171 haiku out of 9486
year unknown
.花桶に蝶も聞かよ一大事
hana oke ni chô mo kiku ka yo ichi daiji
on the flower pot
does the butterfly, too
hear Buddha's promise?
According to its prescript in the two diaries in which it appears, this haiku was inspired by a memorial service that Issa attended, suggesting a temple scene wherein the congregation is chanting the nembutsu--("namu amida butsu")--the Pure Land Buddhist prayer that celebrates Amida Buddha's vow to help sentient beings be reborn in the Western Paradise; Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 2.467; 9.222.
year unknown
.一人茶や蝶は毎日来てくれる
hitori cha ya chô wa mainichi kite kureru
drinking tea alone--
every day the butterfly
stops by
This undated haiku is a rewrite of one that Issa composed in 1813. The original version begins with "weak tea" (cha no awa).
year unknown
.蝶とぶやしんらん松も知った顔
chô tobu ya shinran matsu mo shitta kao
a butterfly flits--
even Shinran's pine
seems to know
This undated haiku is a slight rewrite of one that Issa composed in 1818:
chô yuku ya shinran matsu mo shitta kao
butterfly departs--
even Shinran's pine
seems to know
Shinran founded the Jôdoshinshû (True Teaching Pure Land) Buddhist sect to which Issa belonged.
year unknown
.木の陰やてふと宿るも他生の縁
ki no kage ya chô to yadoru mo tashô no en
sharing tree shade
with a butterfly...
friends in a previous life
This haiku has the prescript, "A little girl was serving as my guide on a mountain road, when a capricious rain suddenly fell." Issa presents a variant of this haiku in another text with a more explanatory prescript: "Being guided on a mountain road by a young girl named Butterfly, when a sudden rain came pattering down." The "butterfly" is a little girl, not an insect.
year unknown
.つぐら子の口ばたなめる小てふ哉
tsugura ko no kuchi-bata nameru ko chô kana
baby in a basket--
licking the edge of her mouth
little butterfly
Or: "his mouth."
A tsugura is a container of woven straw used to keep things warm. Here, it serves as a cradle; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1087.
year unknown
.田の人の内股くぐるこてふかな
ta no hito no uchimata kuguru ko chô kana
on the rice field
farmer's thigh creeping...
little butterfly
year unknown
.庭のてふ子が這へばとびはへばとぶ
niwa no chô ko ga haeba tobi haeba tobu
garden butterfly--
the child crawls, it flies
crawls, it flies...
Leslie Anderson writes, "The child symbolizes the human position, and the butterfly symbolizes transformation or improvement. Issa ingeniously relays that it is a natural instinct for human beings to desire or seek greater dreams. Perhaps, in the eyes of Issa, such dreams may have included rebirth. Although the butterfly (dreams) may seem beyond reach, the child (humans) does not crawl forever. Eventually, he/she begins to walk, then grow and, ultimately, he/she is able to touch the butterfly (his/her dreams)."
Keishondra Sampson adds, "Pure Land Buddhism teaches of reincarnation as everyone is moving toward becoming a Buddha and reaching Enlightenment. The child crawling and chasing the butterfly represetns everyone chasing the hope of reaching Enlightenment."
year unknown
.門の蝶子が這へばとびはへばとぶ
kado no chô ko ga haeba tobi haeba tobu
butterfly at the gate--
the child crawls, it flies
crawls, it flies...
Issa presents a little motion picture: a baby crawls through a meadow toward a butterfly; the butterfly flits away and alights a little farther off. Undaunted, the baby crawls again toward its new, colorful friend, who, once again, flits away. Baby and butterfly play a back-and-forth game of Catch Me If You Can.
year unknown
.はつ蝶や会釈もなしに床の間へ
hatsu chô ya eshaku mo nashi ni toko-no-ma e
first butterfly--
without formal greeting
entering the alcove
It is customary when entering the alcove of a Japanese house to give a formal salutation to the people within. The butterfly, of course, ignores human etiquette.
year unknown
.夕暮にがっくりしたと草のてふ
yûgure ni gakkuri shita yo kusa no chô
evening
is such a downer...
meadow butterfly
The butterfly seems "down" (gakkuri shita) because its day of cavorting is over.
year unknown
.世の中は蝶も朝からかせぐ也
yo no naka wa chô mo asa kara kasegu nari
in this world
from dawn to dusk
even the butterfly must toil
In the original, the butterfly toils "from morning" (asa kara). To complete the idiom in English, "to dusk" has been added.
1794
.窓明て蝶を見送る野原哉
mado akete chô wo mi-okuru no hara kana
opening the window
I see the butterfly off...
into the field
Issa ends the haiku with, simply, "the field" (no hara), leaving to the reader's imagination the butterfly's relationship to the field. French translator Jean Cholley visualizes the butterfly flitting into the field; En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 37.
Shinji Ogawa agrees. He notes that mi-okuru means to "see it off." Issa has opened the window, releasing the trapped butterfly. He watches it flit off into the field.
1795
.蝶と共に吾も七野を巡る哉
chô to tomo ni ware mo nana no wo meguru kana
a butterfly my companion
through Nana Field
we wander
1795
.寝ころんで蝶泊らせる外湯哉
ne-koronde chô tomaraseru soto yu kana
lying down
with a visiting butterfly...
outer hotspring
This haiku has the prescript, "Close by Dogo Hot Spring." The hot spring Issa enjoyed that day was an open air pool of overflow water just to the west of Dogo Spa in Matsuyama. Issa didn't realize that the pool was intended for horses and cows, not people. I thank Takashi Kasegawa, president of the Shiki Museum in Matsuyama, for helping me to grasp this poem. Shinji Ogawa helped translate the prescript.
1802
.草の蝶大雨だれのかかる也
kusa no chô ôamadare no kakaru nari
a meadow butterfly
bombarded by big raindrops
from the eaves
An amadare is an eavesdrop, where water falls from a roof's overhang. Shinji Ogawa assisted with the translation of this haiku.
1802
.辻風の砂にまぶれし小てふ哉
tsujikaze no suna ni mabureshi ko chô kana
flecked with sand
from the whirlwind...
little butterfly
Tsujikaze is another word for tsumuji kaze, "whirlwind"; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1090.
