心をば嘆かざらまし命のみ
定めなき世と思はましかば
定めなき世と思はましかば
- Roma-ji
-
Kokoro o ba nagekazaramashi inochi nomi
sadame naki yo to omowamashikaba - English Translation
-
I would not lament
your heart at all, if only
I could believe that
in this world it is our lives
alone that are not settled
- Meaning
- I would not lament your heart at all, if only I could believe that in this world it is our lives alone that are unsettled.
- Commentary
-
Part Three: Ukifune
Ukifune's reply. What is to be lamented, she says, is not the frailty of life but the changeableness of a heart, and one sees that she does not take the ardour in front of her at face value. That day the two of them drew pictures and wrote out poems, and the next morning Niou went back to the capital, unwilling to leave. From here Ukifune is caught between Kaoru and Niou and can move in no direction.
She takes over his inochi, life, and returns it with the subject shifted to kokoro, the heart: a well made answer. Mashi ... mashikaba is contrary to fact, a supposition that cannot hold. By saying that she could spare her lament if only lives alone were unsettled, she puts behind it the judgment that it is hearts that are unsettled. Ukifune is drawn as a mild and yielding person, but her handling of an exchange is sure enough here.
- Author
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
- Genji Monogatari
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