ices go lower and lower, for the distances that the
plants have been brought are great, and the labor of loading up and
carrying back the heavy pots is a weary one, and when the last customer
has departed the merchants must work late into the night to get their
wares safely home again.

But beside the flower shows, there are long rows of booths, which, with
the many visitors who throng the streets, make a gay and lively scene.
So dense is the crowd that it is with difficulty one can push through on
foot or in _jinrikisha_. The darkness is illuminated by torches, whose
weird flames flare and smoke in the wind, and shine down upon the little
sheds which line both sides of the road, and contain so tempting a
display of cheap toys and trinkets that not only the children, but their
elders, are attracted by them. Some of the booths are devoted to dolls;
others to toys of various kinds; still others to birds in cages,
goldfish in globes, queer chirping insects in wicker baskets, pretty
ornaments for the hair, fans, candies, and cakes of all sorts, roasted
beans and peanuts, and other things too numerous to mention. The long
line of stalls ends with booths, or tents, in which shows of dancing,
jugglery, educated animals, and monstrosities, natural or artificial,
may be seen for the moderate admission fee of two sen. Each of these
shows is well advertised by the beating of drums, by the shouting of
doorkeepers, by wonderful pictures on the outside to entice the
passer-by, or even by an occasional brief lifting of the curtains which
veil the scene from the crowd without, just long enough to afford a
tantalizing glimpse of the wonders within. Great is the fascination to
the children in all these things, and the little feet are never weary
until the last booth is passed, and the quiet of neighboring streets,
lighted only by wandering lanterns, strikes the home-returning party by
its contrast with the light and noise of the festival. The supposed
object of the expedition, the visit to the temple, has occupied but a
small share of time and attention, and the little hands are filled with
the amusing toys and trifles bought, and the little minds with the merry
sights seen. Nor are those who remain at home forgotten, but the
pleasure-seekers who visit the fair carry away with them little gifts
for each member of the family, and the _O miage_, or present given on
the return, is a regular institution of Japanese home life.[42]

[42] _O m