or being away so long. He begged her to be quiet, and
telling of his visit to the sparrows, opened the basket, while the
scowling old woman held her tongue, out of sheer curiosity.

Oh, what a splendid sight! There were gold and silver coin, and gems, and
coral, and crystal, and amber, and the never-failing bag of money, and
the invisible coat and hat, and rolls of books, and all manner of
precious things.

At the sight of so much wealth, the old hag's scowl changed to a smile of
greedy joy. "I'll go right off and get a present from the sparrows," said
she.

So binding on her straw sandals, and tucking up her skirts, and adjusting
her girdle, tying the bow in front, she seized her staff and set off on
the road. Arriving at the sparrow's house she began to flatter Mr.
Sparrow by soft speeches. Of course the polite sparrow invited her into
his house, but nothing but a cup of tea was offered her, and wife and
daughters kept away. Seeing she was not going to get any good-bye gift,
the brazen hussy asked for one. The sparrow then brought out and set
before her two baskets, one heavy and the other light. Taking the heavier
one without so much as saying "thank you," she carried it back with her.
Then she opened it, expecting all kinds of riches.

She took off the lid, when a horrible cuttle-fish rushed at her, and a
horned _oni_ snapped his tusks at her, a skeleton poked his bony fingers
in her face, and finally a long, hairy serpent, with a big head and
lolling tongue, sprang out and coiled around her, cracking her bones, and
squeezing out her breath, till she died.

After the good old man had buried his wife, he adopted a son to comfort
his old age, and with his treasures lived at ease all his days.

THE FIRE-FLY'S LOVERS.

In Japan the night-flies emit so brilliant a light and are so beautiful
that ladies go out in the evenings and catch the insects for amusement,
as may be seen represented on Japanese fans. They imprison them in tiny
cages made of bamboo threads, and hang them up in their rooms or suspend
them from the eaves of their houses. At their picnic parties, the people
love to sit on August evenings, fan in hand, looking over the lovely
landscape, spangled by ten thousand brilliant spots of golden light. Each
flash seems like a tiny blaze of harmless lightning.

One of the species of night-flies, the most beautiful of all, is a source
of much amusement to the ladies. Hanging the cage of glittering i