Tsurakaraba hito ni kataramu shikitae no makura kawashite hitoyo neniki to - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

つらからば人に語らむしきたへの
枕交はして一夜寝にきと

Roma-ji: Tsurakaraba hito ni kataramu shikitae no makura kawashite hitoyo neniki to
English Translation: If you should be cold,
I will go and tell the world:
"Our pillows of cloth
we exchanged, and for one night
we slept together there."
Meaning: If you treat me coldly, I will tell people that we exchanged pillows and slept together for a night.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Congratulatory Poems 1190

Headnote: "Written on a pillow set out for him when he went to the house of Koremasa, Master of the Palace Repairs Office, to avoid an unlucky direction"
The poet says that if he is treated coldly, he will tell people that they exchanged pillows and slept together for a night. The headnote shows it was written on the pillow set out for him when he stayed at the house of Minamoto no Koremasa, Master of the Palace Repairs Office, to avoid an unlucky direction. Addressing the pillow on which he spent the night, it jokes that if the welcome is cold he will spread word that they slept together, turning a greeting to the house that lodged him into a witty love poem.
The author, Fujiwara no Yoshitaka, was a son of the Regent Fujiwara no Koretada. He served as Lesser Captain of the Right but died young, at twenty-one. He is one of the Thirty-Six Later Immortal Poets and is known for his poem "kimi ga tame oshikarazarishi" in the Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, "tsurakaraba," means "if you are cold to me," with "ba" after the irrealis form expressing supposition.
Second line, "hito ni kataramu," means "I will tell people," with "mu" an auxiliary of intention. The poem breaks after this second line, and the lower verse gives what he will tell in inverted order.
Third line, "shikitae no," is a pillow word leading to "makura," pillow.
Fourth line, "makura kawashite," means "exchanging pillows," speaking of a man and woman sleeping together.
Final line, "hitoyo neniki to," means "that we slept together one night," with "ni" perfective and "ki" past. It closes with the quoting "to," marking what he would spread about.
Author: Fujiwara no Yoshitaka
Source: Shui Wakashu
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