the shore like a tidal wave.

The palace of Rin Jin was at the bottom of the sea, and was so
beautiful that no one has ever seen anything like it even in dreams.
The walls were of coral, the roof of jadestone and chalcedony, and
the floors were of the finest mother-of-pearl. But the Dragon King, in
spite of his wide-spreading kingdom, his beautiful palace and all its
wonders, and his power, which none disputed throughout the whole sea,
was not at all happy, for he reigned alone. At last he thought that if
he married he would not only be happier, but also more powerful. So
he decided to take a wife. Calling all his fish retainers together,
he chose several of them as ambassadors to go through the sea and seek
for a young Dragon Princess who would be his bride.

At last they returned to the palace bringing with them a lovely young
dragon. Her scales were of a glittering green like the wings of summer
beetles, her eyes threw out glances of fire, and she was dressed in
gorgeous robes. All the jewels of the sea worked in with embroidery
adorned them.

The King fell in love with her at once, and the wedding ceremony was
celebrated with great splendor. Every living thing in the sea, from
the great whales down to the little shrimps, came in shoals to offer
their congratulations to the bride and bridegroom and to wish them a
long and prosperous life. Never had there been such an assemblage or
such gay festivities in the Fish-World before. The train of bearers
who carried the bride's possessions to her new home seemed to reach
across the waves from one end of the sea to the other. Each fish
carried a phosphorescent lantern and was dressed in ceremonial robes,
gleaming blue and pink and silver; and the waves as they rose and fell