Cast & Chart

Omikuji lot 53 of 100

Late Flowers Bear Fruit

吉 Kichi, Good fortune

久困漸能安

雲書降印權

殘花終結實

時亨禄自遷

Long hardship slowly gives way to ease;

a letter from the clouds brings down the seal of office.

The last ragged blossoms set fruit in the end;

the times run smooth, and the stipend rises of itself.

What this lot says

After a long time pinned down, a person begins to find some ease. A message descends from the clouds and carries the seal that grants authority. Flowers already past their best still set fruit, and with the season running well the person's pay and position move up without being pushed.

Kichi, Good fortune, is the grade the book prints here. Each image starts from something worn or waiting and ends with a result, and the fruit on the faded blossom is the clearest case.

Taken as a present-day reflection, this might fit work that seemed past its moment and still produced something. Some older efforts look finished only because they stopped flowering.

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.

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.