1803
.浮草や黒い小蝶のひらひらと
ukikusa ya kuroi ko chô no hira-hira to
duckweed--
a little black butterfly
flitting
Or: "little black butterflies." I prefer to picture one butterfly flapping (hira-hira) its delicate black wings over the marsh.
According to the editors of Issa zenshû, Issa would have pronounced duckweed, ukikusa. Modern pronunciation = ukigusa; (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 1.403.
1803
.手の前に蝶の息つく茸哉
te no mae ni chô no ikitsuku kinoko kana
it's all yours
butterfly, take a rest
on the mushroom
1804
.あたふたに蝶の出る日や金の番
atafuta ni chô no deru hi ya kane no ban
on a hurry-scurry
butterfly day
guarding the money
1804
.今上げし小溝の泥やとぶ小蝶
ima ageshi ko mizo no doro ya tobu ko chô
fresh-scooped mud
from the little ditch...
a little flitting butterfly
The connection between the mud and the butterfly is obscure to me. Shinji Ogawa explains that ima ageshi signifies, "newly scooped up."
Gil Rognstad writes, "It seems to me that a child might scoop mud from a little ditch, and flit about playing as well. Perhaps Issa is watching the child at play. It seems less likely to me that the poet or another adult scooped mud out of a little ditch (for what reason?) and then noticed a literal butterfly fluttering by. But who knows...?"
Gil's comment makes me wonder if Issa might not be the mud-scooping person in the scene--playing like a child. Or, as Gil suggests, the scooper could be a real child. Issa leaves a lot to the reader's imagination here, to connect the dots.
In 1819 Issa writes:
mugura kara an[na] ko chô ga umare keri
from the weeds
that little butterfly
is born!
I wonder if, in the present haiku, Issa might be suggesting that the mud has given birth to the butterfly? The butterfly is depicted in other haiku as a creature made of dust.
1804
.うそうそと雨降中を春のてふ
uso-uso to ame furu naka wo haru no chô
nervously
through the raindrops...
spring butterfly
Uso-uso can mean "uneasily" or "full of anxiety"; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 196.
Michael Hebert writes, "Unease or anxiety is an 'unskillful' mental state in Buddhist thought. In the past scholars translated dhukka as suffering, as in the Four Noble Truths: 1. Life is suffering. I have read modern scholars who note that the word dhukka is based on a root word that means a wheel out of balance, and infer that instead of suffering, something more akin to unease, unsatisfactoriness is a better understanding of the meaing of the word. Perhaps Issa is empathizing with the anxious butterfly, knowing that he too, is anxious?"
1804
.川縁や蝶を寝さする鍋の尻
kawaberi ya chô wo nesasuru nabe no shiri
riverbank--
the butterfly's bed
a kettle's bottom
The kettle has been washed and left upside-down to dry.
1804
.手のとどく山の入日や春の蝶
te no todoku yama no irihi ya haru no chô
the mountain sunset
within my grasp...
spring butterfly
Or: "spring butterflies." French translator Jean Cholley chooses the plural here; En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 55.
1804
.通り抜ゆるす寺也春のてふ
tôrinuke yurusu tera nari haru no chô
a shortcut through
the temple with permission...
spring butterfly
1804
.とぶ蝶や溜り水さへ春のもの
tobu chô ya tamari mizu sae haru no mono
flitting butterfly
even stagnant water
a spring thing
1804
.初蝶のいきおひ猛に見ゆる哉
hatsu chô no ikioi mou ni miyuru kana
the year's first
butterfly
full of swagger
Hiroshi Kobori offers this translation:
a butterfly
this year's first--
straight, bold
In his translation Lucien Stryk renders the key phrase, "Moment of/ fierceness"; The Dumpling Field: Haiku of Issa (Athens Ohio: Swallow Press, 1991) 17.
1804
.吹やられ吹やられたる小てふ哉
fuki yarare fuki yararetaru ko chô kana
blowing along
blowing along...
a little butterfly
1804
.又窓へ吹もどさるる小てふ哉
mata mado e fuki-modosaruru ko chô kana
blown to the window
again
little butterfly
1804
.目の砂をこする握に小てふ哉
me no suna wo kosuru kobushi ni ko chô kana
rubbing sand from his eyes
in my hand...
little butterfly
Literally, the butterfly is in his "fist" (kobushi), but since Issa can see the butterfly in it rubbing its eyes, his fist isn't closed. I picture his hand cupped open.
1804
.行人のうしろ見よとや風のてふ
yuku hito no ushiro mi yo to ya kaze no chô
to the man walking
"Look behind you!"
windblown butterfly
I imagine that the butterfly is calling to the man, hence the quotation marks.
1804
.とぶ蝶や青葉桜も縄の中
tobu shô yo aoba sakura mo nawa no naka
a flitting butterfly
and green-leafed cherry tree
roped off
Evidently, some sort of barrier rope surrounds the tree and butterfly. Issa makes a wry comment on the human mania to make Nature the object of private ownership.
1804
.灰汁桶の蝶のきげんや木下闇
aku oke no chô no kigen ya ko shita yami
round the lye bucket
a happy butterfly...
deep tree shade
Japanese lye is made from an astringent sap. In my first translation, I had the butterfly stuck in the lye. Shinji Ogawa doubts this. He writes, "Judging from the tone of the haiku, the butterfly is not yet in the lye bucket but flying about it. The phrase, chô no kigen, means 'the happy mood of the butterfly'."
For now, the butterfly is happy, flirting with the danger below.
1804
.あのやうに我も老しか秋のてふ
ano yô ni waga mo oishi ka aki no chô
will I grow old
like you?
autumn butterfly
1805
.蝶とぶや夕飯過の寺参り
chô tobu ya yûmeshi sugi no tera mairi
flitting butterfly--
after dinner, a temple
pilgrimage
1805
.豆程の人顕れし小てふ哉
mame hodo no hito arawareshi ko chô kana
a little person
enters the scene...
a little butterfly
Or: "little butterflies." The person is "bean-like" (mame hodo), which I take to mean "tiny," hence, a child.
