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- Manyoshu
Ōumi no minasoko terashi shizuku tama iwaite toramu kaze na fuki so ne
The pearl lying in the great sea, lighting up the depths—with reverent care I will take it. Wind, please do not blow.
Minasoko ni shizuku shiratama ta ga yue ni kokoro tsukushite waga omowanaku ni
White pearl lying on the floor of the sea—it is not for anyone else that I pour out my heart in longing.
Yo no naka wa tsune kaku nomi ka musubiteshi shiratama no o no tayuraku omoeba
Is this the way of the world, always and only so?—when I think how the cord of white pearls I had tied has broken.
Ise no umi no ama no shimatsu ga awabitama torite nochi mo ka koi no shigekemu
Like the abalone pearls that Shimatsu the diver gathers in the sea of Ise—even after I have won her, will my longing still grow so thick?
Wata no soko okitsu shiratama yoshi o nami tsune kaku nomi ya koiwatarinamu
The white pearl far out in the depths of the sea—since there is no way to reach it, must I go on longing like this, always and only so?
Ashi no ne no nemokoro omoite musubiteshi tama no o to iwaba hito tokame ya mo
If I say this is the cord of pearls I tied with all my heart, deep as the tangled roots of reeds—would anyone untie it? Never.
Shiratama o te ni wa makazu ni hako nomi ni okerishi hito zo tama nagekasuru
It is the one who never wound the white pearl round his wrist but only kept it shut in a box who makes the pearl grieve.
Terusazu ga te ni maki furusu tama mo ga mo sono o wa kaete waga tama ni semu
How I wish for the pearl that Terusazu wore wound on the wrist until it grew old—I would change its cord and make it my own.
Akikaze wa tsugite na fuki so wata no soko oki naru tama o te ni maku made ni
Autumn wind, do not keep on blowing—not until I have wound on my wrist the pearl that lies far out in the depths of the sea.
Hiza ni fusu tama no ogoto no koto naku wa itaku kokodaku are koime ya mo
Like the lovely little koto that lies across my knees—were there no hindrance between us, would I long for you so fiercely, so deeply? Never.
Michinoku no adatara mayumi tsura hakete hikaba ka hito no wa o koto nasamu
As one fits the string to a true bow of Adatara in Michinoku and draws it—if I were to draw her to me, would people start rumors about me?
Minabuchi no hosokawayama ni tatsu mayumi yuzuka maku made hito ni shiraeji
The spindle tree standing on Mount Hosokawa in Minabuchi—until I have wound its grip and made it my bow, I will let no one know.
Iwatatami kashikoki yama to shiritsutsu mo are wa kouru ka nami ni aranaku ni
I know well it is an awesome mountain, rocks piled on rocks—and still I love it so, though it is no ordinary mountain.
Iwa ga ne no kogoshiki yama ni irisomete yama natsukashimi idekatenu kamo
Having first stepped into the mountain rugged with deep-rooted rocks, I have grown so fond of it that I cannot bring myself to leave.
Sahoyama o ōni mishikado ima mireba yama natsukashi mo kaze fuku na yume
I used to look at Mount Saho without a thought, but looking now, how dear the mountain has grown—wind, never blow on it!
Okuyama no iwa ni koke mushi kashikokedo omou kokoro o ika ni ka mo semu
Awesome as the moss-grown rocks deep in the mountains—and yet this heart that longs for you, what am I to do with it?