Taro and Take loved their birthdays the best of all the days in the year.
They had two of them. Most twins have only one birthday between them, but Japanese twins have two.
That is because all the boys in Japan celebrate their birthdays together on one day, and all the girls celebrate theirs together on another day.
So, you see, though they were twins, Taro and Take didn't have the same birthday at all.
Take's birthday came first. She knew days beforehand that it was coming, for every once in a while she would say to her Mother, "How many days is it now?" and her Mother always knew she meant, "How many days is it to my birthday?"One morning when she woke up, Take said, "Only six days more."The next morning she said, "Only five days more." One morning she jumped out of bed very early and said, "Oh, it's to-day! To-day!
It begins this very minute."
Taro didn't get up early that day. When he heard Take singing, "It's to-day," he just buried his nose under the bedclothes and pretended to be asleep!
He remembered Take's last birthday, and he remembered that boys seemed to be in the way that day. They weren't asked to play with the girls, and they wouldn't have done it anyway, because the girls spent the whole day playing with dolls! Taro didn't think much of dolls.
Before breakfast, her Father took Take out to the Kura. He reached up to the high shelf and brought down the big red box that held the dolls. It was as big as a trunk. Then he reached down another box and carried them both into the house.
Although it was so early in the morning, the Mother had already put fresh flowers in the vase, in honor of Take's birthday.
The bedding had been put away, and on one side of the room there were five shelves, like steps against the wall. Take knew what they were for.
"Oh," said Take, "everything is all ready to begin! May I open the boxes right now?"Her Mother said, "Yes." She even got down on her knees beside the boxes and helped Take open them. They opened the red box first.
It was full of dolls! A whole trunkful of dolls. Thirty-five of them!
The first doll Take took out was a very grand lady doll, dressed in stiff silk robes, embroidered with chrysanthemums.
"Here's the Empress," she cried; she set the Empress doll up against the trunk. Then she ran to get her dear everyday doll.
She called her everyday doll "Morning Glory," and sometimes just "Glory" for short. Glory was still asleep in Take's bed.
"Why, you sleepy head!" Take said. "Don't you know you are going to have company to-day? Where are your manners, child?"She took Glory to the trunk and put her down on her knees before the Empress. "Make your bow," she said. Glory bowed so low that she fell over on her nose!
"Oh, my dear child!" said Take. "I must take more pains with you!
Your manners are frightful! You will wear out your nose if you bow like that!"She reached into the box and carefully lifted out the Emperor doll. He was dressed in stiff silk, too. He sat up very straight against the trunk beside the Empress.
Take made Morning Glory bow to the Emperor, too. This time Glory didn't fall on her nose.
These dolls had belonged to Take's Grandmother. She had played with them on her birthdays, and then Take's Mother had played with them on her birthdays, and still they were not broken or torn; they had been so well cared for.
They were taken out only once in the whole year, and that time was called the "Feast of Dolls."Take's Mother had covered the five steps with a beautiful piece of silk. Take placed the Emperor and Empress in the middle of the top step. Then she ran back to the trunk to get more dolls.
There were girl dolls and boy dolls and lady dolls in beautiful dresses, and baby dolls in little kimonos, strapped to the backs of bigger dolls.
Take took each one to the steps. She made each one bow very low before the Emperor and Empress before she put him in his own place. All the shelves were filled so full that one baby doll spilled over the edge and fell on the floor! Take picked her up and strapped her on Glory's back. "I know you won't let her fall," she said to Glory. Glory looked pleased and sat up very straight and responsible.
Then Take opened the other box. She took out a little stove and some blue-and- white doll dishes and two tiny lacquered tables.
While she was taking out these things, her Father brought in a new box that she had never seen before. He put it down on the floor before the steps. Take was so busy she didn't see it at first. When she did, she shouted, "Oh, Father, is it for me?""Yes, it is for you," the Father answered.
"Oh, thank you, whatever it is!" said Take.
She flew to the box and untied the string. She lifted the cover and there was a beautiful big toy house, made almost like the house the Twins lived in! It had a porch and sliding screens, and a cunning cupboard with doll bedding in it. It even had an alcove with a tiny kakemono, and a little vase in it! There was a flower in the vase! There were little straw mats on the floor!
Take lifted the mats and slid the screens back and forth. She put her little stove in the kitchen. She was too happy for words. She ran to her Father and threw herself on her knees before him and hugged his feet. "Thank you, ten thousand times, dear honored Father," she said.
When her own breakfast-time came, Take was very busy getting breakfast for the Emperor and Empress. She was so busy she couldn't stop. "It wouldn't be polite for me to have my breakfast before the Emperor and Empress have theirs," she explained.
Her Mother smiled. "Very well," she said, "You may get their breakfast first; we must be polite, whatever happens."So Take had Morning Glory place the tiny lacquered tables before the Emperor and Empress. She put some rice in the little bowls on the tables. She placed some toy chop-sticks on the tables, too.
Then she made Morning Glory bow and crawl away from the august presence on her hands and knees! "It wouldn't be at all right to stay to see them eat," she said.
Just then Taro came in, rubbing his eyes. He was still sleepy.