When, after holing up for winter, the spring comes
" When Emperor Tenji "
When Emperor Tenji commanded the minister of the center, Fujiwara no Kamatari, to debate the merits of the fragrance of thousands of flowers on a spring hill as opposed to the color of hundreds of leaves on an autumn hill, Princess Nukada settled the question with this poem:
When, after holing up for winter, the spring comes,
birds that weren't singing come and sing,
flowers that weren't blooming bloom;
but the hills are so dense with growth I can't go in and pick the flowers,
the grass so thick I can't pick and look at them.
When I look at the leaves of trees on an autumn hill,
I take the yellow leaves and admire them.
I leave the green ones, and I'm sorry,
that's something I regret.
But for me, the autumn hill!
When Emperor Tenji commanded the minister of the center, Fujiwara no Kamatari, to debate the merits of the fragrance of thousands of flowers on a spring hill as opposed to the color of hundreds of leaves on an autumn hill, Princess Nukada settled the question with this poem:
When, after holing up for winter, the spring comes,
birds that weren't singing come and sing,
flowers that weren't blooming bloom;
but the hills are so dense with growth I can't go in and pick the flowers,
the grass so thick I can't pick and look at them.
When I look at the leaves of trees on an autumn hill,
I take the yellow leaves and admire them.
I leave the green ones, and I'm sorry,
that's something I regret.
But for me, the autumn hill!
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