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- Ise Monogatari
Chireba koso itodo sakura wa medetakere
ukiyo ni nani ka hisashikarubeki
It is precisely because they fall that the cherry blossoms are all the more beautiful. In this sorrow-filled world, what could possibly last for long?
Karikurashi tanabatatsume ni yado karamu
ama no kawara ni ware wa kinikeri
After hunting all day until dusk, I will seek lodging with the weaving maiden; I have come to the banks of the Heavenly River.
Hitotose ni hitotabi kimasu kimi mateba
yado kasu hito mo araji to zo omou
Since the weaving maiden waits for the one who comes only once a year, I think there will probably be no one who will lend me lodging.
Akanaku ni madaki mo tsuki no kakururu ka
yama no ha nigete irezu mo aranamu
Though we are not yet satisfied, the moon is already hiding away. I wish the mountain ridge would move aside and not let the moon slip behind it.
Oshinabete mine mo taira ni narinanamu
yama no ha naku wa tsuki mo iraji
I wish that all the mountain peaks everywhere would become flat. If there were no mountain ridge, the moon would not slip behind it.
Makura tote kusa hikimusubu koto mo seji
aki no yo to dani tanomarenaku ni
I will not even bind grasses together for a pillow on a journey, for on this night I cannot rely on it being as long as an autumn night.
Wasurete wa yume ka to zo omou omoiki ya
yuki fumiwakete kimi o mimu to wa
Forgetting the world as it was, I can only think this must be a dream. I never imagined that, parting the deep snow, I would come to see you living here in seclusion.
Oinureba saranu wakare no ari to ieba
iyoiyo mimaku hoshiki kimi kana
Now that I have grown old, they say there is a parting that cannot be avoided. All the more, I long to see you, my dear one.
Yo no naka ni saranu wakare no naku mogana
chiyo mo to inoru hito no ko no tame ni
If only in this world there were no partings that cannot be avoided. For the sake of children, who pray that their parents may live even a thousand years.
Omoedomo mi o shi wakaneba mekare senu
yuki no tsumoru zo waga kokoro naru
Though I care for you deeply, I cannot divide my body in two. The snow that keeps piling up and prevents me from leaving is truly the reflection of my heart that wishes to remain by your side.
Ima made ni wasurenu hito wa yo ni mo araji
ono ga samazama toshi no henureba
After so many years have passed, surely there is no one who has not forgotten. Each of us has lived in our own way as the years have gone by.
Ashinoya no nada no shioyaki itoma nami
tsuge no ogushi mo sasazu kinikeri
At the shore of Nada in Ashiya, the people who burn salt are so busy with their work that they have no time even to place a boxwood comb in their hair.
Waga yo o ba kyō ka asu ka to matsu kai no
namida no taki to izure takakemu
I wait, wondering whether the day when the world will turn in my favor will come today or tomorrow, yet it never comes. Which is higher, I wonder—this waterfall, or the cascade of my tears?
Nukimidaru hito koso arurashi shiratama no
ma naku mo chiru ka sode no sebaki ni
There must be someone above the waterfall who has loosened the string of white jewels, for they scatter without pause. Yet the sleeve that would catch them is too narrow, and they spill away.
Haruru yo no hoshi ka kawabe no hotaru kamo
waga sumu kata no ama no taku hi ka
Are those many lights the stars of a clear night, or fireflies along the riverbank? Or are they the fishing fires lit by the fishermen in the place where I live?
Watatsuumi no kazashi ni sasu to iwau mo mo
kimi ga tame ni wa oshimazarikeri
Even the seaweed said to be worn by the god of the sea as a hair ornament from the wide sea—I did not begrudge giving it for your sake.