Our red-haired plowhorse,
Let loose at large in the fields,
Couldn’t rein in her force.
Had to have our master leave
Over Tama hills on foot...
(Vol.20-4417)

This may be sorted out as one of Eastern Songs – a song sung by a farmer’s wife in the Eastern countryside region of ancient Japan. As a matter of fact, “Tama hills” appearing in this song roughly corresponds to Tama Hills Region (多摩丘陵地帯)　in today’s Tokyo Metropolitan area.

Since the farming family, earlier in the morning, set loose their workhorse by mistake, and couldn’t catch her back, the wife’s husband setting out on a trip down to Kyushu area so as to be employed as Sakimori soldier (to support the family) would have to go on foot through Tama hills and beyond to the far west, hence the wife’s remorseful but dear emotion. Well, perhaps the family didn’t own a workhorse at all, but at least that much of emotion she would have wanted to express. (Based on Mr. Nakanishi’s book)

I wrote the English version in First Person style of a monologue, skipping subject words, as sometimes seen in English poems.
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