Waga seko ga tafusaki ni suru tsubureishi no Yoshino no yama ni hio zo sagareru

我が背子が犢鼻にするつぶれ石の
吉野の山に氷魚ぞ下がれる

Roma-ji: Waga seko ga tafusaki ni suru tsubureishi no Yoshino no yama ni hio zo sagareru
English Translation: My dear husband's
loincloth made of round stone,
on Yoshino's
mountain slopes, there hanging down,
little ice-fish dangle!
Meaning: On Yoshino's mountain of the round stone my husband wears as a loincloth, little ice-fish are hanging down!
Commentary: Book Sixteen Poems with Tales of Origin and Miscellaneous Poems 3839

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems with no meaning at all."
Stringing together unrelated words—her husband's loincloth, a round stone, the Yoshino mountains, ice-fish—the poet makes a poem deliberately devoid of sense. Like the preceding poem, it is a game of crafting nonsense.
According to the left note, Prince Toneri told those attending him that he would reward with coin and cloth anyone who could make a poem with no meaning at all. The palace attendant Abe no Asomi Kooji then composed and presented this poem, and was at once given the promised reward of two thousand coins. The kundoku ends with a note that 懸有 is read sagareru; as it is not part of the poem, it has been omitted.
Abe no Kooji was a palace attendant bearing the title Asomi; little else is known of him.

First line, "waga seko ga," means "my husband's." It pairs with "wagimoko ga" in the preceding poem, 3838, swapping wife for husband.
Second line, "tafusaki ni suru," means "that he wears as a loincloth."
Third line, "tsubureishi no," is understood as "of the round stone."
Fourth line, "Yoshino no yama ni," means "on the mountains of Yoshino." Placing a famous poetic place amid unrelated words adds to the comedy.
Final line, "hio zo sagareru," means "ice-fish are hanging." The particle zo and the attributive ru of the stative ri form a kakari-musubi, stating nonsense as if it were fact.
Author: Abe no Kooji
Source: Manyoshu
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