72238
I recently heard of the poem named Koto ni Kanzu, and I came across [this
page](http://shigin.com/hiroaki/kansi_syuu/kansi_syuu-13/kotonikanzu.htm) that
provides the poem's text, along with a pretty convincing interpretation. The
poems reads as follows (I only added the furigana for the words my question
focuses on):

> 花開けば蝶枝に満つ
>
> 花謝すれば蝶[還]{また}稀なり
>
> 惟旧巣の燕[有]{あ}あり
>
> 主人貧しきも[亦]{また}帰る

I have the following questions regarding the vocabulary used in this poem:

  * Why is `還` read `また`? I found the kanji in Jisho, which says that it can be used instead of `帰` in `帰{か}える`, but I could not find it being used as `また`. Is this some kind of play on words based on this kanji's meaning of `returning`?
  * Why are `還` and `亦` both used for `また`? Is there a negative connotation in the former, and a positive in the latter? What about `又`?
  * What is the meaning of `有あり`?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-01T14:35:42.387
72217
2019-10-02T19:43:05.267
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
18582
question
word-choice words nuances poetry
事に感ず and Shigin vocabulary
## Background

The first thing to be aware of is that this poem was composed in Chinese by
the poet 于 濆 (Yú Fén) in roughly 874. (Brief Chinese Wikipedia article about
the poet [here](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%8E%E6%BF%86).) As such,
the Japanese version must be viewed as a translation. And if you've ever done
much translation yourself, particularly of poetry, you've probably come to
understand that certain liberties are often taken in order to produce a target
text that 1) is meaningful, and 2) works at least somewhat as poetry.

Here's the original as best I can tell, with the modern Mandarin readings and
a rough English translation.

> 花開蝶滿枝，花謝蝶還稀。  
>  _Huā kāi dié mǎn zhī, huā xiè dié hái xī._  
>  Flowers open and butterflies fill the branches, flowers say goodbye and
> butterflies go back to being scarce.  
>  惟有舊巢燕，主人貧亦歸。  
>  _Wéi yǒu jiù cháo yàn, zhǔrén pín yì guī._  
>  However, there are old-nest swallows, the house owner is poor and yet they
> come back.

## Specifics

With that in mind, let's address your questions.

>   * Why is `還` read `また`? I found the kanji in Jisho, which says that it can
> be used instead of `帰` in `帰{か}える`, but I could not find it being used as
> `また`. Is this some kind of play on words based on this kanji's meaning of
> `returning`?
>

[As Chinese, 還 has various
senses](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%82%84#Chinese), of which the
"returning, going back" one seems most relevant here. In the context of the
poem, the text is describing how the butterflies _go back to_ being rare,
which can be expressed in Japanese using the word また.

>   * Why are `還` and `亦` both used for `また`? Is there a negative connotation
> in the former, and a positive in the latter? What about `又`?
>

Again, the Japanese for this poem is a translation. The use of the Japanese
word また fits the context, the grammar, the meaning, and (to a lesser extent)
the meter.

The kanji are, strictly speaking, _hanzi_ (漢字 as read in Mandarin).

  * In the first case with 還, the text is describing the butterfly situation _returning_ to a previous state of few butterflies.
  * In the second case with 亦, and [using the _although_ sense for the Chinese term](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%BA%A6#Chinese), the text is describing that the swallows mentioned in the previous line return home _even though_ the master of the house is poor. In the Japanese, this _although, even though_ sense is conveyed using the particle も, and the また was probably added to reinforce the 歸【かえる】 meaning and to fill out the otherwise-missing syllables needed to approach the expected meter.

>   * What is the meaning of `有あり`?
>

As noted in the comment by Sweeper, that's a typo. It should be 有【あ】りて, which
you correctly guessed is an archaic form of modern あって.

### Digression: alternative approaches to translingual poetry

As 漢文訓読【かんぶんくんどく】 (literally "Chinese text, [Japanese] meaning-reading"), one
of the common renderings appears to be:

> 花【はな】開【ひら】けば 蝶【ちょう】枝【えだ】に滿【み】つ  
>  花【はな】謝【しゃ】すれば 蝶【ちょう】還【また】稀【まれ】なり  
>  惟【ただ】 舊巣【きゅうそう】の 燕【つばめ】有【あ】りて  
>  主人【しゅじん】 貧【まず】しきも 亦【また】歸【かえ】る

Going slightly further and reworking a bit to better fit the Japanese poetic
meter preference for lines of 5 and 7 morae, we might get:

> 花【はな】が開【ひら】けば  
>  蝶【ちょう】枝【えだ】に満【み】ち  
>  花【はな】が謝【しゃ】すれば  
>  蝶【ちょう】また稀【まれ】に  
>  惟【ただ】舊巣【きゅうそう】の  
>  燕【つばめ】が有【あ】りて  
>  主【ぬし】貧【まず】しきも  
>  また歸【かえ】る

And treating this more as a translation than just 漢文訓読, we might even change
some wording around while maintaining the meaning, particulary reworking the
end.

> 花【はな】が開【ひら】けば  
>  蝶【ちょう】枝【えだ】に満【み】ち  
>  花【はな】が謝【しゃ】すれば  
>  蝶【ちょう】また稀【まれ】に  
>  それはともあれ  
>  古巣【ふるす】の燕【つばめ】  
>  家【いえ】主【ぬし】が  
>  貧【まず】しく然【さ】るに  
>  また帰【かえ】る

* * *

Please comment if the above does not fully address your questions.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-02T19:14:06.750
72238
2019-10-02T19:43:05.267
2019-10-02T19:43:05.267
5229
5229
72217
answer