I, for my part, believe that the pearl is the belly not indeed of a spider, but of Garuda, the eagle of Vishnu, known in the old Hindu mythology as the foe of the Vagas, beings with human bodies and the tails of serpents. At least, I found on an old Chinese gateway, dating back to the times of the Mongol emperors, a sculpture showing the contest between Garuda and the Vagas. On another sculpture of the late King epoch the Vagas are already changed into dragons, and the wings, the limbs and the head of Garuda have become quite insignificant, while his belly is prominent like a ball. A beautiful metaphor occurs in ancient Chinese writings, in the Book of the Later Han,[344] for instance, which regards this gem as the hidden soul of the oyster. There is no end of legends and myths regarding the pearl in oriental literature. One fable credits it with a peculiar magical power: by speaking the right word, a spirit can be called therefrom which makes the owner a possessor of all the happiness of the earth. Browning notes this in two exquisite stanzas, “A Pearl, a Girl,” published on the day of his death in 1889, in which he compares this characteristic with a woman’s love called forth by the mystic word. A simple ring with a single stone. To the vulgar eye no stone of price; Whisper the right word, that alone— Forth starts a sprite, like fire from ice, And lo, you are lord (says an Eastern scroll) Of heaven and earth, lord whole and sole, Through the power in a pearl. A woman (’tis I this time that say) With little the world counts worthy praise; Utter the true word—out and away Escapes her soul: I am wrapt in blaze, Creation’s lord, of heaven and earth, Lord whole and sole—by a minute’s birth— Through the love in a girl. In the folk-song of Servia is a pretty little poem which testifies to the love they bear to pearls: A youth unmated prays to God, To turn him to pearls in the sea, Where the maidens come to fill their urns; That so they might gather him into their laps, And string him on a fine green thread, And wear him pendant from the neck; That he might hear what each one said, And whether his loved one spoke of him. His prayer was granted and he lay Turned to pearls in the dark blue sea, Where the maidens come to fill their urns; Then quickly they gather him into their laps, And string him on a green silk thread, And wear him pendant from the neck; So he hears what each one says of her own And what his loved one says of him.[345]