Emperor Yūryaku雄略天皇

Ohohatsuse Wakatakeru no Mikoto dwelt in the palace of Asakura at Hatsuse (長谷朝倉宮) and ruled all under heaven.

The Emperor took to wife Wakakusakabe no Miko (若日下部王), the sister of Ohokusaka no Miko. He also took to wife Karahime (韓比賣), the daughter of Tsuburaohomi, and the children born were Shiraka no Mikoto (白髮命), and next his sister Wakatarashihime no Mikoto (若帶比賣命).

And so, to leave behind the name of the crown prince Shiraka, he established the Shirakabe (白髮部), and he established the toneri of Hatsusebe (長谷部舍人), and the toneri of Kawase (河瀬舍人).

At this time people of Wu (呉) came across the sea. Those people of Wu were settled at Kurehara (呉原). And so that place is called Kurehara.

At first, when the great queen was at Kusaka (日下), the Emperor went to Kawachi by the straight pass road of Kusaka (直越道). He climbed to the top of a mountain and looked out over the land, and there was a house built with katsuogi (堅魚) raised on it, the ornamental timbers laid along a roof ridge. The Emperor had them ask about that house, "Whose house is that, built with katsuogi raised on it?" They answered, "It is the house of the Ohoagatanushi of Shiki (志幾之大縣主)."

At this the Emperor said, "The slave has built his own house like the palace of the Emperor." At once he sent men to burn that house down, and the Ohoagatanushi was afraid. He bowed his head to the ground and said, "Being a slave, I did not reckon as a slave should, and built it wrongly. I am in great awe."

And as a gift of apology he tied cloth to a white dog and hung a bell on it, and had a man of his own kindred named Koshihaki (腰佩) hold the dog's rope and present it. At this the Emperor had the burning stopped.

Then he went to Wakakusakabe no Miko, sent the dog in, and had this said to her: "This is a rare thing I came by on the road today. So it is a gift of tsumadohi (都摩杼比), a suit of marriage."

At this Wakakusakabe no Miko had this reported to the Emperor: "That you came with your back to the sun is a thing much to be feared. So I shall go up to you myself and serve you."

And so, when he was going back up to the palace, he stood at the top of the pass of that mountain and sang.

Kusakabeno kochinoyamato Tatamikomo hegurinoyamano Kochigochino yamanokaini Tachizakayuru habirokumakashi Motoniwa ikumidakeohi Sueheniwa tashimidakeohi Ikumidake ikumiwanezu Tashimidake tashiniwainezu Nochimokuminemu Sonoomohizuma ahare

— The mountain on this side of Kusakabe and the mountain of Heguri, like layered mats, in the hollow between the mountains this way and that a broad-leaved great oak grows tall and thick. At its foot close-set bamboo grows, at its top thick-set bamboo grows. Close-set as that bamboo, we have not lain close together; thick-set as that bamboo, we have not slept fast together; yet in days to come we shall lie together. My beloved wife, ah.

He sent the messenger back bearing this song.

Again, at one time, when the Emperor was out travelling and came to the river Miwa (美和河), there was a girl washing clothes by the riverside, and her form was very lovely. The Emperor asked the girl, "Whose child are you?" She answered, "My name is Akaiko of the Hiketabe (引田部赤猪子)." Then he had this said to her: "Do not marry a husband. I shall summon you before long." And he went back to the palace.

And so that Akaiko looked up and waited for the Emperor's command, and eighty years went by.

Then Akaiko thought, "While I hoped for the command, many years have already passed. My body is thin and withered, and there is nothing left to lean on. Yet if I do not show him how I waited, I cannot bear the heaviness of it." So she had a hundred kinds of gifts carried, went before him, and presented them.

But the Emperor had already forgotten what he had commanded long before, and he asked Akaiko, "What house are you the old woman of? On what errand have you come?" Akaiko answered, "In such a year and such a month I received the Emperor's command. I looked up and waited for the great command, and to this day eighty years have passed. Now my form is already old, and there is nothing left to lean on. Yet I have come out only to make my heart plain and tell it."

At this the Emperor was greatly startled and said, "I had already forgotten the matter. But you kept faith and waited for the command, and let the flower of your years pass for nothing. This is a pitiful thing indeed." In his heart he wished to wed her, but he shrank from her great age and could not, and he bestowed a song on her. The song said:

Mimorono itsukashigamoto Kashigamoto yuyushikikamo Kashiharaotome

— At the foot of the sacred oak of Mimoro, like the foot of that oak you have become one not to be touched lightly, maiden of the oak plain.

He sang again.

