[Approaching they dance; but when the two meet at last they are very
quiet, the butterflies!]

Cho wo ou
Kokoro-mochitashi
Itsumademo!



[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-Isame ("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:--



"Now, under the sun of spring, the winds are gentle, and flowers pinkly
bloom, and grasses are soft, and the hearts of people are glad. Butterflies
everywhere flutter joyously: so many persons now compose Chinese verses and
Japanese verses about butterflies.