Shadowings Part 19

_Don-don!_

Kite wa chira-chira mayowaseru, Kite wa chira-chira mayowaseru!

_Taichokane!_ _Sokane don-don!_

Flower is it?--b.u.t.terfly is it?

b.u.t.terfly or flower?

_Don-don!_

When you come thus flickering, I am deluded!-- When you come thus twinkling, I am bewitched!

_Taichokane!_ _Sokane don-don!_

LOVE-SONG

(_Province of Kii,--village of Ogawa_)

Koe wa suredomo Sugata wa mienu-- f.u.ka-no no kirigirisu!

Though I hear the voice [_of the beloved_], the form I cannot see--a _kirigirisu_[98] in the high gra.s.s.

[98] _The kirigirisu_ is a kind of gra.s.shopper with a very musical note. It is very difficult to see it, even when it is singing close by, for its color is exactly the color of the gra.s.s. The song alludes to the happy peasant custom of singing while at work in the fields.

LOVE-SONG

(_Province of Mutsu,--district of Sugaru_)

Was.h.i.+ no kokoro to Oki kuru fune wa, Raku ni misetemo, Ku ga taenu.

My heart and a s.h.i.+p in the offing--either seems to move with ease; yet in both there is trouble enough.

LOVE-SONG

(_Province of Suwo,--village of Iseki_)

Namida kobos.h.i.+te s.h.i.+nku wo kataru, Kawairas.h.i.+-sa ga Mas.h.i.+masuru!

As she tells me all the pain of her toil, shedding tears,--ever her sweetness seems to increase.

LOVE-SONG

(_Province of Suruga, village of Gotemba_)

Hana ya, yoku kike!

Sho aru naraba, Hito ga fusagu ni Naze hiraku?

O flower, hear me well if thou hast a soul! When any one sorrows as I am sorrowing, why dost thou bloom?

OLD ToKYo SONG

Iya-na o-kata no s.h.i.+nsetsu yori ka Suita o-kata no Muri ga yoi.

Better than the kindness of the disliked is the violence of the beloved.

LOVE-SONG

(_Province of Iwami_)

Kawairas.h.i.+-sa ya!

Hotaru no mus.h.i.+ wa s.h.i.+n.o.bu nawate ni Hi wo tomosu.

Ah, the darling!... Ever as I steal along the ricefield-path [_to meet my lover_], the firefly kindles a light to show me the way.

COMIC SONG

(_Province of s.h.i.+nano_)

Ano yama kage de Hikaru wa nanja?-- Tsuki ka, hos.h.i.+ ka, hotaru no mus.h.i.+ ka?

Tsuki demo naiga; Hos.h.i.+ demo naiga;-- Shuto no o-uba no me ga hikaru,-- (Chorus) _Me ga hikaru!_

In the shadow of the mountain What is it that s.h.i.+nes so?

Moon is it, or star?--or is it the firefly-insect?

Neither is it moon, Nor yet star;-- It is the old woman's Eye;--it is the Eye of my mother-in-law that s.h.i.+nes,-- (Chorus) _It is her Eye that s.h.i.+nes!_

KAeRI-ODORI[99]

(_Province of Sanuki_)

[99] I am not sure of the real meaning of the name _Kaeri-Odori_ (lit. "turn-dance" or "return-dance").

Oh! the cruelty, the cruelty of my mother-in-law!--

(Chorus) _Oh! the cruelty!_

Even tells me to paint a picture on running water!

If ever I paint a picture on running water, You will count the stars in the night-sky!

_Count the stars in the night-sky!_

--_Come! let us dance the Dance of the Honorable Garden!_--