Emperor Ankō安康天皇
1The revenge of seven-year-old Mayowa no Miko
穴穂御子。坐石上之穴穂宮。治天下也。天皇。爲伊呂弟大長谷王子而。坂本臣等之祖。根臣。遣大日下王之許。令詔者。汝命之妹。若日下王。欲婚大長谷王子。故可貢。爾大日下王。四拜白之。若疑有如此大命。故。不出外以置也。是恐。隨大命奉進。然言以白事。其思无禮。即爲其妹之禮物。令持押木之玉縵而貢獻。根臣。即盜取其禮物之玉縵。讒大日下王曰。大日下王者。不受勅命。曰己妹乎。爲等族之下席而。取横刀之手上而怒歟。故天皇。大怒。殺大日下王而。取持來。其王之嫡妻。長田大郎女。爲皇后。自此以後。天皇。坐神牀而。晝寢。爾語其后。曰。汝有所思乎。答曰。被天皇之敦澤。何有所思。於是。其大后先子。目弱王。是年七歲。是王。當于其時而。遊其殿下。爾天皇。不知其少王。遊殿下以。詔吾恆有所思。何者。汝之子目弱王。成人之時。知吾殺其父王者。還爲有邪心乎。於是。所遊其殿下目弱王。聞取此言。便竊伺。天皇之御寢。取其傍大刀。乃打斬。其天皇之頸。逃入都夫良意富美之家也。天皇。御年。伍拾陸歲。御陵在菅原之伏見岡也。
Anaho no Miko dwelt in the palace of Anaho at Isonokami (石上之穴穂宮) and ruled all under heaven.
For the sake of his full younger brother Ohohatsuse no Miko, the Emperor sent Ne no Omi (根臣), the ancestor of the Sakamoto no Omi (坂本臣), to Ohokusaka no Miko (大日下王) to declare, "We wish your sister Wakakusaka no Miko (若日下王) to be wedded to Ohohatsuse no Miko. Present her to us."
At this Ohokusaka no Miko bowed four times and said, "I thought that some such great command might come, and so I have kept her within and not sent her out. In awe I shall present her as the command bids." But he thought it discourteous to answer with words alone, and so he had the jewelled headdress of Oshiki (押木之玉縵) carried as his sister's betrothal gift and presented it.
But Ne no Omi stole that betrothal gift, the jewelled headdress, and slandered Ohokusaka no Miko, saying, "Ohokusaka no Miko did not receive the imperial command. He said, 'Shall my sister be made the mat of one of her own rank?' and he gripped the hilt of his great sword in anger."
At this the Emperor was greatly angered. He killed Ohokusaka no Miko, took away that king's principal wife Nagata no Ohoiratsume, and made her his Empress.
Afterwards the Emperor lay on the sacred couch (神牀) at his midday rest and asked the queen, "Is there anything you are troubled about?" She answered, "I have received the Emperor's deep favour. What could trouble me?"
Now the son the great queen had borne before, Mayowa no Miko (目弱王), was seven years old that year, and just then he was playing below that hall. The Emperor did not know that the young king was playing below the hall, and he said, "There is a thing that always troubles me. When your son Mayowa no Miko is grown and learns that I killed his father the prince, will he not turn an evil heart against me?"
Mayowa no Miko, playing below the hall, overheard these words. He watched in secret for the Emperor to sleep, took up the great sword that lay beside him, struck off the Emperor's head, and fled into the house of Tsuburaohomi (都夫良意富美).
The Emperor was fifty-six years old. His tomb is on the hill of Fushimi at Sugawara (菅原之伏見岡).
2I will not abandon him, even in death
爾大長谷王子。當時童男。即聞此事以。慷愾忿怒。乃到其兄。黑日子王之許。曰。人取天皇。爲那何。然其黑日子王。不驚而。有怠緩之心。於是大長谷王。詈其兄。言一爲天皇。一爲兄弟。何無恃心。聞殺其兄。不驚而怠乎。即握其衿控出。拔刀打殺。亦到其兄。白日子王而。告状如前。緩亦如黑日子王。即握其衿以。引率來。到小治田。掘穴而隨立埋者。至埋腰時。兩目走拔而死。亦興軍。圍都夫良意美之家。爾興軍待戰。射出之矢。如葦來散。於是大長谷王。以矛爲杖。臨其内詔。我所相言之孃子者。若有此家乎。爾都夫良意美。聞此詔命。自參出。解所佩兵而。八度拜。白者。先日。所問賜之女子。訶良比賣者侍。亦副五處之屯宅以獻。然其正身。所以不參向者。自往古至今時。聞臣連。隱於王宮。未聞王子。隱於臣家。是以思。賎奴意富美者。雖竭力戰。更無可勝。然恃己。入坐于隨家。之王子者。死而不棄。如此白而。亦取其兵。還入以戰。爾力窮。矢盡。白其王子。僕者手悉傷。矢亦盡。今不得戰。如何。其王子。答詔。然者。更無可爲。今殺吾。故以刀刺殺其王子。乃切己頸以死也。自茲以後。淡海之佐佐紀山君之祖。名韓帒白。淡海之久多綿之蚊屋野。多在猪鹿。其立足者。如荻原。指擧角者。如枯樹。此時相率市邊之忍齒王。幸行淡海。到其野者。各異作假宮而宿。爾明旦。未日出之時。忍齒王。以平心。隨乘御馬。到立大長谷王假宮之傍而。詔其大長谷王子之御伴人。未寤坐。早可白也。夜既曙訖。可幸猟庭。乃進馬出行。爾侍其大長谷王之御所人等。白宇多弖物云王子。故應愼。亦宜堅御身。即衣中服甲。取佩弓矢。乘馬出行。倏忽之間。自馬往雙。拔矢。射落其忍齒王。乃亦切其身。入於馬樎。與土等埋。於是。市邊王之王子等。意富祁王。袁祁王聞此亂而逃去。故到山代苅羽井。食御粮之時。面黥老人來。奪其粮。爾其二王。言不惜粮。然。汝者誰人。答曰。我者。山代之猪甘也。故逃渡玖須婆之河。至針間國。入其國人。名志自牟之家。隱身。役於馬甘。牛甘也。
Ohohatsuse no Miko was still a boy at that time. When he heard of this he grieved and was greatly angered. He went to his elder brother Kurohiko no Miko (黑日子王) and said, "Men have slain the Emperor. What shall we do?" But Kurohiko no Miko was not startled, and his heart was slack.
