The term _Shinkir[=o]_ is used in the meaning of "mirage," and also as
another name for H[=o]rai, the Elf-land of Far Eastern fable. Various
beings in Japanese myth are credited with power to delude mortals
by creating a mirage of H[=o]rai. In old pictures one may see a toad
represented in the act of exhaling from its mouth a vapor that shapes
the apparition of H[=o]rai.
But the creature especially wont to produce this illusion is the
_Hamaguri_,--a Japanese mollusk much resembling a clam. Opening its
shell, it sends into the air a purplish misty breath; and that mist
takes form and defines, in tints of mother-of-pearl, the luminous
vision of H[=o]rai and the palace of the Dragon-King.
Hamaguri no
Kuchi aku toki ya,
Shinkir[=o]!
Yo ni shiraré ken
Tatsu-no-miya-himé!
[_When the hamaguri opens its mouth--lo! Shinkir[=o]
appears!... Then all can clearly see the Maiden-Princess of
the Dragon-Palace._]
Shinkir[=o]--
Tatsu no miyako no
Hinagata[33] wo
Shio-hi no oki ni
Misuru hamaguri!
[_Lo! in the offing at ebb-tide, the hamaguri makes visible
the miniature image of Shinkir[=o]--the Dragon-Capital!_]
[Footnote 33: _Hinagata_ means especially "a model," "a miniature
copy," "a drawn plan," etc.]