Cast & Chart

Omikuji lot 24 of 100

Three Women Kept Apart

凶 Kyo, Bad fortune

三女莫相逢

盟言說未通

門裏心肝掛

縞素子重重

Three women should not meet.

Sworn words are spoken and do not get through.

Inside the gate, heart and liver hang in suspense.

White mourning silk, and children, layer on layer.

What this lot says

The verse warns against a meeting of three women. Promises are made and fail to reach their mark, and within the household people are sick with suspense. White silk of mourning closes the picture, and the words about children in that line are unclear enough that we keep them literal.

Stated without any turn toward relief, the grade the book prints is Kyo, Bad fortune. Broken communication and mourning cloth are the verse's final images.

Read against modern life, the verse is about words that were solemn when spoken and still failed to arrive. Consider how a promise can be sincere and yet not be heard.

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 3, character 2: 1684 printing has 東.

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.