春日野(ｶｽｶﾞﾉ)の 山辺(ﾔﾏﾍ)の道を 恐(ｵｿ)りなく 通(ｶﾖ)ひし君が 見えぬころかも
I have not seen much of him recently,
Even though he came to see me, undaunted by the mountain roads of Kasuganao previously.
石川郎女(ｲｼｶﾊﾉｲﾗﾂﾒ)の歌一首〔則ち、佐保大伴(ｻﾎｵﾎﾄﾓ)の大家(ｵﾎﾄｼﾞ)なり〕
春日野(ｶｽｶﾞﾉ)の 山辺(ﾔﾏﾍ)の道を 恐(ｵｿ)りなく 通(ｶﾖ)ひし君が 見えぬころかも
A pome by Ishikawa no Iratsume, the mistress of Saho Otomo family.
I have not seen much of him recently,
Even though he came to see me, undaunted by the mountain roads of Kasuganao previously.
(現代語訳)
石川郎女の歌一首 (すなわち、佐保の大伴家の女主人である)
春日野の、山ぞいの難路も、恐れることなく、通って来てくれたあの方が、お見えにならぬこのごろです。
4-518
奈良時代の婚姻形態は、男性が女性の家を夜に通う「妻問婚(ﾂﾏﾄﾞｲｺﾝ）」が主流だった。夫婦は同居せず、男性が妻の家へ通う関係であり、誕生した子は母方の一族が養育したという。当時の習慣を知らないとこの歌は理解できないだろう。
The main form of marriage in the Nara period was “tsumadoikon,” where the man would visit the woman’s house at night. The couple did not live together, but the man would visit the wife’s house, and any children born were raised by the mother’s family. If you are not familiar with the customs of the time, you will not be able to understand this poem.
