at the little man was
doing and why he sat there. "He's thinking," said the merchant. "Yes;
but why must he think on that bald plot of ground? What is he going to
do?" I asked, perplexed. The merchant gazed at me in astonishment,
mingled with pity. "Don't you know," he said, "he is one of our greatest
landscape gardeners, and for three days he has been thinking out a
garden for me?--If you care to come here in a few days," he added, "I
will show you the drawings for that garden all completed." I came in a
few days, and I was shown the most exquisite set of drawings it has ever
been my good fortune to behold. What a garden it would be! There were
full-grown trees, stepping-stones, miniature bridges, ponds of
goldfish--all presenting an appearance of vastness, yet in reality
occupying an area the size of a small room. And not only was the garden
itself planned out and designed, but it was also arranged to form a
pattern in relation to the trees and the houses and the surrounding
hills. This little old man, without stirring from his box or making a
single note, had in those three days created this garden in his mind's
eye, and on returning home had sketched out the final arrangement. The
merchant told me that his garden would be completed in a few weeks, with
full-grown trees flourishing in it, and everything planted--all but one
stone, which in all probability would be there in a few weeks, while, on
the other hand, it might not be placed there for years. On inquiring as
to the reason of this strange delay I was told that that one particular
stone, though insignificant and unnoticeable in our eyes, occupies a
very prominent position, and that upon the proper placing and quality of
it the beauty and perfection of a Japanese garden almost entirely
depend. Sometimes hundreds and even thousands of dollars are paid for a
large stone that happens to be rightly proportioned and of the correct
texture of ruggedness to occupy a certain position in a Japanese garden.

To see the cherry-blossoms of Yoshino, the plum-trees in full bloom at
Sugata, the wistaria at Uyeno, or the iris at Horikiri, the people will
travel scores of miles. Then, there is the spacious embankment of the
Sumidagawa, at the part known as Mukojima, celebrated for its avenue of
cherry-trees. Before the Restoration it was the favourite promenade for
the daimio and their retainers, and very picturesque it must have been
to see the stately nobles in their gorgeous r