Left (Win)
鳥の音は戀しき人の何なれや逢夜はいとひ逢はぬ夜は待つ
tori no ne wa
koishiki hito no
nani nare ya
auyo wa itoi
awanu yo wa matsu |
The cock’s crow:
For my darling,
What might it mean?
Hated on nights we meet, and
Longed for when we do not… |
Lord Kanemune
1049
Right
いかにして空とる程もはし鷹のしばしもこひに身を休むらん
ika ni shite
sora toru hodo mo
hashitaka no
shibashi mo koi ni
mi o yasumuran |
Why, when
Hunting in the skies, does
The sparrowhawk
Briefly in the trees
Take his ease? |
Ietaka
1050
The Gentlemen of the Right state: ‘What might it mean?’ (nani nare ya) fails to match. Ending ‘longed for’ (matsu) is overly definite. The Gentlemen of the Left state: what has hunting in the skies got to do with love?
In judgement: it has been said that ‘cock’s crow’ (tori no ne) and ‘what might it mean’ fail to match. Then there is also ‘definite’ (futsugiri). These are nothing but expressions which I do not know and find difficult to understand. ‘The sparrowhawk hunting in the skies’ (hashitaka no sora toru hodo) and ‘take his ease in the trees’ (koi ni yasumuran) both have only a faint conception of love, and I wonder about alluding to hawking. The Left failing to match, too, may be a term used in coursing for deer. Well, even if the deer do not match, as it has the conception of love, the Left should win.