cut the serpent's tail, the edge of his sword was notched. Thereupon he split open the tail, and on examination, found within it a divine sword. Sosa no wo no Mikoto said:—'I must not take this for my private use.' So he sent Ama no Fuki-ne no Kami, his descendant in the fifth generation, to deliver it up to Heaven. This is the sword now called Kusa-nagi.
Before this, when Iso-takeru no Kami descended from Heaven, he took down with him the seeds of trees in great quantity. However, he did not plant them in the land of Han,[1] but brought them all back again, and finally sowed them every one throughout the Great Eight-island-country, beginning with Tsukushi. Thus green mountains were produced. For this reason Iso-takeru no Mikoto was styled Isaoshi no Kami.[2] He is the Great Deity who dwells in the Land of Kiï."[3]
In one writing it is stated:—"Sosa no wo no Mikoto said:—'In the region[4] of the Land of Han there is gold and silver. It will not be well if the country ruled by my son should not possess floating riches. So he plucked out his beard and scattered it. Thereupon Cryptomerias were (I. 58.) produced. Moreover, he plucked out the hairs of his breast, which became Thuyas.[5] The hairs of his buttocks became Podocarpi.[6] The hairs of his eye-brows became Camphor-trees. Having done so, he determined their uses. These two trees, viz. the Cryptomeria and the Camphor-tree, were to be made into floating riches;[7] the Thuya was to be used as timber for building fair palaces;[8] the Podocarpus was to form receptacles in which the visible race of man was to be laid in secluded burial-places. For their food he well sowed and made to grow all the eighty kinds of fruit.
Now the children of Sosa no wo no Mikoto were named Iso-takeru no Mikoto, with Oho-ya[9] tsu hime, his younger
Page:Nihongi by Aston.djvu/89
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
58
Nihongi.