Then Ohohatsuse no Miko rebuked his brother, saying, "The one was the Emperor, the other was your brother. How can you have no heart of trust in you? You hear that your brother has been slain, and you are not startled but slack." He seized him by the collar, dragged him out, drew his sword, and struck him dead.
He went also to his elder brother Shirohiko no Miko (白日子王) and told him the matter as before, and he was slack like Kurohiko no Miko. He seized him by the collar and dragged him along, and when they reached Oharida (小治田) he dug a pit and buried him standing upright. When the earth reached his waist, both his eyes burst out and he died.
He also raised troops and surrounded the house of Tsuburaohomi. Those within raised troops as well and fought back, and the arrows they shot fell like reeds. Then Ohohatsuse no Miko leaned on his spear as on a staff, looked into the house, and said, "Is the maiden I spoke of perhaps in this house?"
When Tsuburaohomi heard this command he came out himself, unfastened the weapons he wore, bowed eight times, and said, "The daughter you asked for the other day, Karahime (訶良比賣), shall serve you. I shall present with her five miyake (屯宅) as well. Yet the reason I do not go before you in my own person is this: from ancient times to this day I have heard of a subject hiding in the royal palace, but I have never heard of a prince hiding in the house of a subject. I think that this base servant Ohomi, though he spend all his strength in battle, can never win. But the prince who trusted me and entered this poor house of mine I will not abandon, even in death."
Having said this, he took up his weapons again, went back inside, and fought. When his strength was spent and his arrows were gone, he said to the prince, "My hands are all wounded and my arrows are gone. I can fight no longer. What shall I do?" The prince answered, "Then there is nothing more to be done. Kill me now." So with his sword he stabbed the prince dead, and then cut his own throat and died.
After this, the ancestor of the Sasaki-yama no Kimi (佐佐紀山君) of Afumi (淡海), Karafukuro (韓帒) by name, said, "In the field of Kaya at Kutawata in Afumi (久多綿之蚊屋野) there are many boar and deer. Their standing legs are like a plain of silver grass, and their lifted antlers are like withered trees."
At this time he took Ichinobe no Oshiha no Miko with him and went to Afumi. When they reached that field, each built his own temporary palace and lodged there.
The next morning, before the sun rose, Oshiha no Miko, with no suspicion in his heart, rode on horseback to the side of Ohohatsuse no Miko's temporary palace and said to the men attending Ohohatsuse no Miko, "Is he not yet awake? Tell him quickly. The day has already dawned, and he should come out to the hunting ground." Then he urged his horse on and went forward.
At this the men who served Ohohatsuse no Miko said, "He is a prince who speaks strangely (udate). You should take care. It would be well to make your body firm too." So he put on armour beneath his robe, took up his bow and arrows, mounted his horse, and rode out. In the blink of an eye he brought his horse alongside, drew an arrow, shot Oshiha no Miko down, cut the body apart as well, put it into a horse's manger, and buried it with the earth.
Then the sons of Ichinobe no Miko, Ohoke no Miko (意富祁王) and Oke no Miko (袁祁王), heard of this trouble and fled. When they reached Kariwai (苅羽井) in Yamashiro and were eating their dried rice, an old man with a tattooed face came and took their food from them. The two kings said, "The food we do not begrudge. But who are you?" He answered, "I am a swineherd of Yamashiro."
So they crossed the river Kusuba (玖須婆之河) and fled on, and came to the land of Harima (針間國). There they entered the house of a man of that land, Shijimu (志自牟) by name, hid themselves, and were set to work as horse-keepers and cattle-keepers.
Interlinear notes 4
所謂五村屯宅者。今葛城之五村苑人也。
The so-called miyake of the five villages (五村屯宅) are the Sonohito (苑人) of the five villages of Kazuraki today.
此二字以音。
These two graphs are read for their sound.
宇多弖三字以音。
The three graphs 宇多弖 are read for their sound.
二柱
Two children.