Cast & Chart

Omikuji lot 69 of 100

Half the Red Flowers Withered

凶 Kyo, Bad fortune

明月暗雲浮

華紅一半枯

惹事傷心處

行舟莫遠圖

Dark clouds float over the bright moon;

of the red flowers, half have withered.

Where trouble is stirred up, there the heart is hurt;

a boat under way should plan no distant voyage.

What this lot says

Cloud drifts across a bright moon, and half of a red flowering has dried up. The third line places hurt feelings at the spot where trouble was provoked. Last comes a warning to a boat against setting its sights far away.

Kyo, Bad fortune, stands printed in the book for this lot. Light is partly taken and bloom is half gone, and the verse closes by shortening the reach of the boat.

Looked at today, the half loss is the striking part, since something is left and something is plainly gone. A long-range plan drawn up from a place of fresh hurt may carry that hurt inside it.

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.