Cast & Chart

Omikuji lot 66 of 100

Wild Goose Dropping Feathers

凶 Kyo, Bad fortune

水滯少波濤

飛鴻落羽毛

重憂心緒亂

閑事惹風騷

Water stalls, with few waves upon it;

a flying goose lets its feathers fall.

Heavy worry throws the heart's threads in disorder;

idle matters stir up talk and unrest.

What this lot says

Water lies stuck with little movement, and a wild goose in flight sheds its feathers. The last two lines go inward, to worries that tangle thought, and outward, to trivial business that stirs commotion.

Here the book prints Kyo, Bad fortune. Stalled water and a damaged bird in the air offer no motion that helps, and the commotion at the end comes from matters of no importance.

In our own day, this could be a stretch when nothing moves on the main task and small distractions make all the noise. Which of the loud things in front of you would still matter if the water began to flow?

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.