6 On the night when the rain beats,
10 On the night when the snowflakes mingle
14 I feel so helplessly cold.
16 I nibble at a lump of salt,
18 Sip the hot, oft-diluted dregs of _sake_;
20 And coughing, snuffling,
22 And stroking my scanty beard,
26 "There's none worthy, save I!"
28 But I shiver still with cold.
30 I pull up my hempen bedclothes,
32 Wear what few sleeveless clothes I have,
34 But cold and bitter is the night!
36 As for those poorer than myself,
38 Their parents must be cold and hungry,
40 Their wives and children beg and cry.
42 Then, how do you struggle through life?
46 Wide as they call the heaven and earth,
48 For me they have shrunk quite small;
50 Bright though they call the sun and moon,
52 They never shine for me.
54 Is it the same with all men,
58 By rare chance I was born a man
60 And no meaner than my fellows,
62 But, wearing unwadded sleeveless clothes
64 In tatters, like weeds waving in the sea,
66 Hanging from my shoulders,
68 And under the sunken roof,
70 Within the leaning walls,
76 With my parents at my pillow,
78 And my wife and children at my feet,
80 All huddled in grief and tears.
82 No fire sends up smoke
88 A spider spins its web.
90 With not a grain to cook,
92 We moan like the night thrush.
94 Then, "to cut," as the saying is,
96 "The ends of what is already too short,"
98 The village headman comes,
100 With rod in hand, to our sleeping place,
102 Growling for his dues.
104 Must it be so hopeless --
106 The way of this world?