Kojiki (Chamberlain, 1882)/Section 87

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Kojiki (1882)
by Ō no Yasumaro, translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain

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Ō no Yasumaro4692013Kojiki1882Basil Hall Chamberlain

[Sect. LXXXVII.—Emperor Kei-kō (Part XII.—Yamato-take Wooes Princess Miyazu).]

Having crossed over from that land into the land of Shinanu^[1] and subdued the Deity of the Shinanu pass,^[2] he came back to the land of Wohari, and went to dwell in the house of Princess Miyazu, to whom he had before plighted his troth. Hereupon, when presenting to him the great august food, princess Miyazu lifted up a great august liquor-cup and presented it to him. Tunc Heræ Miyazu veli oræ adhæserunt menstrua. Quare [Augustus Yamato-take] illa menstrua vidit, et auguste cecinit, dicens:

“Ego volui reclinare [caput] in fragili, molli brachiolo [tuo, quod est simile] vallo impingenti acutæ falci in Monti Kagu in cœlo formato quasi cucurbita;—ego desideravi dormire [tecum]. Sed in orâ veli quod induis luna surrexit.”^[3]

Tunc Hera Miyazu augusto cantui respondit, dicens:

“Altè resplendentis solis anguste puer! Placidè administrationem faciens mî magne domine! Renovatis annis venientibus et effluentibus, renovatæ lunæ eunt veniendo et effluendo. Sane, sane, dum te impatienter exspecto, luna suâpte surgit in orâ veli quod ego induo!”^[4]

Quare tunc [ille] coivit [cum illâ], after which, placing in Princess Miyazu’s house his august sword “the Grass-Quelling Sabre,” he went forth^[5] to take the Deity of [Mount] Ibuki.^[6]

↑ Sec Sect. XXXII, Note 26.
↑ Shinanu no saka, a pass between the provinces of Shinano and Mino which is no longer used.
↑ Even taken apart from its immediate context, the import of this Song is plain, notwithstanding Moribe’s efforts to explain away its indelicacy. The details of the first part, however, require some comment in order to make them comprehensible to the European reader, the words in question being those which might in English be rendered “thy fragile, slender, delicate arm [which resembles] a post striking against the sharp sickle on Mount Kagu of the gourd-shaped heaven.” In Japanese they run thus:

Hisa-kata no
Ame no Kagu-yama
To-kama ni
Sa-wataru kuhi:—
Hiha-boso
Ta-waya-gahina wo, etc.

It will be remarked that the first four lines form a “Punning Preface” to the fifth. Such Punning Prefaces have not necessarily any logical connection with what follows, as has been explained by the present writer in a paper “On the Use of Pillow-Words and Plays upon Words in Japanese Poetry,” to be found in Vol. V, Pt. I, pp. 79 et seq. of these “Transactions.” In this particular case, however, there is sufficient continuity of sense to warrant the continuous translation above given. The word “post,” though such a use of it is very curious, must be understood to denote not a dead, but a living trunk, or rather the stem of some delicate plant or grass which falls beneath the sickle of the mower on Mount Kagu in Heaven, or, as it may better be understood, on the Heavenly Mount Kagu [in Yamato]. “Gourd-shaped” is the translation of hisa-kata no or hisa-gata no, the Pillow-Word for “heaven.” Its meaning is disputed, but Mabuchi in his “Dictionary of Pillow-Words” and Motowori agree in giving to it the sense here adopted (see the above-mentioned paper “On the Use of Pillow-Words, etc.,” p. 81).
↑ The total sense of this Song is quite plain.—In the first lines of it the Prince is addressed as if he were the reigning sovereign. The words placidè administrationem faciens represent the Japanese yasumishishi, the Pillow-Word for wa ga oho-kimi, “my great lord.” Elsewhere the English rendering “who tranquilly carries on the government” has been adopted. The word aratama no, rendered by the Adjective renovatis, is the Pillow-Word for “sun,” “moon” and “year,” and is of not quite certain import. The interpretation here adopted has, however, for it the weight of probability and of native authority, Mabuchi in his “Dictionary of Pillow-Words” deriving it from the Verb aratamaru, “to be renewed.”
↑ The characters in the text might also be rendered “he made a progress,” as they are those only properly applied to the movements of a reigning sovereign. Here and elsewhere, however, they are used in speaking of Yamato-take. (Conf. Sect. LXXX, Note 5.)
↑ On the frontier of Afumi (Ōmi) and Mino. Ibuki seems to signify “blowing,” in allusion, it is said, to the pestilential breath or influence of the god by whom the place was tenanted. The word rendered “Mount” is supplied by the editor of 1687.

[1] Sec Sect. XXXII, Note 26.

[2] Shinanu no saka, a pass between the provinces of Shinano and Mino which is no longer used.

[p215-3] Even taken apart from its immediate context, the import of this Song is plain, notwithstanding Moribe’s efforts to explain away its indelicacy. The details of the first part, however, require some comment in order to make them comprehensible to the European reader, the words in question being those which might in English be rendered “thy fragile, slender, delicate arm [which resembles] a post striking against the sharp sickle on Mount Kagu of the gourd-shaped heaven.” In Japanese they run thus:

Hisa-kata no
Ame no Kagu-yama
To-kama ni
Sa-wataru kuhi:—
Hiha-boso
Ta-waya-gahina wo, etc.

It will be remarked that the first four lines form a “Punning Preface” to the fifth. Such Punning Prefaces have not necessarily any logical connection with what follows, as has been explained by the present writer in a paper “On the Use of Pillow-Words and Plays upon Words in Japanese Poetry,” to be found in Vol. V, Pt. I, pp. 79 et seq. of these “Transactions.” In this particular case, however, there is sufficient continuity of sense to warrant the continuous translation above given. The word “post,” though such a use of it is very curious, must be understood to denote not a dead, but a living trunk, or rather the stem of some delicate plant or grass which falls beneath the sickle of the mower on Mount Kagu in Heaven, or, as it may better be understood, on the Heavenly Mount Kagu [in Yamato]. “Gourd-shaped” is the translation of hisa-kata no or hisa-gata no, the Pillow-Word for “heaven.” Its meaning is disputed, but Mabuchi in his “Dictionary of Pillow-Words” and Motowori agree in giving to it the sense here adopted (see the above-mentioned paper “On the Use of Pillow-Words, etc.,” p. 81).

[4] The total sense of this Song is quite plain.—In the first lines of it the Prince is addressed as if he were the reigning sovereign. The words placidè administrationem faciens represent the Japanese yasumishishi, the Pillow-Word for wa ga oho-kimi, “my great lord.” Elsewhere the English rendering “who tranquilly carries on the government” has been adopted. The word aratama no, rendered by the Adjective renovatis, is the Pillow-Word for “sun,” “moon” and “year,” and is of not quite certain import. The interpretation here adopted has, however, for it the weight of probability and of native authority, Mabuchi in his “Dictionary of Pillow-Words” deriving it from the Verb aratamaru, “to be renewed.”

[5] The characters in the text might also be rendered “he made a progress,” as they are those only properly applied to the movements of a reigning sovereign. Here and elsewhere, however, they are used in speaking of Yamato-take. (Conf. Sect. LXXX, Note 5.)

[6] On the frontier of Afumi (Ōmi) and Mino. Ibuki seems to signify “blowing,” in allusion, it is said, to the pestilential breath or influence of the god by whom the place was tenanted. The word rendered “Mount” is supplied by the editor of 1687.

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