[ p. 28 ]
¶ SECT. VI.—BIRTH OF THE VARIOUS DEITIES.
When they had finished giving birth to countries, they began afresh giving birth to Deities. So the name of the Deity they gave birth to was the Deity Great-Male-of-the-Great-Thing; [1] next they gave birth to the Deity Rock-Earth-Prince; [2] next they gave birth to the Deity Rock-Nest-Princess; [3] [26] next they gave birth to the Deity Great-Door-Sun-Youth; [4] next they gave birth to the Deity Heavenly-Blowing-Male; [5] next they gave birth to the Deity Great-House-Prince; [6] next they gave birth to the Deity Youth-of-the-Wind-Breath-the-Great-Male; [7] next they gave birth to the Sea-Deity, whose name is the Deity Great-Ocean-Possessor; [8] next they gave birth to the Deity of the Water-Gates, [9] whose name is the Deity Prince-of-Swift-Autumn; [10] next they gave birth to his younger sister the Deity Princess-of-Swift-Autumn. (Ten Deities in all from the Deity-Great-Male-of-the-Great-Thing to the Deity Princess-of-Autumn.) [11] The names of the Deities given birth to by these two Deities Prince-of-Swift-Autumn and [27] Princess-of-Swift-Autumn from their separate dominions of river and sea were: the Deity Foam-Calm; [12] next the Deity Foam-Waves; next the Deity Bubble-Calm; next the Deity Bubble-Waves; next the Deity Heavenly-Water-Divider; [13] next the Deity Earthly-Water-Divider; next the Deity Heavenly-Water-Drawing-Gourd-Possessor; [14] next the Deity Earthly-Water-Drawing-Gourd-Possessor. (Eight Deities in all from the Deity Foam-Prince to the Deity Earthly-Water-Drawing-Gourd-Possessor.) Next they gave birth to the Deity of Wind, whose name is the Deity Prince-of-Long-Wind. [15] Next they gave birth to the Deity of Trees, whose name is Deity Stem-Elder, [16] next [ p. 29 ] they gave birth to the Deity of Mountains, whose name is the Deity Great-Mountain-Possessor. [17] Next they gave birth to the Deity of Moors, whose name is the Deity Thatch-Moor-Princess, [18] another name for whom is the Deity Moor-Elder. (Four Deities in all from the Deity Prince-of Long-Wind to Moor-Elder.) The names of the Deities given [28] birth to by these two Deities, the Deity Great-Mountain-Possessor and the Deity Moor-Elder from their separate dominions of mountain and moor were: the Deity Heavenly-Elder-of-the-Passes; next the Deity Earthly-Elder-of-the-Passes; [19] next the Deity Heavenly-Pass-Boundary, next the Deity Earthly-Pass-Boundary; [20] next the Deity Heavenly-Dark-Door; next the Deity Earthly Dark-Door; [21] next the Deity Great-Vale-Prince; next the Deity Great-Vale-Princess. [22] (Eight Deities in all from the Deity Heavenly-Elder-of-the-Passes to the Deity Great-Vale-Princess.) The name of the Deity they [23] next gave birth to was the Deity Bird’s-Rock-Camphor-tree-Boat, [24] another name for whom is the Heavenly-Bird-Boat. Next they gave birth to the Deity Princess-of-Great-Food. [25] Next they gave [29] birth to the Fire-Burning-Swift-Male-Deity, [26] another name for whom is the Deity Fire-Shining-Prince, and another name is the Deity Fire-Shining-Elder.
[ p. 30 ]
[ p. 31 ]
[ p. 32 ]
¶ SECT. VII.—RETIREMENT OF HER AUGUSTNESS THE PRINCESS-WHO-INVITES.
Through giving birth to this child her august private parts were burnt, and she sickened and lay down. [27] The names of the Deities born from her vomit were the Deity Metal-Mountain-Prince and next the Deity Metal-Mountain-Princess. [28] The names of the Deities that were born from her faeces were the Deity Clay-Viscid-Prince and next the Deity Clay-Viscid-Princess. [29] The names of the Deities that were next born from her urine were the Deity Mitsuhanome [30] and next the Young-Wondrous-Producing-Deity. [31] The child of this Deity was called [ p. 33 ] the Deity Luxuriant-Food-Princess. [32] So the Deity [30] the Female-Who-Invites, through giving birth to the Deity-of-Fire, at length divinely retired. [33] (Eight Deities in all from the Heavenly-Bird-Boat to the Deity Luxuriant-Food-Princess. [34])
The total number of islands given birth to jointly by the two Deities the Male-Who-Invites and the Female-Who-Invites was fourteen, and of Deities thirty-five. (These are such as were given birth to before the Deity Princess-Who-Invites divinely retired. Only the Island of Onogoro, was not given birth to. [35] and moreover the Leech-Child [36] and the Island of Aha are not reckoned among the children).
So then His Augustness the Male-Who-Invites said: Oh! Thine Augustness my lovely younger sister! Oh that I should have exchanged thee for this single child!" [37] And as he crept round her august pillow, and [31] as he crept round her august feet and wept, there was born from his august tears the Deity that dwells at Konomoto near Unewo on Mount Kagu, [38] and whose name is the Crying-Weeping-Female-Deity. [39] So he buried the divinely retired [40] Deity the Female-Who-Invites on Mount Hiba [41] at the boundary of the Land of Idzumo [42] and the Land of Hahaki. [43]
[ p. 34 ]
[ p. 35 ]
¶ SECT. VIII.—THE SLAYING OF THE FIRE-DEITY.
