古事記 中巻

Emperor Jimmu (Kamu-yamato-ihare-biko) was living in the palace at Takachiho with his elder brother Itsuse. The two of them talked it over and said: "Where should we settle, if we are to govern the land in peace? Let us go further east." So they left Himuka and made for Tsukushi.

When they reached Usa in the land of Toyo, two people of that place, Usatsuhiko and Usatsuhime, built them a hall raised on a single pillar and set out a meal for them. From there they moved on and stayed one year at the palace of Okada in Tsukushi, seven years at the palace of Takeri in the land of Aki, and eight years at the palace of Takashima in Kibi.

Leaving that country, they came to the strait of Hayasuhi, and a man came toward them riding on the back of a turtle, fishing and waving his sleeves. They called him alongside and asked, "Do you know the sea road?" He said, "I know it well." They asked, "Will you serve us?" He said, "I will serve." So they held out a pole to him and drew him into the boat, and gave him the name Sawonetsuhiko. He is the ancestor of the provincial governors of Yamato.

From there they passed the crossing at Namihaya and moored at the haven of Shirakata. Nagasunehiko of Tomi raised an army and lay in wait, and battle was joined. They took up the shields stowed in the boats and went ashore, and so that place is called Tatetsu; today it is the Tadetsu of Kusaka.

While they fought Nagasunehiko, an arrow struck Itsuse in the hand. Itsuse said: "I am a child of the sun, and yet I have fought facing the sun. That was wrong. From now on we will go around and strike with the sun at our backs." They turned south, and when they reached the sea of Chinu he washed the blood from his hand there. That is why it is called Chinu.

Going on around, they came to the river-mouth of Wo in the land of Ki, and there Itsuse cried out, "Am I to die of a wound given by a low man's hand?" and died. That is why the haven is called Wo. His tomb is on Mount Kama in Ki.

Going on from there, they came to the village of Kumano, where a great bear appeared for a moment and vanished. At once Emperor Jimmu (Kamu-yamato-ihare-biko) lost his senses, and his soldiers all fell down as well.

A man of Kumano named Takakuraji came to the fallen ruler carrying a single straight sword, and offered it to him. He woke and said, "How long I have slept." When he took the sword in his hand, the violent gods of the mountains of Kumano were cut down of themselves, and the soldiers who had lain senseless all woke and rose.

He asked how the sword had come. Takakuraji answered: "I saw it in a dream. Amaterasu and Takagi spoke to Takemikazuchi and said, 'The Central Land of the Reed Plains is in great uproar, and our descendants are in distress. That land is the land you brought to order. You go down.' Takemikazuchi answered, 'I need not go down myself. I still have the sword with which I brought that land to order, and I will send the sword down in my place.' Then he said to me, 'I will make a hole in the ridge of your storehouse and drop this sword through it. In the morning, take it and present it to the child of the heavenly gods.' In the morning I looked in my storehouse, and the sword was there just as the dream had said, and so I brought it."

The name of this sword is Sajifutsu-no-kami. It is also called Mikafutsu-no-kami, and also Futsu-no-mitama. The sword is kept at the shrine of Isonokami.

Then Takagi spoke: "Child of the heavenly gods, go no further inland. The violent gods there are many. I am sending down a crow eight spans long from heaven. The crow will lead. Follow behind it."

They did as they were told and followed the crow, and came to the lower reaches of the Yoshino river. There a man was taking fish with a weir-basket. Emperor Jimmu (Kamu-yamato-ihare-biko) asked who he was, and he said, "I am a god of this land, and my name is Nihemotsu-no-ko." He is the ancestor of the cormorant fishers of Ada.

Going on from there, a man with a tail came out of a well, and the well was shining. Asked who he was, he said, "I am a god of this land, and my name is Iihika." He is the ancestor of the headmen of Yoshino.

When they went up into the mountains, they met another man with a tail, who came out pushing the rocks apart. Asked who he was, he said, "I am a god of this land, and my name is Iwaoshiwaku-no-ko. I heard that the child of the heavenly gods was coming, and so I have come to meet him." He is the ancestor of the Kuzu of Yoshino.

From there they made their way over the mountains and came out at Uda. That is why the place is called the Ugachi of Uda.

At Uda there were two men, Ukashi the elder and Ukashi the younger. First the crow was sent to ask them: "The child of the heavenly gods has come. Will you serve him?" The elder Ukashi shot a whistling arrow and drove the messenger back. The place where that arrow fell is called Kaburazaki.

The elder Ukashi tried to gather an army and ambush him, but no army came together. So he pretended he would serve, built a great hall, set a deadfall inside it, and waited.

The younger Ukashi came out first, bowed, and said: "My elder brother shot back the messenger of the child of the heavenly gods, and meant to ambush him. He gathered an army and could not raise one, so he has built a hall with a deadfall set inside it, meaning to catch him there. That is why I have come to tell you."

Then Emperor Jimmu (Kamu-yamato-ihare-biko) called Michi-no-omi and Ōkume, and they said: "Ukashi, you built this hall and say you will serve. Go in first yourself and show us how you will serve." Gripping their sword hilts, leveling their spears, and setting arrows to their bows, they drove him inside. The elder Ukashi was caught by the deadfall he had set, and died. They dragged him out and cut him to pieces. That is why the place is called the Blood Plain of Uda.

Afterwards the great feast the younger Ukashi had offered was given out to the whole army. Then he sang:

On the high fort of Uda I set a snare for snipe.

The snipe I waited for did not come to it;

a whale came to it instead.

If my first wife asks for meat, cut her the part with little flesh.

If my later wife asks for meat, cut her the part with much.

Ee, shiyagoshiya — this is said in scorn.

Aa, shiyagoshiya — this is said in mockery.

The younger Ukashi is the ancestor of the water officers of Uda.

Going on from there, they came to the great chamber-house at Osaka, where eighty warriors of the earth-spiders, men with tails, were waiting inside. So in the name of Emperor Jimmu (Kamu-yamato-ihare-biko) a feast was set out for the eighty warriors. One steward was assigned to each of the eighty, every steward was given a sword, and they were told: "When you hear the song, cut them down together."

This is the song that gave the sign to strike the earth-spiders:

In the great chamber-house of Osaka

many men have come inside.

Many though they be,

the sons of Kume, the strong ones,

with mallet-head sword and stone-head sword,

will strike and not stop.

When the song ended, the stewards drew their swords and killed them all at once.

After that, when Emperor Jimmu (Kamu-yamato-ihare-biko) was about to strike Nagasunehiko of Tomi, he sang:

In the millet field of the sons of Kume, the strong ones,

there is a single stalk of chive.

Root and shoot together —

we will strike and not stop.

And he sang again:

By the hedge of the sons of Kume, the strong ones,

a pepper plant was set.

My mouth still burns from it.

I have not forgotten.

We will strike and not stop.

And he sang again:

In the sea of Ise, where the god-wind blows,

as the small shells crawl round and round the great rock,

so we will crawl round them and strike and not stop.

And when he struck the Shiki brothers, the elder Shiki and the younger Shiki, his soldiers grew weary, and he sang:

Shields set side by side,

watching from among the trees of Mount Inasa as we fight,

I have grown hungry.

Cormorant fishers, birds of the island,

come now and help.

Then Nigihayahi came and said to the child of the heavenly gods: "I heard that the child of the heavenly gods had come down from heaven, and so I have followed you down." He presented the heavenly tokens and entered his service.

Nigihayahi married Tomiyabime, the younger sister of Nagasunehiko of Tomi, and their child was Umashimaji. He is the ancestor of the Mononobe chieftains, the Hozumi grandees, and the Une-be grandees.

So the violent gods were brought to order and the people who would not submit were driven out, and Emperor Jimmu (Kamu-yamato-ihare-biko) ruled the land from the palace of Kashihara at Unebi.

While Emperor Jimmu (Kamu-yamato-ihare-biko) was still in Himuka he married Ahirabime, the younger sister of the lord of Obashi in Ata. Their children were Tagishimimi and Kisumimi.

Later, when he was looking for a beautiful woman to make his queen, Ōkume said: "There is a girl who is called the child of a god. This is why she is called so. Seyadatarabime, the daughter of Mizokui of Mishima, was very beautiful, and Ōmononushi of Miwa saw her and desired her. While she was in the privy he changed himself into a red-painted arrow, floated down the drain beneath her, and struck her genitals. She started up in alarm and ran about, then took the arrow and set it beside her bed, and at once it became a handsome young man. He married her, and their child was Hototataraisusukihime, who is also called Himetatara-isukeyorihime. The name was changed later because the word for the genitals was disliked. That is why she is called the child of a god."

At that time seven girls were walking on the moor of Takasaji, and Isukeyorihime was among them. Ōkume saw her and told the emperor in song:

Seven girls are walking the moor of Takasaji in Yamato.

Which of them will you take?

Isukeyorihime was standing at the head of them. The emperor looked at the girls, saw that she stood first, and answered in song:

Well then — the elder one,

the one standing right at the front:

her I will take.

When Ōkume brought her the emperor's word, she saw the cuts tattooed around his eyes, wondered at them, and sang:

Wagtail, plover, wren —

why are your eyes slit like that?

Ōkume answered in song:

So that I might meet the girl face to face,

my eyes are slit like this.

And she said, "I will serve him."

Her house stood on the bank of the Sawi river. The emperor went to Isukeyorihime there and slept one night. The river is called Sawi because mountain lilies grew thick along its bank, and the old name of that plant, sawi, was taken for the river.

Afterwards, when she came into the palace, the emperor sang:

In a hut where the reeds grow thick on the plain

we spread sedge mats clean

and the two of us slept.

Their children were Hikoyai, Kamuyaimimi, and Kamununakawamimi, who is Emperor Suizei.

After Emperor Jimmu (Kamu-yamato-ihare-biko) died, his son Tagishimimi, born of another mother, married the queen Isukeyorihime and plotted to kill her three sons, his younger brothers.

Their mother Isukeyorihime was troubled and tried to warn her sons in song. She sang:

From the Sawi river the clouds rise and spread.

On Mount Unebi the leaves of the trees are stirring.

