one day, not very long after christmas, mrs. thornton said to rose,—
“rose, dear, i am going to the japanese shop to buy a wedding present, and i think you would like to go, wouldn’t you?”
“what is a japanese shop?” asked rose.
“oh, it is a very wonderful shop,” said her mamma. “i can’t begin to tell you about all the curious things which they sell in a japanese shop. you must come and see for yourself.”
so rose put on her hat and coat and went with her mother to the japanese shop. what a wonderful place it was, indeed! rose felt just as if she were in some strange, new kind of fairyland, such as she had never before heard about. everything was colored so bright and beautiful! there were such queer-shaped things sitting about on the floor and standing[20] up in the corners! curious lanterns swung from the ceiling, and tall screens of black and gold, with pictures of wonderful long-legged birds flying across, made dark nooks, in which strange bronze animals lurked surprisingly. everything smelt sweet and rich, too, almost with the christmas-tree fragrance of mamma’s holiday secret.
rose wandered about by herself while her mother was looking at the funny lamps hiding under colored umbrellas, which she called wedding presents, though rose did not understand why. they did not interest her like christmas presents, which were very different. but over in a corner, all by itself, rose found something which she thought would make the loveliest christmas present,—the most wonderful christmas present that any little girl could have. and oh! how she wanted it for her very own!
it was a toy garden; the kind that is put into the guest-room of a japanese house to amuse visitors.
[21]my! it was a wonderful little garden,—a real, truly live garden, with growing trees and plants and moss. but it was all so tiny that it could stand on a little table no wider than rose’s arm was long. and though the trees were really, truly grown-up trees, a great deal older than rose,—older even than her mamma, whom rose thought very old indeed,—they were no taller than rose’s little hand.
this is the way the garden looked. first, it was almost square and there was a little stone wall all around it, about an inch high. in the middle of the garden was a hill built of rocks, and on the top of the hill was a lawn of green moss, with a tiny pagoda, or japanese house, no bigger than a match-box. the sides of the hill sloped down, very green and smooth, and at the foot was a little brook of real water, winding around the whole garden. the tiniest path of sand crept zig-zag down the hill to a bit of a red bridge that crossed the brook, for the people in the house at the top of the hill to use. and all along the brook grew little[22] baby plants, and the wonderful dwarf trees that i told you about. pine-trees they were, most of them, and the pine needles had fallen on the ground and had turned rusty brown, just as everyday pine needles do. only these were ten times smaller. rose wondered who lived in the little house at the top of the hill, and she said to herself:—
“oh, how i wish i were little enough to live in that dear little house, and play in that sweet little garden, and climb up into those darling little trees! oh, how i wish i could be littler!” and that was something which rose had never before wished.
just then rose heard a cough behind her, and looking around she saw that the funny japanese man who kept the store was standing close at her elbow. he was smiling very pleasantly, so rose said to him:—
“oh, mr. japanese man! i think you can tell me who lives in the dear little house and plays in the dear little garden and paddles in the dear little brook. will you, please?”
[23]the japanese man bowed and grinned, and looked at rose for a minute without saying anything. then he went away to the other end of the store. presently he came back, and he had something in his hands. he set a little somebody down beside the house on the top of the hill; and it was a tiny little old man made of china-stuff, in a long green gown, with a knob of hair on the back of his head, like a lady.
“he live in house, litty ol’ man,” said the japanese. “and these, his animals; live in garden.” as he said this the japanese man set down on the bridge the littlest baby white rabbit, and in the brook a tiny-winy duck, which floated on the water, and under one of the trees a wee-wee mouse, with pink ears.
“oh!” cried rose, clapping her hands. “oh! how i wish i could be little enough to play there with them. are they alive, mr. japanese man?”
the man grinned more than ever. then[24] he came close up to rose and whispered behind his hand, as though it were a great secret:—
“no, not alive now. but after dark, when moon shines, and store all empty—all big folks gone away—then all come alive. my—my! litty ol’ man walk down hill, go fishy in brook. duck say ‘quack quack!’ litty rabbit hop so-so over bridge. litty mouse cry ‘wee, wee!’ and climb up pine-tree. my! litty girl like to see?”
“oh! have you ever seen?” cried rose with her eyes very wide.
but just then her mamma came back, with a bundle under her arm, which was probably a little wedding present, though rose did not care enough about it to inquire. but she was very sorry when the japanese man bowed politely and walked away to the other end of the store. she had wanted to ask him a great many more questions.
“come, rose,” said her mother; “we must go home now.”
“o mamma! i want it!” sighed rose wistfully.
“want what? the garden? oh, my dear! i cannot buy you that,” said her mamma sadly; “it costs dollars and dollars. but maybe i could buy you the mouse, or the duck, or the rabbit, or the little old gentleman up there. would you like one of them, dear?”
“oh, no!” cried rose. “it would be dreadful to take them away from their lovely garden. i wouldn’t have one of them for anything. think how lonesome he would be when it grew dark and they all came alive!”
on the way home rose told her mamma the great secret, which the japanese man had told her. and her mamma thought it was all very strange indeed, and said she wished that she too was little enough to play in the wonderful garden with rose and that interesting family.
when they reached home rose told kenneth all about the toy garden, and the secret which the japanese man had told her. but[26] kenneth only said, “pooh! i don’t believe a word of it,” which was very disappointing. but, of course, kenneth had not seen the garden, nor heard the japanese man tell the secret, which made a great difference.
when it was dark rose went to bed, and in a little while her mamma came to kiss her good-night. rose held her tightly by the hand and made her sit down on the edge of the bed, where the moonlight shone like silver.
“o mamma!” she whispered. “think of the shop, all dark and empty now, with just one moonbeam shining on the little garden in the corner. and the little old man comes alive, pop! like that! now he goes walking out of his house, down the little path over the hill. and the bunny-rabbit scampers in front of him, hoppity-hop! can’t you see him, mamma? now they come to the little bridge; the funny duck says ‘quack, quack!’ and swims away round and round the garden. now the little old man sits down under one of the tiny pine-trees and begins to fish in the[27] brook. and the wee-wee mouse runs up and down the tree and nibbles the cheese which the old man has in his pocket for bait. o mamma, i can see it all, just as plainly! i wish i were there.”
“i can almost see it, too,” said mamma.
“o mamma, i think i could grow little just as easily as they could come alive. don’t you?” said rose.
her mother answered, “we-el, perhaps.”
but she would never take rose to the japanese shop after dark, to see whether or not it could be done. maybe she was afraid that rose might grow little and stay little always—which would have been a dreadful thing for her mamma. but rose thinks that she herself would like it very well indeed,—to live always in that wonderful garden with the mouse and the duck and the rabbit and the funny little old man,—if only kenneth would grow little, too. but kenneth does not want to grow little. he is trying just as hard as he can, every day, to grow big.
