Cast & Chart

Omikuji lot 64 of 100

Mandarin Ducks Fly Apart

凶 Kyo, Bad fortune

安居且慮危

情深主別離

風飄波浪急

鴛鴦各自飛

Settled at home, you still think of danger;

deep feeling points toward parting.

Wind whips the waves up fast,

and the mandarin ducks fly off each alone.

What this lot says

In a quiet home there is already anxiety about what might go wrong. The second line ties strong attachment to separation. Waves rise fast under the wind, and a pair of mandarin ducks scatter in separate directions.

Over this verse the book prints Kyo, Bad fortune. The images run from worry to parting to a pair driven off by weather, and the poem stops with the birds still apart.

Heard today, the poem is about how quickly a settled arrangement can be shaken by outside pressure. Anxious watching may also do something to the very calm it is watching over.

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 1, character 3: 1684 printing has 旦.

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.