1805
.我庵は蝶の寝所とゆふべ哉
waga io wa chô no nedoko to yûbe kana
my hut
the butterfly's sleeping place
tonight
1805
.蝉時雨蝶は日やけもせざりけり
semi shigure chô wa hiyake mo se[za]ri keri
cicada chorus--
for the butterfly too
no sunburn
Originally, I thought that the phrase "cicada rain" (semi shigure) referred to cicadas singing in a summer rain. Gabi Greve and Sakuo Nakamura corrected this mistake. The phrase, in Sakuo's words, means "cicadas sing like heavy rain falling."
1805
.かたつぶり蝶はいきせきさわぐ也
katatsuburi chô wa ikiseki sawagu nari
snail--
the butterfly in a mad
hurry
1805
.秋風にあなた任の小蝶哉
aki kaze ni anata makase no ko chô kana
in autumn wind
trusting in the Buddha...
little butterfly
Robin D. Gill assisted with this translation. Literally, the little butterfly "trusts in the Beyond," but in Issa's Pure Land sect this means trusting in the saving power of Amida Buddha to make possible its happy reincarnation, in the next life, in the Pure Land or Western Paradise. The cold autumn wind signifies the fact that death is near for the tiny, fragile creature. But instead of struggling against this inevitability, Issa suggests that the butterfly is surrendering to death, trusting death, and at the same time trusting in the Buddha. This is one of his most memorable images of religious surrender to Amida's "Other Power."
1806
.かつしかや雪隠の中も春のてふ
katsushika ya setchin no naka mo haru no chô
in Katsushika
even in the outhouse...
a spring butterfly
Katsushika is an area of land east of Sumida River--a riverside suburb of Edo (today's Tokyo); see Maruyama Kazuhiko, Issa haiku shû (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1990; rpt. 1993) 33, note 109.
1806
.門々を一々巡る小てふ哉
kado-gado wo ichi-ichi meguru ko chô kana
gate after gate
making the rounds...
butterfly
Issa constructs the poem like a joke. It's first two phrases, "Gate after gate/ making the rounds," set up an expectation of human activity, human agency. Who's making the rounds? A policeman? A beggar? A vendor? But then, in the third and last phrase, Issa shifts gears, presenting a "little butterfly" as the scene's protagonist. On one level, he's playing a favorite haiku joke: showing animals in human terms. On a deeper, Buddhist level; he presents and acknowledges the personhood of the animal. In this perspective, the little, friendly butterfly isn't only a peer--but a role model.
This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next
1806
.蝶ひらひら仏のひざをもどる也
chô hira-hira hotoke no hiza wo modoru nari
flitting butterfly
to Buddha's lap
returns
1808
.そろそろと蝶も雀も汐干哉
soro-soro to chô mo suzume mo shioi kana
the butterfly and sparrow
creep along with it...
low tide
1808
.寝蝶や焼野の煙かかる迄
neru chô ya yakeno no kemuri kakaru made
the butterfly sleeps--
until the burning field's smoke
covers it
I first imagined that this haiku is a hyperbole: the field is so smoky, Issa's butterfly is clinging only to smoke. Unfortunately, I misread Issa's syntax. Shinji Ogawa has clarified it.
1808
.あか棚に蝶も聞くかよ一大事
aka tana ni chô mo kiku ka yo ichi daiji
on the offering shelf
does the butterfly also hear
Buddha's promise?
Shinji Ogawa notes, ("Aka tana is 'offering shelf' not 'red shelf'" as I had originally translated this phrase...an archaic expression.
1808
.門の蝶朝から何がせはしない
kado no chô asa kara nani ga sewashinai
gate's butterfly
since dawn, how have you
kept yourself busy?
1808
.酒好の蝶ならば来よ角田川
sake suki no chô naraba ko yo sumida-gawa
if you like sake
butterfly, come!
Sumida River
Issa invites the butterfly (or butterflies) to partake of sake, possibly at a riverside drinking party.
1808
.初蝶の一夜寝にけり犬の椀
hatsu chô no hito yo ne ni keri inu no wan
spring's first butterfly
sleeps one night...
dog's bowl
In his translation Lucien Stryk adds a detail that Issa implies but doesn't state: after sleeping the butterfly "scoots off"; The Dumpling Field: Haiku of Issa (Athens Ohio: Swallow Press, 1991) 17.
1808
.初蝶もやがて烏の扶食哉
hatsu chô mo yagate karasu no fujiki kana
first butterfly--
before long some crow's
snack
Or: "first butterflies"..."crows." Jean Cholley has both butterflies and crows plural in his French translation; En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 77.
Shiinji Ogawa helped me understand this brutal haiku: that sooner or later the first butterfly (or butterflies) will be eaten by a crow (crows). Issa's poem recalls W. B. Yeats's lines, "Cast a cold eye/ on life, on death!"
1808
.葉の虫ハ化して飛けり朝の月
ha no mushi wa ka shite tobi keri asa no tsuki
a butterfly emerges
and flies away...
morning moon
This haiku by Issa, dated Fourth Month, Second Day 1808, is one of two that were recently discovered in Japan (2009). They were found on a page of Issa's "Sixth Diary" (Rokuban nikki), on a hanging scroll held by the Issa Memorial Museum in his native village of Kashiwabara. Sakuo Nakamura, Emiko Miyashita and Toru Kiuchi all assisted with my translation. Emiko notes that the Japanese characters for "leaf" and "insect," added together, become the character for "butterfly." Indeed, it seems that the leaf-eating insect is a caterpillar that, in the haiku, "emerges and flies away." The other newly discovered haiku is: hane umaete namushi wa tobu zo hikigaeru (hey toad/ the caterpillars will grow/ and fly away!).
1809
.蝶とぶや此世に望みないやうに
chô tobu ya kono yo ni nozomi nai yô ni
butterfly flits
as if wanting nothing
in this world
Shinji Ogawa believes that the phrase, "wanting nothing in this world," can be interpreted in two ways: (1) satisfaction with this world; (2) a feeling of hopelessness about this world. He thinks that Issa is saying the latter. I prefer to look at this haiku in a third way: the butterfly is celebrating life in the corrupt and hopeless world. With its purity and innocence, it craves nothing in or from such a world and so is exempt from its karmic penalties; it flits through it but is not of it.
