After some time a bow and an arrow dropped to the earth in the
courtyard of the Palace. They were recognized as having belonged to
the Emperor Kotei. The courtiers took them up carefully and
preserved them as sacred relics in the Palace.




THE ADVENTURES OF KINTARO, THE GOLDEN BOY.


Long, long ago there lived in Kyoto a brave soldier named Kintoki.
Now he fell in love with a beautiful lady and married her. Not long
after this, through the malice of some of his friends, he fell into
disgrace at Court and was dismissed. This misfortune so preyed upon
his mind that he did not long survive his dismissal--he died,
leaving behind him his beautiful young wife to face the world alone.
Fearing her husband's enemies, she fled to the Ashigara Mountains as
soon as her husband was dead, and there in the lonely forests where
no one ever came except woodcutters, a little boy was born to her.
She called him Kintaro or the Golden Boy. Now the remarkable thing
about this child was his great strength, and as he grew older he
grew stronger and stronger, so that by the time he was eight years
of age he was able to cut down trees as quickly as the woodcutters.
Then his mother gave him a large ax, and he used to go out in the
forest and help the woodcutters, who called him "Wonder-child," and
his mother the "Old Nurse of the Mountains," for they did not know
her high rank. Another favorite pastime of Kintaro's was to smash up
rocks and stones. You can imagine how strong he was!