one day he sallied forth in search of adventures , for he had the nature of a warrior and could not bear to be idle . so he buckled on his two swords , took his huge bow , much taller than himself , in his hand , and slinging his quiver on his back started out . he had not gone far when he came to the bridge of seta - no - karashi spanning one end of the beautiful lake biwa . no sooner had he set foot on the bridge than he saw lying right across his path a huge serpent - dragon . its body was so big that it looked like the trunk of a large pine tree and it took up the whole width of the bridge . one of its huge claws rested on the parapet of one side of the bridge , while its tail lay right against the other . the monster seemed to be asleep , and as it breathed , fire and smoke came out of its nostrils . at first hidesato could not help feeling alarmed at the sight of this horrible reptile lying in his path , for he must either turn back or walk right over its body . he was a brave man , however , and putting aside all fear went forward dauntlessly . crunch , crunch ! he stepped now on the dragon 's body , now between its coils , and without even one glance backward he went on his way . he had only gone a few steps when he heard some one calling him from behind . on turning back he was much surprised to see that the monster dragon had entirely disappeared and in its place was a strange - looking man , who was bowing most ceremoniously to the ground . his red hair streamed over his shoulders and was surmounted by a crown in the shape of a dragon 's head , and his sea - green dress was patterned with shells . hidesato knew at once that this was no ordinary mortal and he wondered much at the strange occurrence . where had the dragon gone in such a short space of time ? or had it transformed itself into this man , and what did the whole thing mean ? while these thoughts passed through his mind he had come up to the man on the bridge and now addressed him : 
the serpent - dragon .
who will the strange-looking man turn out to be ?
who will the strange-looking man turn out to be ?