The circumstance that the scene of this episode in Susa no wo's career is the bank of a river is therefore by no means immaterial. Indeed, we may plausibly conjecture that the description of the serpent with its eight (or many) heads and eight tails, its length extending over eight valleys and eight hills, its body overgrown with moss, pines, and cedars, and its propensity for devouring human beings is nothing more than a fanciful representation of the river, with its serpentine course, its numerous tributaries and branches, its wooded banks, and the danger by drowning in its pools or at its fords.
The poem ascribed to Susa no wo cannot be older than the sixth or seventh century. The word translated "on all sides," is idzumo. There is therefore a punning allusion to the province of that name. The "manifold fence," is the "nuptial hut," already referred to.[79]
Ohonamochi.--Susa no wo had numerous children, among whom were Oho-toshi (great harvest), and Uka no mitama[80] (food-spirit). The most famous of his progeny was a God called Ohonamochi. This is the Great Deity of Idzumo, a place second only to Ise for sanctity.
Ohonamochi's eighty brothers went to pay court to a female deity named Yakami-hime, taking him with them as porter "to carry the bag." On arriving at Cape Keta, they found a naked hare lying on the ground. The brothers maliciously advised the hare to bathe in the sea, and then expose himself to the wind on the slope of a high mountain. The hare did so, with the result that when the sea-water dried, his skin split, and he was weeping with pain, when Ohonamochi came up in the rear of the party. He had pity on it, and taught it remedies which gave relief. The grateful hare promised that he should have the lady Yakami-hime in marriage, and not his brothers. When their suit was accordingly rejected, they devised several plans for the destruction of Ohonamochi, which were all unsuccessful. He was then advised to go to the "Netherdistant land," the abode of Susa no wo.
"In accordance with this counsel, he went to the dwelling of Susa no wo. On arriving there he was met by his daughter Suseri-hime, who married him, and then returning within told her father that a very beautiful deity had arrived. The Great Deity came out, and looking at him said, 'This is the deity called the Ugly-male-deity of the Reed-Plain. Thereupon he invited him in, and made him sleep in the snake-chamber. Now his wife Suseri-hime gave her husband a snake-scarf, saying, 'When the snakes are about to bite thee, drive them away by waving this scarf thrice.' He did as she had instructed him, and the snakes were quieted, so that he came forth again after a peaceful sleep. Again, on the night of the next day, he was put into the centipede and wasp chamber; but as his wife again gave him a centipede-and-wasp scarf, and instructed him as before, he came forth unharmed. Again Susa no wo shot a whizzing arrow into the middle of a great moor, and bid him fetch it. When Ohonamochi went out to the moor, Susa no wo set fire to it all round. Ohonamochi could find no way of escape until a rat appeared, and said, 'Within 'tis hollow-hollow, without 'tis narrow-narrow.' Hearing this, Ohonamochi stamped upon the place, and fell in, and hid himself until the fire had burnt past. Then the rat came with the whizzing arrow in its mouth and presented it to him. The feathers of the arrow had all been gnawed by the rat's children. Hereupon his wife Suseri-hime came weeping and bringing the funeral things. Her father, the Great Deity, thinking that Ohonamochi was already dead, went out and stood on the moor. Ohonamochi brought him the arrow and presented it to him. Susa no wo took him into the house, and calling him into a large chamber of many mats, bid him catch the lice on his head. Ohonamochi looked at his head, and saw that it was swarming with centipedes. Then his wife gave him berries of the muku tree and red earth. He chewed up the berries and took the red earth into his mouth. Then he spat them out, and the Great Deity thought that he had chewed up and spat out the centipedes, and feeling fond of him in his heart, fell asleep. Ohonamochi then took hold of the hair of the Great Deity and tied it to the rafters of the chamber. Blocking up the door with a five-hundred-pull rock, he took his wife Suseri-hime on his back and made his escape, carrying with him the Great Deity's live-sword, live bow and arrows, and speaking lute of Heaven. The speaking lute of Heaven brushed against a tree and the earth resounded. The Great Deity was startled out of his sleep by the sound and pulled down the chamber. But while he was unloosing his hair from the rafters Ohonamochi fled a long way off. The Great Deity pursued him to the Even Pass of Yomi, and looking at him from afar, called to him and said, 'With the live sword and live bow and arrows which thou bearest, pursue thy half-brethren till they lie down on the lower slopes of the passes, pursue them till they are swept into the river rapids. Be thou the deity Oho-kuni-nushi (great-land-master) and the deity Utsushi-kuni-dama (real-land-spirit). Make my daughter Suseri-hime thy consort, and basing thy stout palace-pillars on the bottom rock at the foot of Mount Uka, and exalting thy crossbeams to the Plain of High Heaven, dwell there, thou rogue.' When Ohonamochi had driven away and dispersed the eighty deities, he pursued them till they lay down on the lower slopes of every pass, and pursued them till they were swept into the rapids of every river. Then did he begin to make the land."
