ique, sharply marked eyebrows, and holds a double-bladed,
three-pointed sword in his hand. Two servants stand beside him, with a
falcon and a hound; for Yang Oerlang is a great hunter. The falcon is
the falcon of the gods, and the hound is the hound of the gods. When
brute creatures gain possession of magic powers or demons oppress men,
he subdues them by means of the falcon and hound.

Note: Yang Oerlang is a huntsman, as is indicated by his
falcon and hound. His Hound of the Heavens, literally
"the divine, biting hound" recalls the hound of Indra.
The myth that there were originally ten suns in the
skies, of whom nine were shot down by an archer, is also
placed in the period of the ruler Yau. In that story the
archer is named Hou I, or I (comp. No. 19). Here,
instead of the shooting down of the suns with arrows, we
have the Titan motive of destruction with the mountains.

XVIII

NOTSCHA

The oldest daughter of the Ruler of Heaven had married the great
general Li Dsing. Her sons were named Gintscha, Mutscha and Notscha.
But when Notscha was given her, she dreamed at night that a Taoist
priest came into her chamber and said: "Swiftly receive the Heavenly
Son!" And straightway a radiant pearl glowed within her. And she was
so frightened at her dream that she awoke. And when Notscha came into
the world, it seemed as though a ball of flesh were turning in circles
like a wheel, and the whole room was filled with strange fragrances
and a crimson light.

Li Dsing was much frightened, and thought it was an apparition. He
clove the circling ball with his sword, and out of it leaped a small
boy whose whole body glowed with a crimson radiance. But his face was
delicately shaped and white as snow. About his right arm he wore a
golden armlet and around his thighs was wound a length of crimson
silk, whose glittering shine dazzled the eyes. When Li Dsing saw the
child he took pity on him and did not slay him, while his wife began
to love the boy dearly.

When three days had passed, all his friends came to wish him joy. They
were just sitting at the festival meal when a Taoist priest entered
and said: "I am the Great One. This boy is the bright Pearl of the
Beginning of Things, bestowed upon you as your son. Yet the boy is
wild and unruly, and will kill many men. Therefore I will take him as
my pupil to gentle his savage ways." Li Dsing bowed his thanks and the
Great One disappeared