So greatly, even so,
the ancient Mama no Tegona
was loved like this—
so must she have been loved,
Mama no Tegona of Mama.
- Meaning
-
O Mama no Tegona of the old tales—surely you too were loved by so many, just as deeply as Katsushirō’s heart loves in this tale of the present.
- Commentary
-
Volume Two, Asaji ga Yado.
This poem was composed by a rustic commoner who is said to have heard the story of the couple Katsushirō and Miyaki who appear in this tale.
He overlays within himself the old tale of Mama no Tegona and the present tale of Miyaki.
Mama no Tegona was raised in a poor household, yet she was a maiden of great beauty.
Not only the people of her village but also those who came from neighboring provinces, and even warriors who came from the capital, fell in love with her. Troubled by her wish to respond to the love of so many, she cast herself into the sea.
In the Man’yōshū, Volume Nine, there is a poem titled “One Poem on the Maiden of Mama in Katsushika.”
- Author
-
Ueda Akinari
- Source
-
Ugetsu Monogatari
- Other
-
-
The sorrow of my life
no one will tell for me;
O bird of evening call
at Ōsaka Pass,
cry that autumn, too, has waned.
-
Even so, my heart,
thinking he would return,
was taken in by it—
how have I lived in this world
till today, this life of mine?
-
At Matsunoo peak,
in the quiet dawn of light,
I lift my gaze—
listening as I look up,
the Butsuhōsō cries.
-
Even birds’ cries, too—
the thickets of the secret
mountain of vows.