The Age of the Gods.
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sake, which he gave it to drink. The serpent became drunk, and fell asleep. Sosa no wo no Mikoto forthwith (I. 56.) took his sword, called Worochi no Kara-sabi,[1] and severed its head and severed its belly. When he severed its tail, the edge of the sword was slightly notched, so he split the tail open and made examination. He found there another sword, which he called Kusa-nagi no Tsurugi. This sword was formerly with Sosa no wo no Mikoto. It is now in the province of Ohari. The sword with which Sosa no wo no Mikoto slew the serpent is now with the Kambe[2] of Kibi. The place where the serpent was slain is the mountain at the upper waters of the river Hi in Idzumo."
In one writing it is said:—"Sosa no wo no Mikoto's behaviour was unmannerly. A fine was therefore imposed on him by all the Gods of a thousand tables, and he was driven into banishment. At this time, Sosa no wo no Mikoto, accompanied by his son Iso-takeru[3] no Kami, descended to the Land of Silla,[4] where he dwelt at Soshi-mori.[5] There he lifted up his voice and said:—'I will not dwell in this land.' He at length took clay and made of it a boat, in which he embarked, and crossed over eastwards until he arrived at Mount Tori-kamu no Take, which is by the upper waters of the river Hi in Idzumo. Now there was in this place a serpent which devoured men. Sosa no wo no Mikoto accordingly took his sword, called (I. 57.) Ama no Haye-kiri,[6] and slew this serpent. Now when he
- ↑ Serpent's Kara-blade. Kara is that part of the present province of Kyöng-syang-do in Corea which lies S.W. of the Naktong River. But the word is used loosely for all Corea, and in modern times even for China. See Early Japanese History in "J.A.S.T.," Vol. XVI. Pt. I., p. 43. It was called Mimana by the Japanese.
- ↑ The Kambe or Kami-be were the group of peasants charged with the care of a Shintō shrine.
- ↑ Fifty-courageous.
- ↑ The eastern of the three kingdoms into which Corea was formerly divided.
- ↑ This is the traditional Kana pronunciation. It is not clear whether this is the name of a person or a place. Mori may be the Corean moi, mountain.
- ↑ Fly-cutter.
