PLATE XXXIX
Wedding of Monkeys
Wedding of animals, such as foxes, rats, etc., is frequently told in stories and depicted in pictures. Here we have a picture of the wedding of two monkeys. The monkey bridegrom sitting on the left is singing the wedding song, while the bride, wearing a white head-cover, is raising the wedding wine-cup on her head. On the table between them are seen a little pine-tree, a symbol of longevity and prosperity, a crab, also a symbol of longevity, and the sea-weed kombu signifying "joy," because of a play of words connecting the word kombu with the word yorokobu, "to be glad," "to be in joyful state." See p. 333.
By Sosen (dated 1799). In possession of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
