dragon," for example, "in a thousand years
changes to a flying dragon."

The dragon is also represented as the father of the great emperors
of ancient times. His bones, teeth, and saliva are employed as a
medicine. He has the power of transformation and of rendering himself
visible or invisible at pleasure. In the spring he ascends to the
skies, and in the autumn buries himself in the watery depths. Some are
wingless, and rise into the air by their own inherent power. There is
the celestial dragon, who guards the mansions of the gods and supports
them so that they do not fall; the divine dragon, who causes the winds
to blow and produces rain for the benefit of mankind; the earth-dragon,
who marks out the courses of rivers and streams; and the dragon of the
hidden treasures, who watches over the wealth concealed from mortals.

The Buddhists count their dragons in number equal to the fish of the
great deep, which defies arithmetical computation, and can be expressed
only by their sacred numerals. The people have a more certain faith
in them than in most of their divinities, because they see them so
often; every cloud with a curious configuration or serpentine tail
is a dragon. "We see him," they say. The scattering of the cloud is
his disappearance. He rules the hills, is connected with _feng-shui_
(geomancy), dwells round the graves, is associated with the Confucian
worship, is the Neptune of the sea, and appears on dry land.

The Dragon-kings

The Sea-dragon Kings live in gorgeous palaces in the depths of the
sea, where they feed on pearls and opals. There are five of these
divinities, the chief being in the centre, and the other four occupying
the north, the west, the south, and the east. Each is a league in
length, and so bulky that in shifting its posture it tosses one
mountain against another. It has five feet, one of them being in the
middle of its belly, and each foot is armed with five sharp claws. It
can reach into the heavens, and stretch itself into all quarters of
the sea. It has a glowing armour of yellow scales, a beard under its
long snout, a hairy tail, and shaggy legs. Its forehead projects over
its blazing eyes, its ears are small and thick, its mouth gaping,
its tongue long, and its teeth sharp. Fish are boiled by the blast of
its breath, and roasted by the fiery exhalations of its body. When it
rises to the surface the whole ocean surges, waterspouts foam, and
typhoons rage. When it flies, wing