[ p. 336 ]
¶ SECT. CXXI.—EMPEROR NIN-TOKU PART III.—HE REMITS THE TAXES
Thereupon the Heavenly Sovereign, ascending a lofty mountain and looking on the land all round, spoke, saying: “In the whole land there rises no smoke; the land is all poverty-stricken. So I remit [^2045] all people’s taxes and [forced labour] from now till three years [hence.]” Therefore the great palace became dilapidated, and the rain leaked in everywhere; but no repairs were made. The rain that leaked in was caught in troughs, [^2046] and [the inmates] removed from [its reach] to places where there was no leakage. When later [the Heavenly Sovereign] looked on all the land, the smoke was abundant in the land. So finding the people rich, he now exacted taxes and forced labour. Therefore the peasantry [^2047] prospered, and did not suffer from forced labour. So in praise of that august reign, it was called the reign of the Emperor-Sage. [^2048]
[ p. 337 ]
¶ SECT. CXXII.—EMPEROR NIN-TOKU (PART IV.—HE LOVES PRINCESS KURO).
His Empress, Her Augustness Iha-no-hime, was exceedingly jealous. So the concubines employed by the Heavenly Sovereign could not even peep inside the palace; and if anything happened, [^2049] [the Empress] stamped with jealousy. Then the Heavenly Sovereign, hearing of the regular beauty of Princess Kuro, [1] daughter of the Suzerain of Ama in Kibi, [2] and having sent for her, employed her. But she, afraid of the Empress’s jealousy, fled down to her native land, The Heavenly [271] Sovereign, gazing from an upper story upon Princess Kuro’s departure by boat upon the sea, sang saying:
“In the offing there are rows of small boats. My wife Masadzuko of Kurozaki goes down towards her [native] land.” [3]
So the Empress was very angry on hearing this august Song, and sent people to the great strand [4] to drive Princess Kuro ashore, and chase her away on foot. [5] Thereupon the Heavenly Sovereign, for love of Princess Kuro, deceived the Empress, saying that he wanted to see the Island of Ahaji. [6] And when he made his progress [ p. 338 ] and was in the Island of Ahaji, he, gazing afar, sang saying:
“When, having departed from the point of wave-beaten Naniha, I look at the country,—the Island of Aha, the Is-land of Onogoro, and also the Island of Ajimasa are visible. The Island of Saketsu is visible.” [7]
Forthwith passing on from that island, he made a progress to the land of Kibi. Then Her Augustness Princess Kuro- made him grandly reside at a place among the mountain-fields, [8] and presented to him great august food, When for this [purpose] she plucked cabbage in that place to boil into great august soup, the Heavenly Sovereign went to the place where the maiden was plucking the cabbage, and sang, saying:
“Oh! how delightful it is to pluck with a person of Kibi the cabbage sown in the mountain fields!” [9]
When the Heavenly Sovereign made his progress up, [10]
Princess Kuro presented an august [11] Song saying:
“Even though the west wind blow up towards Yamato, and the clouds part, and we be separated, shall I forget [thee]?” [12]
[273] Again she sang, saying:
“Whose spouse is it that goes towards Yamato? Whose spouse is it that creeps from beneath like hidden water?” [13]
[ p. 339 ]
[ p. 340 ]
¶ SECT. CXXIII. EMPEROR NIN-TOKU PART V.—THE EMPRESS RETIRES TO YAMASHIRO.
