found in the
little thatched cottage among the rice-fields. Few of them are married,
or have homes of their own. Many of them drink and gamble, and sow their
wild oats in all possible ways; but they are a well-meaning, fairly
honest, happy-go-lucky set, who lead hard lives of exhausting labor, and
endure long hours of exposure to heat and cold, rain, snow, and blinding
sunshine, not only with little complaint or grumbling, but with absolute
cheerfulness and hilarity. A strong, fast _jinrikisha_ man takes great
pride in his strength and speed. It is a point of honor with him to pull
his passenger up the steepest and most slippery of hills, and never to
heed him if he expresses a desire to walk in order to save his man. I
have had my _kurumaya_ stoutly refuse, again and again, my offers to
walk up a steep hill, even when the snow was so soft and slippery under
his bare feet that he fell three times in making the ascent. "_Dai
jobu_" (safe) would be his smiling response to all my protestations;
and, once in a _jinrikisha_, the passenger is entirely at the mercy of
his man in all matters of getting into and out of the vehicle. But
though the _jinrikisha_ man is, for the time being, the autocrat and
controlling power over his passenger, and though he will not obey the
behests of his employer, except so far as they seem reasonable and in
accordance with the best interests of all concerned, he constitutes
himself the protector and assistant, the adviser and counselor, of him
whom he serves, and gives his best thought and intelligence, as well as
his speed and strength, to the service in which he is engaged. If he
thinks it safe, he will tear like an unbroken colt through the business
portions of the city, knocking bundles out of the hands of foot
passengers, or even hitting the wayfarers themselves in a fierce dash
through their midst, laughing gayly at their protests, and at threats of
wrath to come from his helpless passenger; but should hint of insult or
injury against _kuruma_, passenger, or passenger's dog fall upon his
ears, he will drop the _jinrikisha_ shafts, and administer condign
punishment to the offender, unchecked by thoughts of the ever-present
police, or by any terrors that his employer may hold over his head. In
no other country in the world, perhaps, can a lady place more entire
confidence in the honor and loyalty of her servant than she can in Japan
in her _kurumaya_, whether he be her private servant, or one