The second legend is: "When the So-sa-no-o no mikoto went to the sources of the river Hi-no-ka-mi at Idzumo, he heard lamentations from a house; he therefore approached it and inquired the cause. He saw an old man and woman clasping a young girl. They told him that in that country there was a very large serpent, which had eight[247] heads and eight tails, and came annually and swallowed one person. 'We had eight children, and we have already lost seven, and now have only one left, who will be swallowed; hence our grief.' The mikoto said, 'If you will give that girl to me, I will save her.' The old man and woman were rejoiced. The mikoto changed his form, and assumed that of the young girl. He divided the room into eight partitions, and in each placed one saki tub and waited its approach. The serpent arrived, drank the saki, got intoxicated, and fell asleep. "Then the mikoto drew his sword and cut the serpent into small pieces. When he was cutting the tail his sword was a little broken; therefore he split open the tail to find the reason, and found in it a valuable sword, and offered it to the god O-mi-ka-mi, at Taka-maga-hara. "He called the sword Ama no mourakoumo no tsurogi,[248] because there was a cloud up in the heaven where the serpent lies. Finally he married the girl, and built a house at Suga in Idzumo." The third story runs as follows:-- _The White Dragon._ "There is a very large pond at the eastern part of Fu-si-mī-shi-ro-yama, at Yama-shiro (near Kioto); it is called Ukisima. In the fine weather little waves rise up on account of its size. There are many turtles in it. In the summertime many boys go to the pond to swim, but never go out into the middle or far from the shore. No one is aware how deep the centre of the pond is, and it is said that a white dragon lives in that pond, and can transform itself into a bird, which the people of the district call O-gon-cho, _i.e._ golden bird, because, when it becomes a bird, it has a yellow plumage. The bird flies once in fifty years, and its voice is like the howling of a wolf. In that year there is famine and pestilence, and many people die. Just one hundred years ago, when this bird flew and uttered its cry, there was a famine and drought and disease, and many people died. Again, at Tempo-go-nen (_i.e._ in the fifth year of Tempo), fifty years back from the present time, the bird flew as before, and there was once again disease and famine. Hence the people in that district were much alarmed, as it is now just fifty years again. They hoped, however, that the bird would not fly and cry. But at 2 A.M. of the 19th April it is said that it was seen to do so. The people, therefore, were surprised, and now are worshipping God in order to avert the famine and disease. The old farmers say, in the fine weather the white dragon may occasionally be seen floating on the water, but that if it sees people it sinks down beneath the surface."[249]