en of the Queen-Mother of the West. And he was led into it
with all possible honors.

Now the Saint was in his element. He had all that heart could wish
for, and was untroubled by any work. He took his ease, walked about in
the Heavens as he chose, and paid visits to the gods. The Three Pure
Ones and the Four Rulers he treated with some little respect; but the
planetary gods and the lords of the twenty-eight houses of the moon,
and of the twelve zodiac signs, and the other stars he addressed
familiarly with a "Hey, you!" Thus he idled day by day, without
occupation among the clouds of the Heavens. On one occasion one of the
wise said to the Lord of the Heavens: "The holy Sun is idle while day
follows day. It is to be feared that some mischievous thoughts may
occur to him, and it might be better to give him some charge."

So the Lord of the Heavens summoned the Great Saint and said to him:
"The life-giving peaches in the garden of the Queen-Mother will soon
be ripe. I give you the charge of watching over them. Do your duty
conscientiously!"

This pleased the Saint and he expressed his thanks. Then he went to
the garden, where the caretakers and gardeners received him on their
knees.

He asked them: "How many trees in all are there in the garden?"

"Three thousand six hundred," replied the gardener. "There are
twelve-hundred trees in the foremost row. They have red blossoms and
bear small fruit, which ripens every three thousand years. Whoever
eats it grows bright and healthy. The twelve hundred trees in the
middle row have double blossoms and bear sweet fruit, which ripens
every six thousand years. Whoever eats of it is able to float in the
rose-dawn without aging. The twelve hundred trees in the last row bear
red-striped fruit with small pits. They ripen every nine thousand
years. Whoever eats their fruit lives eternally, as long as the
Heavens themselves, and remains untouched for thousands of eons."

The Saint heard all this with pleasure. He checked up the lists and
from that time on appeared every day or so to see to things. The
greater part of the peaches in the last row were already ripe. When he
came to the garden, he would on each occasion send away the caretakers
and gardeners under some pretext, leap up into the trees, and gorge
himself to his heart's content with the peaches.

At that time the Queen-Mother of the West was preparing the great
peach banquet to which she was accustomed to invite all the