Cast & Chart

Draft, awaiting final review.

Omikuji lot 81 of 100

Treasure Sought, One Word Missing

小吉 Sho-kichi, Small good fortune

道合須成合

先憂事更多

所求財寳□

更變得中和

Where ways agree, there must be union;

first worry, and more matters still.

The wealth and treasure sought [unreadable],

then change brings the middle balance.

What this lot says

Two paths that agree need to be brought together, and before that worries and business increase. The third line speaks of the riches being sought, and one character there could not be settled, so what happens to them stays unknown. The last line ends with change arriving at a centered harmony.

The closing word about balance suits Sho-kichi, Small good fortune, which the book prints. Printings differ, however, and a note lists Han-kichi, Half good fortune, for one edition, with Sue-kichi, Good fortune later, in another.

Applied to life now, the poem puts a period of added worry before any settling of a shared effort. With a key word gone, what the treasure comes to is left open, and readers might notice what else they have been filling in for themselves.

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.

The character shown as □ could not be read in either scan.

Marginal note as printed: 大本作末吉 / 百籖作半吉

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.