After this time the Empress made a progress to the land of Ki in order to pluck aralia-leaves for a copious feast; [14] and in the mean while the Heavenly Sovereign wedded Yata-no-waki-iratsume. Hereupon, when the Empress was returning in her august vessel loaded full [ p. 341 ] of aralia-leaves, a coolie from Kozhima [15] in the land of Kibi, who was in the service of the Superintendent of the Water-Directors, [16] being on his way off to his own country, met at the great passage [17] of Naniha the vessel of a lady of the train [18] who had got behind, and forthwith told her, saying: “The Heavenly Sovereign has [274] recently [19] wedded Yata-no-waki-iratsume, and plays with her day and night. It must probably be because the Empress has not heard of this thing, that she quietly makes progress for pleasure.” Then the lady of the train, having heard this narrative, forthwith pursued and reached the august vessel, and reported everything exactly as the coolie had told it. Hereupon the Empress, greatly vexed and angry, threw away into the sea all the aralia-leaves which she had put on board the august vessel. So the place,[where she did so] is called by the name of Cape Mitsu. [20] Forthwith without entering the palace, but taking her august vessel [from it] [21] and ascending the channel [22] against the current, she made a progress up into Yamashiro by the river; [23] At this time she sang, saying:
“Oh! the river of Yamashiro where the seedlings grow in succession! As I ascend, ascend the river, oh! on the bank of the river [there] stands growing a sashibu!—a sashibu-tree; below it stands growing a broad-foliaged five hundred[-fold branching] true camellia-tree; oh! he who is brilliant like its blossoms, widely powerful like its foliage, is the great lord.” [24]
Forthwith going round by Yamashiro, [25] and arriving at [275] the entrance of the Nara Mountain, [26] she sang, saying:
[ p. 342 ]
“Oh! the river of Yamashiro where the seedlings grow in succession! As I ascend, ascend to Miya, I pass Nara, I pass Yamato with its shield of mountains; and the country I fain would see is Takamiya in Kadzuraki, the neighbourhood of my home.” [27]
[276] Having sung thus, she returned and entered for some time into the house of a person from Kara [28] named Nurinomi [29] at Tsutsuki. [30]
[ p. 343 ]
[ p. 344 ]
¶ SECT. CXXIV.—EMPEROR NIN-TOKU (PART VI.—HE FOLLOWS THE EMPRESS INTO YAMASHIRO).
The Heavenly Sovereign, having heard that the Empress had made a progress up by Yamashiro, made a person,—a retainer called by the name of Toriyama, [31]—give an august Song, [32] which said:
“Reach [her] in Yamashiro, Toriyama! Reach [her]! reach [her]! Ah! wilt thou reach and meet my beloved spouse?” [33]
Again he continued by despatching Kuchiko, Grandee of Wani, [34] and sang, saying: [277]
“Wilt thou be without thinking even of the Heart that is in the moor of Ohowiko, the moor of Ohowiko, that is by Takaki at Mimoro?” [35]
Again he sang, saying:
“If indeed I had pillowed [my head] on the white arm like the whiteness of the roots, the great roots, that were beaten with wooden hoes by the women of Yamashiro where the seedlings grow in succession, [then] mightest thou say, ‘I know [thee] not’.” [36]
[ p. 345 ]
So when the Grandee of Kuchiko was repeating this [278] august Song [to the Empress,] it was raining heavily. Then upon his, without avoiding the rain, coming and prostrating himself at the front door of the palace, [37] she on the contrary went out at the back door; and on his coming and prostrating himself at the back door of the palace, she on the contrary went out at the front door. Then, as he crept backwards and forwards on his knees in the middle of the court, the streams of water [38] reached to his loins. Owing to the grandee being clad in a garment dyed [39] green and with a red cord, the streams of water brushed against the red cord, and the green all changed to red colour. Now the Grandee of Kuchiko’s younger sister Princess Kuchi [40] was in the service of the Empress. [41] So Princess Kuchi sang saying:
