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やがて白滝姫は、一男子をもうけたが病気にかかり、久助の介抱もむなしく、

「水の泡 消える我身は白滝の 今は玉散る 峰の岩本」
(水の泡が消えるように私のはかない命。今では白滝の水のごとく涙があふれ、峰の岩本に散っていきます。)

と、詠み、静かにこの世を去りました。


上野国(こうづけのくに)、山田郡(やまだごうり)、上仁田山村、現在の、群馬県桐生市川内町の白滝神社には、白滝姫のみ魂が、はた神様、夫婦縁結びの神様として、てあつく祭られてあります。

境内には、直径十メートルもある大きな石があり、その小さな穴に耳をあてると、
「カラン、トントン、カラン、トントンーーー」と、中から、はた音が聞えてくるということです。

おしまい

After giving birth to a son, the princess grew ill, and despite Kyusuke's loving care, she quietly passed away after composing one last poem:

My fleeting life is so like dissolving water foam -
From my eyes the waters of Shirataki overflow
Falling on the summit of Iwamoto.

Sometime later, to console the spirit of the princess, a shrine was contructed in her honor in the northern mountain village of Kaminitta, Yamada District, Kozuke County. This place is now called Kawauchicho in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture. There, Princess Shirataki is worshipped as a Goddess of Weaving and Marriage.
Within the Shrine Compound there is a boulder, some 10 meters in diameter. It is said that by pressing one's ear to a small hole in the boulder, one can hear the rhythmic sound of Shirataki's weaving loom at work eminating from the very heart of the great stone.

info@kiryu.co.jp
Copyright (C)  1998 by M.Matsuzaki & KAIC & Orijin Studio
English by Barbara Kamiyama Kenichi Tsurumi