When the Hoshō-ji Lay Priest and Former Grand Minister [Fujiwara no Michinaga] plucked a maidenflower, and said Murasaki Shikibu must be able to compose an appropriate poem.
をみなへしさかりの色をみるからにつゆのわきける身こそしらるれ
| ominaeshi sakari no iro o miru kara ni tsuyu no wakikeru mi koso shirarure |
The maidenflowers’ Hues are at their best, I see, so The dewfall must have distinguished ‘Tween them and me–how well I know it! |
Murasaki Shikibu
紫式部