かき曇り海人の小舟に吹く苫の下透るまで時雨しにけり
kakikumori ama no wobune ni Fuku toma no sita toForu made siguresinikeri |
Clouds claw in and, Upon the fisherfolk’s tiny boats Do blow; until from the thatch, Right through to beneath, Do the showers fall… |
かき曇り海人の小舟に吹く苫の下透るまで時雨しにけり
kakikumori ama no wobune ni Fuku toma no sita toForu made siguresinikeri |
Clouds claw in and, Upon the fisherfolk’s tiny boats Do blow; until from the thatch, Right through to beneath, Do the showers fall… |
Left (Tie).
奈呉の海士の塩燒く煙空にのみ我名を立てゝやまんとやする
nago no ama no shio yaku kemuri sora ni nomi wa ga na wo tatete yaman to ya suru |
At Nago the fisherfolk’s Salt-burning smoke fills The skies; is that all My names is to be? Gossip And then the end? |
Kenshō.
959
Right.
山田守るかひ屋が下の煙こそこがれもやらぬたぐひなりけれ
yamada moru kaiya ga shita no kemuri koso kogare mo yaranu tagui narikere |
Warding the mountain fields Beneath the heated hut The smoke Smoulders without end – And so do I! |
Jakuren
960
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults. The Left state: we wonder about the usage of ‘beneath the heated hut’ (kaiya ga shita) with ‘warding the mountain fields’ (yamada moru). In reply: in the Man’yōshū ‘heated hut’ (kaiya), is written with characters meaning ‘deer-repelling fire hut’. In addition, in territories where they wish to drive the deer away from their mountain paddies, they take things which smell foul when burnt, such as hair, and burn them, and in order that the fires are not put out by the rain, they build a roof over them. The common folk of these places call these things ‘heated huts’ (kaiya). So, the Man’yōshū’s usage corresponds with actual practice. Again, a further criticism from the Left: the Master of the Crown Prince’s Household Office composed a poem on salting. Atsutaka also includes ‘heated hut’ in the section on mosquito fires. Such are the ideas of our forebears. That ‘heated hut’ is written in Man’yōshū with characters meaning ‘deer-repelling fire’ and ‘scented fire’ is no proof of anything. Might it not have been written this way so that it would be read to mean ‘keep’? One certainly cannot sweepingly say that it means ‘deer-repelling fire’. A further response from the Right: our forebears have presented no definite evidence, and so it is difficult to accept this argument. In addition, has it not long been accepted that ‘morning haze’ can be used to refer to the smoke from deer-repelling fires, when composing on the haze spreading? Furthermore, in the Hitomaroshū, there is the poem ‘On Kogane Mountain / Beneath the heated hut / Frogs call’. Thus, it appears that this composition must refer to mountain fields.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘At Nago the fisherfolk’ (nago no ama) links the initial and latter sections of the poem extremely well. There seems to be have been some discussion from both teams about the Right’s ‘beneath the heated hut the smoke’ (kaiya ga shita no kemuri). Prior to the to and fro about this poem, was there not a similar discussion about heated huts in the final section of spring poems about frogs? With the greatest respect, the discussion here seems little different. However, in regard to the Right’s poem, saying that love smoulders is the normal way of expressing matters. I do wonder about ‘smoulders without end’ (kogare mo yaranu), but this would certainly seem appropriate with the reference to a heated hut. The Left, in addition, with ‘salt burning smoke’ (yaku shio kemuri) lacks any faults to indicate, so with no clear winner or loser, I make this round a tie.
朝なぎに楫の音聞こゆ御食つ国野島の海人の舟にしあるらし
asa nagi ni kadi no oto kikoyu miketu kuni nozima no ama no pune ni si arurasi |
In the morning calm I hear the sound of oars; Tribute-bearing, The fisherfolk of Nojima Have taken ship, it seems. |
Yamabe no Akahito
When she was asked about the possibility of a meeting.
みるめ刈る海人の行きかふ湊路に勿来の関も我は据ゑぬを
mirume karu ama no yukikau minatoji ni nakoso no seki mo ware wa suenu o |
Gathering seaweed The fisherfolk go back and forth Along the harbour ways; Come not to the barrier of Nakoso – I have not placed it there, so… |
Ono no Komachi
小野小町
This poem is also Komachi-shū 小町集 (late. C9th) 5.