Then His Augustness the Male-Who-invites, drawing the ten-grasp sabre [44] that was augustly girded on him, [32] cut off the head of his child the Deity Shining-Elder. Hereupon the names of the Deities that were born from the blood that stuck to the point of the august sword [ p. 36 ] and bespattered the multitudinous rock-misses were: the Deity Rock-Splitter, [45] next the Deity Root-Splitter, next the Rock-Possessing-Male-Deity. [46] The names of the Deities that were next born from the blood that stuck to the upper part [47] of the august sword and again bespattered the multitudinous rock-masses were: the Awfully-Swift-Deity, [48] next the Fire-Swift-Deity, [49] next the Brave-Awful-Possessing-Male-Deity, [50] another name for whom is the Brave-Snapping-Deity, [51] and another name is the Luxuriant-Snapping Deity. The names of the Deities that were next born from the blood that collected [33] on the hilt of the august sword and leaked out between his fingers were: the Deity Kura-okami and next the Deity Kura-mitsuha. [52]
All the eight Deities in the above list, from the Deity Rock-Splitter to the Deity Kura-mitsuha, are Deities that were born from the august sword.
The name of the Deity that was born from the head of the Deity Shining-Elder, who had been slain was the Deity Possessor-of-the-True-Pass-Mountains. [53] The name of the Deity that was next born from his chest was the Deity Possessor-of-Descent-Mountains. [54] The name of the Deity that was next born from his belly was the Deity Possessor-of-the-Innermost-Mountains. [55] The name of the Deity that was next born from his private parts was the Deity Possessor-of-the-Dark-Mountains. The name of the Deity that was next born from his left hand [^247] was the Deity Possessor-of-the-Dense[ly-Wooded]-Mountains. The name of the Deity that was next born from his right hand [^247] was the Deity Possessor-of-the-Outlying, Mountains. The name of the Deity that was next born from his left foot [56] was the Deity Possessor-of-the-Moorland-Mountains. [ p. 37 ] The name of the Deity that was next born from his right foot [57] was the Deity Possessor-of-the-Outer-Mountains. (Eight Deities in all from the Deity Possessor-of-the-True-Pass-Mountains to the Deity Possessor-of-the-Outer-Mountains). So the name of the sword with which [the Male-Who-Invites] cut off [his son’s head] was Heavenly-Point-Blade-Extended, and another name was Majestic Point-Blade-Extended. [58]
[ p. 38 ]
¶ SECT. IX.—THE LAND OF HADES.
Thereupon [His Augustness the Male Who-Invites], wishing to meet and see his younger sister Her Augustness the Female-Who-Invites, followed after her to the Land of Hades. [59] So when from the palace she raised the [35] door and came out to meet him, [60] His Augustness the Male-Who-Invites spoke, saying: “Thine Augustness my lovely younger sister! the lands that I and thou made are not yet finished making; so come back!” Then Her Augustness the Female-Who-Invites answered, saying: [ p. 39 ] “Lamentable indeed that thou earnest not sooner! I have eaten of the furnace of Hades. [61] Nevertheless, as I reverence [62] the entry here of Thine Augustness my lovely elder brother, I wish to return. [63] Moreover [64] I will discuss it particularly with the Deities of Hades. [65] Look not at me!” Having thus spoken, she went back inside the palace; and as she tarried there very long, he could not wait. So having taken and broken off one of the end-teeth [66] of the multitudinous and close-toothed comb stuck in the august left bunch [of his hair], he lit one light [67] and went in and looked. Maggots were swarming. and [she was] rotting, and in her head dwelt the Great-Thunder, [36] in her breast dwelt the Fire-Thunder, in her left hand [68] dwelt the Young-Thunder, in her right hand [68:1] dwelt the Earth-Thunder, in her left foot [^261] dwelt the Rumbling-Thunder, in her right foot [^261] dwelt the Couchant-Thunder:—altogether eight Thunder-Deities had been born and dwelt there. [69] Hereupon His Augustness the Male-Who-Invites, overawed at the sight, fled back, whereupon his younger sister Her Augustness the Female-Who-Invites said: “Thou hast put me to shame,” and at once sent the Ugly-Female-of-Hades [^263] to pursue him. So His Augustness the Male-Who-Invites took his black august head-dress [70] and cast it down, and it instantly turned into grapes. While she picked them up and ate them, he fled on; but as she still pursued him, he took and broke the multitudinous and close-toothed comb in the right bunch [of his hair] and cast it down, and it instantly turned into bamboo-sprouts. While she pulled them up and ate them, he fled on. Again later [his Younger sister] sent the eight Thunder-Deities with a thousand and five hundred warriors of Hades to pursue [37] [ p. 40 ] him. So he, drawing the ten-grasp sabre that was augustly girded on him, fled forward brandishing it in his back hand; [71] and as they still pursued, he took, on reaching the base of the Even Pass of Hades, [72] three peaches that were growing at its base, and waited and smote [his pursuers therewith], so that they all fled back. Then His Augustness the Male-Who-Invites announced to the peaches: “Like as ye have helped me, so must ye help all living people [73] in the Central Land of Reed-Plains [74] when they shall fall into troublous circumstances and be harassed!”—and he gave [to the peaches] the designation of Their Augustnesses Great-Divine-Fruit. [75] Last of all his younger sister Her Augustness the Princess-Who-Invites came out herself in pursuit. So he drew a thousand-draught rock, [76] and [with it] blocked up the Even Pass of Hades, and placed the rock in the middle; and they stood opposite to one another and exchanged leave-takings; [77] and Her Augustness the Female-Who-Invites said: “My lovely elder brother, thine Augustness! If thou do like this, I will in one day strangle to death a thousand of the folks of thy land.” Then His Augustness the Male-Who-Invites replied: “My lovely younger sister, Thine Augustness! If thou do this, I will in one day set up a thousand and five hundred parturition-houses. [78] In this manner each day a thousand people would surely be born.” So Her Augustness the Female-Who-Invites is called the Great-Deity-of-Hades. [79] Again it is said that, owing to her having pursued and reached [her elder brother], she is called the Road-Reaching-Great-Deity. [80] Again the rock with which he blocked up the Pass of Hades is called the Great-Deity-of-the-Road-Turning-back, [81] [ p. 41 ] and again it is called the Blocking-Great-Deity-of-the-Door-of-Hades. [82] So what was called the Even-Pass-of-Hades is now called the Ifuya-Pass [83] in the Land of Idzumo.
