grieved and alarmed. He looked up and looked down, and knew not what to do. His younger daughter, wondering at her father's grief and alarm, went up to him and inquired of him, saying:—"Why art thou sorrowful and in fear?" Her father told her the cause. The younger daughter said:—"I beseech thee, do not grieve, but offer me. It is still not too late." Her father was greatly rejoiced, and at length offered this daughter. She served (the Prince) with sincerity of heart,[1] and without any shyness whatever.
Nakatomi no Kamako no Muraji recommended Komaro, Saheki no Muraji, and Amida,[2] Katsuraki no Waka-inu-kahi[3] no Muraji, to Naka no Ohoye, saying, &c., &c.
3rd month. An owl brought forth young in the Miyake of Ohotsu belonging to Toyota no Oho-omi.
It was reported from the Province of Yamato:—"Lately a man of the Uda district, called Oshizaka no Atahe, went with a boy for a walk over the snow. They climbed Mount Uda, and there they saw purple mushrooms growing out of the snow six inches or more in height, and covering about four chō.[4] So he made the boy gather them, and went back and showed them to his neighbours. They all said:—'We do not know them,' and suspected that they were poisonous. Hereupon Oshizaka no Atahe and the boy boiled and ate them. They were very savoury. The next day they went to see, but there were none (XXIV. 18.) at all. Oshizaka no Atahe and the boy, from having eaten the mushroom soup, were free from disease, and lived long. Some one said:—'Probably the common people, not knowing the herb of long life,[5] mistakenly called it a mushroom."
Summer, 6th month, 1st day. Ohotomo no Mŭmakahi no Muraji presented to the Empress a lily, the stem of which was eight feet in length, separated as to the lower part, but joined together as to the end.
- ↑ Lit. a red heart.
- ↑ Net-ricefield.
- ↑ Puppy-keeper.
- ↑ The chō is at present, according to Hepburn, a land measure of 3000 tsubos, or 108,000 square feet.
- ↑ The "Yengishiki" describes the 芝草 as a plant resembling coral in shape, with clustering leaves and branches. Some are red, others purple, others black, others golden-coloured, while some change their colour in the four seasons. It blossoms three times a year, and gives long life to the person who eats it.
