Page:The Awakening of Japan, by Okakura Kakuzō; 1905.djvu/99

 revealed by the brilliant shimmer of his scales. He strikes not till his throat is touched. Then woe to him who dallies with the terrible one!

The dragon is said never to be the same. What flower is? What life? The secret of knowledge, according to the Oyomians, was to penetrate behind the mask which change imposed upon things. So-called facts and forms were merely incidents beneath which the real life lay hidden. This they loved to illustrate by the Taoist parable of the Real Horse. Once upon a time, it is related, a king of China was desirous of procuring the best horse in the world, wherefore he asked Hakuraku, all-knowing in horses, to make search far and wide. After a long time Hakuraku returned and reported to the king that a bay mare on a certain