Identifier: mikadosempire05grif (find matches)
Title: The mikado's empire
Year: 1894 (1890s)
Authors: Griffis, William Elliot, 1843-1928
Subjects:
Publisher: New York, Harper & brothers
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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tof a red worm, scales like those of a fish, claw^s like a hawks, paws likea tigers, and ears like a cows. In the spring, the dragon lives in heav-en ; in the autumn, in the water; in the summer, it travels in the THE MYTHICAL ZOOLOGY OF JAPAN. 479 clouds and takes its pleasure; in winter, it lives in the earth dormant.It always dwells alone, and never in herds. There are many kinds ofdragons, such as the violet, the yellow, the green, the red, the white, theblack, and the flying dragon. Some are scaly, some horned, some with-out horns. When the white dragon breathes, the breath of its lungsgoes into the earth and turns to gold. When the violet dragon spits,the spittle becomes balls of pure crystal, of which gems and casketsare made. One kind of dragon has nine colors on its body, and an-other can see every thing within a hundred ri; another has immensetreasures of every sort; another delights to kill human beings. Thewater dragon causes floods of rain; when it is sick, the rain has a
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The Rain Dragon. (From a Japanese drawing, by Kane.) fishy smell. The fire dragon is only seven feet long, but its body isof flame. The dragons are all very lustful, and approach beasts of ev-ery sort. The fruit of a union of one of these monsters with a cowis the kirin ; with a swine, an elephant; and with a mare, a steed ofthe finest breed. The female dragon produces at every parturitionnine young. The first young dragon sings, and likes all harmonioussounds, hence the tops of Japanese bells are cast in the form of this 480 THE MIKADOS EMPIRE. dragon; the second delights in the sounds of musical instruments,hence the koto, or horizontal harp, and suzumi, a girls drum, struck bythe fingers, are ornamented with the figure of this dragon; the thirdis fond of drinking, and likes all stimulating liquors, therefore gobletsand drinking-cups are adorned with representations of this creature;the fourth likes steep and dangerous places, hence gables, towers, andprojecting beams of temples and

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