31shortyones07) there is more to 蛍の光（hotaru no hikari） than meets the eye ― Sayaka marvels at a strangely one-sided love

←back　 INDEX /日本語で読む　forward→

７）（寛和二年内裏歌合によめる）

なくこゑもきこえぬもののかなしきはしのびにもゆるほたるなりけり

「鳴く声も聞こえぬものの哀しきは偲びに燃ゆる蛍なりけり」

藤原高遠（ふぢはらのたかとほ）

♪(SING)♪

－－－－－－－－－－

７）（寛和二年内裏歌合によめる）

なくこゑもきこえぬもののかなしきはしのびにもゆるほたるなりけり

「鳴く声も聞こえぬものの哀しきは偲びに燃ゆる蛍なりけり」

『詞花集』夏・七三・藤原高遠（ふぢはらのたかとほ）（949-1013：男性）

（花山天皇主催の「寛和二年内裏歌合」での詠歌）

『秋の虫たちの鳴き声もしみじみと哀れだけれど、声も立てずに仄かな光に身を焦がすばかりの蛍のほうが、まるで燃える想いを内に秘めてじぃーっと恋い焦がれている人のようで、身につまされるものがありますね。』

(in the Imperial TANKA competition in Kanna-ni-nen)

Men, women, even insects all cry about

Wooing or mourning their covetous love.

Deeper feelings silently grow and

Ultimately glow in speechless fireflies.

なく【鳴く】〔自カ四〕（なく＝連体形）＜VERB:chirp, cry＞

こゑ【声】〔名〕＜NOUN:the voice, sound＞

も【も】〔係助〕＜POSTPOSITIONAL PARTICLE(OBJECT)＞

きこゆ【聞こゆ】〔自ヤ下二〕（きこえ＝未然形）＜VERB:I can hear, sound like＞

ず【ず】〔助動特殊型〕打消（ぬ＝連体形）＜AUXILIARY VERB(NEGATIVE):not＞

ものの【ものの】〔接助〕＜POSTPOSITIONAL PARTICLE(CONCESSION):although, all the same＞

…although we can’t hear them cry

かなし【悲し】〔形シク〕（かなしき＝連体形）＜ADJECTIVE:piteous, pathetic＞

は【は】〔係助〕＜POSTPOSITIONAL PARTICLE(SUBJECT)＞

しのぶ【偲ぶ】〔他バ四〕／〔他バ上二〕（しのび＝連用形、転じて、名詞）＜VERB:feel affectionate to, be deep in love＞

に【に】〔格助〕＜POSTPOSITIONAL PARTICLE(REASON):by, due to, because of＞

もゆ【燃ゆ】〔自ヤ下二〕（もゆる＝連体形）＜VERB:flame up, glow out, be on fire＞

ほたる【蛍】〔名〕＜NOUN:fireflies＞

なり【なり】〔助動ナリ型〕断定（なり＝連用形）＜AUXILIARY VERB(CONFIRMATION)＞

けり【けり】〔助動ラ変型〕過去（けり＝終止形）＜AUXILIARY VERB(DISCOVERY):I found out＞

…what is really sad to see is a firefly burning bright with voiceless affection inside

《naku koe mo kikoenu monono kanashiki wa shinobi ni moyuru hotaru nari keri》

■from natural glow at night to wordless love inside ― fireflies’ gleam is too faint for us to see as a metaphor■

　In compliance with the non-empathic rule of Heianese poems with non-human entity, fireflies in TANKA hide their metaphoric message behind the faint gleam in the dark. But the message behind the gleam is too faint for us to see after centuries of persistent poetic inattention.

　The following example is one of the first TANKA to include 蛍（hotaru = fireflies）, taken from 『古今集』(Kokin-shuu:A.D.905), the very first of 八代集（hachidaishuu = eight great Imperial TANKA anthologies）. Check to see if you can find out the message lurking behind the apparently natural scene of a Summer day & night:

《あけたてばせみのをりはへなきくらし　よるはほたるのもえこそわたれ：aketateba semi no orihae nakikurashi yoru wa hotaru no moe koso watare》『古今集（Kokin-shuu）』恋（Love） No.543 よみ人しらず（anonymous）明け立てば（when the night breaks into light）蝉の折り延へ鳴き暮らし（cicadas keep crying all day）夜は（when the night comes again）蛍の燃えこそ渡れ（fireflies keep burning all night）

・・・Did you see anything unusually emotional in the poem above? I’d guess practically every reader of the present day Japan should take it as a depiction of a hot Summer’s day and a rather cool Summer night, with cicadas and fireflies simply represented as the symbols of daytime heat and nocturnal coolness. But, in fact, this poem belongs to the section of “恋（koi = love）”… In case you still wonder, I advise that you change the subject of the phrase “鳴き暮らし（nakikurashi = keep crying）” from “蝉（semi = cicadas）” to “我（ware = I）”; as for “燃えこそ渡れ（moe koso watare = keep burning）”, the literal subject “蛍（hotaru = fireflies）” should give way to “我が心（waga kokoro = my heart）”, inducing you to interpret it as “my heart keeps burning all night, longing for your love (or, body)”.

