Page:Modern Japanese Stories.pdf/84

just collecting lots of those things. It’s not the quantity that counts, you know. What you want to do is to find one or two really unusual ones.”

“I prefer this kind,” said Seibei and let the matter drop.

Seibei’s father and his friend started talking about gourds.

“Remember that Bakin gourd they had at the agricultural show last spring?” said his father. “It was a real beauty, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, I remember. That big, long one….”

As Seibei listened to their conversation, he was laughing inwardly. The Bakin gourd had made quite a stir at the time, but when he had gone to see it (having no idea, of course, who the great poet Bakin might be) he had found it rather a stupid­ looking object and had walked out of the show.

“I didn’t think so much of it,” interrupted Seibei. “It’s just a clumsy great thing.”

His father opened his eyes wide in surprise and anger.

“What’s that?” he shouted. “When you don’t know what you’re talking about, you’d better shut up!”

Seibei did not say another word.

One day when he was walking along an unfamiliar backstreet he came upon an old woman with a fruit-stall. She was selling dried persimmons and oranges; on the shutters of the house behind the stall she had hung a large cluster of gourds.

“Can I have a look?” said Seibei and immediately ran behind the stall and began examining the gourds. Suddenly he caught sight of one which was about five inches long and at first sight looked quite commonplace. Something about it made Seibei’s heart beat faster.

“How much is this one?” he asked, panting out the words.

“Well,” said the old woman, “since you’re just a lad, I’ll let you have it for ten sen.”

“In that case,” said Seibei urgently, “please hold it for me, won’t you? I’ll be right back with the money.”

He dashed home and in no time at all was back at the stall. He bought the gourd and took it home.