[ p. 42 ]
[ p. 43 ]
[ p. 44 ]
¶ SECT. X.—THE PURIFICATION OF THE AUGUST PERSON.
Therefore the Great Deity the Male-Who-Invites said: “Nay! hideous! I have come to a hideous and polluted land,—I have! [84] So I will perform the purification of my august person.” So he went out to a plain [covered with] ahagi [85] at a small river-mouth near Tachibana [86] in Himuka [87] in [the island of] Tsukushi, and purified and cleansed himself. So the name of the Deity that was born from the august staff which he threw down was the Deity Thrust-Erect-Come-Not-Place. [88] The name of [40] the Deity that was born from the august girdle which he next threw down was the Deity Road-Long-Space. [89] [ p. 45 ] The name of the Deity that was born from the august skirt which he next threw down was the Deity Loosen-Put. [90] The name of the Deity that was born from the august upper garment which he next threw down was the Deity Master-of-Trouble. [91] The name of the Deity that was born from the august trousers which he next threw down was the Road-Fork-Deity. [92] The name of the Deity that was born from the august hat which he next threw down was the Deity Master-of-the-Open-Mouth. [93] The names of the Deities that were born from the bracelet of his august left hand [94] which he next threw down were the Deities Offing-Distant, [95] next the Deity Wash-Prince-of-the-Offing, next the Deity Intermediate-Direction-of-the-Offing. The names of the Deities that were born from the bracelet of his august right hand [41] which he next threw down were: the Deity Shore-Distant, next the Deity Wash-Prince-of-the-Shore, next the Deity Intermediate-Direction-of-the-Shore.
The twelve Deities mentioned in the foregoing [96] list from the Deity Come-Not-Place down to the Deity Intermediate-Direction-of-the-Shore are Deities that were born from his taking off the things that were on his person.
Thereupon saying: “The water in the upper reach is [too] rapid; the water in the lower reach is [too] sluggish,” he went down and plunged in the middle reach; and, as he washed, there was first born the Wondrous-Deity-of-Eighty-Evils, and next the Wondrous-Deity-of-Great-Evils. [97] These two Deities are the Deities that were born from the filth [he contracted] when he went to that polluted, hideous land. [98] The names of the Deities that were next born to rectify those evils were: [ p. 46 ] the Divine-Rectifying-Wondrous Deity, next the Great-Rectifying-Wondrous-Deity, [99] next the Female-Deity-Idzu. [100] The names of the Deities that were next born, as he bathed at the bottom of the water, were: the Deity Possessor-of-the-Ocean-Bottom, [101] and next His Augustness Elder-Male-of-the-Bottom. The names of the Deities that were born as he bathed in the middle [of the water] were: the Deity Possessor-of-the-Ocean-Middle, and next His Augustness Elder-Male-of-the-Middle. The names of the Deities that were born as he bathed at the top of the water were the Deity Possessor-of-the-Ocean-Surface, and next His Augustness Elder-Male-of-the-Surface. These three Ocean-Possessing Deities are the Deities held in reverence as their ancestral Deities by the Chiefs of Adzumi. [102] So the Chiefs of Adzumi are the descendants of His Augustness Utsushi-hi-gana-saku, [103] a child of these Ocean-Possessing Deities. [104] These three Deities His Augustness Elder-Male-of-the-Bottom, His Augustness Elder-Male-of-the-Middle, and His Augustness Elder-Male-of-the-Surface are the three Great Deities of the Inlet of Sumi. [105] The name of the Deity that was born as he thereupon washed his left august eye was the Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity. [106] The name of the Deity that was next born as he washed his right august eye was His Augustness, Moon-Night Possessor. [107] The name of the Deity that was next born as he washed his august nose was His Brave-Swift-impetuous-Male-Augustness. [108]
The fourteen Deities in the foregoing list from the Wondrous-Deity-of-Eighty-Evils down to His Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness are Deities born from the bathing of his august person.
