Yoru hiru no kazu wa misoji ni amaranu o nado Nagatsuki to iihajimeken - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夜昼の数は三十路に余らぬを
など長月と言ひ始めけん

Roma-ji: Yoru hiru no kazu wa misoji ni amaranu o nado Nagatsuki to iihajimeken
English Translation: The count of nights and days
in every month does not exceed
the number of thirty,
so why did they begin to call
this one the "Long Month" alone?
Meaning: The number of nights and days in a month never exceeds thirty, so why did people first begin to call the ninth month the "Long Month"?
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems II 522

Headnote: "Asking again"
The poet asks why, though no month has more than thirty days, people first began to call the ninth month alone the "Long Month." Taking up the origin of a month's name, he questions the gap between the name and the reality. Where the earlier questions, 518 and 520, asked about words of the same sound, this one asks about the origin of a name, and it is the last question in the exchange.
The author, written as "Korehira," is Fujiwara no Korehira. A son of Fujiwara no Toshiyuki, he rose to the rank of Consultant.

First line, "yoru hiru no," means "of nights and days," counting the days by dividing each into night and day. Taking up "yoru" in the earlier question, 520, it begins the question with the word for night.
Second line, "kazu wa misoji ni," means "the number, to thirty," speaking of the days in a month.
Third line, "amaranu o," means "does not exceed, and yet," with "o" a concessive particle.
Fourth line, "nado Nagatsuki to," means "why the Long Month," with "nado" expressing a question that answers "ken" in the final line.
Final line, "iihajimeken," means "did they begin to call it," with "ken" an auxiliary conjecturing a past cause.
Author: Fujiwara no Korehira
Source: Shui Wakashu
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