手を折りてあひ見し事をかぞふれば
とをといひつつ四つは経にけり
とをといひつつ四つは経にけり
- Roma-ji
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Te o orite aimishi koto o kazoureba
tō to iitsutsu yotsu wa henikeri - English Translation
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Folding my fingers,
counting the times we met—
when I say ten,
ten and ten and ten and ten
have already passed.
- Meaning
- 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.
- Commentary
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Episode Sixteen: "Folding the fingers"
A man named Ki no Aritsune, who had served three reigns, lost in political strife and fell into poverty, forced to live in hardship.
Accustomed to an elegant life, he knew little of the world’s common ways and suffered greatly.
At last, even the wife who had long shared his life became a nun and left him.
This poem was written at the end of a letter in which Aritsune described his circumstances to a friend.
- Source
- Ise Monogatari
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Shinobuyama shinobite kayou michi mogana
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Toshi dani mo tō tote yotsu wa henikeru o
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