日本書紀 神代下

One writing says: Amaterasu gave this command to Amewakahiko — the Central Land of Reed Plains is the land where my child is to be lord. But it seems there are evil gods there, harmful and violent and strong. Go down first and put them in order. She gave him the heavenly deer-bow and the heavenly true deer-arrows and sent him.

Amewakahiko went down, took many daughters of the gods of the land to wife, and for eight years sent back no report.

Amaterasu summoned Omoikane and asked him why no report came. Omoikane considered and said: it would be well to send a pheasant first and see how things stand. So a pheasant went down and settled on the top of the sacred katsura tree before Amewakahiko's gate and called out: Amewakahiko, why have you sent no report in eight years?

Ame-no-sagume saw the bird and told Amewakahiko: there is a bird with an ill-sounding cry in this tree. Shoot it dead. Amewakahiko took the bow and arrows the gods of heaven had given him and shot. The arrow passed through the pheasant's breast and came up to the seat of the gods of heaven.

They looked at it and said: this is the arrow we gave to Amewakahiko. Why has it come here now? They laid a curse on it and flung it back: if Amewakahiko is without fault, let the arrow not strike him. If his heart is muddied, let Amewakahiko be struck by this arrow and die. The arrow fell and struck Amewakahiko in the breast, and he died.

Amewakahiko's wife and children came down from heaven, carried the coffin back up, built a mourning house and laid him there. River geese were made the bearers of the offerings and the bearers of the brooms, sparrows the pounding women, the wren the wailing woman, the kite the maker of the grave-cloths, and the crow the server of the food. A part was given to each bird, and for eight days and eight nights they wept and sang.

Before this, while Amewakahiko was in the Central Land of Reed Plains, he had been a close friend of Ajisukitakahikone. Ajisukitakahikone went up to heaven to mourn him. His appearance was the very likeness of Amewakahiko, so the wife and children said: our lord did not die after all, and they clung to his clothes in delight. Ajisukitakahikone grew angry and said: I came to mourn because my friend is dead. Why do you mistake me for a defiled corpse? He drew his sword and cut the mourning house down.

Shitateruhime, wishing to make the name of her brother known, sang:

In heaven, on the string of jewels

that the young weaving maiden wears about her neck —

the pierced jewel of that string:

he who crosses two valleys at a stride,

Ajisukitakahikone.

Far from heaven, at the strait the country women cross,

at the one bank of the Ishi river —

at that bank they stretch their nets across.

Come to me as the fish come, come close,

at the bank of the Ishi river.

These two are called country songs.

Afterwards Amaterasu gave Yorozuhata-toyoakitsuhime, the younger sister of Omoikane, to Ame-no-Oshihomimi, and meant to send him down to the Central Land of Reed Plains. Ame-no-Oshihomimi stood on the floating bridge of heaven, looked down and said: that land is not yet at peace. It is offensive and hateful. He went back up and reported how unquiet it was.

Amaterasu then sent Takemikazuchi and Futsunushi to go down ahead and put it in order. The two gods came down to Izumo and asked Ōkuninushi: will you give up this land to the gods of heaven, or will you not? Ōkuninushi answered: my son Kotoshironushi has gone to Cape Mitsu to shoot birds. I will ask him and then answer. A messenger went and asked, and Kotoshironushi said: the gods of heaven ask for it. How can it not be given up? Ōkuninushi gave up the land as his son had said, and the two gods went back up and made their report.

About this time a child was born to Ame-no-Oshihomimi and Yorozuhata-toyoakitsuhime, and he was named Ninigi. Amaterasu therefore sent down this grandson in place of his father.

Amaterasu gave Ninigi three treasures: the curved jewels of Yasaka, the eight-hand mirror, and the sword Kusanagi. She also sent five companies of gods with him to serve him — Ame-no-Koyane, first ancestor of the Nakatomi; Futodama, first ancestor of the Imbe; Ame-no-Uzume, first ancestor of the Sarume; Ishikoridome, first ancestor of the mirror-makers; and Tamanoya, first ancestor of the jewel-makers.

