— 59 —
preted the action of erecting rods in the deep mud of the rice-fields to be simply a mischievous design to injure the barefooted Japanese peasantry, who laboured in the paddy fields (K. A. Florenz, English Translation of the O-Harai-no-Norito, T.A.S.J., Vol. XXVII, pp. 80, 81).
16. The Author of the Kogoshui, misled by the Chinese character “he” (戶) which literally means “door,” gave the above quoted interpretation, but the true meaning of the word “Kusohe” is simply “to discharge excrets[errata 1],” and in the present instance as regards both the Kojiki and Nihongi account[errata 2], it can be readily seen that the rude Susano-o-no-Kami’s bad intention was to pollute his divine sister’s sacred Festival Hall before the Feast in honour of the New Rice Harvest, by evacuating his excreta in that building.
17. “Ame-no-Yasu-no-Kawara” in Japanese. Aston translated “The Bank of the Tranquil River of Heaven,” but he seems to have been misled by the Chinese characters, and so to have rendered them too literally. The true meaning is exactly that which he[errata 3] have rendered into English in the presnt text.
18. Cleyera Japonica. This tree is still revered as sacred to the Gods of Shinto. Some commentators opine that “sakaki” was a name originally given to all evergreens.
19. According to the Nihongi (W. G. Aston, ibid., Vol. I, p. 43), the Yasakani, or Yasaka Jewels, i.e., the Ever-bright Curved Jewels.
20. The identity of this tree is uncertain. Some Japanese commentators say that the word “oke” was probably inserted here by mistake.
