Ifitwerenotforthefleas，whicharehereinlegions，Ishouldstaylonger，fortheviewoftheAidzusnowisdelicious，and，asthereareonlytwootherhouses，onecanramblewithoutbeingmobbed。
Inoneachildtwoandahalfyearsoldswallowedafish-bonelastnight，andhasbeensufferingandcryingallday，andthegriefofthemothersowonIto’ssympathythathetookmetoseeher。Shehadwalkedupanddownwithitforeighteenhours，butneverthoughtoflookingintoitsthroat，andwasveryunwillingthatI
shoulddoso。Thebonewasvisible，andeasilyremovedwithacrochetneedle。Anhourlaterthemothersentatraywithaquantityofcakesandcoarseconfectioneryuponitasapresent，withthepieceofdriedseaweedwhichalwaysaccompaniesagift。
Beforenightsevenpeoplewithsorelegsappliedfor“advice。“Thesoreswereallsuperficialandallalike，andtheirownerssaidthattheyhadbeenproducedbytheincessantrubbingofthebitesofants。
Onthissummerdaythecountrylooksasprosperousasitisbeautiful，andonewouldnotthinkthatacutepovertycouldexistinthesteep-roofedvillageofNojiri，whichnestlesatthefootofthehill；buttwohempenropesdanglingfromacryptomeriajustbelowtellthesadtaleofanelderlymanwhohangedhimselftwodaysago，becausehewastoopoortoprovideforalargefamily；