The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1910-10-06
STORY OF THE SWORD
sRY MoRME.

U1EIIf6 SOQSs dLA 9ttC OloIlCAa was 4
her. But h was angry with him; and
her anger was a great anger, like the
grumbling of the storm or the biting
Hash OF the lightning. She drove ner
brother from the house of the gods, and
closed the great doors against him.
These doors are very great. and built
of solid stone, massive and thick. And
when the doors Were closed against her
brother, his punishment fell on others
than himself, as often happens in the
correction of wrongdoers; for ALL the
jewellers in Japan could no longer see
1.-THE beautiful bright light of the face OF
the sun goddess while the doors We're
closed. This was the first eclipse OF
the sun. In these days there are men
who do not believe in the stone doors,
but the knowledge of the olden people
was deeper and mere true, and they
knew that when that black arkness
fell upon their land the doors We're
shut. There were even some who had
seen the great gates closing between
them and the light Of loneliness.
When these doors were shut the
darkness raj intense, and there was
not one man who could tell whether
he was alone or In p except
by shouting and waiting for an answer.
But the darkness was so oppressive
that no man burst shout at all. and ST.
lence and darkness are two terrible
things. But at last a cock cried aloud
for deliverance from the dark. His
cry was like the Growing of the cocks
we know today. 1t was harsh, and the
sun god thought it very funny. But 1T
made her kind to the poor people Of
Japan, who were cropping in the dark,
and she had the great doors flung open,
and let the light of her face shine
through And ever since. late IN the
night time, the cocks all through Japan
crow to summon the dawn, for they
, know that their growing pleases the
sun goddess.
But though she had opened the doors,
the sun goddess could not forgive her
brother, and the other gods held coun.
Gil together, and decreed that he 3hould
be banished to a far province of jap
an-to Idzumo, the high Ian hence
come the clouds. And sorrowfully he
left heaven, and wandered alone. And
after wandering without ceasing for
many days, he came upon an old wo-
man weeping bitterly.
What is thy sorrow" he asked.
my sorrow, oh most beautiful of
young men, is more grievous than the
SORROWS of all other women. Thou wilt
weep, even as / weep, If I tell thee of
my Woe"
"Who knows" said he, but that I
may be able to do something to help
thee?"
ooh, most kind-hearted Of youths"
sobbed the old woman. II had twelve
daughters, each one being more beau
tiful han the cherry blossoms"
Where are they noW?' asked tbs
brother of the sun goddess, for he took
the laughter of his heart n the mu-
sic of his soul from the loveliness of a
girl.
The old woman sobbed afresh, and
continued: The most cruel of SER
pents, a reptile with eight vile heads.
has eaten my daughters one by one, ex-
cepting the last, and 0 / am in the
most terrible distress to discover a
means of saving her from him. He
comes to devour her, and of the twelve
fair blossoms, she is the last and the
loveliest."
"This must not be-" said he. Tell
me-, when comes the monster to his
feast?"
This very night he will be here"
she said, and burst again into pro-
longed weeping.
Take me to your house." he said,
tand 1 will show you my power"
So the old wonan took him to her
house and there he found the most
beautiful girl that has ever been seen
in Japan or in the unknown parts OF
h world. And though she was sor-
rowful, yet the light of young life
shone through her skin, and dazzled
him so that he could not look at her
without turning away his eyes. And
when she looked at him, which she did
very often. although he was a god, he
felt smaller and meaner than the most
contemplate of mortals. And he knew
that he loved this girl more han all
the goddesses of heaven; and soon 1t
became clear that she, too, loved him.
Then he began to plot to save her from
the eight-headed serpent. And he
made a plan, n sent for eight large
casks full of the most powerful sake
| that most intoxicating of drinks. These
) + hq rrnll ha a ARA N Oa3 In q TnJr nrr
the garden. And when the night came
l he embraced the beautiful girl and sent
Z her inside the house while he waited
in silence for the coming of the snake
! And the night hours slipped by unit
the was 80 thick that wher
J he held his sword before him h. coulc
[ not see Its blade. And then a long
faint rustling crept to his ears. Tn
snake was coming.
He peered through the darkness an
saw the glinmer of an evil light. lik,
. that which hangs above an opened
grave, qulvering among the bushes
and he saw that the body of the snak,
. emitted this poisonous light, as 1t slit
! u~nsuspecting and eager for Its foo
= toward the home OF it's prey. Suddenl,
1t flashed from out the trees, and h
watched 1t rear eight awful heads
J, laughing with the glee of fiends, as |
o saw he sake barrels. In each barre
o 1T placed one cruel head. and the broth
er of the sun goddess could hear tn
:. wet splashing of the liquid as it poure
down the eight cruel throats.
When 1t had finished drinking tn
snake tried to go forward, but coul
8 not. The strong sleep OF the sake ha
g seized 1t, n 1t sank back to rest. In
u tantly the young god strobe toward 1
and with eight swift strokes severe
. the vile heads from the body still NOR
2 vile. AS he looked upon this ev
q corpse, glimmering with p~hosphores
a cence Of putrid things. a great loathin
a for 1t filled him, and he cut it fercel
a into small pieces, beginning from tn
: necks. And as he got close to the tai
: there was a brilliant fash and hi
sword broke In many pieces. And h
. looked and saw something bright shin
Ing in the tall. He put down his han
70 and felt a hard thing. He pulled on
: the most wonderful of all swords-th
% sword Of the snake; and this is tn
sword that was given to be held for
:. ever by the mikados Of Japan.
8 But 1T is not now called the sword {
''r the snake. For, many years afte