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is ‘men! look at the lid.’ By men are meant the gods, there assembled. [Hirata quotes several examples of the application of the word ‘men’ to gods.] ‘Look at the lid’ means ‘look at the door of the cavern.’ Itsu is for idzu, an old word meaning ‘majesty’ or ‘terrible glory.’ Muyu is the conclusive form of muyuru, the same as moyeru, to spring up, to sprout, to bud. Nana is to be taken as nari-nareri, has been successful, i. e. the stratgem by which the goddess is induced to put her haed out of the cavern has succeeded. Ya is the same as iya, an archaic word signifying ‘greatly.’ Kobo is the same as kokoro, mind, feelings; the abbreviated form seen in kokochi, feelings, sensations. Tari is the same as tarashi, an honorific form of taru, to suffice, and expresses ‘satisfaction.’ Momo chi mean ‘thighs and bosom,’ and yorodzu must be taken to be the same as yoroshi, good. The last three lines therefore mean: “Majesty appears; hurrah! Our hearts are quite satisfied.” “Behold my bosom and thighs.” When Uzumé no mikoto (says Hirata) lets her dress fall down so as to expose the whole of her person, her thighs are plainly seen, and at the same time she bares her breasts; the line is an invitation to the assembled gods to enjoy the sight of her charms. These proceedings,[1] which were caused by the spirit which had descended on the goddess, excited the mirth of the gods, who laughed so loudly that heaven shook.
Amaterasu ô-mi-kami thought this all very strange, and having listened to the liberal praises bestowed on herself by Amé-no-ko-yané no mikoto said: “Men have frequently besought me of late, but never has anything so beautiful been said before.” Slightly opening the cavern door, she said from the inside: “I fancied that in consequence of my retirement both Ama-no-hara
- ↑ Said to be the origin of the pamtomimic dances called kagura; kagura is derived from kamu, divine und eragi, to laugh.
of the table called gojiu in, and then changed again into any syllable on the same horizontal line as the syllable produced by the first transmutation. Upon this system any two words may be proved to be identical. Muyu is mu in modern Japanese, but the original form is preserved in muyuka or muika, six days. Vide Koshiden, vol. XI, p. 53 et infra, where the whole subject is fully discussed.
