Chương Chương 14 · Butterflies

(1) Haiku.

[1] “The modest nymph beheld her God, and blushed.” (Or, in a more

familiar rendering: “The modest water saw its God, and blushed.”) In

this line the double value of the word _nympha_—used by classical

poets both in the meaning of fountain and in that of the divinity of a

fountain, or spring—reminds one of that graceful playing with words

which Japanese poets practice.

[2] More usually written _nugi-kakéru_, which means either “to take

off and hang up,” or “to begin to take off,”—as in the above poem.

More loosely, but more effectively, the verses might thus be rendered:

“Like a woman slipping off her haori—that is the appearance of a

butterfly.” One must have seen the Japanese garment described, to

appreciate the comparison. The haori is a silk upper-dress,—a kind of

sleeved cloak,—worn by both sexes; but the poem suggests a woman’s

_haori_, which is usually of richer color or material. The sleeves are

wide; and the lining is usually of brightly-colored silk, often

beautifully variegated. In taking off the haori, the brilliant lining

is displayed,—and at such an instant the fluttering splendor might

well be likened to the appearance of a butterfly in motion.

[3] The bird-catcher’s pole is smeared with bird-lime; and the verses

suggest that the insect is preventing the man from using his pole, by

persistently getting in the way of it,—as the birds might take warning

from seeing the butterfly limed. _Jama suru_ means “to hinder” or

“prevent.”

[4] Even while it is resting, the wings of the butterfly may be seen

to quiver at moments,—as if the creature were dreaming of flight.

[5] A little poem by Bashō, greatest of all Japanese composers of

_hokku_. The verses are intended to suggest the joyous feeling of

spring-time.

[6] Literally, “a windless day;” but two negatives in Japanese poetry

do not necessarily imply an affirmative, as in English. The meaning

is, that although there is no wind, the fluttering motion of the

butterflies suggests, to the eyes at least, that a strong breeze is

playing.

[7] Alluding to the Buddhist proverb: _Rakkwa éda ni kaërazu; ha-kyō

futatabi terasazu_ (“The fallen flower returns not to the branch; the

broken mirror never again reflects.”) So says the proverb—yet it

seemed to me that I saw a fallen flower return to the branch... No: it

was only a butterfly.

[8] Alluding probably to the light fluttering motion of falling

cherry-petals.

[9] That is to say, the grace of their motion makes one think of the

grace of young girls, daintily costumed, in robes with long fluttering

sleeves... And old Japanese proverb declares that even a devil is

pretty at eighteen: _Oni mo jiu-hachi azami no hana:_ “Even a devil at

eighteen, flower-of-the-thistle.”

[10] Or perhaps the verses might be more effectively rendered thus:

“Happy together, do you say? Yes—if we should be reborn as

field-butterflies in some future life: then we might accord!” This

poem was composed by the celebrated poet Issa, on the occasion of

divorcing his wife.

[11] Or, _Taré no tama?_

[12] Literally, “Butterfly-pursuing heart I wish to have

always;”—_i.e._, I would that I might always be able to find pleasure

in simple things, like a happy child.

[13] An old popular error,—probably imported from China.

[14] A name suggested by the resemblance of the larva’s artificial

covering to the _mino_, or straw-raincoat, worn by Japanese peasants.

I am not sure whether the dictionary rendering, “basket-worm,” is

quite correct;—but the larva commonly called _minomushi_ does really

construct for itself something much like the covering of the

basket-worm.

(2) A very large, white radish. “Daikon” literally means “big root.”

[15] _Pyrus spectabilis_.

[16] An evil spirit.

(3) A common female name.

MOSQUITOES

(1) Meiji: The period in which Hearn wrote this book. It lasted from

1868 to 1912, and was a time when Japan plunged head-first into

Western-style modernization. By the “fashions and the changes and the

disintegrations of Meiji” Hearn is lamenting that this process of

modernization was destroying some of the good things in traditional

Japanese culture.

ANTS

(1) Cicadas.

[1] An interesting fact in this connection is that the Japanese word

for ant, _ari_, is represented by an ideograph formed of the character

for “insect” combined with the character signifying “moral rectitude,”

“propriety” (_giri_). So the Chinese character actually means “The

Propriety-Insect.”