Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 April 1888 — A Japanese Genesis. [ARTICLE]

A Japanese Genesis.

In the beginning all things were in chaos. Heaven and earth were not separated. The world floated in the cosmic mass like a fish in the water, or the yelk in an egg. The ethereal matter sublimed and formed the heavens, while the residuum formed the ■present earth, from the mold of which agerm sprouted and became a selfanimate being, from which sprang all the gods. On the floating bridge of Heaven appeared a man and woman of celestial origin. The male plunged a jeweled spear into the unstable waters beneath them, and withdrawing it, the trickling drops formed an island upon which they descended. The creative pair, divine man and woman, designing to make this island the pillar for a continent;, separated, the male to the left, the female to the right, to make a journey around the island. When they met the woman spoke first, saying, “How joyful to meet a lovely man 1” The man, offended that the first use ot the tongue had been by a woman, demanded that the journey be repeated, after which he cried out exultingly, “How joyful to meet a lovely woman!” Thus ensued the proper subjection; and this, according to the ancient idea of Japan, was the origin of the human race and the art of love.— Overland Monthly. An estimate places the number of people supported by the forms of em- j ployment growing out of the use of electricity at five millions. 1