g wood from a neighbouring forest. At night when her back
was almost breaking, she was given many extra tasks, enough to have
crushed the spirit of any other woman than this brave daughter of
a king. Forgetting her grief, and trying to hide the lines of pain
that sometimes wrinkled her fair forehead, she tried to make these
hard-hearted women love her. In return for their rough words, she
spoke to them kindly, and never did she give way to anger.

One day while poor Kwan-yin was picking up brushwood in the forest she
heard a tiger making his way through the bushes. Having no means of
defending herself, she breathed a silent prayer to the gods for help,
and calmly awaited the coming of the great beast. To her surprise, when
the bloodthirsty animal appeared, instead of bounding up to tear her in
pieces, he began to make a soft purring noise. He did not try to hurt
Kwan-yin, but rubbed against her in a friendly manner, and let her pat
him on the head.

[Illustration: "ALL DAY SHE WAS BUSY CARRYING WATER."]

The next day the princess went back to the same spot. There she found
no fewer than a dozen savage beasts working under the command of the
friendly tiger, gathering wood for her. In a short time enough brush and
firewood had been piled up to last the convent for six months. Thus,
even the wild animals of the forest were better able to judge of her
goodness than the women of the sisterhood.

At another time when Kwan-yin was toiling up the hill for the twentieth
time, carrying two great pails of water on a pole, an enormous dragon
faced her in the road. Now, in China, the dragon is sacred, and Kwan-yin
was not at all frightened, for she knew that she had done no wrong.

The animal looked at her for a moment, switched its horrid tail, and
shot out fire from its nostrils. Then, dashing the burden from the
startled maiden's shoulder, it vanished. Full of fear, Kwan-yin hurried
up the hill to the nunnery. As she drew near the inner court, she was
amazed to see in the centre of the open space a new building of solid
stone. It had sprung up by magic since her last journey down the hill.
On going forward, she saw that there were four arched doorways to the
fairy house. Above the door facing west was a tablet with these words
written on it: "In honour of Kwan-yin, the faithful princess." Inside
was a well of the purest water, while, for drawing this water, there a
strange machine, the like of which neither Kwan-yin nor the n