Cast & Chart

Omikuji lot 14 of 100

Jade and Stone Unsorted

末吉 Sue-kichi, Good fortune later

石玉未分時

憂心轉更悲

前途通大道

華發應殘枝

While stone and jade are still unsorted,

a worried heart turns sadder yet.

The way ahead joins the great road.

Flowers should open on the worn branch.

What this lot says

Nobody can yet say which pieces are jade and which are plain rock, and anxiety deepens while that lasts. Then the road in front is seen to connect with a main highway. On a tired branch, the verse expects flowers.

Sue-kichi, Good fortune later, is the book's printed grade. The first half stays in sorrow and the second half opens out, which is the shape the grade describes.

A present-day reading might place this in the stretch before results are known, when good and bad options look alike. Much of the sadness in the verse comes from the not knowing itself.

A lot is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.

The printed text

Where the 1684 printing differs

  • Line 2, character 5: 1684 printing has 迷.

Credits

The verse and grade were read from the two scanned printings named here. The title, translation and reading are our own and modern.

Our own English. The kana commentary printed under each verse in the old books was not read.