Posted by Nan Hannon on November 05, 2001 at 22:15:30:
In Reply to: Re: Thank you, John posted by Matsu on November 02, 2001 at 08:52:15:
Thank you, Matsu, good friend of winter!
How wonderful to see a transliteration of the poem, and to hear the story that goes with it.
Thank you!
So yamabuki translates as "mountain rose," yes? I found it written as three old-style characters in a story of a discussion on haiku between Basho and Kikaku. "Yama" is one of the few characters I know, so I can see that part. Does "buki" literally mean "rose" or "flower" or "plant"? (I'm afraid my main assistance with Japanese translation comes from the tech support guy at my ISP, who is German and took Japanese in college, and is often sufficiently bored at work to help translate things for me. He's delightful, but unfortunately, his classes focused on mundane phrases such as "Where is the post office?" So please, please excuse my ignorance.)
And the "no" after yamabuki is a preposition that seems to translate as a possessive? Yamabukino = yamabuki's? So how does one best translate the title of, say, Toshi Yoshida's Fuji no Ohitsu? "Ohitsu's Fuji?" "Fuji from Ohitsu?" "Fuji of Ohitsu?"
So the general Ota Dokan in the story must be the builder of Edo (Chiyoda) Castle smack in the middle of the 15th century? So over 550 years ago the double-flowered Kerria japonica ('Pleniflora') was well-known in Japan, and probably the preferred garden plant, as it was in China. Probably the double-flowered plants occasionally arose as spontaneous mutations in the wild and were propagated as garden plants via cuttings. "Although having many petals, the double-flowered Yamabuki, to our regret, has no seed" makes complete sense, since the profuse petals cover the flower's reproductive structures, concealing them from pollinators, so the double-flowered selection rarely sets fruit.
Matsu, how neat to learn about the incorporation into folk knowledge of which yamabuki sets seed and which doesn't via this story.
So "mino" may mean both "seed" and "grass raincoat?" Is this the "grass raincoat" often seen in early prints of rice planting and rice harvest? Sometimes in early prints of fishermen on lakes? Is this garment made of Phragmites reed? I know that Phragmites grows all around the Northern Hemisphere, and was similarly utilized for water-repellent clothing, hats and mats by Native Americans of the Northwest Coast and Great Basin of North America. It's always so interesting to find convergent uses of plants by different cultures, so if anyone knows if those raincoasts and fishing "aprons" are of Phragmites reed, I'd be so grateful for the information.
If "mino" is "seed/grass raincoat" what does the whole word? phrase? "minohitotsudani" mean?
John, I think I found another yamabuki growing by the waterside in a Bunrei Maekawa print of waterfowl! The yamabuki actually seem to be growing with Phragmites reeds.
Thanks for your generous help, friends. You scatter your knowledge like yamabuki flowers in the wind.
Best,
Nan