Koyuri and Mamikiko went along the shore together, and presently they came to where the red-haired creatures were drinking. When Koyuri saw them he began to weep.
"Why are you crying?" said one of the creatures. "Surely your good father has not drunk all the saké already?"
"No," replied the boy, "but I have met with misfortune. This man I bring with me, Mamikiko by name, drank some of the saké, spat it out immediately, and threw the rest away, saying that I had played a trick upon him and given him foul water to drink. Be so good as to let me have some more saké for my father."
The red-haired man filled the gourd, and chuckled over Mamikiko's unpleasant experience.
"I should also like a cup or saké" said Mamikiko. "Will you let me have some?"
Permission having been granted, the greedy Mamikiko filled the largest cup he could find, smiling over the delicious fragrance. But directly he tasted the saké he felt sick, and angrily remonstrated with the red-haired creature.
The red man thus made answer: "You are evidently not aware that I am a Shojō, and that I live near the Sea Dragon's Palace. When I heard of the sudden appearance of Mount Fuji I came here to see it, assured that such an event was a good omen and foretold of the prosperity and perpetuity of Japan. While enjoying the beauty of this fair mountain I met Koyuri, and had the good fortune to save his honest father's life by giving him some of our sacred white saké that restores youth to human beings, together with an increase in years, while to Shojō it vanquishes death. Koyuri's father is a good man, and the saké was thus able to exert its full and beneficent power upon him; but you are greedy and selfish, and to all such this saké is poison."
"Poison?" groaned the now contrite Mamikiko. "Good Shojō, have mercy upon me and spare my life!"
The Shojō gave him a powder, saying: "Swallow this in saké and repent of your wickedness."