[ p. 47 ]
[ p. 48 ]
[ p. 49 ]
¶ Footnotes
28:1 p. 29 Oho-koto-oshi-wo-no-kami. “The Male-Enduring-Great-Things” would be a possible, but less good rendering. This god is identified by Motowori with Koto-toke-no-wo mentioned in “One account” of the “Chronicles of Japan.” ↩︎
28:2 The original Ika-tsuchi-biko-no-kami (
) is identified by Motowori with Uha-zutsu-no-wo, ( 
) mentioned in Sect. X (Note 18). He would interpret the first tsu (dzu) as the Genitive particle and the second as identical with the “Honorific appellation ji of males,” such as Hikoji, Oho-to-no-ji, etc. If this surmise were correct, the entire name would signify Upper-Lord-Prince; but it is safer to be guided by the characters in the text. ↩︎28:3 p. 30 Iha-zu-bime-no-kami. Here too Motowori takes the syllable zu- to be “connected with” the syllables tsu-tsu interpreted as above, forgetting apparently that the second tsu (ji) is said to occur only in the names of males. ↩︎
28:4 Oho-to-bi-wake-na-kami, a name which Motowori, by supposing corruptions of the text and by making a plentiful use of the pliant and powerful system of derivation with which the Japanese etymologists lay siege to the difficulties of their language, identifies with Oho-naho-bi-no-kami, “the Great-Rectifying-Wondrous-Deity,” mentioned in Sect. X (Note 16). ↩︎
28:5 Ame-no-fuki-wo-no-kami, identified by Motowori with I-buki-do-nushi mentioned in the “Ritual of the General Purification.” (See his Commentary on this Ritual, Vol. II, pp. 29-32.) ↩︎
28:6 Ohoyabikonokami, identified by Motowori with Oho-aya-tsui-bi mentioned in “One account” of the “Chronicles.” ↩︎
28:7 Kaza-ge-tsu-wake-no-oshi-wo-no-kami. Motowori’s conjectural interpretation has been followed; but both the reading and the meaning of the original are encompassed with difficulties. Motowori identifies this deity with Soko-sasura-hime mentioned in the “Ritual of the General Purification.” ↩︎
28:8 Oho-wata-tsu-mi-no-kami. The interpretation of mochi, “possessor,” though not absolutely sure, has for it the weight both of authority and of likelihood. ↩︎
28:9 I.e., river-mouths, estuaries, or ports. In the original Minato-no-kami. ↩︎
28:10 Haya-aki-dzu-hiko. Aki, whose proper signification is “autumn,” might also by metonymy be interpreted to mean “dragon-fly” or “Japan.” Motowori, àpropos of this name, launches forth on very bold derivations and identifications with the names of other gods. The original of the sister-deity is Haya-aki-dzu-hime-no-kami. ↩︎
28:11 The text here omits the word “Swift” from this name. ↩︎
28:12 The original names of this deity and the three that follow are Awa-nagi-no-kami, Awa-nami-no-kami, Tsura-nagi-no-kami, and Tsura-nami, no-kami. The interpretation of the component parts is open to doubt but that here adopted has the authority of Motowori and Hirata. ↩︎
28:13 Ame-no-mi-kumari-no-kami. The following deity is Kuni-nomi-kumari-no-kami. ↩︎
28:14 p. 31 This Deity and the next are in the original Ame-no-ku-hiza-mochi-no-kami and Kuni-ito-ku-hiza-mochi-no-kami. The etymology is obtained by comparison with a passage in the “Ritual for Averting Fire” (
). ↩︎28:15 Shina-tsu-hiko-no-kami. The original of this name is explained by Motowori, who founds his view on two passages in the “Collection of a Myriad Leaves,” to signify Prince-of-Long-Breath. But the translator feels confident that shi-na by him interpreted in the sense of “long breath” (or rather “long of breath”) should he connected with shi, an old word for wind which we see in ara-shi (“storm-wind”), ni-shi (“west-wind”), hi-gashi (“east wind”), and perhaps under a slightly altered form in kaze, “wind,” whereas shi nowhere occurs in the sense of “breath.” Hirata notices approvingly this etymology of shi (“Exposition of the Ancient Histories,” Vol. III. p. 63), though without venturing flatly to contradict his predecessor’s decision as to the import of the name in question. The difference in the meaning is after all slight. Na is to be taken as an apocopated form of nagaki, “long.” In later times Shinato has been used as a name for the north-west wind. ↩︎
28:16 Such seems to be the meaning of the original Kuku-no-chi-no-kami. ↩︎
29:17 Oho-yama-tsuna-ka-mi. ↩︎
29:18 Kaya-nu-kimi-no-kami. The etymology of the alternative personal name (in the original Nu-dzu-chi-no-kami is not quite certain. ↩︎
29:19 The original of these two names is Ame-no-sa-dzu-chi-no-kami and Kuni-no-sa-dzu-chi-no-kami. Their signification is obscure, but the translator has, after some hesitation, followed Motowori’s interpretation. The words “heavenly” and “earthly” should probably be considered as qualifying “passes.” This word “pass,” used here and elsewhere to render the Japanese term saka (sa), must be understood to include lesser ascents than those very arduous ones which are alone denoted by the word “pass” in ordinary English parlance. In the later language of Japan the word tauge (tōge) generally denotes “passes” properly so called, while saka is restricted to the meaning of small ascents or hills. But this distinction is by no means strictly observed. ↩︎
29:20 Ame-no-sa-giri-no-kami and Kuni-no-sagiri-no-kami. Sa seems to be rightly considered, as in the two preceding names, to be an archaic form of saka (properly sa-ka, “hill-place”), and giri as an apocopated form of kagiri, (properly ka-giri, “place-cutting”) “limit” or “boundary”. Hirata however, following the Chinese character with which kiri is written, interprets it in the sense of “mist.” ↩︎
29:21 p. 32 Ame-no-kura-do-no-kami and Kuni-no-kura-do-no-kami. Motowori explains kura (
, “dark”) by tani ( 
, “valley”), and to “door” by tokoro ( 
, “place”). ↩︎29:22 Such appears to be the proper interpretation of the original of these two names, Oko-tomato-hiko-no-kami and Oho-tomato-hime-no-kami, tomato being plausibly referred to towomaru and tawamu. It is difficult to find an English word to represent exactly the idea, which is rather that of a gentle fold in the mountains than of the narrower and steeper hollow which we call a “valley.” ↩︎
