Page:Nihongi by Aston.djvu/85

They form a manifold fence—
Ah! that manifold fence!"^[1]

Thereupon they had intercourse together,^[2] and a child was born named Oho-na-muchi^[3] no Kami.

He (Sosa no wo) accordingly spake, and said:—"The masters of my son's Palace^[4] are Ashi-nadzuchi and Te-

1. In the original—
   Ya-kumo tatsu
   Idzu-mo ya-he-gaki:
   Tsuma-gome ni
   Ya-he-gaki tsukuru—
   Sono ya-he-gaki wo!
   
   
   This poem is also given in the "Kojiki" (Ch. K. p. 64), with the slight variant of tsuma-gomi for tsuma-gome in the third line, which makes it intransitive instead of transitive. Idzumo is written with two characters which mean "issuing clouds," as if it were idzuru kumo. The poem no doubt alludes to this meaning and also to the name of the province, but it seems probable that the primary signification of idzumo here is that given in the translation. The true derivation of Idzumo, as the name of the province, is probably idzu, sacred, and mo, quarter. Idzu-mo is for idzure-mo, as so-mo is for sore-mo. It has the same meaning, I think, in a poem given below ("Reign of Kenzō," xv. 11).
   This verse of poetry is undoubtedly old, but the regularity of the metre which is a tanka (short poetry) of thirty-one syllables, and its allusive character, point to a somewhat later date than many of the other poems contained in the "Nihongi." The fact that it is here relegated to a note is some corroboration of this view.

   The poems in this work are translated so that a line of the English version corresponds to a line of Japanese, but it has not always been possible to preserve the original order of the lines.

2. The interlinear version has kumi-do ni mito no makuai shite. Kumi-do is no doubt the special nuptial hut above referred to. Mito is "august-place" according to Hirata, and is another word for the kumi-do. This phrase, which is taken from the "Kojiki," probably denotes legitimate nuptial, as opposed to casual intercourse. But the Chinese original has nothing of the sort.

   It has been already observed that the erection of a special building for the consummation of the marriage had a ceremonial as well as a practical significance.

3. Or Oho-na-muji, or Oho-na-mochi, Great-name-possessor. This Deity, one of the most prominent of the Japanese Pantheon, has numerous names (Hirata mentions seven). The derivation is not quite clear. See Ch. K., p. 67.
4. The same word (miya) means also shrine.