uise of a servant, to buy him, giving
him a thousand cash to purchase the fish, which he was to take to
the foot of the rocks at P'u T'o and set free in the sea. The son
of Lung Wang heartily thanked his deliverer, and on his return to
the palace related to his father what had occurred. The King said:
"As a reward, make her a present of a luminous pearl, so that she
may recite her prayers by its light at night-time."

Lung Nue, the daughter of Lung Wang's third son, obtained her
grandfather's permission to take the gift to Miao Shan and beg that
she might be allowed to study the doctrine of the sages under her
guidance. After having proved her sincerity, she was accepted as a
pupil. Shan Ts'ai called her his sister, and Lung Nue reciprocated
by calling him her dear brother. Both lived as brother and sister by
Miao Shan's side.

The King's Punishment

After King Miao Chuang had burned the Nunnery of the White Bird and
killed his daughter, Ch'ieh Lan Buddha presented a petition to Yue Huang
praying that the crime be not allowed to go unpunished. Yue Huang,
justly irritated, ordered P'an Kuan to consult the Register of the
Living and the Dead to see how long this homicidal King had yet to
live. P'an Kuan turned over the pages of his register, and saw that
according to the divine ordinances the King's reign on the throne of
Hsing Lin should last for twenty years, but that this period had not
yet expired. [31] "That which has been decreed is immutable," said
Yue Huang, "but I will punish him by sending him illness." He called
the God of Epidemics, and ordered him to afflict the King's body with
ulcers, of a kind which could not be healed except by remedies to be
given him by his daughter Miao Shan.

The order was promptly executed, and the King could get no rest by day
or by night. His two daughters and their husbands spent their time in
feasting while he tossed about in agony on his sick-bed. In vain the
most famous physicians were called in; the malady only grew worse, and
despair took hold of the patient. He then caused a proclamation to be
made that he would grant the succession to the throne to any person who
would provide him with an effectual remedy to restore him to health.

The Disguised Priest-doctor

Miao Shan had learnt by revelation at Hsiang Shan all that was taking
place at the palace. She assumed the form of a priest-doctor, clothed
herself in a priest's gown, with the regulation headdress and stra