結びける契りことなる下紐を
ただ一筋に恨みやはする
ただ一筋に恨みやはする
- Roma-ji
-
Musubikeru chigiri kotonaru shitahimo o
tada hitosuji ni urami ya wa suru - English Translation
-
The under-cord that
was tied in a bond not mine—
am I to hold it
against you with a single,
undivided resentment
- Meaning
- The under-cord was tied in a bond that was not mine; am I to hold it against you with a single, undivided resentment?
- Commentary
-
Part Three: Yadorigi
Embarrassed by Niou's suspicion, Naka no Kimi tried to keep Kaoru at a distance, and this is his answer. Since she is bound to Niou, he says, he can hardly hold it against her alone, and in the act of restraining his resentment he conveys that he has not let go. From here he gives up seeking Naka no Kimi herself and turns instead toward finding someone in her elder sister's likeness.
Shitahimo is the cord of an undergarment, the standard word for suggesting a union between a man and a woman. Chigiri kotonaru is that the bond was tied with another. Tada hitosuji ni is single-mindedly, and hitosuji, one strand, belongs with the cord. Urami ya wa suru is a rhetorical question: he does not resent her, while stating his resentment behind it. Musubu, shitahimo, and hitosuji run as a set, and a complicated feeling is kept inside the form.
- Author
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
- Genji Monogatari
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