The Romance of the Milky Way | Page 9

by Aston);
and words or phrases necessarily supplied have been inclosed in
parentheses.
Amanogawa Ai-muki tachité, Waga koïshi Kimi kimasu nari
Himo-toki makéna!
[He is coming, my long-desired lord, whom I have been waiting to meet
here, on the banks of the River of Heaven.... The moment of loosening
my girdle is nigh![7]]
[Footnote 7: The last line alludes to a charming custom of which
mention is made in the most ancient Japanese literature. Lovers, ere
parting, were wont to tie each other's inner girdle (himo) and pledge
themselves to leave the knot untouched until the time of their next
meeting. This poem is said to have been composed in the seventh year
of Y[=o]r[=o],--A.D. 723,--eleven hundred and eighty-two years ago.]
Hisakata no[8] Ama no kawasé ni, Funé ukété, Koyoï ka kimi ga Agari
kimasan?
[Footnote 8: Hisakata-no is a "pillow-word" used by the old poets in
relation to celestial objects; and it is often difficult to translate. Mr.
Aston thinks that the literal meaning of hisakata is simply "long-hard,"
in the sense of long-enduring,--hisa (long), katai (hard, or firm),--so
that hisakata-no would have the meaning of "firmamental." Japanese
commentators, however, say that the term is composed with the three
words, hi (sun), sasu (shine), and kata (side);--and this etymology
would justify the rendering of hisakata-no by some such expression as
"light-shedding," "radiance-giving." On the subject of pillow-words,
see Aston's Grammar of the Japanese Written Language.]
[Over the Rapids of the Everlasting Heaven, floating in his boat, my
lord will doubtless deign to come to me this very night.]
Kazé kumo wa Futatsu no kishi ni Kayoëdomo, Waga toho-tsuma no
Koto zo kayowanu!

[Though winds and clouds to either bank may freely come or go,
between myself and my faraway spouse no message whatever may
pass.]
Tsubuté[9] ni mo Nagé koshitsu-béki, Amanogawa Hédatéréba ka mo,
Amata subé-naki!
[To the opposite bank one might easily fling a pebble; yet, being
separated from him by the River of Heaven, alas! to hope for a meeting
(except in autumn) is utterly useless.]
[Footnote 9: The old text has tabuté.]
Aki-kazé no Fukinishi hi yori "Itsushika" to--; Waga machi koîshi Kimi
zo kimaséru.
[From the day that the autumn wind began to blow (I kept saying to
myself), "Ah! when shall we meet?"--but now my beloved, for whom I
waited and longed, has come indeed!]
Amanogawa Ito kawa-nami wa Tatanédomo, Samorai gatashi-- Chikaki
kono sé wo.
[Though the waters of the River of Heaven have not greatly risen, (yet
to cross) this near stream and to wait upon (my lord and lover) remains
impossible.]
Sodé furaba Mi mo kawashitsu-béku Chika-kerédo, Wataru subé nashi,
Aki nishi aranéba.
[Though she is so near that the waving of her (long) sleeves can be
distinctly seen, yet there is no way to cross the stream before the season
of autumn.]
Kagéroï no Honoka ni miété Wakarénaba;-- Motonaya koïn Aü-toki
madé wa!
[When we were separated, I had seen her for a moment only,--and
dimly as one sees a flying midge;[10] now I must vainly long for her as

before, until time of our next meeting!]
Hikoboshi no Tsuma mukaë-buné Kogizurashi,-- Ama-no-Kawara ni
Kiri no tatéru wa.
[Footnote 10: Kagéroï is an obsolete form of kagér[=o], meaning an
ephemera.]
[Methinks that Hikoboshi must be rowing his boat to meet his wife,--for
a mist (as of oar-spray) is rising over the course of the Heavenly
Stream.]
Kasumi tatsu Ama-no-Kawara ni, Kimi matsu to,-- Ikay[=o] hodo ni
Mono-suso nurenu.
[While awaiting my lord on the misty shore of the River of Heaven, the
skirts of my robe have somehow become wet.]
Amanogawa, Mi-tsu no nami oto Sawagu-nari: Waga matsu-kimi no
Funadé-surashi mo.
[On the River of Heaven, at the place of the august ferry, the sound of
the water has become loud: perhaps my long-awaited lord will soon be
coming in his boat.]
Tanabata no Sodé maku yoï no Akatoki wa, Kawasé no tazu wa
Nakazu to mo yoshi.
[As Tanabata (slumbers) with her long sleeves rolled up, until the
reddening of the dawn, do not, O storks of the river-shallows, awaken
her by your cries.[11]]
[Footnote 11: Lit., "not to cry out (will be) good"--but a literal
translation of the poem is scarcely possible.]
Amanogawa Kiri-tachi-wataru: Ky[=o], ky[=o], to-- Waga
matsu-koïshi Funadé-surashi!
[(She sees that) a mist is spreading across the River of Heaven....

"To-day, to-day," she thinks, "my long-awaited lord will probably come
over in his boat."]
Amanogawa, Yasu no watari ni, Funé ukété;-- Waga tachi-matsu to
Imo ni tsugé koso.
[By the ferry of Yasu, on the River of Heaven, the boat is floating: I
pray you tell my younger sister[12] that I stand here and wait.]
[Footnote 12: That is to say, "wife." In archaic Japanese the word imo
signified both "wife" and "younger sister." The term might also be