The Jewels Of The Ebbing And The Flowing Tide

: Japanese Fairy World

Chiuai was the fourteenth mikado of the Land of the Gods (Japan). His

wife, the empress, was named Jingu, or Godlike Exploit. She was a wise

and discreet lady and assisted her husband to govern his dominions. When

a great rebellion broke out in the south island called Kiushiu, the

mikado marched his army against the rebels. The empress went with him and

lived in the camp. One night, as she lay asleep in her tent, she dreamed
br /> that a heavenly being appeared to her and told her of a wonderful land

in the west, full of gold, silver, jewels, silks and precious stones. The

heavenly messenger told her if she would invade this country she would

succeed, and all its spoil would be hers, for herself and Japan.



"Conquer Corea!" said the radiant being, as she floated away on a purple

cloud.



In the morning the empress told her husband of her dream, and advised him

to set out to invade the rich land. But he paid no attention of her. When

she insisted, in order to satisfy her, he climbed up a high mountain, and

looking far away towards the setting sun, saw no land thither, not even

mountain peaks. So, believing that there was no country in that direction

he descended, and angrily refused to set out on the expedition. Shortly

after, in a battle with the rebels the mikado was shot dead with an

arrow.



The generals and captains of the host then declared their loyalty to the

empress as the sole ruler of Japan. She, now having the power, resolved

to carry out her daring plan of invading Corea. She invoked all the

kami or gods together, from the mountains, rivers and plains to get

their advice and help. All came at her call. The kami of the mountains

gave her timber and iron for her ships; the kami of the fields presented

rice and grain for provisions; the kami of the grasses gave her hemp for

cordage; and the kami of the winds promised to open his bag and let out

his breezes to fill her sails toward Corea. All came except Isora, the

kami of the sea shore. Again she called for him and sat up waiting all

night with torches burning, invoking him to appear.



Now, Isora was a lazy fellow, always slovenly and ill-dressed, and when

at last he did come, instead of appearing in state in splendid robes, he

rose right out of the sea-bottom, covered with mud and slime, with shells

sticking all over him and sea-weed clinging to his hair. He gruffly asked

what the empress wanted.



"Go down to Riu Gu and beg his majesty Kai Riu O, the Dragon King of the

World Under the Sea, to give me the two jewels of the tides," said the

imperial lady.



Now among the treasures in the palace of the Dragon King of the World

Under the Sea were two jewels having wondrous power over the tides. They

were about as large as apples, but shaped like apricots, with three rings

cut near the top. They seemed to be of crystal, and glistened and shot

out dazzling rays like fire. Indeed, they appeared to seethe and glow

like the eye of a dragon, or the white-hot steel of the sword-forger.

One was called the Jewel of the Flood-Tide, and the other the Jewel of

the Ebb-Tide. Whoever owned them had the power to make the tides

instantly rise or fall at his word, to make the dry land appear, or the

sea overwhelm it, in the fillip of a finger.



Isora dived with a dreadful splash, down, down to Riu Gu, and straightway

presented himself before Kai Riu O. In the name of the empress, he begged

for the two tide-jewels.



The Dragon King agreed, and producing the flaming globes from his casket,

placed them on a huge shell and handed them to Isora, who brought the

jewels to Jingu, who placed them in her girdle.



The empress now prepared her fleet for Corean invasion. Three thousand

barges were built and launched, and two old kami with long streaming

gray hair and wrinkled faces, were made admirals. Their names were Suwa

Daimi[=o] Jin (Great Illustrious, Spirit of Suwa) and Sumiyoshi Daimi[=o]

Jin, the kami who lives under the old pine tree at Takasago, and presides

over nuptial ceremonies.



The fleet sailed in the tenth month. The hills of Hizen soon began to

sink below the horizon, but no sooner were they out of sight of land than

a great storm arose. The ships tossed about, and began to butt each other

like bulls, and it seemed as though the fleet would be driven back; when

lo! Kai Riu O sent shoals of huge sea-monsters and immense fishes that

bore up the ships and pushed their sterns forward with their great

snouts. The shachihoko, or dragon-fishes, taking the ship's cables in

their mouths towed them forward, until the storm ceased and the ocean

was calm. Then they plunged downwards into the sea and disappeared.



The mountains of Corea now rose in sight. Along the shore were gathered

the Corean army. Their triangular fringed banners, inscribed with

dragons, flapped in the breeze. As soon as their sentinels caught sight

of the Japanese fleet, the signal was given, and the Corean line of war

galleys moved gaily out to attack the Japanese.



The empress posted her archers in the bows of her ships and waited for

the enemy to approach. When they were within a few hundred sword-lengths,

she took from her girdle the Jewel of the Ebbing Tide and cast the

flashing gem into the sea. It blazed in the air for a moment, but no

sooner did it touch the water, than instantly the ocean receded from

under the Corean vessels, and left them stranded on dry land. The

Coreans, thinking it was a tidal wave, and that the Japanese ships were

likewise helpless in the undertow, leaped out of their galleys and rushed

over the sand, and on to the attack. With shouting and drawn swords their

aspect was terrible. When within range of the arrows, the Japanese bowmen

opened volleys of double-headed, or triple-pronged arrows on the Coreans,

and killed hundreds.



But on they rushed, until near the Japanese ships, when the empress

taking out the Flood-Tide Jewel, cast it in the sea. In a snap of the

finger, the ocean rolled up into a wave many tens of feet high and

engulfed the Corean army, drowning them almost to a man. Only a few were

left out of the ten thousand. The warriors in their iron armor sank dead

in the boiling waves, or were cast along the shore like logs. The

Japanese army landed safely, and easily conquered the country. The king

of Corea surrendered and gave his bales of silk, jewels, mirrors, books,

pictures, robes, tiger skins, and treasures of gold and silver to the

empress. The booty was loaded on eighty ships, and the Japanese army

returned in triumph to their native country.



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