Many long years afterwards, when the Emperor Go Shirakawa sat on the imperial throne, his barbarian enemies declared war against him. The Emperor arose in his wrath and called for the Kusanagi sword. Search was made for it in the temple of Kamo, where it was supposed to be in safe-keeping. The Emperor was told, however, that it had been lost, and he gave orders that ceremonies should be performed with purpose to discover where the sword was, and how it might be restored. One night, soon afterwards, the Emperor dreamed a dream, in which a royal lady, who had been dead for centuries, appeared before him and told that the Kusanagi sword [[102]]was in the keeping of the dragon king in his palace at the bottom of the sea.
Next morning the Emperor related his dream to his chief minister, and bade him hasten to the two female divers, Oimatsu and her daughter Wakamatsu, who resided at Dan-no-ura, so that they might dive to the bottom of the sea and obtain the sword.
The divers undertook the task, and were conveyed in a boat to that part of the ocean where the boy-Emperor, Antoku Tennō, had been drowned. A religious ceremony was performed, and the mother and daughter then dived into the sea. A whole day passed before they appeared again. They told, as soon as they were taken into the boat, that they had visited a wonderful city at the bottom of the sea. Its gates were guarded by silent sentinels who drew flashing swords when they (the divers) attempted to enter. They were consequently compelled to wait for several hours, until a holy man appeared and asked them what they sought. When they had informed him that they were searching for the Kusanagi sword, he said that the city could not be entered without the aid of Buddha.
Said the Emperor’s chief minister: “The city is that of the god of the sea.”
“It is very beautiful,” Oimatsu told him; “the walls are of gold, and the gates of pearl. Above the city walls are seen many-coloured towers that gleam like to precious stones. When one of the gates was opened, we perceived that the streets were of silver and the houses of mother-of-pearl.”
Said the Emperor’s chief minister: “Fain would I visit that city.”
He looked over the side of the boat and sighed, “I see naught but darkness.”
“When we dived and reached the sea-bottom,” [[103]]Oimatsu continued, “we beheld a cave and entered it. Thick darkness prevailed, but we walked on and on, groping as we went, until we reached a beautiful plain over which bends the sky, blue as sapphire. Trees growing on the plain bear clusters of dazzling gems that sparkle among their leaves.”
“Were you not tempted to pluck them?” asked the minister.
“Each tree is guarded by a poisonous snake,” Oimatsu told him, “and we dared not touch the gems.”