Left (Win).
恋ひわびて片敷く袖はかへせどもいつかは妹が夢に見えける
koFiwabite
katasiku sode Fa
kaFesedomo
itu ka Fa imo ga
yume ni miekeru |
Tortured with love
My single spread sleeve
I do reverse, yet
When will my darling
Appear in my dreams? |
The Holy Teacher 闍梨
[Ryūgen 隆源]
29
Right.
我が心ときぞともなく乱るれど日だに暮るれば恋ひ添はりけり
wa ga kokoro
toki zo tomonaku
midaruredo
Fi dani kurureba
koFisoFarikeri |
My heart
With every passing hour
Is more distraught, yet
Even when the day does dim
Love is my companion. |
Bichū 備中
[Minamoto no Nakazane 源仲実]
30
遠つ人松浦の川に若鮎釣る妹が手本を我れこそ卷かめ
topotu pito
matura no kapa ni
wakayu turu
imo ga tamoto wo
ware koso makame |
Folk far away
On Matsura River
Catching sweetfish sprats;
My darling girl, upon your sleeve
I would rest my head… |
Ōtomo no Tabito
Left (Win).
都にて馴れにし物をひとり寢の片敷く袖は何かさびしき
miyako nite
narenishi mono o
hitori ne no
katashiku sode wa
nani ka sabishiki |
In the capital
I grew accustomed to it, but
Sleeping alone
With only a single sleeve spread out
Is somehow sad… |
Lord Suetsune
891
Right.
妹だにも待つとし聞かば小余綾のいそぐ舟路も嬉しからまし
imo dani mo
matsu to shi kikaba
koyurugi no
isogu funaji mo
ureshikaramashi |
That girl of yours
Awaits you – were I to hear that,
From Koyurugi’s
Rocky shore in haste I’d go, even
The sea-lanes filled with joy! |
The Provisional Master of the Empress Household Office.
892
The Right state: the Left’s poem lacks the essence of love on a journey, and even the sense of sorrow seems insufficient. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no particular faults.
In judgement: what do the Right mean by saying the Left ‘lack the essence of love on a journey’? And is it really right that ‘is somehow sad’ (nani ka sabishiki) is insufficient? The poem is composed to give an impression of someone fooling themselves. The Right’s ‘Koyurugi’ is certainly not an expression which I have not come across. However, the Left should win.
嘆きつつ片敷く袖にくらぶれば清見が関の浪はものかは
nagekitsutsu
katashiku sode ni
kurabureba
kiyomi ga seki no
nami wa mono ka wa |
Ever grieving,
My single spread sleeve
Is like
The barrier at Kiyomi:
Washed by waves? |
Fujiwara no Moroji (913-970)
藤原師氏
道芝の露におきゐる人により我が手枕の袖もかわかず
michishiba no
tsuyu ni oki’iru
hito ni yori
wa ga tamakura no
sode mo kawakazu |
The roadside grasses
Dewfall
On him
Make my pillow –
His sleeve undrying. |
Izumi Shikibu
Left (Win).
埋火のあたりの円居飽かぬ間は夜床の衾よそにこそ見れ
uzumibi no
atari no matoi
akanu ma wa
yodoko no fusuma
yoso ni koso mire |
A charcoal fire-pit,
And friendly folk gathered around:
While I would not have it end
My night time bedding
Seems of little point! |
Lord Kanemune.
585
Right.
片敷きの袖冴え渡る冬の夜は床に衾の甲斐も無きかな
katashiki no
sode saewataru
fuyu no yo wa
toko ni fusuma no
kai mo naki kana |
Just my single
Sleeve is so chill
On this winter’s night,
The blankets on my bed
Seem to do no good at all… |
Lord Takanobu.
586
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we wonder about the use of ‘bedding of little point’ (fusuma yoso ni)? The Gentlemen of the Left state: we find no faults in the Right’s poem.
Shunzei’s judgement: Both poems are on ‘bedding’ (fusuma), with the Left saying that it seems of little purpose at a gathering around a charcoal fire-pit, and the Right, that it seems to be thin when the cold comes. So, we go from it doing no good, even if you do have it on, to it being pointless when you are happy and warm. What point are these poems trying to make, I wonder? The Left should win.
Left (Win).
裏もなき名立ながら夏衣たもとに風はなを隔てけり
ura mo naki
natachinagara
natsugoromo
tamoto ni kaze wa
nao hedatekeri |
Unlined
By repute is
Summer garb,
But this sleeve to the wind
Does pose some hindrance. |
Kenshō.
241
Right.
夏衣ひとへなれども中なかにあつさぞまさる裏となりける
natsugoromo
hitoe naredomo
nakanaka ni
atsusa zo masaru
ura to narikeru |
Summer garb
Is but a single layer, yet
This slight
Heat overpowers
To lie beneath it. |
Nobusada.
242
The Right team state that they ‘cannot comprehend the use of “by repute” (natachinagara)’, while the Left counter that they ‘do not understand the use of “slight” (nakanaka ni) before saying that the heat gets under one’s clothing.’
Shunzei responds by stating, ‘The Left’s “by repute” is simply a conventional companion to the statement that summer garb is but a single layer – that is just what one says. It would also seem to suggest the rise of a rumour about an affair, would it not? Nor is there any reason to be puzzled by the Right’s statement of heat beneath one’s clothes; I do wonder, though about “slight” in conjunction with “this heat” (atsusa zo). Thus, even though the rumour in the Left’s poem is unclear, its concluding line is most fine, and it should be the winner.’
Then, the lady:
狭衣にかたしく袖のつゆけきをいかにしてかは君に貸すべき
sagoromo ni
katasiku sode no
tuyukeki wo
ika ni site ka Fa
kimi ni kasubeki |
My night-robe’s
Single sleeve is
Wet with dew;
Why
Would I lend it you, my lord? |
'Simply moving and elegant'