Betto or Groom
Photograph
Betto or Groom
From the album Photographic Views and Costumes of Japan
ca. 1868
Albumen silver print with applied color
25.4 x 20.4 cm.
Purchase
1979.0059.0012
Inscriptions (applied label, printed, opposite page):
BETTO OR GROOM.
THE EVIL influence which contact with that noble animal the horse is supposed to exercise upon mankind, is decidedly to be observed in a Japanese Betto. He is not to be trusted with beans, and his master's barley is to him an irresistible temptation. His socks, too, for which as he runs by his master's side, an extra allowance is made to him, have a faculty of wearing out in a preternaturally fast manner. On the whole, however, the Japanese betto is not a bad groom, that is--if he is well looked after; and it is no small comfort on a journey to have a man always by your side ready to take your horse at a moment's notice.
BETTO OR GROOM.
THE EVIL influence which contact with that noble animal the horse is supposed to exercise upon mankind, is decidedly to be observed in a Japanese Betto. He is not to be trusted with beans, and his master's barley is to him an irresistible temptation. His socks, too, for which as he runs by his master's side, an extra allowance is made to him, have a faculty of wearing out in a preternaturally fast manner. On the whole, however, the Japanese betto is not a bad groom, that is--if he is well looked after; and it is no small comfort on a journey to have a man always by your side ready to take your horse at a moment's notice.
