sister, and next Tsuma[1]-tsu-hime no Mikoto. All these three Deities also dispersed well the seeds of trees, and forthwith crossed over to the Land of Kiï.
(I. 59.) Thereafter Sosa no wo no Mikoto dwelt on the Peak of Kuma-nari,[2] and eventually entered the Nether Land."
In one writing it is said:—"Oho-kuni-nushi[3] no Kami is also called Oho-mono-nushi no Kami,[4] or else Kuni-dzukuri Oho-na-mocha[5] no Mikoto, or again Ashi-hara no Shiko-wo,[6] or Ya-chi-hoko[7] no Kami, or Oho-kuni-dama[8] no Kami, or Utsushi-kuni-dama[9] no Kami. His children were in all one hundred and eighty-one Deities.
Now Oho-na-mochi no Mikoto and Sukuna-bikona no Mikoto, with united strength and one heart, constructed this sub-celestial world. Then, for the sake of the visible race of man as well as for beasts, they determined the method of healing diseases. They also, in order to do away with the calamities of birds, beasts, and creeping things, established means for their prevention and control.[10]
- ↑ Written with a Chinese character which means nail or hoof.
- ↑ Probably Mount Kumano in Idzumo. It adjoins the Suga mentioned above as the residence of Sosa no wo. See Index—Kuma-nari.
- ↑ Great-country-master.
- ↑ Great-thing-master.
- ↑ Country-make great-name-possessor.
- ↑ The ugly male of the reed-plain.
- ↑ Eight thousand spears.
- ↑ Great-country-jewel.
- ↑ Apparent-country-jewel.
- ↑ Calamities (wazahahi) are defined by Hirata as injuries which come to us from the unseen world.
By beasts wild beasts are meant. In addition to the real injuries caused by them, we must remember that in Japan all manner of imaginary effects are attributed to the enchantments of foxes and badgers.
One of the Norito (rituals) mentions calamities of birds flying in by the smoke-hole in the roof—perhaps because their droppings polluted the food which was being cooked.
The term hafu mushi (creeping things) includes both insects and reptiles. The stings of wasps, centipedes, and vipers are doubtless meant. The ancient Japanese houses, slight structures often built in pits, would be especially obnoxious to such calamities. Possibly also the injury to the crops and to domestic animals by insects and snakes may be referred to. It should be remembered, too, that the Japanese suppose many ailments, such as toothache and children's convulsions, to be owing to mushi, and these are no doubt to be included in the hafu mushi no wazahahi. Hirata remarks that it is the opinion of the men of the Western Ocean that by
