English

I met you but once
yet still long for you,
my spouse
the sacred comb:
how I would like to set you right!

How regrettable!
Even a dragon that lives
in the shade of the clouds
can be seen by

When winter comes
the oak leaves
in the garden scattered
echo the autumn showers
in a village by the foothills.

From autumn showers
I seek the shelter
of my uncolored sleeves
now soaked through —
how radiantly they glow!

I had heard
there is a path
that all must follow
but didn't think yesterday
that I'd be going today ...

Helpless to meet you,
I can only gaze on these
endless rains,
a river of tears
drenching my sleeves. In reply the man wrote, again on the girl's behalf:

How shallow
a river of tears
that wets only your sleeves:
when I hear you are drowning
I'll trust the depths of your love. On receiving this, Toshiyuki was so overwhelmed that he rolled it up and to this day is said to keep it in his letter box.

If the white dew must vanish,
let it vanish:
even if it stayed
no one would care
to make it a string of gems. The man thought her reply was callous, but his feelings for her only increased.

In the past, there was a commander of the left guards called Ariwara no Yukihira. Hearing that there was a batch of good wine at his house, some people who were at court visited, among them the middle controller of the left, Fujiwara no Masachika, who served as guest of honor for the day.
Since Yukihira was a man of sensibility, he had placed flowers in a vase. Among the flowers was a striking and unusual bough of wisteria extending more than three feet in length. Those present composed poems with that as their topic.

In the past, there was a prince known as Prince Koretaka. He had a palace at a place called Minase, on the far side of Yamazaki. Every year when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, he went to that palace. On those occasions he always took along a person who was the director of the right imperial stables. It was long ago and I have forgotten his name.

In the past there was a man. When he was dispatched to Ise Province as an imperial huntsman, the mother of the high priestess of the Ise Shrine told her daughter to treat him better than she would the usual messengers. Since these were her mother's instructions, she took very good care of him. In the morning she saw him off on his hunting, and when he returned in the evenings she had him stay in her own lodgings. In this way, she treated him well.