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48 HONDA THE SAMUHAL
from harm. Struck with pity for the faithful animal,
the woman mourned sincerely for her pet, and order-
ing a stone image of it to be carved, had it set up in
the shrine."
These few out of thousands of such folk-tales will
give one an idea of the luxuriant growth of fancy in
a land shut up from the world, and where the idea
of a supreme Creator or of one true God was un-
known, and in which all sorts of petty gods sprang
up like fungus out of men's imagination. Then, in
addition, were the rich historical tales, the really
beautiful traditions and legends well based in truth,
the poetical ideas and conceits which associate them-
selves with nature. Finally there was a wonderful
menagerie of mythical animals unknown to geology
or natural history: dragons, phoenixes, the gentle
kirin, the red-faced and long black-nosed goblins,
called tengu, that lived in the mountains, and the
kappa, a creature half-monkey, half-tortoise, that
lived in the river and fed on fat boy babies. If a
boy were drowned while bathing, they would say the
kappa dragged him down.
All this background of ideas made the fairy-world
and dreamland of a child in Japan very different
from that of one born under the church-spires of
Christendom. The thoughts, images, and ideas in-
stilled into the mind from parents, nurses, teachers,
and playfellows make the material of dreams. When
night comes, the child with closed eyes beholds
many things which are never seen in reality. In
Mr. Rai's household grandma and nurse amused the