him, saying:—"Thy handmaiden wishes to wait upon thee on the street of Tsubaki-ichi." Accordingly the eldest son, in order to go to the place of assignation, sent one of his personal attendants to the house of the Oho-omi Heguri to ask for official horses, saying that he did so by his command. The Oho-omi mocked him, pretending that he would send them, and said:—"For whom (else) are official horses kept? Of course his orders shall be obeyed." But for a long time he did not send them. The eldest son cherished resentment at this, but controlled himself, and did not let it appear on his countenance. Ultimately he went to the place of assignation, and taking a place among the song-makers,[1] took hold of Kagehime's sleeve, and was loitering about unconcernedly, when suddenly Shibi no Omi came, and pushing away the eldest son from Kagehime, got between them. Hereupon the eldest son let go Kagehime's sleeve, and turning round, confronted Shibi no Omi, and addressing him straight in the face, made a song, saying:—
Of the briny current[2]
The breakers as I view,
(XVI. 3.) By the fin of the Tunny
That comes sporting
I see my spouse standing.
[One book has "harbour" instead of "briny current."]
Shibi no Omi answered with a song, saying:—
Dost thou tell me, O Prince! to yield to thee
The eight-fold bamboo fence[3]
Of the Omi's child?
- ↑ In Japanese uta-gaki, i.e. poetry-hedge. The utagaki seems to have been a sort of poetical tournament. The "Kojiki" (Ch. K., p. 330) gives a different and not very intelligible account of this war of verses. That work places it at the beginning of an earlier reign, and makes the Emperor Woke the hero. The whole story is no doubt the work of some romancist. It would be a mere waste of time to try to sift out what grains of truth it may contain. It indicates, however, very different and much more unrestricted social relations between the sexes than that which prevailed in China and other Eastern countries. Of this there is abundant other evidence.
- ↑ Shibi means tunny-fish. This suggests the introduction of the "briny current" of the first line.
- ↑ The fence in this and the following verses is the enclosure of the bridal chamber. See above, pp. 13, 54.
