The Age of the Gods.
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the first ancestor of the mirror-makers, and Tamaya no Mikoto, the first ancestor of the jewel-makers, in all Gods of five Be. Then she commanded her August Grandchild, saying:—'This Reed-plain-1500-autumns-fair-rice-ear Land is the region which my descendants shall be lords of. Do thou, my August Grandchild, proceed thither and govern it. Go! and may prosperity attend thy dynasty, and may it, like Heaven and Earth, endure for ever.' When he was about to descend, one, who had been sent in advance to clear the way, returned and said:—'There is one God who dwells at the eight-cross-roads of Heaven, the length of whose nose is seven hands, the length of whose back is more than seven fathoms. Moreover, a light shines from his mouth and from his posteriors. His eye-balls are like an eight-hand mirror and have a ruddy glow like the Aka-kagachi.' (II. 17.) Thereupon he sent one of his attendant Deities to go and make inquiry. Now among all the eighty myriads of Deities there was not one who could confront him and make inquiry. Therefore he specially commanded Ame no Uzume, saying:—'Thou art superior to others in the power of thy looks. Thou hadst better go and question him.' So Ame no Uzume forthwith bared her breasts and, pushing down the band of her garment below her navel, confronted him with a mocking laugh. Then the God of the cross-ways asked her, saying:—'Ame no Uzume! What meanest thou by this behaviour?' She answered and said:—'I venture to ask who art thou that dost thus remain in the road by which the child of Ama-terasu no Oho-kami is to make his progress?' The God of the cross-ways answered and said:—'I have heard that the child of Ama-terasu no Oho-kami is now about to descend, and therefore I have come respectfully to meet and attend upon him. My name is Saruta-hiko no Oho-kami.'[1] Then Ame no Uzume again inquired of him, saying:—'Wilt thou go before me, or shall I go before thee?' He answered and said:—"I will go before and be his harbinger.' Ame no Uzume asked again, saying:—"Whither wilt thou go and whither will the August Grandchild go?' He answered and said:—'The child of the
- ↑ In later times a phallic Deity.
