67. Kuruma means both “wheel” and “wagon.” These two lines evoke not only the drearily repetitious cycle of their daily labor but also their sufferings on the wheel of birth and death.
68. The sisters’ sleeves are wet with the brine they gather, but even the moon moistens their sleeves because, seeing it, they recall the past and weep.
69. This is the beginning of the sashi-sageuta-ageuta passage probably set to music by Kan’ami. The following passage draws on the “Suma” chapter of The Tale of Genji. At Suma, Genji lived in a house some way back from the sea. Finding the noise of the waves still very loud, he recalled a poem by Yukihira, who had preceded him at Suma and who (as The Tale of Genji suggests) had lived at the same spot. Since Yukihira had spoken in verse of the breeze from Suma shore blowing through the pass (over the hills along the beach), Genji realized that this breeze must stir up the waves. This sashi intimates that the two sisters (there was probably only one saltmaker in Kan’ami’s piece) live roughly where Genji, and Yukihira before him, lived.
70. A slight modification of a poem by Fujiwara no Takamitsu, Shūishū, Miscellaneous 1, no. 435.
71. All these sights and sounds of Suma recall what Genji sees in the “Suma” chapter.
72. The long, dangling sleeves had to be tied back in order to allow freedom of movement for work.
73. The two lines beginning with “a woman’s wagon” also contain the fleeting image of a great “male wave” approaching the shore, only to recede, and this wave might conceivably point to Yukihira.
74. Storm winds from the four directions.
75. “Take care lest the smoke of the salt fires drift across the moon and hide it.”
76. “Pine Islands” is Matsushima, a celebrated scenic spot on the northeast coast of Honshu, near the Shiogama mentioned later. The name Ojima is associated with Matsushima in poetry.
77. Tōei, the play from which Zeami transplanted this rongi passage, is set at Ashiya. In their aesthetic exaltation, Pining Wind and Autumn Rain play with fragments of poems that eulogize places associated with saltmaking.
78. Michinoku is northern Honshu, where Matsushima and Shiogama are to be found. Shiogama means “salt kiln,” and the name Chika, near Shiogama, resembles chika[shi], which means “near.” Zeami developed the poetic value of Shiogama in his play Tōru and, to a lesser extent, in Akoya no matsu (no longer performed).
79. Akogi Beach is near the Grand Shrine of Ise, on Ise Bay. Just off Futami-ga-ura (Futami, or “Twice-See” Shore), also near the Ise Shrine, two tall rocks rise from the water. They are called the Husband-and-Wife Rocks, and a sacred straw rope encircles them. The “poor folk” carrying “salt wood” (wood to fuel the saltmakers’ fires) on Akogi Beach recall several classical poems.
80. Narumi-gata is a spot on the coast near present-day Nagoya. Its name (if the characters used to write it are taken literally) means something like “Bay of the Sounding Sea.”
81. Naruo, the name of which sounds like Narumi, is along the coast east of Suma.
82. Ashinoya (or Ashiya), literally “rush houses,” is a well-known locality on the coast east of Suma, now between Kobe and Osaka.
83. The line “at Ashinoya” begins a five-line passage that is a variant of a poem in The Tales of Ise, episode 87. Nada is the name of the shore near Ashinoya. The passage puns elaborately on tsuge (boxwood) and tsugeji (will not tell [of my plight]) and on sashi (“insert” a comb in one’s hair) and sashi-kuru ([waves] come surging in). In the original poem, the girl explains to her lover that she has been so busy gathering brine, she has not been able even to dress her hair with a comb before coming to meet him.
84. To “one [moon]” and “two [reflections],” the original adds the puns mitsu (“three” or “brimming”) and yo (“four” or “night”). “For” is meant to be homophonous with “four.”
85. Genji’s house at Suma is described in this way in the “Suma” chapter.
86. According to the Kokinshū (ca. 905), Yukihira, in exile at Suma, sent this poem back to someone in the capital. The “salt, sea-tangle drops” are both the brine that drips from the seaweed gathered by saltmakers along the beach and the poet’s own tears.
