He therefore resolved to treat the mirror with all the consideration due to a Spirit.  After having caused it to be carefully repolished and resilvered, he had a case of precious wood made for it, and a particular room in the house prepared to receive it.  On the evening of the same day that it had been respectfully deposited in that room, Yayoi herself unexpectedly appeared before the priest as he sat alone in his study.  She looked even more lovely than before; but the light of her beauty was now soft as the light of a summer moon shining through pure white clouds.  After having humbly saluted Matsumura, she said in her sweetly tinkling voice:—­

“Now that you have saved me from solitude and sorrow, I have come to thank you....  I am indeed, as you supposed, the Spirit of the Mirror.  It was in the time of the Emperor Saimei that I was first brought here from Kudara; and I dwelt in the august residence until the time of the Emperor Saga, when I was augustly bestowed upon the Lady Kamo, Naishinn[=o] of the Imperial Court.[69] Thereafter I became an heirloom in the House of Fuji-wara, and so remained until the period of H[=o]gen, when I was dropped into the well.  There I was left and forgotten during the years of the great war.[70] The Master of the Well[71] was a venomous Dragon, who used to live in a lake that once covered a great part of this district.  After the lake had been filled in, by government order, in order that houses might be built upon the place of it, the Dragon took possession of the well; and when I fell into the well I became subject to him; and he compelled me to lure many people to their deaths.  But the gods have banished him forever....  Now I have one more favor to beseech:  I entreat that you will cause me to be offered up to the Sh[=o]gun, the Lord Yoshimasa, who by descent is related to my former possessors.  Do me but this last great kindness, and it will bring you good-fortune....  But I have also to warn you of a danger.  In this house, after to-morrow, you must not stay, because it will be destroyed."...  And with these words of warning Yayoi disappeared.

[Footnote 69:  The Emperor Saimei reigned from 655 to 662 (A.D.); the Emperor Saga from 810 to 842.—­Kudara was an ancient kingdom in southwestern Korea, frequently mentioned in early Japanese history.—­A Naishinn[=o] was of Imperial blood.  In the ancient court-hierarchy there were twenty-five ranks or grades of noble ladies;—­that of Naishinno was seventh in order of precedence.]

[Footnote 70:  For centuries the wives of the emperors and the ladies of the Imperial Court were chosen from the Fujiwara clan—­The period called H[=o]gen lasted from 1156 to 1159:  the war referred to is the famous war between the Taira and Minamoto clans.]

[Footnote 71:  In old-time belief every lake or spring had its invisible guardian, supposed to sometimes take the form of a serpent or dragon.  The spirit of a lake or pond was commonly spoken of as Ik[’e]-no-Mushi, the Master of the Lake.  Here we find the title “Master” given to a dragon living in a well; but the guardian of wells is really the god Suijin.]