The old man and the old woman wept tears of blood in their grief, but nothing could be done. Even when the letter the princess had left was read to them, they said, "Why should we care for our lives? For whom would we live?" They would not take their medicine, and lay sick, never getting up again.
The Captain of the Guards, who had commanded the soldiers, returned to the palace and reported in detail how they had failed to keep the princess. He then presented the jar of elixir she had entrusted, with the letter. The emperor opened the letter and read it, and was so deeply grieved that he would not eat, nor hold any music.
The emperor called his ministers and nobles and asked, "Which mountain is closest to heaven?" Someone answered, "There is a mountain in the province of Suruga that is near the capital and near heaven too." Hearing this, the emperor composed a poem: "Since I will never meet her again and float in my overflowing tears, what use to me is the elixir of immortality?"
He attached a letter with this poem to the jar of elixir Kaguya-hime had given him, and chose a man named Tsuki no Iwakasa as his envoy. "Take it to the summit of the mountain in Suruga," he commanded, "set the letter and the jar side by side, and burn them."
Iwakasa, receiving the order, climbed the mountain with a great many soldiers. From then on the mountain was named Fuji. It is called so because it is a mountain "rich in soldiers" (fu-ji), and because the elixir of no death (fu-shi) was burned there. And they say its smoke still rises into the clouds to this day.