Chapter V Among the Fairies

WHEN the daughter heard what her father
had to say, she hurried into her room and
said to Cloudlet : " The priestess who
came here to play the harp was from Cho ; her age
was eighteen or thereabouts. Now Hoi-nam is the
same as Cho, and the age corresponds. I have more
suspicion than ever of this priestess. If the winner
is the same as she, he will undoubtedly come to see
my father. Now I want you to take note of his
coming and obtain a careful view of him."

Cloudlet replied : " I did not see the other person
who came, and so even though I see this one face to
face how should I recognise him ? I think it would
be much better if your ladyship would peep through
a chink and see him for yourself." Thus they laughed
and talked together.

Yang So-yoo had passed both the Hoi [21] and
the Chon examinations, winning the highest place
of all. He was recorded a hallim [22], a master of
literary rank, and his name shook the city. All the
nobility and the peers who had marriageable
daughters strove together in their applications
through go-betweens, but Yang declined them all.
He went instead to Secretary Kwon of the Board
of Education, and made proposals of marriage
with the house of Justice Cheung, asking a letter
of introduction. This the secretary readily gave.

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The Cloud Dream of the Nine

Yang received it, placed it in his sleeve, and went
at once to Justice Cheung's and sent in his card.

Cheung, seeing that it was the card of the winner,
said to his wife : " The champion of the kwago has
come to see us."

He was at once shown into the guest-room. His
head was crowned with the victor's wreath of flowers.
Government musicians followed in his train, sing-
ing his praises.

He bowed to the Justice and made his salutation.
Exceedingly handsome, modest and respectful in
his manner, he so impressed the Justice that he looked
on with open-mouthed wonder. The whole house,
with the exception of the daughter, was in a state of
excitement, anxious to catch a glimpse of him.

Cloudlet inquired of one of the lady's attendants :
" I understand from the conversation of the master
and mistress that the priestess who came the other
day and played the harp is a cousin of the gentle-
man who has won the honours. Do you see any
marks of resemblance ? "

The attendant caught at the suggestion at once,
saying : " Really now that must be true. They re-
semble each other wonderfully in looks and manner.
However could two cousins be as much alike as they ?"

At this Cloudlet hurried to the apartment of the
young lady and said : " There is no mistake, your
ladyship is correct."

The young mistress replied : "Go again and
hear what he says and come and tell me."

Cloudlet went, and after a long time returned to
say : "On our master's proposing marriage, the
winner Yang bowed very low, and said : ' Your

74

Among the Fairies

humble servant has heard many reports of your
daughter's excellence, of how gifted and beautiful
she is, and so boldly and presumptuously had set
his hopes high upon her. For this reason I went this
morning to Secretary Kwon and asked a letter of
introduction, which he wrote and kindly gave me.
Now, however, since I see how far inferior my family
is to yours, I find we should be ill-mated like bright
clouds and muddy water, or like the phoenix with a
common crow bird. Such being the case I had not
thought of presenting the introduction, which is
still in my sleeve pocket, too ashamed and afraid
was I.'

" He then gave it to the Justice, who, after read-
ing it with a very agreeable countenance, ordered
wine and refreshments to be brought."

The young lady gave a start of alarm, saying :
** No one ought ever to decide marriage in this light
and hasty way. Why has my father made such a
reckless decision ? "

Before she had finished speaking a servant came
to call her to her mother.

She went at once and the mother said to her :
" Yang So-yoo is the winner of the examination,
and his praises are in everyone's mouth. Your father
has just decided on his marriage with you, so we
two old folks will have a place of support and will
no longer be anxious or troubled."

The daughter replied : " I have just learned from
the servant that Master Yang's face is like that of
the priestess who came the other day to play the
harp. Is that so ? "

The mother said : " The servant is quite right

75

The Cloud Dream of the Nine

about that. The priestess musician was like a very
goddess, and I quite fell in love with her beauty.
Her looks have been constantly in my mind so that
I wished to call her again just to see her, but I have
not had the opportunity. Now that I see Master Yang
he is indeed the very image of the priestess. You will
know by that how wonderfully handsome he is."

