Joshua san,
I am sakuo, now living in Tokyo, but grown up in countryside.
I will explain a little about tori.

tori means [ to take, to pick up] It's basic form is toru.

sanae is sa + nae.
sa is early. nae is a young rice plant.

[sanae tori] means [picking up a young rice plant]
This process is taken at the first stage of rice planting.
It is supposed that this first work is done by young woman.
That is because it needs delicate hand working.

sakuo.

-----Original Message-----
From: translatinghaiku@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:translatinghaiku@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Joshua Gage
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2007 5:10 AM
To: translatinghaiku@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Translating Haiku] Kikaku--shiru nabe ni

shiru-nabe ni
kasa no shizuku ya
sanae tori

|juice;sap;soup;broth|saucepan; pot|(location)|
|(bamboo) hat; shade|(possession)|drop(of water); drip|(cutting word)
|
| rice seedlings|harvesting? picking up?|

into the soup pot
rain drops from a bamboo hat.
harvesting rice seedlings

My first question is "tori". I've got a sense it's a continuative
form of "toru", but I found a German website that implies "sanae
tori" are the troughs in which rice were planted, so thoughts?

Blyth has:

"Women transplanting rice-seedlings;
Rain-drops from their kasa
Fall into the soup of the saucepan.

They have made a fire on the bank and are cooking some soup over it.
There is some slight malice in this verse which stamps it as
Kikaku's."

I'm not sure I see the malice, and, unless I'm missting something in
tori, I'm not sure I see the women, either. Thoughts? Suggestions?