Old Japanese Songs 181 

 To toya: 



Totoi hito to naru naraba, 

 Koko mono to iwaru-beshi. 



Tbis is the first: 

 [Only] a person having filial piety is [worthy to be] 



called a person: 1 



If one does not know the goodness of parents, one has 

 not filial piety. 



The second : 

 Higher than the [mountain] Fuji is the favor of a 



father : 

 Think of it always ; never forget it. 



Tbe tbird: 

 [Compared with a mother's love] the great lake is 



shallow indeed ! 



[By this saying] the goodness of a mother should be 

 estimated. 



Tbe fourth : 



Even though in poverty we have to pass our days, 

 Let us never turn aside from the one straight path. 



Tbe fifth: 



The person whose heart never changes with time, 

 A true man or woman that person must be deemed. 



1 Lit., " A person having filial piety is called a person." The word 

 hito (person), usually indicating either a man or a woman, is often used 

 in the signification of " people" or "Mankind." The full meaning of 

 the sentence is that no unfilial person deserves to be called a human 

 being. 



