Nadéshiko ni
Chōchō shiroshi—
Taré no kon?[[11]]
[On the pink-flower there is a white butterfly: whose spirit, I wonder?]
Ichi-nichi no
Tsuma to miëkéri—
Chō futatsu.
[The one-day wife has at last appeared—a pair of butterflies!]
Kité wa maü,
Futari shidzuka no
Kochō kana!
[Approaching they dance; but when the two meet at last they are very quiet, the butterflies!]
Chō wo oü
Kokoro-mochitashi
Itsumadémo!
[Would that I might always have the heart (desire) of chasing butterflies![[12]]]
Besides these specimens of poetry about butterflies, I have one queer example to offer of Japanese prose literature on the same topic. The original, of which I have attempted only a free translation, can be found in the curious old book Mushi-Isamé (“Insect-Admonitions”); and it assumes the form of a discourse to a butterfly. But it is really a didactic allegory,—suggesting the moral significance of a social rise and fall:—