Tuesday, January 13, 1880
"We had the queerest party today--it was a company of old Japanese ladies. Although the youngest was sixty-five and the oldest eighty-one and deaf, we had a splendid time."
"...we had some jelly oranges and cornstarch pudding. The old ladies ate these things in continuous amazement, and exclaimed at intervals, 'We shall certainlylive long because of today's wonderful sights.' It is a saying with the Japanese that when a person hears anything new it adds seventy-five more days to his life, and so the old ladies said that they were in a good position to live long."
"After dinner I played the organ for the old people, which added seventy-five more days to their lives."
"The old ladies went away saying to each other, 'Dear me! Who would have imagined foreigners were so agreeable?' "
Posted by Clara A. N. Whitney
January 13, 1980
Share Your Thoughts
pp 304-305