Cast & Chart

Omikuji lot 37 of 100

One Arrow, Two Geese

半吉 Han-kichi, Half good fortune

陰靉未能通

求名亦未逢

幸然須有變

一箭中雙鴻

Dim overcast does not yet clear.

The search for a name has not met its chance.

Happily there must be a change,

and one arrow strikes two wild geese.

What this lot says

The sky stays murky and the effort to make a name goes nowhere. The verse then insists that something has to shift. A single arrow brings down a pair of geese at the close.

Two gray lines and two bright ones divide this lot, which the book prints as Han-kichi, Half good fortune. Printings differ, and another changes the first character so the grade is Sue-kichi, Good fortune later.

As a present-day thought, the verse sets a long dull stretch beside one efficient stroke. Could a single piece of work you have in mind answer two needs at once?

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: 大本半作未

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.