Page:History of Corea, ancient and modern; with description of manners and customs, language and geography (1879).djvu/215

 A CURIOUS NEST. 191 He put down both hands; he could not move it. He was astonished; and exerting all his strength, said: ''A dozen hundred-weight I can move ; — ^what is this little thing, that I cannot move it?'' They had to go without ; and on coming to Mr Hu, informed him of the weight of the stone. He laughed at them for a couple of fools, who should have known that if human strength could remove them, these precious gems of Funghwangshan would have been taken away long ago. The emperor joyfully went to the spot> and asked, saying : "Mr Hu, What slab (bei) is that?" "That is no M" he replied; "it is called the Funghwang's stone.'' The emperor complained that if he had seen the nest, he had failed to see the Funghwang, and had not even seen the eggs. " Those are her eggs," said Mr Hu, pointing to the variegated stones lying at the foot of the slab. " Can the Funghwang be in her nest now ? " asked his majesty. " The exalted Son of Heaven," said Mr Hii, " may look at the Funghwang, and be none the worse ; but if we, your servants, see the Funghwang, what is it but terrible calamities and judgment from heaven ? But it is not likely that we can see her." — " I don't believe in the impossibility of seeing her," said the matter of fact Gwoyuen, " moreover we want to see her very much " ; — ^whereupon he thrust a long bamboo pole into the hole, and poked about with it recklessly. Thereupon arose the sound of many birds fluttering inside. First came out a company of Bai niao or mosquitoes; then some scores of Machiao or sparrows, and both flew eastwards. After them came four peacocks, followed by a pair of Manchurian Cranes ; and in less than a quarter of an hour appeared the Funghwang. Its body was gorgeously spotted all over, the five colours complete. Its tail was of three feathers, each two feet long. It alighted on the glosqr slab, faced the emperor, and nodded three bows. Mr Hii said that this was paying court to his majesty, at which he was overjoyed. He had no sooner expressed his delight, than the Funghwang spread out its wings, and sped east- wards, after its varied retinua The emperor then said that the bird with the three tails must be the cock ; there should be