suddenly the bird
_Feng_ flew across the valley and appeared before him, saying:

'Why is Ta-Khai, the mighty Prince of Tartary, standing in this place of
desolation with a shadow on his brow?'

Ta-Khai replied: 'The pine tree finds its nourishment where it stands,
the tiger can run after the deer in the forests, the eagle can fly over
the mountains and the plains, but how can I find the one for whom my
heart is thirsting?'

And he told the bird his story.

The _Feng_, which in reality was a _Feng-Hwang_, that is, a female
_Feng_, rejoined:

'Without the help of Supreme Heaven it is not easy to acquire wisdom,
but it is a sign of the benevolence of the spiritual beings that I
should have come between you and destruction. I can make myself large
enough to carry the largest town upon my back, or small enough to pass
through the smallest keyhole, and I know all the princesses in all the
palaces of the earth. I have taught them the six intonations of my
voice, and I am their friend. Therefore show me the picture, O Ta-Khai,
and I will tell you the name of her whom you saw in your dream.'

[Illustration: THE STORY OF THE BIRD FENG

The wonderful bird, like a fire of many colours came down from heaven,
alighted before the Princess, dropping at her feet the portrait.

_See page 173_]

They went to the palace, and, when the portrait was shown, the bird
became as large as an elephant, and exclaimed, 'Sit on my back, O
Ta-Khai, and I will carry you to the place of your dream. There you will
find her of the transparent face with the drooping eyelids under the
crown of dark hair such as you have depicted, for these are the features
of Sai-Jen, the daughter of the King of China, and alone can be likened
to the full moon rising under a black cloud.'

At nightfall they were flying over the palace of the king just above a
magnificent garden. And in the garden sat Sai-Jen, singing and playing
upon the lute. The _Feng-Hwang_ deposited the prince outside the wall
near a place where bamboos were growing and showed him how to cut twelve
bamboos between the knots to make the flute which is called Pai-Siao and
has a sound sweeter than the evening breeze on the forest stream.

And as he blew gently across the pipes, they echoed the sound of the
princess's voice so harmoniously that she cried:

'I hear the distant notes of the song that comes from my own lips, and I
can see nothing but the flowers and the trees; it is the melody t