29:23 I.e., the Prince-Who-Invites and the Princess-Who-Invites (Izanagi and Iza-nami). ↩︎
29:24 Tori-no-iha-kusa-bune-no-kami. The alternative name is Ame-no-tori-bune, from which the title of Deity is omitted. Motowori’s Commentary, Vol. V, pp. 52-53 should be consulted on the subject of this deity. ↩︎
29:25 Homonymous with the alternative personal name of the Island of Aha. (See Sect. V, Note 8). ↩︎
29:26 Hi-no-haya-yagi-wo-no-kami. If, as seems likely, yagi, is an incorrect reading for kagi, we should have to translate by “shining” the word here rendered “burning.” The alternative names are Hino-kaga-biko-no-kami and Hino-kaga-tsuchi-no-kami. In “One account” of the “Chronicles” and elsewhere in the “Rituals” this fire-god is called Ho-musubi i.e. the Fire-Producer.” ↩︎
32:1 p. 33 “Lying down” (koyasu) is a term often used in the Archaic language in the sense of “dying.” But here it must be taken literally, the death (“divine retirement”) of the goddess being narrated a few fines further on. ↩︎
32:2 Kana-yama-biko-no-kami and Kana-yama-bime-no-kami. The translation of this pair of names follows the plain sense of the characters
with which they are written, and which seems appropriate enough, coming as they do between the deity of fire and deities of clay. Motowori however, declaring both characters to be merely phonetic, derives kana-yama from korena-yamasu, “to cause to wither and suffer.” And interprets the names accordingly. This is at any rate ingenious. ↩︎32:3 Hani-yasu-biko-no-kami and Hani-yasu-bime-no-kami. ↩︎
32:4 p. 34 The signification of this name is not to be ascertained. In the text it is written phonetically
, and two passages in the “Chronicles,” where this deity is mentioned as 
and 
with directions in each case to read the name with the sounds here given to it, do not help us much, except in so far as they show that Mitsuhanome was conceived of as the deity of water and as a female. ↩︎32:5 Waku-musu-bi-no-kami. ↩︎
33:6 Toyo-uke-bime-no-kami. ↩︎
33:7 I.e., “died.” ↩︎
33:8 There is here an error in the computation, as nine deities are mentioned. The total of thirty-five deities given immediately below is still more erroneous, as no less than forty are named in the preceding passage. Motowori makes an ingenious effort to reconcile arithmetic and revelation by supposing the five pairs of brothers and sisters with parallel names to have been considered as each forming but one day. ↩︎
33:9 See Sect. III. This island was not born, but arose, spontaneously from drops of brine. ↩︎
33:10 Hiru-go. See the latter part of Sect. IV for these two names, Hiru-go was not counted among the children of these Deities for the reason that the latter abandoned him as soon as he was born, he being a failure. The reason for omitting Aha from the computation is not so clear. ↩︎
33:11 The text here is very peculiar, the characters
rendered “single child” being where we should expect 
or 
. Hirata proposes to consider 
, “tree,” while most scholars agree in reading ke instead of ki in this place, as phonetic for ke ( 
) “hair,” and to interpret the god’s words to signify that he values the child no more than a single hair in comparison with the wife whom that child’s birth has lost for him. Moribe, in his “Examination of Difficult Words.” s.v. Ko no hito-tsu ki (Vol. I. p. 8 et seq.), ingeniously argues that ki was an old native Japanese “Auxiliary Numeral” for animals, afterwards driven out by the somewhat like-sounding Chinese word hiki ( 
) which is now in common use, and that the god employs this degrading Auxiliary Numeral in speaking of his child on account of the resentment which he feels against him. On the other hand we gather from the “Chronicles of Japan Explained” that 
was used in its natural sense as an “Auxiliary Numeral” for gods and for men of exalted rank. This seems to the translator the better view to follow, and it is supported by the use of p. 35 
hashira, as the regular “Auxiliary Numeral” for divine personages. The parallel passage in the “Chronicles” has simply 
“one infant.” ↩︎33:12 This rendering is but tentative; for it is not certain that Hirata, whose view has been adopted, is right in regarding Konomoto and Unewo as names of places. If we followed the older authorities, we should have to translate thus: “The Deity that dwells at the foot of the trees on the slope of the spur of Mount Kagu.” The etymology of the name of this celebrated mountain (known also as Ame-no-kagu-yama or Ama-no-kagu-yama, i.e. “Heavenly Mount Kagu”) is disputed. But Hirata’s view, according to which it should be connected with kago, “deer,” is the most plausible. If it were established, we should be tempted to follow him in rendering by “deer-possessor” the name of the deity Kagu-tsu-chi, of whom were born the eight gods of mountains, and whose slaying forms the title of the next section. That the fire-deity should be connected with the mountain-deities, and thereby with the deer who roam about the mountains and furnish the hunter with a motive for penetrating into their recesses, is of course but natural. The character
with which Kagu is written signifies “fragrant”; but it has been suggested that the Japanese word may be connected with an expression signifying “heaven-descended,” in allusion to the supposed origin of the mountain as related in an old geographical work (now lost) treating of the Province of Iyo. ↩︎33:13 Naki-saha-me-no-kami. The sense of the second word of the compound is “marsh” or “stream but Motowori seems right in considering the character
to be here used phonetically as an abbreviation of isaha from isatsu, ”to weep.” ↩︎33:14 I.e., dead. ↩︎
33:15 Etymology uncertain. ↩︎
