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“Ana tanoshi!” (“What joy to dance with out-stretched hands!”)
“Ana Sayake oke!” (“How refreshing and reviving! just like the rustling sound of breezes softly whispering in bamboo grass, or through the leaves of the trees playing sweet melodies of natural music!”)
Then the two gods Ame-no-Koyane-no-Mikoto and Futotama-no-Mikoto respectfully besought the Sun-Goddess never more to hide her face.
As a punishment for bringing about this catastrophe the Gods inflicted on Susano-o-no-Kami a heavy expiatory fine with the hair of his head, his finger and toe nails being cut off for his offence; and then satisfied, they banished that evil God Susano-o from Heaven. Susano-o-no-Kami then descended to the banks of the River Hi in Izumo Province, where with his heavenly ten-span sword (The sword, otherwise called Ame-no-Haha-Kiri, is now preserved at the Iso-no-Kami Shrine. The Japanese word for “serpent” is “haha,” so that the Ame-no-Haha-Kiri Sword signifies the weapon by which the monstrous serpent was slain), he had slain a serpent with an eight-forked head and tail, in whose tail was concealed a divine sword called “Ame-no-Mura-kumo-no-Tsurugi” or the Heavenly Sword of Assembled Clouds (so named, because above the monstrous serpent there always hung a mass of miraculous clouds. The Imperial prince Yamato-take-no-Mikoto on his expedition in the eastern provinces, thanks to the miraculous virtue of this same divine sword, narrowly escaped from falling to a victim to the enemy’s treacherous