“Oh! how tearful is my lord-elder brother, saying things in the palace of Tsutsuki in Yamashiro!” [42]
Then when the Empress asked the reason, [43] she replied, saying: “He is my brother the Grandee of Kuchiko.” Thereupon the Grandee of Kuchiko and also his younger sister Princess Kuchi and likewise Nurinomi [all] three took counsel [together,] and sent to report to the Heavenly [279] Sovereign, saying: “The reason of the Empress’s progress is that there are [some] insects reared by Nurinomi,—strange insects changing in three ways, [44] once becoming creeping insects, once becoming cocoons, [45] and once becoming flying birds [46]—and it is only to go and look at them that she has entered into [Nurinomi’s house.] She has no strange intentions.” [47] When they had thus reported, the Heavenly Sovereign said: "That being so, I want to go and see [these insects,] as [ p. 346 ] I think [they must be] strange; [and with these words] he made a progress up from the great palace. When he entered into Nurinomi’s house, Nurinomi, had already presented to the Empress the three-fold insects reared by him. Then the Heavenly Sovereign augustly stood at the door of the palace where the Empress-dwelt, and sang, saying:
“Pure as the great roots that were beaten with their wooden hoes by the women of Yamashiro where the seedings grow in succession:—it is because thou spokest tumultuously that I come in here [with my retainers numerous] as the more and more flourishing trees that I look across at.” [48]
[280] These six Songs by the Heavenly Sovereign and by the Empress are Changing Songs which are Quiet Songs. [49]
[ p. 347 ]
[ p. 348 ]
[ p. 349 ]
¶ SECT. CXXV.—EMPEROR NIN-TOKU (PART VIII.—HE LOVES YATA-NO-WAKI-IRATSUME).
The Heavenly Sovereign, loving Yata-no-waki-iratsume, deigned to send her an august Song. That Song said:
“Will the one sedge-stem of Yata, having no children, wither as it stands? Poor sedge-moor! Sedge-moor indeed is what I may say—poor pure girl!” [50]
Then Yata-no-waki-iratsume replied in a Song, saying:
“Even though the one sedge stem of Yata be alone, if the Great Lord say it is right even though it be alone [it is right.]” [51]
So the Yata Tribe [52] was established as the august proxy of Yata-no-waki-iratsume.
¶ Footnotes
336:1 Motowori’s reading of this Verb in the Imperative Mood (as if containing an order addressed by the monarch to his ministers) seems less natural than the order reading in the Indicative, which accordingly the translator has followed. ↩︎
336:2 There is uncertainty as to the exact character in the original. p. 337 But the older editions read it as the Japanese word hako, “boxes.” while Motowori prefers hi, “tubes.” “Troughs ”seems to conciliate both views, and to be also appropriate to the use mentioned in the text. ↩︎
336:3 Or simply, “the people.” But the expression
is generally used in Japanese of the peasantry only. ↩︎336:4
; If, following most texts, we omitted the final character 
, “reign,” the English translation would be “in praise of that august reign, (the Heavenly Sovereign) was called the Emperor-Sage.” ↩︎337:1 Motowori shows by collating various passages in other ancient works that this is the probable signification of the curious expression in p. 339 the original, kotodateba (
for 
). The reference of course is to the occurrence of anything noteworthy among the concubines, such as the birth of a son, etc. ↩︎337:2 Kuro-hime, i.e., “black princess” probably meaning “black-haired princess.” ↩︎
337:3 Kibi no Ama no atahe. Of this family nothing is known. Ama signifies “fisherman.” Kibi is the name of a province. ↩︎
337:4 Thus interpreted (according to Moribe), the general sense of the Song is quite clear. The word Masadzuko, considered by Moribe to be one of the names of Princess Kuro, is however not so understood by Motowori, who is inclined to see in it rather an Honorific description of her. Kurozaki likewise (i.e., “black cape,” the word kuro seemingly containing an allusion to the name of the Princess) is but the best of many emendations of the name as it stands in the text, viz., Furozaya. See Motowori’s Commentary, Vol. XXXV. p. 33, for all the possible emendations proposed by him or his predecessors. ↩︎
