man would certainly come along, and the old woman was delighted.
The son thought: “Other men are coldhearted—I wish that I could bring her together with Captain Narihira.” One day he met the Captain while the latter was out hunting. He seized the bridle of the Captain’s horse and told him of his request. The Captain took pity on the old woman, visited her house, and slept with her. He did not come again, and the woman went to his house, where she stealthily looked at him through an opening in the fence. The Captain, catching a glimpse of her, recited:
Momotose ni |
Someone a year short |
When the woman saw him saddle his horse and prepare to leave, she rushed off in such great confusion that she was not even aware how the thorny shrubs and plants scratched her. She returned home, lay down on her sleeping mat, and waited for him. While the Captain stood outside secretly watching her, as she had done at his house, she recited:
Samushiro ni |
Shall I have to sleep |
It is a general rule in this world that men love some women but not others. Narihira did not make such distinctions.
- • •
In former times there was a nobleman named Narihira. He was once sent by the Emperor as Imperial envoy to the Great Shrine of Ise.
