ubmarine spirits came and placed themselves at the
service of the Emperor, who asked for an interview with the god. To
this the latter agreed on condition that no one should make a portrait
of him, he being very ugly. Instantly a stone gangway 100,000 feet
long rose out of the sea, and the Emperor, mounting his horse, went
with his courtiers to the palace of the god. Among his followers was
one Lu Tung-shih, who tried to draw a portrait of the god by using
his foot under the surface of the water. Detecting this manoeuvre,
the god was incensed, and said to the Emperor: "You have broken your
word; did you bring Lu here to insult me? Retire at once, or evil will
befall you." The Emperor, seeing that the situation was precarious,
mounted his horse and galloped off. As soon as he reached the beach,
the stone cause-way sank, and all his suite perished in the waves. One
of the Court magicians said to the Emperor: "This god ought to be
feared as much as the God of Thunder; then he could be made to help
us. To-day a grave mistake has been made." For several days after
this incident the waves beat upon the beach with increasing fury. The
Emperor then built a temple and a pagoda to the god on Chih-fu Shan
and Wen-teng Shan respectively; by which act of propitiation he was
apparently appeased.

The Shipwrecked Servant

Once the Eight Immortals (see Chapter XI) were on their way to
Ch'ang-li Shan to celebrate the birthday anniversary of Hsien Weng,
the God of Longevity. They had with them a servant who bore the
presents they intended to offer to the god. When they reached the
seashore the Immortals walked on the waves without any difficulty,
but Lan Ts'ai-ho remarked that the servant was unable to follow them,
and said that a means of transport must be found for him. So Ts'ao
Kuo-chiu took a plank of cypress-wood and made a raft. But when they
were in mid-ocean a typhoon arose and upset the raft, and servant
and presents sank to the bottom of the sea.

Regarding this as the hostile act of a water-devil, the Immortals said
they must demand an explanation from the Dragon-king, Ao Ch'in. Li
T'ieh-kuai took his gourd, and, directing the mouth toward the bottom
of the sea, created so brilliant a light that it illuminated the whole
palace of the Sea-king. Ao Ch'in, surprised, asked where this powerful
light originated, and deputed a courier to ascertain its cause.

To this messenger the Immortals made their complaint. "All we want,"