Kojiki (Chamberlain, 1882)/Section 115

by Ō no Yasumaro

[Sect. CXV.—Emperor Ō-jin (Part XII.—Descendants of Ama-no-hi-boko, and Treasures Brought by Him).]

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 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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1. 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.
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.
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.”
4. Hi-ne may perhaps signify “wondrous lord.”
5. The meaning of this name is obscure, but that of Hina-rashi-bime in Sect. XXVI (Note 19) may be compared.
6. See Sect. LXXIV, Note 1.
7. Hi-taka may signify either “sun-height” or “wondrous height.”
8. This name signifies “pure prince.”
9. As usual, it is not the actual word Deity that is used, but the Auxiliary Numeral for Deities.
10. Tagima is the name of a place, not to be confounded with the province of Tajima. The signification of mehi is quite obscure.
11. Suga may either be the name of place in Tajima, as proposed by Motowori, or identical with the Suga of Sect. XIX. The meaning of Morowo is obscure.
12. The signification of this name is obscure. But Suga, Kama, and Yura are apparently the names of places.
13. Kadzuraki no Takanuka-hime. Kadzuraki is the name of a department, and Takanuka that of a place in that department, in the province of Yamato.
14. Literally, “ancestress.” But see Sect. XXII, Note 1. It will be remembered that Okinaga-tarashi-hime was the Empress Jin-gō.
15. Literally, “treasures of jewels.”
16. Or, “beads.”
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 near 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.
18. This seems to be the signification of the original terms oki tsu kagami and he 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.”
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.”