A Japanese miscellany - University of Oregon

208 Japanese Miscellany
First Player: —
Konya no ban kara
Kami mo irazumi,
Suzuri mo irazumi
; :
Hari sambon, —
Kinu-ito mi-suji ni, —
Omma ga sambiki, —
O-kago ga sancho.
NorikaH-hik'kag,
Muko no muko no
Koshi-zukuri no
Kaki no noren no
? Sama mad^
O-watashi —
Mosu-su-suno su!
In the residence of the Lord of Ka — Ka— Kaga, the
maid O-K&a is cleaning rice, and the rice-bran falls. With
what sound does it faH ?—With the sound of Sasa ! shichikudahe!
— sasa! hacbiku-dake .'^ . . . Now to the maidenprincess
dwelling far, far away ,2 — in the house with the
1 These words are all names of bamboo. The sasa is a small variety
of bamboo : the shichiku-daki is a black bamboo ; and the hachiku-
dake is a purplish bamboo. But in this song the words are used only
as onomatopes. The syllables sasa represent the creaking of the great
wooden mallet, when lifted by the feet of the rice-pounder ; and the
syllables shicMku-dake, hachiku-daki are Intended to imitate the noise
of the mallet falling, and the dull thud of the blow.
2 Muko no muko (lit., " in front of in front " ) might better be ren-
dered by our colloquial phrase, " at the back of beyond."