THE AUGUST DECLARATION OF THE DIVISION OF THE AUGUST MALE CHILDREN AND THE AUGUST FEMALE CHILDREN
Hereupon the Heavenly Shining-Great-August deity said to His-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness: "As for the seed[1] of the five male deities born last, their birth was from things of mine; so undoubtedly they are my children. As for the seed of the three female deities born first, their birth was from a thing of thine; so doubtless they are thy children." Thus did she declare the division. So Her Augustuess Torrent-Mist-Princess, the deity born first, dwells in the inner temple of Munakata.[2] The next, Her Augustness Lovely-Island-Princess, dwells in the middle temple of Munakata. The next, Her Augustness Princess-of-the-Torrent, dwells in the outer temple[3] of Munakata. These three deities are of the three great deities[4] held in reverence by the dukes of Munakata.[5] So His Augustness Brave-Rustic-Illuminator, child of His Augustness Ame-no-hohi, one of the five children born afterward.[6] This is the ancestor of the rulers of the land of Idzumo, of the rulers of the land of Muzashi, of the rulers of the upper land of Unakami, of the rulers of the lower land of Unakami, of the rulers of the land of Izhimu, of the departmental suzerains of the Island of Tsu and of the rulers of the land of Toho-tsu-Afumi. The next, His Augustness Prince-
- ↑ I.e., the origin.
- ↑ A place in the province of Chikuzen. The name signifies either "breast-shape" or " body-shape."
- ↑ Or, "sea-shore temple."
- ↑ Or, "the great deities of the three shrines."
- ↑ Munakata-no-kimi. Remember that all the names in this and similar lists are hereditary "gentile names," and that "Duke" and the other titles used in this translation to designate them must only be regarded as approximations toward giving the force of the Japanese originals, which are themselves by no means always clear, either etymologically or historically.
- ↑ Here and throughout the work passages of this nature containing genealogies are in all the editions printed small, and might therefore be supposed to be either intended as footnotes, or to be later glosses. Motowori however rightly rejects such an inference. To an English reader the word "This" may seem, by disturbing the grammar of the sentence, to support that inference; but in Japanese construction little importance need be attached to the presence of this double nominative.
