¹ In bygone days, adults made small bows and arrows for young boys. While enjoying shooting at trees and birds, before they knew it, the boys became skilled archers. In the Ainu word “akshinotponku,” “ak” means archery, “shinbot” play, and “ponai” a little arrow.

² shiktumorke: a look. When trying to learn a person's true nature, the best way is said to be to look at the eyes. People can be scolded for looking about restlessly.

³ achikara: dirty.

⁴ It is said that, when birds and beasts are shot down, they take the arrows because they want human-made arrows.

⁵ kotankorkamui: god of the land or the village. In the mountains, there are nupurikorkamui, the god who has the mountain (bear); nupuripakorkamui, the god who has the east side of the mountain (wolf); and so forth. The owl is placed next to the bear and the wolf in the taxonomy. Kotankorkamui is not wild and hasty, as is the god of the mountains and the god of the eastern mountains. Instead, he is usually calm and keeps his eyes closed. It is that he only opens his eyes when serious events occur.

⁶ inau is a ceremonial whittled twig or pole, usually made of willow, with the shavings left on.

⁷ Chiri Mashiho explains in a footnote to his translation that, when the owl god was seated on the patterned mat beneath the honored window, its spirit was believed to reside between its ears (Hanazaki, Shimajima wa hanazuna (Garland of Islands), Tokyo: Shakai hyōronsha, 1990), 113.

⁸ There is a fire pit at the center of the house. The side against the eastern window is the seat of honor. Looked at from the seat of honor, the right is “eshiso” and the left is “harkiso”. Only men can take the seat of honor. A visitor who is humbler than the master of the house refrains from taking this seat. The master of the house and his wife always take the right seats. Next in importance are the left seats, while the western seats (near the entrance) are the most humble.

⁹ hayokpe: armor. While in the mountains, although invisible to the human eye, both birds and beasts have houses that resemble those of humans, and they lead their lives in the same ways as humans do. When visiting a human village, they are said to appear in armor. Their true forms, although invisible, are said to dwell between the ears of the heads of the corpses.

¹⁰ nishpa, now spelled “nispa,” signifies a well-to-do man, a wealthy man of high status, or a master. The antonym is “wenkur,” or pauper.

¹¹ otuipe: one with its tail cut short. (Annotating the phrase wenash shiri otuiash shiri.) A dog tail so short that it looks cut off is not much respected. An unworthy human is badmouthed as “wenpe,” a bad fellow, or as an otuipe.

¹² chikashnukar is when a god unexpectedly graces a human with a great fortune. The human then responds in delight “ikashnukar an.”

¹³ apehuchi: the old woman of fire. The god of fire, the most important of the household deities, is always an old woman. When gods of the mountains, the sea, and so forth visit a house, as does this owl god, the apehuchi takes the lead in conversing with them. It is also acceptable to call her “kamuihuchi” (divine old woman).

¹⁴ neusar: chatting. While worldly rumor is also called neusar, the term usually refers to such things as kamuiyukar (songs of gods) and uepeker (old tales).

¹⁵ ashke a uk (from “ashke,” for fingers or hand, and “a uk,” meaning to take): inviting people for a celebration or other festive event.

¹⁶ kakkokhau: cuckoo's voice. Because a cuckoo's voice is beautiful and clear, one who articulates so that everyone can understand is likened to the bird.

¹⁷ chisekorcakui: the god who owns the house. The god of fire is like the housewife, the god of the house like the master. The god of the house is a male and is also called “chisekorekashi,” literally, the old man who owns the house.

¹⁸ nusakorkamui: the god of the altar, who is an old woman. The god is always female. When something bad happens, she may appear before humans in the form of a snake. Thus when a snake appears near the altar or near the eastern window, people say, “Perhaps the old woman of the altar went out on some business,” and they never kill the snake. It is said killing the snake will cost a human dearly.