Then she commanded Ninigi: the Land of Fresh Rice Ears of the Fifteen Hundred Autumns of the Reed Plains is the land where my descendants are to be lords. Go, my grandson, and rule it. Go. The prosperity of the imperial line shall be without end, as heaven and earth are without end.

When he was about to go down, the men sent ahead came back and said: there is a god at the eight-branching crossroads of heaven. His nose is seven hand-spans long, his back is more than seven feet, the corners of his mouth shine brightly, and his eyes are like eight-hand mirrors, glowing red like a winter cherry.

Attendant gods were sent to question him, but all of them were overawed and could not. Amaterasu commanded Ame-no-Uzume: you have the strength to face down anyone. Go and question him.

Ame-no-Uzume bared her breasts, pushed the band of her skirt down below her navel, and stood before him laughing at him. The god of the crossroads asked: Ame-no-Uzume, why do you do this? She answered: the child of Amaterasu is coming down. Who is it that stands in his road? I dare to ask. The god of the crossroads answered: I heard that the child of Amaterasu is coming down, and so I came to meet him and have been waiting. My name is Sarutahiko.

Ame-no-Uzume asked again: will you go before me, or shall I go before you? Sarutahiko answered: I will go first and lead the way. She asked again: where are you going, and where will the grandson go? He answered: the child of the gods of heaven will come to the peak of Kushifuru at Takachiho in Himuka in Tsukushi. I will go to the upper waters of the Isuzu river at Sanagata in Ise. And he said: it was you who brought me out into the open. So it is you who must see me on my way.

Ame-no-Uzume went back and reported. The grandson left the heavenly rock seat, thrust apart the eightfold clouds of heaven, cut his way along the road with majesty, and came down on the peak of Kushifuru at Takachiho in Himuka. Sarutahiko went to the upper waters of the Isuzu river in Ise, as he had said, and Ame-no-Uzume saw him on his way, as he had asked.

The grandson commanded Ame-no-Uzume: take for your own name the name of the god you brought into the open. So she was given the name Sarume no Kimi. This is why the Sarume no Kimi, women and men alike, are all called Kimi.

One writing says: the gods of heaven sent Futsunushi and Takemikazuchi to bring the Central Land of Reed Plains to order. The two gods said: there is an evil god in heaven. His name is Amatsu-Mikaboshi, and by another name Ame-no-Kagaseo. Let us first put this god to death, and then go down and put the Central Land of Reed Plains in order. The god who presided over that purification is called the great one of the purification. He is now in the land of Katori in the eastern country.

Afterwards the two gods came down to the little shore of Itasa in Izumo and asked Ōkuninushi: will you give up this land to the gods of heaven, or will you not? Ōkuninushi answered: I doubt the reason you two have come here. I cannot give it up. Futsunushi went back up and reported this.

Takamimusuhi sent the two gods down again, and had them set out his terms to Ōkuninushi point by point: the affairs of the open and visible world that you govern, my grandson shall govern. You are to withdraw and govern the affairs of the hidden gods. And the palace at Ame-no-Hisumi where you are to live, I will build for you now. I will bind a rope of a thousand fathoms of paper-mulberry into a hundred and eighty knots, and as for the way the palace is to be built, the pillars shall be high and thick and the boards broad and heavy. I will make rice fields for you. And so that you may come and go and take your pleasure on the sea, I will make you high bridges and floating bridges and a heavenly bird-boat. I will make a plank bridge over the tranquil river of heaven as well. I will make you white shields of a hundred and eighty seams. And the one who is to conduct the rites for you shall be Ame-no-Hohi.

Ōkuninushi answered: since the words of the gods of heaven are so generous, how can I refuse? Let my grandson govern the affairs of the open and visible world that I govern. I will withdraw and govern the hidden affairs. Then he presented Funado-no-Kami to the two gods and said: he will follow and serve you in my place. I am going away to hide myself. He covered himself with the auspicious jewels of Yasaka and hid himself forever.