A wind is about to blow.

And she sang again:

On Mount Unebi the clouds settle by day,

and when evening comes the wind will blow —

and so the leaves of the trees are stirring.

Her sons heard this, took alarm, and set out to kill Tagishimimi. Kamununakawamimi, who is Emperor Suizei, said to his elder brother Kamuyaimimi: "Take the weapons, go in, and kill Tagishimimi." Kamuyaimimi took the weapons and went in, but when the moment came to kill him his hands and feet shook and he could not do it. So the younger brother Kamununakawamimi took the weapons out of his brother's hands, went in, and killed Tagishimimi. For this he is also praised under the name Takenunakawamimi.

Kamuyaimimi gave way to his younger brother and said: "I could not kill the enemy. You were able to kill him. So although I am the elder, I should not stand above you. You take the highest place and rule the land. I will support you, and serve as the one who keeps the rites."

Hikoyai is the ancestor of the Mamuta chieftains and the Teshima chieftains.

Kamuyaimimi is the ancestor of the Ō grandees, the chieftains of the Chiisako guild, the chieftains of the Sakahi guild, the lords of Hi, the lords of Ōkida, the lords of Aso, the chieftains of the granaries of Tsukushi, the Sazakibe grandees, the Sazakibe governors, the governors of Ohatsuse, the suzerains of Tsuke, the provincial governors of Iyo, the provincial governors of Shinano, the provincial governors of Iwaki in Michinoku, the provincial governors of Naka in Hitachi, the provincial governors of Nagasa, the suzerains of Funaki in Ise, the Niwa grandees of Owari, and the Shimada grandees.

Kamununakawamimi, who is Emperor Suizei, took the rule of the land.

Emperor Jimmu (Kamu-yamato-ihare-biko) lived 137 years. His tomb is on the northern side of Mount Unebi, at the top of the oak spur.

Kamununakawamimi, whom the records call Emperor Suizei, ruled the land from the palace of Takaoka in Kazuraki.

He married Kawamatabime, of the line from which the district lords of Shiki descend, and their child was Shikitsuhiko-tamademi.

He lived 45 years. His tomb is at the mound of Tsukida.

Emperor Annei, called Shikitsuhiko-tamademi, lived in the palace of Ukiana at Katashio and ruled the realm.

He took to wife Akutohime, daughter of the district head Hae, elder brother of Kawamatabime, and she bore him three children: Tokonetsuhiko-irone, Oyamatohiko-sukitomo, and Shikitsuhiko.

Shikitsuhiko had two sons. From the one descend the Inagi of Suchi, the Inagi of Nabari, and the Inagi of Mino, all in Iga. The other was Wachitsumi, who lived in the palace of Mii on Awaji. He had two daughters: the elder Hae-irone, also called Oyamato-kuni-arehime, and the younger Hae-irodo.

The sovereign's years were forty-nine. His tomb is at Mihoto on Mount Unebi.

Emperor Itoku, called Oyamatohiko-sukitomo, lived in the palace of Sakaioka at Karu and ruled the realm.

He took to wife Futomawakahime, also called Iibihime, from whom the district heads of Shiki descend, and she bore him two children: Mimatsuhiko-kaeshine and Tagishihiko.

The younger, Tagishihiko, is the ancestor of the Wake of Chinu, the Take no Wake of Tajima, and the Inagi of Ashii.

The sovereign's years were forty-five. His tomb is above the valley of Manago at Mount Unebi.

Emperor Kosho, called Mimatsuhiko-kaeshine, lived in the palace of Wakigami in Kazuraki and ruled the realm.

He took to wife Yosotahohime, younger sister of Okitsuyoso, from whom the Owari no Muraji descend, and she bore him two children: Ame-oshitarashihiko and Oyamato-tarashihiko-kunioshihito.

The younger, Oyamato-tarashihiko-kunioshihito, ruled the realm.

The elder, Ame-oshitarashihiko, is the ancestor of the Kasuga no Omi, the Oyake no Omi, the Awata no Omi, the Ono no Omi, the Kakinomoto no Omi, the Ichihii no Omi, the Osaka no Omi, the Ana no Omi, the Taki no Omi, the Haguri no Omi, the Chita no Omi, the Muza no Omi, the Tsunuyama no Omi, the Iitaka no Kimi of Ise, the Ichishi no Kimi, and the Kuni-no-miyatsuko of Chikatsu-Omi.

The sovereign's years were ninety-three. His tomb is on Mount Hakata at Wakigami.

Emperor Koan, called Oyamato-tarashihiko-kunioshihito, lived in the palace of Akizushima at Muro in Kazuraki and ruled the realm.

He took to wife his niece Oshikahime, and she bore him two children: Okibi-no-morosusumi and Oyamato-neko-hiko-futoni.

The younger, Oyamato-neko-hiko-futoni, ruled the realm.

The sovereign's years were one hundred and twenty-three. His tomb is on the hill of Tamade.

Emperor Korei, called Oyamato-neko-hiko-futoni, lived in the palace of Iodo at Kuroda and ruled the realm.

He took to wife Kuwashihime, daughter of Ome, from whom the district heads of Tochi descend, and she bore him Oyamato-neko-hiko-kunikuru.

He took to wife Chichihaya-mawakahime of Kasuga, and she bore him Chichihayahime.

He took to wife Oyamato-kuni-arehime, and she bore him four children: Yamatototohi-momosohime, Hiko-sashikatawake, Hiko-isaseribiko (also called Okibitsuhiko), and Yamato-tobihaya-wakayahime.

He took to wife Hae-irodo, younger sister of Arehime, and she bore him two children: Hiko-samema and Waka-hiko-take-kibitsuhiko.

The children of this sovereign were eight in all: five sons and three daughters.

Oyamato-neko-hiko-kunikuru ruled the realm.

Okibitsuhiko and Waka-take-kibitsuhiko together set sacred jars at the mouth of the River Hi in Harima, and taking Harima as the head of the road, they brought the land of Kibi to submission and made it quiet.

Okibitsuhiko is the ancestor of the Kamitsumichi no Omi of Kibi. Waka-hiko-take-kibitsuhiko is the ancestor of the Shimotsumichi no Omi of Kibi and of the Kasa no Omi. Hiko-samema is the ancestor of the Ushika no Omi of Harima. Hiko-sashikatawake is the ancestor of the Tonami no Omi of Koshi, the Kunisaki no Omi of Toyo, the Iohara no Kimi, and the Ama no Atai of Tsunuga.

The sovereign's years were one hundred and six. His tomb is on the slope of Umasaka at Kataoka.

Emperor Kogen, called Oyamato-neko-hiko-kunikuru, lived in the palace of Sakaihara at Karu and ruled the realm.

He took to wife Utsushikome, younger sister of Utsushikoo, from whom the Hozumi no Omi descend, and she bore him three children: Obiko, Sukunahiko-take-igokoro, and Waka-yamato-neko-hiko-obibi.

He took to wife Ikagashikome, daughter of Utsushikoo, and she bore him Hiko-futsuoshi-no-makoto.

He took to wife Haniyasubime, daughter of Aotama of Kawachi, and she bore him Take-haniyasubiko.

The children of this sovereign were five in all.

Waka-yamato-neko-hiko-obibi ruled the realm.

The children of Obiko were two: Take-nunakawawake and Hiko-inakoshiwake. Take-nunakawawake is the ancestor of the Abe no Omi; Hiko-inakoshiwake is the ancestor of the Kashiwade no Omi.

Hiko-futsuoshi-no-makoto took to wife Kazuraki-no-takachinabime, younger sister of Ohonabi, from whom the Owari no Muraji descend, and she bore him Umashi-uchi no Sukune, ancestor of the Uchi no Omi of Yamashiro.

He also took to wife Yamashita-kagehime, younger sister of Uzuhiko, from whom the Kuni-no-miyatsuko of Ki descend, and she bore him Takeuchi no Sukune.

The children of Takeuchi no Sukune were nine in all: seven sons and two daughters.

Hata-no-yashiro no Sukune is the ancestor of the Hata no Omi, the Hayashi no Omi, the Hami no Omi, the Hoshikawa no Omi, the Omi no Omi, and the Hatsusebe no Kimi.

Kose-no-okara no Sukune is the ancestor of the Kose no Omi, the Sazakibe no Omi, and the Karube no Omi.

Soga-no-ishikawa no Sukune is the ancestor of the Soga no Omi, the Kawanobe no Omi, the Tanaka no Omi, the Takamuko no Omi, the Owarida no Omi, the Sakurai no Omi, and the Kishida no Omi.

Heguri-no-tsuku no Sukune is the ancestor of the Heguri no Omi, the Sawara no Omi, and the Umamikui no Muraji.

Ki-no-tsunu no Sukune is the ancestor of the Ki no Omi, the Tsunu no Omi, and the Sakamoto no Omi.

The daughters were Kume-no-maitohime and Nuno-irohime.

Kazuraki-no-nagae-no-sotsubiko is the ancestor of the Tamade no Omi, the Ikuha no Omi, the Ikue no Omi, and the Agina no Omi.

Wakago no Sukune is the ancestor of the Enu-no-takara no Omi.

The sovereign's years were fifty-seven. His tomb is on the middle mound of the pond of Tsurugi.

Emperor Kaika, called Waka-yamato-neko-hiko-obibi, lived in the palace of Izakawa at Kasuga and ruled the realm.

He took to wife Takanohime, daughter of Yugori, the great district head of Tanba, and she bore him Hiko-yumusumi.

He took to wife his stepmother Ikagashikome, and she bore him two children: Emperor Sujin, called Mimaki-irihiko-inie, and Mimatsuhime.

He took to wife Oketsuhime, younger sister of Hiko-kuni-oketsu, from whom the Wani no Omi descend, and she bore him Prince Hikoimasu.

He took to wife Washihime, daughter of Kazuraki-no-tarumi no Sukune, and she bore him Prince Take-toyo-hazura-wake.

The children of this sovereign were five in all: four sons and one daughter.

Mimaki-irihiko-inie ruled the realm.