1810
.入相を合点したやら蝶のとぶ
iriai wo gaten shita yara chô no tobu
aware of the sun
setting, the butterfly
flits away
Robin D. Gill believes the butterfly has heard (and understood the meaning of) a temple bell tolling vespers. He elaborates: "It is AS IF the butterfly picked up on the vespers. The understanding or agreement or 'got it!' part is the gaten-shita, while the yara adds a quizzical feeling, as in, 'Hmm, could that butterfly know what the vespers mean (there may be some Buddhist significance, too)?' But, I do indeed wonder if a butterfly hearing/sensing the bell coinciding with sunset day after day came to realize unconsciously that it was about to grow chilly and dark.
1810
.蝶とんで我身も塵のたぐひ哉
chô tonde waga mi mo chiri no tagui kana
butterfly flitting--
I too am made
of dust
1810
.はづかしや三十日が来ても草のてふ
hazukashi ya misoka ga kite mo kusa no chô
shame, shame!
on the month's last day
a meadow butterfly
Or: "meadow butterflies." Shinji Ogawa explains that Issa's phrase, "month's last day" (misoka), alludes to bills that need to be paid. He paraphrases the haiku: "Shame, shame! on the month's last day I cannot pay my debt." In Issa's days, most people bought things on credit and paid up at the end of the month or, in some cases, end of the year. Issa replaces the phrase, "I cannot pay my debt" with "a meadow butterfly," which suggests, in Shinji's view, that he is "as penniless as a meadow butterfly." All this is implied by Issa's Japanese, not stated--making the task of translation especially difficult.
I might make the comparison explicit, as Shinji suggests:
shame, shame!
on the month's last day
I'm as penniless as a meadow butterfly
...but this makes for a less effective haiku, making explicit a thing that Issa leaves to the reader's imagination.
1811
.むつまじや生れかはらばのべの蝶
mutsumaji ya umare kawaraba nobe no chô
sweet harmony
to be reborn
a meadow butterfly!
Literally, Issa is saying that he wishes to be reborn as a meadow butterfly. The word, mutsumaji, translated here as "sweet harmony," denotes a sense of gentle friendliness. Shinji Ogawa believes that Issa is specifically referring to a male and female couple. The poet uses this same expression to describe gentle, tame deer in a temple town, most likely Nara:
ashi makura temakura shika no mutsumaji ya
my feet for a pillow
and my hands...
the friendly deer
1811
.世の中や蝶のくらしもいそがしき
yo no naka ya chô no kurashi mo isogashiki
this world--
the butterfly also toils
busily
1812
.草餅にいつか来ている小蝶哉
kusamochi ni itsuka kite iru ko chô kana
herb cakes--
when did you get here
little butterfly?
1812
.かせぐぞよてふの三夫婦五夫婦
kasegu zo yo chô no mi meoto itsu meoto
making their living
butterfly couples...
three...five!
1812
.蝶まふや鹿の最期の矢の先に
chô mau ya shika no saigo no ya no saki ni
butterfly dances
'round the arrow
in a dying deer
1812
.鉄砲の三尺先の小てふかな
teppô no san shaku saki no ko chô kana
three feet
from the musket's barrel...
little butterfly
Susumu Takiguchi points out that guns were "brought to Japan for the first time by the shipwrecked Portuguese in 1543 (some say 1542), and revolutionised the way battles were fought and castles were designed. They were initially 'hinawa-ju' (matchlock or firelock) and this must be the type of 'teppo' which Issa was talking about." (Message posted on WHChaikuforum, 3/4/01).
1812
.寺山や児はころげる蝶はとぶ
tera yama ya chigo [wa] korogeru chô wa tobu
temple mountain--
a baby tumbles
a butterfly flits
This haiku depicts a simple, happy scene: a baby tumbling and a butterfly flitting somewhere on the grassy grounds of a Buddhist temple in the mountains. Issa invites us to meditate on the connections between the three: baby, butterfly, temple. Though at first glance this is just an everyday event, the poet suggests that life itself--the life of children and of butterflies--is sacred.
1812
.夜明から小てふの夫婦かせぎ哉
yoake kara ko chô no meoto kasegi kana
from daybreak on
the butterfly couple
makes their living
Literally, the butterflies are "husband and wife" (fûfu).
1813
.けさの雨蝶がねぶって仕廻けり
kesa no ame chô ga nebutte shimai keri
morning rain--
a butterfly licks
it up
1813
.茶の淡や蝶は毎日来てくれる
cha no awa ya chô wa mainichi kite kureru
weak tea--
every day the butterfly
stops by
1813
.茶のけぶり蝶の面へ吹かける
cha no keburi chô no tsura e fukikakeru
tea smoke--
into the butterfly's face
it blows
1813
.蝶来るや何のしやうもない庵へ
chô kuru ya nanno shiyô mo nai io e
a butterfly comes
to my good-for-nothing
hut
1813
.蝶々や猫と四眠の寺座敷
chô[chô] ya neko to shimin no tera zashiki
a butterfly, a cat
deep asleep...
temple sitting room
At first I read shimin as "four directions," but Shinji Ogawa believes that Issa misspelled a homonym that means, "to sleep deeply."
1813
.手枕や蝶は毎日来てくれる
temakura ya chô wa mainichi kite kureru
an arm for a pillow--
every day the butterfly
visits
Shinji Ogawa prefers to picture butterflies in the plural:
lying down with my hand for a pillow�
I bet butterflies
visit me every day
1813
.寝るてふにかしておくぞよ膝がしら
neru chô ni kashite oku zo yo hizagashira
lending it
to the sleeping butterfly...
my knee
Hizagashira literally means "kneecap" or "bend of the knee."
1813
.のら猫よ見よ見よ蝶のおとなしき
nora neko yo mi yo mi yo chô no otonashiki
stray cat
look! the butterfly's
well-behaved
Peer pressure.
1813
.丸く寝た犬にべったり小てふ哉
maruku neta inu ni bettari ko chô kana
stuck to the dog
curled asleep...
butterfly
The previous year (1812) Issa portrays a cricket on the tip of a buck's antler. In this haiku, he presents a similar vision of "buddies." Once again, the skeptic might question the level of awareness that the two bring to their relationship. The dog is sound asleep; the butterfly lands on it as if landing on a bush. Each might be completely unaware of the existence of the other, but Issa sees them both, and in his mind and heart discovers their relationship--writing it into his haiku so that we can discover it too. All creatures are connected.