He was assisted in doing so by a dwarf deity called Sukuna-bikona, who wore garments of bird skins and came over the sea in a tiny boat. There is probably some echo of real history in the myths of Susa no wo, Ohonamochi, and Sukuna-bikona. Idzumo, the scene of their doings, was one of the earliest centres of civilization and religion in Japan, and its position over against Korea is significant in view of the legends which connect Susa no wo with that country. The incident of Sukuna-bikona's arrival by sea, clothed in bird skins, seems to indicate an acquaintance with some northern tribes, who, like the Kurile islanders at this day, wore garments of this material.
This Ohonamochi myth belongs to a class of stories the main features of which have been thus outlined by Mr. A. Lang: "A young man is brought to the home of a hostile animal, a giant, cannibal, wizard, or malevolent king. He is put by his unfriendly host to various severe trials, in which it is hoped that he will perish. In each trial he is assisted by the daughter of his host. After achieving the adventures, he elopes with the girl and is pursued by the father." Mr. Lang goes on to speak of the articles thrown down by the runaways in their flight. This part of the story belongs in Japanese myth to the history of Izanagi and Izanami.[81]
Ninigi.--The dynasty of Susa no wo was not recognized by the Gods of Heaven. They sent down several other deities to prepare the world for the advent of Ninigi, a grandchild of the Sun-Goddess, as its ruler. Some versions of the story make Taka-musubi the chief actor in these proceedings, in others the Sun-Goddess is more prominent. One of the deities sent down for this purpose was Ame-waka-hiko (heaven-young-prince). The Nihongi says:--
"As soon as he arrived he took to wife Shita-teru-hime, the daughter of Utsushi-kuni-dama. Accordingly he remained, and said: 'I, too, wish to govern the Central Land of Reed-Plains.' He never reported the result of his mission. At this time Taka-musubi, wondering why he was so long in coming and making his report, sent the pheasant Na-naki to observe. The pheasant flew down and perched on the top of a many-branched cassia-tree which grew before Ame-waka-hiko's gate. Now Ama-no Sagu-me (heaven-spying-woman) saw this, and told Ame-waka-hiko, saying: 'A strange bird has come and is perched on the top of the cassia-tree.' Then Ame-waka-hiko took the heavenly deer-bow and the heavenly feathered arrows which had been given him by Taka-mi-musubi no Mikoto, and shot the pheasant, so that it died. The arrow having passed through the pheasant's breast, came before where Taka-mi-musubi no Kami was sitting. Then Taka-mi-musubi no Kami, seeing this arrow, said: 'This arrow I formerly gave to Ame-waka-hiko. It is stained with blood, it may be because he has been fighting with the Earthly Deities.' Thereupon Taka-mi-musubi no Mikoto took up the arrow and flung it back down (to earth). This arrow, when it fell, hit Ame-waka-hiko on the top of his breast. At this time Ame-waka-hiko was lying down after the feast of first-fruits, and when hit by the arrow died immediately."
"The sound of the weeping and mourning of Ame-waka-hiko's wife Shita-teru-hime reached Heaven. At this time Ame no Kuni-dama, hearing the voice of her crying, straightway knew that her son, Ame-waka-hiko, was dead, and sent down a swift wind to bring the body up to Heaven. Forthwith a mortuary house was made, in which it was temporarily deposited. The river-geese were made head-hanging bearers and also broom-bearers, the kingfisher was made the representative of the deceased, the sparrows were made the pounding-women, and the wrens the mourners. Altogether the assembled birds were entrusted with the matter."