.

A Conversation Between the Poor
and the Poorer, followed by an Envoi

From the book five of the Man’yōshū, this poem is
believed to be based on what the author witnessed
while working as a provincial governor, as it is unlikely
that Okura, a nobleman, experienced such extreme
poverty firsthand. His intention was probably to raise
awareness of poor people’s condition.

by Okura (c. 660 – 733)
translated from Old Japanese by Seiji Hakui

.

The Poor Man

On nights when rain mingles with winds
__Or snowflakes with raindrops,
I sip, freezing, some white sake
__And bite a few salt blocks.

Coughing and sniffing all the time,
__I scratch my scattered beard,
Imagining myself being
__Someone greatly revered.

But still freezing, I pull hempen
__Blankets all over me
And wear all sleeveless shirts I have
__To cover my body.

How cold would be the parents of
__Someone poorer than me!
With your wife and children weeping,
__How hard your life must be!

.

The Poorer Man

Though heaven and earth appear wide,
__They tightly me confine.
Though seem bright the sun and the moon,
__They never for me shine.

Is it just me, or others too?
__Born a man just like you,
I labor just like everyone else
__As I am meant to do,

But all I wear are tattered rags
__Hanging down like seaweed;
My bed’s a mat of straw on dirt;
__My hut has gone to seed;

My parents by my head, my wife
__And children by my feet,
Huddle together, whimpering,
__Dejected and downbeat;

No fire in our stove; cobwebs
__Collect in our clay bowls;
I forgot how to cook my rice;
__The nué all night mewls.

Yet, as if to trim a trimmed cloth,
__The village leader takes
Up his whip and comes to my hut:
__He all of us awakes

As pierces into our bedroom
__The angry voice of his.
Alas, how bitter and hopeless
__The way of the world is!

.

The Envoi:

__O, no matter how
Shameful and miserable feels this world,
Never could I fly away like a bird!

.

Notes

1. sleeveless shirts: Nuno-kata-ginu, a simple sleeveless shirt worn by commoners.
2. tattered rags: The original text specifies it as the same nuno-kata-ginu. Whereas the poor man has barely anything to wear but nuno-kata-ginus, the poorer man has nothing but a tattered nuno-kata-ginu, displaying a harsher situation.
3. The nué: I.e. the white’s thrush, known for making long whistles late at night. Because of the distinctive lonely tone of its whistles, the nué was considered sinister and dubbed the Yomi-tsu-Dori (lit. the bird of the underworld). The name nué was later adapted for a yokai believed to mimic the bird’s whistles.

.

The original (reformatted to correspond to the translation):

貧窮問答歌

（貧者）
風交り雨降る夜の雨交り
雪降る夜はすべもなく
寒くしあれば、堅塩を
とりつづしろひ、糟湯酒うちすすろひて、

しはぶかひ、鼻びしびしに、
しかとあらぬひげ掻き撫でて、
我れをおきて人はあらじと誇ろへど、

寒くしあれば、麻衾
引き被り、布肩衣
ありのことごと着襲へども、

寒き夜すらを我れよりも
貧しき人の父母は
飢ゑ寒ゆらむ。妻子どもは
乞ふ乞ふ泣くらむ。この時は
いかにしつつか汝が世は渡る。

（窮者）
天地は広しといへど、我がためは
狭くやなりぬる。日月は
明しといへど、我がためは照りやたまはぬ。

人皆か、我のみやしかる
わくらばに人とはあるを、
人並に我れも作るを、

錦もなき布肩衣の
海松のごと、わわけさがれる
かかふのみ肩にうち掛け、
伏盦の曲盦の内に
直土に藁解き敷きて、

父母は枕の方に、
妻子どもは足の方に
囲み居て、憂へさまよひ、

かまどには火気吹き立てず、
甑には蜘蛛の巣かきて、
飯炊くことも忘れて、
ぬえ鳥ののどよひ居るに、

いとのきて短き物を
端切るといへるがごとく、
しもと取る里長が声は

寝屋処まで来立ち呼ばひぬ。
かくばかりすべなきものか、
世間の道。

反歌
世間を厭しと恥しと思へども
飛び立ちかねつ、鳥にしあらねば。

.

