A Japanese miscellany - University of Oregon

66 Japanese Miscellany
pictures of them, and fed them like pets, he
would set them free again, — taking them back
to the lake himself. His pictures of fish at last
became so famous that people travelled from
great distances to see them. But the most won-
derful of all his drawings of fish was not drawn
from life, but was made from the memory of a
dream. For one day, as he sat by the lake-side
to watch the fishes swimming, Kogi had fallen
into a doze, and had dreamed that he was playing
with the fishes under the water. After he awoke,
the memory of the dream remained so clear that
he was able to paint it ; and this painting, which
he hung up in the alcove of his own room in the
temple, he called " Dream-Carp."
Kogi could never be persuaded to sell any of
his pictures of fish. He was willing to part with
his drawings of landscapes, of birds, or of flowers
but he said that he would not sell a picture of
living fish to any one who was cruel enough to
kill or to eat fish. And as the persons who
wanted to buy his paintings were all fish- eaters,
their offers of money could not tempt him.
One summer Kogi fell sick; and after a week's
illness he lost all power of speech and movement,
;