Fulling cloth late at night (深夜擣衣)
Left
わぎもこがうつ唐衣さよふけてほのかにきこゆいづこなるらん
| wagimoko ga utsu karakoromo sayo fukete honoka ni kikoyu izuko naruran | My darling girl Is fulling my Cathay robe; As brief night breaks Faintly I hear The echoes from somewhere. |
Ki no Sukezane
29
Right
手もたゆく成りやゆくらんさ夜ふかみ衣しでうつ音ののどけさ
| ta mo tayuku nari ya yukuran sayo fukami koromo shideutsu oto no nodokesa | Is it that her hands so weary Have become? Late on a brief night Fulling clothing— How faint that sound… |
Taira no Sadamoto
30
Left (Tie)
昔聞く君が手馴れの琴ならば夢に知られて音をも立てまし
| mukashi kiku kimi ga tenare no koto naraba yume ni shirarete ne o mo tatemashi |
Long ago, I heard Your favourite Zither play – if that were me, then In your dreams I would be known, and Make a sound most sweet within your sleep… |
Lord Sada’ie
1093
Right
わぎも子が心のひかぬ琴の音は我まつにこそ通はざりけれ
| wagimoko ga kokoro no hikanu koto no ne wa wa ga matsu ni koso kayowazarikere |
My darling’s Heartstrings are not tugged By my zither’s strains, so Though I pine for her ‘Tis of no use at all… |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
1094
The Right state: the Left’s poem gives the impression of being based on something – but what? The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgement: there is nothing unusual about the Left’s poem. It simply seems to be in the conception of the Man’yōshū poem where, ‘a Japanese zither made from the wood of the parasol tree transforms into a maiden in a dream, and says “When will / The day come that / I shall sing / Making his lap / My pillow?”’ I also have the feeling that it is alluding to the subsequent poem, however. So, it is certainly not the case that it is not based on anything. The Right’s poem has ‘heartstrings are not tugged’ (kokoro no hikanu) and then the metaphorical ‘though I pine for her’ (wa ga matsu ni koso), so is certainly not lacking in conception either. They are equivalent and tie.
Left (Win).
さらでだに恨みんと思ふ我妹子が衣の裾に秋風ぞ吹く
| sarade dani uramin to omou wagimoko ga koromo no suso ni akikaze zo fuku |
That is not it, yet even so, I do think to hate My darling girl, Her robe hem Blown by the autumn wind… |
Lord Ari’ie.
935
Right.
いかなれば露をば払ふ風の音に物思ふ袖の濡れまさるらん
| ika nareba tsuyu o harau kaze no oto ni mono’omou sode no nuremasaruran |
For some reason Dewdrops blown by The wind – the mere sound Brings to my gloomy sleeves A dampness most extreme… |
Jakuren.
936
The Right state: the Left’s poem is most admirable. The Left state: the Right’s poem is definitely not!
In judgement: to give the gist of the comments by the Gentlemen of the Left and the Right, the Left’s poem is admirable, and the Right’s poem is not admirable at all. I see no need to make much more of this round that that, so, the Left wins.