The children of the elder brother Hiko-yumusumi were two: Prince Otsutsuki-no-tarine and Prince Sanuki-no-tarine. These two princes had five daughters.

Prince Hikoimasu took to wife Enatsuhime of Yamashiro, also called Karihata-tobe, and she bore him three children: Prince Ōmata, Prince Womata, and Prince Shibumi no Sukune.

He took to wife Saho-no-okurami-tome, daughter of Take-kunikatsu-tome of Kasuga, and she bore him four children: Prince Sahobiko, Prince Wozaho, Sahobime, also called Sawajihime, who became consort of Emperor Suinin, and Prince Murobiko.

He took to wife Okinaga-no-mizuyorihime, daughter of the god Ame-no-mikage worshipped by the priests of Mikami in Chikatsu-Omi, and she bore him five children: Tanba-no-michinushi, called Tanba-hiko-tatasu-michinoushi, Prince Mizuho-no-mawaka, Prince Kamu-one, also called Prince Yatsuri-irihiko, Mizuho-no-ioyorihime, and Miitsuhime.

He took to wife Woketsuhime, his mother's younger sister, and she bore him three children: Prince Yamashiro-no-otsutsuki-no-mawaka, Prince Hiko-osu, and Prince Irine.

The children of Prince Hikoimasu were eleven in all.

The sons of Prince Ōmata were two: Prince Aketatsu and Prince Unakami. Prince Aketatsu is the ancestor of the Homujibe no Kimi of Ise and the Sana no Miyatsuko of Ise; Prince Unakami is the ancestor of the Himeda no Kimi.

Prince Womata is the ancestor of the Magari no Kimi of Tagima, and Prince Shibumi no Sukune of the Sasa no Kimi.

Prince Sahobiko is the ancestor of the Kusakabe no Muraji and the Kuni-no-miyatsuko of Kai. Prince Wozaho is the ancestor of the Kazuno no Wake and the Kano no Wake of Chikatsu-Omi. Prince Murobiko is the ancestor of the Mimi no Wake of Wakasa.

Tanba-no-michinushi took to wife Kawakami-no-masu-no-iratsume, and she bore him four children: Hibasuhime, Matonohime, Otohime, and Prince Mikadowake. Prince Mikadowake is the ancestor of the Ho no Wake of Mikawa.

Prince Mizuho-no-mawaka is the ancestor of the Yasu no Atai of Chikatsu-Omi, and Prince Kamu-one is the ancestor of the Motosu Kuni-no-miyatsuko of Mino and the Nagahatabe no Muraji.

Prince Yamashiro-no-otsutsuki-no-mawaka took to wife Tanba-no-ajisawabime, daughter of his younger brother Prince Irine, and she bore him Prince Kanimeikazuchi.

Prince Kanimeikazuchi took to wife Takakihime, daughter of Totsuomi of Tanba, and she bore him Prince Okinaga no Sukune.

Prince Okinaga no Sukune took to wife Kazuraki-no-takanukahime, and she bore him three children: Okinaga-tarashihime, who is Empress Jingu, Soratsuhime, and Prince Okinagahiko. Prince Okinagahiko is the ancestor of the Homuji no Kimi of Kibi and the Aso no Kimi of Harima.

Prince Okinaga no Sukune also took to wife Kawamata-no-inayoribime, and she bore him Prince Otamusaka, ancestor of the Kuni-no-miyatsuko of Tajima.

Prince Take-toyo-hazura-wake is the ancestor of the Chimori no Omi, the Oshinumibe no Miyatsuko, the Minabe no Miyatsuko, the Oshinumibe of Inaba, the Takano no Wake of Tanba, and the Abiko of Yosami.

The sovereign's years were sixty-three. His tomb is on the slope of Izakawa.

Emperor Sujin, called Mimaki-irihiko-inie, lived in the palace of Mizugaki at Shiki and ruled the realm.

He took to wife Totsu-ayumemakuwashihime, daughter of Arakawatobe, the Kuni-no-miyatsuko of Ki, and she bore him two children: Toyoki-irihiko and Toyosuki-irihime.

He took to wife Oamahime, from whom the Owari no Muraji descend, and she bore him four children: Oirihiko, Yasaka-no-irihiko, Nunaki-no-irihime, and Tochi-no-irihime.

He took to wife Mimatsuhime, daughter of Obiko, and she bore him six children: Emperor Suinin, called Ikume-irihiko-isachi, Izano-mawaka, Kunikatahime, Chichitsukuwahime, Igahime, and Yamatohiko.

The children of this sovereign were twelve in all: seven sons and five daughters.

Ikume-irihiko-isachi ruled the realm.

The elder, Toyoki-irihiko, is the ancestor of the Kamitsukeno no Kimi and the Shimotsukeno no Kimi. His sister Toyosuki-irihime served the shrine of the great god of Ise.

Oirihiko is the ancestor of the Noto no Omi.

At the time of Yamatohiko, living people were for the first time set standing in a hedge about a tomb.

In the reign of this sovereign a plague broke out again and again, and the people were dying until almost none would be left.

The sovereign grieved, and while he lay on the sacred couch, Omononushi appeared to him in a dream and said: "This is my own will. If you have me worshipped by Otataneko, the anger of the god will not rise, and the land will be at peace."

So couriers were sent out in every direction to seek Otataneko, and he was found in the village of Mino in Kawachi and brought before the sovereign.

When the sovereign asked whose child he was, he answered: "I am Otataneko, son of Take-mikazuchi, son of Iigatasumi, son of Kushimikata, whom Omononushi begot upon Ikutamayoribime, daughter of Suetsumimi."

The sovereign was greatly pleased, and made Otataneko the chief priest, to worship the great god of Omiwa on Mount Mimoro.

He further commanded Ikagashikoo to make eighty ritual vessels, and he appointed and worshipped at the shrines of the gods of heaven and of earth.

To the god of Sumisaka in Uda he offered a shield and a spear of red, and to the god of Osaka a shield and a spear of black; and to the gods of the ridges of the slopes and the gods of the river shallows he offered cloth without leaving out one of them.

Thereupon the plague ceased, and the land was at peace.

This is how it was known that Otataneko was the child of a god.

Ikutamayoribime, spoken of above, was fair of form. There was a young man whose bearing and figure had no equal, and he came suddenly in the middle of the night. They loved one another and lived together, and before long, though little time had passed, the woman was with child.

Her father and mother, wondering at it, asked her: "You are with child of yourself. How can you be with child when you have no husband?" She answered: "There is a beautiful young man whose name I do not know. He comes every night, and while we lived together I have become with child of myself."

So the father and mother, wishing to learn who he was, told her: "Scatter red earth before the bed, thread hemp from the reel through a needle, and pierce the hem of his garment with it." She did as they said.

In the morning they saw that the hemp on the needle had passed out through the hook-hole of the door, and that only three coils of it were left.

They followed the thread from the hook-hole, and it went as far as Mount Miwa and stopped at the shrine of the god. By this they knew that the child was the child of that god.

Because three coils of hemp were left, the place was named Miwa.

This Otataneko is the ancestor of the Miwa no Kimi and the Kamo no Kimi.

Again, in the reign of this sovereign, Obiko was sent to the road of Koshi and his son Take-nunakawawake to the twelve roads of the east, to subdue those who would not submit; and Prince Hikoimasu was sent to the land of Tanba to kill Kugamimi-no-mikasa.

As Obiko was going toward the land of Koshi, a girl wearing a waist-skirt stood on the pass of Hera in Yamashiro and sang:

Mimaki-irihiko, ah!

Mimaki-irihiko, ah!

Because they would steal your life away,

they cross to and fro by the back door,

they cross to and fro by the front door,

and you do not know they are watching —

Mimaki-irihiko, ah!

Obiko thought it strange, turned his horse back, and asked the girl what her words meant. She answered: "I said nothing. I was only singing a song." Then, without anyone seeing where she went, she vanished at once.

Obiko turned back and reported it to the sovereign, who said: "This must be a sign that my half-brother Take-haniyasu, who lives in the land of Yamashiro, has set his heart on something evil. Uncle, raise an army and go."

So Hiko-kunibuku, from whom the Wani no Omi descend, was sent with him.

They set sacred jars at the slope of Wani and set out. When they reached the River Wakara in Yamashiro, Take-haniyasu had raised an army and was waiting, and the two sides challenged one another across the river. For this reason the place was named Idomi; it is now called Izumi.

Hiko-kunibuku called across: "Let your side loose the first arrow." Take-haniyasu shot, but could not strike. Then the arrow that Hiko-kunibuku loosed struck Take-haniyasu and killed him. His whole army broke and fled.

They pursued them as far as the ford of Kusuba, and the fleeing soldiers, hard pressed, fouled their trousers. For this reason the place was named Kusobakama; it is now called Kusuba.

They cut off the fugitives and struck them down, and the soldiers floated on the river like cormorants. For this reason the river was named Ukawa.

They cut the soldiers to pieces there, and for this reason the place was named Hafurisono.

Having finished the subduing, they reported back to the sovereign.

So Obiko went on to the land of Koshi as he had first been ordered. Take-nunakawawake, who had been sent to the east, met his father at Aizu, and for this reason the place is called Aizu.

Each of them having settled the affairs of the lands to which he was sent, they reported back to the sovereign.

The realm was at peace and the people prospered. It was then that tribute was first laid on the bow-ends of the men and on the finger-tips of the women.

Therefore this reign was praised, and the sovereign was called Mimaki, the sovereign who first ruled the land.

In this reign also the pond of Yosami was made, and the pond of Sakaori at Karu.

Emperor Sujin (Mimaki-iri-biko-inie) reached the age of one hundred and sixty-eight. His tomb lies on the rise at the bend of the Yamanobe road.

Emperor Suinin (Ikume-iri-biko-isachi) ruled the realm from the palace of Tamagaki in Shiki.

He married Sahobime, younger sister of Prince Sahobiko, and she bore him Homuchiwake.

He married Hibasuhime, daughter of Tanba no Michinushi (Tanba-hiko-tatasu-michi-no-ushi), and she bore him five children: Inishiki-no-iri-biko, the later Emperor Keikō (Ōtarashihiko-oshirowake), Ōnakatsuhiko, Yamatohime, and Wakaki-iri-biko.