　A love song like this, even by the standards of relatively introvert Heianese TANKA, is too vague in its amorous message, unless the term “蛍（hotaru = a firefly）” switches on your poetic fluorescence lamp to light up the obscure message of “although I say nothing, I’m thinking of you and burning hot inside longing for your love”.

　The metaphoric presence of 蛍(fireflies) as symbols of silently burning love did not stand out so brilliantly as, say, the established image of 雁（kari = wild geese） as flying messengers and harbingers of coming Winter. Be that as it may, the image of 蛍（fireflies） as someone silently burning inside with amorous feelings was adequately established, among Heianese nobles, by the following TANKA which appeared in the second Imperial TANKA anthology 『後撰集（Gosen-shuu：ca.950）』:

《つつめどもかくれぬものはなつむしの　みよりあまれるおもひなりけり：tsutsumedomo kakurenu mono wa natsumushi no mi yori amareru omoi narikeri》『後撰集（Gosen-shuu）』夏（Summer） No.209 （by a small girl-servant serving Katsura-no-miko）包めども(however concealed)隠れぬ物は(there’s something that will reveal itself)夏虫の身より(from inside the body of a firefly)余れる思ひなりけり(inner feelings overflow into radiant light, which, I’m afraid, is unsuitable for a humble servant-girl like me)

・・・At the beginning of the poem is the following 詞書（kotoba-gaki = annotation）:

　桂の親王の「蛍を捕へて」と言ひ侍りければ(when asked by Katsura-no-miko to “Catch fireflies”)、童女の汗衫の袖に包みて(the small girl-servant caught fireflies in the sleeve of her slip)

・・・But this brief explanation only leaves us bewildered about the circumstances in which this TANKA was created, as well as about the lurking emotion signified by the phrase “夏虫の身より余れる思ひ（natsumushi no mi yori amareru omoi = the emotion overflowing from the body of fireflies/beyond the wildest dream of a humble servant girl that I am）” out of the mouth of “童女（warawame = a small girl）”.

　In cases like this, more detailed stories about poetic circumstances would sometimes be presented along with the TANKA to compose a genre of Japanese literature called “歌物語（uta-monogatari… ‘lyricalogue’ according to the personal vocabulary of this author Jaugo Noto:之人冗悟）”. This particular TANKA on fireflies gave birth to the following episode of 『大和物語（Yamato-monogatari：ca.950）』 centering around the poem cited above:

『大和物語』四〇・「蛍」

　桂の親王（孚子内親王：ふしないしんのう＝宇多天皇皇女）に、式部卿の宮（敦慶親王：あつよししんのう＝宇多天皇皇子）住み給ひける時、その宮に侍ひける髫髪（うなゐ＝襟首のあたりで髪の毛を切り束ねているまだ幼い少女）なむ、この男宮（＝敦慶親王）をいとめでたしと思ひかけ奉りけるをも、（敦慶親王は）え知り給はざりけり。蛍の飛び歩きけるを「かれ捕らへて」と（孚子内親王あるいは敦慶親王が）この童に宣はせければ、（少女は）汗衫（かざみ＝大人の女性の場合は肌着として着用；元服前の少女は夏用の薄い常服として着用）の袖に蛍を捕らへて、包みて（孚子内親王よりはむしろ敦慶親王に）御覧ぜさすとて聞こえさせける。

　　包めども隠れぬ物は夏虫の　*身より余れる思ひなりけり

*「蛍の体内から溢れ出る光」と同時に、貴人に仕える卑しい身分の少女としては「高貴な敦慶親王への身の程知らずな恋心」の意味をも込める

『Yamato-monogatari』Episode 40: “Fireflies”

　When Prince Atsuyoshi was in the habit of paying amorous visit to Princess Katsura, a very young servant-girl waiting on the Princess felt so much attracted to the magnificent Prince, although the Prince himself didn’t know it. One day, the Prince and the Princess saw fireflies flying around and told the small servant-girl to catch them. She caught the fireflies, put them into the sleeve of her slip (a kind of lingerie for adult women, but regular wear for small girls, which had long sleeves unlike Western slips), stretched out the sleeve for the Prince to see as if it were a lamp lit from inside by the gleams of fireflies, thereupon she rhymed out the following TANKA:

《つつめどもかくれぬものはなつむしの　みよりあまれるおもひなりけり：tsutsumedomo kakurenu mono wa natsumushi no mi yori amareru omoi narikeri = my inner feeling, though wrapped in my sleeve, has grown so much as to glow out like fireflies, although such amorous feeling toward the noble Prince you are is unsuitable to a humble servant-girl that I am》

