the shrine of the [Shinto] gods, protectors of the palace, prayed them with tears and lamentations to reveal to him the place where his precious lord was hidden. Then he was sought for by parties despatched severally to all the Buddhist temples, but in vain. Meanwhile his consorts wept, and in their hearts thought what a terrible thing had happened. The long summer's night at length gave way to dawn, but the search was still fruitless.
"The Chiunagon and the Sachiuben Korenari went at last to Kwazan, and there they discovered him clothed as a dear little priest. They fell down before him with exclamations of grief and concern, and both followed his example and entered the priesthood."
The Ō-Kagami or "Great Mirror" is another historical work. It contains the history of fourteen reigns, beginning with that of Mondoku, who came to the throne A.D. 851, and ending with that of Go Ichijō, who died in A.D. 1036. The author was one Tamenari, a member of the great Fujiwara family, and an official attached to the court of the Mikado Sutoku (1124–1141). He served for some time as Director of the Empress's palace, but subsequently assumed the tonsure and retired to a hermitage on Mount Ohara, near Kiōto. Here he was joined by his two brothers, who followed his example and abandoned the world for a life of religion. Tamenari's preface to the Ō-Kagami shows that he was a devout Buddhist.
Whether we have regard to its matter or to its form, the Ō-Kagami is not a very important contribution to literature. It is in eight volumes. Volume I. contains, in sixty-four pages, meagre sketches of the lives of fourteen Mikados. The year, month, and day of birth, appointment as Crown Prince, assumption of the manly
