[ p. 357 ]
¶ SECT. CXXXI.—EMPEROR RI-CHIU (PART I.—GENEALOGIES).
His Augustness Iza-ho-wake dwelt in the palace of Wakasakura at Ihare, [^2134] and ruled the Empire. This Heavenly Sovereign wedded Her Augustness Princess Kuro, [^2135] daughter of the Noble of Ashida, [^2136] child of So-tsu-biko [287] of Kadzuraki, [^2137] and begot august children: King Oshiha of Ichinobe; [^2138] next King Mima: [1] next his younger sister Awomi-no-iratsume, [2] another name for whom was Ichi-toyo-no-iratsume. [3]
[ p. 358 ]
¶ SECT. CXXXII.—EMPEROR RI-CHIU (PART II.—HE IS TAKEN TO ISO-NO-KAMI).
Originally, when dwelling at the palace of Naniha, [the Heavenly Sovereign] on holding a copious feast when at the great tasting, [4] was intoxicated with the great august liquor, and fell greatly and augustly asleep. Then his younger brother, King Sumi-no-ye-naka-tsu, wishing to take the Heavenly Sovereign, set fire to the great palace. Thereupon the Suzerain of Achi, [5] ancestor of the Suzerains of Aya [6] in Yamato, having taken him away by stealth, set him on an august horse, and caused him to make a progress into Yamato. So [the Heavenly Sovereign] awoke on reaching the moor of Tajihi, [7] and said: “What place is this?” Then the Suzerain of Achi said: “King Sumi-no-ye-no-naka-tsu set fire to the great palace; so I am fleeing with thee into Yamato.” Then the Sovereign sang, saying: [257]
“Had I known that I should sleep on the Moor of Tajihi, oh! I would have brought my dividing matting, had I known that I should sleep!” [8]
On reaching the Pass of Hanifu [9] and gazing at the palace of Naniha, the fire was still bright. Then the Heavenly Sovereign sang again, saying:
“The group of houses sparklingly burning, as I stand and look from the Pass of Hanifu, is in the direction of the house of my spouse.” [10]
So when they reached the entrance of the Ohosaka mountain, [11] they met one woman. This woman said: "A number of men bearing weapons are barring [the [ p. 359 ] way across] the mountain. Thou shouldst cross it going round by way of Tagima. [12] Then the Heavenly Sovereign sang, saying:
“Oh! on asking the way of the maiden we met at Ohosaka, she tells not [the] direct [way], but tells of the Tagima way.” [13]
So making his progress up, he dwelt in the temple of [289] the Deity of Isonokami. [14]
[ p. 360 ]
¶ SECT. CXXXIII.—EMPEROR.—RI-CHIU (PART III.—HIS REBELLIOUS BROTHER AND THE LATTER’S RETAINER SOBAKARI ARE SLAIN)
Thereupon his younger brother His Augustness Midzu-ha-wake came, and sent [to ask for] an audience. [15] Then the Heavenly Sovereign caused him to be told [these words]: As I am in doubt whether perhaps Thine Augustness may [not] be of like mind [16] with King Sumi-no-ye-no-naka-tsu, I will not meet and speak with thee.“ [His Augustness Midzu-ha-wake] replied, saying: ”I have no evil intent. I am not of like mind with King Sumi-no-ye-no-naka-tsu.“ [The Heavenly Sovereign] again caused him to be told [these words]: ”If that be so, [do thou] now return down, and slay King Sumi-no-ye-no-naka-tsu, and come up [again hither]. At that time I will surely meet and speak with thee.“ So he forthwith returned down to Naniha, and deceived [a man] named Sobakari, [17] a man-at-arms [18] in the personal service of [19] King Sumi-no-ye-no-naka-tsu, saying: ”If thou wilt obey my words, I shall become Heavenly Sovereign, and will make thee prime Minister, to rule the Empire. [20] How [would this be]?