For our Boys & Girls

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 474, 24 May 1890, Page 3

For our Boys & Girls

EDITED BY MRS FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT. [COPYRIGHT.] [All Rig uts Reserved.] The Deer of Nara. THE STRANGE POPULATION OF A JAPANESE VILLAGE. .[Copyright 1899 by S. S. McClure.]

As I was leaving Kioto on my first expedition to-the venerable and romantic city of Kara, one of the most ancient capitals of the Japanese empire, I received a singular caution from my merry friend Oshikoji, the honourable Kugc’3 son, ‘ Expect strange visitors,’ he cried. ‘ Prepare to meet tho most wonderful acquaintances you have encountered in all your travels !' But I had seen so many rare and marvellous things in Japan that the admonition was forgotten before my journey was fairly begun. Arriving at Kara on a bright summer afternoon,l found comfortable quarters in the upper storey of the largest inn that the place contained. After responding to the landlord's salutations and accepting the wishes of bis household for my health and happiness, I proceeded to make a change of dress and otherwise put myself in order for a stroll through the beautiful temple groves for which the region is famous. While thus engaged I was disturbed by a loud clattering on the floor below, presently followed by tho sound of heavy footsteps clambering up the rough staircase which led to my apartments. Somebody was making an extremely noisy and clumsy attempt to intrude upon my privacy. There was no door to close, for, as in many rustic Japanese habitations, the rooms of the second storey were reached through a hole cut in the floor, to which no covering was provided. The way was open, and if any person chose to force himself upon me, it would be difficult to prevent him, except by using strong measures of dissuasion. The extraordinary noise grew louder, and I waited for an explanation with no little curiosity. Imagino my amazement when a pair of spreading antlers rose through tho aperture, followed by the delicate and graceful head of a young deer. The warning given in Kioto come suddenly to my remembrance. Truly a more astonishing visitor to one’s bed-room could not be conceived of. Strugglingawkwardly to his feet, the pretty animal advanced with friendly confidence, and gazed into my face with what I took to be a look of gentle interrogation. Having, however, no suspicion a 8 to tho purpose of his coming,l stared blankly in return, until, with a toss of his horns and a sniff of disappointment, he moved to the inspection of my baggage, which lay loosely scattered upon the matting. For several minutes he made himself free with my wardrobe, pushing various objects about with hi 3 nose, and apparently searching for something to his taste, but the investigation proved fruitless, and, fixing his big eyes reproachfully upon me, ho stalked gravely to the staircase and descended backward with comical deliberation, feeling his way with a security that betokened a practised familiarity with the interior structure of human dwellings.

On setting forth to explore the neighbourhood, a little later, I was abundantly, not to say oppressively, supplied with the extraordinary companionship of which I had been forewarned. Streets, gardens, and parks were thronged with deer of all sizes and ages. Wherever the eye could reacli they might be counted by thousands. They seemed to constitute the real population of the city, and they certainly displayed far greater activity and interest in life than their human co-residents. Several of them at once approached me with the same anxious look of inquiry that my unbidden guest at the inn had worn. Again I failed to comprehend, until a group of stags surrounded me and signified by unmistakeable action that I was required to accompany them to a certain cbrner at which a pedlar of sweet cakes .was stationed. It was impossible to resist their pressing invitation, although there was nothing violent in their demonstrations. They closed around me and waited patiently while I purchased a supply of their favourite refreshment, and fed them, one after another, by hand. At various points of the temple grounds I was compelled to repeat this operation, and I soon learned that the sale of crisp biscuit for consumption by the deer was one of the established industries of that community. For more than one thousand years these beautiful creatures have fearlessly enjoyed the freedom of Kara in obedience to the legendary decree of a tender-hearted ompress of olden times. This lady, moved to compassion by the plaintive cries of a hind whose mate had been destroyed by the hunters, signified her command that in all ages to come no deer should be wantonly slain within the environs of the imperial court. To this day the tradition is respected, aud no man’s hand is lifted against these harmless inhabitants of the woods. They dwell in little lodges provided by the priests, who are their authorised guardians and protectors, and they pass their lives in familiar association with the citizens, whom they outnumber ten to one. All doors are open to them, and the idea that danger can result from this intimate fellowship with the race of bipeds never darkens their innocent thoughts. Their privileged existence is one of the happiest illustrations of the natural simplicity and humanity of the Japanese people. But the growth of foreign influence is rapid in the land, and it is feared that the cruel disregard of animal life, which manifests itself in the pursuit of what is known td Europeans as * sport,’ may before long condemn to merciless extermination the strange population of Nara. E. H. House.