Futsunushi took Funado-no-Kami as his guide, went through the whole country and brought it to order. He cut down those who would not submit and praised those who came over. The chief among those who came over at that time were Ōmononushi and Kotoshironushi. They gathered the eight hundred thousand gods at the heavenly market place, led them up to heaven, and declared their sincerity.

Only the star god Kagaseo would not submit. So Takehazuchi, the god of woven cloth, was sent as well, and then he submitted. The two gods then went up to heaven.

Takamimusuhi said to Ōmononushi: if you take a daughter of the gods of the land to wife, I shall take it that your heart is still not given. So now I give you my own daughter Mihotsuhime to be your wife. Lead the eight hundred thousand gods, and serve and guard my grandson forever. Then he sent them back down.

Taokihooi, the distant ancestor of the Imbe of Kii, was made the maker of hats. Hikosashiri was made the maker of shields, Ame-no-Mahitotsu the worker of metal, Ame-no-Hiwashi the maker of bark cloth, and Kushiakarutama the maker of jewels. Futodama was made to hang the great cords over his slender shoulders and to conduct the rites in place of the gods themselves. The custom of putting out one's hands and conducting rites in place of a god begins here. Ame-no-Koyane is the one who governs the source of all matters of the gods, so he was made to serve by the divination of the great oracle.

Takamimusuhi commanded: I shall set up the sacred tree fence of heaven and the sacred stone boundary of heaven, and conduct rites for my grandson. You, Ame-no-Koyane and Futodama, take the sacred tree fence of heaven, go down to the Central Land of Reed Plains, and conduct rites there for my grandson. Then he sent the two gods down in attendance on Ame-no-Oshihomimi.

At that time Amaterasu took the sacred mirror in her hand, gave it to Ame-no-Oshihomimi and blessed him, saying: my child, look upon this mirror as you would look upon me. Share one floor and one hall with it, and make it the mirror of your worship. She commanded further: the ears of rice from the sacred plot that I tend in the plain of high heaven, these I give to my child as well.

When Ame-no-Oshihomimi was about to go down, a child was born to him, named Ninigi. So this grandson was sent down in his place. Ninigi came down on the peak of Takachiho in So in Himuka and came to Cape Kasasa at Nagaya in Ata.

The grandson built a palace there and lived in it. Afterwards he went out to walk on the shore and met a beautiful woman. He asked her: whose child are you? She answered: I am the child of Ōyamatsumi, and my name is Kamu-Ata-Kashitsuhime. I am also called Konohanasakuyabime. And she said: I have an elder sister. Her name is Iwanagahime.

The grandson said: I wish to take you to wife. What do you say? She answered: I have a father, Ōyamatsumi. Please ask him. The grandson said to Ōyamatsumi: I have seen your daughter. I wish to take her to wife. Ōyamatsumi sent both his daughters to him with much food and drink. The grandson found the elder sister ugly and did not take her; the younger was beautiful, and he took her. In one night she was with child.

Iwanagahime was deeply ashamed. In resentment she spat and wept and said: if the grandson had not turned me away but had taken me, the children born would have lived long and endured as the rocks endure. He has not done so, and has taken my younger sister alone. Therefore the children born will surely fall and pass away like the flowers of the trees. One account says that Iwanagahime was ashamed and cursed him, saying: the people of this world shall change and pass swiftly, like the flowers of the trees. This is why the lives of people are short.

Afterwards Konohanasakuyabime built a chamber with no door and made this oath: if the child I carry is the child of another god, let it fare ill. If it is truly the child of the grandson, let it be born whole and alive. She went inside, set fire to the chamber and it burned. The child born first was named Hoderi, the child born next was named Hoakari, and the child born after him was named Hoori.

One writing says: the child born when the flames first brightened was named Hoakari. The child born next, when the flames were at their height, was named Hosusumi, also called Hosuseri. The child born after him, when the flames were dying down, was named Hoori, also called Hikohohodemi.

Fire could not harm any of these three children. Their mother too was not injured in the least.

