1 haiku (#9532) out of 13390
1816
.頬かぶりならぬならぬぞほととぎす
hoho kaburi naranu naranu zo hototogisu
don't try acting
the innocent babe!
cuckoo
Issa is using an idiom in this haiku. He tells the cuckoo, "don't tie a scarf around your cheeks" (hoho kaburi naranu). To tie a scarf around one's cheeks can mean to affect ignorance. Perhaps some food is missing, and Issa thinks or knows that the cuckoo took it.
While he approves of my translation, Shinji Ogawa notes another possible layer of meaning in this haiku. He suspects that "Issa substitutes a prostitute with a cuckoo."
All translations © 1991-2025 by David G. Lanoue, rights reserved.
