Page:Eminent Authors of Contemporary Japan.pdf/169

Rh to rival even the great beauty of the Goddess herself.

Then the Goddess noticed that the floor of the room was strewn with mountain flowers of every hue. Doubly and trebly burnt the Goddess’s jealousy. She had never before beheld such a lovely maiden, and had never seen such a perfect fabric. What a wonderful love there must be between these two young people! If this beautiful tapestry should be completed, the Goddess feared there would be no possibility of separating the maiden from her shephedshepherd [sic]. So she at once made up her mind that at all costs she must prevent the tapestry from ever being finished.

But the beautiful Araginu, never dreaming for one moment of the Goddess’s jealousy, sat at her loom by night and by day, whenever the yearning for her lover was strong upon her, which was almost every moment of her waking life. Two thirds of her precious fabric had been completed, and only one-third remained to be done. When that was finished, her uncle, the hermit, was to marry her to her lover, and whenever she thought of it, untold joy filled her soul and set her heart throbbing.

Every day, when the shepherd returned from the mountain, he threw his loveliest bouquet in at her window. By the strict order of her uncle, the young couple were forbidden to speak even a word to each other until the tapestry had been completed. Adani had even been forbidden to peep into her room.

One night, when all the villagers were sound asleep, and when Araginu was alone weaving her cloth, a sad