337:5 Scil, of the neighbourhood of Naniha. Or possible Oho-ura (“Great Strand”) should be taken as the name of a place, though Motowori does not suggest such a view. ↩︎
337:6 I.e., to make her perform the journey on foot. ↩︎
337:7 See Sect. V, Note 3. ↩︎
338:8 Moribe, commenting on the import of this Song, says: Though the alleged reason was a tour of inspection, it was truly out of love for Princess Kuro that the Monarch had undertaken the journey. When her vessel could no longer be descried, he could still alas! see the islands that remained behind,—the Island of Aha and the Island of Ajimasa; he could still, alas! see the Islands of Onogoro and Saketsu. Alas for him left alone, parted from his love! Though he spoke not openly, those around him understood the under-current of his “words.”—“Wave-beaten ”is the accepted interpretation of oshiteru ya (or oshiteru), the Pillow-Word for Naniha. For the Islands of Aha and Onogoro see respectively Sect. IV, Note 5 and Sect. iii, Note 5. Of the Islands of Ajimasa and Saketsu nothing is known. Ajimasa is the name of a species of palm, the Livistona sinensis, and Motowori supposes that one of the islands in that neighbourhood may anciently have received its name from the palm-trees growing on it. Palms of any kind are, however, not very common in Japan, and seem only to grow when specially cultivated. ↩︎
338:9 Motowori thinks we should in this place understand the word yamagata (for yama-agata) as the name of a place. But in the Song p. 340 which immediately follows, it must certainly be taken in its etymological sense of “mountain-fields,” and it seems therefore quite inconsistent to translate it differently here. Moreover it is allowed that no such place as Yamagata in Kibi is anywhere made mention of. ↩︎
338:10 The import of this Song is perfectly clear, “the person of Kibi ”being of course the Imperial poet’s lady-love. ↩︎
338:11 I.e., was about to start back to the capital, which was in the province of Settsu. ↩︎
338:12 This Honorific seems so out of place (seeing that it is not applied to the Emperor’s own Songs given in this Section), that it is supposed by the commentators to be an erroneous addition to the text. ↩︎
338:13 We might also translate thus: “Even though we be separated, as the clouds that part owing to the west wind blowing up towards Yamato, etc.;”—for the initial lines of the poem which contain the allusion to the wind and to the clouds are simply a Preface, and their import may therefore at will be either considered separately, or else made continuous with that of the rest of the poem. ↩︎
338:14 The meaning of this Song l is: “Whose spouse is it that returns to Yamato? Whose spouse is it that comes thus secretly to make love to me, like a stream flowing underground?”—The allusion contained in the twice repeated words “whose spouse ”is of course to the Empress. The poetess, full of tenderness or the Emperor, regrets for his sake, as well as for her own, that he should be the husband of so jealous’ a wife. "Hidden water is the accepted interpretation of the Pillow-Word kontoridzu no, which is with apparent reason supposed to be a contraction of komori-midzu no. ↩︎
340:1 See Sect. CVII, Note 7. ↩︎
341:2 I.e., “small island.” It is first mentioned in Sect V (Note 29). ↩︎
341:3 See Sect. XLVII, Note 18. ↩︎
341:4 Oho watari. The mouth of the River Yedo is meant to be designated by this name. ↩︎
341:5 The original, expression kuru-bito-me (
) is obscure, being met with nowhere else in Japanese literature. Motowori conjectures that the function exercised by this lady. was one connected with the Emperor’s privy purse. ↩︎341:6 The text has the character
, “all,” which make no sense; and Motowori (following Mabuchi) reasonably emends it to 
, “recently,” “just now.” ↩︎341:7 Mitsu no saki. Mitsu, signifying “three,” is supposed by the author to refer to the three-cornered leaves of the aralia (the name of the latter being mitsuna gashiha); but a more likely opinion is that which would have us take mitzu as two words, in the sense of “august harbour.” In the parallel passage of the “Chronicles,” we are told that the place was called Kashiha no watari, i.e., “Oak passage.” ↩︎
