MAIDENS
And there the stream thou hast now deigned to cross,
It is the far-famed river Ikuta.
SPIRIT
In the early breath of spring-time (like the shallows of the river)
Do we gather, ’neath the snowy cloak, the young shoots of the field.
MAIDENS
And this field, too, where little sprouts as yet
Are growing, why as Ono know’st it not?[13]
SPIRIT AND MAIDENS
The sweet wild cherry blossoms that do grow
In Miyoshino and in Shiga too,
The maple leaves of Tatsuta and those
Of Hatsuse—they would be surely known
By those who lived beside the poet’s home.
But we, though living in this place know not
The forest or the copse of Ikuta.
So ask us not, for we know nothing here.
PRIEST