far as the village of Tajihi. Moreover, a great canal was dug in Konku[1] by which the water of the Ishikaha River was brought to irrigate the four waste plains of Upper Suzuka and Lower Suzuka, Upper Toyora and Lower Toyora. By bringing these under cultivation there were gained more than 40,000 K‘iüng[2] of rice-land. Therefore the peasants of those places enjoyed abundance, and there was no longer the plague of bad years.
A.D. 328. 16th year, Autumn, 7th month, 1st day. The Emperor, indicating Kuhada no Kugahime, a lady of the Palace, to his personal attendants, said:—"It is our desire to bestow affection on this damsel, but, harassed by the Empress's jealousy, we have (XI. 15.) not been able to become united to her. Many years have passed. Why should she waste her years of bloom?" So he made a song, saying:—
Who will nourish
The daughter of the Omi
That sweeps along the bottom of the water?[3]
Then Hayamachi, the ancestor of the Miyakko of the province of Harima, advanced alone and made a song, saying:—
I, Hayamachi of Harima,
(Where the dreadful tides are)
Though full of awe,
Like rocks tumbling down,
I will nourish her.[4]
That same day Kugahime was given to Hayamachi. On the evening of the next day Hayamachi went to Kugahime's house. Now Kugahime would not comply with his wishes, but he persisted in approaching the curtained space. Then Kugahime
- ↑ In Kahachi.
- ↑ A Chinese measure of land equal to 100 mo, or more than fifteen English acres. This exact number of K‘iüng occurs in a Chinese book of the Han period as the extent of land reclaimed by a similar operation.
- ↑ The last line is a makura kotoba not in the least suitable as an epithet of Omi, a minister. But Omi is somewhat like ami, a net, for which it is satisfactory enough. The text is doubtful.
- ↑ This stanza is in the ordinary 31-syllable metre, and the previous one in the same, minus the first two lines. The second line is a makura kotoba.
