Page:Nihongi by Aston.djvu/195

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164
Nihongi.

that upon which the people depend for their subsistence.[1] At present the water of Hanida of Sayama in Kahachi is scarce, and therefore the peasants of that province are remiss in their husbandry. Open up therefore abundance of ponds and runnels, and so develop the industry of the people."

Winter, 10th month. The Yosami pond was made.

11th month. The Karusaka pond and the Sakahori pond were made.

One version has:—"These three ponds were made when the Emperor dwelt in the Palace of Kuhama."

B.C. 33. (V. 20.) 65th year, Autumn, 7th month. The Land of Imna[2] sent Sonaka-cheulchi and offered tribute. Imna is more than 2000 ri to the north of Tsukushi, from which it is separated by the sea. It lies to the south-west of Ké-rin.

In the 68th year of his reign, Winter, the 12th month, 5th day, the Emperor died at the age of 120.[3]

In the following year, Autumn, the 8th month, 11th day, he was buried in the Misasagi above the road at Yamanobe.

  1. The above two sentences are copied word for word from a Chinese history.
  2. The traditional Japanese pronunciation of this name is Mimana. I have followed here, as elsewhere, the Corean pronunciation of Corean proper names. On any estimate of the length of the ri, the distance given is far too great.

    Imma or Mimana is also knowa as Kara. It is a small kingdom lying to the S.W. of the River Naktong.

    Kérin, in Japanese Kirin, is another name for Silla (in Japanese Shinra or Shiragi). See "Early Japanese History" in "J.A.S.T.," p. 43.

    Sonaka-cheulchi looks like a genuine Corean name.

  3. The age given here is inconsistent with other data found in the "Nihongi" itself, and with the "Kojiki," which makes him 168 at the time of his death.