A poem composed in reply to His Majesty by Tachibana sukune Naramaro.
奥山之 真木葉淩 零雪乃 零者雖益 地尓落目八方
| okuyama no maki no pa sinogi puru yuki no puri pa masu tomo tuti ni otime ya mo | Deep within the mountains Evergreen leaves are weighed down With falling snow, but Even should it keep on falling Will it ever tumble to the ground? |
In the year after that in which the Teishi Emperor relinquished the throne, he held a maidenflower match, making no instruction as to who should lead the teams of the Left and Right, so His Majesty and Her Majesty, the Empress, fulfilled those roles.
Left
くさがくれあきすぎぬべきをみなへしにほひゆゑにやまづみえぬらむ
| kusagakure aki suginubeki ominaeshi nioi yue ni ya mazu mienuramu | Hidden ‘mongst the grasses Has she spent the autumn, This maidenflower— Is it for her glow that She is soon discovered? |
1[1]
Right
あらがねのつちのしたにてあきへしはけふのうらてをまつをみなへし
| aragane no tsuchi no shita nite aki heshi wa kyō no urate o matsu ominaeshi | As ore Below the earth Has she spent the autumn, For today’s first round Awaiting—a maidenflower. |
2[2]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 508
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 530; Fubokushō 4229.
Left
あき風に声をほにあげて行く舟はあまの戸わたる雁にざりける
| aki kaze ni kowe o ho ni agete yuku funa wa ama no to wataru kari ni zo arikeru | In the autumn wind, Hark! Voices raised with the sails, These boats departing Cross to a skybound shore: The geese are leaving. |
Lord Fujiwara no Sugane
110[1]
Right
紅葉ばの散りこむ時は袖にうけむつちにおちなばきずもこそつけ
| momijiba no chirikomu toki wa sode ni ukemu tsuchi ni ochinaba kizu mo koso tsuke | When the scarlet leaves Come scattering I would catch them in my sleeves, that They not fall to the ground and Suffer any injury at all! |
111
[1] Kokinshū IV: 212; Shinsen manyōshū 117; Kokin rokujō VI: 4359
Envoy.
天地のともに久しく言ひ継げとこの奇し御魂敷かしけらしも
| ametuti no tomo ni pisasiku ipituge to kono kusi mitama sikasikarasi mo |
The Heavens and the Earth Both eternally Will tell it: These mysterious sacred stones Have been enshrinéd here! |
The above facts were related by Takebe no Ushimaro, a man from Ichisato no shima in the district of Naka.