resentment, spat and wept. She said:—'The race of visible mankind shall change swiftly like the flowers. of the trees, and shall decay and pass away.' This is the (II. 25.) reason why the life of man is so short.
After this, Kami-ataka-ashi-tsu-hime saw the August Grandchild, and said:—'Thy handmaiden has conceived a child by the August Grandchild. It is not meet that it should be born privately.' The August Grandchild said:—'Child of the Heavenly Deity though I am, how could I in one night cause anyone to be with child? Now it cannot be my child.' Kono-hana-saku-ya-hime was exceedingly ashamed and angry. She straightway made a doorless muro, and thereupon made a vow, saying:—'If the child which I have conceived is the child of another Deity, may it surely be unfortunate. But if it is truly the offspring of the Heavenly Grandchild, may it surely be alive and unhurt.' So she entered the muro, and burnt it with fire. At this time, when the flames first broke out, a child was born who was named Ho-no-susori no Mikoto; next when the flame reached its height, a child was born who was named Ho-no-akari no Mikoto. The next child which was born was called Hiko-ho-ho-demi no Mikoto,[1] and also Ho-no-wori no Mikoto."
In one writing it is said:—"When the flames first became bright, a child was born named Ho-no-akari no Mikoto; next, when the blaze was at its height, a child was born named Ho-no-susumi[2] no Mikoto, also called Ho-no-suseri no Mikoto; next, when she recoiled from the blaze, a child was born named Ho-no-ori-hiko-ho-ho-demi no Mikoto—three children in all. The fire failed to harm them, and the mother, too, was not injured in the least. Then with a bamboo knife she cut their navel-strings.[3] From the bamboo knife which she threw away, there eventually
- ↑ Ho-ho-demi no Mikoto. The word Mikoto is here written with a different and more honourable character than in the case of his two brothers for the reason that this Deity was the direct ancestor of the Mikados. See above, p. 3.
- ↑ Flame-advance.
- ↑ A note to the Shukai edition mentions a local custom of severing the umbilical cord with a bamboo or copper knife. Another custom is not to use
