A futher poem sent by the Elder Maiden of Ishikawa to Ōtomo no Tanushi.
我が聞きし耳によく似る葦の末の足やむ我が背つとめ給ぶべし
| wa ga kikisi mimi ni yoku niru asi no ure no asi yamu wa ga se tutometabubesi |
As I have heard So it does seem to be: As the reed tips Pierce your legs, my darling, Get well soon! |
The above poem was presented by the Elder Maiden of Ishikawa to Chūrō, when she visited him on hearing that his legs were troubling him.
A poem sent by the Elder Maiden of Ishikawa to Ōtomo no sukune, Tanushi (Tanushi was the second son of Lord Ōtomo, the Saho Major Councillor. His mother was Lady Kose).
風流士と我れは聞けるをやど貸さず我れを帰せりおその風流士
| miyabiwo to ware pa kikeru wo yado kasazu ware wo kapeseri osono no miyabiwo |
A courtly man I did hear you were, yet You would not let me stay, and Sent me home, You lackwit dandy! |
Ōtomo no Tanushi was also known as Chūrō. He was miraculously good-looking and incomparable in his elegance, so much so that anyone who saw or heard him was deeply moved. There was a woman called the Elder Maiden of Ishikawa. Wanting to become his bride, she grieved over how she always lived alone. She entrusted all her feelings to a letter, but was unable to locate an appropriate messenger. So, she came up with a scheme and, disguising herself as a poor old woman and carrying an earthen pot, went to where Tanushi was sleeping. She put on a hoarse voice and, tottering as she walked, knocked on his door, and said, ‘I am your elderly neighbour to the east. I have come to ask if you would let me have some fire.’ Chūrō, not realising in the darkness that she was in disguise, had no thought that he should let her in and have anything else to do with her, gave her fire as she had asked and sent her on her way home. The following day, the Elder Maiden, embarrassed to ask Tanushi to marry her without a go-between, and upset that her plan had not worked, wrote this poem and sent it to him – or so it is said.
A poem composed in winter in the Eleventh Month, by His Majesty, when the Major Controller of the Left, Prince Kazuragi, and others, were granted the name Tachibana.
橘は実さへ花さへその葉さへ枝に霜降れどいや常葉の木
| tatibana pa mi sape pana sape sono pa sape e ni simo puredo iya toko pa no ki |
O, orange tree: Fruit and flowers both, And leaves, too, Even should frost fall on your branches Evegreen will you be! |
The above poem was composed in winter, on the 9th day of the Eleventh Month, after Prince Kazuragi, Junior Third Rank, and Prince Sai, Junior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade, among others, surrendered their membership of the imperial family and were granted the name of Tachibana. At that time Former Emperor [Genshō], the Emperor [Shōmu], and Empress [Kōmyō], were present in the Empress’ quarters, and hosted a banquet at which poems celebrating the name of Tachibana were composed, and sake was presented to the new members of the family. It is alternatively said, ‘This poem was composed by the Former Emperor. In addition, the Emperor and the Empress each composed a single poem. Those poems were lost and cannot now be located.’ If one seeks copies of the documents now, they say that on the 9th day of the Eleventh Month [Tenpyō] 8 [736], Prince Kazuragi and other submitted a request to the throne to be granted the name of Tachibana. On the 17th day the request was granted.
大船に小舟引き添へ潜くとも志賀の荒雄に潜き逢はめやも
| opobune ni wobune piki sope kaduku tomo sika no arawo ni kaduki apame ya mo |
If a great ship to A little boat were attached, and Dived down, even so Would Arao from Shika Meet them beneath the seas? |
It is said that the above poems were composed in the years of Jinki [724-729], when the Dazai provincial government ordered a peasant by the name of Munakatabe no Tsumaro from the district of Munakata in Chikuzen province to captain a boat taking provisions to Tsushima. So, Tsumaro went to the home of a fisherman called Arao in the village of Shika in the district of Kasuya, and said to him, ‘I have a request to make of you. Will you hear me out?’ Arao replied, ‘The district in which I live is different from yours, but we have sailed on the same ship for many years. I feel closer to you than to my brothers. Even should we be about to die together, I would not dare to abandon you.’ So Tsumaro said, ‘The officials of the Dazai government have ordered me to captain a boat carrying provisions to Tsushima. However, I am grown old and my strength is failing me, and I do not think I would survive the voyage. Thus I have come to you. I beg you, please take on this duty in my place.’ Arao agreed and in due course, in line with his duty, set sail from Mineraku Point in Matsura in Bizen Province. As he was sailing straight across to Tsushima, suddenly clouds filled the sky, the wind and the rain arose, he could not catch a favourable breeze, and his ship sank to the bottom of the sea. His wife and children, unable to endure feeling like a calf which has lost its mother, composed these poems. An alternative explanation is that the Governor of Chikuzen, Yamanoue no Okura felt sympathy for the woman and her children, and composed them in their stead.
