呉竹の世世の竹取野山にも
さやは侘びしきふしをのみ見し
さやは侘びしきふしをのみ見し
- Roma-ji
-
Kuretake no yoyo no taketori noyama ni mo
sa ya wa wabishiki fushi o nomi mishi - English Translation
-
Of Kure bamboo,
through generations, the bamboo cutter—
though in fields and hills,
we saw not only such bitter turns.
- Meaning
- We who have lived by cutting bamboo through generation after generation—even when we have dwelt in the fields and hills—have not known only such bitter trials.
- Commentary
-
After hearing of Prince Kuramochi’s hardships in obtaining “the jeweled branch of Horai,” the Bamboo Cutter recited this poem.
“Kure bamboo” refers to bamboo transplanted from Wu, that is, madake. “Kure bamboo” serves as a pillow word for “yo (generation).” The words “yo-yo (generation after generation),” “fushi (knots/turns),” and “bamboo cutting” are linked by associative wordplay.
- Source
- Taketori Monogatari
- Other
-
- With boundless longing, the fur robe burned not; The sleeves, once wet, are now dried— Today at last I will wear it.
- Had I but known it would burn without a trace, The fur robe, I would have set it aside and only looked.
- My sleeves today are dried; so of wretchedness, the thousand kinds will surely be forgotten.
- Hearing it as true, I went to look—and found: words, ornamented— a jeweled branch.