Cast & Chart

Omikuji lot 23 of 100

Red Clouds Underfoot

吉 Kichi, Good fortune

紅雲隨步起

一箭中青霄

鹿行千里遠

爭知去路遙

Red clouds rise with every step.

One arrow strikes the blue sky.

The deer runs a thousand leagues away.

How could anyone know the road would be so long?

What this lot says

Crimson cloud lifts around a walker's feet, and a single shot goes straight into the sky. A deer then bolts into the far distance. The closing question marvels at how long the way turned out to be.

Printings differ on this one: the book gives Kichi, Good fortune, and another gives Sho-kichi, Small good fortune. The start is dazzling and the end stretches out, so a reader can see why the two might disagree.

Taken into the present, this is the brilliant first move followed by a much longer chase. How far has the deer in your own story run since that first good shot?

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

No differences from the 1684 printing are recorded for this lot.

Marginal note as printed: 大本作小吉

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.