
 
 She never spoke of it, and 
 as for the father, he had forgotten 
 all about it. So it happened that 
 
the daughter grew up as simple 
 as the mother had been^ and knew 
 nothing of her own good looks, 
 or of the mirror which would have 
 reflectd them. 
 
 But bye and bye a terrible mis- 
 fortune happened to this happy I 
 little family. The good, kind mother | 
 
 fell sick; and, although her daugh- \ 
 
 (! 
 
 ter waited upon her day and ij 
 night, with loving care, she got 
 worse and worse, until at last there 
 was no hope but that she must die. 
 
 When she found that she must 
 so soon leave her husband and 
 child, the poor woman felt very 
 
 
 
sorrowful, grieving for those she 
 was going to leave behind, and 
 most of all for her little daughter. 
 
 She called the girl to her and 
 said ; My darling child, you know 
 that I am very sick: soon I must 
 die, and and leave your dear 
 father and you alone. When I am 
 gone, promise me that you will 
 look into this mirror every night 
 and every morning : there you will 
 see me, and know that I am still 
 watching over you. ” With these 
 words she took the mirror from its 
 hiding place and gave it to her 
 daughter. The child promised, 
 
fr 
 
 with many tears, and so the moth- 
 er, seeming now calm and resigned, 
 died a short time after. 
 
 Now this obedient and dutiful 
 daughter, never forgot her mother^s 
 last request, but each morning and 
 evening took the mirror from its 
 hiding place, and looked in it 
 long and earnestly. There she saw 
 the bright and smiling vision of 
 her lost mother. Not pale and 
 sickly as in her last days, but the 
 beautiful young mother of long ago. 
 To her at night she told the story 
 of the trials and difficulties of the 
 day, to her in the morning she 
 
 
 JJ 
 
looked for sympathy and encoura- 
 gement in whatever might be in 
 store for her. 
 
 So day by day she lived as in her 
 mother’s sight, striving still to please 
 her as she had done in her life time, 
 and careful always to avoid what- 
 ever might pain or grieve her. 
 
 Her greatest joy was to be able 
 to look in the mirror and say; 
 
 Mother, I have been today what 
 you would have me to be.” 
 
 Seeing her every night and 
 
 i morning, without fail, look into the 
 
 I 
 
 I mirror, and seem to hold converse 
 with it, her father at length asked 
 
( 
 
 her the reason of her strange 
 behaviour. ‘^Father/’ she said, 
 I look in the mirror every day to 
 see my dear mother and to talk 
 with her.” Then she told him of 
 her mother’s dying wish, and how 
 she had never failed to fulfil it. 
 Touched by so much 
 j simplicity, and 
 j such faithful, 
 loving obedience, 
 the father 
 
 L 
 
 / 
 
shed tears of pity and aflection. 
 Nor could he find it in his heart 
 to tell the child, that the image 
 she saw in the mirror, was but the 
 reflection of her own sweet face, by 
 constant ^ sympathy and 
 
 association, 
 becoming 
 more 
 and 
 more like 
 her 
 
 
 ) 
 
 dead 
 mother’s 
 day by day.