・・・You may easily see “夏虫（natsumushi = Summer insects）” mean “蛍（hotaru = fireflies）”, but you may wonder “Where did they glow?” without any such words as “光（ひかり：hikari = light）”, “燃ゆ（もゆ：moyu = burn）” or “火（ひ：hi = fire）”… yet, in fact, there is… can’t you see?… of course, you can’t; nobody could without being told, to their utter surprise ― that there is “ひ（火：hi = fire）” in “おもひ（思ひ：omoi = emotion）”… Still unable to see? OK, how about this ― there is “＜ひ＞hi=fire” in “おも＜ひ＞:omoi=emotion”… or it may better appeal to your poetic sentiment to be told “there is fire(‘ひ’) burning in my heart(おも’ひ’)… although you may not see it until I explicitly tell you so” ― fire of love burning in my heart unknown to you until I tell you so ― that’s “火：ひ：fire” lurking behind the 掛詞（kake-kotoba = pun） of “思ひ：おもひ：emotion, heart, affection” ― what could better describe the small servant-girl’s love of the Prince than this elusive ＜ひ：fire＞ hiding inside ‘＜おもひ：amorous feeling＞’?

　The subtle image of fireflies as a metaphor of wordless affection must have established its poetic place in the world of Heianese TANKA thanks to the poem and the episode cited above, both published around A.D.950 in 『後撰集（Gosen-shuu）』 and 『大和物語（Yamato-monogatari）』.

　The following TANKA by the famous poet 源重之（Minamoto-no-Shigeyuki） must have been made with the above story in mind:

《おともせでおもひにもゆるほたるこそ　なくむしよりもあはれなりけれ：oto mo sede omoi ni moyuru hotaru koso naku mushi yori mo aware narikere》『後拾遺集（Go-Shuui-shuu）』夏（Summer） No.216 音もせで(without any sound)思ひに燃ゆる螢こそ(fireflies burning with amorous feeling [inside])鳴く虫よりも哀れなりけれ(more attractive to me than insects chirping out loudly)

　In spite of many great poems like this, 源重之(Minamoto-no-Shigeyuki) didn’t do very well in his career as a civil servant of the Imperial Court, leaving 京都（Kyoto） in A.D.976 on his duty as a minor officer, serving in several local districts, only to end his life in 東北（touhoku = north-eastern part of Japan） in A.D.1000 around 60 years of age. Untold emotion burning inside, in this case, might have been his grief for his hapless life as a minor officer unrewarded for his great literary achievement. Although it is not clear when exactly 重之（Shigeyuki） made the firefly TANKA above, it is arguably prior to the opening TANKA of this article ― 《なくこゑもきこえぬもののかなしきは　しのびにもゆるほたるなりけり：naku koe mo kikoenu monono kanashiki wa shinobi ni moyuru hotaru nari keri》鳴く声も聞こえぬものの哀しきは　偲びに燃ゆる蛍なりけり ― by another famous TANKA poet 藤原高遠（Fujiwara-no-Takatou）, the official production date of which is known to be 寛和二年六月十日（A.D.986/07/19 by solar calendar) at 花山天皇内裏歌合（TANKA competition held at the Imperial Court hosted by Emperor Kazan）.

　The famous novelist 紫式部（Murasaki-shikibu） also paid homage to the poems above in the form of a casual TANKA out of the mouth of 玉鬘（Lady Tamakazura）, one of the characters of her own creation in 『源氏物語（Genji-monogatari:1008）』

《こゑはせでみをのみこがすほたるこそ　いふよりまさるおもひなるらめ：koe wa sede mi wo nomi kogasu hotaru koso iu yori masaru omoi naru rame》『源氏物語（Genji-monogatari）』二五帖（PART-25） 「蛍（Fireflies）」声はせで(without any voice)身をのみ焦がす蛍こそ(fireflies simply burn out their bodies [with silent emotions inside])言ふより勝る思ひなるらめ(such [untold] emotions must be superior to explicit confessions)

　However brightly fireflies might burn, no one today but the exceptionally cultured, well acquainted with such episodes and poems above, would ever take them to be silently in love. They make exclusive appeal to those who can gaze through the gleaming glow of fireflies into the subtle esoteric beauty cherished only by Heianese nobles… no wonder few will be found to love such fireflies today (except, of course, as simply beautiful gift from Nature).

Having an English-speaking self within you is just like having a conversation partner like Sayaka-san/Jaugo-san beside you.
We provide you not with actual conversation partners, but we enable you to engage in intellectually enticing conversation with Sayaka-san/Jaugo-san(…no mean feat, isn’t it?)

===!CAUTION!===
WEB lessons by ZUBARAIE LLC. are currently for JAPANESE students only, conducted in Japanese language (…sorry for English speakers)

←back　 INDEX /日本語で読む　forward→