Note 231 — NÔ NO UTAHI TAKASAGO TEXT TRANSLITERATED

This passage, like some others, must be understood metaphorically as well as literally—here, in reference to the age of the tree and that of the speaker. The sashi of shitesashi seems to indicate a coming forward or interruption by the protagonist. Rongi-ji is a sort of dialogal chorus, and kuse, a statement of the precept or argument of the utahi, made by one of the chorus.