At that time their navel cords were cut with a knife of bamboo. The bamboo knife that was thrown away grew at last into a grove of bamboo. So that place is called Takaya.

Then Kamu-Ata-Kashitsuhime marked out a field by divination and named it Sanada. With the rice of that field she brewed sweet heavenly sake and made an offering of it. With the rice of the field of Nunada she cooked boiled rice and made an offering of that.

One writing says: Takamimusuhi wrapped his grandson Ninigi in the coverlet of the true bed, drew open the rock door of heaven, thrust apart the eightfold clouds of heaven, and sent him down.

At that time Ame-no-Oshihi, the distant ancestor of the Muraji of Ōtomo, led Ame-no-Kushitsu-Ōkume, the distant ancestor of the Kumebe. He carried the heavenly quiver on his back, wore the mighty elbow-guard on his arm, took the heavenly bow and the heavenly feathered arrows in his hand, carried eight-eyed singing arrow-heads as well, and wore a mallet-headed sword. He went before the grandson and led the way down.

They came to the floating bridge of heaven on the twin peaks of Kushihi at Takachiho in So in Himuka, and stood on the level ground of the drifting islet. They went on over the lean and empty country from hill to hill in search of land, and came to Cape Kasasa at Nagaya in Ata.

In that place was a god whose name was Kotokatsu-kunikatsu-Nagasa. The grandson asked him: is there a country here or not? He answered: there is. I give it up at your word. So the grandson stayed and lived there.

This god Kotokatsu-kunikatsu is a child of Izanaki. He is also called Shiotsutsu no Oji.

One writing says: the grandson took Ata-Kashitsuhime, the daughter of Ōyamatsumi, and in one night she was with child. The grandson did not believe it.

Ata-Kashitsuhime, in resentment, built a chamber with no door, went inside it and made this oath: if what I carry is not the child of the grandson, let it be burnt to death. If it is truly the child of the grandson, fire will not be able to harm it. Then she set fire to the chamber and it burned.

When the fire first brightened, a child stamped his feet and named himself, saying: I am the child of the gods of heaven. My name is Hoakari. Where is my father?

Next, when the fire was at its height, a child stamped his feet and named himself, saying: I am the child of the gods of heaven. My name is Hosusumi. Where are my father and my elder brother?

Next, when the flames were dying down, a child stamped his feet and named himself, saying: I am the child of the gods of heaven. My name is Hoori. Where are my father and my elder brothers?

Next, drawing back from the heat of the fire, a child stamped his feet and named himself, saying: I am the child of the gods of heaven. My name is Hikohohodemi. Where are my father and my elder brothers?

Afterwards the mother came out from the ashes and said: the children I bore and my own body have come through the fire unharmed of themselves. Has the grandson seen it?

The grandson answered: I knew from the first that they were my children. But because she conceived in a single night, I thought there might be those who doubted it. I wished everyone to know that these are my children, and that a god of heaven can indeed get a woman with child in a single night.

One writing says: Ame-no-Oshihomimi took to wife Takuhata-chichihime-yorozuhatahime, the daughter of Takamimusuhi, and she bore Ame-no-Hoakari. Next she bore Amatsuhikone-Honinigine. The child of this Ame-no-Hoakari, Ame-no-Kaguyama, is the distant ancestor of the Muraji of Owari.

Takamimusuhi said to the eighty gods: in the Central Land of Reed Plains even the rocks, the tree stumps and the blades of grass can speak. By night it clamours like leaping flames; by day it seethes like summer flies.

Then Amewakahiko was sent, and for a long time no report came. Takamimusuhi sent a nameless cock pheasant to see how things stood. The pheasant went down, found fields of millet and fields of beans, stayed there and did not return. This is why people speak of a pheasant sent on an errand that never comes back.

Next a nameless hen pheasant was sent. She went down and was shot by Amewakahiko. The arrow reached heaven and came to Takamimusuhi.