This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next
1813
.置露に蝶のきげんの直りけり
oku tsuyu ni chô no kigen no naori keri
among the dewdrops
the butterfly's mood
improves
1813
.秋のてふかがしの袖にすがりけり
aki no chô kagashi no sode ni sugari keri
autumn butterfly
on the scarecrow's sleeve
clinging
Issa is not merely a "child's poet." Many of his haiku are not suitable for children, and many parents might include this one in that group. An autumn butterfly is a soon-to-be dead butterfly. Yet this one clings to life, as it physically clings to the sleeve of a scarecrow. But is there hope in the scene? The scarecrow, an image of a man, is actually nothing but lifeless clothes, sticks and straw. It offers no hope or real consolation to the butterfly that clings to it. This is one of Issa's darkest portraits of life's autumn.
This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next
1814
.天窓干すお婆々や蝶も一むしろ
atama hosu o-baba ya chô mo hito mushiro
granny drying her hair
and a butterfly...
one straw mat
1814
.大雨の降って涌たる小てふ哉
ôame no futte waitaru ko chô kana
in the big rain
gushing down
little butterfly
1814
.さをしかの角をも遊ぶ小てふ哉
saoshika no tsuno wo asobu ko chô kana
even the buck's antlers
are a plaything...
little butterfly
1814
.蝶べたり「あ」みだ如来の頬べたへ
chô betari [a]mida nyorai no hobbeta e
a butterfly
stuck fast to Amida
Buddha's cheek
According to the Pure Land Buddhism that Issa believed in, the only path to the Pure Land and enlightenment is to "cling" to the saving power of Amida Buddha. In this haiku, the butterfly is a living emblem of faith.
Shinji Ogawa notes that Issa is humorously playing with similar sounds in this haiku: chô betari ("butterfly sticking fast") and hobbeta e ("to the cheek").
This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next
1814
.ちる花にがっかりしたる小てふ哉
chiru hana ni gakkari shitaru ko chô kana
crestfallen
by the scattering blossoms...
little butterfly
1814
.泥足を蝶に任せて寝たりけり
doro ashi wo chô ni makasete netari keri
my muddy foot
left to the butterfly
I sleep
Shinji Ogawa assisted with this translation.
1814
.菜よ梅よ蝶がてんてん舞をまふ
na yo ume yo chô ga ten-ten mai wo mau
vegetables! plum blossoms!
butterfly dances
from one to another
Or: "butterflies dance."
1814
.春のてふ大盃を又なめよ
haru no chô ôsakazuki wo mata name yo
spring butterfly
at the big sake cup...
sip again!
1814
.麦に菜にてんてん舞の小てふ哉
mugi ni na ni ten-ten mai no ko chô kana
to wheat field, to vegetable patch
the little butterfly
dances
Mugi is a generic term that refers to several grains: wheat, barley, oats, and rye.
1814
.麦の穂や大骨折って行小蝶
mugi no ho ya ôhoneotte yuku ko chô
ears of barley--
with back-breaking effort
the little butterfly
Is the butterfly flying against the wind? Mugi is a generic term that refers to several grains: wheat, barley, oats, and rye.
1814
.けさ秋と合点でとぶかのべの蝶
kesa aki to gaten de tobu ka nobe no chô
are you aware
that autumn has dawned?
meadow butterfly
The butterfly is "flitting" or "flying" in Issa's original (tobu).
Shinji Ogawa translates gaten as "to agree" or "to understand."
Issa wonders if the butterfly grasps the fact that autumn has arrived and its days are numbered.
1814
.とぶ蝶を憐み給へ立かがし
tobu chô wo awaremi tamae tatsu kagashi
taking pity
on the flitting butterfly...
a scarecrow
The scarecrow lends its arm or head for the weary butterfly to rest on. Because of the verb form of tamau ("deign to") this haiku can be read as a command: "Oh take pity on the flitting butterfly, scarecrow!"
1815
.犬と蝶他人むきでもなかりけり
inu to chô tanin muki demo nakari keri
the dog and the butterfly
are strangers...
not!
Shinji Ogawa explains Issa's Japanese: "The phrase tanin muki means '(they look) total strangers.' The phrase de mo nakari keri means 'not necessarily so.' Therefore, the haiku says, 'The dog and the butterfly are not necessarily total strangers'." He adds that he prefers to think of them as "the" dog and "the" butterfly, not as "a dog and a butterfly," since "a haiku must depict particular things and events" in order to "induce a universal feeling and concept." In Japanese, the delight of this haiku comes at the end: the "not necessarily so." In an attempt to capture this surprise in English, I have placed "not!" at the end. Shinji provides a more syntactically standard version:
the dog and the butterfly
not necessarily
total strangers
1815
.寝るてふ鼠の米も通りがけ
ineru chô nezumi no kome mo tôrigake
off to bed
the butterfly finds
the mouse's rice
1815
.桟を歩んで渡る小てふ哉
kakehashi wo ayunde wataru ko chô kana
crossing the hanging bridge
on foot...
butterfly
1815
.がむしゃらの犬とも遊ぶ小てふ哉
gamushara no enoko to asobu ko chô kana
playing with
the rambunctious dog...
little butterfly
1815
.此方が善光寺とや蝶のとぶ
kono kata ga zenkôji to ya chô no tobu
"Follow me to Zenko Temple!"
butterfly
flies
Zenkôji is the major Pure Land temple in Issa's home province, found in present-day Nagano. Its famous bronze statue of Amida Buddha is shown only once every seven years.
1815
.鹿の角かりて休みし小てふ哉
shika no tsuno karite yasumishi ko chô kana
borrowing an antler
the little butterfly
rests
The antler belongs to a buck. The haiku is reminiscent of an earlier one (1812), where a cricket rests on a buck's antler. In both cases, Issa presents a scene of harmonious connection between animals.
