Perhaps my readers will be interested by the following selection of firefly poems. Some of the compositions are many centuries old:—
Catching Fireflies
Mayoi-go no
Naku-naku tsukamu
Hotaru kana!
Ah! the lost child! Though crying and crying, still he catches fireflies!
Kuraki yori
Kuraki hito yobu:
Hotaru kana!
Out of the blackness black people call [to each other]: [they are hunting] fireflies!
Iu koto no
Kikoëté ya, takaku
Tobu hotaru!
Ah! having heard the voices of people [crying "Catch it!">[, the firefly now flies higher!
Owarété wa
Tsuki ni kakururu
Hotaru kana!
Ah, [the cunning] fireflies! being chased, they hide themselves in the moonlight!
Ubayoté
Fumi-koroshitaru
Hotaru kana!