At the end of
the first month, in which I had spent the new year season in the
capital, when I looked back on on the long stretch of days I passed here
here and counted them all up, it has truly been 33 years since I became
entranced with the way of fûga.
First
I passed through the provinces of Sanetsu and Ôu, then I crossed over
the barrier to the east, "of chattering birds," and the Ôsaka barrier
"undeceived by the false rooster's crow." I stayed in Edo for three
years, and became aware of the humorous genre of haikai, and there I
learned all that I could of its teachings. Later, again my heart felt
possessed by the desire to travel, and then many times I crossed the
Mojigaseki and travelled to the Western Seas and to Tsukishi of
the "countless fires." There I made friends of course with haikai poets
but also became familiar with the literature of China, and at the place I
stayed in Tama-no-ura I obtained even books by Chinese writers, and had
so many in my rucksack and my satchel, that I kept them in my hometown
Chôfû, and I now do not think the number of them is such that I can fit
them all in. Having traveled round like this to many famous places,
historical spots, ruins, and mountain passes spoken of by persons of
high reputation, with regret I now leave this up to my ink-stained
brush from my travel-case, thinking I might as well publish these scattered jottings, I mutter to myself, smiling. The year
is 1812, in the season when the young plants are just starting to grow
lush. Ichiji-an Kikusha-ni of Nakato.
Hand-picked Chrysanthemum 1
I
lost my husband when I was still young, and because we had no child to
inherit the household I adopted a relative's son and left to him the
duties of maintaining the estate. Having now attained the status of the
leisured, on the day it occurred to me, "I wish I could make a
pilgrimage to temples and shrines at famous places all over the realm," I
ended up undertaking a solo journey just as I'd imagined.
月を笠に着て遊ばばや旅のそら
I wish I could wander
with the moon as my travel hat --
a traveler's sky
Written at Hitomaru Shrine in Nagato, Otsu. (Stele: 日本の文学碑)
make my travel hat
even more melancholy --
rain in cicada season
吾笠に淋しさしめや蝉しぐれ
my writing brush
will become stained even more deeply --
when the persimmon leaves are lush
染めてゆかむ筆柿の葉も茂り時
I
passed by Shizuka-ga-ura and took a boat from a place called Kayoi, and
without incident arrived at Hagi Castle. Here I benefited from the
kindness of a monk from Seikôji temple, and became his disciple, and
received his courteous teachings on the world to come. Afterwards I took
the tonsure, and wrote:
the dust of the unreliable world
was blown away
in the wind
風に浮世の塵を払けり
My
old friend by the name of Chikuô-sha Kion lives here. He has liked
haikai from a long time ago. I felt that I wished to learn his style,
and he kindly sent a letter on my behalf to the Mino haikai master called
Sankyô. At Suô Tenmangû Shrine I wrote:
colorful autumn also --
are those two leaves on the branch?
a plum tree's red
染る秋も二葉の末か梅紅葉
I should learn from it --
the pure heart
of a pond's water