33:16 For this name see Sect. XIX, Note 6. ↩︎
33:17 Etymology uncertain. ↩︎
35:1 p. 37 One “grasp” is defined as “the breadth of four fingers when the hand is clenched,” so that the meaning intended to be conveyed is of a big sabre ten hand-breadths long. The length of sabres and of beards was measured by such “grasps” or “hand-breadths.” ↩︎
36:2 The original names of this deity and the next are Iha-saku-no-kami and Ne-saki-no-kami. ↩︎
36:3 Or the Rock-Elder, i.e., the Male Deity the Elder of the Rocks, if with Motowori we regard the second tsu of the original name Iha-tsutsu-no-wo-no-kami as being equivalent to chi or ji, supposed to be “the honorific appellation of males” elsewhere rendered “elder.” The translation in the text proceeds on the assumption that this tsu represents mochi: The purport of the name remains much the same whichever of these two views be adopted. ↩︎
36:4 Explained by reference to the parallel passage of the “Chronicles” through a character signifying “the knob at the end of the guard of the sword.‘—(Williams’ ”Syllabic Dictionary.") ↩︎
36:5 Mika-haya-bi-no-kami. Motowori seems to be right in regarding mika as equivalent to ika, the root of ikameshiki, “stern,” “awful,” and bi as the root of buru, a verbalising suffix. ↩︎
36:6 Hi-haya-bi-no-kami. ↩︎
36:7 Take-mika-dzu-chi-no-wo-no-kami, written with the characters
. The translator has without much hesitation followed Motowori’s interpretation. ↩︎36:8 Take-futsu-no-kami. The text name is Toyo-futsu-no-kami. Futsu is interpreted in the sense of “the sound of snapping” by reference to a Passage in the “Chronicles” where it occurs written both ideographically and phonetically in the name of the deity Futsu-no-mi-tama. ↩︎
36:9 The etymology of both these name is obscure. Kura, the first element of each compound, signifies “dark.” ↩︎
36:10 p. 38 This is the explanation of the original name Ma-saka-yama-tsu-mi-no-kami which is given in the “Secret of the Chronicles of Japan,” and is approved by the later commentators. ↩︎
36:11 Odo-yama-tsu-mi-no-kami. The English rendering is uncertain, as it rests only on a conjecture of Motowori’s, deriving odo from ori do (
), “descending place,” “way down.” ↩︎36:12 The original names of this and the following five deities are: Oku-yama-tsumi-no-kami, Kura-yama-tsu-mi-no-kami, Shigi-yama-tsu-mi-no-kami, Ha-yama-tsu-mi-no-kami, Hayama-tsu-mi-no-kami and To-yama-tsumi-no-kami. Shigi, here translated “dense,” seems to be almost certainly a contraction of Shigeki, which has that signification. Ha-yama is a term for which it is hard to find an exact English equivalent. It denotes the lesser hills or first visibly rising ground forming the approach to an actual mountain-range. The signification of to in the last name of the set is disputed. Mabuchi takes it in the sense of “gate.” The translator prefers Motowori’s view: but after all, the difference in meaning does not amount to much. A third derivation proposed by Motowori is tawa-yama, i.e. “mountains with folds.” ↩︎
36:13 Or “arm.” ↩︎
36:14 Or “leg.” ↩︎
37:14 Or “leg.” ↩︎
37:15 These two names are in the original Ame-no-wo-ha-bori and Itsu-no-wo-ha-bori. Their import is not absolutely clear, but they seem to designate a weapon broad towards the point, such as is represented in the illustrations given in Vol. I, pp. 19-20 and Vol. II, pp. 4-5 of the “Tokiha-Gusa.” ↩︎
38:1 p. 41 The characters in the original which are here rendered Hades are
, lit. “Yellow Stream,” a Chinese name for the Underworld to which a remark of Mencius and a story in the “Tso Chuan” appear to have given rise. They here represent the Japanese word Yomo or Yomi, which we find phonetically written with the characters 
in the name of Yomo-tsu-shiko-me a little further on, and which is defined by Motowori as “an underworld,… the habitation of the dead,… the land whither, when they die, go all men, whether noble or mean, virtuous or wicked.” The orthodox Japanese derivation of Yomi is from Yoru, “night,” which would give us for Yomo-tsu-kuni some such rendering as “the Land of Gloom.” A suggestion quoted by Arawi Hakuseki (“Tōga,” art. Idzumi) that the word may really be but a mispronunciation of Yama, the Sanscrit name of the Buddhist god of hell, is however worthy of consideration; but it seems best on the whole to translate Yomi or Yomo by “Hades,” a term which is itself of uncertain derivation, and the signification attached to which closely resembles the Japanese Shintō notion of the world beyond, or rather beneath, the grave. ↩︎38:2 The original text
seems to be corrupt, and Motowori, unable to make anything of 
leaves 
without any Japanese reading (see the remarks in his Commentary, Vol. VI. pp. 5-6). Mr. Aston, in the version of this passage given in the Chrestomathy appended to his “Grammar of the Japanese Written Language,” follows Motowori in not translating 
, but does not allude to the difficulty. ↩︎39:3 I.e. “of the food of Hades.” It would be more obvious (following the text) to translate “I have eaten in the doors [i.e. in the house] of Hades;—but the character
in this place stands almost certainly for 
, ”a place for cooking,“ ”a furnace.” ↩︎39:4 The word kashikoshi (
), here translated “reverence,” exactly corresponds to the modern polite idiom osore-iri-mashita, for which there is no precise equivalent in English, but which conveys some such sentiment as “I am overpowered by the honour you do me,” “I am sorry you should have taken the trouble.” ↩︎39:5 Q.d. “with thee to the land of the living.” ↩︎
39:6 p. 42The original here has the character
which signifies “moreover” as in this translation, and Motowori’s proposed emendation to 
has for it the authority of no manuscript or earlier printed edition. In his “Records of Ancient Matters with the Ancient Reading” he actually substitutes this very new reading, accompanying it in kana with the Japanese words ashita ni, “in the morning.” But what is to become of the text if we are at liberty to alter it to suit our convenience,—for there is more than one other passage where 