This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next
1815
.蝶とぶや草葉の陰も湯がわくと
chô tobu ya kusaba no kage mo yu ga waku to
a butterfly flits--
even in grassy shade
a hot bath's ready
1816
.馬の耳一日なぶる小てふ哉
uma no mimi ichi nichi naburu ko chô kana
all day teasing
the horse's ear...
little butterfly
Issa wrote the character for "moon" instead of "day" in his original text, a mistake, according to the editors of Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 1.170.
1816
.門畠や烏叱れば行小蝶
kado hata ya karasu shikareba yuku ko chô
gate's garden--
when the crow scolds
the little butterfly leaves
Or: "little butterflies leave." Issa fancifully depicts the crow and butterfly as quarreling husband and wife.
1816
.門筵小蝶の邪魔をしたりけり
kado mushiro ko chô no jama wo shitari keri
on a mat by the gate
I'm the butterfly's
roadblock
I picture Issa sitting on a straw mat in front of the gate, obstructing the butterfly's flight path.
1816
.銭の出た窓きらふてや行小蝶
zeni no deta mado kiraute ya yuku ko chô
miffed by the coin
tossed out the window...
little butterfly leaves
Is someone (Issa?) paying a vendor through an open window? The flying coin annoys the little butterfly.
1816
.蝶とぶやそれ仏法の世の中と
chô tobu ya sore buppô no yo [no] naka to
flitting butterfly--
thus is Buddha's law
in this world
The butterfly often appears as a Buddhist ideal in Issa's poetry: attached so lightly to this world, trusting its delicate life to winds beyond its control.
1816
.蝶とぶや茶売さ湯うり野酒売
chô tobu ya cha uri sayu uri nozake uri
a butterfly flits--
hot tea, hot water
and sake for sale
Shinji Ogawa notes that nozake means "field-sake," similar to the English word, "beer garden." He believes that this is a scene of cherry blossom viewing.
1816
.蝶とまれも一度留れ草もちに
chô tomare mo ichido tomare kusamochi ni
stop, butterfly
once more, stop!
on the festival rice cake
Kusamochi is an old word for a type of rice cake used during the Girl's Doll Festival on the third day of Third Month; see Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 494.
1816
.蝶とまれも一度留れ盃に
chô tomare mo ichido tomare sakazuki ni
stop, butterfly
once more, stop!
on the sake cup
Jean Cholley includes this haiku in his 1814 section; the editors of Issa zenshû assign it a date of 1816; En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 124-25; Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 1.170. It is a rewrite of another haiku of 1816. In the original, the butterfly stops on a kusamochi ("festival rice cake").
1816
.猫の子の命日をとぶ小てふ哉
neko no ko no meinichi wo tobu ko chô kana
to the kitten's
death anniversary it flits...
little butterfly
The butterfly visits the little grave on one of the appointed days of remembrance--like a human mourner would.
1816
.ひざの児の頬っべたなめる小てふ哉
hiza no ko no hobbeta nameru ko chô kana
licking the lap-baby's
cheek...
little butterfly
Perhaps there is some sweet milk on the baby's cheek that the butterfly is enjoying. If so, the baby and the butterfly appear as brothers or sisters, nourished by the same Mother's milk. All creatures are connected. All creatures are One.
1816
.目黒へはこちへこちへと小てふ哉
mekuro e wa kochi e kochi e to ko chô kana
"Come this way, this way
blind man!"
little butterfly
A tender scene: the butterfly seems to lead the blind person. Mekuro literally means, "eyes [gone] black."
1816
.やよや蝶そこのけそこのけ湯がはねる
yayoya chô soko noke soko noke yu ga haneru
hey butterfly
move aside!
bath water's splashing
The scene is an outdoor hot tub.
1816
.湯入衆の頭かぞへる小てふ哉
yu iri shû no atama kazoeru ko chô kana
counting heads
in a hot tub...
little butterfly
Issa makes use of his two-part joke structure in this haiku. The first two phrases, "counting heads/ in a hot tub..." lead the reader to expect a human agent, but then he surprises us by revealing the counter to be a "little butterfly!" The butterfly seems to share in the happiness of the humans, soaking away their aches and troubles in hot water. It flits from head to head, taking roll.
This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next
1816
.井の底をちょっと見て来る小てふ哉
i no soko wo chotto mite kuru ko chô kana
a quick inspection
of the well's bottom...
little butterfly
Issa refers to the summer custom of draining and cleaning wells. The butterfly flits all the way down to the bottom...for just a moment.
1816
.秋風の袂にすがる小てふ哉
aki kaze no tamoto ni sugaru ko chô kana
in the autumn wind
clutching my sleeve...
little butterfly
Grammatically, the butterfly is clinging to the sleeve of the autumn wind, but I assume that this is a poetic reference to Issa's own sleeve.
1817
.桶伏の猫を見舞やとぶ小蝶
okebuse no neko wo mimau ya tobu ko chô
visiting the cat
on the turned-over tub...
little butterfly
1817
.蝶の身も業の秤にかかる哉
chô no mi mo gô no hakari ni kakaru kana
the butterfly too
on the scales of karma
is weighed
A reference to the Buddhist belief that all beings attain merits and demerits (karma) throughout their lives. Even the butterfly is not exempt from this universal law, Issa notes.
1817
.ぬかるみに尻もちつくなでかい蝶
nukarumi ni shiri mochitsuku na dekai chô
don't dip your butt
in that mud!
big butterfly
Issa's last phrase, dekai chô, is mysterious. Chô is written with the kanji for "butterfly," but I have not been able to track down an exact meaning for dekai.
Shinji Ogawa comes to my rescue, explaining that dekai is a colloquial word for ôkii ("big"). He notes, "An average Japanese can easily associate it with the preceding word shiri ("butt") to form a noun, dekai-shiri ("big butt"), which is suggestive of a feminine figure. Adding to that, the word chô ("butterfly") also suggests femininity."
L. Mabesoone's French translation of dekai chô is ("papillon énorme" ("enormous butterfly"); Issa to kuhi (Tokyo: Kankohkai 2003) 47.
I wonder if Issa might be playing with the homonym dekaichô: the exhibition of a holy image at a temple or shrine; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1121? If so, is he implying that the butterfly itself is a holy image, an embodiment of Buddha perhaps...or is this connection just a coincidence?
