RELIGION AND RITES
or expected. The great majority of the people come for the sake of the outing as much as to pay respect to the memory of the saint. Let them, then, enjoy themselves. Religion does not prescribe austerity of manners or asceticism of life. The Buddhas arc not shocked because a monkey turns summersaults under the caves of their sanctuaries, or a rope-dancer balances in the shadow of their shrines. In this very rope-dancer, too, the observer may see another instance of the spirit of sincerity that presides at the festival. In Europe a female gymnast dresses in flesh-coloured tights and seeks to place her womanhood in suggestive evidence. The Japanese girl at the Ikegami fête has no such fancy. Her business is rope-dancing, not meretricious posing. The latter may be very well in its way, but has nothing to do with the poising of one's body on some strands of plaited hemp. Therefore the Ikegami girl, who undertakes to exhibit skill in the science of equilibrium, wears garments which, while they are excellently suited to the purposes of her performance, are even better qualified to divert attention from the sex of the performer. There, too, in another part of the spacious grounds, a party of priests may be seen watching the manœuvres of some highly trained birds. They are jaunty, saucy little chaffinches as ever exhibited themselves in public; and to see them skip out of their cages, bow to their trainer and to the audience, ring bells, count coins, pound rice, and
155
