
INTRODUCTION.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
A young Englishman, freshly returned from the bustling ports of Japan, reflects on the allure of his new life across the sea. Through vivid sketches of lantern‑lit streets, fragrant gardens, and the delicate gestures of a woman named Mousmé, the narrative paints a gentle portrait of East‑West encounter that feels both exotic and intimate. The narrator’s voice, peppered with humor and a hint of self‑delusion, invites listeners to wander the tea‑houses and hill‑top vistas that first draw him into the spell of his “Japanese wife.”
In these opening chapters, the story balances personal longing with cultural observation, offering a window onto the customs, colors, and quiet anxieties of a romance that blossoms amid the sighing bamboo and the distant hum of samisen strings. Listeners will be carried along the rickshaw‑laden lanes, feeling the soft rustle of silk obi and the bright optimism of a love that seems as fleeting and beautiful as a butterfly in a moonlit garden.
Language
en
Duration
~2 hours (155K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
Release date
2018-05-15
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
1866–1959
A prolific late-Victorian and early-20th-century writer, he published fiction, travel books, and journalism under the pen name Clive Holland. He also worked as a photographer, bringing an observant eye to both his reporting and his books.
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