1817
.春の蝶平気で上座いたす也
haru no chô heiki de jôza itasu nari
a spring butterfly
peaceful, calm
in the seat of honor
The butterfly alights in the seat of honor showing a Buddhist attitude of peaceful detachment.
1817
.赤雲や蝶が上にも秋の暮
aka-gumo ya chô ga ue ni mo aki no kure
red clouds--
above the butterfly too
autumn dusk
Or: "a red cloud."
Shinji Ogawa explains that chô ga ue means "above the butterfly," not "a butterfly above." In this case, the particle ga functions in a similar fashion to no ("of").
1818
.うつくしき仏になるや蝶夫婦
utsukushiki hotoke ni naru ya chô fûfu
becoming beautiful
Buddhas, butterfly
husband and wife
Issa later revises this haiku to form a question: "Are you becoming beautiful Buddhas, butterfly husband and wife?"--(utsukushiki hotoke to naru ka chô fûfu); see Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 1.171.
1818
.大猫の尻尾でじゃらす小てふ哉
ôneko no shippo de jarasu ko chô kana
playing with
the big cat's tail...
a little butterfly
1818
.かいだんの穴よりひらり小てふ哉
kaidan no ana yori hirari ko chô kana
from a hole in the temple's
pulpit, swish!
little butterfly
Kaidan doesn't signify, as I first thought, the step of a staircase. Shinji Ogawa notes that it means "an ordination platform" in a large Buddhist temple, like Zenkôji Temple in Issa's home province.
From this platform, Buddhist precepts are taught; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 499, and so I've chosen the English word, "pulpit," to approximate its meaning. No longer a caterpillar, Issa's butterfly has been reborn as a pure, innocent embodiment of enlightenment. This little "priest" has more to teach about Buddha's law than human preachers.
1818
.蝶とぶや大晴天の虎の門
chô tobu ya ôseiten no tora no kado
a butterfly flits--
the vast blue sky
over Tiger Gate
"Tiger Gate" (tora no kado) was one of the gates of Edo, today's Tokyo.
1818
.蝶行やしんらん松も知った顔
chô yuku ya shinran matsu mo shitta kao
butterfly departs--
even Shinran's pine
seems to know
Shinran founded the Jôdoshinshû (True Teaching Pure Land) Buddhist sect to which Issa belonged. This haiku has the prescript, "Zenkôji" (Zenko Temple), the major Pure Land temple in Issa's home province. At that temple, Shinran left a gift of a pine tree in a great pot, centuries ago.
Shinji Ogawa notes that Issa is punning in this haiku. Shinran matsu ("Shinran's pine") is close to shiran matsu ("not-knowing pine"), which contrasts with shitta kao: the "knowing face" of the butterfly.
Thus, Shinji writes, the haiku might be translated: "butterfly departs/ Shinran's pine/ acknowledges." Or: "butterfly departs/ even the not-knowing pine/ [has a] knowing face."
1818
.虎の門蝶もぼつぼつ這入けり
tora no kado chô mo botsu-botsu hairi keri
Tiger Gate--
the butterfly, too
enters with courage
"Tiger Gate" (tora no kado) was one of the gates of Edo, today's Tokyo. Though entering a big, dangerous city, the butterfly does so spiritedly (botsu-botsu).
1818
.一莚蝶もほされておりにけり
hito mushiro chô mo hosarete ori ni keri
one straw mat--
a butterfly is drying
too
Issa doesn't say who else is drying, but this haiku is reminiscent of one that he wrote four years earlier, in 1814:
atama hosu o-baba ya chô mo hito mushiro
granny drying her hair
and a butterfly...
one straw mat
1818
.ふり上る箒の下やねる小蝶
furiageru hôki no shita ya neru ko chô
swinging the broom
underneath, asleep
little butterfly
1818
.舞は蝶三弦流布の小村也
mau wa chô samisen rufu no ko mura nari
butterfly dance--
someone plays samisen
in the little village
A samisen is a long-necked, three-stringed banjo-like instrument, plucked with a plectrum. This was written in Second Month, 1818. Later that month Issa revises:
mae ya chô samisen rufu no asaji-bara
dance, butterfly!
someone plays samisen
in Asaji Field
1818
.まへや蝶三弦流布のあさぢ原
mae ya chô samisen rufu no asaji-bara
dance, butterfly!
someone plays samisen
in Asaji Field
A samisen is a long-necked, three-stringed banjo-like instrument, plucked with a plectrum.
This was written in Second Month, 1818--a revision of a haiku composed earlier that month:
mau wa chô samisen rufu no ko mura nari
butterfly dance--
someone plays samisen
in the little village
1819
.大猫の尻尾でなぶる小てふ哉
ô neko no shippo de naburu ko chô kana
sporting with
the big cat's tail...
a little butterfly
This is a revision of a haiku composed the previous year, in 1818. In the original, the butterfly "plays with" the cat's tail (jarasu). Here, the butterfly "sports with" it (naburu).
1819
.葎からあんな小蝶が生れけり
mugura kara an[na] ko chô ga umare keri
from the weeds
that little butterfly
is born!
In an earlier version I rendered mugura as "goose-grass," but I now believe that its sense is more correctly conveyed as "weeds." See Maruyama Kazuhiko, Issa haiku shû (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1990; rpt. 1993) 288, note 1537. In his translation of this haiku, Nanao Sakaki calls it "milkweed"; see Inch by Inch: 45 Haiku by Issa (Albuquerque: La Alameda Press, 1999) 29.
1819
.塵塚にあんな小蝶が生れけり
chirizuka ni anna ko chô ga umare keri
in the trash heap
that little butterfly
is born!
1819
.てふてふのふはりととんだ茶釜哉
chôchô no fuwari to tonda chagama kana
the butterfly's
soft landing...
in the tea kettle!
Issa copies this haiku in one of his journals with the prescript, "Morin Temple"--a Buddhist temple that houses a legendary tea kettle; Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 6.170, note 142. This so-called "Good Luck Tea Kettle" was actually a badger in disguise.
In his translation, Nobuyuki Yuasa strangely has the kettle flying instead of the butterfly; The Year of My Life: A Translation of Issa's Oraga Haru, 2nd Edition (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1972) 83.
