Warriors of Old Japan and Other Stories by Yei Theodora Ozaki
The author writes: "The kind reception given to "The Japanese Fairy
Book" has encouraged me to venture on a second volume of stories from
Japan. I have invented none of these stories. They are taken from many
different sources, and in clothing them with an English dress my work
has been that of adapter rather than translator. In picturesqueness of
conception Japanese stories yield the palm to none. And they are rich in
quaint expressions and dainty conceits. But they are apt to be written
in a style almost too bald. This defect the professional story-teller
remedies by colouring his story as he tells it. In the same way I have
tried to brighten the rather bare structure of a story, where it seemed
to need such treatment; with touches of local colour in order to give
emphasis to the narrative, and at the same time make the story more
attractive to the foreign reader. Whether I have succeeded or not, the
reader must judge for himself. I shall be satisfied if in some small
measure I have been able to do for Japanese folk-lore what Andrew Lang
has done for folk-lore in general, and if the tales in their English
dress are found to retain the essential features of Japanese stories."
No comments:
Post a Comment