Hitozuma to aze ka so o iwamu shikaraba ka tonari no kinu o karite kinawamo

人妻とあぜかそを言はむしからばか
隣の衣を借りて着なはも

Roma-ji: Hitozuma to aze ka so o iwamu shikaraba ka tonari no kinu o karite kinawamo
English Translation: "She's another's wife"—
why should you say such a thing?
If that is so,
would you never borrow a coat
from your neighbor's house to wear?
Meaning: Why do you say, "She's another man's wife"? If that were so, would you never borrow your neighbor's coat to wear?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3472

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Why say one must not touch a married woman, the singer retorts; by that logic, would you never borrow your neighbor's coat? It is a bold, comic argument trying to justify love for another's wife, typical of folk song.
It is one of the love exchanges. Poems of love for a married woman are not rare among the Azuma uta and also appear in 3539, 3541, and 3557 of this book.
The poet is unknown. The Azuma uta are thought to have been sung among the people of the eastern provinces, and they are marked by plain, open-hearted expression mixed with local dialect.

First line, "hitozuma to": "Another's wife," setting out the theme.
Second line, "aze ka so o iwamu": "Aze ka" is an eastern "why": why say that?
Third line, "shikaraba ka": "Shikaraba ka" means if that is so.
Fourth line, "tonari no kinu o": The neighbor's coat, a figure for another man's wife.
Final line, "karite kinawamo": "Kinawamo" is an eastern form: would you not wear it? The poem ends with a counter-question.
Source: Manyoshu
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