A long time ago there lived a maiden by the name of Sakurako (Cherry Blossom Child), who was wooed by two men at the same time. They competed for her uncaring of their lives, heedless if they lived or died. At this, Sakurako, weeping, said, “For a long time I have heard nothing, seen nothing, but that I, though only one woman, should marry two houses. And now, the two men’s hearts will not be reconciled, whatever I do. But if I die, it does not seem that their competition will long continue.”
Not long after, she went into the woods and hanged herself from a tree. The two men were inconsolable with grief, with tears of blood running on to their collars. Here are two poems expressing their feelings.
春さらばかざしにせむと我が思ひし櫻の花は散りにけるかも
| paru saraba kazasi ni semu tö wa ga omopisi sakura nö pana pa tirinikeru ka mo |
In the springtime A garland I would twine, Or so I thought, But the cherry blossoms Are scattered and gone. |