Vol. XV.]
Vol. I. Sect. XXXIII.
109
mirror that had allured [the Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity from the Rock-Dwelling,[1]] and also the Herb-Quelling-Great-Sword,[2] and likewise the Deity Thought-Includer, the Hand-Strength-Male-Deity, and the Deity Heavenly-Rock-Door-Opener[3] of Eternal Night,[4] and charged him thus: “Regard this mirror exactly as if it were our august spirit, and reverence it as if reverencing us”.[5] Next did they say: “Let the Deity Thought-Includer take in hand our affairs, and carry on the government.” These two Deities are worshipped at the temple of Isuzu.[6] The next, the Deity of Luxuriant-Food,[7] is the
- ↑ The allusion is to the story in Sect. XVI. Moribe, in his Critique on Motowori’s Commentary, points out that it was only the mirror which allured the goddess from the cave. In the Japanese original of this passage, however, even more than in the English translation, the expression “that had allured” is made to refer to both objects.
- ↑ Obtained from the tail of the Serpent of Koshi. See the story in Sect. XVIII.
- ↑ Ame-no-iha-to-wake no kami. Hirata observes that this must not be considered as the name of an independent Deity, but be taken simply as an alternative name of Ame-no-ta-jikara-wo-no-kami (the “Heavenly-Hand-Strength-Male-Deity”). The part taken by this Deity in the legend narrated in Sect. XVI seems a sufficient warrant for such an opinion, though a little lower down in this Section the two are again mentioned separately.
- ↑ Toko-yo. These words, which, according to the rules of Japanese construction, are placed at the commencement of the clause, must be understood to apply either to the three gods collectively or to the first-mentioned (the Deity Thought-Includer) alone.
- ↑ Or “worshipping before us,” or “in our presence.” The strictly logical concordance of an English sentence makes it appear as if the minor were to be taken to represent the spirit of both Deities whose names are the subjects of the first clause. In Japanese, however, all such concordances are much more loosely observed, and it is only the spirit of the Sun-Goddess that we must understand to be here intended.
- ↑ Isuzu (literally “fifty bells,” or else perhaps the name of a kind of grass with which the neighbourhood may originally have been overgrown) is the name of the site of the “Inner Temple” of Ise. It is in the Japanese text preceded by the Pillow-Word saku-kushiro, literally “rent bracelet.” See Mabuchi’s “Dictionary of Pillow-Words” s.v.
- ↑ Toyo-uke-no-kami, the same as Toyo-uke-bime (see Sect. VII Note 6). The mention of this goddess in this place is curious, as she would not seem to be con-
