Higurashi ya!
Sutete oitemo
Kururu hi wo.
O Higurashi!—even if you let it alone, day darkens fast enough!
This, intended to express a melancholy mood, may seem to the Western reader far-fetched. But another little poem—referring to the effect of the sound upon the conscience of an idler—will be appreciated by any one accustomed to hear the higurashi. I may observe, in this connection, that the first clear evening cry of the insect is quite as startling as the sudden ringing of a bell:—
Higurashi ya!
Kyō no ketai wo
Omou-toki.—Rikei.
Already , O Higurashi , your call announces the evening! Alas, for the passing day, with its duties left undone!
VI.—""Minmin"-zemi.
The minmin-zemi begins to sing in the Period of Greatest Heat. It is called "min-min" because its note is thought to resemble syllable "min" repeated over and over again,—slowly at first, and very loudly; then more and more quickly and softly, till the utterance dies away in a sort of buzz: "min—min
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