Page:Nihongi by Aston volume 2.djvu/244

Rh deer was seen quietly moving, and eventually a Temple was built on this spot. It was called the Temple of the park of the white deer, and the practice of the Buddhist Law was there permanently established. Again, a white sparrow was seen at the farmstead of a certain Temple. The people of the country all said that it was a good omen. Moreover, Envoys sent to Great Thang brought back a dead crow with three legs. The people of the country again said that this was a good omen. Though these things are trifles, yet they are deemed of favourable omen. Much more is this so in the case of a white pheasant."

The Priest Bin said:—"This is to be deemed a lucky omen, and it may reasonably be accounted a rare object. I have respectfully heard that when a Ruler extends his influence to all four quarters, then will white pheasants be seen. They appear, moreover, when a Ruler's sacrifices are not in mutual disaccord, and when his banquets and costumes are in due measure. Again, when a Ruler is of frugal habits, white pheasants are made to come forth on the hills. Again, they appear when the Ruler is sage and humane. In the time of the Emperor Ch‘ēng Wang of the Chou Dynasty, the Yüeh-shang family brought and presented to the Emperor a white pheasant, saying:—'We were told by the old men of our country:—"What a long time it has been since there have been any exceptional storms or long-continued rains, and that the great rivers and the sea have not surged up over the land! Three years have now elapsed. We think that in the Central Land there is a Sage. Would it not be well to go and pay your respects at his Court?" We have therefore come, having tripled our interpreters.' Again, in the first year of Hien-ning in the reign of Wu-ti of the Tsin Dynasty, one was seen in Sung-tsze. This is accordingly a favourable omen. A general amnesty ought to be granted."

Upon this the white pheasant was let loose in the garden.

15th day. The array of guards at Court was like that on