He married Nubata-no-iri-bime, younger sister of Hibasuhime, and she bore him two children: Nutarashiwake and Iga-tarashihiko.

He married Azami-no-iri-bime, younger sister of Nubata-no-iri-bime, and she bore him two children: Ikobayawake and Azamitsuhime.

He married Kaguyahime, daughter of Prince Ōtsutsuki no Tarine, and she bore him Prince Ozabe.

He married Karihatatobe, daughter of Ōkuni-no-fuchi of Yamashiro, and she bore him three children: Prince Ochiwake, Prince Ika-tarashihiko, and Prince Itoshiwake.

He married her younger sister Oto-karihatatobe, and she bore him two children: Prince Iwatsukuwake and Iwatsukubime, also called Futaji-no-iri-bime.

The children of this sovereign numbered sixteen in all: thirteen sons and three daughters.

Of these, Ōtarashihiko-oshirowake ruled the realm. (His height was one jō and two sun; the length of his shank was four shaku and one sun.)

Inishiki-no-iri-biko made the pond of Chinu, the pond of Sayama, and the pond of Takatsu at Kusaka. Dwelling in the palace of Kawakami at Tottori, he had a thousand long swords made and placed them in the shrine of Isonokami, and while in that palace he established the Kawakami corporation.

Ōnakatsuhiko is the ancestor of the Wake of Yamanobe, the Wake of Saikusa, the Wake of Inaki, the Wake of Ata, the Mino Wake of the land of Owari, the Iwanashi Wake of Kibi, the Wake of Koromo, the Wake of Takasuka, the Lords of Asuka, and the Wake of Mure.

Yamatohime served the shrine of the great god of Ise.

Ikobayawake is the ancestor of the Wake of Anahobe in Saho.

Azamitsuhime married Prince Inasebiko.

Prince Ochiwake is the ancestor of the Yama Lords of Otsuki and the Koromo Lords of Mikawa.

Prince Ika-tarashihiko is the ancestor of the Yama Lords of Kasuga, the Ike Lords of Koshi, and the Lords of Kasugabe.

Prince Itoshiwake had no children, so the Itoshi corporation was established to stand in a child's place.

Prince Iwatsukuwake is the ancestor of the Lords of Hakui and the Lords of Mio.

Futaji-no-iri-bime became the consort of Yamato Takeru.

When Emperor Suinin (Ikume-iri-biko-isachi) had made Sahobime his consort, her elder brother Prince Sahobiko asked her, "Which is dearer to you, your husband or your brother?" She answered, "My brother is dearer."

Then Sahobiko laid his plan before her. "If you truly hold me dear, then you and I shall rule the realm together." He had a short dagger made, folded and tempered again and again, and gave it to his sister, saying, "Stab the sovereign to death with this while he sleeps."

The sovereign knew nothing of the plan and slept with his head on his consort's lap. Three times she raised the dagger to cut his throat, but grief overcame her and she could not do it; her tears fell and ran across his face. He woke with a start and said to her, "I have had a strange dream. Rain came suddenly from the direction of Saho and wet my face, and a small snake of brocade colors coiled about my neck. What does such a dream mean?"

Unable to hide it any longer, she told him: "My brother asked me which was dearer, my husband or my brother. I could not bear the question asked to my face, and I said my brother was dearer. Then he said that he and I would rule the realm together, and he made a dagger and gave it to me and told me to stab you. Three times I raised it, but sorrow rose in me and I could not strike, and my tears fell and wet your face. The dream must be a sign of this."

The sovereign said, "I was very nearly betrayed." He raised an army and attacked Sahobiko. Sahobiko built a fort of piled rice-sheaves and waited there. Sahobime could not bear to abandon her brother, and she slipped out through the rear gate of the palace and went into the fort.

The consort was with child. For three years the sovereign held back his army, both out of love for her and because of her pregnancy. In time her months were full and she gave birth. She set the child outside the rice fort and sent word to the sovereign: "If you consider this child your own, take him."

The sovereign said, "I hate her brother, but I cannot stop loving her." Meaning to recover her as well, he chose the swiftest among his strongest soldiers and told them, "When you take the child, seize the mother too. Take hold of her hair, her arm, whatever you can grip, and drag her out."

The consort had guessed his intention. She had shaved off all her hair and covered her head with it, rotted her string of beads and wound it three times about her arm, and rotted her robe with liquor and put it on as though it were sound. So prepared, she carried the child out beyond the fort. The soldiers took the child and reached for the mother. They caught her hair, and the hair came away; they caught her arm, and the bead-string broke; they caught her robe, and the robe tore. They got the child but not the mother.

They came back and reported: "The hair came off, the robe tore, the bead-string broke, so we could not take the mother. We have only the child." The sovereign was bitter, and in his anger against the bead-makers he took away all their lands. From this came the saying, "Bead-makers with no land."

The sovereign sent word again to his consort: "A child's name is always given by the mother. What shall this child be called?" She answered, "He was born in the fire that burned the rice fort, so call him Homuchiwake."

He sent word again: "How is he to be raised?" She answered, "Take a nurse for him, and appoint bath-attendants, senior and junior, to bring him up." So he had the child raised as she said.

He sent word again: "Who is to untie the sash that you tied?" She answered, "The daughters of Tanba no Michinushi (Tanba-hiko-tatasu-michi-no-ushi), Ehime and Otohime. These two are of clean stock. You should take them into your service."

In the end Prince Sahobiko was killed, and his sister Sahobime died with him.

This is how the child was brought up. From a forked cryptomeria at Aizu in Owari they made a two-forked boat, carried it up to Yamato, floated it on the pond of Ichishi and the pond of Karu, and let the child play with it. But though his beard grew long enough to hang down over his chest, he did not speak.

One day he heard a swan crying as it flew high overhead, and for the first time he made a few broken sounds. So the sovereign sent Yamanobe no Ōtaka to catch the bird. He followed it from the land of Ki into Harima, around into Inaba, on to Tanba and Tajima, eastward to Ōmi, across into Mino, from Owari through Shinano, and at last into Koshi, where he spread a net at the estuary of Wanami, caught the bird, and brought it back as an offering. That is why the place is called the estuary of Wanami. But when the child saw the bird, he still did not speak as they had hoped.

The sovereign lay down troubled, and a voice came to him in a dream: "If my shrine is put in order like the sovereign's own hall, the child will surely speak." When he inquired by the great divination, the answer came that the affliction arose from the will of the great god of Izumo.

So it was decided to send the child to worship that god, and divination was made as to who should go with him; the lot fell on Prince Aketatsu. Aketatsu was made to swear an oath: "If worshipping this god truly has power, then let the heron that lives in the tree by the pond of Sagisu fall by this oath." At his words the heron dropped to the ground dead. He then said, "By this oath, live," and the heron came back to life. He also withered by an oath the broad-leaved oak at the cape of Amakashi, and by an oath made it live again. For this the sovereign gave him a new name, Yamato-hashiki-tomi-toyo-asakura-no-Aketatsu.

When Prince Aketatsu and Prince Unakami were sent as the child's companions, divination was made as to which gate they should leave by. It was found that going out by the Nara gate they would meet a lame man and a blind man, and going out by the Ōsaka gate they would likewise meet a lame man and a blind man, and that only the Ki gate was a favorable gate. So they set out, and at every place they came to they established branches of the Homuji corporation.

They reached Izumo, and when the worship was finished and they were returning, a temporary bridge of unbarked wood was laid across the Hi river and a temporary residence built there for the child. Kihisatsumi, ancestor of the rulers of the land of Izumo, set up a mock mountain of green leaves downstream and was about to offer food, when the child spoke: "That thing downstream that looks like a mountain of green leaves is not a mountain. Is it not the great courtyard of the priest who serves Ashihara-shikoo, the great god who dwells in the Sonomiya at Iwakuma in Izumo?"

His attendants heard this and rejoiced. They lodged the child in the palace of Nagaho at Ajimasa and sent a fast rider to report it.

The child spent one night with Hinagahime. Watching her secretly, he saw that she was a snake, and he fled in fear. Hinagahime grieved, and she came after him by boat, lighting up the surface of the sea. He was more frightened still, and hauled his boat over a pass between the hills and escaped upcountry.

The messenger reported: "Because he worshipped the great god, the child can speak. That is why I have come." The sovereign was glad, and sent Prince Unakami back to build the god's shrine. In honor of the child he established the bird-catchers' corporation, the bird-keepers' corporation, the Homuji corporation, and the senior and junior bath-attendants.

Following the words of his former consort, the sovereign summoned four daughters of Tanba no Michinushi (Tanba-hiko-tatasu-michi-no-ushi): Hibasuhime, Otohime, Utagorihime, and Matonohime. He kept only the two elder, Hibasuhime and Otohime, and sent the two younger back to their own country because they were ugly.

Matonohime was ashamed and said, "That it should be heard in the neighboring villages how I, among sisters, was sent home for being ugly is a bitter shame." When she came to Sagaraka in the land of Yamashiro she tried to hang herself from the branch of a tree, and so the place was called Sagariki, "hanging tree"; it is now called Sagaraka. And when she came to Otokuni she threw herself into a deep pool and died, and so the place was called Ochikuni, "the land of falling"; it is now called Otokuni.

The sovereign sent Tajimamori, ancestor of the Miyake no Muraji, to the Eternal Land to seek the fruit of the tree whose fragrance is out of season. Tajimamori reached that land at last, gathered the fruit, and came back carrying eight branches with the leaves on and eight bare branches. But the sovereign had already died.

So Tajimamori divided them, presenting four leafy branches and four bare branches to the great consort, and setting four leafy branches and four bare branches at the door of the sovereign's tomb. Holding the fruit up, he cried aloud and wept: "I have come back bearing the fruit of the tree whose fragrance is out of season, from the Eternal Land." And he went on crying and weeping until he died. The fruit whose fragrance is out of season is what is now called the tachibana orange.

Emperor Suinin (Ikume-iri-biko-isachi) reached the age of one hundred and fifty-three. His tomb is in the middle of the Mitachi moor at Sugawara.