Afterwards Amatsuhikone-Honinigine came down on the peak of Soyama at Takachiho in So in Himuka, went by way of Cape Kasasa in Ata, and climbed to the isle of Takeshima at Nagaya. There he went about and looked over the land.

In that place was one called Kotokatsu-kunikatsu-Nagasa.

The grandson took Toyo-Ata-tsuhime, the daughter of Ōyamatsumi, and she bore Hoderi. Next she bore Hoori, who is also called Hikohohodemi.

One writing says: Ame-no-Yorozu-Takuhata-Chihatahime, the daughter of Takamimusuhi, was married to Ame-no-Oshihone and bore a child named Ame-no-Kihohooki-no-se.

One account says that Ame-no-Ōmimi, the son of Katsuhayahi, took Nifuhime to wife and she bore Honinigi.

One account says that Takuhata-Chihatahime, the daughter of Kamimusuhi, bore Honinigi.

One account says that Ame-no-Kinose took Ata-tsuhime to wife and she bore a child named Hoakari, then Hoyaori, then Hikohohodemi.

One writing says: Ame-no-Oshihomimi took to wife Ame-no-Yorozu-Takuhata-Chihatahime, the daughter of Takamimusuhi, and she bore a child named Amaterasu-Kuniteru-Hiko-Hoakari. He is the distant ancestor of the Muraji of Owari. Next she bore Amenigishi-Kuninigishi-Amatsuhiko-Honinigi.

This Amenigishi-Kuninigishi-Amatsuhiko-Honinigi took to wife Konohanasakuyabime, the daughter of Ōyamatsumi, and she bore a child named Hoderi. Next she bore Hikohohodemi.

One writing says: the elder brother Hoderi could take the luck of the sea, and the younger brother Hoori could take the luck of the mountain. The brothers traded lucks; the elder took his younger brother's bow and arrows, and the younger took his elder brother's fish-hook. The younger lost the hook in the sea. He forged the sword he wore into new hooks, heaped them in a winnowing tray and offered them, but his brother would not take them and demanded the original hook.

While the younger was grieving on the shore an old man came. He took a black comb from his bag and threw it on the ground, and the comb became a grove of five hundred bamboos. From that bamboo the old man wove a basket of coarse mesh, put Hoori into it and threw it into the sea.

One account says he made a close-woven basket of bamboo and let it down on a rope.

At the bottom of the sea there was a pleasant strand of itself. Hoori walked along it and came to the palace of the sea god Watatsumi. Its gates and towers rose high.

At the well by the gate a woman was about to draw water with a jewelled bowl, and she saw the shadow of a man in the bottom of the well. She looked up, startled, went inside and told her father: there is a stranger in front of the gate. He has neither the dirt of heaven nor the dirt of earth on him. Could he be a child of the gods of heaven? The sea god went out and asked: who are you? Hoori answered: I am the grandchild of the gods of heaven. The sea god bowed to him and led him in, and gave him his daughter Toyotamabime to wife.

Hoori stayed three years, and sighed often. Toyotamabime asked him: do you wish to go back to the upper country? The sea god gathered all the fish and questioned them. One of them said: the red woman is ill in the mouth. Perhaps she swallowed it. The red woman was summoned, and when her mouth was searched the hook came out.

The sea god handed the hook to Hoori and taught him: when you give it to your brother, say this — the root of destitution, the beginning of famine, the source of misery. Say that, and then give it to him. And if your brother tries to cross the sea, I will raise wind and waves and torment him. Then he set Hoori on the back of a great wani and sent him home.

Toyotamabime had said beforehand: I am with child. On a day when the wind and the waves are wild I will come out to the shore. Build a birth hut and wait for me there.

Afterwards Toyotamabime came as she had promised and said: tonight I will give birth. Please do not look at me. Hoori did not obey. He lit a tooth of his comb for light and looked. Toyotamabime had become an enormous wani of eight fathoms, crawling and writhing on her belly. She was ashamed and went straight back into the sea, leaving her younger sister Tamayoribime behind to bring up the child.

