Now when Xiang Lui was almost grown his father told him that very soon he must help him with the running of the estate. But Xiang Lui was restless and in the evening he walked out beyond the rice fields and sat for a while under a mulberry tree looking up at the starlit sky.

There his grandfather found him listening to the soft voice of a crane passing overhead.

"Soon you will be a man," said his grandfather.

"Yes," said Xiang Lui. "And I will shoulder the work with my father as a man should."

"Yes my son," said his grandfather.

"But first...."

"First my son.....?"

"First I need to know the answer to these questions."

"To have questions is good."

"Four questions."

"Four questions is good my son," said the old man

"First I need to know what it means when a thousand cranes fly across the face of the moon. Second I need to know the meaning of the golden lotus. Third I need to know how the phoenix rises from the flames. And last and most important I need to know where the celestial dragons live and why they are no longer seen."

"Ah so," said the grandfather. "And where will you go to discover these things ?"

"First I will climb high into the mountains to the caves of ice, for often I have looked up at sunset and seen fire in the mountains. It is my belief that that is where the dragons live now. Far from man. But you are a wise man, grandfather, tell me what I will need for such a journey."

The grandfather thought for a while and said, "You will need stout sandals. A simple robe. And a satchel of rice."

Read on.....

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