雪
將暮孟冬降密雪
四山無栢亦無松
休将委積論多少
欲似嵩山少室峰
Snow
Dense snow falls hidden this dusk in winter early;
There’s no cedar or pine around these four mountains.
Do not fret then how much or little there might be;
It is just like Shaoshi Peak of famed Song Mountains.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 將 暮 孟 冬 降 密 雪 About to Dusk Eldest Winter Descend Thick/Secret Snow 四 山 無 栢 亦 無 松 Four Mountain Without Cedar Likewise Without Pine 休 将 委 積 論 多 少 Stop (Take) (Entrust) Accumulate Discuss Much Little 欲 似 嵩 山 少 室 峰 (Like) Resembles “Song” Mountain (Shaoshi) - Peak I was going to try something different this time around, and try to articulate all the thought processes that I go through analysing & reconstructing the text. Perhaps it would be of some entertainment to fellow aficionados.
However! It was a rather simple one to decipher.
And I think I’ll keep the Japanese / Hiragana readings to myself, to keep it neat around here.
Only “curious” things here for me were the following.
密: Means “Dense, Thick”, as in Thick Snow, but also “Secret” in general (DDB). I get the feeling that it’s not only thick snow, but also out of sight. Rather than trying to capture both meanings elegantly with a single expression, I went ahead and mentioned both like a true philistine.
四山: Dōgen’s merging both the literal landscape, and the four enclosings of “birth, age, sickness and death” (DDB). Cedar & Pine representing evergreen longevity, it could also mean “There’s no permanence in these four sufferings”.
