Left (Tie)
いかにしてつれなき中を渡るべき足の音もせぬ駒のありとも
| ika ni shite tsurenaki naka o watarubeki ashi no oto mo senu koma no aritomo |
How, indeed, To one so heartless Can I make my way across? Even a silent-footed Steed had I to ride… |
Lord Suetsune
1059
Right (Win)
道遠み妹がりがりいそぐその駒に草取り飼はんなづみもぞする
| michi tōmi imogari isogu sono koma ni kusa torikawan nazumi mo zo suru |
Long is the road To go swiftly seek my darling, so For my steed I’ll go gather grasses That he not tire along the way… |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
1060
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we wonder about the appropriateness of making one’s way across when there is no ‘bridge’? The Gentlemen of the Left state: there are no faults to indicate in the Right’s poem.
In judgement: the gentleman of the Left has composed his poem referring to the conception of the Man’yō poem ‘A silent-footed / Colt I’d have: / In Kashitsuka, / The clapper bridge at Mama / To ceaselessly traverse!’, but must have misplaced the bridge somewhere. Truly, I do wonder how it is possible to make one’s way across in the absence of a bridge. Although to say ‘for my steed I’ll go gather grasses’ (sono koma ni kusa torikawan) is something commonplace, doing it to prevent one’s mount getting tired, despite the length of the journey, seems better than lacking a bridge.