ad worn on his aged frame and the fatigues of the ascent
were so great, that before reaching the top he fainted away, and before
the head of the procession had set foot on the crater edge the monarch
was dead. Sadly they gave up the search for the elixir of life, and,
descending the mountain, buried their master in the Province of Kii.
Then, in their exuberance of youth and joy, thinking little of the far
future and wishing to enjoy the present, they separated in couples,
married, and, disposing of their ship and cargo, settled in the country,
and colonized the eastern part of Japan.

Long afterward, when Buddhist believers came to Japan, one of them,
climbing Fuji, noticed that around its sunken crater were eight peaks,
like the petals of their sacred lotus flower. Thus, it seemed to them,
Great Buddha had honored Japan, by bestowing the sacred symbol of
Nirvana, or Heaven, on the proudest and highest part of Japan. So they
also named it Fuji, "the sacred mountain"; and to this day all the world
calls this sacred mountain Fuji, or Fusi Yama, while the Japanese people
believe that the earth which sunk in Omi is the same which, piled to the
clouds, is the lordly mountain of Suruga.

THE WATERFALL OF YORO, OR THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH.

Long, long, ago, when the oldest stork was young, there lived an aged
woodcutter and his son on the slopes of the mountain Tagi, in the
province of Mino. They gained a frugal livelihood by cutting brushwood on
the hill-side, and carrying it in bundles on their back to sell in the
nearest market town; for they were too poor to own an ox. With the money
thus received they bought rice and radishes, their daily food.

Only once or twice a year, at New Year's and on the mikado's birthday,
could they afford to treat themselves to a mess of bean-curd or fresh
fish. Yet the old man was very fond of rice-wine, and every week bought a
gourd full to keep his old blood warm.

As the years rolled on the aged father's limbs became so stiff that he
was unable any longer to climb the mountains. So his son, now grown to be
a sturdy man, cut nearly double the quantity of wood and thus kept the
family larder full. The old man was so proud of his son that he daily
stood at sunset in front of his rustic gate to welcome him back. And to
see the old daddy and the young stripling remove their headkerchiefs, and
bow with hands on knees in polite fashion, bending their backs and
sucking in their breath, out