The birth hut had been thatched with cormorant feathers, and the child was born before the thatching was finished. So the child was named Ugayafukiaezu.

One writing says: in front of the gate there was a good well, and beside the well stood a katsura tree with a hundred branches. Hoori climbed the tree and stood in it.

Toyotamabime, the daughter of the sea god Watatsumi, came with a jewelled bowl to draw water, and saw the shadow of a man in the water of the well. She looked up, startled, and dropped the bowl and broke it. She went back inside and told her parents: there is a man in the tree. He is very beautiful, and does not seem to be an ordinary person.

The sea god wondered at this. He spread out eightfold matting, went out to meet him and brought him inside. When they were seated he asked why he had come, and Hoori told him everything.

The sea god pitied him and summoned all the fish, the broad-finned and the narrow-finned, and questioned them. They said: the red woman is ill in the mouth and has not come. One account says it was Kuchime who was ill in the mouth. She was summoned in haste, and when her mouth was searched the hook came out.

The sea god rebuked Kuchime: from this time on you shall not swallow bait, and you shall not be served at the ruler's table. That is why Kuchime is not used for the imperial food.

At their parting the sea god said: I am glad you came. Though eightfold windings of the sea lie between us, let us think of each other. Then he joined to the fish-hook the jewel that makes the tide flow when it is thought of and the jewel that makes the tide ebb when it is thought of, gave them to him and taught him: when you give this hook to your brother, call it the hook of poverty, the hook of ruin, the hook of downfall. Then turn your back and fling it to him; do not hand it to him face to face. If your brother grows angry and would harm you, bring out the tide-flowing jewel and let the water drown him. If he suffers and begs, bring out the tide-ebbing jewel and save him. Torment him in this way and he will become a submissive subject.

Hoori took the jewels and the hook and went home, and did as he had been taught. First he offered his brother the hook. His brother was angry and would not take it. So Hoori brought out the tide-flowing jewel, and the tide poured up in a great flood and his brother was drowning. His brother begged: I will serve you as your slave. Spare my life. Hoori brought out the tide-ebbing jewel, the tide went down, and his brother was saved.

But his brother changed his words and said: I am your elder brother. How can an elder brother serve a younger one? Hoori brought out the tide-flowing jewel again. His brother fled to a high mountain, and the tide covered the mountain. He climbed a tall tree, and the tide covered the tree. He was at the end of his strength with nowhere to flee, and he admitted his fault: I was wrong. From now on my descendants to the eightieth generation will serve you as your mimes for ever. One account says they would serve as dog-men. Hoori brought out the tide-ebbing jewel and the tide stopped.

His brother saw the strange power of the younger and submitted and served him. So the Hayato who are descended from Hoderi have not to this day left the enclosure of the ruler's palace, and serve there in place of barking dogs. And the custom of not pressing a man to return a needle he has lost comes from this.

One writing says: the elder brother Hoderi took the luck of the sea, and so was called the luck-man of the sea; the younger brother Hoori took the luck of the mountain, and so was called the luck-man of the mountain. Whenever there was wind and rain the elder brother lost his catch, but the younger brother's catch never failed even in wind and rain.

The elder said to the younger: I want to try trading our lucks. The younger agreed. The elder took his brother's bow and arrows and went into the mountains, and caught no game. The younger took his brother's fish-hook and went out on the sea, and caught no fish, and lost the hook besides.

The elder gave back the bow and arrows and asked for his own hook. The younger had lost it and had no way of finding it, so he made several thousand new hooks, heaped them in a winnowing tray and offered them. His brother was angry and would not take them, and kept demanding the original hook.

The younger went out to the shore and wandered there grieving. There he found a wild goose caught in a snare, took pity on it and set it free. Shortly afterwards Shiotsutsu no Oji came. The old man made a small boat of closely woven bamboo, put Hoori in it and pushed it out to sea. The boat sank, and at once a pleasant road appeared. Hoori followed the road and came to the palace of the sea god Watatsumi.

