s, the rats. Around him was stored in straw
bags his rice which he considered more precious than money.

Entering the gate, the oni peeped about cautiously but saw no one. He
went further on till he came to a large store house standing alone and
built in the shape of a huge rice-measure. Not a door or window could be
seen, but climbing up a narrow plank set against the top edge he peeped
over, and there sat Daikoku.

The oni descended and got into the room. Then he thought it would be an
easy thing to pounce upon Daikoku. He was already chuckling to himself
over the prospect of such wealth being his own, when Daikoku squeaked out
to his chief rat.

"_Nedzumi san_, (Mr. Rat) I feel some strange creature must be near. Go
chase him off the premises."

Away scampered the rat to the garden and plucked a sprig of holly with
leaves full of thorns like needles. With this in his fore-paw, he ran at
the oni, whacked him soundly, and stuck him all over with the sharp
prickles.

The oni yelling with pain ran away as fast as he could run. He was so
frightened that he never stopped until he reached Yemma's palace, when he
fell down breathless. He then told his master the tale of his adventure,
but begged that he might never again be sent against Daikoku.

So the Buddhist idols finding they could not banish or kill Daikoku,
agreed to recognize him, and so they made peace with him and to this day
Buddhists and Shint[=o]ists alike worship the fat little god of wealth.

When people heard how the chief oni had been driven away by only a rat
armed with holly, they thought it a good thing to keep off all oni. So
ever afterward, even to this day, after driving out all the bad creatures
with parched beans, they place sprigs of holly at their door-posts on New
Year's eve, to keep away the oni and all evil spirits.

BENKEI AND THE BELL.

On one of the hills overlooking the blue sky's mirror of Lake Biwa,
stands the ancient monastery of Miidera which was founded over 1,200
years ago, by the pious mikado Tenchi.

Near the entrance, on a platform constructed of stoutest timbers, stands
a bronze bell five and a half feet high. It has on it none of the
superscriptions so commonly found on Japanese bells, and though its
surface is covered with scratches it was once as brilliant as a mirror.
This old bell, which is visited by thousands of people from all parts of
Japan who come to wonder at it, is remarkable for many things.

Over