341:8 I.e., going on up the river without stopping at Naniha where the palace was. ↩︎
341:9 Jr., ,the artificial bed of the river mentioned in Sect. CXX, Note, 8. ↩︎
341:10 I.e., the river Yodo. ↩︎
341:11 The meaning of this Song is: “As I make my way up the river by boat, I see a sashibu (the name of a tree which cannot now be identified), below which,—that is to say nearer to the water,—there grows a p. 343 camellia-tree, wide-spreading and full of blossoms. Ah! how the sight of the sturdy brilliant beauty of this camellia-tree brings back my lord and master to my mind!”—It must be remembered that in Japan the camellia-trees grow to a size far superior to that reached by their representatives in Europe. Tsuginefu, rendered according to the view taken by Motowori and Moribe by the phrase “where the seedlings grow in succession,” is the Pillow-Word for Yamashiro, and its import is disputed. The interpretation here adopted considers it to refer to the regular succession of young trees planted on a mountain’s side when a tract of older timber has been cut down. Mabuchi, in his “Dictionary of Pillow-Words,” sees in it, on the contrary, a reference to the rising of peak upon peak in a mountainous district (tsugi-ne fu—
). Both interpretations rest on the connection between this term and yama, the first half of the name of the province of Yamashiro, which it qualifies. “Five hundred[-fold-branching]”and “true” are ornamental epithets applied by the poetess to the camellia-tree. Moribe would take the syllable ma, “true,” in the sense of ha, "leaf but this seems less good. ↩︎341:12 For the straight road from Naniha in Settsu-to Nara in Yamato would have taken her through the province of Kafuchi. and not through Yamashiro. ↩︎
341:13 I.e., the pass or hill leading from the district of Sagara in Yamashiro to Nara in Yamato. For Nara see Sect. LXXII, Note 23. ↩︎
342:14 This Song expresses the Empress’s desire to return to her parental house at Takamiya in the district of Kadzuraki,—a desire which, however, her restless frame of mind did not allow her to fulfil.—The Pillow-Word for Yamashiro, which here recurs, has already been discussed in Note 11. There are two other Pillow-Words in this Song,—awoniyoshi, which is prefixed to Nara, and wo-date (or wo-date-yama according to the old reading, or wo-date tatsu according to another reading), which is prefixed to Yamato. The former of these is so obscure that, rather than attempt to render it into English, the translator prefers to refer the student to the remarks of the various commentators,—Mabuchi s.v. in his “Dictionary of Pillow-Words,” Motowori in his Commentary, Vol. XXXVI, pp. 22-24, and Moribe in loco. Wodate [-yama] seems to refer undoubtedly to the circle of mountains that guard the approach to the province of Yamato, and it has been rendered accordingly. The great difficulty of the Song lies in the line rendered “ascend to Miya,” and the commentators from Keichiū downwards make all sorts of efforts to explain it. Moribe’s view, according to which the word should be regarded p. 344 as a familiar abbreviation of Takamiya, naturally used by one whose native place it was, seems the most acceptable. Motowori takes the line to signify: “When I ascend past the palace [of Naniha].” ↩︎
342:15
, i.e., Korea. ↩︎342:16 For Nuri no omi, i.e., “the Grandee of Nuri.” Nuri is probably a corrupt form of some Korean name. ↩︎
342:17 Or Tsudzuki, in Yamashiro. Etymology obscure. ↩︎
344:1 p. 346 This name signifies “bird-mountain.” The commentators presume that it contains an allusion to the fact of its bearer being an Imperial courier. ↩︎
344:2 This is the actual sense conveyed by the original