The sea god came out to meet him and brought him in, and spread out eight layers of sea-lion skins for him to sit on. A feast on a hundred tables had already been set. The sea god asked him easily: why has the grandchild of the gods of heaven come here? One account says he added: my child came and told me that the grandchild of the gods of heaven was grieving on the shore. I did not know whether it was true, but perhaps it was so. Hoori told him everything from beginning to end.

Hoori stayed there, and the sea god gave him his daughter Toyotamabime to wife. Three years passed in close affection.

When the time came for him to leave, the sea god summoned the sea bream, and when its mouth was searched the hook came out. The sea god handed him the hook and taught him: when you give it back to your brother, say — big hook, blunt hook, poor hook, foolish hook. When you have said all of it, throw it to him with your hand behind your back.

The sea god summoned the wani and asked them: in how many days can you take him home? Each of them named a number of days according to its own length. The wani of one fathom said: in one day. So the wani of one fathom was sent to escort him.

The sea god gave him the tide-flowing jewel and the tide-ebbing jewel and taught him how to use them. And he said: if your brother makes his fields on high ground, make yours on low ground; if he makes his fields on low ground, make yours on high ground. The sea god helped him with all his heart.

Hoori went back to his own country and did everything as he had been taught. When he brought out the tide-flowing jewel his brother threw up his hands, drowning; when he brought out the tide-ebbing jewel his brother recovered and breathed again. After that Hoderi wasted away day by day and lamented that he had become poor, and he submitted to his younger brother.

Earlier Toyotamabime had said: what I have conceived is the child of the grandchild of the gods of heaven. I cannot give birth to him in the middle of the sea. When my time comes I will come to you. Build a birth hut on the shore and wait for me there.

When Hoori came home he took cormorant feathers and thatched a birth hut. Before the thatching was finished Toyotamabime came, riding a great tortoise and bringing her younger sister Tamayoribime, throwing light over the sea. Her months were full and her time was urgent, so she did not wait for the thatch to be finished but went straight inside.

Toyotamabime said quietly: please do not watch me give birth. Hoori thought this strange and looked in secretly. She had become an enormous wani of eight fathoms. She knew that he had seen her, and she was deeply ashamed and resentful.

When the child was born Hoori came to her and asked: what should this child be called? She answered: call him Ugayafukiaezu. When she had said it she went straight away across the sea.

Then Hoori sang:

Birds of the offing—

on the island where the ducks come in

I lay with my wife;

I will not forget her

as long as the world lasts.

One account says: Hoori took women and made them nurses, bathing-women, rice-chewers and bath-attendants, and set up all these groups to bring up the child. The borrowing of another woman's milk to raise a child is the beginning of the present custom of engaging a wet-nurse. When Toyotamabime heard that the boy was fine, her heart was moved and she wished to come back and bring him up herself; but she could not, so she sent her younger sister Tamayoribime to raise him. The song Toyotamabime sent then was:

Red jewels—

even the cord they hang on shines;

but like a white jewel,

your look, my lord,

was the nobler thing.

And the song sent back was the one above. These two are called age-uta.

One writing says: the elder brother Hoderi had the luck of the sea, and the younger brother Hoori had the luck of the mountain.

The younger stayed on the shore and grieved. Shiotsutsu no Oji came and asked: why are you grieving? Hoori told him what had happened. The old man said: grieve no longer. I will make a plan for you. And he said: the mount the sea god rides is a wani of eight fathoms with erect fins, and it lives at the little gate of Tachibana. I will go and consult with it.

The old man took Hoori and went to see the wani of eight fathoms. The wani said: I could bring the grandchild of the gods of heaven to the palace of the sea in eight days. But my king has a mount, a wani of one fathom, and that one will bring him in a single day. I will go back and send it to you. Mount it and go into the sea. When you enter the sea there is a pleasant strand of itself. Follow that strand and you will certainly reach my king's palace. Above the well at the palace gate there is a katsura tree with many branches. Climb that tree and wait there.

The wani went into the sea and left. Hoori did as he had been told and waited eight days. Then the wani of one fathom appeared. He mounted it, went into the sea, and did as he had been advised.

