ABSTRACT
I go back now to the early 1930s, to the earliest of my memories. We Ainu children in Nibutani played a number of games: Let me start with springtime. The first greens to shoot up in the spring are makayo (butterburrs). Next come kunawnonno (multipetaled buttercups), hardy plants that blossom even when the earth is still frozen solid. The flowers are not fragrant, but they are a magnificent golden hue. The Ainu valued this color highly, as reflected in a phrase reserved for the praise of superior treasures: "A jeweled sword of the gods, as fine as if it were uprooted from a dewdrop on the blossom of a kunawnonno." We children plucked these flowers, so cherished by adults, by the handful, and amused ourselves by decorating tree branches with them.
