The Kojiki: Volume II: Section XLV.—Emperor Jim-mu (Part II.—The Cross-Sword Sent Down From Heaven).
[SECT. XLV.—EMPEROR JIM-MU (PART II.—THE CROSS-SWORD SENT DOWN FROM HEAVEN).]
So when His Augustness Kamu-yamato-ihare-biko made a progress round from thence, and reached the village of Kumanu, 1 a large bear came out of the mountain, 2 and forthwith disappeared into it. Then His Augustness Kamu-yamato-ihare-biko suddenly fainted away, and his august army likewise all fainted and fell prostrate. At this time Takakurazhi 3 (this is the name of a person) 4 of Kumanu came bearing one cross-sword 5 to the place where the august-child of the Deity was lying prostrate, and presented it to him, upon which the august child of the Heavenly Deity forthwith rose up, and said: "How long I have slept!" So when he accepted the cross-sword, the savage Deities of the mountains of Kumanu all spontaneously fell cut down. 6 Then the whole august
army, that had been bewildered and had fallen prostrate, awoke and rose up. So the august child of the Heavenly Deity asked him how he had got the cross-sword. Takakurazhi [135] replied, saying: "I was told in a dream that
the two Deities the Heaven-Shining-Great-Deity 7 and the High Integrating Deity 8 commanded and summoned the Brave-Awful-Possessing-Male-Deity, 9 and charged him [thus]: 'The Central Land of Reed-Plains 10 is painfully uproarious,—it is. 11 Our august children must be ill at ease. As [therefore] the Central Land of Reed-Plains is a land which thou specially subduedst, thou the Brave-Awful-Possessing-Male-Deity shalt descend [thither].' Then he replied, saying: 'I 12 will not descend [myself], but I have the cross-sword wherewith I specially subdued the land. (The name by which this sword is called is the Deity Thrust-Snap; 13 another name by which it is called is the Deity Awful-Snap, 14 and another name for it is the August-Snap-Spirit, 15 This sword dwells in the temple of the Deity of Isonokami) 16 The manner in which I will send this sword down will be to perforate the ridge of [the roof of] Takakurazhi's stone-house, 17 and drop it through. (So the Brave-Awful-Possessing-Male-Deity instructed me, saying: 'I will perforate the ridge of [the roof of] thy store-house, and drop this sword through. 18) So do thou, with the good eyes of [136] morning, 19 take it and present it to the august child of the Heavenly Deity.' So, on my searching my store-house early next morning in accordance with the instructions of the dream, there really was a cross-sword there. So I just present this cross-sword to thee."
Footnotes
164:1 This name signifies "bear-moor." The name is now generally pronounced Kumano.
164:2 Motowori ingeniously conjectures the text of this passage
, which makes no sense, to be a copyist's error for
, which gives the meaning rendered in the translation. The running hand form of
might well be mistaken for that of the single character
. The editor of 1687 is less happy in his conjecture that the character intended may be
, "crocodile." This incident of the bear was thought important by the compiler for a mention of it to be inserted in his Preface. (See p. 5).
164:3 The signification of this name is not clear. Taking zhi as an apocopated nigori’ed form of the Postposition shita, we might suppose taka-kura-zhi to signify "under the high store house" in allusion to the legend which forms the subject of this section. There are, however, reasons for doubting this etymology. (See Motowori's Commentary, Vol. XVIII, p. 48). In the Preface we have simply Takahura, without the final syllable zhi; but the omission of zhi in that place is almost certainly to be accounted for on euphonic grounds.
164:4 This note to the original is believed to be an interpolation,
164:5
. Motowori avers that the character
, "cross," has no importance, and should be neglected in reading. But this assertion seems gratuitous in the face of, for instance, such a Chinese locution as
. We may be justified, perhaps, in paying no special heed to the Numeral "one" in this place, which Motowori neglects in his kana reading of the text.
164:6 I.e., they fell down cut to pieces before they had even been cut at with this wonderful sword.
165:7 The character
, "august," which should form the penultimate member of this compound name, is here omitted.
165:8 See Sect. I, Note 5.
165:9 See Sect. VIII, Note 7.
165:10 See Sect. IX, Note 18.
165:11 Conf. Sect. X, Note 1.
165:12 The humble character
, "servant," is here used.
165:13 Sazhi-futsu no kami. The translator follows Tanigaha Shisei in considering sazhi (Tanigaha Shisei in his "Perpetual Commentary" reads sashi without the nigori) to mean "thrust." For the rendering of futsu as "snap" in this and the two following names conf. Sect. VIII, Note 8. Moribe, however, in his "Ikzu no Chi-waki," asserts that futsu is but an alternative form of futo, "broad," "thick," or "vast," as shown by the existence of the phrase ma-futsu no kagami, "a true vast mirror."
165:14 Mika-futsu no kami.
165:15 Futsu no mi tame.
165:16 The name of this place, which is in the province of Yamato, seems to signify "above the rock." It is well known as the Pillow-Word for the syllables furu.
165:17 Properly what is known to Anglo-Orientals as a "godown."
165:18 The sentence here placed between braces is proposed by Motowori to supplement an evident lacuna in the text.
165:19 Or, "luckily with morning eyes." Motowori remarks that even in modern times, special joy is felt at a good discovery made in the morning.