THE KOJIKI
Part IV.—The Beast-Legends
THE WHITE HARE OF INABA
From His Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness was descended the deity Master-of-the-Great-Land. He had eighty deities his brethren; but they all left the land to the deity Master-of-the-Great-Land. The reason for their leaving it was this: Each of these eighty deities had in his heart the wish to marry the Princess of Yakami in Inaba,[1] and they went together to Inaba, putting their bag on the back of the deity Great-Name-Possessor,[2] whom they took with them as an attendant. Hereupon, when they arrived at Cape Keta, they found a naked hare lying down. Then the eighty deities spoke to the hare, saying: "What thou shouldest do is to bathe in the sea-water here, and lie on the slope of a high mountain exposed to the blowing of the wind." So the hare followed the instructions of the eighty deities, and lay down. Then, as the sea-water dried, the skin of its body all split with the blowing of the wind, so that it lay weeping with pain. But the deity Great-Name-Possessor, who came last of all, saw the hare, and said: "Why liest thou weeping?" The hare replied, saying: "I was in the Island of Oki, and wished to cross over to this land, but had no means of crossing over. For this reason I deceived the crocodiles of the sea, saying: 'Let you and me compete, and compute the numbers of our respective tribes. So do you go and fetch every member of your tribe, and make them all lie in a row across from this island to Cape Keta. Then I will tread on them, and count them as I run across. Hereby shall we know whether it or my tribe is the larger.' Upon my speaking thus, they were
