Cast & Chart

Omikuji lot 78 of 100

Green Pine and Cypress

大吉 Dai-kichi, Great good fortune

但存正公道

何愁理去忠

松栢蒼蒼翠

前山禄馬重

Only keep to what is right and fair;

why fear that reason and loyalty might leave?

Pine and cypress stand deep green;

on the hill ahead, stipend and horses are abundant.

What this lot says

One condition is set at the start, that a person hold to what is correct and fair. With that held, the second line asks what there is to fear, though its exact wording is uncertain and we take it plainly as the loss of reason and loyalty. Evergreen pine and cypress stand dark and thick, and on the hill ahead there are stipends and horses in good number.

Dai-kichi, Great good fortune, appears in print above this verse in the book. The evergreens hold their color the way the person in the first line holds to fairness, and the rewards wait in plain view on the next hill.

By modern analogy, think of a person whose standards stay the same whatever the weather. What does it cost to stay that green, and what comes into view from doing so?

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 公.
  • Line 1, character 4: 1684 printing has 道.
  • Line 1, character 5: 1684 printing has 正.

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.