• Hina-matsuri

    From Ross Clark@21:1/5 to All on Thu Mar 6 12:34:36 2025
    Bashō, 17th-century Japanese poet, abandoning his "broken house on the
    River Sumida" to go on a long journey, wrote an eight-part linked verse
    and hung it on a post by the doorway. He quotes the first part:

    Behind this door
    Now buried in deep grass
    A different generation will celebrate
    The Festival of Dolls.

    (Translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa, in the Penguin Classics edition of "The
    Narrow Road to the Deep North")

    Hina-matsuri! called in English "Doll Festival" or "Girls' Day",
    3 March!
    How did I miss that?
    Answer: It's not on my original list.
    Because (sez Wiki) it's an annual festival, but not a national holiday.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinamatsuri

    But back to the poem.
    Searching for the original text, I found this remarkable page which
    contrasts several very different translations of it (and the preceding introduction).


    kusa no to mo
    sumikawaru yo zo
    hina no ie

    草の戸も 住替る代ぞ ひなの家


    Even a thatched hut
    May change with a new owner
    Into a doll’s house.

    (Translation by Donald Keene)

    https://www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/basho-oku.htm

    Original: grass - 's - door - even
    live-in/change - people - [emphatic]
    doll - 's - house

    I think the link to the Festival is justified by the fact that /hina/
    refers specifically to very traditional figures, wearing traditional
    clothing, which are displayed on that day "to pray for the happiness of
    girls".

    https://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/learn/home/dictio/senshoku/hina/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From HenHanna@21:1/5 to Ross Clark on Thu Mar 6 00:10:21 2025
    XPost: alt.usage.english, alt.english.usage

    草の戸も 住替る代ぞ ひなの家 --- interesting!



    3-3 is Girls' Day

    5-5 is Boys' Day

    7-7 is the day for Lovers

    -------- For centuries this was the most
    Romantic day (for lovers), until .........




    On Wed, 5 Mar 2025 23:34:36 +0000, Ross Clark wrote:

    Bashō, 17th-century Japanese poet, abandoning his "broken house on the
    River Sumida" to go on a long journey, wrote an eight-part linked verse
    and hung it on a post by the doorway. He quotes the first part:

    Behind this door
    Now buried in deep grass
    A different generation will celebrate
    The Festival of Dolls.

    (Translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa, in the Penguin Classics edition of "The
    Narrow Road to the Deep North")

    Hina-matsuri! called in English "Doll Festival" or "Girls' Day",
    3 March!
    How did I miss that?
    Answer: It's not on my original list.
    Because (sez Wiki) it's an annual festival, but not a national holiday.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinamatsuri

    But back to the poem.
    Searching for the original text, I found this remarkable page which
    contrasts several very different translations of it (and the preceding introduction).


    kusa no to mo
    sumikawaru yo zo
    hina no ie

    草の戸も 住替る代ぞ ひなの家

    Even a thatched hut
    May change with a new owner
    Into a doll’s house.

    (Translation by Donald Keene)

    https://www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/basho-oku.htm

    Original: grass - 's - door - even
    live-in/change - people - [emphatic]
    doll - 's - house

    I think the link to the Festival is justified by the fact that /hina/
    refers specifically to very traditional figures, wearing traditional clothing, which are displayed on that day "to pray for the happiness of girls".

    https://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/learn/home/dictio/senshoku/hina/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)