“ Sobakari replied, saying ”“ [I [290] will do] according to thy command.” Then plenteously endowing that man-at-arms, he said: “If that be so, [ p. 361 ] slay the King.” Thereupon Sobakari watched for the time when his King went into the privy, and thrust him to death with a spear. So when [His Augustness Midzu-ha-wake] was making his progress to Yamato taking Sobakari with him, he, on reaching the entrance of the Ohosaka mountain, thought [thus]: “Although Sobakari deserves very well of me, he has truly [21] slain his lord. This is unrighteous. Nevertheless if I reward not his deed, I may be called untruthful; and if I quite carry out my promise, his intentions are on the contrary to be feared. So, though recompensing his deed, I will destroy his actual person.” Therefore he said to Sobakari: “I will halt here to-day and bestow on thee the rank of Prime Minister, and to-morrow will [continue my] progress up.” So a halt was made at the entrance to the mountain, a temporary palace forthwith built, a copious feast [22] suddenly held, the rank of Prime Minister forthwith bestowed on the man-at-arms, and all the officials [23] made to do obeisance [to him]. The man-at-arms, delighted, thought that he had accomplished his design. Then [His Augustness Midzu-ha-wake] said to the man-at-arms: “To-day I will drink liquor from the same cup as the Prime Minister.” And when they drank together, a bowls large [enough] to hide the face was filled with the liquor presented. [24] Hereupon the King’s child drank first, and the man-at-arms drank afterwards. So when the man-at-arms was drinking, the great cup covered his face. Then [His Augustness Midzu-ha-wake] drew forth a sabre which he had laid under the matting, and cut off the head of the man-at-arms. Forthwith on the morrow he made his progress up. So the place was called by the name of Chika-tsu-Asuka. [25] [ p. 362 ] [291] Going up and reaching Yamato, he said: “I will halt here to-day and, having purified myself, will go forth to-morrow and worship at the temple of the Deity.” [26] So that place is called by the name of Toho-tsu-Asuka. [27] So going forth to the temple of the Deity of Iso-no-kami [28], he sent to report to the Heavenly Sovereign that he had come up to serve him after accomplishing the work [with which he had been entrusted]. [29] So [the Heavenly Sovereign] sent for, and met, and spoke with him.
[ p. 363 ]
¶ SECT. CXXXIV.—EMPEROR RI-CHIU (PART IV.—VARIOUS DEEDS).
The Heavenly Sovereign thereupon first appointed the Suzerain of Achi to the office of Treasurer, [30] and likewise bestowed on him domains. [31] Again in this august reign the name of Waka-sakura Tribe [32] was granted to the Grandees of the Waka-sakura Tribe. [33] Again the gentile name [34] of Dukes of Himeda [35] was granted to the Dukes of Himeda. Again the Ihare Clan [36] was established.
[ p. 364 ][292]
¶ SECT. CXXXV.—EMPEROR RI-CHIU (PART V.—HIS AGE AND PLACE OF BURIAL).
The Heavenly Sovereign’s august years were sixty-four. His august mausoleum is at Mozu. [37]
¶ Footnotes
357:1 p. 357 For Ihare see Sect. XLIII, Note 26. Waka-sakura signifies “young cherry-tree.” The origin of the name is traced, rightly or wrongly, to an incident mentioned in the “Chronicles” under the reign of this Emperor, 3rd year. ↩︎
357:2 Kuro-hime i.e., “black princess.” The same name occurs several times, and has reference to the black hair of the person so designated. ↩︎
357:3 Ashida no sukune. Ashida signifies “reed-moor.” It is the name of a place in Yamato. ↩︎
357:4 Kadzuraki no So-tsu-biko. For this name, which is here abbreviated, see Sect. LXI, Note 55. ↩︎
357:5 Ichinobe no Oshiha no miko. Ichinobe is in the province of Yamashiro, and the name seems to mean “near the market.” The name of Oshiha refers to the “uneven teeth” of this personage which are mentioned in Sect. CLXVII (near Note 5). ↩︎
357:6 Mima no miko. The signification of this name is quite obscure. ↩︎
357:7 Awomi no iratsume. Awomi is supposed by Motowori to be the name of a place. ↩︎
357:8 Ihitoyo no iratsume. Ihitoyo is supposed by Motowori to be the name of a bird, perhaps a kind of owl. ↩︎
358:1 p. 359 I.e., on the occasion of his performing the religious ceremony of tasting the first rice of the season. ↩︎