The daughter replied : " Master Yang is very
handsome I know, but I dislike him and so am
opposed to the marriage."

" Really," exclaimed the mother, " this is a start-
ling thing to say. You have been brought up within
our women's enclosure, while Master Yang has
lived in Hoi-nam. You have had no conceivable way
of knowing each other — ^what possible dislike can
you have for him ? "

The daughter replied : " I am very much ashamed
to say why, or to speak of it, and so I have not told
you before, but the priestess who came to play the
harp the other day is none other than the famous
Master Yang. Disguised as a Taoist acolyte he found
his way in here and played in order to see me. I was
completely taken in by his cunning ruse, and so sat
two full hours face to face with him. How can you
possibly say that I have no reason to dislike him ? "

The mother felt a sudden shock of surprise that
rendered her speechless.

In the meantime Justice Cheung had dismissed
Yang, and now came into the inner quarters. Delight
and satisfaction were written over his broad coun-
tenance. He said to his daughter : " Kyong-pai,
Jewel, you have truly mounted the dragon in a way
that's wonderful."

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Among the Fairies

But the mother told Justice Cheung what her
daughter had said, and then the Justice himself made
fresh inquiry. When he learned that Master Yang had
played the Phoenix Tune in her presence he gave a
great laugh, saying: "Well, Yang is indeed a
wonder ! In olden times Wang Yoo-hak dressed as a
musician and played the flute in Princess Peace's
Palace, and later became the winner of the kwago
(examination). This is a story handed down, famous
till to-day. Master Yang, too, in order to win his
pretty bride, dressed as a woman. It would prove him
to be a very bright fellow. For a joke of this kind why
should you say you dislike him ? On the other hand,
you saw only a Taoist priestess ; you did not see
Master Yang at all. You are not responsible for the
fact that he made a very pretty girl musician, and
your part is not to be compared with that of Princess
Tak-moon who peeped through the hanging shades.
What reason have you to harbour dislikes ? "

The daughter said : "I have nothing to be
ashamed of in my heart, but to allow myself to be
taken in thus makes me so angry I could almost die."

The Justice laughed again : " This is not a matter
for your old father to know anything about. Later on
you can question Yang about it yourself."

The lady Cheung asked : " What time have you
fixed for the wedding ? "

The Justice answered : " The gifts are to be
sent at once, but we must wait till autumn for the
wedding ceremony, so as to have his mother present.
After she comes we can decide the day."

" Since matters stand thus," said the mother,
" there is no hurry as to the exact time." So they

77

The Cloud Dream of the Nine

chose a day, received the gifts, and invited Yang to
their home. They had him Uve in a special paviUon
in the park. He fulfilled all the respectful require-
ments of a son-in-law, served them well, and they
loved him as their very own.

On a certain day Cheung See, while passing
Cloudlet's room, saw that she was embroidering a pair
of shoes, but fanned to sleep by the soft days of eariy
summer, she had placed her embroidery frame for her
pillow and was deep in dreamland. The young mistress
went quietly in to admire the beautiful work. She
sighed over its matchless stitches, and as she thought
of the loving hands that worked them, she noticed a
sheet of paper with writing on it lying under the
frame. She opened it and read a verse or two written
as a tribute to her shoes. It read :

" Pretty shoes, you've won the rarest gem for mate,
Step by step you must attend her all the way.
Except when lights are out, and silence holds the

silken chamber ;
Then you'll be left beneath the ivory couch for-
gotten."

The lady read this through, and said to herself :
" No hand can write like Cloudlet's. It grows more
and more skilful. The embroidered shoes she makes
herself, and the rare gem is me, dear girl. Till now
she and I have never been separated. By and by when
I marry she speaks of being pushed aside. She loves
me truly." Then she sighed and said : " She would
like to share the same home and the same husband.
Evidently this is the wish of her heart."

