Page:Things Japanese (1905).djvu/456

444  in Japan. His affinities are with the watery element that rules in clouds and tempests. Sometimes he will ascend Fuji, borne thither on a cloud; at others he hides himself in the waters of some river or deep secluded lake, and will cause terrific commotion in heaven and earth if disturbed. The palace of the King of the Dragons is a marvellously rich abode lying far away, many leagues beneath the ocean waves. The Unicorn and the Phenix scarcely appear except in art, and the only function of the Baku (seemingly a large quadruped allied to the tapir) is to devour evil dreams. More popular is the giant Namazu,—an eel-like creature, but thicker and flatheaded and supplied with mustachios,—which dwells somewhere in the bowels of the earth, and whose occasional wrigglings are the cause of earthquakes. Another marine creature, the Octopus, which assumes semi-human form, inspires dread by coming ashore to steal potatoes, and by other pranks. The people also believe in Mermaids, but often confound with these imaginary beings the really existing seal, perhaps because of its almost pathetically human countenance. Among birds, a purely mythical being is the Nue. When the reader is informed that this so-called "bird" (for it flies, and sings in a voice at once "hoarse, guttural, loud, and very plaintive") has "the head of a monkey, the body of a tiger, and the tail of a serpent," he will surely not scruple to admit, with the old commentator, that "it is a rare and peculiar creature."

For what is thought of magic foxes, badgers, and dogs, see page 115.

 Superstitions. Mention has been made in previous Articles of the popular Japanese belief in divination, in demoniacal posses