(v) "It is on account of the great carpenter's
"awkwardness that it is bent down at the
"corner."[1]
Then the Grandee Shibi sang again, saying:
(viii) "The great lord, on account of the mag-
"nanimity of his heart, does not enter and
"stand in the eight-fold hedge of branches
"of the child of a grandee.[2]
Hereupon the Prince sang again, saying:
(i) "Looking on the breakers of the briny cur-
"rent, I see my spouse standing by the
"fin of the tunny that comes sporting."
Then the Grandee Shibi, getting more and more angry, sang, saying:
(ix) "[Though] the eight-fold hedge of branches
"of the Prince the Great Lord be made fast
"at eight places, be made fast all round, 'tis
"a hedge that shall be cut, 'tis a hedge
"that shall be burnt."[3]
Then the Prince again sang, saying:
(ii) "Oh fisherman that spearest the tunny,
"the great fish! He being [there], thou
"must be sad at heart, tunny-spearing
"fisherman!"[4]
- ↑ The "great carpenter" is the carpenter employed to build the roof above-mentioned.
- ↑ The "eight-fold hedge of branches" is simply a "hedge," and the "child of a grandee" the Grandee Shibi himself.
- ↑ The words "made fast" refer to the tying of the fence at certain places to give it strength. If we accepted Moribe"s emendation of the final Verb yakemu, "burn," to yaremu, we should have to translate the last clause thus: "'tis a fence that shall be broken."
- ↑ "The great fish" (ofuwo yo shi) is the Pillow-Word for shibi, " tunny." The word "he" (which might also be rendered "it,"—the original being so) must be taken to refer both to the fish itself and to the Grandee Shibi (i.e., the grandee Tunny), who bore its name.—Following Moribe's acceptable restoration of the original story, which is founded on a comparison of the text of these "Records"
