and night in an uninterrupted and
unbroken meditation. After many years of this continual watching,
he was at length so tired that he fell asleep. On awaking the
following morning, he was so sorry he had broken his vow that he
cut off both his eyelids and threw them upon the ground. Returning
to the same place the following day he observed that each eyelid
had become a shrub. This was the _tea-shrub_, unknown until that
time."

Bretschneider adds that the legend in question seems not to be known to
the Chinese; yet in view of the fact that Buddhism itself, with all its
marvellous legends, was received by the Japanese from China, it is
certainly probable this legend had a Chinese origin,--subsequently
disguised by Japanese chronology. My Buddhist texts were drawn from
Fernand Hu's translation of the Dhammapada, and from Leon Feer's
translation from the Thibetan of the "Sutra in Forty-two Articles." An
Orientalist who should condescend in a rare leisure-moment to glance at
my work might also discover that I had borrowed an idea or two from the
Sanscrit poet, Bhamini-Vilasa.

"_The Tale of the Porcelain-God._"--The good Pere D'Entrecolles, who
first gave to Europe the secrets of Chinese porcelain-manufacture, wrote
one hundred and sixty years ago:--

"The Emperors of China are, during their lifetime, the most
redoubted of divinities; and they believe that nothing should ever
stand in the way of their desires....

"It is related that once upon a time a certain Emperor insisted
that some porcelains should be made for him according to a model
which he gave. It was answered that the thing was simply
impossible; but all such remonstrances only served to excite his
desire more and more.... The officers charged by the demigod to
supervise and hasten the work treated the workmen with great
harshness. The poor wretches spent all their money, took exceeding
pains, and received only blows in return. One of them, in a fit of
despair, leaped into the blazing furnace, and was instantly burnt
to ashes. But the porcelain that was being baked there at the time
came out, they say, perfectly beautiful and to the satisfaction of
the Emperor.... From that time, the unfortunate workman was
regarded as a hero; and his image was made the idol which presides
over the manufacture of porcelain."

It appears that D'Entrecolle