_Ko_ (maid) _tsumasu_ ([who] plucks) _na_ (salads) _ni_ (on) _kono woka_ (this knoll), _mochi_ (holding) _fukushi_ (truel), _yo mo_ (oh the) _fukushi_ (truel), _mochi_ (holding) _mi ko_ (fair basket), _mo yo_ (oh the) _ko_ (basket). Maid who pluckest salads on this knoll holding a truel--oh the truel!--holding a fair basket--oh the basket!… _a wo se to norame_, me for thy husband name! But even rendered almost in Japanese order, the lay is quite intelligible, and perhaps better to be appreciated than in any imitative version:-- Basket O! | fine basket bearing | truel O | fine truel bearing | this knoll upon | herb-plucking maid! | your home-place tell me | your name too tell me; | Yamato’s land | everywhere | I hold rule over, | all where | I hold rule over, | me in sooth | as husband call me | your homeplace too, your name too, tell me! In dealing with the less easy texts of the Manyôshiu the following considerations must be kept in mind:-- The honour-forms (see below) indicate a (logical) second or third person, or something connected with such a person, directly or indirectly. The particle _wo_ may often be rendered as if _ni_, or as an exclamation, or as if followed by some form of _omofu_. I do not regard it as in itself a quasi-conjunction. The various functions of _no_ must be kept in mind. The frequency of inversion in order of words must not be forgotten. The _makura kotoba_ may be ruled out, as well as prefaces, exordiums, introductions, and the like--thus the kernel of meaning may be got at, and the decoration then added. It must be recollected that of the elements of the vocabulary very few can be exactly rendered by a single English word, their connotation for the most part is more or less different from that of any possible English equivalent. In the Glossary an exhaustive definition of the meaning is not attempted, enough only is given to suggest the translation of the sentence in which the word appears. Hence since meanings came to change in the course of time, those given being only what are required for these texts sometimes differ from the meanings found in the foreign dictionaries, all of which are very imperfect--very seldom, however, from those offered by that excellent native dictionary the _Kotoba no Izumi_. THE LANGUAGE OF THE MANYÔSHIU I found the following remarks upon the somewhat lengthy, and--to me--not always very clear, observations of Masazumi concerning the language of the Manyôshiu contained in his _sôron_ or General Introduction.