ot speak and his eyes stood out from their sockets with horror. But
it went on as it had begun: six more arms grew out of his body and two
more heads, so that finally he had three heads and eight arms. He
called out to his Master: "What does all this mean?" But the latter
only laughed and said: "All is as it should be. Thus equipped you will
really be strong!" Then he taught him a magic incantation by means of
which he could make his arms and heads visible or invisible as he
chose. When the tyrant Dschou-Sin had been destroyed, Li Dsing and his
three sons, while still on earth, were taken up into heaven and seated
among the gods.

Note: Li Dsing, the Pagoda-bearing King of Heaven, may
be traced back to Indra, the Hindoo god of thunder and
lightning. The Pagoda might be an erroneous variant of
the thunderbolt Vadjra. In such case Notscha would be a
personification of the thunder. The Great One (Tai I),
is the condition of things before their separation into
the active and passive principles. There is a whole
genealogy of mythical saints and holy men who took part
in the battles between King Wu of Dschou and the tyrant
Dschou-Sin. These saints are, for the most part,
Buddhist-Brahminic figures which have been reshaped. The
Dragon-King of the Eastern Sea also occurs in the tale
of Sun Wu Kung (No. 74). "Dragon sinew" means the spinal
cord, the distinction between nerves and sinews not
being carefully observed. "Three spirits and seven
souls": man has three spirits, usually above his head,
and seven animal souls. "Notscha had been absent in the
spirit upon that day": the idol is only the seat of the
godhead, which the latter leaves or inhabits as he
chooses. Therefore the godhead must be summoned when
prayers are offered, by means of bells and incense. When
the god is not present, his idol is merely a block of
wood or stone. Pu Hain, the Buddha of the Lion, is the
Indian Samantabharda, one of the four great Boddhisatvas
of the Tantra School. Wen Dschu, the Buddha on the
Golden-haired Mountain Lion, (Hou), is the Indian
Mandjusri. The old Buddha of the Radiance of the Light,
Jan Dong Go Fu, is the Indian Dipamkara.

XIX

THE LADY OF THE MOON

In the days of the Emperor Yau lived a prince by the name of Hou I,
who was a mighty hero and a good archer. Once ten suns rose together
in the sky, and shone