Left (Tie)
君ゆへもかなしき琴の音は立てつ子を思ふ鶴に通ふのみかは
| kimi yue mo kanashiki koto no ne wa tatetsu ko o omou tsuru ni kayou nomi ka wa |
For you In sadness has my zither Put forth strains, so Can a crane calling for her chick Be the only one to cry? |
A Servant Girl
1101
Right
よそになる人だにつらき琴の音に子を思ふ鶴も心知られて
| yoso ni naru hito dani tsuraki koto no ne ni ko o omou tsuru mo kokoro shirarete |
Strangers to me – Even they the pain Within my zither’s strains, As a crane calling for her chick, Feel in their hearts! |
Ietaka
1102
Left and Right together: no faults to mention.
In judgement: both Left and Right mention ‘a crane calling for her chick’ (ko o omou tsuru). This would appear to be after the conception of the pentachord in Bai’s Works: ‘The third and fourth strings are chill, and at night a crane, loving her chick, calls from her cage.’ This is not the usual zither with seven strings, but it is certainly also a kind of zither. In the topic ‘On Zithers’ there is certainly no issue with alluding to Japanese zithers or Chinese ones, is there? In any case, neither poem seems greatly inferior or superior, so the round ties.
Composed in felicitation for a certain person:
ちとせふる霜の鶴をばおきながらひさしき物は君にぞありける
| titose Furu simo no turu woba okinagara Fisasiki mono Fa kimi zo arikeru |
A thousand years go by For the frost-covered cranes Beside you; Even longer life will Be yours, My Lord! |
Provisional Middle Councillor [Fujiwara no] Atsutada (906-943)
権中納言敦忠
Left (Tie).
鶯の百囀りを幾かへりながき春日に鳴きくらすらん
| uguisu no momo saezuri o iku kaeri nagaki haru hi ni nakikurasuran |
The warblers’ Multitude of twitters Goes round, and round again; The long, late days of spring, Do they spend in song? |
121
Right (Tie).
雲の上に鶴の諸聲をとづれてあはれのどけき春のけふ哉
| kumo no ue ni tsuru no morogoe otozurete aware nodokeki haru no kyō kana |
By the clound borne palace The choir of cranes Gives song; O, how peaceful is Today, in springtime! |
122
Neither team can find any particular fault with the other’s poem this round.
Shunzei says, ‘Both poems are on “lengthening days”, and both – the Left’s “warblers’ multitude of twitters” (uguisu no momo saezuri) and the Right’s “choir of cranes” (tsuru no morogoe) – have a tranquil air and sound excellent. Again, I must make them a tie.’