At the burial of his great consort Hibasuhime, the corporation of stone-coffin makers was established, and the corporation of clay-workers as well. She was buried in the tomb at Terama in Saki.

Emperor Keikō (Ōtarashihiko-oshirowake) ruled the realm from the palace of Hishiro at Makimuku.

He married Harima-no-Inabi-no-Ōiratsume, daughter of Wakatake-kibitsuhiko, ancestor of the Kibi ministers, and she bore him five children: Prince Kushitsunuwake, Ōusu, Yamato Takeru (then called Ousu, also called Yamato-oguna), Yamatoneko, and Prince Kamukushi.

He married Yasaka-no-iri-bime, daughter of Yasaka-no-iri-biko, and she bore him four children: the later Emperor Seimu (Wakatarashihiko), Ioki-no-iri-biko, Oshiwake, and Ioki-no-iri-bime.

By another woman he had Prince Toyotowake and Nunashiro-no-iratsume.

By another woman he had Nunaki-no-iratsume, Kagoyorihime, Prince Wakaki-no-iri-biko, Prince Kibi-no-Ehiko, Takakihime, and Otohime.

He married Mihakashibime of Himuka, and she bore him Prince Toyokuniwake.

He married Inabi-no-Wakairatsume, younger sister of Inabi-no-Ōiratsume, and she bore him two children: Prince Mawaka and Prince Hikohito-no-Ōe.

He married Kagurohime, daughter of Prince Sumeiro-ōnakatsuhiko, who was a great-grandchild of Yamato Takeru, and she bore him Prince Ōe.

The children of this sovereign were eighty in all: twenty-one whose names are recorded and fifty-nine whose names are not. Of these, three bore the title of heir: Wakatarashihiko, Yamato Takeru, and Ioki-no-iri-biko. The remaining seventy-seven were each given rule over the various lands, or made wake, inagi, or agatanushi.

Wakatarashihiko ruled the realm. Yamato Takeru subdued the violent gods and the unsubmitting people of the east and the west. Prince Kushitsunuwake is the ancestor of the Mamuta no Shimo no Muraji. Ōusu is the ancestor of the Mori Lords, the Ōta Lords, and the Shimada Lords. Prince Kamukushi is the ancestor of the Sakabe no Abiko of the land of Ki and the Sakabe of Uda. Prince Toyokuniwake is the ancestor of the rulers of the land of Himuka.

The sovereign heard that Ehime and Otohime, the two daughters of Prince Kamu-ōne, ancestor of the rulers of the land of Mino, were beautiful, and he sent his son Ōusu to summon them. But Ōusu did not summon them; he took both of them for himself, and found other women whom he sent up in their place, passing them off as the two sisters.

The sovereign knew they were other women. He kept them under his long gaze without ever taking them as wives, and so left them to grieve.

Ōusu had by Ehime a son, Prince Oshiguro-no-Ehiko, ancestor of the Unesu Wake of Mino; and by Otohime a son, Prince Oshiguro-no-Otohiko, ancestor of the Mugetsu Lords.

In this reign the cultivators' corporation was established, and the eastern port of Awa, and the great attendants' corporation of the table, and the storehouses of Yamato; and the pond of Sakate was made, with bamboo planted along its bank.

The sovereign said to Yamato Takeru, then called Ousu, "Why does your elder brother not come to the morning and evening meals? Go and instruct him properly."

Five days went by and the brother still did not come. So the sovereign asked, "Why has your elder brother stayed away so long? Have you not instructed him yet?" Ousu answered, "I have instructed him already." The sovereign said, "How did you instruct him?" He answered, "At daybreak I waited for him as he went into the privy, seized him and crushed him, pulled off his limbs, wrapped them in a mat and threw them away."

The sovereign said to his son Yamato Takeru — at that time still called Ousu — "In the west there are two Kumaso Takeru. They do not submit, and they show no respect. Go and strike them down." He sent him off. Yamato Takeru was still young enough to wear his hair bound up at the brow.

Yamato Takeru went first to the great shrine at Ise, where he received a robe and a skirt from his aunt Yamato-hime. He hid a short sword in his breast and set out for the west.

When he reached the house of the Kumaso Takeru, he found soldiers standing three deep around it, and a new chamber built and guarded. They were about to hold a feast for the new chamber, and food was being prepared. Yamato Takeru waited for the day, combed his hair down like a girl's, put on his aunt's robe and skirt, and in the shape of a young woman he went in among the women and entered the chamber.

The elder and the younger brother saw the girl, were taken with her, and seated her between them, and they enjoyed the feast. At the height of it Yamato Takeru drew the sword from his breast, seized the elder brother by the collar, and drove the blade through his chest. The younger brother saw this and fled in terror. Yamato Takeru chased him to the foot of the chamber steps, caught him by the back, and drove the blade through his buttock.

Then the younger brother said, "Do not move that blade. There is something I wish to say." Yamato Takeru held his hand and kept him pinned down. The younger brother said, "Who are you?" Yamato Takeru answered, "I am the son of Ōtarashihiko Oshirowake, who dwells in the palace of Hishiro at Makimuku and rules the land of the eight great islands. My name is Yamato Ogana. He heard that you two Kumaso Takeru do not submit and show no respect, and he sent me to strike you down."

The younger brother said, "That must indeed be so. In the west there are no men strong and fierce but us two. Yet in the land of Great Yamato there is a man fiercer than we two. So I will give you a name. From now on may you be praised as the prince Yamato Takeru." When he had finished speaking, Yamato Takeru cut him apart like a ripe melon and killed him.

From that time his name was Yamato Takeru.

On his way back up to the capital he brought into submission the gods of the mountains, the gods of the rivers, and the gods of the Anato strait, every one of them, and then went up.

Yamato Takeru went into the land of Izumo, meaning to kill Izumo Takeru, and first made friends with him.

In secret he made a false sword out of oak wood and wore it at his side. Then he went with Izumo Takeru to the river Hi, and they bathed.

Yamato Takeru came up out of the water first. He took the sword Izumo Takeru had loosened and laid aside, girded it on himself, and said, "Let us trade swords." Izumo Takeru came up after him and girded on the wooden one.

Then Yamato Takeru urged him, "Come, let us match swords." Each tried to draw, but Izumo Takeru's sword was wood and would not come out. Yamato Takeru drew his own and struck Izumo Takeru down and killed him.

Then he sang:

　The sword that Izumo Takeru wore,

　wound round and round with vine —

　no blade inside it.

　What a pity.

So he put down those who were violent, brought the country to order, went up to the capital, and reported to the sovereign.

The sovereign gave Yamato Takeru another order: "Go and subdue the violent gods of the twelve roads of the east, and the people there who will not submit." He sent with him Misukitomomi Takehiko, ancestor of the lords of Kibi, and gave him a holly-wood spear eight fathoms long.

Yamato Takeru received the order and set out. He went to the great shrine at Ise, worshipped at the shrine hall, and then said to his aunt Yamato-hime, "The sovereign must want me dead soon. He sent me to strike down the evil people of the west, and I had only just come back up to the capital when, without giving me an army, he sends me off again to pacify the evil people of the twelve roads of the east. When I think about it, he surely wants me dead soon."

As he was leaving in grief and tears, Yamato-hime gave him the Kusanagi sword, and gave him also a bag, saying, "If something sudden happens, open the mouth of this bag."

Yamato Takeru came to the land of Owari and entered the house of Miyazu-hime, ancestress of the rulers of Owari. He thought at once of marrying her, but decided instead to marry her on his way back up to the capital. He gave his pledge and went on into the eastern lands, and he put down every violent god of the mountains and rivers and every people that would not submit.

When he reached the land of Sagamu, the ruler of that land lied to him and said, "In the middle of this moor there is a great marsh, and the god who lives in it is a very violent god."

Yamato Takeru went out into the moor to see this god. The ruler then set the moor on fire. Knowing he had been tricked, Yamato Takeru opened the mouth of the bag his aunt Yamato-hime had given him. Inside was a fire-striker.

So he first mowed the grass away with his sword, struck fire with the striker, lit a counter-fire, burned the grass, drove the fire back, and came out. Then he cut down every one of the rulers of that land and set fire to them and burned them. That place is called Yakizu to this day.

When Yamato Takeru was crossing the sea at Hashirimizu, the god of that crossing raised the waves and turned the ship about, so that it could not go forward.

Then his consort Ototachibana-hime said, "I will go into the sea in place of my lord. My lord must finish the task he was sent to do and report back to the sovereign."

As she was about to go into the sea, she spread eight layers of sedge matting, eight layers of skin matting, and eight layers of silk matting on top of the waves, and stepped down and sat on them. The rough waves grew calm of themselves, and the ship was able to go on.

Then she sang:

　On the little moor of Sagamu,

　in the fire that burned,

　standing in the midst of the flames,

　you asked after me —

　my lord.

Seven days later her comb washed up on the shore. They took the comb, built a tomb, and laid it there.

From there Yamato Takeru went in and brought all the violent Emishi into submission, put down the violent gods of the mountains and rivers, and turned back toward the capital.

At the foot of the Ashigara pass, while he was eating his dried rice, the god of the pass took the form of a white deer and came and stood before him. Yamato Takeru threw a scrap of the wild chive he had left over. It struck the deer in the eye, and the deer died.

When he had climbed to the top of the pass, he sighed three times and said, "Azuma wa ya" — my wife. That is why the country is called Azuma.

From there he crossed out of that country and came into the land of Kai.

Yamato Takeru went into the land of Kai and stayed at the palace of Sakaori. There he sang:

　Past Niibari, past Tsukuba —

　how many nights have I slept?

An old man who tended the fire took up the song and finished it:

　Counting the days one after another:

　nine nights,

　and ten days.

Yamato Takeru praised the old man and made him ruler of an eastern land.

Yamato Takeru crossed from that country into the land of Shinano, brought the god of the Shinano pass into submission, and came back to the land of Owari, where he entered the house of Miyazu-hime, to whom he had earlier given his pledge.

