the bell-pullers.

Again the young men mounted the platform, drew back the log with a lusty
pull and let fly.

"M-m-m-mi-mi-de-de-ra-ra ye-e-e-e-ko-o-o-o-o" "(Miidera ye ko, I want to
go back to Miidera)" moaned out the homesick bell.

This so enraged Benkei that he rushed to the rope waved the monks aside
and seizing the rope strained every muscle to jerk the beam its entire
length afield, and then let fly with force enough to crack the bell. For
a moment the dense volume of sound filled the ears of all like a storm,
but as the vibrations died away, the bell whined out:

"Miidera-mi-mi-de-de-ra-a-a ye-e-e-ko-o-o-o-o." "I want to go back to
Miidera," sobbed the bell.

Whether struck at morning, noon or night the bell said the same words. No
matter when, by whom, how hard or how gently it was struck, the bell
moaned the one plaint as if crying, "I want to go back to Miidera." "I
want to go back to Miidera."

At last Benkei in a rage unhooked the bell, shouldered it beam and all,
and set off to take it back. Carrying the bell to the top of Hiyeisan, he
set it down, and giving it a kick rolled it down the valley toward
Miidera, and left it there. Then the Miidera bonzes hung it up again.
Since that time the bell has completely changed its note, until now it is
just like other bells in sound and behavior.

LITTLE SILVER'S DREAM OF THE SHOJI.

Ko Gin San (Miss Little Silver) was a young maid who did not care for
strange stories of animals, so much as for those of wonder-creatures in
the form of human beings. Even of these, however, she did not like to
dream, and when the foolish old nurse would tell her ghost stories at
night, she was terribly afraid they would appear to her in her sleep.

To avoid this, the old nurse told her to draw pictures of a tapir, on the
sheet of white paper, which, wrapped round the tiny pillow, makes the
pillow-case of every young lady, who rests her head on two inches of a
bolster in order to keep her well-dressed hair from being mussed or
rumpled.

Old grannies and country folks believe that if you have a picture of a
tapir under the bed or on the paper pillow-case, you will not have
unpleasant dreams, as the tapir is said to eat them.

So strongly do some people believe this that they sleep under quilts
figured with the device of this long-snouted beast. If in spite of this
precaution one should have a bad dream, he must cry out on awaking,
"tapir, come eat, tapir, come eat"