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On the first morning Taro woke very early. He was just as excited as Take was on the day of the Festival of Dolls. But Take didn't stay in bed on Taro's birthday. She flew out early, for she wanted to see all the fun, even if she wasn't in it. First she went to the Kura with Taro and their Father to get out the flags. The boys' birthday is called the Feast of Flags.
Every once in a while almost every day, in fact the earth trembles and shakes in the Happy Islands. The houses are built mostly of wood and paper, and if the earthquakes tumble them over, they sometimes catch fire, but if the nicest things are safe in the Kura, it doesn't matter so much, if the house is burned up, you see. There are always plenty of fires for boys to see in Japan.
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.
"So do I," said their Father. "How would you like to go out to the Kura and see if we can find a real happy picture to hang up there?" Taro and Take jumped up and down and clapped their hands for joy, they were so glad to go out to the "Kura." The "Kura" is a little fireproof house in the garden. You can see the corner of the roof sticking out from behind the mountain in the picture.
And after this Kura touched his javelin against Lemminkainen's spear and promised to be his faithful comrade in the expedition. So the two great warriors made all needful preparation and set forth to sail to dismal Pohjola.
Now the Frost-fiend knew how great a magician Lemminkainen was, and therefore he agreed that he would leave the two warriors unharmed, but keep their ship frozen up as it was. And so Ahti and Kura had to leave their vessel and journey over the ice to land. At length they reached the country called Starvation-land, and there they found a house, but there was no food in it.
Now Kura's father was sitting by the window, whittling out a javelin, and his mother was near the door skimming milk, and his brother and sisters were also working near by. And all of them cried out that Kura could not go to war, for he was but lately married, and they bade Lemminkainen leave him.
When their Father had locked the Kura and they were on their way to the house with the picture of the birds, she said to him, "Father, am I not a child of the Samurai, too?" "Yes, my daughter," her Father answered, "but you are a girl. It is not your fault, little one," he added kindly. "We cannot all be boys, of course. But to the keeping of the Sons is given the honor of the Family.
I made the same remark in going to Tayf, after having crossed the mountain called Djebel Kura, which forms part of that chain; and the same is to be observed at Medina.
When they reached the Kura, the Father unlocked the door, and all three stepped inside. It was not very light, but the air was sweet and spicy. On the shelves about the room were many beautiful boxes of all sizes and shapes. The Father reached up to a high shelf and took down three boxes, that looked just alike on the outside.
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