there was a man named Huang An. He must have been
well over eighty and yet he looked like a youth. He lived on cinnabar
and wore no clothing. Even in winter he went about without garments.
He sat on a tortoise three feet long. Once he was asked: "About how
old might this tortoise be?" He answered: "When Fu Hi first invented
fish-nets and eel-pots he caught this tortoise and gave it to me. And
since then I have worn its shield quite flat sitting on it. The
creature dreads the radiance of the sun and moon, so it only sticks
its head out of its shell once in two thousand years. Since I have had
the beast, it has already stuck its head out five times." With these
words he took his tortoise on his back and went off. And the legend
arose that this man was ten thousand years old.

Note: Cinnabar is frequently used in the preparation of
the elixir of life (comp. No. 30). Fu Hi is "the
life-breeding breath." Tortoises live to a great age.

XXX

THE EIGHT IMMORTALS (I)

There is a legend which declares that Eight Immortals dwell in the
heavens. The first is named Dschung Li Kuan. He lived in the time of
the Han dynasty, and discovered the wonderful magic of golden
cinnabar, the philosopher's stone. He could melt quicksilver and burn
lead and turn them into yellow gold and white silver. And he could fly
through the air in his human form. He is the chief of the Eight
Immortals.

The second is named Dschang Go. In primal times he gained hidden
knowledge. It is said that he was really a white bat, who turned into
a man. In the first days of the Tang dynasty an ancient with a white
beard and a bamboo drum on his back, was seen riding backward on a
black ass in the town of Tschang An. He beat the drum and sang, and
called himself old Dschang Go. Another legend says that he always had
a white mule with him which could cover a thousand miles in a single
day. When he had reached his destination he would fold up the animal
and put it in his trunk. When he needed it again, he would sprinkle
water on it with his mouth, and the beast would regain its first
shape.

The third is named Lu Yuan or Lu Dung Bin (The Mountain Guest). His
real name was Li, and he belonged to the ruling Tang dynasty. But when
the Empress Wu seized the throne and destroyed the Li family to almost
the last man, he fled with his wife into the heart of the mountains.
They changed their names to Lu, and, since they lived in hiding in the
cavern