Madanarenu itayanonokino murashigure otookikunimo nururusodekana

English Translation

Not yet accustomed
to these board-roofed eaves,
the passing showers—
and merely to hear their sound
is enough to wet my sleeves

Meaning

I am not yet used to these board-roofed eaves; merely hearing the passing showers is enough to wet my sleeves.

Commentary

Book Eighteen: Murashigure

Though the imperial house had many children, the empress had borne only one princess, which the emperor much regretted; when word came that she was again with child, he thought it a most welcome thing, and rites were begun in advance on a great scale. As her time drew near she went to the Tokiwai residence of the prince of the Ministry of Ceremonial, and the emperor came to her every two or three days. Since it lay within the guarded precinct, nobles and courtiers hurried in and out day and night with their trousers gathered up, and her elder brother Lord Kanesue was constantly in attendance. From Hiei, Miidera, Yamashina and Ninnaji every great and secret rite, every festival and purification was performed in numbers, which was most reassuring. In the great heat of the sixth month the altars stood eave to eave and the smoke of the fire rituals filled the air until it was oppressive. Yet strangely the time came and went, and though people waited a little longer, nothing happened; when seventeen, eighteen, twenty and even more than thirty months had passed with no birth, it came to seem a falsehood. The dismay of high and low was past describing. At the beginning of the late crown prince's time, a daughter of the Inner Minister Michishige had entered his household and borne a prince after eighteen months, but both child and mother died at once, which caused much talk. Afterwards the cloistered princess who survives entered, and after about seventeen months, when signs appeared and the household was in commotion, nothing came but water. So it became Gentoku 1. That year a coughing sickness spread and many died; among the great, Genkimon'in, mother of Fushimi, Eikamon'in, foster-mother of the late crown prince, and the elder wife of the Konoe lord all died one after another, so that memorial services were held everywhere. In the spring of the next year there was a reading of Japanese poems in the middle hall of the palace. The preface was written by the Major Counselor Chikafusa of the Minamoto, who wrote so well that everyone took care over their own. The topic was that the blossom should pledge ten thousand springs. The emperor's poem, and those of Prince Takayoshi of Central Affairs and Prince Yoyoshi of the Dazaifu office, were read; there were many more, but the narrator passes over them. In the third month the emperor visited the Kasuga shrine, a splendid spectacle for which the viewing stands vied with one another, and afterwards the Hie shrine as well. That year too many died of a sudden sickness, and among them Prince Yoyoshi fell gravely ill and died. The emperor's grief was profound. He was abler even than the eldest prince and accomplished in everything, so that he had begun to attend the records office in the emperor's train and was to have taken part in council; his death was a bitter blow. His guardian, the Major Counselor Chikafusa, felt his own life at an end and took the tonsure at once. That he should renounce the world, coming on top of the prince's death, was grievous on every side, and the emperor lamented it. In the winter of that year there were imperial visits to the Hirano and Kitano shrines together. The emperor's foster-father, the Major Counselor Sadafusa of Yoshida, had lately been raised to senior first rank, an unusual honour, so his young son Munefusa was made a lesser captain and served as a dancer at the Hirano progress. In the spring of the next year, at the beginning of the third month, the emperor went to Kitayama to view the blossom. As it promised to be an unusually fine occasion, the household there took great care. The empress went first, the emperor the next day, and the former Minister of the Right Kanesue came and gave directions about the music. The business began at the hour of the dragon on the sixth. A cushion was placed in the stair bay of the main hall for the emperor, with the empress in the second bay and, it seems, Eifukumon'in and Shokunmon'in as well. Fifteen pieces from the Bansuraku to the Nasori were performed with every skill, which was well worth seeing. As dusk came on, the evening sun moved brilliantly among the flowering trees and the mountain birds sang without stint, and the Ryo-o dancer came out shining, which was delightful past words. Then the emperor, in an informal robe, took his chair and played the flute, ringing through the heavens more finely