1.
春はあけぼの。やうやう白くなりゆく山ぎは、すこしあかりて、紫だちたる雲のほそくたなびきたる。
Spring: at daybreak. Mountain ridges brightening as they grow white bit by bit, purple-tinged clouds trailing [over the sky].
夏は夜。月のころはさらなり。闇もなほ。螢のおほく飛びちがひたる。また、ただ一つ二つなど、ほのかにうち光りて行くもをかし。雨など降るもをかし。
Summer: at night. Even better when the moon is out. The darkness, too. [To see] so many fireflies flitting about, or [to see] only one or two, giving off dim flickers as they go, is charming. The falling of rain & such is also charming.
秋は夕暮。夕日のさして山の端いと近うなりたるに、烏のねどころへ行くとて、三つ四つ、二つ三つなど飛びいそぐさへあはれなり。まいて雁などのつらねたるが、いと小さく見ゆるは、いとをかし。日入り果てて、風のおと、虫の音など、はた言ふべきにあらず。
Autumn: at dusk. The setting sun shines down, edging ever nearer to the mountaintops, birds make to retire to [their] beds, three or four, two or three, hurried in [their] flights—even [such a sight] is magnificent. Not to mention the wild geese, lined up and appearing ever smaller — [this, too], is very enchanting. As the sun sinks in its entirety, the sound of wind, the sound of insects… [these], too, cannot be put into words.
冬はつとめて。雪の降りたるは言ふべきにもあらず。霜のいと白きも、またさらでもいと寒きに、火などいそぎおこして、炭持てわたるも、いとつきづきし。昼になりて、ぬるくゆるびもていけば、火桶の火も、白き灰がちになりてわろし。
Winter: early morning. Neither can the falling of snow be put into words. [With] the white of frost, or even without, in the cold, making fire in haste, bringing around the charcoal—[these] too are such fitting [sights]. By the time noon comes about, when [the cold] gradually subsides in turn, the flames in the brazier, too, have turned to whitened ashes, [an] unseemly [sight].