When Miyazu-hime brought him the great meal, she raised a large wine cup and held it out to him. On the hem of her outer robe there was menstrual blood. Yamato Takeru saw it and sang:

　High and wide,

　over Mount Kagu of heaven,

　keen as a whetted sickle,

　a swan goes across.

　That arm of yours,

　slender and frail —

　I would take it for my pillow,

　so I think,

　I would lie down with you,

　so I think,

　but on the hem

　of the robe you wear

　the moon has risen.

Miyazu-hime answered him in song:

　Shining high,

　child of the sun,

　my great lord

　who rules the whole land:

　as the new year

　comes and goes by,

　so the new moon

　comes and goes by.

　Truly, truly —

　waiting for you and hardly able to wait,

　on the hem

　of the robe I wear

　the moon may well rise.

So the two were joined. Yamato Takeru left the Kusanagi sword at Miyazu-hime's house and went out to take the god of Mount Ibuki.

Yamato Takeru said, "As for the god of this mountain, I will take him with my bare hands." And he climbed the mountain.

On the mountainside he met a white boar the size of an ox. He spoke his intention aloud: "This thing in the shape of a white boar must be the god's messenger. Even if I do not kill it now, I can kill it on the way back." And he went on climbing.

Then the god sent down a hail of icy rain and struck him and confused him.

(The thing in the shape of a white boar was not the god's messenger but the god himself. Because Yamato Takeru had spoken his intention aloud, he was led astray.)

Coming back down, he reached the clear spring of Tamakurabe, and when he rested there his mind came back to him at last. That is why the spring is called Isame — the spring of resting and waking.

Yamato Takeru left that place, and when he reached the moor of Tagi he said, "My heart always meant to go flying through the sky. But now my legs cannot walk. They have gone crooked." That is why the place is called Tagi.

Going on a little further he was so weary that he leaned on a staff and walked slowly. That is why the slope is called Tsuetsuki.

When he reached the lone pine on the cape of Otsu, the sword he had left behind there when he ate a meal earlier was still there, not lost. Then he sang:

　Facing straight across

　toward Owari,

　on the cape of Otsu,

　lone pine —

　my brother.

　Lone pine,

　if you were a man

　I would gird you with a sword,

　I would dress you in clothes.

　Lone pine —

　my brother.

Going on from there he reached the village of Mie, and said again, "My legs have gone like a threefold bend, and I am very weary." That is why the place is called Mie.

Going on from there he reached the moor of Nobe, and longing for his own country he sang:

　Yamato is

　the finest place in all the land.

　Fold upon fold,

　green hedges,

　mountains ringing it round —

　Yamato is beautiful.

He sang again:

　Those whose life is whole,

　let them take the leaves

　of the great oak of Mount Heguri

　and set them in their hair.

　You children.

These are the songs of longing for the homeland. He sang again:

　How dear —

　from the direction of my house

　clouds rise and come.

This is a half-song.

At this point his illness suddenly grew heavy. So he sang:

　By the maiden's

　bedside

　the sword I left behind —

　that sword.

When he had finished singing he died. A courier was sent to report to the sovereign.

His consorts and children who were in Yamato came down, built a tomb, and crawled about the paddy fields nearby, weeping and singing:

　In the paddy beside the tomb,

　over the rice stubble,

　over the rice stubble,

　creeping and winding —

　the wild-yam vine.

Then the dead man turned into a white plover eight fathoms long, rose into the sky, and flew off toward the shore. His consorts and children cut their feet on the bamboo stubble, and forgetting the pain they wept and followed him. Then they sang:

　Through the low bamboo grass

　our waists are caught and will not move.

　We do not go by the sky;

　we go on our feet.

When they went into the sea and struggled forward, they sang:

　Going into the sea

　our waists are caught and will not move.

　Like plants that grow

　in a wide riverbed

　we only sway there in the sea.

And when the bird flew off to the rocky shore, they sang:

　The plover of the beach

　does not go along the beach;

　it follows the rocks.

These four songs were all sung at his funeral. That is why to this day these songs are sung at the great funeral of a sovereign.

The bird flew up from that country and settled at Shiki in the land of Kawachi. So a tomb was built there to lay it to rest, and that tomb is called the White Bird Tomb. But the bird rose into the sky again from there and flew away.

All the while that Yamato Takeru went about bringing the lands to order, a man named Nanatsukahagi, ancestor of the Kume no Atae, always went with him and served him as his cook.

Yamato-takeru had six children.

Tarashi-nakatsu-hiko, later Emperor Chuai, was borne by Futaji-no-iri-hime, a daughter of Emperor Suinin, and he afterward governed the realm.

Waka-take-no-miko was borne by Oto-tachibana-hime, the one who went down into the sea.

Ine-yori-wake-no-miko was borne by Futaji-hime, daughter of O-tamu-wake, forebear of the provincial rulers of Yasu in Chikatsu-Omi; he is the forebear of the Inukami no Kimi and the Takebe no Kimi.

Take-kaiko-no-miko was borne by O-kibi-take-hime, younger sister of Take-hiko, forebear of the Kibi no Omi; he is the forebear of the Aya no Kimi of Sanuki, the Wake of Ise, the Wake of To, the Masa no Obito, and the Wake of Miyaji.

Ashi-kagami-wake-no-miko was borne by Kukumamori-hime of Yamashiro; he is the forebear of the Wake of Kamakura, the Ozu, the Wake of Iwashiro, and the Wake of Fukita.

By another wife he had Okinaga-ta-wake-no-miko.

The son of Okinaga-ta-wake was Kuimata-naga-hiko-no-miko, whose children were three: Iino-ma-guro-hime, Okinaga-ma-waka-nakatsu-hime, and Oto-hime.

Waka-take-no-miko took Iino-ma-guro-hime and had Sume-iro-o-nakatsu-hiko-no-miko. He took Shibano-hime, daughter of Shibano-iriki of Omi, and had Kaguro-hime.

Emperor Keiko took Kaguro-hime and had Oe-no-miko. Oe-no-miko took his half-sister Shirogane-no-miko and had O-nagata-no-miko and O-nakatsu-hime. This O-nakatsu-hime was the mother of Kagosaka-no-miko and Oshikuma-no-miko.

Emperor Keiko lived one hundred and thirty-seven years. His tomb lies above the Yamanobe road.

Emperor Seimu governed the realm from the palace of Takaanaho at Shiga in Chikatsu-Omi.

He took Oto-takara-no-iratsume, daughter of Take-oshiyama-tarine, forebear of the Hozumi no Omi, and had one child, Waka-nuke-no-miko.

He made Takeuchi no Sukune his chief minister. He appointed the provincial rulers of the greater and the lesser provinces, fixed the borders between the provinces, and appointed the district heads of the greater and the lesser districts.

He lived ninety-five years. His tomb is at Tatanami in Saki.

Emperor Chuai governed the realm from the palace of Toyora in Anato and the palace of Kashii in Tsukushi.

By O-nakatsu-hime, daughter of Oe-no-miko, he had two sons, Kagosaka-no-miko and Oshikuma-no-miko.

By Okinaga-tarashi-hime, the empress known as Jingu, he had two sons, Homuya-wake and O-tomo-wake, who is also called Homuda-wake and who afterward ruled as Emperor Ojin.

The heir was called O-tomo-wake because at his birth the flesh of his arm had the shape of a tomo, the leather guard an archer wears on the arm. By this it was known, while he was still in his mother's womb, that he would govern the land.

In this reign the storehouse estate of Awaji was established.

The emperor was at the palace of Kashii in Tsukushi, preparing to strike the land of Kumaso. He played on his zither, while the chief minister Takeuchi no Sukune stood in the cleared court and asked for words from the gods.

A god then entered the empress and instructed her: "There is a land to the west. Gold and silver are there, and many treasures that dazzle the eye. I now grant that land to you."

The emperor answered: "I have climbed to a high place and looked west, and there is no land. There is only the wide sea." Saying, "These are lying gods," he pushed the zither away and did not play, but sat in silence.

The god was greatly angered and said: "This whole realm is not yours to govern. Go the one road."

The chief minister said: "This is dreadful. My lord, play on."

The emperor drew the zither back and played listlessly. Before long the sound stopped. They raised a light and looked, and he was already dead.

The people were struck with fear. They moved the emperor into the mourning house, gathered goods from across the land, sought out many kinds of atonement offerings, and held a great purification of the country, naming the offences: flaying alive, flaying backwards, breaking down the ridges between fields, filling in irrigation ditches, fouling with excrement, union between parent and child, union with a horse, with a cow, with a fowl, with a dog.

Then Takeuchi no Sukune again stood in the cleared court and asked for words from the gods. The instruction was exactly as before: "This land is a land for the child in your womb to govern."

Takeuchi no Sukune said: "This is dreadful. Great one, which is the child in this womb?" The answer came: "A boy."

He asked again: "I wish to know the names of the great ones who instruct us now." The answer came: "This is the will of Amaterasu Omikami, and of the three gods Sokotsutsunoo, Nakatsutsunoo, and Uwatsutsunoo. If you truly mean to win that land, make offerings to the gods of heaven and of earth, and to the gods of the mountains and of the rivers and the sea, every one; set our spirits on the top of the ship; put ashes of hardwood into gourds; make many chopsticks and leaf platters, and scatter them all afloat on the wide sea, and cross over."

They did as they were told. They mustered the army, drew up the ships, and crossed. The fish of the sea, great and small, carried the ships upon their backs. A strong following wind rose, and the ships went on with the waves.

The waves that carried the ships ran up onto the land of Silla and reached the middle of the country. The lord of Silla, shaking with fear, said: "From this day forward I will do as the sovereign commands. I will keep the imperial horses, and every year I will line up ships without fail, and let neither the bellies of the ships nor the oars and rudders go dry, and I will serve without ceasing for as long as heaven and earth endure."

So Silla was appointed keeper of the imperial horses, and Paekche was appointed the storehouse estate across the water.

The empress set her staff upright at the gate of the lord of Silla, enshrined the rough spirits of the great gods of Suminoe as the guardian gods of that land, and crossed back over the sea.

