Page:Kojiki by Chamberlain.djvu/119

of the august sword and leaked out between his fingers were: the Deity Kura-okami and next the Deity Kura-mitsuha.^[1]

All the eight Deities in the above list, from the Deity Rock-Splitter to the Deity Kura-mitsuha, are Deities that were born from the august sword.

The name of the Deity that was born from the head of the Deity Shining-Elder who had been slain was the Deity Possessor-of-the-True-Pass-Mountains.^[2] The name of the Deity that was next born from his chest was the Deity Possessor-of-Descent-Mountains.^[3] The name of the Deity that was next born from his belly was the Deity Possessor-of-the-Innermost Mountains.^[4] The name of Deity that was next born from his private parts was the Deity Possessor-of-the-Dark-Mountains. The name of the Deity that was next born from his left hand^[5] was the Deity Possessor-of-the-Dense[ly-Wooded]-Mountains. The name of the Deity that was next born from his right hand was the Deity Possessor-of-the-Outlying-Mountains. The name of the Deity that was next born from his left foot^[6] was the Deity Possessor-of-the-Moorland-Mountains. The name of the Deity that was next born from his right foot was the

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1. The etymology of both these names is obscure. Kura, the first element of each compound, signifies “dark.”
2. This is the explanation of the original name Ma-saka-yama-tsu-mi-no-kami which is given in the “Secret of the Chronicles of Japan,” and is approved by the later commentators.
3. Odo-yama-tsu-mi-no-kami. The English rendering is uncertain, as it rests only on a conjecture of Motowori’s, deriving odo from ori-do (下處), “descending place,” “way down.”
4. The original names of this and the following five deities are: Oku-yama-tsu mi-no-kami, Kura-yama-tsu-mi-no-kami, Shigi-yama-tsu-mi-no-kami, Ha-yama-tsu-mi-no-kami, Hara-yama-tsu-mi-no-kami and To-yama-tsu-mi-no-kami. Shigi, here translated “dense,” seems to be almost certainly a contraction of shigeki, which has that signification. Ha-yama is a term for which it is hard to find an exact English equivalent. It denotes the lesser hills or first visibly rising ground forming the approach to an actual mountain-range. The signification of to in the last name of the set is disputed. Mabuchi takes it in the sense of “gate.” The translator prefers Motowori’s view; but after all, the difference in meaning does not amount to much. A third derivation proposed by Motowori is tawa-yama, i.e. “mountains with folds.”
5. Or “arm.”
6. Or “leg.”