Page:Nihongi by Aston volume 2.djvu/168

Rh knew not what to do. Then I bethought me:—'The Spirits of the land and of grain and the ancestral shrines are weighty matters. I am young and devoid of wisdom: how can I presume to accept this charge?' Just at this time I desired to converse with my maternal uncle and the Ministers on the subject, but there was no (fit) opportunity for me to speak, and it is for this reason only that I have been silent up to the present. On a former occasion I went to the capital in order to pay a visit of inquiry to my sick maternal uncle, and lodged in the Temple of Toyora. On this day the Empress sent Shibime, Yakuchi no Uneme, to me with an Imperial message, saying:—'Thy maternal uncle, the Oho-omi, constantly expresses anxiety on thy account. After a hundred years, is it not to thee that the succession to the Dignity will fall? Be, therefore, watchful, and spare thyself.' This matter is clear. What doubt can there be about it? But am I covetous of the Empire? I am simply declaring what I have heard, and I call to witness to its truth the Gods both of Heaven and Earth. Therefore it is my desire to ascertain accurately the dying commands of the Empress. Moreover, ye, the Ministers sent to me by the Oho-omi, are men who have always addressed the sovereign as it were holding the sacred spear by the middle. Will you be so good, therefore, as to inform my uncle?"

After this Prince Hatsuse, the second son (of Prince Ohoye ), sent for Nakatomi no Muraji and Kahabe no Omi separately, and said to them:—"Both my father and I spring from the Soga family, as is well known to the world. We, therefore, rely on it as on a high mountain. I pray, therefore, that the succession to the Dignity be not lightly spoken of." So he sent Prince Mikuni and Sakurawi no Omi along with the Ministers, saying:—"I desire to receive an answer." Then the Oho-omi sent Ki no Omi and Ohotomo no Muraji to say to Prince Mikuni and Sakurawi no Omi:—"On a former occasion I said all I had to say: there is nothing else. However, how should I presume to despise one prince and honour another?"

Several days after, Prince Yamashiro no Ohoye again sent Sakurawi no Omi to the Oho-omi to say:—"What I