何すと違ひは居らむ否も諾も
友のなみなみ我れも寄りなむ
友のなみなみ我れも寄りなむ
- Roma-ji
-
Nani su to tagai wa oramu ina mo o mo tomo no naminami ware mo yorinamu
- English Translation
-
Why should I alone
hold back and stand apart?
Whether no or yes,
just the same as all my friends,
I too shall go and draw near.
- Meaning
- Why should I alone stand apart? Whether no or yes, just like my friends, I too shall go and draw near to him.
- Commentary
-
Book Sixteen Poems with Tales of Origin and Miscellaneous Poems 3798
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Nine poems in reply by the maidens."
Asking why she alone should keep apart, the maiden decides to draw near to the old man just as her companions do. Her willingness to go along with the others is expressed lightly and simply.
This is the set in which the nine maidens who had teased the Bamboo-Cutter answer his chōka and envoys one after another. From the second poem on, almost every one ends with "I too shall draw near," so that the maidens yield to the old man one by one.
The poet is one of the nine maidens the Bamboo-Cutter met; her name is not recorded. She is a figure of the tale, one of those the old man called immortals.
First line, "nani su to," means "why" or "for what reason." At four syllables it is a short line, giving the question a brisk energy.
Second line, "tagai wa oramu," means "should I stand apart?" It echoes tagawamu in the preceding poem, 3797, using the same verb to deny being different from her friends.
Third line, "ina mo o mo," means "whether no or yes." It repeats the first line of poem 3796, so the words of the set echo one another.
Fourth line, "tomo no naminami," means "just like my friends." Naminami means being on the same level, the same as others.
Final line, "ware mo yorinamu," means "I too shall draw near," the refrain shared by the set.
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Shini mo iki mo onaji kokoro to musubiteshi tomo ya tagawamu ware mo yorinamu
- Next Poem
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Ani mo araji ono ga mi no kara hito no ko no koto mo tsukusaji ware mo yorinamu