he King said, "Now you can marry my daughter." Then the wedding took
place. All the Rajahs and Kings of the countries round were asked
to come to it, and there were great rejoicings. After a few days the
bridegroom said to his bride "Let us go to my father's country." The
Princess Labam's father gave them a quantity of camels and horses and
rupees and servants; and they traveled in great state to the distant
country, where they lived happily.

The prince always kept his bag, bowl, bed, stick and rope; only, as no
one ever came to make war on him, he never needed to use the stick or
rope.

MYTHS OF JAPAN

THE JELLYFISH AND THE MONKEY

ADAPTED BY YEI THEODORA OZAKI

Long, long ago, in old Japan, the Kingdom of the Sea was governed by a
wonderful King. He was called Rin Jin, or the Dragon King of the Sea.
His power was immense, for he was the ruler of all sea creatures both
great and small, and in his keeping were the Jewels of the Ebb and
Flow of the Tide. The Jewel of the Ebbing Tide when thrown into the
ocean caused the sea to recede from the land, and the Jewel of the
Flowing Tide made the waves to rise mountains high and to flow in upon
the shore like a tidal wave.

The palace of Rin Jin was at the bottom of the sea, and was so
beautiful that no one has ever seen anything like it even in dreams.
The walls were of coral, the roof of jadestone and chalcedony, and
the floors were of the finest mother-of-pearl. But the Dragon King, in
spite of his wide-spreading kingdom, his beautiful palace and all its
wonders, and his power, which none disputed throughout the whole sea,
was not at all happy, for he reigned alone. At last he thought that if
he married he would not only be happier, but also more powerful. So
he decided to take a wife. Calling all his fish retainers together,
he chose several of them as ambassadors to go through the sea and seek
for a young Dragon Princess who would be his bride.

At last they returned to the palace bringing with them a lovely young
dragon. Her scales were of a glittering green like the wings of summer
beetles, her eyes threw out glances of fire, and she was dressed in
gorgeous robes. All the jewels of the sea worked in with embroidery
adorned them.

The King fell in love with her at once, and the wedding ceremony was
celebrated with great splendor. Every living thing in the sea, from
the great whales down to the little shrimps, came in shoals to offer
their co