two thousand years ago, say the bonzes, it hung in the temple of
Gihon Shoja in India which Buddha built. After his death it got into the
possession of the Dragon King of the World under the Sea. When the hero
Toda the Archer shot the enemy of the queen of the Under-world, she
presented him with many treasures and among them this great bell, which
she caused to be landed on the shores of the lake. Toda however was not
able to remove it, so he presented it to the monks at Miidera. With great
labor it was brought to the hill-top and hung in this belfry where it
rung out daily matins and orisons, filling the lake and hill sides with
sweet melody.

Now it was one of the rules of the Buddhists that no woman should be
allowed to ascend the hill or enter the monastery of Miidera. The bonzes
associated females and wicked influences together. Hence the
prohibition.

A noted beauty of Kioto hearing of the polished face of the bell,
resolved in spite of the law against her sex to ascend the hill to dress
her hair and powder her face in the mirror-like surface of the bell.

So selecting an hour when she knew the priests would be too busy at study
of the sacred rolls to notice her, she ascended the hill and entered the
belfry. Looking into the smooth surface, she saw her own sparkling eyes,
her cheeks, flushed rosy with exercise, her dimples playing, and then her
whole form reflected as in her own silver mirror, before which she daily
sat. Charmed as much by the vastness as the brilliancy of the reflection,
she stretched forth her hand, and touching her finger-tips to the bell
prayed aloud that she might possess just such a mirror of equal size and
brightness.

But the bell was outraged at the impiety of the woman's touch, and the
cold metal shrank back, leaving a hollow place, and spoiling the even
surface of the bell. From that time forth the bell gradually lost its
polish, and became dull and finally dark like other bells.

When Benkei was a monk, he was possessed of a mighty desire to steal this
bell and hang it up at Hiyeisan. So one night he went over to Miidera
hill and cautiously crept up to the belfry and unhooked it from the great
iron link which held it. How to get it down the mountain was now the
question.

Should he let it roll down, the monks at Miidera would hear it bumping
over the stones. Nor could he carry it in his arms, for it was too big
around (16 feet) for him to grasp and hold. He could not put his hea