If ye were to fall in with a hunter, very speedily ye should be taken.' So thy servant restrained them from fighting together, and having wiped them and cleansed their blood-stained hair, eventually let them go, thus saving both their lives." The Emperor said:—"This is undoubtedly your reward."[1] So he made him to serve near his own person, and treated him with a favour which was daily renewed, so that he arrived at the (XIX. 2.) height of great wealth. When the Emperor came to the throne, he appointed him to the Treasury.
In Winter, the 10th month of the 4th year of his reign, the Emperor Takewo hiro-kuni oshi-tate died. The Imperial Prince, the Emperor[2] Ame-kuni oshi-hiraki hiro-niha, addressed the Ministers, saying:—"I am young[3] in years, and of shallow knowledge. I have not yet had experience of the affairs of government. The Empress Yamada has a clear acquaintance with all matters of administration, and I pray you to apply to her and then decide."
The Empress Yamada rendered humble thanks, saying:—"Your handmaiden has been treated with favour, far beyond seas and mountains. But the manifold machinery of government is much too difficult a charge for a woman to undertake it. Now the Imperial Prince honours age, and shows affection to the young. He treats the wise with courtesy, and all day long neglects his food while he attends to others. Not only so, but young as he is, the point comes through.[4] Already he has at his disposal an auspicious reputation, he is of a mild disposition and earnest in compassionate care. I pray the Ministers that they will, without delay, cause him to ascend to the Dignity, and preside gloriously over the Empire."[5]
12th month, 5th day. The Imperial Prince Ame-kuni oshi-
- ↑ i.e. his being recommended to the Emperor in a dream.
- ↑ Sic.
- ↑ A brother had died four years before, aged seventy, and another had just died, aged seventy-three. Kimmei is said to have died A.D. 571, at the age of sixty-three, or eighty-one, by another account. Evidently the chronology is not yet quite satisfactory.
- ↑ An allusion to the Chinese saying, "Talent will show itself: like an awl in a bag, the point comes through." Vide Giles, p. 1309.
- ↑ The Empress's speech is composed almost wholly of sentences from Chinese authors.
