another name for whom is His Augustness Oho-kibi-tsu-hiko; next Yamato-to-bi-haya-waka-ya-hime[1] (four Deities). Again he wedded Hahe-irodo,[2] younger sister of Her Augustness Princess Are, and begot august children,—His Augustness Hiko-same-ma,[3] next His Augustness Waka-hiko-take-kibi-tsu-hiko[4] (two Deities). The august children of this Heavenly Sovereign [numbered] in all eleven Deities (five kings and three queens). So His Augustness Oho-yamato-ne-ko-hiko-kuni-kuru [was he who afterwards] ruled the Empire. The two Deities His Angustness Oho-kibi-tsu-hiko and His Augustness Waka-take-kibi-tsu-hiko together set sacred jars[5] at the front[6] of the River Hi[7] in Harima;[8] and, making Harima the mouth of the road,[9] subdued and pacified the Land of Kibi. So His Augustness Oho-kibi-tsu-hiko (was the ancestor of the Grandees of
- ↑ I.e., perhaps “Yamato’s hundred-fold wondrous briliant young ornamental princess.” The name resembles that of the elder sister.
- ↑ For this and the next following names see Sect. LVI, Notes 17 and 16 respectively.
- ↑ This name is obscure, and differs from that given in the parallel passage of the “Chronicles,” where we read Sashima. The latter sounds more authentic.
- ↑ I.e., “the young prince the brave prince of Kibi.” This name refers to his conquest of Kibi, as related a few lines further on.
- ↑ I.e., earthenware jars of a moderate size, probably intended to hold the rice-liquor offered to the gods. Being easily broken, they were planted in the ground up to a certain height.
- ↑ The probable meaning of this peculiar expression is “a bend in the river.”
- ↑ Written with the character 氷, “ice,” which may however be only phonetics No river of this name is anywhere else mentioned as flowing through the province of Harima, and one is tempted to suppose that there is some confusion with the celebrated river Hi, which figures so frequently in the Idzumo cycle of legends.
- ↑ One of the central provinces of Japan, on the northern shores of the Inland Sea. Some derive the name from hagi-hara, “lespedeza moor,” while other. connect it with hari, a “needle.” Neither etymology has much to recommend it.
- ↑ I.e., “their point of departure.” It must also be remembered that “road” came to have the sense of “circuit” or “province,” so that we might translate this phrase by “the commencement of the circuit.” Conf. such denominations as Koshi no michi no kuchi, Koshi no michi no naka, and Koshi no michi no shiri for what are in modern parlance the provinces of Echizen, Etchiū and Echigo.
related a little further on in this Section. Motowori gives good reasons for supposing that Oho-kibi-no-moro-susumi, i.e. “He Who Completely Advances in Great Kibi,” is but another form of the same name, erroneously inserted in the account of the preceding reign (see Sect. LIX, Note 3).
