the Sea King clapped his
hands, and then a huge retinue of fishes appeared, all robed in
ceremonial garments, and bearing in their fins various trays on which
all kinds of sea delicacies were served. A great feast was now spread
before the King and his Royal guest. All the fishes-in-waiting were
chosen from amongst the finest fish in the sea, so you can imagine what
a wonderful array of sea creatures it was that waited upon the Happy
Hunter that day. All in the Palace tried to do their best to please him
and to show him that he was a much honored guest. During the long
repast, which lasted for hours, Ryn Jin commanded his daughters to play
some music, and the two Princesses came in and performed on the KOTO
(the Japanese harp), and sang and danced in turns. The time passed so
pleasantly that the Happy Hunter seemed to forget his trouble and why
he had come at all to the Sea King's Realm, and he gave himself up to
the enjoyment of this wonderful place, the land of fairy fishes! Who
has ever heard of such a marvelous place? But the Mikoto soon
remembered what had brought him to Ryn Gu, and said to his host:

"Perhaps your daughters have told you, King Ryn Jin, that I have come
here to try and recover my brother's fishing hook, which I lost while
fishing the other day. May I ask you to be so kind as to inquire of all
your subjects if any of them have seen a fishing hook lost in the sea?"

"Certainly," said the obliging Sea King, "I will immediately summon
them all here and ask them."

As soon as he had issued his command, the octopus, the cuttlefish, the
bonito, the oxtail fish, the eel, the jelly fish, the shrimp, and the
plaice, and many other fishes of all kinds came in and sat down before
Ryn Jin their King, and arranged themselves and their fins in order.
Then the Sea King said solemnly:

"Our visitor who is sitting before you all is the august grandson of
Amaterasu. His name is Hohodemi, the fourth Augustness, and he is also
called the Happy Hunter of the Mountains. While he was fishing the
other day upon the shore of Japan, some one robbed him of his brother's
fishing hook. He has come all this way down to the bottom of the sea to
our Kingdom because he thought that one of you fishes may have taken
the hook from him in mischievous play. If any of you have done so you
must immediately return it, or if any of you know who the thief is you
must at once tell us his name and where he is now."

All the fishes were t