(II. 3.) He, too, yielded compliance to his father, and never made any report. Taka-mi-musubi no Mikoto therefore again summoned together all the Gods and inquired of them who should be sent. They all said:—"Ame-waka-hiko,[1] son of Ame no Kuni-dama.[2] He is a valorous person. Let him be tried." Hereupon Taka-mi-musubi no Mikoto gave Ame-waka-hiko a heavenly deer-bow and heavenly feathered arrows, and so despatched him. This God also was disloyal, and as soon as he arrived took to wife Shita-teru-hime,[3] the daughter of Utsushi-kuni-dama[4] (also called Taka-hime or Waka-kuni-dama). Accordingly he remained, and said:—"I, too, wish to govern the Central Land of Reed-Plains." He never reported the result of his mission. At this time, Taka-mi-musubi no Mikoto, wondering why he was so long in coming and making his report, sent the pheasant Na-naki[5] to observe. The pheasant flew down and perched on the top of a many-branched cassia-tree which grew before Ame-waka-hiko's gate. Now (II. 4.) Ama-no Sagu-me[6] saw this and told Ame-waka-hiko, saying:—"A strange bird has come and is perched on the top of the cassia-tree." Then Ame-waka-hiko took the heavenly deer-bow and the heavenly feathered arrows which had been given him by Taka-mi-musubi no Mikoto, and shot the pheasant, so that it died. The arrow having passed through the pheasant's breast, came before where Taka-mi-musubi no Kami was sitting. Then Taka-mi-musubi no Kami seeing this arrow, said:—"This arrow I formerly gave to Ame-waka-hiko. It is stained with blood, it may be because he has been fighting with the Earthly Deities." Thereupon Taka-mi-musubi no Mikoto took up the arrow and flung it back down (to earth). This arrow, when it
- ↑ Heaven-young-prince.
- ↑ Heaven-of-country-jewel.
- ↑ Lower-shine-princess.
- ↑ Real-country-jewel.
- ↑ Na-naki. This word is written here as if the meaning were "nameless." But in the "Kojiki" (see Ch. K., p. 95), characters are used which give it the sense of name-crying, i.e. calling out its own name. The old Japanese for pheasant is kigishi or kigisu. Comparing this with uguhisu (the Japanese nightingale), kakesu (the jay), kirigirisu (the grasshopper), karasu (the crow), and hototogisu (a kind of cuckoo), it becomes evident that kigisu is an onomatopoetic word. Su is for suru, to do. The Corean for a pheasant is kiöng, no doubt also an onomatope.
- ↑ Heavenly-spying-woman.