Fearing to disturb her in her happy dreams Cheung

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Among the Fairies

See softly withdrew and went into her mother's
room. There her mother was busy with the servants,
overseeing meals for the young master. Jewel said :
" Since Master Yang came here to live, you, mother,
have had much anxiety on his behalf, seeing to bis
clothes and his food and the directing of his servants.
I am afraid that you are worn out. These are duties
that rightly fall to me. Not only should I dislike to do
them, however, but there is no precedent or warrant
in the law of ceremony for a betrothed girl to serve
her master. Cloudlet, however, is experienced in all
kinds of work. I should like if you would appoint her
to the guest chamber in the park, and have her see to
what pertains to Master Yang. It would lessen at
least some of your many responsibilities."

The mother replied : " Cloudlet with her marked
ability and her wonderful attractiveness can do any-
thing well, but Cloudlet's father was our most faithful
attendant, and she herself is superior to the ordinary
maid. For this reason, your father, who thinks so
much of her, desires a special choice of husband and
that she may have her own home. Is not this the
plan ? "

The daughter replied : " Her wish, I find, is to be
with me always and never to leave."

" But when you are married," said the mother,
" she could not go with you as an ordinary servant.
Her station and attainments are far superior to that.
The only way open to you in accord with ancient
rites would be to have her attend as the master's
secondary wife."

The daughter answered : " Master Yang is now
eighteen, a scholar of daring spirit who even ventured

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The Cloud Dream of the Nine

into the inner quarters of a minister's home and made
sport of his unmarried daughter. How can you expect
such a man to be satisfied with only one wife ? Later,
when he becomes a minister of state and gets ten
thousand bales of rice as salary, how many Cloudlets
will he not have to bear him company ? "

At this point Justice Cheung came in, and his wife
said : " This girl wants Cloudlet to be given to the
young master to care for him, but I think otherwise.
To appoint a secondary wife before the first marriage
takes place is something I am quite opposed to."

The Justice answered : " Cloudlet is equal to our
daughter in ability and also in beauty of face. Their
love for each other is so great that they will have to be
together always and must never be parted. They are
destined for the same home, so to send Cloudlet ahead
will really make no difference. Even a young man
devoid of love for women, being thus alone, would
find but poor companionship in his solitary candle,
how much more one so full of life as Yang ! To send
her at once and have her see that he is well looked
after would be very good indeed ; and yet to do so
before the first ceremony comes off would seem
somewhat incongruous. Might it not cause complica-
tions for his first wedding ? What do you think ? "

The daughter replied : " I have a plan, however,
by means of which Cloudlet may wipe' out the dis-
grace that I have suffered."

The Justice asked : "What plan, pray? Come, tell
me about it."

" With the help of my cousin," said the daughter,
" I wish to carry out a little plan that will rid me of my
mortification over what he has done to me."

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Among the Fairies

The Justice laughed unrestrainedly. " That is a
plan," said he.

Among the many nephews of the Justice was one
known familiarly as Thirteen, a fine young fellow,
with honest heart and clear head, jolly and full of fun.
He had become a special friend of the young master
and was most intimate with him.

The daughter returned to her own room and said
to Cloudlet : " Cloudlet, I have been with you ever
since the hair grew on our brows together. We have
always loved each other since the days when we
fought with flower buds. Now I have had my wedding
gifts sent to me, and you too are of a marriageable
age. You have no doubt thought of being married. I
wonder who you have thought of for a husband ? "

Cloudlet replied : " I have been specially loved by
you, my dearest mistress, and you have always been
partial to me. Never can I repay a thousandth part of
what you have done. If I could but hold your dressing
mirror for you for ever I should be satisfied."

" I have always known your faithful heart," said
Jewel, " and now I want to propose something to you.
You know that Master Yang made a ninny of me
when he played the harp in our inner compound. I
am put to confusion by it for ever. Only by you,
Cloudlet, can I ever hope to wipe out the disgrace.
Now I must tell you ; we have a summer pavilion, you
know, in a secluded part of South Mountain not far
from the capital. Its surroundings and views are
beautiful, like a world of the fairies. We could prepare
a marriage chamber there, and get my cousin Thirteen
to lead Master Yang into the mystery of it. If we do
this he will never again attempt a disguise or to

8l F

The Cloud Dream of the Nine

deceive anyone with his harp ; and I shall have
wiped out the memory of those hours that we sat face
to face. I am only desirous that you, Cloudlet, will not
mind taking your part in it."

