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- Taketori Monogatari
Umi yama no michi ni kokoro o tsukushi hate
naishi no hachi no namida nagareki
I searched far and wide, over seas and mountains, exhausting my heart upon the road, yet the sacred bowl was nowhere to be found—and so blood-red tears came to flow.
Oku tsuyu no hikari o dani zo yadosamashi
Ogura no yama nite nani motomeken
If it were truly the Buddha’s stone begging bowl, there would be at least a glimmer of light like dew; yet this bowl is nothing but blackened stone—what, on Mount Ogura, were you seeking?
Shirayama ni aeba hikari mo usuru ka to
hachi o sutete mo tanomaruru kana
Before your Mount White–like brilliance, might even light be lost? Even after casting away the bowl and forgetting my shame, I still place my hopes in you.
Itazura ni mi wa nashitsu tomo tama no e o
taorade sara ni kaerazaramashi
Even if I had cast my life away in vain, had I not plucked the jeweled branch of Hōrai, I would not have returned. (Because I have brought back the jeweled branch of Hōrai, I will not return until my suit is answered.)
Kagiri naki omoi ni yakenu kawagoromo
tamoto kawakite kyō koso wa kime
Though scorched by boundless longing, the fur robe did not burn; even the sleeves once soaked with tears have dried. Today at last, I will wear this robe.
Nagori naku moyu to shiriseba kawagoromo
omoi no hoka ni okite mimashi o
Had I known it would burn away without a trace, I would not have cast the fur robe into the fire but only looked on. (Because I did not know it was a counterfeit, I feared it might be genuine and tested it by fire.)
Kuretake no yoyo no taketori noyama ni mo
sa ya wa wabishiki fushi o nomi mishi
We who have lived by cutting bamboo through generation after generation—even when we have dwelt in the fields and hills—have not known only such bitter trials.
Waga tamoto kyō kawakereba wabishisa no
chigusa no kazu mo wasurarenu beshi
Today my sleeves, once wet with brine and tears, have dried; and so the countless kinds of wretchedness will surely be forgotten.
Makoto ka to kikite mitsureba koto no ha o
kazareru tama no e ni zo arikeru
Hearing the tale, and thinking it true, I went to look—only to find a jeweled branch ornamented with words.
Toshi o hete nami tachiyoranu Suminoe no
matsu kai nashi to kiku wa makoto ka
Though many years pass as I wait for you to bring me the Cowry of Safe Childbirth, I hear that you say there is no use in waiting because you could not obtain it—is that truly so?
Kai wa naku arikeru mono o wabihatete
shinuru inochi o sukui ya wa senu
Since there was, in truth, no Cowry at all, will you not save this life of mine that is worn out with grief and dying?
Kaerusa no miyuki monouku omooete
somukite tomaru Kakuyahime yue
Because Kaguya-hime turns away from my wish and remains at the bamboo cutter’s house, the imperial return home weighs heavily on my heart.
Mugura hau shita ni mo toshi wa henuru mi no
nani ka wa tama no utena o mo mimu
For one like me, who has passed the years beneath tangled weeds in this bamboo cutter’s house, how could I ever behold a jeweled dais?
Ima wa tote ama no hagoromo kiru ori zo
kimi o aware to omoi shirinuru
Now, as I don the heavenly robe at this final moment, I have come to know anew how dear you are to me.
Au koto mo namida ni ukabu waga mi ni wa
shinanu kusuri mo nani ni ka wa sen
Even the thought of meeting you rises upon my tears; to one like me, what meaning is there in a drug that grants immortality?