Page:Nihongi by Aston.djvu/340

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Richiu.
309

9th day. A Treasury was instituted and a Treasury[1] Be established.

2nd month, 1st day. The Emperor sent for Futohime no Iratsume and Takatsuru no Iratsume, daughters of Prince Funashi wake, and having bestowed them in the Empress's (XII. 11.) palace,[2] made them both his concubines.[3] Upon this the two concubines lamented continually, saying:—"Alas! Whither has the Prince, our elder brother, gone?" The Emperor heard their lamentation, and inquired of them, saying:—"Why do ye lament?" They answered and said:—"Thy handmaidens' elder brother, Prince Washizumi, is strong and nimble. Alone he has taken a running leap over an eight-fathom house, and gone away. Many days have passed that we have not spoken to him face to face. Therefore do we lament." The Emperor was pleased to hear of his great strength, and sent for him. But he would not come. Again messenger after messenger was sent to summon him, but still he would not come, and continued to reside in the village of Suminoye. After this the Emperor ceased to demand his presence. He was the first ancestor of the two houses of the Miyakko of Sanuki and the Wake of Ashikuhi in Aha.

3rd month, 15th day. The Emperor's precious body became ill at ease, and, the elements of water and earth being inharmonious, he died in the Palace of Waka-zakura, at the age of seventy.[4]

  1. The Treasury means the office, the Be the staff. The "Kogo-jui" says:—"Until the reign of the latter Ihare no Waka-zakura (i.e. Richiu Tennō) the three Han failed not to send tribute for many generations. Beside the Sacred Treasury, there was erected an Inner Treasury, where the official property was classified and deposited. Achi no Omi and Wang-in (or Wani), the learned men of Pèkché, were made to record the ingoings and outcomings. A Treasury Be was first established." If we allow for the error of two cycles, this year, A.D. 405, is the very year in which Wang-in arrived. But the "Nihongi" chronology cannot yet be depended on.

    The "Shoku-in-rei" says:—"The Interior Treasury Department has one Chief, who has control of gold and silver, jewels, precious utensils, brocade and satin, sarsnet, rugs and mattresses, and the rare objects sent as tribute by the various barbarians."

  2. Women's apartments.
  3. The character used implies a subordinate rank.
  4. Other calculations make him sixty-four, seventy-seven, eighty-five, and eighty-seven. It is obvious that none of them can be relied on.