[SECT. II.THE SEVEN DIVINE GENERATIONS.]

The names of the Deities that were born next were the Earthly-Eternally-Standing-Deity,1next the Luxuriant-Integrating-Master-Deity.2These two Deities were likewise [17] Deities born alone, and hid their persons. The names of the Deities that were born next were the Deity Mud-Earth-Lord next his younger sister the Deity Mud-Earth-Lady;3next the Germ-Integrating-Deity, next his younger sister the Life-Integrating-Deity;4next the Deity Elder-of-the-Great-Place, next his younger sister the Deity Elder-Lady-of-the-Great-Place;5next the Deity Perfect-Exterior,6[18] next his younger sister the Deity Oh-Awful-Lady;7next the Deity the Male-Who-Invites, next his younger sister the Deity the Female-Who-Invites.8From the Earthly-Eternally-Standing Deity down to the Deity the Female-Who-Invites in the previous list are what are termed the Seven Divine Generations.

(The two solitary Deities above [-mentioned] are each called one generation. Of the succeeding ten Deities each pair of deities is called a generation.)9

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Footnotes

17:1p. 17Or, the Deity-Standing-Eternally-on-Earth,Kuni-no-toko-tachi-no-kami,Conf. Note 10 to Sect. I.

17:2Toyo-kumo-nu-no-kami. There is much doubt as to the proper interpretation of this name. The characters("cloud-moor"), with which the syllables readkumo-nuare written, are almost certainly phonetic, and the translator has followed Motowori's view as corrected by Hirata, according to whichkumois taken to stand forkumu, "integrating," andnuis considered to be an apocopated form ofnushi, "master" (or more vaguely "the person who presides at or does a thing"). Mabuchi in his "Dictionary of Pillow-words," ArticleSasutake, argues that the syllables in question should be interpreted in the sense of "coagulated mud"; out this is less satisfactory.

17:3p. 18U-hiji-no-kamiandSu-hiji-ni-no-kami. The names of this pair tend themselves to a variety of interpretations. Motowori's view of the meaning of the first three syllables in each seems best, if it is founded on the Chinese characters with which they are written in the parallel passage of the "Chronicles," and it has therefore been adopted here. Hirata interprets the names thus: First-Mud-Lord and First-Sand-Lady, and takesnito be an alternative form of the Honorificnefound in so many proper names. This view of the meaning ofnihas been followed by the translator. On the other hand Mabuchi explains the names to mean respectively Floating-Mud-Earth and Sinking-Mud-Earth. The only thing therefore that is granted by all is that the names in question refer to the mud or slime out of which the world was afterwards made. The reader will bear in mind that "younger-sister" and "wife" are convertible names in Archaic Japanese. (See Introduction p. XXXVIII.)

17:4Tsunu-guhi-no-kamiandIku-guhi-no-kami. The interpretation given is one in which the commentators agree, and which has some probability in its favour. It must however only be accepted with reservation.

17:5Oho-to-no ji-no-kamiandOho-to-no-be-no-kami.

17:6Omo-daru-no-kami. We might also renderomo-daruby "perfect-face,"i.e., perfectly beautiful."

17:7Aya-kashiko-ne-no-kami. For "awful" we might substitute "venerable." Hirata, commentating on this name and the seven which precede it, says:U-hiji-uiandSu-hiji-niare so named from their having contained the germs of what was to become the earth.Oho-to-no-jiandOho-to-no-beare so called from the appearance of the incipient earth.Tsunu-guhiandIku-guhiare so called from the united appearance of the earth and the Deities as they came into existence.Omo-daruandKashiko-neare so called from the completion of the august persons of the Deities. Thus their names were given to them from the gradual progress [of creation]."

17:8Izana-gi-no-kamiandIzana-mi-no-kami. There is some slight diversity of opinion as to the literal signification of the component parts of the names of these the best-known of the Deities hitherto mentioned, though the gist of the meaning remains unchanged. Motowori would prefer to readIza-na-giandIza-a-mi, taking the syllablenaas the Second Personal Pronoun "thou," and understanding the names thus: "the Prince-Who-Invites-Thee" and the "Princess-Who-Invites-Thee." It seems however more natural to look onizanaas forming but one word, viz., the Root of the VerbIzanafu, "to invite." The older native commentatorsp. 19mean the same thing when they tell us thatnais an Expletive. The syllablesgiandmiare of uncertain etymology, but occur in other Archaic words to denote the female and male of a pair. The appropriateness of the names of these deities will be seen by referring to Sect. IV.

17:9For explanatory notes which are printed in small type in the original, small type is likewise used in this translation.