ngth to perform. Certain menial duties
toward her husband and children, every Japanese wife and mother must do
herself, and would scorn to delegate to any other woman except in case
of absolute necessity. Thus there is not that gap between mistress and
maid that exists in our days among the women of this country. The
servants work with their mistress, helping her in every possible way,
and are treated as responsible members of the household, if not of the
family itself.

At evening, when the wooden shutters are slid into their places around
the porch and the lamps are lighted, the family gather together in the
sitting-room around the _hibachi_ to talk, free from interruption, for
no visitor comes at such an hour to disturb the family circle. The
mother will have her sewing or work, the children will study their
lessons, and the others will talk or amuse themselves in various ways.
Then, perhaps, the maidservants, having finished their tasks about the
house, will join the circle,--always at a respectful distance,--will do
their sewing and listen to the talk, and often join in the conversation,
but in the most humble manner. Perhaps, at times, some one more
ambitious than the others will bring in a book, and ask the meaning of a
word or a phrase she has met in studying, and little helps of this kind
are given most willingly.

We have seen that the ladies-in-waiting in the houses of the nobles are
daughters of samurai, who gladly serve in these positions for the sake
of the honor of such service, and the training they receive in noble
houses. In a somewhat similar way, places in the homes of those of
distinction or skill in any art or profession are held in great demand
among the Japanese; and a prominent poet, scholar, physician, or
professional man of any kind is often asked by anxious parents to take
their sons under his own roof, so that they may be under his influence,
and receive the benefits of stay in such an honorable house. The parents
who thus send their children may not be of low rank at all, but are
usually not sufficiently well-to-do to spend much money in the education
of their children. The position that such boys occupy in the household
is a curious one. They are called _Sho-sei_, meaning students, and
students they usually are, spending all their leisure moments and their
evenings in study. They are never treated as inferiors, except in age
and experience; they may or may not eat with the family, and are