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Fourteen-Character Verses

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Zen Sand
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Fourteen-Character Verses14.1ouoØeeÙAiõte aimite ka-ka to shite warai,a...Íw½}úYubi o kusshi kõbe o motagureba tsuki hanten.We meet and recognize each other laughing, “Ha ha!”A rare moment to raise our faces to the moonabove!a...yubi o kusshiliterally means “bend the ³ngers,” as is done in counting. It implies a very smallnumber, and by extension, something rare or unusual (HYDCD 4.30).ZGS 14.1, ZGJI 595, ZRKS 14.388, HYDCD 4.3014.2oqH–ÀÔUAiokutte mon ni atareba shðchiku ari,¤pèè ̃#KKimi ga tame ni yõ-yõ seifð o okosu.As I escort you to the gate, there are tall bamboo.Just for you, their leaves are raising a pure wind.ZGS 14.2, ZGJI 595, ZRKS 14.394, Shiba 37014.3mê/ê/Ao wa ai yori idete ai yori mo aoshi,É ́êvíêvKõri wa mizu yori shõjite mizu yori mo samushi.The blue which comes from indigo is bluer than indigo,The ice made from water is colder than the water.Shiba 367: Kõri wa mizu yori shõjite mizu yori mo suzushi.KZS #1212, ZGS 14.3, ZGJT 245, ZGJI 640, ZRKS 14.299, Shiba 36714.4,!{œEfÊAkan no shijo gabi o egaki,°ù%îÊ«|Rankyõdaijõ hanashi chi ni nitari.Young maiden, hair done up, paints her arched eyebrows,And to the phoenix mirror on its stand, prattles away like a fool.ZGS 14.4, ZGJT 3(,), Shiba na.14.5Àß*ʲuOnozukara toku gyokugan hihei shigatashi to,ZGî¼øhKaette kajõ ni kitatte rae o tsuku.She says to herself, “My beautiful face is hard to match.”Then coming to the clothes rack, she puts on a robe of sheer silk.ZGS 14.5, Shiba na14.67ª*V*Ashita ni gyokuhai o yurugashite kinden ni hashiri,Ï ́úvñ9Yðbe ni tensho o hõjite sai o hai su.In the mornings, his jade tassels swinging, he hurries to the Golden Palace.In the evenings, having received imperial edicts, he bows out by the blue gate.ZGS 14.6, Shiba na, TSSSTS 48484
© University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu

Fourteen-Character Verses14.1ouoØeeÙAiõte aimite ka-ka to shite warai,a...Íw½}úYubi o kusshi kõbe o motagureba tsuki hanten.We meet and recognize each other laughing, “Ha ha!”A rare moment to raise our faces to the moonabove!a...yubi o kusshiliterally means “bend the ³ngers,” as is done in counting. It implies a very smallnumber, and by extension, something rare or unusual (HYDCD 4.30).ZGS 14.1, ZGJI 595, ZRKS 14.388, HYDCD 4.3014.2oqH–ÀÔUAiokutte mon ni atareba shðchiku ari,¤pèè ̃#KKimi ga tame ni yõ-yõ seifð o okosu.As I escort you to the gate, there are tall bamboo.Just for you, their leaves are raising a pure wind.ZGS 14.2, ZGJI 595, ZRKS 14.394, Shiba 37014.3mê/ê/Ao wa ai yori idete ai yori mo aoshi,É ́êvíêvKõri wa mizu yori shõjite mizu yori mo samushi.The blue which comes from indigo is bluer than indigo,The ice made from water is colder than the water.Shiba 367: Kõri wa mizu yori shõjite mizu yori mo suzushi.KZS #1212, ZGS 14.3, ZGJT 245, ZGJI 640, ZRKS 14.299, Shiba 36714.4,!{œEfÊAkan no shijo gabi o egaki,°ù%îÊ«|Rankyõdaijõ hanashi chi ni nitari.Young maiden, hair done up, paints her arched eyebrows,And to the phoenix mirror on its stand, prattles away like a fool.ZGS 14.4, ZGJT 3(,), Shiba na.14.5Àß*ʲuOnozukara toku gyokugan hihei shigatashi to,ZGî¼øhKaette kajõ ni kitatte rae o tsuku.She says to herself, “My beautiful face is hard to match.”Then coming to the clothes rack, she puts on a robe of sheer silk.ZGS 14.5, Shiba na14.67ª*V*Ashita ni gyokuhai o yurugashite kinden ni hashiri,Ï ́úvñ9Yðbe ni tensho o hõjite sai o hai su.In the mornings, his jade tassels swinging, he hurries to the Golden Palace.In the evenings, having received imperial edicts, he bows out by the blue gate.ZGS 14.6, Shiba na, TSSSTS 48484
© University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu
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