Page:Nihongi by Aston volume 2.djvu/115

guards, who firmly fastened the Palace Gate, and resisting his entrance, would not let him in. The Imperial Prince Anahobe demanded of them, saying:—"Who is it that is here?" The guards answered and said:—"Sakahe, Miwa no Kimi, is here." Seven times he shouted at them to open the gate, but they steadily refused to admit him. Hereupon the Imperial Prince Anahobe addressed the Oho-omi and the Ohomuraji, saying:—"Sakahe is incessantly insulting me. In the funeral eulogy delivered by him at the Court of temporary interment he said:—'Thy Court shall not be left desolate, but shall be kept pure as the surface of a mirror, and thy servant will preserve peace in dutiful service to thee.' This is an insult. At this moment there are many young men of the Emperor's family, and there are two Chief Ministers present. Who has any right wantonly to monopolize talk of dutiful service? Moreover when I wished to see the interior of the place of temporary interment, I was prevented, and not allowed to enter. Seven times I myself called out, 'Open the gate,' but there was no answer. I request that I may be allowed to put him to death." The two Chief Ministers^[1] said:—"Be it as thou hast commanded." Upon this, the Imperial Prince Anahobe, while secretly planning to make himself ruler of the Empire, falsely gave out that his object was to kill Sakahe no Kimi. At length, along with Mononobe no Moriya no Ohomuraji, he led troops with which they surrounded Ikenobe in Ihare. This having come to the knowledge of Sakahe no Kimi, he concealed himself on Mount Mimoro. That day, at midnight, he came away stealthily from the mountain and hid in the hinder^[2] palace, [meaning the Empress Kashikiya hime's country-house. It was called the Palace of Tsubaki ichi]. Relatives of Sakahe (XXI. 4.) named Shiratsutsumi and Yokoyama told where Sakahe no Kimi was, and the Imperial Prince Anahobe straightway sent to Moriya no Ohomuraji [one book says:—"The Imperial Princes Anahobe and Hatsusebe having consulted together, sent to Moriya no Ohomuraji"], saying to him:—"Thou must go and slay Sakahe no Kimi, and likewise his two children." The Ohomuraji at length went off in command of an armed force. Soga

1. 大臣 is here evidently not Oho-omi, for one of them was not an Oho-omi, but an Ohomuraji. It has the more general sense of Chief Minister.
2. i.e. the Empress's palace.