, and we naturally infer that Toriyama was made the bearer to the Empress of the following Song. The Song itself, however, is addressed not to her, but to Toriyama on his departure. On the other hand, the two poems which follow are evidently for the Empress, and it is impossible to suppose that the first messenger was not likewise intended to convey to her some poetic missive. All that we can do is to render the text as it stands, and to suppose it corrupt. ↩︎344:3 The meaning of this Song is: “O Toriyama! pursue her into Yamashiro! I tremble at the thought of the possibility of thy not finding her.” ↩︎
344:4 Wani no omi Kuchiko (further on he is mentioned as Kuchiko no omi, i.e., “the Grandee (of) Kuchiko.”) Kuchi-ko may be interpreted p. 347 to mean “mouth child” and Moribe thinks that this personage was so called on account of the verbal messages of which he was made the bearer. The translator would prefer to consider ko as an abbreviation of hiko, “prince,” especially as the sister’s name is Kuchi-hime, where the word hime must mean “princess.” ↩︎
344:5 This Song is so obscure that Motowori and Moribe differ completely as to its interpretation. The translator has followed Moribe, though by no means persuaded that the latter has hit on the proper signification. According to this view, the Emperor makes a pun on the word “heart,” which is supposed to have been the name of a pool situated on the moor of Ohowiko near Takaki at Mimoro,—all names of places with which the Empress was familiar,—and reproaches her for having no thought of his heart which beats so lovingly for her. Motowori, on the other hand, thinks that the poem proper consists only of its last two lines (in the English translation they necessarily I come first): “Wilt thou be without thinking even of the heart?”—and that all the rest is a “Preface ”to the Pillow-Word kimo-mukafu by which the word kokoro, “heart,” is preceded. As for oho-wi-ko and takaki, they are taken, not as names of places, but as common Nouns. According to this view of the structure of the Song, it ceases (with the exception of its last two lines) to have any rational signification, and it is needless to attempt to translate it for the English reader. Persons familiar with Japanese are therefore referred to Motowori’s Commentary, Vol. XXXVI, pp. 34-36. ↩︎
344:6 The meaning of this Song is: “If thou and I had not so long been spouses, then indeed mightest thou break with me, and declare that thou knowest me not. But how canst thou so far forget our wedded life as to desert me now?”-“The ”great root,“ oho-ne, is the modern dai-kon (Raphanus sativus), a kind of radish which is a favourite vegetable with the Japanese and is distinguished by its brilliantly white appearance. ”Beaten“ here signifies ”dug up.“ The use of the Past Tense is curious. Ko-guha, here in accordance with Motowori’s view rendered ”wooden hoes,“ is interpreted by Moribe to mean ”little hoes.“ ”Where the seedlings grow in succession "is the English rendering of tsugi-ne fu, the Pillow-Word for Yamashiro (see Sect. CXXIII Note 11). ↩︎
345:7 The Empress was lodging with a private individual, but her presence warrants the application of the term “palace ”to his house. ↩︎
345:8 It was raining too hard for the water to stop on the surface in the shape of puddles, so it streamed off in little rivulets. ↩︎
345:9 Literally, “rubbed.” See Introduction p. xxx. Instead of “'green,” p. 348 we might equally well translate by “blue.” The garment intended must be the upper garment or coat. ↩︎
345:10 Kuchi-hime. ↩︎
345:11 Literally, “respectfully served the Empress.” ↩︎
345:12 The meaning of these lines, which can only be called poetry because they are in metre, is plain: in them the speaker draws the Empress’s attention to the pitiful condition of the messenger who is doing his best to deliver to her the Emperor’s message. Probably the reading in our text has been corrupted; for that in the “Chronicles,” which may be translated thus; “Oh! how tearful am I when I see my lord elder brother,” etc. is much preferable. ↩︎
345:13 Scil. of her attendant thus taking the messenger’s part. ↩︎
345:14 Literally, “colours.” ↩︎
345:15 This is Motowori’s conjectural restoration of the reading of this word, which in all the texts is hopelessly corrupt. ↩︎
345:16 According to another reading, “flying insects.” ↩︎
345:17 I.e., “she is not meditating any evil conduct.” ↩︎