87. A well-known saying, ultimately derived from the Chinese classic Mencius.
88. The brine that drenches her in her daily work also represents the memories from which she can never be free. This kudoki-guri passage uses language from the “Suma” chapter of The Tale of Genji.
89. Zeami invented this death. Yukihira actually died at the age of seventy-five.
90. This “sin” is neither social (love across class lines) nor moral. It is the sin of “wrongful clinging” (mōshu): the error of desiring intensely what one cannot possibly have. Such clinging leads only to misery.
91. A purification rite was regularly performed on the Day of the Serpent early in the third lunar month. Evil influences were transferred onto dolls that were then floated down rivers or out to sea. The same rite appears in the “Suma” chapter.
92. Anonymous, Kokinshū, Love 4, no. 746.
93. The first half of a poem by Ki no Tomonori, Kokinshū, Love 2, no. 593. The speaker of the poem says that each night before retiring, as he removes his hunting cloak and hangs it on its stand, he cannot help thinking of his love. The key words in the poem are kakete (hang [the cloak on its stand]) and “constantly,” here rendered as “on and on.”
94. Anonymous, Kokinshū, Haikai Poems, no. 1023.
95. The river that the soul must cross to reach the afterworld. It has three fords (deep, medium, and shallow), depending on the sins that burden the soul.
96. Pining Wind quotes Yukihira’s poem inaccurately, and so does Autumn Rain a few lines later. It is a climactic moment when a little later still, their mounting excitement recalls it to them perfectly.
97. This poem, from the Kokinshū, is generally taken as a farewell addressed by Yukihira to a friend or friends in the capital, when he set out for Inaba Province in 855 as the new governor.
98. This “pines” is meant to include the meaning “is a pine.”
99. In Teaching on Style and the Flower (Fūshikaden), Zeami notes that warrior plays “tend to be demonic” and “are not interesting.”
100. The moon suggests the monk Renshō himself. The “Ninefold Clouds” refer to the capital. “Ninefold,” an epithet for the imperial palace, and hence for the capital, refers to the nine gates of ancient Chinese palaces.
101. These lines allude to the poem by Ariwara no Yukihira in the Kokinshū (Miscellaneous 2, no. 962) that figures so prominently in Pining Wind. Yukihira was exiled to Suma.
102. Yukihira’s poem alludes to a friend in the capital, and the youth is probably longing for a similar friend, in the capital now lost to him, who would know his true quality. In fact, his only possible friend, Renshō, is already present.
103. From a line of Chinese verse by the Japanese poet Ki no Tadana, Wakan rōeishū, no. 559.
104. It was felt that bamboo washed up by the sea yielded particularly fine flutes. Atsumori’s own was, in fact, the one named Little Branch (Saeda). The divine music of Greenleaf was legendary.
105. Because Sumiyoshi was where ships from Koma (Korea) once used to set anchor. The Koma-bue (Koma flute) is used in the ancient court music known as gakaku.
106. The Name is that of Amida, the Buddha of Infinite Light, whose invocation is Namu Amida Butsu (Hail Amida Buddha). The Ten Invocations (ten callings of the Name for the benefit of another) were often requested of holy persons even by the living. Renshō’s teacher, Hōnen, was an outstanding Amida devotee. In Pining Wind, too, the monk invokes Amida for the spirits of the dead.
107. The canonical vow made by Amida before he became a Buddha, to save all beings by his grace. These lines, in Chinese, are from the sutra known in Japan as Kammuryōju-kyō.
108. The barrier on the pass through the hills behind Suma was well known in poetry, as was its nameless guard. In the language of poetry, an old
er man seen at night at Suma can only be this guard, so that Atsumori’s playful challenge, “O keeper of the pass, tell me your name,” seems intended to remind the more rustic Renshō of his place. His words, based on a twelfth-century poem, are as elegant as the music of his flute.
109. It is only rarely, and by great good fortune, that a sentient being is able to hear the Buddha’s teaching; and it is only as a human being that one can reach enlightenment.
110. The popular songs (much appreciated at court) of the late twelfth century.
111. Sagano, or Saga, is a rural area west of the capital, well known as a place of retreat and reclusion. Because of its desolate reputation, Sagano is commonly associated with autumn in Japanese poetry.
