mands." To the last they kept out of his way, and would not give ear to him.[1]
A.D. 454. 1st year, Spring, 2nd month, 1st day. On behalf of the Imperial Prince Ohohatsuse the Emperor desired to betroth to (XIII. 20.) him the Imperial Princess Hata-hi, a younger sister of the Imperial Prince Ohokusaka,[2] and for this purpose sent Ne no Omi, ancestor of the Omi of Sakamoto, to request her of the Imperial Prince Ohokusaka, saying:—"I beseech thee let me have the Imperial Princess Hata-hi, whom I desire to espouse unto the Imperial Prince Ohohatsuse." Hereupon the Imperial Prince Ohokusaka answered and said:—"Thy servant has for some time suffered from a severe illness, which cannot be healed. He may be compared to a ship which has taken in its cargo and is waiting for the tide. Death, however, is our destiny; and there is no sufficient reason for regret. Only I cannot die in peace because my younger sister, the Imperial Princess Hata-hi, will be left alone and unprotected. If now Your Majesty will not loathe her for her ugliness, and will allow her to complete the number of the duckweed flowers,[3] it will be a matter for the deepest gratitude. How should I decline the favour of thy commands? In order, therefore, to show my
- ↑ This and many other stories in the "Nihongi" show that the position of women in these times was by no means one of abject dependence on their male relatives.
- ↑ They were children of the Emperor Nintoku, who died A.D. 399, aged 122. The "Shukai" suggests that the Prince and Princess here named were grandchildren, and not children of Nintoku, but the more obvious explanation of the difficulty is that the chronology is entirely untrustworthy.
- ↑ "An aquatic plant with peltate floating leaves, probably a Lemnanthemum, or marsh-flower." Williams. The allusion is to the opening stanzas of the first ode of the She-king, translated by Dr. Legge as follows:—
Kwan, Kwan go the ospreys
On the islet in the river.
The modest, retiring, virtuous, young lady:—
For our prince a good mate is she.
Here long, there short, is the duckweed
To the left, to the right, borne about by the current.
The modest, retiring, virtuous, young lady:—
Waking and sleeping he sought her.
