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18. Islands of the Immortals
Long, long ago, a Chinese Emperor dreamed of paradise.
And so he made one in his garden, in a sacred triad still present in many Japanese gardens.
In about 221 B.C., at the time of the Chinese Emperor Shih-Huang-Ti, the builder of the Great Wall, it was said that there were beautiful islands out in the sea, toward the rising sun, blessed with splendid vegetation, rich in precious minerals.
Their inhabitants never grew old, and worshipped the crane, the eternal bird...
The Emperor, wishing to discover the secrets of immortality, sent an expedition to these magical islands.
But just as his ships reached the shore, the islands shimmered and the three largest ones disappeared beneath the waves.
Fortunately, Lord Buddha summoned up three giant turtles, which lifted the islands up again on their backs.
This legend, in many different forms, was reproduced in Chinese gardens and later in Japanese gardens as well.
And since then, in ponds and dry gardens, three sacred islands have summoned souls to paradise.
Turtle island, kamejima, rounded and mossy.
Crane island, tsurujima, with wings of stone.
And the highest rock in the garden, keeping watch over the other two: Horai, the mountain abode of Lord Buddha.
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