than ever. The next day the nobles ranged themselves under the flowering trees before the Muryokoin. A chair was set in the gallery for the emperor and the music began; he sang Sakurabito himself, in a young, brilliant and admirable voice. Afterwards poems were called for. That the blossom was tied together to serve as a writing stand is said to follow the precedent of Hoan. The Steward of the Crown Prince's Household, Kinmune, wrote the preface, and a poem was appended to it. There was an imperial poem too, but the narrator says she has forgotten the upper half and will look for it later. Prince Takayoshi's poem follows. Everyone, she says, was taken up with this one theme, and beyond the progress among the blossoms there was nothing new; the party returned on the ninth. That summer the emperor fell ill and medicines were spoken of; as he grew worse the world was thrown into alarm. Just then, when it is not clear what fresh report had come, they tried to seize Toshimoto, who had been arrested some years before; he fled into the palace, they pursued him shouting, and warriors burst in as far as the guardhouse. The emperor, barely conscious and lying down, was told of it and was much distressed. The next day he was handed to Rokuhara and taken east. The emperor recovered but was the more uneasy. Since the design had long been in his mind, he resolved to carry it out at once and made his preparations secretly here and there. The empress's daughter, the first-rank princess, was chosen by divination and had been in purification since the previous winter; on the twentieth of the eighth month she went to the riverbank and then entered the shrine in the fields, all done with great splendour. That business over, it was decided that Rokuhara should first be attacked, and warriors who had already accepted his commands were secretly summoned; the Middle Counselor Yukiyuki of the Minamoto managed the affair. The second-rank cloistered prince Sonun of Otonomiya was bold in archery and impetuous by nature, and joined in the plan; and since the cloistered prince Soncho of Myohoin, full brother of the prince of Central Affairs, was the present Tendai abbot, the monks of Hiei on both sides declared they would join the emperor's forces. Try as they might to keep it quiet, the matter spread and word reached the warriors, who made ready, resolving first to guard the palace closely. This was the twenty-fourth of the eighth month of Genko 1. It being a day for general business, the emperor sat in the records office and spent the day judging people's disputes and grievances. After everyone had withdrawn and he had lain down to rest, someone secretly reported that warriors would rush in that very night, and he left the palace at once. Taking only the sacred mirror, the seal and the sword, he went out from the northern wing in a soft informal robe, in a shabby woman's carriage. The plan had been to make a progress to Hiei in the confusion of the attack on Rokuhara, summon warriors there and take the monks as his guard, and the two cloistered princes had accordingly been waiting at Sakamoto. But since things had gone otherwise he changed his route and made for Nara. The prince of Central Affairs followed on horseback. As far as Ninth Avenue the emperor went by carriage, then changed to a plain robe and rode; it seemed to him a dream. In attendance were the Major Counselor Kintoshi, the Middle Counselor Fujifusa of Madenokoji, the Middle Counselor Yukiyuki of the Minamoto and the Middle Counselor Takasuke of Shijo. About the small hours he passed Kohata hill; at the ford of Kizu he halted and sent word to the bishop of Tonan'in, who sent a palanquin, and he reached Nara. After a day there, on the twenty-seventh, he went to Jubusan at Wazuka, but finding it unsuitable entered the mountain temple of Kasagi. Since the place was hard of access and seemed defensible, a rough lodging was built. From here people grew calmer and warriors were summoned from the nearby provinces. In the capital, on the night of the twenty-fourth, Tokichika, Governor of Hitachi, rode up from Rokuhara and ransacked the palace. The empress, who had been cherished behind brocade curtains, fled in haste without ceremony; the place was stripped in a moment, blinds and curtains trampled down and torn away, not a lamp anywhere, so that everywhere lay dark and ruined. At dawn on the twenty-fifth warriors filled the streets, breaking into the houses of the emperor's intimates and carrying them off like demons of hell. The Major Counselor Nobufusa of Madenokoji, the Middle Counselor Kin'akira, the Chief Officer Sanetoki and the Consultant Narisuke were all taken to Rokuhara together. Since he had gone south instead of to Sakamoto where he was