Cloudlet said in reply : " How could I think of
crossing your dear wishes, and yet on the other hand
how could I ever again dare to look Master Yang in
theiace ? "

The young mistress made answer : " One who has
played a joke upon another never feels as bad when
put to shame as one who has simply had the joke put
upon him."

Cloudlet laughed and said : " Well then, even
though I die I'll go through with it and do just as
you say."

In spite of Master Yang's turn in office with the
business it involved, he had abundant leisure and
many days free. He would then pay visits to friends
or have a time of amusement in some summer pavilion
or go for jaunts on his donkey to see the willows in
bloom. On a certain day his friend Thirteen said to
him : " There is a quiet spot in the hills to the south
of the city where the view is unsurpassed ; let's go
there, brother, you and I, to satisfy our longings for
the beautiful."

Master Yang replied : " Happy thought ! That's
just what I should like to do."

Then they made ready refreshments, dispwised
with their servants as far as possible, and went three
or four miles into the hills where the green grass
clothed the mountain sides and the forest trees bent
over the rippling water. The lovely views of hill and
valley calmed all thoughts of the dusty world.

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Among the Fairies

Master Yang and Thirteen sat on the bank of the
stream and sang songs together, for the time was the
opening days of summer. Flowers were all about
them in abundance, adding to each other's beauty.
Suddenly a bud came floating down the stream. The
master saw it and repeated the lines :

•' Spring is dear, fairy buds upon the water
Now appear,
Saying ' Garden of the fairies, here ! ' "

" This river comes from Cha-gak Peak," remarked
Thirteen. " I have heard it said that at the time the
flowers bloom and when the moon is bright you can
hear the music of the fairies among the clouds, but
my affinities in the fairy world are all lacking, so that
I have never found myself among them. To-day with
my honoured brother I would like just once to set
foot in the city where they live, see their wing prints,
and peep in at the windows on these angel dwellers."

The young master, being by nature a lover of the
wonderful, heard this with delight, saying : " If
there are no fairies of course there are none, but if
there are, surely they will be here. Let us put our
dress in order and go to see if we can find them."

Just at this moment a servant from Thirteen's
home, all wet with perspiration and panting for
breath, came to say : " The master's lady has been
suddenly taken ill and I have come to call you."

Then Thirteen reluctantly arose and said : "I
wanted so much to go with you into the region of the
g^i and enjoy ourselves, but my wife is ill, and so
my chance for meeting the fairies is ended. It is only

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The Cloud Dream of the Nine

another proof of what I said, that I have no aflSnity
with fairies." He then mounted his donkey and rode
hurriedly away.

Master Yang was thtis left alone. He was not
yet satisfied with what he had seen. He followed
up the stream into the enclosing hills. The babbling
waters were clear and bright and the green peaks
encircled him solemnly about. No dust was there
here of the common world. His mind was exalted and
refreshed by the majesty of it as he stood alone on the
bank of the stream or walked slowly on.

Just then there came floating by on the water a leaf
of the cinnamon tree with a couplet of verse written
on it. He had his serving-boy fish it out and bring it
to him. The writing said :

" The fairy's woolly dog barks from amid the
clouds,
For he knows that Master Yang is on the way."

Greatly astonished, he said : " How could there by
any possibiUty be people living on these mountains,
and why should any living person ever write such a
thing as this ? "So he pushed aside the Creeping vines
and made his impatient way over rocks and stones.

His boy said to him : " The day is late, sir, and the
road precipitous. There is no place ahead at which to
put up for the night ; please let us go back to the
city."

The master, however, paid no attention but
pushed on for another ten or eight li, till the rising
moon was seen over the sky-Une of the eastern hills.
By its light he followed his way through the shadows

84

Among the Fairies

of the trees and crossed the stream. The frightened
birds uttered cries of alarm, and monkeys and other
eerie night creatures voiced their fears. The stars
seemed to rock back and forth over the wavy tips of
the tree-tops, and the dewdrops gathered on all the
needles of the pine. He realised that deep night had
fallen and that no trace of human habitation was any-
where to be seen. Neither was there any place of
shelter. He thought that perhaps a Buddhist temple
might be nigh at hand or a nunnery, but there was
none. Just at the moment of his deepest bewilder-
ment he suddenly saw a maiden of sixteen or so
dressed in fairy green, washing something by the
side of the stream.

