Whose Heart and the Autumn Sky?

This morning’s gray sky was a complete change from yesterday’s fine weather, and the scent of fragrant olive seemed especially vivid in the damp air. Autumn weather changes quickly, and in Japan that changeability has long been compared with the human heart. But was it originally a woman’s heart, or a man’s? Looking into the history of the proverb led me to an unexpected answer — and to the thought that perhaps human fickleness has never belonged to one gender alone.

In complete contrast to yesterday’s fine weather, the sky was dull and overcast this morning.

On a day like this, the scent of fragrant olive somehow stands out more clearly and suddenly catches my attention.

This year, the shrubs we planted as a screen between our house and our neighbor’s have finally begun to flower, sending us a faint but pleasant fragrance.

The autumn sky changes from moment to moment.

In Japan, people have often said, “A woman’s heart is like the autumn sky,” comparing the rapidly changing weather with a woman’s changing feelings.

But in reality, men seem at least as likely to be unfaithful, and when it comes to being devoted to one person, I sometimes think women may have the advantage.

Whether being inclined toward multiple partners is biologically good or bad is, of course, not so simple.

From the standpoint of genetic diversity, having different partners might offer some advantage. From the standpoint of raising children, however, a stable relationship with a limited number of partners might be more beneficial.

Today, of course, a partner is not necessarily someone of the biologically opposite sex. Once we take that into account, expressions such as “a man’s heart” or “a woman’s heart” may gradually lose much of their meaning.

So I looked into the origin of this Japanese proverb.

To my surprise, the older expression was actually “A man’s heart and the autumn sky.”

Similar wording can be found in Japanese kyogen from the Muromachi period, and by the Edo period, the expression was used to describe a man’s unfaithful or changeable affections.

For a long time, Japanese dictionaries also treated the version referring to a man’s heart as the original form.

So that was how it began.

I had always assumed that the saying reflected a male point of view — a man’s frustration with the supposedly unpredictable feelings of women.

Apparently, I had it backward.

There is said to be a similar English expression, “A woman’s mind and a winter wind change oft,” so perhaps the tendency of human feelings to change is nothing for me to worry about. People seem to have noticed it everywhere, in every age.

Still, while people’s hearts are free to change, I wish the weather would settle down a little.

We had such a long spell of rain this year.

Now that the sun has finally appeared, I would like the clear weather to stay with us for a while.

Human hearts may be free to change, but I would prefer the autumn sky to make up its mind.

・・・

overcast
空が雲で覆われた「どんよりした、曇った」。
The sky was dull and overcast.

fragrant olive
金木犀。英語では fragrant olive や sweet osmanthus と呼ばれる。

stand out
「目立つ、際立つ」。香りや色、特徴などが周囲より強く感じられるときにも使える。

devoted to one person
「一人の人に一途である」。devoted には「献身的な、深く愛情を注ぐ」という意味がある。

from the standpoint of ...
「〜という観点から」。少し論理的、学術的な文章でも使いやすい表現。

fickle
「移り気な、気まぐれな」。人の感情や好みが変わりやすいことを表す。

have it backward
「逆に理解している、あべこべに考えている」。
Apparently, I had it backward.
＝「どうやら私は逆に考えていたようだ」。

make up one’s mind
「決心する、態度を決める」。最後の一文では、秋空を人間のように扱った表現。

#AutumnSky #JapaneseProverbs #FragrantOlive #ChangingSeasons #EverydayThoughts #Kamakura #JapanesePathologist