awaited, and lest the warriors should learn where he really was, the Major Counselor Morokata of Kazan'in was sent to Hiei to pass secretly for the emperor, and the two cloistered princes conducted the defence against the Rokuhara forces. But when it soon became known that the emperor was at Kasagi, the monks felt they had been deceived and some changed sides. The princes escaped and made for Kasagi. The Major Counselor, meaning to slip back to the capital, passed the shore of Shiga late at night; the dawn moon shone clear over the whole sky, the sound of the returning waves was desolate, and the wind through the pines went to the bone, so that everything together made him forlorn, and he composed a poem. Afterwards he made his way with difficulty to Kasagi. At Kasagi warriors gathered from Yamato, Kawachi, Iga and Ise, and among them was Kusunoki Hyoe Masashige, on whom the emperor had counted from the first. Word came that the eastern warriors were advancing, and the warriors already in the capital hurried to join them. In the rough lodging there was nothing substantial, and the emperor was anxious about how things would go. It was of his own doing and he could blame no one, yet he thought with feeling of the sky over his old home. As autumn deepened, the showers on the leaves of the hills and the storm coming up the valley made him fear the enemy was upon them, and living in such dread, feeling as though he had already become another man, he composed a poem. When it was reported that the eastern warriors were coming up in vast numbers, there was great alarm at Kasagi. The steep winding paths were fortified with gates, abatis and stone-throwers, and it was hoped they would not easily be broken; but the enemy came down from the hill behind, burned the gates, and smoke reached close to where he was, so that there was nothing for it and he stole out in poor disguise. The Tendai abbot Soncho led him by the hand, a pitiful sight. The prince of Central Affairs and the Otonomiya prince had left earlier and were at Kusunoki's stronghold. When they had gone a little way a horse was found and the emperor mounted, but unused to mountain paths he grew ill and looked to be in real danger. While they paused at a place called Takama hill, a man of Yamashiro called Fukasu no Goro, a lay monk, came upon them and informed on them, which was shocking and bitter. Sadanao, Governor of Mutsu, a commander come up from the east, arrived with a great force. There was nothing more to be said, and the emperor gave himself into the enemy's hands. When it was proposed that he go to Uji, he was drawn along against his will, which was miserable beyond words. It was the thirtieth of the ninth month, and even the sky was full of showers, as though inviting tears. Looking out at the autumn leaves of the Byodoin, he thought how different such a progress should have been. On the third of the tenth month he entered the capital, quite otherwise than he had imagined, with grim warriors closing about his palanquin in place of guards, and in a shabby wickerwork litter rather than the phoenix carriage. Since the two retired emperors and the crown prince were already in the cypress-bark house north of Rokuhara, he was lodged in a poor board-roofed building to the south, which was pitiable. Being so close, everything he heard and saw could not but move him, and he was sunk in bitterness. In that unfamiliar lodging even the sound of the showers was hard to bear, and he composed a poem. The prince of Central Affairs had been at Masashige's, but since the emperor had come to this there was no more to be done, and he too entered the capital and was lodged at the house of Sasaki no Hangan Tokinobu. He had nothing to do but brood, and composed a poem. This prince was a grandson of the Major Counselor Tameyo of the Fujiwara and had lived much in that house, where he took up with the Major Counselor's youngest daughter, called the assistant handmaid, and a princess was born to them. An envoy then came up from the east as usual. Word was given to the Major Counselor Kinmune of Saionji, and the crown prince came to the throne. From Rokuhara he went to the Jimyoin with the ceremony of an ordinary progress, and the two retired emperors likewise in proper state. To hear the noise of a world in commotion was, for the former emperor, bitter and humiliating past comparison. The new emperor moved to the old palace and every noble attended him. The retired emperor went to the Tokiwai residence and took charge of the government, which recalled the days of Go-Uda and was moving. On the twelfth of the tenth month an edict deprived ten men of the former reign, major and middle counselors and consultants, of their offices; that men who only