Before all this was finished, the child in her womb was ready to be born. To hold it back she took a stone and bound it at the waist of her skirt, and only after she had crossed to the land of Tsukushi was the child born. The place where she bore him is named Umi. The stone she bound at her waist is at the village of Ito in Tsukushi.

She came to the village of Tamashima in the district of Matsura in Tsukushi and took a meal on the bank of the river. It was the first ten days of the fourth month.

She went out onto a rock in the middle of the stream, pulled threads from her skirt, baited them with grains of rice, and caught the sweetfish of that river. That river is called Ogawa, and that rock is called Katsudohime.

To this day, in the first ten days of the fourth month, women pull threads from their skirts, bait them with grains of rice, and catch sweetfish there, and the custom has never broken off.

When Jingu was about to go up to Yamato, she doubted the hearts of the people. She had a mourning ship made ready, placed the young prince aboard it, and let the word go out that the prince was already dead.

As she went up, Kagosaka-no-miko and Oshikuma-no-miko heard this and resolved to lie in wait and strike. They went out to the moor of Toga and held a hunt to read the outcome. Kagosaka-no-miko climbed an oak to watch, and a great enraged boar came out, dug up the tree, and killed him.

His younger brother Oshikuma-no-miko was not deterred. He raised troops and lay in wait, and moved against the mourning ship, meaning to take an empty vessel. But soldiers came down out of that ship and fought.

Oshikuma-no-miko made Isahi no Sukune, forebear of the Kishibe of Naniwa, his general; on the heir's side, Naniwa-neko-take-furukuma, forebear of the Wani no Omi, was made general.

They drove the enemy back as far as Yamashiro, where the enemy turned and fought again. Take-furukuma then had this given out as a ruse: "Okinaga-tarashi-hime is dead. There is no more reason to fight." He cut his bowstrings and made a show of surrender. The enemy general believed it, unstrung his bows and put away his weapons.

Then the soldiers drew the spare strings out of their topknots, restrung their bows, and attacked. The enemy fled to Osaka, turned there and fought once more, and were driven on and broken at Sasanami, and the whole force was cut down.

Oshikuma-no-miko and Isahi no Sukune, hunted down, boarded a boat out on the lake and sang:

Come now, my lord,

rather than take

a mortal wound from Furukuma,

like the grebe

into the sea of Omi

let us dive down.

Then they went into the lake and died together.

Takeuchi no Sukune took the heir through the lands of Omi and Wakasa for purification, and built a temporary palace for him at Tsunuga, at the mouth of the road to Koshi.

There the great god Izasawake of that place appeared to him in a dream at night and said: "I wish to trade my name for the name of the young prince."

They said in blessing, "This is dreadful. It shall be traded as you command." The god said again: "Go down to the beach tomorrow morning. I will make you a return gift for the name."

The next morning they went to the beach, and the whole inlet was filled with dolphins whose noses had been broken. So the prince spoke toward the god and said: "You have given me fish for my food." For this his name was honoured as Miketsu-no-Okami, the great one of food. He is now called the great god of Kehi.

The blood from the noses of those dolphins stank, and so the inlet was named Chiura, the inlet of blood. It is now called Tsunuga.

When the heir came back up to the capital, his mother Jingu brewed the waiting wine and offered it to him. Then she sang:

This wine

is not my wine.

The master of wine

who dwells in the eternal land,

who stands there as stone,

the small god Sukuna,

with his blessing,

his blessing driven to frenzy,

his abundant blessing,

his blessing circling round,

sent this wine here.

Drink, and do not leave it shallow.

Sa, sa.

So she sang as she offered the wine. Then Takeuchi no Sukune answered on the prince's behalf and sang:

The one who brewed

this wine,

did he stand that drum

upon the mortar

and brew it

while he sang?

Did he brew it

while he danced?

This wine,

this wine,

it makes us strangely merry.

Sa, sa.

These are the wine-rejoicing songs.

Emperor Chuai lived fifty-two years in all. His tomb is at Nagae in Ega in Kawachi.

The empress died at the age of one hundred. She was buried in the tomb of Tatanami in Saki.

Emperor Ojin governed the realm from the palace of Akira at Karushima.

He took as consorts three royal ladies, daughters of Homuda-no-mawaka-no-miko: Takagi-no-iri-hime, Naka-tsu-hime, and Oto-hime. Their father Homuda-no-mawaka-no-miko was the son of Iokinoiri-hiko by Shiritsuki-tome, daughter of Take-inada no Sukune, forebear of the Owari no Muraji.

The children of Takagi-no-iri-hime were five: Nukata-no-onakatsu-hiko, O-yamamori, Iza-no-mawaka, their sister O-hara-no-iratsume, and Komuku-no-iratsume.

The children of Naka-tsu-hime were three: Arata-no-iratsume of Ki, O-sazaki, and Netori.

The children of Oto-hime were four: Abe-no-iratsume, Mihara-no-iratsume of Awaji, Uno-no-iratsume of Ki, and Mino-no-iratsume.

By Miya-nushi-yakawae-hime, daughter of Hifure no Omi of Wani, he had three children: Uji-no-wakiiratsuko, his sister Yata-no-wakiiratsume, and Medori-no-miko.

By Onabe-no-iratsume, younger sister of Yakawae-hime, he had Uji-no-wakiiratsume.

By Okinaga-mawaka-nakatsu-hime, daughter of Kuimata-naga-hiko-no-miko, he had Waka-nuke-futamata-no-miko.

By Itoi-hime, daughter of Shima-tarine, forebear of the Sakurai no Tabe no Muraji, he had Hayabusa-wake.

By Izumi-no-naga-hime of Himuka he had three children: O-hae-no-miko, O-hae-no-miko the younger, and Hatabi-no-wakiiratsume.

By Kaguro-hime he had five children: Kawarada-no-iratsume, Tama-no-iratsume, Osaka-no-onakatsu-hime, Tohoshi-no-iratsume, and Kataji-no-miko.

By Nu-iro-me of Kazuraki he had Iza-no-mawaka-no-miko.

The children of this sovereign were twenty-six in all, eleven male and fifteen female. Of these, O-sazaki afterward governed the realm.

Ojin (Homudawake) put a question to Oyamamori and to Nintoku (Osazaki): "Which do you hold dearer, an elder child or a younger child?" He asked this because it was in his mind that Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko should govern the realm.

Oyamamori answered that the elder child was dearer. Nintoku, who had already understood what lay behind the question, answered: "The elder child is grown, and so gives no cause for concern. The younger child is not yet grown, and for that reason is the dearer."

The sovereign said, "Sazaki, your words are the same as my own thought." Then he assigned to each of them his charge. Oyamamori was to administer the mountains and the sea; Nintoku was to take charge of the affairs of the land and report on them; Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko was to succeed to the heavenly line. Nintoku did not go against what the sovereign had commanded.

When Ojin (Homudawake) crossed over into the land of Afumi, he stood on the moor of Uji, looked out over Kazuno, and sang:

Looking out over Kazuno of the many leaves,

I see the yards of a thousand houses,

I see the best of the land.

Coming then to the village of Kohata, he met a beautiful girl at a parting of the road. The sovereign asked her, "Whose child are you?" She answered, "I am the daughter of Wani no Hifure no Omi, and my name is Miyanushi Yakawae-hime." The sovereign said to her, "Tomorrow, on my way back, I shall come into your house."

Yakawae-hime told her father everything. Her father said, "That is the sovereign. This is a fearful honour. My child, wait upon him." So he decked out the house and waited, and the next day the sovereign came in.

When the great feast was set out, he had the daughter Yakawae-hime take the wine cup and offer it. Holding the cup, the sovereign sang:

Whose crab is this crab?

A crab from far-off Tsunuga.

Sidling along, where does it come to?

It comes to Ichiji Island and to Mi Island,

diving and catching its breath like a grebe,

and along the rising and falling road of Sasanami

I went straight on,

and on the road at Kohata I met a girl.

Her back was like a little shield,

her teeth set like acorns, like water chestnuts.

As for the earth of Wani Slope at Ichihii,

the upper earth is red,

the lower earth is black,

so she took the earth that lies between,

did not hold it to the open fire,

and drew her brows, drew them dark and long.

The woman I met,

the girl I looked at and wished for,

the girl I looked at and wished were mine,

she is facing me at the height of the feast,

she is here at my side.

They married, and the child born to them was Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko.

Ojin (Homudawake) heard that Kaminaga-hime, daughter of the lord of Muragata in the land of Himuka, was beautiful, and he summoned her, meaning to take her into his service.

The heir apparent, Nintoku (Osazaki), saw her put in at the harbour of Naniha, and was moved by the beauty of her form. He at once asked Takeuchi no Sukune: "As for this Kaminaga-hime who has been summoned from Himuka, petition the sovereign and have her granted to me."

Takeuchi no Sukune made the petition, and the sovereign at once granted Kaminaga-hime to the heir apparent. The granting was done in this way. On the day the sovereign held a feast, he had Kaminaga-hime take the oak leaf that held the wine and hand it to the heir apparent, and he sang:

Come, all of you, to gather wild garlic,

and on the road where I go to gather garlic

there is a sweet-smelling orange in flower.

On its upper branches birds have settled and withered them,

on its lower branches people have plucked and withered them,

but on the branch between,

the swelling bud,

that ruddy girl:

come, take her away, and it will be well.

And he sang again:

In the pool of Yosami where the water gathers,

I did not know that the man driving stakes

had set his stakes in,

I did not know that the water-shield vine

had spread its runners.

My heart was foolish, and more than foolish,

and now I am sorry.

So singing, he granted her. Having received Kaminaga-hime, the heir apparent afterwards sang:

The girl of Kohada at the far end of the road:

I heard of her from afar, as of a god,

and now we lie pillowed together.

And he sang again:

The girl of Kohada at the far end of the road

did not resist, but lay down beside me,

and for that I hold her dear.

The territorial owners of Yoshino saw the great sword worn by Nintoku (Osazaki) and sang:

Child of the sun, son of Homuda,

Osazaki, Osazaki,

the great sword you wear at your side:

a blade at the hilt,

keen as ice at the point,

rustling like the bare lower boughs

of a winter tree.