Being alarmed by the stranger she arose quickly and
called out : " My lady, the Master is coming."

Yang hearing this was beside himself with astonish-
ment. He went on a few steps farther but the way
seemed blocked before him, till unexpectedly he saw a
small pavilion standing directly by the side of the
stream, deeply secluded, hidden away in the recesses
of the hills — just such a place as fairies were wont to
choose to live in.

A lady dressed in red then appeared in the moon-
light, standing alone below a peach tree. She bowed
gracefully, saying : " Why has the Master been so
long in coming ? "

So-yoo in fear and wonder looked carefully at her
and saw that the lady was dressed in a red outer coat
with a jade hairpin through her hair, an ornamented
belt about her waist, and a phcenix-tail fan in her
hand. She was beautiful seemingly beyond all human
realisation. In deepest reverence he made obeisance,

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The Cloud Dream of the Nine

saying : " Your humble servant is only a common
dweller of the earth, and never before in all his life had
a moonlight meeting like this. Why do you say that
I have been late in coming ? "

The maiden then ascended the steps of the pavilion
and invited him to follow. Awe-struck, he obeyed her,
and when they had seated themselves, each on a
separate mat, she called to her maid, saying : " The
Master has come a long way ; I am sure he is hungry ;
bring tea and refreshments."

The servant withdrew and in a little while brought
in a jewelled table, dishes and cups. Into a blue
crystal cup she poured the red wine of the fairies, the
taste of which was sweet and refreshing, while the
aroma from it filled the room. One glass, and he was
alive with exhilaration. Said he : " Even though this
moimtain is isolated it is under heaven. Why is it
that my fairy ladyship has left the Lake of Gems and
her companions of the crystal city and come down to
dwell in such a humble place as this ? "

The fairy gave a long sigh of regret, saying : " If I
were to tell you of the past only sorrow would result
from it. I am one of the waiting maids of the Western
Queen Mother [23] and your lordship is an officer of
the Red Palace where God dwells. Once when God
had prepared a banquet in honour of the Western
Mother, and there were many officers of the genii
present, your lordship thoughtlessly singled me out,
and tossed me some fruit of the fairies in a playful
way. For this you were severely punished and driven
through transmigration into this world of woe. I,
fortunately, was more lightly dealt with and simply
sent into exile, so here I am. Since my lord has found

86

Among the Fairies

his place among men and has been blinded by the
dust of mortality, he has forgotten all about his past
existence, but my exile is nearly over and I am to
return again to the Lake of Gems. Before going I
wanted just once to see you and renew the love of the
past, so I asked for an extension of my term, knowing
that you would come. I have waited long, however.
At last, through much trouble, you have come to me
and we can unite again the love that was lost."

But scarcely had they had a chance to express their
love or recall the awakened secrets of the past, when
the birds of the mountains began to twitter in the
branches of the trees, and the silken blinds to lighten.
The fairy said to the Master : " I must not detain you
longer. To-day is my appointed time of return to
heaven. When the officer of the genii, at the command
of God, comes with flags and banners to meet me, if
he should find you here we should be accounted
guilty. Please make haste and escape. If you are true
to your first love we shall have opportunities to meet
again." Then she wrote for him a farewell verse on a
piece of silk which ran thus :

" Since we have met, all heaven is filled with

flowers,
Now that we part, each bud is fallen to earth

again.
The joys of spring are but a passing dream,
"Wide waters block the way far as infinity."

When the Master had read this he was overcome
with regret at the thought of their parting, so he tore
off a piece of his silken sleeve and wrote a verse which
ran :

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The Cloud Dream of the Nine

" The winds of heaven blow through the green

stone flute,
Wide-winged the white clouds lift and sail away.
Another night shall mark our gladful meeting,
E'en though wild rains should block our destined

way."

