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which from remote ages lived on this sacred mountain, till it was 

 forced by Kobo Daishi to retreat to a spot about half a inile 

 distant. He made the demon promise to do so by causing poisonous 

 snakes to appear on his (the demon's) body, so that he suffered 

 immensely and at once was willing to go away. Thenceforth 

 Kobo Daishi forbade to bring flutes on the mountain, for fear 

 that the sound of a flute, by its resembling a dragon's cry, 

 might attract the serpent and cause it to return to its former 

 abode. This' was told by one of the monks to Hideyoshi, when 

 the latter, staying as a pilgrim on the mountain, had ordered 

 a famous no-actor, whom he had taken with him, to give a 

 performance. The monk warned him, not to arouse the dragon 

 by flute playing, but Hideyoshi langhed at him. But no sooner 

 had the tones of the flute resounded on the mountain, than 

 dark clouds arose in the clear sky and covered the earth. A 

 severe thunderstorm shook mountains and valleys, trees were 

 uprooted and the rain poured down in torrents. Hideyoshi, 

 frightened by these terrible signs of the dragon's presence, fled 

 from the monastery and took shelter in a small house at the 

 foot of the mountain. When about two hours had elapsed, the 

 tempest abated, but Hideyoshi's unbelief in Kobe's wisdom was 

 cured for ever. 



§ 7. The "Heavenly Dragon's Well" at the Suwa shrine. 



According to the Honcho zohugenshi\ one of the seven wonders 

 of the famous Shinto shrine of Suwa-Myojin, at the Suwa lake 

 (P^^M' Suwa-ko), where the Tenryu-gawa (^ f| )\\ , "Hea- 

 venly Dragon River") takes its rise, is the TenryU no ido, or 

 "Heavenly Dragon's Well" (3^f|y^)- There was always 

 water dripping from the overhanging roof of the temple into 

 this well, which phenomenon was apparently ascribed to a dragon. 

 When Kublai Khan's Armada attacked Japan, the Glod of Suwa 

 flew in the shape of a long, five-coloured cloud, having the 

 resemblance of a serpent, from the lake to the West, in order 

 to assist the Japanese against the foreign invaders I 



In the neighbourhood of the same "Heavenly Dragon River", 



1 2fe ^ 'fS^^ ^' witten in 1746 by Kikuoka Senryo, ^ ^ ^^j^ }^ 

 (also called Beizan, tJ^ jjj), Ch. I, p. 19, quoted in the Shiojiri, ^ J^ , written 

 in 1749 by Zansetsusha Sokyu, ^ ^ "^ ^ 2^' ^h. II. 



2 Taiheiki, Ch. XXXIX, p. 12. 



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