under the blue sky; and the shape of the island of Raishu itself turned
blue, and then turned grey, and then vanished forever... And Akinosuke
suddenly awoke -- under the cedar-tree in his own garden!


For a moment he was stupefied and dazed. But he perceived his two friends
still seated near him,-- drinking and chatting merrily. He stared at them
in a bewildered way, and cried aloud,--


"How strange!"


"Akinosuke must have been dreaming," one of them exclaimed, with a laugh.
"What did you see, Akinosuke, that was strange?"


Then Akinosuke told his dream,-- that dream of three-and-twenty years'
sojourn in the realm of Tokoyo, in the island of Raishu;-- and they were
astonished, because he had really slept for no more than a few minutes.


One goshi said:--


"Indeed, you saw strange things. We also saw something strange while you
were napping. A little yellow butterfly was fluttering over your face for a
moment or two; and we watched it. Then it alighted on the ground beside
you, close to the tree; and almost as soon as it alighted there, a big, big
ant came out of a hole and seized it and pulling it down into the hole.