The maiden received it, and said : " The moon has
set behind the Tree of Gems ; hasten away ! On all my
flight to heaven I shall have this verse by which to
see your face." So she placed it in the folds of her robe
and then urgently pressed him : " The time is passing,
Master, please make haste."

The Master raised his hands, said his regretful
good-bye and was gone. He had scarcely passed
beyond the shadowed circle of the grove when he
looked back, but there was only the green of the
mountains that seemed piled one upon the other till
they touched the white clouds in companies. He
realised then that he had had a dream of the Lake of
Gems and thus he came back home.

But his mind was all confused and his heart had
lost its joy. He sat alone thinking to himself : " Even
though the fairy did tell me that the time had come
for her return from exile, how could she tell the very
moment, or that it was to-day ? If I had only waited
a little or hidden myself in some secluded comer and
seen the fairies and their meeting, I would have come
back home in triumph. Why did I make this fatal
blunder and come away so quickly ? " So he expressed
his regrets over and over as he failed to sleep the night
through. With these vain thoughts upon him he
greeted the dawn, arose, took his servant, and went

88

5- /if '**^i:-

^f

The Poem by the Way : Among the Fairies

Among the Fairies

once more to where he had met the fairy. The plum
blossoms seemed to mock him and the passing stream
to babble in confusion. Nothing greeted him but an
empty paviUon. All the fragrance of the place had
vanished . The Master leaned over the deserted railing,
looked up in sadness, and sighed as he gazed at the
grey clouds, saying : " Fairy maiden, you have ridden
away on yonder cloud and are in audience before
Heaven's high King. Now, however, that the very
shadow of the fairy has vanished what's the use of
sighing ? "

So he came down from the pavilion. Standing by
the peach tree where first he met her he said to him-
self : " These flowers will know my depths of sorrow."

When the evening shadows began to lengthen he
returned home.

Some days later Thirteen came to Master Yang and
said : " The other day on account of my wife's illness
we failed in our outing together. My regret over that
disappointment is still with me, and now though the
plums and the peaches are past and the long stretch
of the willows is in bloom, let us take half a day away,
you and I, to see the butterflies dance and hear the
orioles sing."

Master Yang answered : " The green sward with
the willows is prettier even than the flowers."

So the two went together outside the gates of the
city across the wide plain to the green wood. They
sat upon the grass and made counting points of
flowers to reckon up the drinks they had taken. Just
above them was an old grave on an elevated ridge.
Artemisia weeds grew over it, the fresh sod had fallen
away, and there were bunches of spear grass and

89

The Cloud Dream of the Nine

other green tufts mixed together, while a few weakly-
looking flowers strove for life.

Master Yang, awakened from the dejection caused
by the wine he had drunk, pointed to the grave,
saying : " The good and the good-for-nothing,
the honourable and the mean, in a hundred years
will all have turned to heaped up mounds of clay.
This was the regret of Prince Maing-sang long,
long ago. Shall we not drink and be merry while we
may ? "

Thirteen replied : " Brother, you evidently don't
know whose grave this is. This is the grave of
Chang-yo,who died unmarried. Her beauty was the
praise and admiration of all the world in which she
lived, and so she was called Chang Yo-wha, the
Beautiful Flower. She died at the age of about twenty
and was buried here. Later generations took pity on
her and planted these willows to comfort her sorrow-
ful soul and to mark the place. Supposing we, too,
pour out a glass by way of oblation to her lovely
spirit ? "

The young Master, being by nature kind-hearted,
readily said in reply : " Good brother, your words
are most becoming." So they went together to the
front of the grave and there poured out the glass of
wine. Each likewise wrote, a verse to comfort her in
her loneliness.

The Master's words ran thus :

" The beauty of your form o'erturned the State,
Your radiant soul has mounted high to Heaven ;
The forest birds have learned the music of your way.
The flowers have donned the silken robes you wore.

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Among the Fairies

upon your grave the green of springtime rests,
The smoke hangs o'er the long deserted height,
The old songs from the streams that bore you hence,
When shall we hear them sung ? "

The scholar Thirteen 's words ran thus : ■

" I ask where was the beautiful land.
And of whose house were you the joy.
Now all is waste and desolate,
With death and silence everywhere.

