[SECT. CXV.—EMPEROR Ō-JIN (PART XII.—DESCENDANTS OF AMA-NO-HI-BOKO, AND TREASURES BROUGHT BY HIM.)]

The Kojiki, translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain, [1919], at sacred-texts.com

p. 323

Forthwith staying in that country, he wedded Saki-tsu-mi, ¹ daughter of Tajima-no-matawo, ² and begot a child: Tajima-morosuku. ³ The latter's child was Tajima-hi-ne. ⁴ The latter's child was Tajima-hinaraki. ⁵ The

p. 324

latter's children were Tajima-mori, ⁶ next Tajima-hitaka, ⁷ next Kiyo-hiko ⁸ (three Deities). ⁹ This Kiyo-hiko wedded Tagima-no-mehi, ¹⁰ and begot children: Suga-no-morowo, ¹¹ next his younger sister Suga-kama-yura-domi. ¹² So the above mentioned Tajima-hitaka wedded his niece Yura-domi, and begot a child: Her Augustness Princess Takanuka of Kadzuraki. ¹³ (This was the august parent ¹⁴ of Her Augustness Princess Okinaga-tarashi.) So the things which Ama-no-hi-boko brought over here, and which were called the "precious treasures," ¹⁵ were: two strings of pearls: ¹⁶ likewise a wave-shaking scarf, a wave-cutting scarf, a wind-shaking scarf, and a wind-cutting scarf; ¹⁷ likewise a mirror of the offing and a mirror of the shore, ¹⁸—eight articles in all. (These are the Eight Great Deities of Idzushi.) ¹⁹

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Footnotes

323:1 p. 324 This name may mean "lucky ears," or "possessor of luck;" but it is obscure, and is moreover in the ''Chronicles" (where it is given as the name, not of the daughter, but of the father) read Mahe-tsu-mi,—a reading which, will not bear either of these interpretations.

323:2 Matawo seems to signify "complete (i.e., healthy or vigorous) male." Observe that the word Tajima enters into the designations of most of his descendants.

323:3 In the "Chronicles" Morosuke, and elsewhere Morosugi. The etymology of these names is obscure except that of the last-mentioned, which signifies "many cryptomerias."

323:4 Hi-ne may perhaps signify "wondrous lord."

323:5 The meaning of this name is obscure, but that of Hina-rashi-hime in Sect. XXVI (Note 19) may be compared.

324:6 See Sect. LXXIV, Note 1.

324:7 Hi-taka may signify either "sun-height" or "wondrous height."

324:8 This name signifies "pure prince."

324:9 As usual, it is not the actual word Deity that is used, but the Auxiliary Numeral for Deities.

324:10 Tagima is the name of a place, not to be confounded with the province of Tajima. The signification of mehi is quite obscure.

324:11 Suga may either be the name of place in Tajima, as proposedp. 325 by Motowori, or identical with the Suga of Sect. XIX. The meaning of Morowo is obscure.

324:12 The signification of this name is obscure. But Suga, Kama, and Yura are apparently the names of places.

324:13 Kadzuraki no Taka-nuka-hime. Kadzuraki is the name of a department, and Takanuka that of a place in that department, in the province of Yamato.

324:14 Literally, "ancestress." But see Sect. XXII, Note 4. It will be remembered that Okinaga-tarashi-hime was the Empress Jin-go.

324:15 Literally, "treasures of jewels."

324:16 Or, "beads."

324:17 I.e., a scarf to raise the waves and a scarf to still the waves, a scarf to raise the wind and a scarf to still the wind. Conf. the magic scarfs mentioned hear the beginning of Sect. XXIII, by waving which the Deity Master-of-the-Great-Land (Oho-kuni-nushi) kept off the snakes, the wasps and the centipedes.

324:18 This seems to be the signification of the original terms oki tsu kagami and hi tsu kagami, but we are not hereby helped to a very clear understanding of the nature of the articles which the author meant to describe. The parallel passage of the "Chronicles" tells us of a "sun, mirror." Indeed it enumerates the "eight precious treasures" in a manner that diverges a great deal from the account given in these "Records."

324:19 Or, the "Eight-fold Great Deity." As has already frequently been remarked, the distinction which we so rigorously draw between Singular and Plural does not occupy the Japanese mind, and "eight "and "eight-fold" are taken to mean much the same thing, In the following sentence we find these eight deities (or this eight-fold deity) spoken of in such a manner as to necessitate the use of the Singular Number in the translation. Motowori supposes that they (or he) took the form of a young man (as in several other legends) to become the father of the Goddess mentioned in the text. . . . Idzushi seems to signify "wonderful stone."