SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Notice in Mir column dou not necessarily preclude sub:epos:a revicz]
Tales from Japanese Dramas. By Asataro Miyamori. (G. P. Putnam's Sons.)—The Pine-Tree. By Takeda Izumo. Adapted from the Japanese by M. C. Marcus. (The Iris Publishing Co. Is.)—Mr. Miyamori's Tales from Old Japanese Dramas give the stories from eight of the joruri, or epical dramas, including one by the famous Japanese dramatist, Chikamatsu Monzayemon. From the very interesting intro. duction we learn that these epical dramas " are very long and exceedingly intricate in plot, so that in most cases one or two acts only of each piece, which are of permanent interest, are chanted or performed." Mr. Miyamori has selected the essential parts of the dramas chosen and condensed them in narrative form. The task must have been very difficult, and it is perhaps not surprising if the tales are somewhat jerky and disconnected in places. In spite of this, however, they make interesting reading, and give many welcome sidelights on the life and customs of our Japanese Allies. The most attractive of the tales, in our opinion, are " The Love of Komachi the Poetess " and " 0-Some and Kisamatsu." Many of the illustrations are delightful. One example is often better than chapters of description, and we cannot help feeling that we know more of Japanese drama from Mr. Marcus's adaptation of The Pine-Tree than from anything else contained in either of the books under review. The Pine-Tree is only one act from the tragedy of Sugawara—which, like most Japanese dramas, would in its entirety take a day or longer to perform—but it stands by itself quite well. The story is simple, almost primitive, and tells of a deed of great self-sacrifice. We wonder why Mr. Marcus put in what is almost an apology for this self-sacrifice—" so exaggerated that it may offend our more delicate feelings." As he truly says, "the action is so tragic, the characters are so heroic, that we cannot but admire." The play itself occupies but a small part of the book. The rest is an informative causerie by Mr. Marcus on the Japanese theatre. As in Mr. Miyamori's book, the illustrations are very attractive.
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