Page:Occult Japan - Lovell.djvu/287

Rh one to our Lord the Emperor. Now, therefore, fleeing hence secretly, get thee to our Lord the Emperor and justify thyself before him. And furthermore men say that I greatly resemble thee. So, therefore, in place of thee, will I die, and thus show all men that thy heart is pure before our Lord the Emperor.' Whereupon he slew himself with his sword.

"Then Take-no-uchi-no-sukune was sad at heart, and, secretly leaving Kyūshiū, took ship and came round by the southern ocean to the port of Kii, and landed there. And from thence he came, after much trouble, to the court of the Emperor, and told the Emperor concerning his innocence. Then the Emperor, perceiving some evil thing had been done, called both Take-no-uchi-no-sukune and Umashi-uchi-no-sukune before him. Thereupon each told his own story, and there was no way to tell the true from the false. Then the Emperor commanded that prayer should be offered to the Heavenly Gods and to the Earthly Gods, and an ordeal by boiling water made (kugada-chi seshimu). Whereupon Take-no-uchi-no-tukune and Umashi-uchi-no-sukune went