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able of avenging injuries, a notable case of which is the death of unfaithful lovers caused by the indignation of the women whom they have wronged and deserted. Frequently the indignation puts on the form of the injured person, and appears to the doer of the wrong, without the knowledge of the injured person. A well authenticated case of a Gentle Spirit appearing to its correlative Rough Spirit is mentioned in the Nihongi, where it is stated that when Oho-kuni-nushi was walking on the sea-shore, and lamenting that the departure of Sukuna-bikona had left him without a coadjutor in the task of civilizing the country, a god came towards him from the sea, and proffered his help. Oho-kuni-nushi did not recognize his other half, and asked his name, on which he received the answer, “I am thy saki tama.”
The ninth prayer is addressed to Iha-naga-hime, the goddess of long life. The legend says that Ninigi no mikoto, while making an excursion in the neighbourhood of his palace, fell in with a beautiful young girl. On his inquiring her name, she said that it was Ko-no-hana-Saku-ya-bime, daughter of Oho-yama-isu-mi, the god of mountains, and that she had an elder sister named Iha-naga-hime. The young god-prince fell in love with her and demanded her in marriage from her father. Oho-yama-tsu-mi thereupon despatched the two sisters to him, but as the elder sister was very ugly, Ninigi no mikoto was frightened and sent her back. Upon this the father said, “My reason for offering both my daughters, was that if you had taken Iha-naga-hime into your service, the lives of the descendants of the heavenly gods would have been eternal, and if you had made use of Ko-no-hana-Sakuya-bime, they would have been as beautiful as the flowers of the cherry-tree. But now that you have rejected the one and kept the other, they will be as frail as the blossoms, and the anger of Iha-naga-hime will shorten human life.” This story presents all the characteristics of the myth. The name of the ugly daughter is a compound of ika rock, and naga long, and is symbolical of longevity; while the name of the
