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- Ise Monogatari
Musashino wa kyō wa na yaki so wakakusa no
tsuma mo komoreri ware mo komoreri
Musashino—do not burn it today. In the young grass my beloved husband lies hidden, and I too lie hidden.
Musashi abumi sasuga ni kakete tanomu ni wa
towanu mo tsurashi tou mo urusashi
Though you hang your Musashi stirrups in earnest and place your trust in me, not to write is cruel, and to write is vexing too.
Toeba iu towaneba uramu musashi abumi
kakaru ori ni ya hito wa shinuramu
If I write, you say it is too much; if I do not write, you resent me—like Musashi stirrups hanging on either side. Is it at such a time as this that one must die?
Nakanaka ni koi ni shinazu wa kuwako ni zo
narubekarikeru tama no o bakari
Rather than languish so and not even die of love, it would have been better to become a silkworm, even with a life as short as a jewel-cord’s span.
Yo mo akeba kitsu ni hamenade kutakake no
madaki ni nakite sena o yaritsuru
When night has broken, I would thrust it into the tub—the foolish cock that, crying too soon before the dawn, has sent my beloved husband away.
Kurihara no Areha no matsu no hito naraba
miyako no tsuto ni iza to iwamashi o
If you were a person like the famous Aneha pine of Kurihara, I would say, as a keepsake for the capital, come, let us go together.
Shinobuyama shinobite kayou michi mogana
hito no kokoro no oku mo mirubeku
On Shinobu Mountain, would that there were a hidden path for secret visits, that I might even see the depths of her heart.
Te o orite aimishi koto o kazoureba
tō to iitsutsu yotsu wa henikeri
Folding my fingers and counting the years we have lived together, when I say ten, ten and ten and ten and ten have already passed.
Toshi dani mo tō tote yotsu wa henikeru o
ikutabi kimi o tanomi kinuramu
If the years alone, saying ten, have passed four times, how many times in that while has your wife relied upon you and come to you?
Kore ya kono ama no hagoromo ube shi koso
kimi ga mikeshi to tatematsurikere
Is this indeed the feathered robe of a heavenly maiden? No wonder it was worn by one such as you.
Aki ya kuru tsuyu ya magau to omou made
aru wa namida no furu ni zo arikeru
Has autumn come, or is it the dew?—so I wonder; for what falls in truth is but my tears.
Ada nari to na ni koso tatere sakurabana
toshi ni mare naru hito mo machikeri
They call the cherry blossoms faithless, so they proclaim by name, because they scatter so quickly; yet they have waited without falling for one who comes but rarely in the year.
Kyō kozu wa asu wa yuki to zo furinamashi
kiezu wa ari tomo hana to mimashi ya
Had you not come today, it would have fallen tomorrow like falling snow; and even if it had not melted away, would you still have seen it as blossom?
Kurenai ni niou wa izura shirayuki no
eda mo tōo ni furu ka to mo miyu
Where is the crimson said to glow in beauty? It appears as though white snow has fallen, bending the branches low.
Kurenai ni niou ga ue no shiragiku wa
orikeru hito no sode ka to mo miyu
The white chrysanthemums that glow in crimson hue—might they be the layered sleeves of the one who plucked them?
Amagumo no yoso ni mo hito no nariyuku ka
sasuga ni me ni wa miyuru mono kara
Like clouds in the sky, does he become a distant one, far beyond my reach? And yet, for all that, he still remains before my eyes.