he sent Tamba no chi-nushi no Mikoto to Tamba. On this occasion he addressed them, saying:—"If there be any who do not receive our instructions, prepare war and smite them." Having said so, he granted them all alike seals and ribbons,[1] and appointed them generals.
27th day. Oho-hiko no Mikoto arrived at the top of the Wani acclivity. Now there was there a maiden who sang as follows:—
One version has:—"Oho-hiko-no Mikoto arrived at the Hira-zaka acclivity, in Yamashiro. Now there was by the road-side a young woman who sang as follows:"—
Ah! Prince Mimaki-iri!
Unaware that some are stealthily
Preparing to cut
The thread of thine own life,
Thou amusest thyself like a lady!
(V. 10.) Another version is:—
Unaware that some are preparing
To slay thee,
On the watch
At the great gate,
Thou amusest thyself like a lady![2]
Wondering at this, Oho-hiko inquired of the maiden, saying:—"What are these words that thou sayest?" She answered and said:—"I was saying nothing: I was only singing." So she sang over again the above song, and suddenly disappeared. Oho-hiko accordingly returned and reported these circumstances to the Emperor. Upon this Yamato-toto-hi momo so bime no Mikoto, the Emperor's aunt by the father's side, a shrewd and intelligent person, who could foresee the future, understood what was portended by this song, and told the Emperor that it was a sign that Take-hani-yasu-hiko[3] was about to plot treason against him. "I have heard," she said, "that Ata-bime, Take-hani-yasu-hiko's wife, came secretly and took earth
- ↑ The seals and ribbons are Chinese, and could not have been used as emblems of office in Japan at this time. The word for general is Shōgun, so familiar at a later period of Japanese History.
- ↑ The text of this poem is very doubtful. The "Kojiki" has a third version. Prince Mimaki-iri is the Emperor.
- ↑ A half-brother of the Emperor. He lived in Yamashiro.
