The luck of the sea and the luck of the mountain海佐知·山佐知

Hoderi no Mikoto became Umisachibiko (海佐知毗古) and took the things with broad fins and the things with narrow fins. Hoori no Mikoto became Yamasachibiko (山佐知毗古) and took the things with coarse hair and the things with soft hair.

Hoori no Mikoto said to his elder brother Hoderi no Mikoto, "Let us exchange our sachi (佐知), each to use the other's." He asked three times, but his brother would not allow it. At last he barely got him to exchange.

Hoori no Mikoto fished with the sachi of the sea, but he did not catch one fish, and he lost the hook itself in the sea.

Then his elder brother Hoderi no Mikoto asked for the fish hook back, saying, "The sachi of the mountain is sachi only in its own hands, and the sachi of the sea is sachi only in its own hands. Now is the time for each to give the other's sachi back."

His younger brother Hoori no Mikoto answered, "I fished with your hook and did not catch one fish, and in the end I lost it in the sea."

But his brother pressed him hard to give it back. So the younger brother broke the ten-hand sword he wore, made five hundred hooks of it, and offered them in payment, but his brother would not take them. He made a thousand hooks more and offered them, but his brother would not receive them, and said, "Still I want that one original hook."

While the younger brother was weeping and grieving on the shore of the sea, Shiotsuchi no Kami (塩椎神) came and asked, "Why does Soratsuhiko (虛空津日高) weep and grieve?"

He answered, "I exchanged hooks with my brother and lost his hook. He asks for that hook, so I made many hooks and offered them in payment, but he would not take them and said, 'Still I want the original hook.' That is why I weep and grieve."

Shiotsuchi no Kami said, "I will make a good plan for you."

At once he made a little boat woven close without a gap, set him in that boat, and taught him, "When I have pushed that boat out and let it drift, go on a while and there will be a good road. Ride that road, and there will be a palace that looks as though it were built of fish scales. That is the palace of Watatsumi no Kami. When you come to that god's gate, there is a holy katsura tree beside the well. Sit up in that tree, and the daughter of that sea god will see you and take counsel for you."

He went on a little as he had been taught, and everything was as the god had said. So he climbed up into that katsura tree and sat there.

A handmaid of Toyotamabime, the daughter of the sea god, came with a jewelled vessel and was about to draw water when a light shone in the well. She looked up, and there was a lovely young man. She thought it very strange and wonderful.

Hoori no Mikoto saw the handmaid and asked for water. The handmaid drew water, put it in the jewelled vessel, and offered it to him. But he did not drink the water. He loosed the bead from his neck, held it in his mouth, and spat it into that jewelled vessel. The bead stuck to the vessel, and the handmaid could not get it off, so she offered it to Toyotamabime no Mikoto with the bead still stuck fast.

She saw that bead and asked the handmaid, "Is there some person outside the gate?"

She answered, "There is a person up in the katsura tree above our well. He is a very lovely young man, and he seems nobler even than our king. He asked for water, so I offered him water, but he did not drink it and spat this bead into the vessel. I could not get it off, so I have brought it as it is and offer it to you."

Toyotamabime no Mikoto thought it strange, went out and looked, and at once she was taken with him, and their eyes met. She said to her father, "There is a lovely person before our gate."

The sea god went out himself and looked, and said, "This person is the child of Amatsuhiko — he is Soratsuhiko."

At once he led him inside, spread eight layers of sealskin rugs and eight layers of silk rugs over them, seated him upon them, set out a hundred tables laden with gifts, made a feast, and at once gave him his daughter Toyotamabime in marriage.

So he stayed in that land until three years had passed.

Then Hoori no Mikoto thought of how it had all begun and gave one great sigh. Toyotamabime no Mikoto heard that sigh and said to her father, "In the three years he has lived here he has never sighed, but tonight he gave one great sigh. Can there be some reason for it?"

Her father the great god asked his son-in-law, "This morning I heard my daughter say, 'In the three years he has been here he has never sighed, but tonight he gave a great sigh.' Is there some reason? And what was the reason that you came here?"

Then he told the great god everything, just as it was, how his brother had pressed him and how he had lost the hook.

Then the sea god called together all the fishes of the sea, great and small, and asked, "Is there a fish that has taken this hook?"

The fishes said, "Of late the red sea bream has been grieving that a bone is caught in its throat and it cannot eat. Surely it is the one that took it."

So they felt in the throat of the red sea bream, and the hook was there. They took it out at once, washed it clean, and offered it to Hoori no Mikoto. And that Watatsumi no Ōkami taught him:

"When you give this hook to your brother, say this: 'This hook is an obo hook, a susu hook, a poor hook, an uru hook.' Then reach your hand behind your back and give it to him.

And if your brother makes a high paddy, you work a low paddy. If your brother makes a low paddy, you work a high paddy. If you do so, then, since I hold the water in my charge, your brother will surely fall into want within three years.

If he resents your doing so and comes to make war on you, bring out the Shiomitsutama (塩盈珠) and let him sink in the water. If he grieves and begs you, bring out the Shiofurutama (塩乾珠) and let him live. In this way bring him to distress."

And he gave him the two, the Shiomitsutama and the Shiofurutama.

At once he called together all the crocodiles and asked, "Now the child of Amatsuhiko, Soratsuhiko, is about to go out to the land above. Which of you will see him there in how many days, and come back and report?"

Each of them told the number of days according to the length of its own body, and a crocodile one fathom long said, "I will see him there in one day and come straight back."

Then he said to that one-fathom crocodile, "Then you shall see him there. When you cross the middle of the sea, do not let him be afraid."

At once he set him on the neck of that crocodile and sent him off. And it saw him there within one day, just as it had promised.

When that crocodile was about to go back, he loosed the small knife on a cord that he wore, tied it about its neck, and sent it home. Therefore that one-fathom crocodile is now called Sahimochi no Kami (佐比持神).

Then he gave the hook, doing everything as the sea god had taught him. And after that his brother grew poorer and poorer, and raised a fiercer heart, and came pressing upon him. When he was about to strike, Hoori no Mikoto brought out the Shiomitsutama and let him sink in the water. When he grieved and begged, he brought out the Shiofurutama and saved him.

When he had brought him to distress in this way, his brother bowed his head to the ground and said, "From this day on I will be the guard of your days and nights, and I will serve you."

So to this day the many gestures of that time when he was sinking in the water are offered up without ceasing.