is similarly used? ↩︎39:7 Yomo-tsu-kami. Both Motowori and Hirata take the word “Deities” in the Plural, and the translator therefore renders it in that number, though the Singular would be at least equally suitable to the text as it stands. Of the Deities of Hades little or nothing is known. Conf. Note 23 to this Section. ↩︎
39:8 Literally “the male pillar,” i.e. the large tooth of which there is one at each end of the comb. ↩︎
39:9 The use of the expression “lit one light,” where it would have been more natural to say simply “lit [a] light,” is explained by a gloss in the “Chronicles,” which informs us that “at the present day” the lighting of a single light is considered unlucky, as is also the throwing away of a comb at night-time. It is allowed that the gloss is a late addition, and its statement might perhaps be considered a mere invention made to account for the peculiar expression in the text. Motowori tells us however that “it is said by the natives” that these actions are still (latter part of 18th century) considered unlucky in the province of Ihami, and the same superstition also survives, as the translator is assured, in Yedo itself. It is to be understood that it was the large tooth broken off from the comb which the god lighted. ↩︎ ↩︎
39:10 Or “arm.” ↩︎
39:11 Or “leg.” ↩︎
39:12 The Japanese names of the eight Thunder-Deities are: Oho-ikadzuchi, Ho-no-ikadzuchi, Kuro-ikadzuchi, Saka-ikadzuchi, Waki-ikadzuchi, Tsuchi-ikadzuchi, Naru-ikadzuchi, and Fushi-ikadzuchi. Moribe in his Critique on Motowori’s Commentary, has some observation on the appropriateness of each of these names which the student will do well to consult if the work should be published. ↩︎
39:13 Yomo-tsu-shiko-me. ↩︎
39:14 We might perhaps with equal propriety render by “wreath” the word here translated head- dress,—leaves and flowers having been the earliest ornaments for the hair. In later time, however, it has been used p. 43 to designate any sort of head-dress, and that is also the dictionary meaning of the Chinese character with which it is written. The Japanese words for “head-dress” and “creeper” are homonymous, and indeed the former is probably but a specialised acceptation of the latter. ↩︎
40:15 I.e., brandishing it behind him. ↩︎
40:16 Or Flat Hill of Hades, Yomo-tsu-hira-saka, said by Motowori to form the frontier-line between Hades and the World of the Living. See also Note 27 to this Section. ↩︎
40:17 The three characters
here rendered “people” are evidently (Motowori notwithstanding) meant to be equivalent to the common Chinese expression 
, which has that signification. The word translated “living” means literally “present,” “visible.” ↩︎40:18 Ashi-hara-no-naka-tsu-kuni, a common periphrastic designation of Japan. It is better to translate the name thus than to render it by “the Land in the Middle of the Reed-Plains,” a forced interpretation which Motowori and Hirata would only seem to adopt in order to veil the fact that one of the most ancient and revered names of their native land was imitated from that of China.—everything Chinese being an abomination in the sight of these ardent Shintoists. Yamazaki Suiga, as quoted by. Tanigaha Shisei, is more sensible when he remarks that each country naturally considers itself central and foreign countries barbarous and that Japan is not peculiar in being looked on by its inhabitants as the centre of the universe. This is also the view taken by the other earlier scholars. ↩︎
40:19 Oho-kamu-dzumi-no-mikoto. The difference between Singular and Plural is not often present to the Japanese mind, and though there were three peaches, we might just as well render their name by the words “His Augustness, etc.,” considering the three as forming together but one divinity. The interpretation of the name here adopted is the simple and natural one which Motowori borrowed from Tanigaha Shisei. ↩︎
40:20 I.e., a rock which it would take a thousand men to lift. ↩︎
40:21 That some kind of leave-taking and separation is intended seems certain; but the precise import of the characters
in the text is not to be ascertained. Motowori’s “Commentary, Vol. VI, pp. 29-30 and Vol. X, pp. 52-55, should be consulted for an elaborate discussion of the various interpretations which they may be made to bear. Moribe, in his Critique on this Commentary, argues that ”divorced each other“ is the proper signification of the words, and supports his opinion by the Parallel passage of the ”Chronicles.” ↩︎40:22 p. 44 I.e., “I will cause fifteen hundred women to bear children.” For the custom of erecting a separate hut for a woman about to be delivered see Introduction, p. xxviii.) ↩︎
40:23 Yomo-tsu-oho-kami. On this rather embarrassing statement Motowori is silent, and Hirata simply says: “It must be supposed that the ‘Deities of Hades’ previously mentioned had been its ‘Great Deities’ up to this time, a position which was henceforward assumed by Her Augustness Izana-mi (the Female-Who-Invites”). Conf. Note 7 to this Section. ↩︎
40:24 Chi-shiki-no-oho-kami. [This is Motowori’s reading. We might also read Michi-shiki-no-oho-kami]. Motowori conclusively proves that “reaching” is the signification of the word shiki which is here so translated. That it was already obscure at the time of the compilation of these “Records” is however shown by the fact that it is written syllabically in the first instance, and with a “borrowed character” (i.e., a homonymous word) in the second. ↩︎
40:25 Because the goddess was turned back by it on the road where she was pursuing her brother-husband. The original is Chi-gaheshi [or Michi-gaheshi]-no-oho-kami. ↩︎
41:26 Sayari-masu-yomi-do-no-oho-kami. ↩︎
