aid to have been the work of the hands of
the good Princess Hase.

THE STORY OF THE MAN WHO DID NOT WISH TO DIE.

Long, long ago there lived a man called Sentaro. His surname meant
"Millionaire," but although he was not so rich as all that, he was
still very far removed from being poor. He had inherited a small
fortune from his father and lived on this, spending his time
carelessly, without any serious thoughts of work, till he was about
thirty-two years of age.

One day, without any reason whatsoever, the thought of death and
sickness came to him. The idea of falling ill or dying made him very
wretched.

"I should like to live," he said to himself, "till I am five or six
hundred years old at least, free from all sickness. The ordinary span
of a man's life is very short."

He wondered whether it were possible, by living simply and frugally
henceforth, to prolong his life as long as he wished.

He knew there were many stories in ancient history of emperors who had
lived a thousand years, and there was a Princess of Yamato, who, it was
said, lived to the age of five hundred This was the latest story of a
very long life record.

Sentaro had often heard the tale of the Chinese King named
Shin-no-Shiko. He was one of the most able and powerful rulers in
Chinese history. He built all the large palaces, and also the famous
great wall of China. He had everything in the world he could wish for,
but in spite of all his happiness and the luxury and the splendor of
his Court, the wisdom of his councilors and the glory of his reign, he
was miserable because he knew that one day he must die and leave it all.

When Shin-no-Shiko went to bed at night, when he rose in the morning,
as he went through his day, the thought of death was always with him.
He could not get away from it. Ah--if only he could find the "Elixir of
Life," he would be happy.

The Emperor at last called a meeting of his courtiers and asked them
all if they could not find for him the "Elixir of Life" of which he had
so often read and heard.

One old courtier, Jofuku by name, said that far away across the seas
there was a country called Horaizan, and that certain hermits lived
there who possessed the secret of the "Elixir of Life." Whoever drank
of this wonderful draught lived forever.

The Emperor ordered Jofuku to set out for the land of Horaizan, to find
the hermits, and to bring him back a phial of the magic elixir. He gave
Jofuku one of his