Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 27.djvu/331

 among the parts of the victim the kidneys have the foremost place.

8. Water begins to congeal. The earth begins to be penetrated by the cold. Pheasants enter the great water and become large mollusks. Rainbows are hidden and do not appear.

9. The son of Heaven occupies the apartment on the left of the Hsüan Thang (Fane); rides in the dark-coloured carriage, drawn by the iron black horses, and bearing the dark-coloured flag; is dressed in the black robes, and wears the dark-coloured jade. He eats millet and sucking-pig. The vessels which he uses are large and rather deep.

10. In this month there takes place the inauguration of winter. Three days before this ceremony, the Grand recorder informs the son of Heaven, saying, "On such-and-such a day is the inauguration of winter. The character of the season is fully seen in