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Vol. XI.]

Vol. I. Sect. XXV.

81

lands that thou seest, and on every beach-headland that thou lookest on, a wife like the young herbs. But as for me, alas! being a woman, I have no man except thee; I have no spouse except thee. Beneath the fluttering of the ornamented fence, beneath the softness of the warm coverlet, beneath the rustling of the the cloth coverlet, [thine] arms white as rope of paper-mulberry bark softly patting [my] breast soft as the melting snow, and patting [each other] interlaced, stretching out and pillowing [ourselves] on [each other’s arms],—true jewel-arms, and with outstretched legs, will we sleep. Lift up the luxuriant august liquor!”^[1]

She having thus sung, they at once pledged [each other] by the cup with [their hands] on [each other’s] necks,^[2] and are at rest till the present time. These are called divine words.^[3]

↑ The import of this poem needs little explanation:—The goddess says to her husband, “Come back and live with me, and quaff this goblet as a sign of reconciliation; for though thou, as a man, mayest have a wife on every shore, I shall be left solitary if thou depart.”—The “ornamented fence” is supposed to mean “a curtain round the sleeping place.”—The latter part of the poem (excepting the concluding phrase) is a repetition of lines that have already occurred in the last ode of Sect XXIV (note 7). The word tate-matsurase (here rendered “lift up”) occasions some difficulty. It properly signifies “present to a superior;” but here it must be taken to mean “partake of,” as the goddess is speaking to her spouse himself, unless indeed we suppose the final words of the song to be a command addressed to one of her attendants to present the cup to their common lord and master.
↑ This is the probable and generally accepted meaning of the original of this clause, which is written phonetically.
↑ Explained by Moribe to mean, with reference to the whole story, “conversation about divine events.” Motowori proposes to supplement the character 歌, “song,” to the two (神語) in the text, and to take the three together as designating the nature of the preceding songs, in accordance with the usage in other cases,—“Rustic Songs,” “Courtiers’ Songs,” etc. If this view were adopted, we should have to translate by “Divine Converse Songs.”

[1] The import of this poem needs little explanation:—The goddess says to her husband, “Come back and live with me, and quaff this goblet as a sign of reconciliation; for though thou, as a man, mayest have a wife on every shore, I shall be left solitary if thou depart.”—The “ornamented fence” is supposed to mean “a curtain round the sleeping place.”—The latter part of the poem (excepting the concluding phrase) is a repetition of lines that have already occurred in the last ode of Sect XXIV (note 7). The word tate-matsurase (here rendered “lift up”) occasions some difficulty. It properly signifies “present to a superior;” but here it must be taken to mean “partake of,” as the goddess is speaking to her spouse himself, unless indeed we suppose the final words of the song to be a command addressed to one of her attendants to present the cup to their common lord and master.

[2] This is the probable and generally accepted meaning of the original of this clause, which is written phonetically.

[3] Explained by Moribe to mean, with reference to the whole story, “conversation about divine events.” Motowori proposes to supplement the character 歌, “song,” to the two (神語) in the text, and to take the three together as designating the nature of the preceding songs, in accordance with the usage in other cases,—“Rustic Songs,” “Courtiers’ Songs,” etc. If this view were adopted, we should have to translate by “Divine Converse Songs.”

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