Page:Kojiki by Chamberlain.djvu/129

Night Possessor.^[1] The name of the Deity that was next born as he washed his august nose was His Brave-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness.^[2]

The fourteen Deities in the foregoing list from the Wondrous-Deity-of-Eighty-Evils down to His Swift-Inpetuous-Male-Augustness are Deities born from the bathing of his august person.

[Sect. XI.—Investiture of the Three Deities the Illustrious August Children.]

At this time His Augustness the Male-Who-Invites greatly rejoiced, saying: “I, begetting child after child, have at my final begetting gotten three illustrious children,” [with which words,] at once jinglingly taking off and shaking the jewel-string^[3] forming his august necklace, he bestowed it on the Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity, saying: “Do Thine Augustness rule the Plain-of-High-Heaven.” With this charge he bestowed it on her. Now the name of this august necklace was the August-Store-house-Shelf-Deity.^[4] Next he said to His Augustness Moon-Night-Possessor: “Do Thine Augustness rule the Dominion of the

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1. Tsuki-yomi-no-kami. There is no doubt as to a moon-god being intended, but the precise import of the name is disputed. The translator has followed Mabuchi’s view as quoted by Motowori, and which is supported by the fact that, from classical times down to the present day, tsuku-yo or tsuki-yo has been a word in common use to denote a fine moonlight night. If we were to take yomi as one word, we should have to render it either by “Moon-Hades” or by “Moon-Darkness,” which seem less appropriate designations, though still of plain enough intent. The characters 月讀, 月弓, and 月夜見, with which the name is variously written, seem all phonetic unless we might take the second set 月弓 to mean the crescent (lit. “moon-bow).
2. Take-haya-susa-no-wo-no-mikoto. Susa, which is sometimes read Sosa, is rendered by the word “impetuous” in accordance with Mabuchi’s view as quoted by Motowori. The first member of this compound name is frequently omitted.
3. I.e., “the string of jewels.” For these so-called “jewels” see Introduction, p. xxxi.
4. Mi-kura-tana-no-kami. Motowori comments on this name by saying that the necklace was doubtless so precious, that it was carefully kept by the goddess on a shelf in her store-house.