yesterday had seemed the flower of the age should be a dream of a moment was affecting. Lest the line of Kameyama should be cut off, the eldest son of the late crown prince was made heir apparent and settled in that position on the eighth of the eleventh month. Since the cloistered princess stood as his mother, she was styled after a retired sovereign and called Sumeimon'in. The old ladies, nobles and courtiers who had scattered after the upheaval now gathered again like warblers in the valley meeting the spring, which looked most promising. Men long buried in the world found office and rank at once, just as they wished; the world changing before one's eyes, the narrator says, is nothing new, but it was strikingly plain and dispiriting. So the year ended.
The emperor is Go-Daigo, who flees to Kasagi in Genko 1 in this book, is captured, and is lodged in the poor board-roofed building south of Rokuhara. The empress was a daughter of the Saionji house, and Lord Kanesue was her elder brother. Prince Takayoshi of Central Affairs and Prince Yoyoshi of the Dazaifu office were both the emperor's sons; Yoyoshi dies in Gentoku 2. The second-rank cloistered prince Sonun of Otonomiya and the cloistered prince Soncho of Myohoin were also his sons, Soncho being the full brother of the prince of Central Affairs. The crown prince is Go-Fushimi's eldest son, who comes to the throne at the end of this book. The senior retired emperor is Go-Fushimi, the new retired emperor is Hanazono, and the cloistered princess, foster-mother of the late crown prince, is styled Sumeimon'in in this book; the late crown prince's eldest son becomes heir apparent at its close. The Major Counselor Morokata of Kazan'in was sent to Hiei to pass for the emperor; the Middle Counselor Fujifusa of Madenokoji, the Middle Counselor Yukiyuki of the Minamoto, the Middle Counselor Takasuke of Shijo and the Major Counselor Kintoshi also served the emperor closely. The Major Counselor Chikafusa of the Minamoto was Prince Yoyoshi's guardian and took the tonsure at his death. The Major Counselor Tameyo of the Fujiwara was of the house of poetry; the prince of Central Affairs was his grandson and had a daughter by Tameyo's youngest daughter, the assistant handmaid. The Steward of the Crown Prince's Household, Kinmune, wrote the preface for the blossom progress at Kitayama. The shogun in the east was Prince Moriyoshi, son of Prince Hisaaki; Takatoki, Governor of Sagami, was Sadatoki's son, with the lay monk Enki of Nagasaki as his guardian.
At Kasagi the enemy came down from the hill behind and burned the gates, and the emperor stole out in poor disguise; but while he paused at Takama hill a man called Fukasu no Goro informed on him, Sadanao, Governor of Mutsu, arrived with a great force, and he gave himself into the enemy's hands.
He was held a day or two at Uji. It was the thirtieth of the ninth month, and even the sky was full of showers, as though inviting tears. On the third of the tenth month he entered the capital, quite otherwise than he had imagined, with grim warriors closing about his palanquin and in a shabby wickerwork litter rather than the phoenix carriage.
Since the two retired emperors and the crown prince were already in the cypress-bark house north of Rokuhara, the emperor was lodged in a poor board-roofed building to the south, which the narrator calls pitiable.
Being so close, everything he heard and saw could not but move him, and he was sunk in bitterness. In that unfamiliar lodging even the sound of the showers was hard to bear, and he composed this poem.
The title of this book comes from its third line.

The first line means not yet grown used to living there, of a temporary lodging just taken. The second names a building roofed with plain boards, taking up the narrator's phrase about the poor board-roofed building to the south. That the two retired emperors and the crown prince were in the cypress-bark house to the north while he was under boards is a contrast held in the single word for the roofing. The third line is the shower that falls hard and stops, and the poem breaks there on a noun. In the lower lines the added particle means that it is enough merely to hear it, not to be wet by it; the wet sleeves are wet with tears, and the final particle is exclamatory. A board roof rings loudly with rain, so that under cypress bark he would not have heard what he now hears. The poorness of the roof becomes the loudness of the sound, and the sound draws the tears: the change in his condition is stated entirely through the material of a roof and the noise of rain. The title of the book is taken from that third line, continuing the pattern begun with the second book.

Author

Emperor Go-Daigo

Source

Masukagami

Other