Kojiki (Chamberlain, 1882)/Section 104

by Ō no Yasumaro

[Sect. CIV.—Emperor Ō-jin^[1] (Part I.—Genealogies).]

His Augustness Homuda-wake dwelt at the palace of Akira at Karushima,^[2] and ruled the Empire. This Heavenly Sovereign wedded three^[3] queens, daughters of King Homuda-no-Ma-waka,^[4] the name of one of whom was Her Augustness Princess Takagi-no-iri;^[5] of the next, Her Augustness Naka-tsu-hime;^[6] and of the next, Her Augustness Oto-hime.^[7] (The father of these Queens, King Homuda-no-ma-waka, was the son of His Augustness Prince Iho-ki-no-iri^[8] by his wife Shiritsuki-tome,^[9] daughter of the Noble Take-inada,^[10] ancestor of the Chiefs of Wohari.)^[11] So the august children of Her Augustness Princess Takagi-no-iri were: His Augustness Nukata-no-oho-waka-tsu-hiko;^[12] next His Augustness Oho-yama-mori;^[13] next His Augustness Iza-no-ma-waka;^[14] next his younger sister the Lady of Ohohara;^[15] next the Lady of Komuku.^[16] (Five Deities). The august children of Her Augustness Naka-tsu-hime were: the Lady of Arata in Ki;^[17] next His Augustness Oho-sazaki;^[18] next His Augustness Netori.^[19] (Three Deities). The august children of Her Augustness Oto-hime wore: the Lady Abe;^[20] next the Lady of Mihara in Ahaji;^[21] next the Lady of Unu in Ki;^[22] next the Lady of Minu.^[23] (Five Deities).^[24] Again he wedded the Princess Miya-nushi-ya-kaha-ye,^[25] daughter of the Grandee Wani-no-Hifure, and begot august children: Uji-no-waki-iratsuko;^[26] next his younger sister Yata-no-waki-iratsume;^[27] next Queen Medori.^[28] (Three Deities.) Again he wedded Wo-nabe-no-iratsume,^[29] younger sister of Yakaha-ye-hime, and begot an august child: Uji-no-waki-iratsume.^[30] (One Deity.) Again he wedded Okinaga-ma-waka-naka-tsu-hime,^[31] daughter of King Kuhimata-naga-hiko,^[32] and begot an august child: King Waka-nuke-futa-mata^[33] (one Deity). Again he wedded the Princess of Itowi,^[34] daughter of Shima-tari-ne,^[35] ancestor of the Agricultural Chiefs of Sakurawi,^[36] and begot an august child: His Augustness Hayabusa-wake^[37] (one Deity). Again, he wedded Naga-hime of Idzumi in Himuka,^[38] and begot august children: King Oho-haye,^[39] next King Wo-haye;^[40] next Hata-bi-no-waki-iratsume^[41] (three Deities). Again he wedded Princess Ka-guro,^[42] and begot august children: Kaha-rada-no-iratsume;^[43] next, Tama-no-iratsume;^[44] next, Osaka-no-oho-naka-tsu-hime;^[45] next, Tohoshi-no-iratsume;^[46] next, King Kataji^[47] (five Deities). Again, he wedded Nu-iro-me of Kadzuraki,^[48] and begot an august child: King Iza-no-ma-waka.^[49] (One Deity.) The august children of this Heavenly Sovereign [numbered] altogether twenty-six (eleven Kings and fifteen Queens). Of these His Augustness Oho-sazaki [was he who afterwards] ruled the Empire.

