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BOOK XXX.

THE EMPRESS TAKAMA NO HARA HIRO-NO NO HIME.[1]

(JITŌ[2] TENNŌ.)

The Empress Takama no hara hiro-no no hime's name as a child was the Imperial Princess Uno no Sarara. She was the second daughter of the Emperor Ame-mikoto hirakasu wake.[3] Her mother's name was Wochi no Iratsume. [Also called Minodzuko hime.] She was of reserved manners and a liberal disposition. In the third year of the Empress Ame-toyo takara ikashihi tarashi hime, she was united to the Emperor Ame no Nunahara oki no Mabito as his consort. Although the daughter of an Emperor, she loved courtesy and economy, and was possessed of motherly virtues. In the first year of the Emperor Ame-mikoto hirakasu wake, she gave birth to His Highness the Imperial Prince Kusakabe in the palace of Ohotsu. In the tenth month of the tenth year (of the same reign) she followed the Shamon the Emperor Ame no Nunahara oki no Mabito to Yoshino in order to avoid the suspicious dislike of the Court, as has been related in the history of the Emperor Ame no Nunahara oki no Mabito. In the first year of the reign of the Emperor Ame no Nunahara oki no Mabito, summer, the sixth month, she followed the Emperor when he took refuge in the Eastern provinces. She addressed the troops and mingled with the throng, until at length they together formed a plan by which several tens of thousands of fearless men were separately ordered to take up their posts in all the most defensible positions. In autumn, the seventh month, the Mino generals acting in concert with the Yamato heroes slew the Imperial Prince Ohotomo and sent his head to

  1. High-Heaven broad-plain princess.
  2. Jitō means "holding supreme control."
  3. Tenchi Tennō.