Page:The Spirit of Japanese Poetry (Noguchi).djvu/81

Rh This great valiant spirit, son of Emperor Keiko who was already afraid of his wonderful valour and ferocity, had been again sent away to conquer the unsubmissive bravoes of the East; on receiving the Imperial command, he said: “The Heavenly Sovereign must be thinking that I should die quickly, for after sending me to smite the wild people of the West, I am no sooner come up again to the capital than, without bestowing on me an army, he now sends me off afresh to subdue the wicked people of the East. So I think that he certainly thinks I shall die quickly.” It was in the almost mythological ancient age when even the father, if he be weak, often happened to suffer the fate of a dove torn by a hawk; although Yamato-Take clearly knew his father’s intention, he could not disobey his command, and beside, his love of fighting for fighting’s sake made him start with renewed joy toward the East, where he began a series of successes with the slaying of the rulers of Sagama. He lost his beloved wife, Princess Oto-Tachibana, while crossing the sea of Hashiri Midzu, who drowned herself in the waves for the purpose of calming the storm by the sacrifice of her own self; it is said that the violent waves at once went down, and Yamato-Take’s ship was able to proceed. His wife, this Japanese woman of many thousand years ago, already understood something of Meredith’s following