112. A strict grammatical rendering would be “because I am drawn to Sagano.”
113. Nonomiya literally means “shrine in the fields.”
114. “Rough-hewn log” means a log not completely stripped of its bark and is a phrase borrowed from the Nonomiya episode in “The Sacred Tree” (Sakaki) chapter of The Tale of Genji. A torii is a shrine gate consisting of two upright pillars crossed at the top by one or more horizontal beams (in this case, logs).
115. In other words, the deities worshiped at the Ise shrines do not distinguish between Shinto and Buddhist worship.
116. The “Law’s teaching” refers to Buddhist teachings. The phrase “straight is the way” forms a pivot word modifying both the Law and the actual road the monk has taken to Nonomiya. This also implies that the straight way of the Buddhist law leads also to the Shinto shrines of Ise. Both this passage and the “sacred fence” passage highlight the syncretic nature of Buddhist and Shinto worship in the medieval period.
117. The shite is referred to as “Lady” for the first half of the play and “Consort” for the second half.
118. Nonomiya can be interpreted here as both the shrine in the fields and Lady Rokujō, and the flowers can be seen as Shining Genji. A double meaning is afforded by the pun on aki, which means “autumn” or “to grow weary.” Rokujō questions what will become of her when Genji’s affections have waned.
119. Dew implies tears.
120. It is Lady Rokujō’s regrets and attachments that cause her to wander as a spirit back into the world of the living rather than proceeding to rebirth or salvation.
121. Namamekeru, which also implies “alluring.”
122. Nagazuki, the ninth month of the lunar calendar, roughly equivalent to October.
123. She is implying that a Buddhist presence at the shrine is offensive to the Shinto gods.
124. The sakaki, an evergreen tree of the camellia family, is used in Shinto ritual, often as an offering placed before a shrine. Here Genji is using it as a token of the “unchanging color” of his feelings for her.
125. Miyasudokoro, Rokujō’s title, given to the principal wife of a crown prince.
126. Esha jōri, a popular Buddhist phrase indicating the impermanence of all things, also found in The Tales of the Heike.
127. A ceremonial purification in the Katsura River southwest of Kyoto before the Ise priestess’s departure for Ise. The white strands mentioned later are usually attached to sakaki branches and are Shinto ritual objects. They carry away impurities as they are set adrift in the river.
128. The previous three lines allude to a poem by Ono no Komachi, Kokinshū, no. 938: “Steeped in misery as I am, a forlorn, floating plant, I would break off from my root; if there were but a coaxing current, I believe I’d drift away.”
129. Suzuka River, in present-day Mie Prefecture, is a major stopping point along the journey to Ise and a popular poetic topos. “Waves” is preceded here by a pillow word (makurakotoba) that makes the literal meaning “waves of the eighty rapids” (yasose no nami).
130. A slight modification of the poem Lady Rokujō sends to Genji as she departs for Ise in The Tale of Genji.
131. It was not customary for the mother of the Ise priestess to accompany her daughter to Ise.
132. A name for the priestess’s residence at Ise, which was located in the Take District of Ise, in present-day Taki County.
133. Monks were said to wear moss-color robes. The grass mat implies the monk is sleeping outdoors.
134. The aforementioned struggle between Rokujō and Genji’s principal wife Aoi for a prime spot along the route of the Kamo Festival parade. Both women wished to see Genji in the parade, but Rokujō was forced to watch from behind the other carriages.
135. Genji’s principal wife, who later became the victim of Rokujō’s malevolent wandering spirit.
136. The turning refers to the wheels of the carriage as well as the “wheel” of endless rebirth. Rokujō keeps returning to this world because of her strong attachments and bitterness.
137. A reference to the parable of the burning mansion in the Lotus Sutra. The burning mansion is a symbol for this world of delusion and desire.
138. This translation is from the Ōkura school text of Busu. Jirō is cowardly throughout in the Izumi school text, whereas in the Ōkura school he occasionally attempts to be as brave as his friend Tarō.
139. Utsuwa (vessel) is a term originally used in Confucian discourse to refer to an expert in one field, rather than a proper “gentleman,” who by definition is above specializing. Here Sōgi uses the term self-effacingly to refer to his role as a master of linked verse expected to have specialized knowledge.
