A.D. 461. 5th year, Spring, 2nd month. The Emperor hunted on Mount Katsuraki. Suddenly there came a supernatural bird, in size like a sparrow, with a long tail which trailed upon the ground. Now this bird chirruped, saying:—"Have a care! Have a care!" Then suddenly there appeared, issuing furiously from the herbage, a raging wild boar of which they had been in chase, and pursued the men. The huntsmen in great terror climbed up into trees. The Emperor commanded his attendants, saying:—"When a savage beast meets with man, it straightway halts. Encounter it with a shot from your bows, and then stab it." The attendants were of an effeminate nature. They climbed up trees, and changed countenance, and their five senses were masterless. The raging wild boar came straight on, and tried to bite the Emperor. But the Emperor with his bow pierced it and stayed its course. Then, raising his foot, he killed it with a kick. Hereupon, when the chase was over, he wanted to cut down the attendants. The attendants, when about to be executed, made a song, saying:—
Oh! my elder brother,
Thou alder-tree branch—
Over Ariwo,
To which I climbed up in flight,
Dreading
(XIV. 16.) The snorting of the wild-boar,
That was shot
By Our great Lord
Who rules peacefully![1]
The Empress, hearing their lament, was sorry for them, and tried to stay (the execution). The Emperor said:—"The
- ↑ This translation exactly reverses the order of the lines of the original. The "Kojiki" version (vide Ch. K., p. 318) varies somewhat. Ariwo I take (doubtfully) to be a proper name. The "Kojiki" says that it was the Emperor who climbed into the tree, and Motoöri takes this view. I agree with Chamberlain that this won't do. Perhaps something has been omitted in the "Kojiki" narrative. The insertion of the single word Toneri in one place would make it agree with the "Nihongi." It is not likely that a poem should have been composed to commemorate the Emperor's ascent into a tree.
The alder-tree branch is addressed as "elder brother" in gratitude for its protection.
