塩といへばなくてもからき世の中に
いかであへたるたたみなるらん
いかであへたるたたみなるらん
- Roma-ji
-
Shio to ieba nakute mo karaki yo no naka ni ikade aetaru tatami naruran
- English Translation
-
Speaking of salt—
even without it, bitter
is this world of ours,
so how could there be tatami
dressed and seasoned with it
- Meaning
- Speaking of salt—this world is bitter enough even without it, so how could there be any tatami that has been dressed and seasoned?
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1095
Headnote: "In a year when there was no salt, when someone said, 'Tatami, dress it.'"
The poet asks how, in a world that is bitter even without salt, there could be any tatami that has been dressed. Letting "karaki" mean both salty and harsh, the poet answers with wit the puzzle of being asked for a dressed dish in a saltless year, playing on "tatami," which is also the poet's own name.
According to the headnote, it seems to have been composed when, in a year without salt, someone asked for tatami to be dressed, though the sense of the headnote remains partly unclear.
Little is known of the poet, Tatami, who, judging from the word in the headnote and the poem, appears to have been a person called by that name.
The first line, "Shio to ieba," means "speaking of salt," taking up the saltless year of the headnote.
The second line, "nakute mo karaki," means "bitter even without it," with "karaki" joining salty and harsh.
The third line, "yo no naka ni," means "in this world."
The fourth line, "ikade aetaru," means "how could it be dressed," with "ae" meaning to season with salt and the like.
The last line, "tatami naruran," means "could it be tatami," with "ran" conjecture about a present cause. It weaves in "tatami," which is also the poet's name.
- Author
- Tatami
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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