grant his request.

The Happy Hunter then made another five hundred hooks, and again took
them to his brother, beseeching him to pardon him.

"Though you make a million hooks," said the Skillful Fisher, shaking
his head, "they are of no use to me. I cannot forgive you unless you
bring me back my own hook."

Nothing would appease the anger of the Skillful Fisher, for he had a
bad disposition, and had always hated his brother because of his
virtues, and now with the excuse of the lost fishing hook he planned to
kill him and to usurp his place as ruler of Japan. The Happy Hunter
knew all this full well, but he could say nothing, for being the
younger he owed his elder brother obedience; so he returned to the
seashore and once more began to look for the missing hook. He was much
cast down, for he had lost all hope of ever finding his brother's hook
now. While he stood on the beach, lost in perplexity and wondering what
he had best do next, an old man suddenly appeared carrying a stick in
his hand. The Happy Hunter afterwards remembered that he did not see
from whence the old man came, neither did he know how he was there--he
happened to look up and saw the old man coming towards him.

"You are Hohodemi, the Augustness, sometimes called the Happy Hunter,
are you not?" asked the old man. "What are you doing alone in such a
place?"

"Yes, I am he," answered the unhappy young man. "Unfortunately, while
fishing I lost my brother's precious fishing hook. I have hunted this
shore all over, but alas! I cannot find it, and I am very troubled, for
my brother won't forgive me till I restore it to him. But who are you?"

"My name is Shiwozuchino Okina, and I live near by on this shore. I am
sorry to hear what misfortune has befallen you. You must indeed be
anxious. But if I tell you what I think, the hook is nowhere here--it
is either at the bottom of the sea or in the body of some fish who has
swallowed it, and for this reason, though you spend your whole life in
looking for it here, you will never find it."

"Then what can I do?" asked the distressed man.

"You had better go down to Ryn Gu and tell Ryn Jin, the Dragon King of
the Sea, what your trouble is and ask him to find the hook for you. I
think that would be the best way."

"Your idea is a splendid one," said the Happy Hunter, "but I fear I
cannot get to the Sea King's realm, for I have always heard that it is
situated at the bottom of the sea."

"Oh, there will be