child,[1] he was augustly joined to Her Augustness Myriad-Looms-Luxuriant-Dragon-fly-Island-Princess,[2] daughter of the High-Integrating-Deity, and begot children: His Augustness-Heavenly Rice-ear-Ruddy,[3] and next His Augustness Prince-Rice-ear-Ruddy-Plenty.[4]] Therefore, in accordance with these words, they laid their command on His Augustness Prince Rice-ear-Ruddy-Plenty, deigning to charge him with these words: “This Luxuriant Reed-Plain-Land-of-Fresh-Rice-ears[5] is the land over which thou shalt rule.” So [he replied]: I “will descend from Heaven according to your commands.” So when His Augustness Prince-ear-Ruddy-Plenty was about to descend from Heaven, there was at the eight-forking road of Heaven a Deity whose refulgence reached upwards to the Plain of High Heaven and downwards to the Central
- ↑ Viz. His Augustness Truly-Conqueror-etc.
- ↑ Yorodzu-hata-toyo-aki-dzu-shi-hime-no-mikoto. Mabuchi, as quoted by Motowori, suggests that yorodzu, “myriad,” should be connected with the word yoroshi “good,” as signifying an extreme degree, the ne plus ultra. But, though perhaps a good guess at the origin of the word, it need not affect our estimate of its actual signification. The translator has, however, followed Mabuchi in considering the syllable shi as an apocopated form of shima, “island,” and Aki-dzu-shi [ma] as having its usual signification of “Dragon-fly Island” (more literally “Island of the Autumn Insect) rather than accept Motowori’s explanation of shi as representing the Verb chijimu, “to be puckered,” and of the whole compound aki-dzu-shi as signifying “crape like dragon-flies’ wings.” Not only is there no mention of crape in other passages of these “Records,” but the derivation does not, to say the least, recommend itself on philological grounds.
- ↑ Ameno-ho-akari no Mikoto. The word rendered “ripe” will bear equally well the interpretation of “red.”
- ↑ Hiko-ho-no-ni-nigi, the abbreviated form of the name in Note 5.
- ↑ Togo-ashi-hara-no-midzu-ho-no-kuni. This periphrastic synonym of Japan has appeared under a slightly shorter form in Sect. IX (Note 18).
to suppose that “this child,” i.e., His Augustness Ame-nigishi-kuni-nigishi-ama-tsu-hi-daka-hiko-ho-no-ni-nigi, was the father of Hiko-ho-no-ni-nigi. But the latter name is but an abbreviated form of the former, and the god could not be his own father. The meaning rather is (and such a construction is not so forced in Japanese as it sounds in English): " As for the parentage of this child, he was born of the marriage [of His Augustness Truly-Conqueror-etc.] with Her Augustness Myriad-Looms-etc. Princess. There is, however, real confusion in the traditional genealogy, as the “Chronicles” make the deity in question father to His Augustness Heavenly-Rice-ear-Ruddy, instead of younger brother.