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1. Son of the Emperor Chiū-ai and the Empress Jin-gō.
2. In Yamato. Akira signifies “brilliant.” Karushima seems to mean "the neighbourhood of Karu, Karu being the often mentioned place of that name in Yamato.
3. The Auxiliary Numeral for deities is here used.
4. Homuda-no-ma-waka no miko. Homuda has already been met with as the name of a place in Kahachi. Ma-waka signifies “truly young.” The name might therefore be rendered “truly young king of Homuda.”
5. Takagi no iri-bime no mikoto. Motowori identities this princess with the Takaki-hime of Sect. LXXVI, Note 21.
6. I.e., “middle princess,” she being the second of three sisters.
7. I.e., “younger princess,” she being the youngest of the sisters.
8. I-ho-ki-no-iri-biko no mikoto. See Sect. LXXVI, Note 12.
9. I.e., probably “old woman of Shiritsuki.” But it is not certain that Shiritsuki is the name of a place.
10. Take-inada no sukune. In the “Chronicles of Old Matters of Former Ages” the name is written Take-ina-dane, and it may therefore mean “brave-rice-seed.”
11. Wohari no murazhi.
12. I.e., “great middle prince of Nukata,” the latter being the name of a place in Yamato. It is of uncertain signification.
13. I.e., “great mountain-warden.” For the appropriateness of this name conf. Sect. CV.
14. The same name has appeared in Sect. LXIII, Note 13.
15. Ohohara no iratsume. Ohohara is the name of a place in Yamato. It signifies “great moor.”
16. Komuku no iratsume. This name is written 高目, and its reading as Komuku is somewhat hypothetical. It is the name of a place in Kahachi, and probably signifies “an overflowing pool of water.”
17. Ki no Arata no iratsume. Ki is the province of that name, and Arata is a place in it. The latter name probably means “uncultivated fields.”
18. This name signifies “Great Wren,” and is thus accounted for by the author of the “Chronicles”: “On the day when the Emperor [this Prince became the Emperor Nin-toku] was born, an owl flew into the parturition-hall. Next morning early, the Heavenly Sovereign Homuda [i.e., the Emperor Ō-jin] sent for the Prime Minister the Noble Take-uchi, and asked him whereof this might be a sign. The Prime Minister replied, saying: ‘It is a good omen. Moreover yesterday, when thy servant’s wife was delivered of child, a wren flew into the parturition-house, likewise a strange thing.’ Then the Heavenly Sovereign said: ‘It is a portent from Heaven that my child and thine should he born on the same day, and both be attended by a good omen. So let the names of the birds be taken, and each used for the name of the other [i.e., the name of the owl for him into whose parturition-house the wren flew, and vice-versâ], as a covenant for the future.’ So the wren’s name was bestowed on the Heir Apparent, who was called Great-Wren Prince, and the owl’s name was given to the Prime Minister’s child, who was called the Noble Owl.”
19. This name is obscure.
20. Abe no iratsume. Abe is the name of severed places in different provinces, and is of obscure derivation and import.
21. Ahaji no Mihara no iratsume. The text properly has Ayuchi, but Motowori emends this to Ahaji on the authority of the “Chronicles.” Mihara is the name of a district in the island of Ahaji, and probably signifies “three moors.”
22. Ki no Unu no iratsume. Ki is the province of that name, and unu a place in it. The latter name is of uncertain import.
23. Minu no iratsume. Minu (Mino) is the province of that name.
24. “Five” must here be a mistake for “four.”
25. For this name and the next see Sect. CVI, Notes 5 and 4.
26. I.e., “the young lord of Uji.” Uji is the name of a district in Yamashiro, famous in classical and modern times for its tea. The etymology is obscure.
27. I.e., “the young lady of Yata.” Yata is the name of a place in Yamato. The etymology is obscure.
28. Medori no miko. Medori signifies “hen-bird;” but the reason for the application of so strange a name to this princess, whose fortunes are related at some length in Sects. CXXVI and CXXVII, does not appear. A similar remark applies to the next name.
29. I.e., probably “the lady of the little kettle.”
30. I.e., “the young lady of Uji.”
31. I.e., “the truly young middle princess of Okinaga.”
32. See Sect. XCII, Note 27.
33. Waka-nuke-futa-mata no miko. This name is obscure.
34. Itowi-hime. Itowi is the name of a place in Yamato, and is of uncertain origin.
35. Shima is probably the name of a place, while tari and ne are the frequently recurring Honorifics rendered respectively “perfect” and “lord” in former parts of this translation.
36. Sakurawi no ta-be no murazhi. Ta-be, rendered “agricultural,” is literally “rice-field tribe.” Sakurawi (“cherry-well”) is the name of a place in Kahachi.
37. I.e., falcon-lord.
38. Himuka no Idzumi no Naga-hime. Himuka is the name of a province, and Idzutni that of a district now comprised within the limits of Satsuma. Naga-hime, literally “long princess,” probably signifies “elder princess.”
39. Oho-haye no miko. Signification obscure.
40. Wo-haye no miko. Signification obscure. The antithesis of the Adjectives oho and wo (“great” and “small”) shows however that the names partly served to distinguish the elder from the younger brother.
41. Waki-iratsume is “young lady.” Hata-bi is incomprehensible.
42. See Sect. LXXVI, Note 28.
43. I.e., probably “the lady of Kaharada.” The latter name (literally “rice-field on the border of a river”) is often met with.
44. I.e., “the jewel lady.”
45. I.e., “the great middle lady of Osaka,” the latter being the name of a place in Yamato (see Sect. XLVIII, Note 1).
46. Motowori identifies this name with that of Koto-fushi no iratsume in Sect. CXVII, q.v., and thinks that both this and the preceding name have only crept into this Section by mistake.
47. Kataji no miko. Signification obscure.
48. Kadzuraki no Nu-iro-me. All the elements of this name have already been met with several times.
49. This child has already appeared early in this Section, and the name is here doubtless only repeated through some copyist’s error.