Hiketano wakakurusubara Wakakuheni inetemashimono Oinikerukamo

— The young chestnut plain of Hiketa. We should have lain together while you were young; now you have grown old.

At this Akaiko's tears soaked through the red-dyed sleeves she was wearing. She answered that song with a song of her own.

Mimoroni tsukuyatamakaki Tsukiamashi tanikamoyoramu Kaminomiyahito

— The jewelled wall they build at Mimoro was left unfinished, not built to the end; on whom, then, is she to lean, this servant of the god's shrine?

She sang again.

Kusakaeno irienohachisu Hanabachisu minosakaribito Tomoshikirokamo

— The lotus in the inlet of the Kusaka river, a lotus in flower — how I envy one in the flower of her years.

So he gave the old woman much reward and sent her home. These four songs are shizuuta (志都歌).

When the Emperor went to the palace of Yoshino (吉野宮), there was a girl on the bank of the Yoshino river, and her form was beautiful. He wedded this girl and returned to the palace.

Afterwards, when he went to Yoshino again, he stayed at the place where he had met that girl. There he set up a great seat (呉床), sat on that seat, played the koto, and had the maiden dance. Because the maiden danced well, he made a song. The song said:

Aguraino kaminomitemochi Hikukotoni mahisuruomina Tokoyonimokamo

— To the koto played by the god's own hand as he sits upon the seat, woman who dances there, may you last for ever.

Then he went to the field of Akizu (阿岐豆野), and while he was hunting the Emperor sat upon his seat. Just then a horsefly bit his arm, and at once a dragonfly came, bit that horsefly, and flew away. At this he made a song. The song said:

Mieshinono omurogatakeni Shishifusuto darezo Ohomahenimaosu Yasumishishi wagaohokimino Shishimatsuto aguraniimashi Shirotaheno sodekisonafu Takomurani amukakitsuki Sonoamuo akizuhayaguhi Kakunogoto naniohamuto Soramitsu yamatonokunio Akizushimatofu

— On the peak of Omuro in fair Yoshino a wild beast lies crouching, they said — who was it that told the great lord? Our great lord, who rules far and wide, sat upon his seat waiting for the beast, and on the arm he had clothed in a white cloth sleeve a horsefly clung, and a dragonfly swiftly bit that horsefly. That it might bear such a name, the land of Yamato that fills the sky is called Akizushima, the Dragonfly Island.

And so from that time that field is called the field of Akizu.

Again, at one time, the Emperor went up to the top of Mount Kazuraki. Then a great boar came out. The Emperor shot that boar with a singing arrow (鳴鏑), and the boar grew angry and came at him with a growl — utaki. The Emperor was afraid of that growling and climbed up into an alder tree. Then he sang.

Yasumishishi wagaohokimino Asobashishi shishinoyamishishino Utakikashikomi waganigenoborishi Ariono harinokinoeda

— Our great lord, who rules far and wide, shot at a boar to take it; in fear of the growl of that angry boar I fled and climbed — O branch of the alder on the rise.

Again, at one time, the Emperor went up Mount Kazuraki. He gave blue-dyed robes with red cords to the men of the hundred offices, and had them all put them on.

Then there were men climbing the mountain along the ridge opposite, and they were just like the Emperor's train; their dress and their number were alike, and did not differ.

At this the Emperor looked out and had them ask, "In this land of Yamato there is no king but me. Who is it that goes like this now?" But the manner of their answer too was like the Emperor's own words.

At this the Emperor was greatly angered and fitted an arrow to his bow, and the men of the hundred offices all fitted arrows, and those men also all fitted arrows.

The Emperor asked again, "Then tell your name. Let each tell his name, and then let us loose our arrows."

At this they answered, "I was asked first, so I shall tell my name first. I am the god who speaks and settles a bad thing in one word and a good thing in one word — Hitokotonushi, the great god of Kazuraki (一言主大神)."

The Emperor was afraid at this and said, "In awe, my great god. I did not know that you were here as utsushiomi, a god in living body (現身)." And he took off his great sword and his bow and arrows, and the robes the men of the hundred offices wore as well, bowed, and presented them.

That great god Hitokotonushi clapped his hands and received the gifts. When the Emperor went back, that great god came from the deep end of the mountain and saw him off as far as the mouth of the Hatsuse hills.

This great god Hitokotonushi appeared at that time.

