Note 7 — INDEX
Reading edition
The belief that the cat has nine lives may be cited, and also the belief that if an eel or a serpent is cut in two it will come to life again. A Chinese dragon may revive after being cut up and buried. The story is told in Japan of a man who killed a snake-dragon, cut it into three pieces, and buried them, but thirteen years later, on the same day of the year on which he slew the dragon, he cried out “I drink water,” choked, and died. His death was caused by the dragon he had endeavoured to kill (de Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 195). The “Deathless Snake” in an ancient Egyptian story comes to life until the severed parts are buried separately. ↑