or woman became very much ashamed and very
angry. And as she could not bear the shame, she drowned herself, after
having written a farewell letter containing these words:--

"When I am dead, it will not be difficult to melt the mirror and to
cast the bell. But, to the person who breaks that bell by ringing it,
great wealth will be given by the ghost of me."

--You must know that the last wish or promise of anybody who dies in
anger, or performs suicide in anger, is generally supposed to possess a
supernatural force. After the dead woman's mirror had been melted, and
the bell had been successfully cast, people remembered the words of
that letter. They felt sure that the spirit of the writer would give
wealth to the breaker of the bell; and, as soon as the bell had been
suspended in the court of the temple, they went in multitude to ring
it. With all their might and main they swung the ringing-beam; but the
bell proved to be a good bell, and it bravely withstood their assaults.
Nevertheless, the people were not easily discouraged. Day after day, at
all hours, they continued to ring the bell furiously,--caring nothing
whatever for the protests of the priests. So the ringing became an
affliction; and the priests could not endure it; and they got rid of
the bell by rolling it down the hill into a swamp. The swamp was deep,
and swallowed it up,--and that was the end of the bell. Only its legend
remains; and in that legend it is called the Mugen-Kane, or Bell of
Mugen.

* * *

Now there are queer old Japanese beliefs in the magical efficacy of a
certain mental operation implied, though not described, by the verb
nazoraeru. The word itself cannot be adequately rendered by any English
word; for it is used in relation to many kinds of mimetic magic, as
well as in relation to the performance of many religious acts of faith.
Common meanings of nazoraeru, according to dictionaries, are "to
imitate," "to compare," "to liken;" but the esoteric meaning is to
substitute, in imagination, one object or action for another, so as to
bring about some magical or miraculous result.

For example:--you cannot afford to build a Buddhist temple; but you can
easily lay a pebble before the image of the Buddha, with the same pious
feeling that would prompt you to build a temple if you were rich enough
to build one. The merit of so offering the pebble becomes equal, or
almost equal, to the merit of erecting a temple... You cannot read