Kakikurasu |
Last night I too |
After he sent this verse to her, he had to set forth on his official duties for the day. Yet even while he traveled through the moors, he could think of nothing but her, and he longed for the night to come swiftly, that they might meet again. Unfortunately, the governor of the province, who was also the guardian of the Vestal, learning that the Imperial envoy had arrived, insisted that the night be spent in festive celebration of his visit. Narihira, thus bound by enforced hospitality, could find no way to meet the Princess. Since he had the following morning to depart for Owari, unknown to anyone he shed bitter tears, but could in no wise meet her.
As dawn approached, a servant from the Princess’s apartment brought a cup of parting. In it was written:
Kachibito no |
Shallow the inlet |
The poem was not completed.
Narihira took the wine cup in his hands, and with charcoal from a pinewood torch he added the last lines to the verse:
Mata Ausaka no |
I shall cross again to you |
When day dawned he set out for the Province of Owari.
- ↑ A pun here between “inlet” and “connection” (eni). The reply has the usual play on the name Ausaka (Osaka), the name of a mountain and barrier east of Kyoto in which is imbedded the word au, “to meet.”
