court, the wisdom of his councilors and the glory of his reign, he was
miserable because he knew that one day he must die and leave it all.

When Shin-no-Shiko went to bed at night, when he rose in the morning,
as he went through his day, the thought of death was always with him.
He could not get away from it. Ah--if only he could find the Elixir of
Life, he would be happy.

The Emperor at last called a meeting of his courtiers and asked them
all if they could not find for him the Elixir of Life of which he had
so often read and heard.

One old courtier, Jofuku by name, said that far away across the seas
there was a country called Horaizan, and that certain hermits lived
there who possessed the secret of the Elixir of Life. Whoever drank of
this wonderful draught lived forever.

The Emperor ordered Jofuku to set out for the land of Horaizan, to
find the hermits, and to bring him back a phial of the magic elixir.
He gave Jofuku one of his best junks, fitted it out for him, and
loaded it with great quantities of treasures and precious stones for
Jofuku to take as presents to the hermits.

Jofuku sailed for the land of Horaizan, but he never returned to the
waiting Emperor; but ever since that time Mount Fuji has been said to
be the fabled Horaizan and the home of hermits who had the secret of
the elixir, and Jofuku has been worshipped as their patron god.

Now Sentaro determined to set out to find the hermits, and if he
could, to become one, so that he might obtain the water of perpetual
life. He remembered that as a child he had been told that not only did
these hermits live on Mount Fuji, but that they were said to inhabit
all the very high peaks.

So he left his old home to the care of his relatives, and started out
on his quest. He traveled through all the mountainous regions of the
land, climbing to the tops of the highest peaks, but never a hermit
did he find.

At last, after wandering in an unknown region for many days, he met a
hunter.

"Can you tell me," asked Sentaro, "where the hermits live who have the
Elixir of Life?"

"No," said the hunter; "I can't tell you where such hermits live, but
there is a notorious robber living in these parts. It is said that he
is chief of a band of two hundred followers."

This odd answer irritated Sentaro very much, and he thought how
foolish it was to waste more time in looking for the hermits in this
way, so he decided to go at once to the shrine of Jofuku, who i