（解説文要約）
作兵衛翁は、炭坑町を訪れた多くの商人を描いています。どれも貴重な記録です。

ここに描かれているのは、気合術を実演して解説本を販売するもの。

なかには、ワニの偽物の干し物を出し、

「太陽の光と地球の引力で動き出す」とでたらめを言って販売するものもいたそうです。
左上に描かれているのは、刀で自分の腕を斬り、キズがすぐ治るとガマ油を売るもの。

どれも、しゃべりが面白かったようです。
また、ガマ油を塗ると腕が斬れないようになるなどの実演もしていました。

 

Sakubei documents many kinds of merchants who visited the coal mine communities in his paintings.
All of these paintings are now considered precious documents.
The man in the main part of this painting is using Kiaijutsu, a fighting skill using vital spirits, to sell textbooks. 
One of the performers of Kiaijutsu caught the attention of customers by promising non-sense things. 
For example, taking out a dried fake crocodile and claiming, “I will move this crocodile using the sun’s rays and the earth’s gravity!”
The man illustrated in the circle of the upper left of the painting is trying to sell toad oil. 
Toad oil was believed to have wonderful medicinal properties and could cure injuries. 
This man is cutting his arm purposely to show how this product heals his wound so quickly. 
Some even did a performance saying that if you smear the toad oil on your arm it will become impossible to cut. 
The customers enjoyed the merchants’ smooth talking sales pitches.