The grass takes on the tints of spring.
The fragrance of the past rests with the flowers.
We call the sweet soul but she does not come,
Only the flocks of crows now come and go."

They read over together what they had written and
again poured out an offering. Thirteen then walked
round the back of the grave, when unexpectedly in an
opening where the sod had fallen away, he found a
piece of white silk on which something was written.
He read it over, saying : " What busybody, I wonder,
wrote this, and placed it on Chang-yo's grave ? "

Master Yang asked for it, and lo ! it was the piece he
had torn from his sleeve on which was the verse he
had written for the fairy. He was astounded at it, and
greatly alarmed, saying to himself : " The beautiful
woman whom I met the other day is evidently Chang-
yo's spirit." Perspiration broke out on his back and
his hair stood on end. He could scarcely control him-
self, and then again he tried to dismiss his fears by
saying : " Her beauty is so perfect, her love so real.

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The Cloud Dream of the Nine

Fairies too have their divinely appointed mates ;
devils and disembodied spirits have theirs, I suppose.
What difference is there, I wonder, between a fairy
and a disembodied spirit ? "

Thirteen at that moment arose, and while he turned
away the Master took advantage of the occasion to
pour out another glass of spirit before the grave,
saying as a prayer : " Though the living and the dead
are separated the one from the other, there is no
division in love ; I pray that your beautiful spirit will
accept of my devotion and condescend to visit me
again this night so that we can renew the love that was
broken off."

When he had done so he returned home with his
friend Thirteen, and that night he waited all alone in
the park pavilion chamber. He leaned upon his pillow
and thought with unspeakable longing of the beautiful
vision.

The light of the moon shone through the screen
and the shadows of the trees crossed the window case-
ments. All was quiet till a faint sound was heard, and
later gentle footsteps were audible . The Master opened
the door and looked, and there was the fairy whom he
had met on Cha-gak Peak. Delighted in heart, he
sprang over the threshold, took her white soft hands
in his, and tried to lead her into the room, but she
declined, saying : " The Master knows now my place
of dwelling, and does he not dislike me for it ? I
wanted to tell you everything when we first met, but
I was afraid I would frighten you, and so I made
believe that I was a fairy. Your love is so dear that my
soul has a second time returned to me, and my decay-
ing bones are again clothed with flesh. To-day also your

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Among the Fairies

lordship came to my grave and poured out a libation
and offered me condolences written in verse. Thus
have you comforted my soul that never had a master.
I cannot sufficiently express my thanks when I think
of what you have done, and so have come to-night to
say my word of gratitude. How dare I again have my
dead body touch the form of my lord ? "

But the Master took her gently by the arm and said :
" A man is a fool who is afraid of spirits. If a man dies
he becomes a spirit, and if a spirit lives it becomes a
man. A man who fears a spirit is an idiot ; and a spirit
who runs away from a living man is a foolish spirit.
They all come from one and the same source. Why
should we make a difference or divide the living from
the dead ? My thought is thus, and my love is thus.
Why do you resist me ? "

The maiden replied : " How could I ever resist
your kindness or refuse your love ? But you love me
because of my dark eyebrows and red cheeks, and
these are not true, only make-believe. They are all
part of a great trick to get into touch with one who is
living. If the Master really wishes to know my face, it
is but a few bones with the green ivy creeping through
its openings. How can your lordship ever wish to
come into contact with anything so unclean ? "

The Buddha says : " A man's body is but froth on
the water, or a gust of wind, all a make-believe,"
he said. " Who can say that it is anything, or who can
say that it is nothing at all?" So he led her into the
room.

Later as they sat talking, " Let's meet every
night," said he, " and let nothing keep us apart."

The maiden replied : " Dead spirits and living

93

The Cloud Dream of the Nine

people are different, and yet love can bind even these
together."

He loved her from the depths of his heart, and
apparently his love was reciprocated.

When the sound of the morning bells was heard she
disappeared among the flowers. He remained leaning
over the arm-rest as he saw her go. " Let's meet again
to-night " was his farewell greeting, but she said
nothing in reply and was gone.

94