358:2 Achi no atahe, supposed to be of Korean origin, and to be a descendant of
, great grandson of the Chinese Emperor 
. ↩︎358:3 Aya no atahe. This family was of continental origin, Aya being the Japanese reading of the character
; see Sect. CXI, Note 2. ↩︎358:4 Tajihi no nu, in the provinces of Kahachi. The signification of the name is obscure. ↩︎
358:5 This Song expresses the Monarch’s regret at not having brought his mats with him.—From the expression used in the text (tatsu-gomo), the, commentators suppose that such mats were used as a sort of screen to avert draughts. One proposal is to consider tatsu as the Verb tatsuru, “to set up,” because these mats must have been “set up” round the room. But it agrees better with grammatical usage to take it in its other sense of “cutting,” or “dividing,” and to suppose that the mats were so called because they “cut off” the draught from the person sitting behind them. ↩︎
358:6 Or “Hill of Hanifu,” Hanifu-zaka, in the province of Kahachi. ↩︎
358:7 The meaning of this Song is perfectly clear. ↩︎
358:8 See Sect. LXIV, Note 25. The word rendered “entrance here and below in the same context is literally ”mouth.” ↩︎
359:9 See Sect. LXII, Note 49. ↩︎
359:10 Moribe thus paraphrases this Song: “If the maiden whom I met at Ohosaka and whom I sought direction of had been a common mortal, she would have simply told me the shortest road. But now I see why it was that she bid me go round by way of Tagima: it was to preserve me from danger. Ah! she must have been a Goddess.”—The p. 360 words tada ni generally have the sense of “directly,” “immediately,” and are indeed here so understood by Motowori. Moribe’s interpretation, which has been followed by the translator, does but little violence to the text, and suits the general meaning better. ↩︎
359:11 See Sect. XLV, Note 16. ↩︎
360:1 p. 362 The original of this clause is very elliptical, consisting only of the two characters
. The old reading joins thereto the characters 
, which according to Motowori form the commencement of the next sentence. The meaning is not affected by the change. ↩︎360:2 Literally, “heart.” Similarly below, where the word “intent” is used in the translation. ↩︎
360:3 The signification of this name is quite obscure. ↩︎
360:4 Hayabito. The reader should compare Section XXXVIII. Note 11. ↩︎
360:5 Literally, “closely accustomed to.” ↩︎
360:6 The original leaves it uncertain whether the words “to rule the Empire ”should be applied to the speaker, to Sobakari, or to both; and the ambiguous application has therefore been preserved in the translation. ↩︎
361:7 Literally, “already.” ↩︎
361:8 See Sect. CVII, Note 7. ↩︎
361:9 Literally, “the hundred officials,” a Chinese phrase, which has been met with before. ↩︎
361:10 The character
used in the text implies by its radical that the bowl was of metal. It is an unauthorized form of 
or 
. ↩︎361:11 Scil. by the prince to the man-at-arms. ↩︎
362:12 I.e., Nearer Asuka. The name is written
. The student should consult Motowori’s note on this passage in Vol. XXXVIII, pp. 38-39 of his Commentary, to see what can be done towards reconciling the name, the characters it is written with, and the origin ascribed to it, all of which are so apparently incongruous. ↩︎362:13 p. 363
, i.e., Further Asuka. Conf. Note. ↩︎362:14 Scil. of Isonokami. This deity was the sword forming the subject of the legend narrated in Sect. XLV. ↩︎
362:15 This is the gist of the original phrase, which will not bear literal translation into English:
. ↩︎363:1 p. 363 In Japanese the same word is used for a “store-house” and for the “treasury.” But the appointment here mentioned would seem really to correspond to what we should call Lord of the Treasury or Minister of Finance. The characters in the original are
. ↩︎363:2 Literally, “ration grounds.” ↩︎
363:3 Waka-sakura-be. ↩︎