The Tales of Ise: Episode 10-12 (Japanese Classical Literature)
Episode 10
A long time ago, a man walked all the way to Musashi.
There, he asked a woman to marry him.
Her father wanted her to marry another man.
But her mother liked men from noble families.
Her father was from a low family.
Her mother was from the Fujiwara family.
So, her mother hoped she would marry someone noble and smart.
The mother sent him a poem.
The woman lived in a place called Miyoshino, in Iruma.
みよし野のたのむの雁もひたぶるに
君が方にぞ寄ると鳴くなる
The wild geese in Miyoshino’s rice fields
cry out as if they trust you.
They look only to you.
The man who was chosen as the groom wrote back:
わが方に寄ると鳴くなるみよし野の
たのむの雁をいつか忘れむ
The geese in Miyoshino
cry that they trust me.
I will never forget them.
Even far from Kyoto, people still shared poems like this.
They still lived with beauty and feelings, no matter where they were.
Episode 11
A long time ago, a man went to the East.
On the way, he sent a poem to his friends.
忘るなよほどは雲居になりぬるとも
空ゆく月のめぐりあふまで
Even if we are far apart,
like clouds in the sky,
please don’t forget me.
The moon travels in the sky.
One day, it comes back.
I hope we will meet again like that.
Episode 12
A long time ago, there was a man.
He took someone’s daughter without asking.
He tried to take her to Musashino.
But he was caught by the local guard.
He was a thief, so they arrested him.
He left the woman in the grass and ran away.
Later, some people came down the road.
They said, “There may be thieves in this field.”
So, they wanted to set it on fire.
The woman was scared.
She spoke with tears in her eyes.
She made a poem:
武蔵野は今日はな焼きそ若草の
つまもこもれりわれもこもれり
Please don’t burn Musashino today.
In the young grass,
my dear husband is hiding.
I am hiding too.
The people heard her poem.
So, they stopped.
They found the woman and took her.
They also caught the man and took him too.
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