.

About the Poet:
Okura of Yama-no-Ue (c. 660 – 733) was a Japanese nobleman, envoy to Tang Dynasty China, and one of the major poets of the Man’yōshū, the oldest collection of Japanese poetry. With the bulk of the Man’yōshū focusing on nature, seasons, love, travel, praising the emperors, etc., his poems stand out with their social themes and humane tones.

About the Translator:
Seiji Hakui (b. 1986) is a Japanese poet living in Tokyo. His debut collection of poems, “Sonnets and Translations”, composed entirely in Classical Japanese, was published in 2022 by Shichosha (http://www.shichosha.co.jp/newrelease/item_2891.html).

NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets.

The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.


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8 Responses

  1. Cheryl Corey

    Mr. Hakui, congratulations on your debut collection. How wonderful that SCP is promoting your poetry! Especially during these turbulent times, themes of poverty and struggle are very relatable. Thank you also for the notes.

    Reply
    • Seiji H.

      Thank you for the kind words. It means a lot to me. It is encouraging to know that I’m not alone in trying to revive the beauty of classical poetry. Long live the meters.
      The current state of the world sure is grim, but let’s hope we will somehow ride this out and finally arrive at those broad sunlit uplands, or at least some semblance of them.

      Reply
  2. Mia

    Thank you for these poems, translation is not easy and I think these are extremely well done. They are very thought-provoking and certainly relevant in these times of energy shortages threatening to leave people freezing this winter. Of course there is much more to them them than that but much more than a mere paragraph from me could convey.
    I look forward to reading more from your collection. It feels very special to be reading poetry translated from Old Japanese. It adds to the very fine translations from European poets that we have on SCP.

    Reply
    • Seiji H.

      Flattered to hear such kind words. I originally made this translation just to deepen my understanding of the ballad form, without any plan for publication in mind. If it could entertain you a little, that makes me really glad. I will try submitting another one for sure.
      Thank you for the response. Stay warm & safe.

      Reply
  3. Rachel Lott

    What sobering poems. The first one ends so poignantly. Rather than pity himself, the poor many thinks “How cold would be the parents of / Someone poorer than me.”

    Sadly, I don’t know any Japanese. But the English is quite effective (and affective)!

    Reply
    • Seiji H.

      This is actually one unified poem, though the format makes it look otherwise. It is kind of a song of experience, I guess. I love them just as much as songs of innocence.
      Thank you for commenting. Have a great Halloween.

      Reply
  4. Margaret Coats

    Seiji, you have made a remarkably effective English ballad from this ancient Japanese story. It is a ballad of lament or complaint, but as you say, there is a striking touch of innocence in both speakers. Is the poorer man the envoy speaker who refuses to despair, or do you think that is the voice of the observant poet?

    I know just a little about Japanese poetic forms, and I wonder how this single poem would have been classified. I will guess it would be called a choka, since these may have an envoy (hanka). Your reformatting looks like rather long lines. I do not read kanji, but I can count kana. Would the original poem be in alternating 5-syllable and 7-syllable lines, with some additional 7-syllable lines to mark divisions? That form would require very many lines to tell the story!

    Reply
    • Seiji H.

      Thank you for the kind words. I bow. And you are correct, this is a choka. Mr. Mantyk asked me to reformat the original to make it look like corresponding with the translation, and I am afraid I may have botched it up a bit. The 5-7 meter is what scholars believe is how it was originally read, but at least since the 10th century it’s been read as beginning with 5-7-5, followed by alternating 7-5-7-5, and ending with 7-7. “風交り-雨降る夜の-雨交り…” is 5-7-5, “雪降る夜は-すべもなく-寒くしあれば-堅塩を…” is 7-5-7-5, and the rest generally flows with the meters.
      As for the envoy, I think it’s the poet’s voice. Actually, now that you asked about it, I feel I should have translated it with the plural “we” rather than the first person singular. Thank you for helping me realize this. I owe you one.

      Reply

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