30th day. The weather was mild, as in spring.
This year Yemishi, Soga no Oho-omi erected his own ancestral temple at Taka-miya in Katsuraki, and performed an eight-row dance.[1] Finally he made a song, saying:—
In order to ford
The River Hiro-se of Oshi
In Yamato,
I adjust my garters
And gird up my loins![2]
Moreover he levied all the people of the land as well as the serfs of the 180 Be, and constructed two tombs at Imaki in preparation for his death.[3] One was called the Great Misasagi, and was intended as the tomb of the Oho-omi; one was called the Small Misasagi, and was meant for the tomb of Iruka no Omi. It was his desire that after his death other people might not be troubled. Moreover he assembled all the Mibu people of Kamutsumiya,[4] and made them do forced labour on the precincts of the tombs. Hereupon Princess Kamutsumiya no Oho-iratsume[5] was wroth, and exclaimed, saying:—"Soga no Omi wantonly usurps the Government of the land, and does many outrageous things. In Heaven there (XXIV. 9.) are not two suns: in a state there cannot be two sovereigns. Why should he, at his own pleasure, employ, in forced labour, all the people of the fief?" From this her hate began to gather, and she at length shared in the common downfall.[6]
This year was the year Midzunoye Tora (39th) of the Cycle.
A.D. 643. 2nd year, Spring, 1st month, 1st day. In the morning great clouds of five colours[7] covered all the sky, except in the north-east, where they were wanting. A mist of a uniform blue colour arose from the earth on all sides.
- ↑ These were assumptions of Imperial rank. Vide "Legge's Chinese Classics," Vol. I. p. 18.
- ↑ Hiro-se means a broad ford. Apparently Soga, in these lines, is supposed to hint at his secret ambition of usurpation.
- ↑ It was not unusual to build sepulchral mounds during the lifetime of the intended occupant. Nintoku Tennō is an example.
- ↑ The serfs of the late Prince Shōtoku Daishi.
- ↑ Shōtoku Daishi's daughter.
- ↑ See below, XXIV. 13.
- ↑ Rainbow-tinted.
