Two young male courtesans enjoy reading in their quarters by candlelight. One holds an illustrated book recognizable as the drawing manual <em>Illustrated Book of the Treasure-Bag of Sketches</em> (絵本写宝袋), published in 1720 by Tachibana Morikuni (1679–1748). The poem at the top translates as follows:
In all things to be humble,
discern the path of reason,
and abstain from falsehood.
This is what we call righteousness.