Oh, the slow, enervating2, dull hours spent in idle and diffuse3 conversation on the dimly lighted veranda4! Oh, the detestable peppered jam in the tiny pots! In the middle of the town, enclosed by four walls, is this park of five yards square, with little lakes, little mountains, and little rocks, where all wears an antiquated5 appearance, and everything is covered with a greenish mold from want of sunlight.
Nevertheless, a true feeling for nature has inspired this tiny representation of a wild spot. The rocks are well placed, the dwarf6 cedars7, no taller than cabbages, stretch their gnarled boughs8 over the valleys in the attitude of giants wearied by the weight of centuries; and their look of full-grown trees perplexes one and falsifies the perspective. When from the dark recesses9 of the apartment one perceives at a certain distance this diminutive10 landscape dimly lighted, the wonder is whether it is all artificial, or whether one is not one’s self the victim of some morbid11 illusion; and whether it is not indeed a real country view seen through a distorted vision out of focus, or through the wrong end of a telescope.
To any one familiar with Japanese life, my mother-in-law’s house in itself reveals a refined nature — complete bareness, two or three screens placed here and there, a teapot, a vase full of lotus-flowers, and nothing more. Woodwork devoid12 of paint or varnish13, but carved in most elaborate and capricious openwork, the whiteness of the pinewood being preserved by constant scrubbing with soap and water. The posts and beams of the framework are varied14 by the most fanciful taste: some are cut in precise geometrical forms; others are artificially twisted, imitating trunks of old trees covered with tropical creepers. Everywhere are little hiding-places, little nooks, little closets concealed15 in the most ingenious and unexpected manner under the immaculate uniformity of the white paper panels.
I can not help smiling when I think of some of the so-called “Japanese” drawing-rooms of our Parisian fine ladies, overcrowded with knickknacks and curios and hung with coarse gold embroideries16 on exported satins. I would advise those persons to come and look at the houses of people of taste out here; to visit the white solitudes17 of the palaces at Yeddo. In France we have works of art in order to enjoy them; here they possess them merely to ticket them and lock them up carefully in a kind of mysterious underground room called a ‘godoun’, shut in by iron gratings. On rare occasions, only to honor some visitor of distinction, do they open this impenetrable depositary. The true Japanese manner of understanding luxury consists in a scrupulous18 and indeed almost excessive cleanliness, white mats and white woodwork; an appearance of extreme simplicity19, and an incredible nicety in the most infinitesimal details.
My mother-in-law seems to be really a very good woman, and were it not for the insurmountable feeling of spleen the sight of her garden produces on me, I should often go to see her. She has nothing in common with the mammas of Jonquille, Campanule, or Touki she is vastly their superior; and then I can see that she has been very good-looking and fashionable. Her past life puzzles me; but, in my position as a son-in-law, good manners prevent my making further inquiries20.
Some assert that she was formerly21 a celebrated22 geisha in Yeddo, who lost public favor by her folly23 in becoming a mother. This would account for her daughter’s talent on the guitar; she had probably herself taught her the touch and style of the Conservatory24.
Since the birth of Chrysanthème (her eldest25 child and first cause of this loss of favor), my mother-in-law, an expansive although distinguished26 nature, has fallen seven times into the same fatal error, and I have two little sisters-in-law: Mademoiselle La Neige — [Oyouki-San]— and Mademoiselle La Lune — [Tsouki-San.]— as well as five little brothers-in-law: Cerisier, Pigeon, Liseron, Or, and Bambou.
Little Bambou is four years old — a yellow baby, fat and round all over, with fine bright eyes; coaxing27 and jolly, sleeping whenever he is not laughing. Of all my Nipponese family, Bambou is the one I love the most.
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1
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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2
enervating
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| v.使衰弱，使失去活力( enervate的现在分词 ) | |
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3
diffuse
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| v.扩散；传播；adj.冗长的；四散的，弥漫的 | |
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4
veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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antiquated
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| adj.陈旧的，过时的 | |
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dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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7
cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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8
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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9
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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10
diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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11
morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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12
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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13
varnish
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| n.清漆；v.上清漆；粉饰 | |
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14
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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15
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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16
embroideries
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| 刺绣( embroidery的名词复数 )； 刺绣品； 刺绣法 | |
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17
solitudes
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| n.独居( solitude的名词复数 )；孤独；荒僻的地方；人迹罕至的地方 | |
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18
scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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19
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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20
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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21
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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22
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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23
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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24
conservatory
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| n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的 | |
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25
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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26
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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27
coaxing
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱；“锻炼”效应 | |
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