Over the years,
no waves ever come ashore
at Sumi-no-e;
I hear there is no use in waiting—
is that truly so?
- Meaning
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Though many years pass as I wait for you to bring me the Cowry of Safe Childbirth, I hear that you say there is no use in waiting because you could not obtain it—is that truly so?
- Commentary
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One of the five suitors of Princess Kaguya, the Middle Counselor Isonokami no Marotari, was set the condition of bringing back the “Swallow’s Cowry of Safe Childbirth.”
He climbed up to the place where the swallows nested to try to obtain it, but fell and broke his back. Troubled more by the ridicule of the world than by the injury itself, he grew weak and wasted away.
Hearing this, Princess Kaguya sent this poem as a message of concern.
The phrase “where no waves ever come ashore, at Sumi-no-e” serves as a preface to the word “matsu (pine / to wait).”
- Source
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Taketori Monogatari
- Other
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