nking wine, when he felt all of a sudden very
drowsy,--so drowsy that he begged his friends to excuse him for taking
a nap in their presence. Then he lay down at the foot of the tree, and
dreamed this dream:--

He thought that as he was lying there in his garden, he saw a
procession, like the train of some great daimyo descending a hill near
by, and that he got up to look at it. A very grand procession it proved
to be,--more imposing than anything of the kind which he had ever seen
before; and it was advancing toward his dwelling. He observed in the
van of it a number of young men richly appareled, who were drawing a
great lacquered palace-carriage, or gosho-guruma, hung with bright blue
silk. When the procession arrived within a short distance of the house
it halted; and a richly dressed man--evidently a person of
rank--advanced from it, approached Akinosuke, bowed to him profoundly,
and then said:--

"Honored Sir, you see before you a kerai [vassal] of the Kokuo of
Tokoyo. [1] My master, the King, commands me to greet you in his august
name, and to place myself wholly at your disposal. He also bids me
inform you that he augustly desires your presence at the palace. Be
therefore pleased immediately to enter this honorable carriage, which
he has sent for your conveyance."

Upon hearing these words Akinosuke wanted to make some fitting reply;
but he was too much astonished and embarrassed for speech;--and in the
same moment his will seemed to melt away from him, so that he could
only do as the kerai bade him. He entered the carriage; the kerai took
a place beside him, and made a signal; the drawers, seizing the silken
ropes, turned the great vehicle southward;--and the journey began.

In a very short time, to Akinosuke's amazement, the carriage stopped in
front of a huge two-storied gateway (romon), of a Chinese style, which
he had never before seen. Here the kerai dismounted, saying, "I go to
announce the honorable arrival,"--and he disappeared. After some little
waiting, Akinosuke saw two noble-looking men, wearing robes of purple
silk and high caps of the form indicating lofty rank, come from the
gateway. These, after having respectfully saluted him, helped him to
descend from the carriage, and led him through the great gate and
across a vast garden, to the entrance of a palace whose front appeared
to extend, west and east, to a distance of miles. Akinosuke was then
shown into a reception-room of wonderful size a