41:27 Ifuya-zaka. Moribe in his “Idzu-no-chi-waki” conjectures that Ifuya may be derived from Yufu-yami, “evening darkness,” an etymology which has at least the merit of suiting the legend. ↩︎
44:1 p. 47 The words “I have” thus repeated are an attempt to render the concluding words ari keri of the sentence in the original, by which, though they have no particular sense, the author evidently set great store, as he writes them syllabically. They may be considered to emphasize what goes before and, says Motowori, “convey the idea of lamentation.” The idiom occurs some half-dozen times in the course of the present work. ↩︎
44:2 This botanical name is identified by Arawi Hakuseki and Hirata with the modern hagi, or “bushclover” (lespdeza of various species). The received opinion used to be that the awoki (Aucuba Japonica) was here intended. ↩︎
44:3 Tachibana is understood to be the general designation of trees of the orange tribe. (See however Sect. LXXIV, Note 7). Here it is used as a proper name. ↩︎
44:4 This name, which signifies “sun-confronting,” was not unnaturally bestowed on a province in the eastern part of the westernmost of the larger Japanese islands, as it might well be conceived as lying “opposite the sun.” It has, however, been supposed to have originally denoted the whole of the island in question. In any case the name is not inappropriate, as the island has a long eastern sea-board. ↩︎
44:5 In our text Tsuki-tatsu-funa-do. But funa should almost certainly be ku-na, and the name (which has here been translated accordingly) is then illustrated by the more extended version of this myth which is given in the “Chronicles,” where we read that the god (probably addressing his sister) threw down his staff with the words: “Come no further.” “Stand” must be understood in a Transitive sense: the god stood his staff up by thrusting it into the sand. ↩︎
44:6 This is Moribe’s explanation (“Idzu-no-Chi-waki.” Vol. IV, p. 44) of the meaning of the original name Michi-no-naga-chiha-no-kami, the syllable ha of which is considered by him to be an alternative form of ma (
, “space”). It is however a great crux, and Motowori confesses his inability to explain it satisfactorily. Other views as to the import of the syllable in question will be found in the “Jin-dai no maki Mo-shiho-gusa.” Vol. II. p. 29. ↩︎45:7 This seems to be the meaning of the original name, if we retain the reading Toki-okashi-no-kami. See however Motowori’s remarks in loco. ↩︎
45:8 Wadzurahi-no-ushi-no-kami. ↩︎
45:9 Chi-mata-no-kami. ↩︎
45:10 p. 48 Aki-guhi-no-ushi-no-kami. The English rendering of this obscure name proceeds on the assumption that Motowori is correct when he proposes to consider kuhi as equivalent in this place to kuchi, “mouth.” The gaping trousers no longer filled by the deity’s legs would perhaps suggest the idea of an open mouth, though it is true that this is not the deity said to have been actually born from that portion of the attire. ↩︎
45:11 or “arm.” ↩︎
45:12 The names of this deity and the five who follow are in the original Oki-zakaru-no-kami, Oki-tsu-nagisa-biko-no-kami, Oki-tsu-kahi-bera-no-kami, He-zakaru-no-kami, He-tsu-nagisa-biko-no-kami and He-tsu-kahi-bera-no-kami. The word “wash,” by which for want of a better one the Substantive nagisa has been rendered, must be understood to signify the part nearest to the strand o the sea or of a river,—the boundary of the waves. The third and sixth of this set of names, in which the syllables kahi-bera (here represented by “Intermediate Direction”) offer a good deal of difficulty, have been translated in accordance with Motowori’s explanation of their probable meaning. ↩︎
45:13 Lit. “right.” In Chinese and Japanese compositions the lines follow each other from right to left instead of from top to bottom as with us. “Right” therefore signifies “foregoing,” and “left,” “following.” ↩︎
45:14 The names of these two deities in the original are Ya-so-maga-tsu-bi-no-kami and Oho-maga-tsu-bi-no-kami. ↩︎
45:15 Viv. to Hades. ↩︎
46:16 The names of these two deities in the original are Kamu-naho-bi-no-kami and Oho-na-ho-bi-no-kami. ↩︎
46:17 Idzu-no-me-no-kami. The word Idzu is incomprehensible, unless indeed, following Motowori, we identify this goddess with the god and goddess Haya-aki-dzu-hiko and Haya-aki-dsu-hime mentioned in Sect. VI, Note 10, and consider idzu as standing by apheresis for aki-dsu. ↩︎
46:18 The original names of this deity and the five who follow are Soko-tsu-wata-tsu-mi-no-kami, Soko-dzutsu-no-wo-no-mi-koto, Naka-tsu-wata-tsu-mi-no-kami, Naka-dzutsu-no-wo-mikoto, Uha-tsu-wata-tsu-mi-no-kami, and Uha-dzutsu-no-wo-no-mikoto. There is the usual doubt as to the signification to be assigned to the syllable tsu in the second, fourth and last of these names. If it really means, not “elder” but “possessor,” we should be obliged to translate by “the Bottom-Possessing-Male.” etc. ↩︎
46:19 Adumi-no-murazhi. This name is said by Motowori to be taken from that of a place in the province of Shinano. But Moribe shows that p. 49 at any rate the etymology of the word may be traced to ama-tsu-mochi, “Possessors of fishermen.” ↩︎
46:20 It is impossible to translate this name which, according to Motowori, is derived from those of two districts in Shinano to which the word utsushi (for utsutsu, “present” or “living”) is prefixed. ↩︎
46:21 Attention must again be drawn to the vagueness of the Japanese perception of the distinction between Singular and Plural. As three deities are particularly and repeatedly mentioned in the foregoing text, we are forced to translate this passage in the Plural; and yet how could one child have three fathers? ↩︎
46:22 Sumi-no-ye, also called Sumi-yoshi, i.e., by a play upon words, “pleasant to dwell in.” The real etymology of sumi is not certain.—Instead of “the three Great Deities,” we might translate by “the Great Deities of the Three Shrines.” ↩︎