151 



bridge and stroked its horn, it was not afraid or angry, but 

 apparently rejoiced. Afterwards the skin of this divine dragon 

 was found near by, on the other side of the river. "This was 

 not an evil dragon or a poisonous snake, but probably a lucky 

 omen of a good reign. The fact that the crop of that very 

 autumn was good, was brought into connection with the appearance 

 of the dragon, which was (therefore) said to be a venerable 

 being" '. 



1 Hyakka setsiirin, Vol. ^^ ~K — ■, Ch. IV, p. 172. The Gwadan keiroku, -jg- 

 B^ W^ ^ (written in 1775 by Nakayama Koyo, 'i^ jjj ^ ^ , Ilyakka setsurin, 

 Vol. \\^ ~TJ , p. 419) speaks about the officials appointed ia ancient China for rearing 



dragons (cf. above, Book I, Ch. Ill, § 8, p. 82), which were not real dragons but horses; 

 further, it treats of dragon pictures. 



Another work of the Hyakka setsurin {_Konyd manroku, ^ |® y® ^&, written 



in 1763 by AoKi Konto, ?q ^ ^ ^, Hyakka setsurin, Vol. jj^ _|^ , p. 880) 



mentions dragon-bones (cf above, Book I, Ch. Ill, § 17, pp. 90 sqq). A Dutchman, to 

 whom the author, Aoki, showed such a bone, declared it to be a stone, in agreement 

 with a Chinese work, v- 



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