Page:Kojiki by Chamberlain.djvu/166

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

80

“Ko-ji-ki,” or Records of Ancient Matters.

[Vol. XI.

the morning shower. Thine Augustness [my] spouse like the young herbs! The tradition of the thing, too, this!”^[1]

Then his Empress, taking a great august liquor-cup, and drawing near and offering it to him, sang, saying:—

“Oh! Thine Augustness the Deity-of-Eight-Thousand-Spears! [Thou], my [dear] Master-of-the-Great-Land indeed, being a man, probably hast on the various island-head-

↑ The meaning of this poem is:—“I start for Yamato, there to search for a better wife, and I carefully array myself for the journey. Black,—the colour of mourning,—is not fair enough, and red is more beautiful than green; so it is on my red garments that my choice rests. And thou, jealous and imperious woman! for all that thou sayest that thou wilt not heed my going, thou wilt weep when I depart with my retainers as departs a flock of birds, and thou wilt bury thy head in thy hands, and thy tears shall be as the misty drops of the morning shower.”—The words hata tagi (rendered in accordance with Motowori’s view by “raise my fins”) are supposed to signify “raise my sleeve.” If the last syllable were found in any text written with a character not requiring the use of the nigori in the Japanese transcription, we should get the more satisfactory reading ha tataki, i.e. “beat my wings;” but the syllable in question does not seem to be anywhere so written:—The “madder” is in the original akane, here written (but doubtless only through the error of some copyist) atane. The words rendered “sought in the mountain fields” might also be translated “sown in the mountain fields,” magishi, “sought,” and makishi, “sowed” being thought to be convertible.—The words “my beloved” represent the Japanese itokoya no, whose meaning is obscure and much disputed.—The words “when I am led away” must be understood as if they were Active instead of Passive, signifying as they do “when I lead away my retinue of followers.”—The eulalia (Eulalia japonica) is a long kind of grass very often alluded to in the later classical poetry.—The words “on the mountain” represent the Japanese words yama-to no, in accordance with Motowori’s and Hirata’s view of the meaning of the latter (山處 or 山本) The primâ facie interpretation of “in the province of Yamato,” which Keichiyu adopts, will not bear investigation.—It is not quite clear whether “the mist of the morning shower” means mist separate from the rain, or is simply a phrase for the rain-drops themselves. Motowori adopts the former opinion.—“Young herbs,” waka-kusa, is the Pillow-Word for “spouse,”—newly married youths and maidens being likened to the fresh-grown grass. The refrain is an abbreviated form of that found in the two previous poems.

[1] The meaning of this poem is:—“I start for Yamato, there to search for a better wife, and I carefully array myself for the journey. Black,—the colour of mourning,—is not fair enough, and red is more beautiful than green; so it is on my red garments that my choice rests. And thou, jealous and imperious woman! for all that thou sayest that thou wilt not heed my going, thou wilt weep when I depart with my retainers as departs a flock of birds, and thou wilt bury thy head in thy hands, and thy tears shall be as the misty drops of the morning shower.”—The words hata tagi (rendered in accordance with Motowori’s view by “raise my fins”) are supposed to signify “raise my sleeve.” If the last syllable were found in any text written with a character not requiring the use of the nigori in the Japanese transcription, we should get the more satisfactory reading ha tataki, i.e. “beat my wings;” but the syllable in question does not seem to be anywhere so written:—The “madder” is in the original akane, here written (but doubtless only through the error of some copyist) atane. The words rendered “sought in the mountain fields” might also be translated “sown in the mountain fields,” magishi, “sought,” and makishi, “sowed” being thought to be convertible.—The words “my beloved” represent the Japanese itokoya no, whose meaning is obscure and much disputed.—The words “when I am led away” must be understood as if they were Active instead of Passive, signifying as they do “when I lead away my retinue of followers.”—The eulalia (Eulalia japonica) is a long kind of grass very often alluded to in the later classical poetry.—The words “on the mountain” represent the Japanese words yama-to no, in accordance with Motowori’s and Hirata’s view of the meaning of the latter (山處 or 山本) The primâ facie interpretation of “in the province of Yamato,” which Keichiyu adopts, will not bear investigation.—It is not quite clear whether “the mist of the morning shower” means mist separate from the rain, or is simply a phrase for the rain-drops themselves. Motowori adopts the former opinion.—“Young herbs,” waka-kusa, is the Pillow-Word for “spouse,”—newly married youths and maidens being likened to the fresh-grown grass. The refrain is an abbreviated form of that found in the two previous poems.

[1]