(_Probably from the sixteenth century_)
Agemaki ya!
_Tonton!_
Hiro bakari ya--
_Tonton!_
Sakarite netaredomo,
Marobi-ainikeri,--
_Tonton!_
Kayori-ainikeri,
_Tonton!_
Oh! my darling boy!
_Tonton!_
Though a fathom[97] apart,
_Tonton!_
Sleeping separated,
By rolling we came together!
_Tonton!_
By slow approaches we came together,
_Tonton!_
[97] Lit., "_hiro_." The _hiro_ is a measure of about
five feet English, and is used to measure breadth
as well as depth.
My next group of selections consists of "local songs"--by which term the
collector means songs peculiar to particular districts or provinces.
They are old--though less old than the compositions previously
cited;--and their interest is chiefly emotional. But several, it will be
observed, have curious refrains. Songs of this sort are sung especially
at the village-dances--_Bon-odori_ and _Honen-odori_:--