Again, when the Emperor went to Kasuga (春日) to wed Odohime (袁杼比賣), the daughter of Satsuki no Omi of Wani (丸邇之佐都紀臣), the maiden met him on the road, and seeing the royal progress she fled and hid beside a hill. At this he made a song. The song said:

Otomeno ikakuruokao Kanasukimo ihochimogamo Sukibanurumono

— The hill where the maiden hid — if I had five hundred iron spades I would dig it all away.

And so that hill is called the hill of Kanasuki (金鉏岡).

Again, when the Emperor sat beneath the many-branched zelkova (百枝槻) at Hatsuse and held a feast, the uneme of Mihe in the land of Ise (三重婇) lifted up the great cup and presented it. But a leaf of that zelkova fell and floated on the cup. The uneme did not know that the fallen leaf floated on the cup, and offered the great drink all the same.

The Emperor saw the leaf floating on the cup, struck the uneme down, set a sword to her neck, and was about to cut her. Then the uneme said to the Emperor, "Do not kill me. There is something I must tell." And she sang:

Makimukuno hishironomiyawa Asahino hiderumiya Yufuhino higakerumiya Takenoneno nedarumiya Kononeno nebafumiya Yahoniyoshi ikizukinomiya Makisaku hinomikado Nihinaheyani ohidateru Momodaru tsukigaewa Hotsuewa ameooheri Nakatsuewa azumaooheri Shizuewa hinaooheri Hotsueno enourabawa Nakatsueni ochifurabahe Nakatsueno enourabawa Shimotsueni ochifurabahe Shizueno enourabawa Arikinuno mihenokoga Sasagaseru mizutamaukini Ukishiabura ochinazusahi Minakoorokooroni Koshimo ayanikashikoshi Takahikaru hinomiko Kotono katarigotomo kooba

— The palace of Hishiro at Makimuku is a palace the morning sun shines on, a palace the evening sun lights up, a palace where bamboo roots run deep, a palace where tree roots spread wide, a palace of firm-packed earth. The court of the sun, built of good timber; beside the hall of the first-fruits there stands a many-branched zelkova. Its high branches cover the sky, its middle branches cover the east, its low branches cover the countryside. The leaf at the tip of a high branch falls and brushes the middle branch, the leaf at the tip of a middle branch falls and brushes the low branch, and the leaf at the tip of a low branch falls, as the child of Mihe in fine robes holds up and offers a jewelled cup, down like oil into it, and sinks, and the water curdles and turns, kooro kooro. This indeed is truly awesome. O child of the sun, shining on high. This is the tale that is handed down.

Because she presented this song, he forgave her offence. Then the great queen sang. Her song said:

Yamatono konotakechini Kodakaru ichinotsukasa Nihinaheyani ohidateru Habiro yutsumatsubaki Sogahano hiroriimashi Sonohanano teriimasu Takahikaru hinomikoni Toyomiki tatematsurase Kotono katarigotomo kooba

— In this Takechi of Yamato, on the slightly higher rise of Ichi, beside the hall of the first-fruits there stands a broad-leaved sacred camellia. Broad as its leaves is he, shining as its flowers is he; to the child of the sun, shining on high, offer the rich wine. This is the tale that is handed down.

Then the Emperor sang.

Momoshikino ohomiyahitowa Uzuratori hiretorikakete Manabashira oyukiahe Niwasuzume uzusumariite Kefumokamo sakamizukurashi Takahikaru hinomiyahito Kotono katarigotomo kooba

— The people of the great palace of many walls hang their scarves about them like quails, set tail to tail like wagtails, gather close like sparrows in the garden, and today too, it seems, they are steeped in wine. O people of the palace of the sun, shining on high. This is the tale that is handed down.

These three songs are amagatariuta (天語歌). And so at this feast he praised that uneme of Mihe and gave her much reward.

On the day of this feast, when Odohime of Kasuga also offered the great drink, the Emperor sang.

Minasosoku ominootome Hodaritorasumo Hodaritori katakutorase Shitagataku yagatakutorase Hodaritorasuko

— Maiden of Omi, where the waters pour, you have taken up the hodari, the wine vessel. If you take the hodari, take it firmly. Take it firm below, take it fast and firm. Child who holds the hodari.

This is an ukiuta (宇岐歌). Then Odohime presented a song. Her song said:

Yasumishishi wagaohokimino Asatoniwa iyoridatashi Yufutoniwa iyoridatasu Wakizukigashitano Itanimoga aseo

— Our great lord, who rules far and wide, leans and stands at the morning door, leans and stands at the evening door — even the board beneath his armrest, would that I were that, ah.

This is a shizuuta (志都歌).

The Emperor was one hundred and twenty-four years old. His tomb is at Takawashi in Tajihi in Kawachi (多治比高鸇).