あゆの風いたく吹くらし奈呉の海人の釣する小船漕ぎ隠る見ゆ
ayu no kaze itaku pukurasi nago no ama no turisuru wobune kogikakuru miyu |
The eastern wind Blows strong, it seems; The fisherfolk at Nago: Their tiny boats Seem to hide, as they row along. |
Ōtomo no Yakamochi
大伴家持
Left (Win).
靡かじな海士の藻塩火焚き初めて煙は空にくゆりわぶ共
nabikaji na ama no moshiobi takisomete kemuri wa sora ni kuyuriwabutomo |
She has not so much as waved to me, yet The fisher-folk salt fires Have begun to kindle and The smoke into the skies Has yet to rise… |
607
ight.
葦の屋の隙漏る雨の雫こそ音聞かぬより袖は濡れけれ
ashi no ya no hima moru ame no shizuku koso oto kikanu yori sode wa nurekeri |
Through a roof of reeds’ Chinks, drenching rain Drops Make no sound, yet Soak my sleeves. |
608
The Right state that it should be kuyuru in the Left’s poem – and that they are not accustomed to hearing kuyuri. The Left state that, ‘while the rain falling on a roof of reeds would make no sound, once it became drops dripping through, it would. In addition, while it “makes no sound”, how can it be love?’
Shunzei’s judgement: The gentlemen of the Right’s claim that the Left’s poem should be kuyuri is incorrect. This is simply a case of the same diction as in utsuru-utsuri, todomaru-todomari – I should not have to give more examples. In form the poems do have good and bad points [utazama zen’aku arubeki]. I have the feeling I have recently seen something similar to the Right’s metaphorical use of a roof of reeds. Or maybe it was not that recently. The Left’s ‘has yet to rise’ seems better. I shall make it the winner.
Left (Tie).
斧の柄をかくてや人はくたしけん山路おぼゆる春の空かな
ono no e o kakute ya hito wa kutashiken yamaji oboyuru haru no sora kana |
‘His axe haft: Is this how he Let it rot away?’ I wonder on the mountain paths Under the springtime skies. |
131
Right (Tie).
春の日は灘の塩屋のあま人もいとまありてやくらしわぶらん
haru no hi wa nada no shioya no amabito mo itoma arite ya kurashiwaburan |
In the springtime sun At Nada, the salt-making Fisher-folk, too, Have time to spare, and Live with it heavy on their hands… |
132
Both teams say they can find nothing to criticise in the other’s poem.
Shunzei agrees, saying, ‘You gentlemen have already stated that there is no reason to fault either poem. The round must be a tie.’
Left (Tie).
須磨の海人の袖に吹こす塩風のなるとはすれど手にもたまらず
suma no ama no sode ni fukikosu shio kaze no naru to wa suredo te ni mo tamarazu |
Among the Suma fisher-folks’ Sleeves blows The brine-filled tidewind: Well-used to it, yet My hand can hold it not. |
159
Right (Tie).
やすらひに出でける方も白鳥の鳥羽山松のねにのみぞなく
yasurai ni idekeru kata mo shiratori no tobayama matsu no ne ni nomi zo naku |
Pained with parting and Whence you went unknowing, As a white dove on Toba Mountains’ pine tree Roots am I, constantly crying. |
160
When he heard from the house of a woman of whom he was fond and with whom he had been conversing, that she had been conversing with numberless others.
潮の間にあざりする海人もをのが世々かひ有とこそ思へべらなれ
siFo no ma ni azarisuru ama mo wono ga yoyo kaFiari to koso omoFuberanare |
All along the tide-space Gathering shellfish, the fisherfolk In their lives Have purpose: As must I! |
Ki no Haseo
Left (Tie).
くるゝ夜は衛士のたく火をそれと見よ室の八嶋も都ならねば
kururu yo wa eji no taku hi wo sore to miyo muro no yashima mo miyako naraneba |
In the dark of night, The conscripts kindled flames Behold as my love, for The waters of Muro no Yashima Lie not within the capital. |
113
Right (Tie).
蘆の屋に螢やまがふ海人やたく思ひも戀も夜はもえつゝ
ashi no ya ni hotaru ya magau ama ya taku omoi mo koi mo yoru wa moetsutsu |
In a reed-roofed hut, One might mistake for fireflies, or Fisherfolk’s kindled fires The passion and the love, that Burns in me throughout the night. |
114