Daniochi ya shika mo na ii so satoosa ga edachi hataraba imashi mo nakamu

壇越やしかもな言ひそ里長が
課役徴らば汝も泣かむ

Roma-ji: Daniochi ya shika mo na ii so satoosa ga edachi hataraba imashi mo nakamu
English Translation: Good patron, I pray,
do not talk in such a way—
when the village chief
comes to press you for your tax,
you too will start to cry!
Meaning: Good patron, don't say such things! When the village head comes to collect your taxes and labor dues, you'll be the one crying too!
Commentary: Book Sixteen Poems with Tales of Origin and Miscellaneous Poems 3847

Headnote: "The monk's reply; one poem."
The monk retorts to the patron who mocked him: don't talk that way, for when the village head comes to collect taxes, you will weep too. The wit lies in a monk, exempt from levies, teasing a layman burdened by them.
It forms a playful exchange with the preceding poem, 3846. Taking up its last line, "the monks will cry," it answers "you too will cry," laughing that both have reason to weep. The third line follows a reading that emends the characters of the original text to "village head."
The poet is the monk mocked in the preceding poem; his name is not recorded.

First line, "daniochi ya," means "good patron," addressing a lay donor to the temple, the author of the preceding poem.
Second line, "shika mo na ii so," means "do not say so," and the poem pauses here. Na... so marks a prohibition.
Third line, "satoosa ga," means "the village head." Under the ritsuryō system village heads collected taxes and labor dues.
Fourth line, "edachi hataraba," means "when he presses you for levies." Monks were exempt, so this strikes at the layman's weak point.
Final line, "imashi mo nakamu," means "you too will cry." Pairing with "the monks will cry" in the preceding poem, it turns the tears from monk to patron.
Source: Manyoshu
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