140. The first eight imperial waka anthologies, from the Kokinshū to the Shinkokinshū.
141. All these texts are from the “golden age” of courtly culture, ending around the middle of the thirteenth century, and most are represented in this anthology. This list shows a general bias among poets of the late medieval age against the work of more recent times. In fact, the rules of linked verse explicitly advised against alluding to texts later than the Shokugosenshū (1251).
142. The first three imperial waka anthologies: Kokinshū, Gosenshū, and Shūishū.
143. “Famous places” (nadokoro) mentioned in literary texts. Many medieval treatises and handbooks contained lists of such literary topoi.
144. In fact, references to such “stages” in training are fairly common in the writings of earlier renga masters, but Sōgi’s treatment here is more comprehensive than earlier statements.
145. “With no special intentions or preconceptions.” Young poets, in particular, were encouraged to do practice without preconceived notions. As the next phrases suggest, repetition, under a master’s direction, was deemed the most important form of preparation.
146. A game in which one person would quote an ancient poem, with the next person being required to quote another poem beginning with the last syllable of the first poem.
147. Suki, a true devotee and not just a casual participant.
148. Sugata utsukushiku taketakaki tei. The vocabulary here is that of the courtly waka tradition, showing that for Sōgi, as for his teachers Sōzei and Shinkei, linked verse was a genre whose aesthetic goals were identical with those of waka.
149. A warrior-poet (d. 1455) who served as commissioner of the shogunal renga office. He was Sōgi s first teacher.
150. In the medieval period, constant practice was considered essential to success not only in linked verse but also in waka and other such practices. Only with the accumulation of experience in actual practice could a poet hope to become proficient in the Way.
151. The shrines whose deities were worshiped as patron gods by poets.
152. Hongaku shinnyo, the doctrine that human beings are already enlightened and that all worldly experience is a manifestation of absolute reality (“thusness”).
153. In other words, appearances may differ, but in essence all things are identical.
154. Old Commentary: “An allusion to the base poem [honka], ‘Gazing out over mist-shrouded foothills beyond the river Minase, who could have thought evenings are autumn?’ ‘Mist covers the foothills toward evening’ is interesting [omoshiroshi] enough on its own; and the
image ‘snow remains’ is even more outstanding.” The opening verse (hokku) alludes to the poem, quoted earlier as the honka, by the retired emperor GoToba, chief architect of the Shinkokinshū, to whom the sequence is dedicated. As required by the rules, the first verse refers to the season in which the sequence was composed—spring—and sets the tone with its lofty imagery. “Mist” (kasumu) is a spring word.
155. Old Commentary: “On the peaks above, snow remains, while down below, water from melting snow flows gently. The village would be at the foot of the mountain.” To the scene established by the hokku, Shōhaku adds a river flowing from the foothills and, on its banks, a village with fragrant plum trees.
156. Old Commentary: “Plum blossoms are associated with riverbanks and inlets. By itself, the verse means that the green of the willows doesn’t appear when the wind isn’t blowing; thus spring ‘appears’ with the wind.” In the context of the link, the wind carries the scent of plum.
157. Old Commentary: “In the faint light of dawn, with the sound of a boat being poled, a stand of willows appears. ‘Appears’ is thus crucial to the verse by itself and for the link. The connection between ‘break of dawn’ and ‘spring appears’ is interesting [omoshiroshi].” To the sight of the wind blowing in the willows, Sōgi adds the sound of a boat passing and also establishes a temporal context: daybreak. The first three verses presented spring scenes; this one contains no seasonal imagery and is thus categorized as miscellaneous.
158. Old Commentary: “Though night has ended, the fog is so dark the moon seems to linger in the night sky.” What by itself is a night scene becomes a description of daybreak. Unless otherwise qualified, “moon” is always an autumn image.
159. Old Commentary: “The moon always ‘remains’ of course, but here the author has linked a lingering moon to late autumn. The moon remains in the night engulfed by mist as autumn comes to its end on frosty fields. ‘Mist’ and ‘frost’ complement each other.”
Traditional Japanese Literature Page 76