They also made a cross-mortar at Kashinofu in Yoshino, brewed liquor in that cross-mortar, and when they offered it to the sovereign they beat their mouths like drums, danced, and sang:

Where the oaks grow we made a cross-mortar,

and in the cross-mortar we brewed this liquor.

Take it and drink it with relish,

our father.

This song has been sung, down to the present day, whenever the territorial owners present the produce of their land.

In this reign the fisher corporation, the mountain corporation, the mountain wardens' corporation, and the Ise corporation were established. The pond of Tsurugi was also made.

People of Silla came across as well. Takeuchi no Sukune took charge of them and set them to work on embankments and ponds, and they made the pond of Kudara.

Shoko, the ruler of Kudara, sent as tribute one stallion and one mare, entrusting them to Achikishi. This Achikishi is the ancestor of the Achiki scribes. He also sent a sword and a great mirror.

The sovereign further commanded the land of Kudara: "If there is a learned man in your country, send him." The man sent in answer was Wanikishi. With him were sent the Analects in 10 scrolls and the Thousand Character Classic in 1 scroll, 11 scrolls in all. This Wanikishi is the ancestor of the Fumi headmen.

Two craftsmen were sent as well: a smith of Kara named Takuso, and a weaver of Go named Saiso.

There also came across the ancestor of the Hata headmen, the ancestor of the Aya chiefs, and a man who knew how to brew liquor, named Nimpan, also called Susukori.

Susukori brewed liquor and presented it. The sovereign, made merry by the liquor he had been given, sang:

On the liquor Susukori brewed

I have got drunk;

on the liquor that quiets trouble,

the liquor that brings laughter,

I have got drunk.

Singing so, he went out, and with his staff he struck a great stone that lay in the middle of the road at Osaka. The stone ran away. Hence the saying, "Even a hard stone gets out of a drunk man's way."

After Ojin (Homudawake) died, Nintoku (Osazaki), following what the sovereign had commanded, yielded the realm to Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko.

But Oyamamori went against what the sovereign had commanded. Still wanting the realm for himself, he set his mind on killing his younger brother, and secretly gathered troops to attack him. Nintoku heard that his elder brother was arming, and at once sent a messenger to warn Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko.

Startled by the warning, Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko hid soldiers along the river. On the hill he stretched silk hangings and set up a canopy, and seated a retainer there in plain view on the seat of state, so that the officers came and went with reverence as if the prince himself were sitting there.

Then, against his brother's crossing of the river, he had a boat and oars made ready. He pounded the root of the sanekazura vine, took the slippery juice of it, and smeared it on the matting inside the boat, so that anyone who stepped on it would slip. He himself put on a coarse hempen coat and trousers, took on the look of a common man, took an oar, and stood in the boat.

Oyamamori came to the river with his soldiers hidden and armour under his clothes. Seeing the hangings on the hill, he took it that his brother was sitting there on the seat of state, and did not know that the man standing at the oar was that brother. He asked the boatman, "I hear there is an angry great boar on this mountain. I mean to take that boar. Can it be taken?" The boatman answered, "It cannot." "Why not?" "Many have tried to take it and could not. That is why I say it cannot be taken."

When they had come to the middle of the crossing, he tipped the boat and threw him into the water. Oyamamori came up and, carried by the current, sang as he floated down:

At the ferry of Uji,

whoever is quickest

among the men at the poles, come to me.

Then the soldiers hidden on both banks rose together, set arrows to their bows, and let him float on down. He sank at the point of Kawara. When they felt for him with hooks, the hooks struck the armour under his clothes and rattled, kawara. That is why the place is called the point of Kawara.

When his bones were drawn up, Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko sang:

At the ferry of Uji,

standing in the shallows of the crossing,

a catalpa bow, a spindle-wood bow.

I thought in my heart to cut it,

I thought in my heart to take it,

but at its root I remembered my lord,

at its tip I remembered my sister,

and painfully I remembered there,

and sorrowfully I remembered here,

and I came away without cutting it,

the catalpa bow, the spindle-wood bow.

His bones were buried on Mount Nara. This Oyamamori is the ancestor of the lords of Hijikata, Heki, and Harihara.

Nintoku (Osazaki) and Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko each yielded the realm to the other.

While this went on, a fisherman brought a great offering of fish. The elder brother declined it and had it taken to the younger; the younger declined it too and had it taken back to the elder. Days passed while it was handed to and fro. This happened not once or twice, and the fisherman wept from the weariness of going back and forth. Hence the saying, "Is it because he is a fisherman that he weeps over goods of his own?"

But Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko died young, and so Nintoku ruled the realm.

Long ago there was a son of the ruler of Silla, whose name was Ame-no-Hiboko. This man crossed over to Japan. The reason he crossed over was this.

In the land of Silla there was a lagoon called Agunuma. Beside this lagoon a woman of low rank was sleeping at midday, and the light of the sun struck her private parts like a rainbow. A man of low rank thought the sight strange, and from then on he watched her constantly. From the time of that sleep the woman conceived, and she gave birth to a red jewel. The man who had watched her begged for the jewel and got it, and he kept it wrapped at his waist at all times.

This man had made a rice field in a valley, and he loaded the food and drink for the men who worked it onto one cow and went into the valley, where he met Ame-no-Hiboko, the ruler's son. Ame-no-Hiboko asked him, "Why do you go into the valley with food and drink loaded on a cow? You surely mean to kill this cow and eat it." So saying, he seized the man and was about to put him in prison. The man answered, "I do not mean to kill the cow. I am only carrying food to the men who work the field." Even so he was not let go. He therefore untied the jewel from his waist and gave it to the ruler's son. The ruler's son released him, took the jewel home, and set it beside his bed, and it turned at once into a beautiful girl. Ame-no-Hiboko married her and made her his chief wife. She always prepared all kinds of fine dishes and fed her husband.

But the ruler's son grew proud in his heart and reviled his wife. The woman said, "I am not a woman who should be your wife. I am going to the land of my forebears." She got secretly into a small boat, fled across the sea, and stayed at Naniha. This is the goddess Akaru-hime, who rests in the shrine of Himegoso at Naniha.

When Ame-no-Hiboko heard that his wife had fled, he followed her across. But as he was about to put in at Naniha, the god of the crossing barred him and would not let him enter. So he turned back and put in at the land of Tajima.

Ame-no-Hiboko stayed in the land of Tajima and married Sakitsumi, daughter of Tajima no Matao, and their child was Tajima Morosuku. His child was Tajima Hine; his child was Tajima Hinaraki; his children were Tajima Mori, then Tajima Hitaka, then Kiyohiko, 3 in all.

Kiyohiko married Tagima no Mehi, and their children were Suga no Moro-o, then his younger sister Sugakama Yuradomi. Tajima Hitaka, named above, then married Yuradomi, his niece, and their child was Kazuraki no Takanuka-hime. She is the mother of Jingu (Okinaga-tarashi-hime).

The things Ame-no-Hiboko brought with him when he crossed over are called the jewel treasures: 2 strings of beads, a scarf for raising the waves, a scarf for cutting the waves, a scarf for raising the wind, a scarf for cutting the wind, a mirror of the offing, and a mirror of the shore, 8 in all. These are the eight great gods of Izushi.

Among the daughters of these gods was one called Izushi-otome. Eighty gods wanted to win this girl, and not one of them could.

There were two gods who were brothers. The elder was called Akiyama no Shitabi-otoko, the youth of the glow on the autumn mountains; the younger was called Haruyama no Kasumi-otoko, the youth of the haze on the spring mountains. The elder said to the younger, "I asked for Izushi-otome and could not get her. Can you get this girl?" The younger answered, "Easily." Then the elder said, "If you do get this girl, I will take off my upper and lower garments, brew liquor in a jar measured to my own height, and lay out everything the mountains and rivers produce, and pay you the wager."

The younger told his mother everything the elder had said. His mother took wistaria vines and in a single night wove and sewed a coat, trousers, socks, and shoes, and made a bow and arrows as well. She dressed him in the coat and trousers, put the bow and arrows in his hands, and sent him to the girl's house. There the clothes and the bow and arrows all turned into wistaria flowers. Haruyama no Kasumi-otoko then hung the bow and arrows in the girl's privy. When Izushi-otome thought the flowers strange and carried them indoors, he followed behind her into the house and married her at once. A child was born to them.

He told his elder brother, "I have won Izushi-otome." But the elder brother was galled that his younger brother had married her, and he did not pay the wager. When the younger complained to his mother, she said, "While we are in this world it is the ways of the gods that ought to be followed. It is because he copies the ways of ordinary men that he does not pay." Angry at her elder son, she took a jointed bamboo from an island in the Izushi river, wove a coarse basket with 8 holes, took stones from that river and mixed them with brine, wrapped the whole in bamboo leaves, and had this curse spoken: "As these bamboo leaves turn green, turn green; as these bamboo leaves wither, wither. As this brine flows and ebbs, flow and ebb. As this stone sinks, sink and lie low." Having had the curse spoken, she set the bundle above the smoke of the hearth.

For that reason the elder brother dried up and withered and was ill for 8 years. When he wept and begged his mother, she had the cursed bundle taken back at once, and his body returned to health as before. This is the origin of the expression "kamu-uredzuku."

Wakanuke-Futamata, son of Ojin (Homudawake), married his mother's younger sister, Momoshiki-irobe, also called Otohime-Mawaka-hime, and their children were:

Oiratsuko, also called Ohohodo,

next Osaka no Onakatsu-hime,

next Tai no Nakatsu-hime,

next Tamiya no Nakatsu-hime,

next Fujiwara no Kotofushi no Iratsume,

next Torime,

next Sane,

7 in all.

This Ohohodo is the ancestor of the lords of Mikuni, of Hata, of Okinaga, of Sakahito in Sakata, of Yamaji, of Meta in Tsukushi, and of Fuse.

Netori married his half-sister Mihara no Iratsume, and their children were Nakatsuhiko and Iwashima.

The child of Katashiwa was Kunu.

The years of this sovereign, Ojin (Homudawake), were 130.

His tomb is on the hill of Mofushi at Ega in Kawachi.