Now in that time Kobodaishi was wont to meditate alone by the
river-side; and one day, while so meditating, he was aware of a boy
standing before him, gazing at him curiously. The garments of the boy
were as the garments worn by the needy; but his face was beautiful. And
while Kobodaishi wondered, the boy asked him: 'Are you Kobodaishi, whom
men call "Gohitsu-Osho"--the priest who writes with five brushes at
once?' And Kobodaishi answered: 'I am he.' Then said the boy: 'If you be
he, write, I pray you, upon the sky.' And Kobodaishi, rising, took his
brush, and made with it movements toward the sky as if writing;
and presently upon the face of the sky the letters appeared, most
beautifully wrought. Then the boy said: 'Now I shall try;' and he
wrote also upon the sky as Kobodaishi had done. And he said again to
Kobodaishi: 'I pray you, write for me--write upon the surface of the
river.' Then Kobodaishi wrote upon the water a poem in praise of the
water; and for a moment the characters remained, all beautiful, upon
the face of the stream, as if they had fallen upon it like leaves; but
presently they moved with the current and floated away. 'Now I
will try,' said the boy; and he wrote upon the water the
Dragon-character--the character Ryu in the writing which is called
Sosho, the 'Grass-character;' and the character remained upon the
flowing surface and moved not. But Kobodaishi saw that the boy had not
placed the ten, the little dot belonging to the character, beside it.
And he asked the boy: 'Why did you not put the ten?' 'Oh, I forgot!'
answered the boy; 'please put it there for me,' and Kobodaishi then made
the dot. And lo! the Dragon-character became a Dragon; and the Dragon
moved terribly in the waters; and the sky darkened with thunder-clouds,
and blazed with lightnings; and the Dragon ascended in a whirl of
tempest to heaven.
Then Kobodaishi asked the boy: 'Who are you?' And the boy made answer:
'I am he whom men worship on the mountain Gotai; I am the Lord of
Wisdom,--Monju Bosatsu!' And even as he spoke the boy became changed;
and his beauty became luminous like the beauty of gods; and his limbs
became radiant, shedding soft light about. And, smiling, he rose to
heaven and vanished beyond the clouds.