Page:Nihongi by Aston.djvu/343



Emperor Wo-Asa-tsuma wakugo no Sukune was a younger brother by the same mother of the Emperor Midzuha wake.

From infancy to puberty, the Emperor was kind and unassuming. When he attained to manhood, he became very ill and lost the free use of his limbs.

The Emperor Midzuha wake died in Spring, the 1st month of the 5th year of his reign. Hereupon the Ministers held counsel, saying:—"There are at the present time the Imperial Princes Wo-Asa-tsuma wakugo no Sukune and Oho-Kusaka, children of the Emperor Oho-sazaki. The Imperial Prince Wo-Asa-tsuma wakugo no Sukune, however, is the elder, and of an affectionate, dutiful disposition." So they chose a lucky day, and kneeling down, offered him the Imperial signet. The Imperial Prince Wo-Asa-tsuma wakugo no Sukune declined it, saying:—"I am an unlucky man, long afflicted with a grievous disease, which I cannot shake off. I am unable to walk. Of myself, without informing the Emperor, I have secretly treated my disease by self-mutilation, in the hope of getting rid of it, but still I am not healed. Therefore the former Emperor chid me, saying:—'What greater extreme of unfilialness can there be than this conduct of thine, in wantonly mutilating thy body