196 



time a beautiful woman came to listen, till she finally assumed 

 her original shape, that of a huge serpent, which jumped into a 

 pond near by and disappeared. The priest, who pitied the creature, 

 fl.lled up the pond and built a temple over it. Three scales, left 

 by the dragon, are preserved in the sanctuary*. 



One of the treasures of another Buddhist shrine, called Ryugenji, 

 or "Dragon-spring-temple" (^| yj^ ^), in Hagi village, Mikawa 

 province, is the tooth of a "hidden dragon" (;^^|, senryu), 

 subdued by the priest Shutei ^. 



§ 14. The "Dragon-flower-meeting". 



In MiuRA Kensuke's Bukkyo iroha jiten ^ s. v, EyUge-e, bI ^ ""^ - 

 or "Dragon-flower-meeting", we read that, when Maitreya shall 

 "forsake the world and find the truth of Buddha", he shall 

 assemble a large crowd and expound his doctrine. All the trees 

 on earth shall then assume the shapes of golden dragons and 

 shall open their flowers. This is the meaning of the name of the 

 religious meeting, mentioned above. 



i Nihon shukyo fuzoku shi (1902), p. 197. 



2 Ibidem. 



3 Vol. II, p. 63; cf. above, Introd., § 3, p. 22, note 1. 



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