An attendant of Toyotamabime came with a jewelled vessel to draw water, and saw the shadow of a man in the bottom of the water. She could not draw the water, and looking up she saw Hoori. She went inside and told the king: I had thought my own lord alone was supremely handsome, but a stranger has appeared who far surpasses him in beauty.

The sea god said: I will test him. He set out a threefold dais. On the outer step Hoori wiped both his feet; on the middle step he laid both hands on the ground; on the inner step he sat at his ease on the cushion of the true couch coverlet. Seeing this, the sea god knew that he was the grandchild of the gods of heaven, and treated him with still greater honour.

The sea god summoned the red woman and Kuchime and questioned them. Kuchime drew the fish-hook out of her mouth and presented it. The red woman is the red sea bream, and Kuchime is the mullet.

The sea god handed the hook to Hoori and taught him: when you give the hook back to your brother, say this — let it be to all your descendants, in whatever line, a poor hook, a hook of ever greater poverty. When you have said it, spit three times, and then give it to him. And on the day your brother goes out to fish, stand on the shore and do the thing that raises the wind. The thing that raises the wind is whistling. If you do that, I will at once stir up the wind of the offing and the wind of the shore, and torment him with scurrying waves.

Hoori went home and did as he had been taught. On the day his brother went out to fish, the younger stood on the shore and whistled. A sudden storm rose, and his brother was tossed and tormented. He had no way to save himself, and begged his brother from far off: you have lived long in the ocean plain and must have some excellent art. Teach it to me. If you spare my life, my descendants in every line will not leave the neighbourhood of your enclosure, and will serve you as your mime people.

The younger stopped whistling and the wind settled. The elder acknowledged his brother's power and admitted his own fault. But the younger was angry and would not speak with him.

So the elder stripped to a loincloth, smeared red earth on his palms and his face, and said to his brother: in this way I defile my body and make myself your mime for ever. He raised his feet and danced, acting out the movements of a drowning man. When the tide reached his feet he did the foot-divination; when it reached his knees he raised his feet; when it reached his thighs he ran in a circle; when it reached his waist he rubbed his waist; when it reached his armpits he laid his hands on his breast; when it reached his neck he threw up his hands and waved his palms. From that time until now this performance has never ceased.

Earlier Toyotamabime had come out to the shore. When her time came she asked the grandchild of the gods of heaven: do not look at me while I give birth. Hoori did not obey. Toyotamabime resented it bitterly and said: you did not listen to my words, and you have shamed me. So from this time on, if any handmaid of mine comes to your place, do not send her back, and I will not send back any servant of yours who comes to mine.

Then she wrapped the child in the true couch coverlet and in grass, laid him on the beach, went into the sea and left. That there is no coming and going between the sea and the land is because of this.

One account says: it is wrong to say that she laid the child on the beach. Toyotamabime went away carrying the child herself, and after many days she said that it was not right for the offspring of the grandchild of the gods of heaven to be kept in the sea, and had Tamayoribime carry him and take him back.

When Toyotamabime first left, her resentment was very deep. Hoori knew that they would never meet again, and sent her the song given above.

One writing says: first Itsuse was born, then Inahi no Mikoto, then Mikeirino no Mikoto, then Sano no Mikoto, who is also called Emperor Jimmu.

Sano was the name he was called by when he was young. Later he subdued the land and held the eight islands, and so a further name was given him, Kamu-yamato-iwarebiko.

One writing says: first Itsuse was born, then Mikeno no Mikoto, then Inahi no Mikoto, then Iwarebiko no Mikoto, who is also called Kamu-yamato-iwarebiko-hohodemi.

One writing says: first Itsuse was born, then Inahi no Mikoto, then Kamu-yamato-iwarebiko-hohodemi, then Waka-mikeno no Mikoto.

One writing says: first Itsuse was born, then Iwarebiko-hohodemi, then Hiko-inahi no Mikoto, then Mikeirino no Mikoto.