Nashi to ieba oshimu kamo to ya omou ran shika ya uma to zo iu bekarikeru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

なしといへばをしむかもとや思ふらん
鹿や馬とぞ言ふべかりける

Roma-ji: Nashi to ieba oshimu kamo to ya omou ran shika ya uma to zo iu bekarikeru
English Translation: If I say "I've none,"
you think it's that I grudge you,
that I grudge the duck;
I should rather have declared
a deer to be a horse, then.
Meaning: If I say I have none, you will think I am grudging it, grudging the "duck"; I should rather have done like the man who called a deer a horse, and said I had what I have not.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems II 536

Headnote: "In reply"
The poet replies that if saying he has none makes him seem stingy, he ought instead to have spoken like the man who called a deer a horse. Answering Nakafumi's poem in the preceding poem, 535, he protests that he lacks the rug not out of stinginess, and turns the same tale of deer and horse back on his friend. Pivoting "oshimu kamo" on "do I grudge it?" and "duck," he takes up Nakafumi's pivot words just as they are.
The author, written as "Yoshinobu," is Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu. He served as chief priest of the Ise Shrine and, as one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber, took part in compiling the Gosenshū. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "nashi to ieba," means "if I say I have none," speaking of not having the felt rug.
Second line, "oshimu kamo to ya," means "that I grudge it," with the final particle "kamo," of question and exclamation, pivoting on "duck," taking up "kamo o mo oshi to" in the preceding poem, 535. The binding particle "ya" is resolved by "ran" in the third line.
Third line, "omou ran," means "you must think," and the poem breaks after this third line.
Fourth line, "shika ya uma to zo," means "a deer as a horse," taking up the tale in the first and second lines of the preceding poem, "ka o sashite uma to iu hito." The binding particle "zo" is resolved by "keru" in the final line.
Final line, "iu bekarikeru," means "I should have said," with "bekari" expressing what ought to be and "keru" a sigh of realization.
Author: Onakatomi no Yoshinobu
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Ka o sashite uma to iu hito arikereba kamo o mo oshi to omou narubeshi
Next Poem: Naniwae no ashi no hanage no majireru wa Tsu no kuni kai no koma ni ya aru ran