1816
.痩蛙まけるな一茶是に有り
yasegaeru makeru na issa kore ni ari
scrawny frog, hang tough!
Issa
is here
In his diary, Issa explains, "I stooped to watch a frog scuffle on the 20th day of Fourth Month." Since he likes to describe himself as impoverished and hungry, Issa feels a special kinship with the scrawny frog battling for a mate.
Shinji Ogawa notes, "Issa made many haiku on frogs. This is the most famous."
In my earlier translation, I presented Issa as the frog's would-be savior:
scrawny frog, fight on!
Issa
to the rescue
Keizo Kuramoto, however, objects that we should not imagine that Issa jumped into the pond to help the skinny frog with which he so deeply identified. The frog must fight his own battles. Issa's assurance that he is there implies: "Life is tough. Don't give up. I feel for you." Based on Keizo's comments, I re-translated the haiku, removing my overly interpretive "Issa to the rescue" and presenting the more literal "Issa is here."
This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next