Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/97

 drought had been over the land for several weeks. The earth was parched, rivers were dried up, and rice and all the other crops were ruined. Everyone, from the Emperor downward, prayed to Heaven and Earth, the gods of the sea and the river, for rain; but not a single drop fell. If the drought should continue for a few days more famine and starvation would prevail throughout Japan.

When the Emperor heard of this, he ordered the Prime Minister to induce the poets to offer verses to the god of rain. In those days people believed that a pre-eminently excellent poem could move Heaven and Earth, the gods and evil spirits. If a wonderfully beautiful poem was offered to the Ryūjin or the Dragon-god, he would be so moved that rain would fall immediately. In compliance with the Imperial Order, the Prime Minister summoned many poets to meet on the Hirozawa Pond, in which the Dragon-god dwelt. The Minister presided, and Ki-no-Tsurayuki, the poet laureate,