plates of sweetmeats and tea are served; and the dinner consists of three courses, one course of seven dishes, one of five dishes, and one of three dishes, or else two courses of five dishes and one of three dishes, according to the means of the family.  The above ceremonies are those which are proper only in families of the highest rank, and are by no means fitting for the lower classes, who must not step out of the proper bounds of their position.

[Footnote 114:  The god who created Japan is called Kunitokodachi no Mikoto.  Seven generations of gods after his time existed Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto—­the first a god, the second a goddess.  As these two divine beings were standing upon the floating bridge of heaven, two wagtails came; and the gods, watching the amorous dalliance of the two birds, invented the art of love.  From their union thus inaugurated sprang the mountains, the rivers, the grass, the trees, the remainder of the gods, and mankind.  Another fable is, that as the two gods were standing on the floating bridge of heaven, Izanagi no Mikoto, taking the heavenly jewelled spear, stirred up the sea, and the drops which fell from the point of it congealed and became an island, which was called Onokoro-jima, on which the two gods, descending from heaven, took up their abode.]

[Footnote 115:  Each cup contains but a sip.]

[Footnote 116:  In the island of Takasago, in the province of Harima, stands a pine-tree, called the “pine of mutual old age.”  At the root the tree is single, but towards the centre it springs into two stems—­an old, old pine, models of which are used at weddings as a symbol that the happy pair shall reach old age together.  Its evergreen leaves are an emblem of the unchanging constancy of the heart.  Figures of an old man and woman under the tree are the spirits of the old pine.]

There is a popular tradition that, in the ceremony of drinking wine on the wedding night, the bride should drink first, and then hand the cup to the bridegroom; but although there are some authorities upon ceremonies who are in favour of this course, it is undoubtedly a very great mistake.  In the “Record of Rites,” by Confucius, it is written, “The man stands in importance before the woman:  it is the right of the strong over the weak.  Heaven ranks before earth; the prince ranks before his minister.  This law of honour is one.”  Again, in the “Book of History,” by Confucius, it is written, “The hen that crows in the morning brings misfortune.”  In our own literature in the Jusho (Book of the Gods), “When the goddesses saw the gods for the first time, they were the first to cry cut, ‘Oh! what beautiful males!’ But the gods were greatly displeased, and said, ’We, who are so strong and powerful, should by rights have been the first to speak; how is it that, on the contrary, these females speak first?  This is indeed vulgar.’” Again it is written, “When the gods brought forth the cripple Hiruko, the Lord of Heaven, answering, said that his misfortune was a punishment upon the goddesses who had presumed to speak first.”  The same rule therefore exists in China and in Japan, and it is held to be unlucky that the wife should take precedence:  with this warning people should be careful how they commit a breach of etiquette, although it may be sanctioned by the vulgar.