1819
.蝶ひらひら庵の隅々見とどける
chô hira-hira io no sumi-zumi mitodokeru
flitting butterfly--
every corner of my hut
is inspected
1819
.びんずるの御鼻をなでる小蝶哉
binzuru no o-hana wo naderu ko chô kana
rubbing St. Binzuru's
holy nose...
little butterfly
Kazuhiko Maruyama describes Binzuru as a Buddhist saint, one of the 16 Enlightened Ones. Folk custom dictates that if one prayerfully rubs his image, he or she will recover from illness; see Issa haiku shû (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1990; rpt. 1993) 223, note 1169. In the haiku, a butterfly also strokes the saint for good health.
1820
.後になり先になる蝶や一里程
ato ni nari saki ni naru chô ya ichi ri hodo
the butterfly I passed
two miles back
is ahead now
One ri is 2.44 miles.
1820
.気の毒やおれをしたふて来る小てふ
kinodoku ya ore wo shitôte kuru ko chô
I pity you
for following me
little butterfly
1820
.来る蝶に鼻を明するかきね哉
kuru chô ni hana wo akasuru kakine kana
a shock
to the arriving butterfly
a fence
Or: "butterflies." Kaki can be translated as "fence" or "hedge."
Shinji Ogawa explains that hana wo akasuru ("nostrils widen") is an idiomatic expression for surprise. He adds, "The fence is a surprise to the butterflies."
Why is the fence a surprise? Has the butterfly bumped into it? Has the fence/hedge impeded its forward progress?
1820
.草庵の棚捜しする小てふ哉
sôan no tana sagashi suru ko chô kana
foraging for food
in my thatched hut
little butterfly
Shinji Ogawa notes that in Issa's day, the phrase tana sagashi ("searching for something on the shelf") implied "searching for something to eat" or "searching for some faults to nag." In this context, the former interpretation seems to fit. A modern equivalent might be, "raiding the refrigerator."
Shinji adds that sôan ("thatched hut") means "a humble house," and therefore, according to the etiquette of Japanese, always means "my hut," not "someone's hut."
1820
.はつ蝶よこんな筵に汚るるな
hatsu chô yo konna mushiro ni kegaruru na
first butterfly
don't get stained
on my straw mat!
Or: "on this straw mat." Issa doesn't overtly state that it belongs to him.
Shinji Ogawa untangles the haiku's syntax: "first butterfly/ don't get defiled/ with such a mat."
The poet affects concern that the pure butterfly might dirty itself on a less-than-clean straw mat that probably belongs to him.
1820
.引うける大盃に小てふ哉
hikiukeru ôsakazuki ni ko chô kana
claiming
the big sake cup...
a little butterfly
1820
.枕する腕に蝶の寝たりけり
makura suru kahina ni chô no netari keri
my arm
for its pillow
the butterfly sleeps
1821
.おとなしや蝶も浅黄の出立は
otonashi ya chô mo asagi no idetachi wa
well behaved--
the butterfly, too
wears light blue
Issa imagines that the butterfly is wearing a light blue "garment" or "traveling clothes" (idetachi). Who else in the scene is wearing blue? Issa?
1821
.狂ふのも少じみ也浅黄蝶
kuruu no mo sukoshi jimi nari asagi chô
the crazy one
calms down a bit...
light blue butterfly
The butterfly is "raving" or "running amuck" (kuruu).
1821
.参詣のつむりかぞえる小蝶哉
sankei no tsumuri kazoeru ko chô kana
counting heads
of the shrine visitors...
little butterfly
Pilgrims are visiting a Shinto shrine. The butterfly, flitting from head to head, seems to be counting them. Tsumuri is an old word for "head."; see Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1106.
1821
.蝶まふや馬の下腹ともしらで
chô mau ya uma no shitahara to mo shirade
butterfly dancing--
under the horse's gut
unaware
1821
.蝶見よや親子三人寝てくらす
chô mi yo ya oya-go sannin nete kurasu
butterfly, look!
parents and child, three
sleep together
This haiku was written in Third Month of 1821, two months after the death of Issa's third child, Ishitarô. His words to the butterfly express, poignantly, his own deepest wish.
1821
.寝並んで小蝶と猫と和尚哉
ne narande ko chô to neko to oshô kana
sleeping in a row--
little butterfly, cat
priest
The priest is a head priest. In the poem, Issa shows relationship and loving connection between three quite different creatures. Presented in a progression from small to large; the butterfly, cat and priest show themselves to be, in the moment, a little family.
This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next
1821
.野ばくちの銭の中より小蝶哉
no bakuchi no zeni no naka yori ko chô kana
gambling in the field--
from the pot
a little butterfly
1821
.風ろ水の小川へ出たり飛小蝶
furo mizu no kogawa e detari tobu ko chô
taking a dip
in the creek's bath water...
little butterfly
1821
.湯の中のつむりや蝶の一休
yu no naka no tsumuri ya chô no hito yasumi
in the hot tub
on someone's head...
butterfly's rest stop
Tsumuri is an old word for "head."; see Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1106.
1821
.世の中を浅き心や浅黄蝶
yo no naka wo asaki kokoro ya asagi chô
with a light heart
in this world...
light blue butterfly
Or: "butterflies."
1821
.山寺や蝶が受取甘茶水
yamadera ya chô ga uketoru amacha mizu
mountain temple--
the butterfly sips
Buddha's tea water
The butterfly is enjoying the water intended for hydrangea tea. On the Eighth Day of Fourth Month Buddha's birthday is celebrated. Since it is used in the festivities, hydrangea tea (amacha) is a season word for this day. As Gabi Greve explains, a miniature hanamidô ("blossom temple hall") is set up at Buddhist temples and decorated with colorful flowers. Small statues of the child Buddha are also decorated with flowers, and hydrangea tea is poured over the statue by visitors.
1821
.来年は蝶にでもなれ穴の蛇
rainen wa chô ni demo nare ana no hebi
next year
become a butterfly!
snake in his hole
Or: "her hole."
Snakes entering their holes is an autumn season word. Issa interprets the event as a movement toward death and rebirth. He advises the snake to come back as something better, next lifetime: a butterfly!
1821
.蝶とんぼ吹とばされつ屁ひり虫
chô tombo fuki-tobasaretsu hehirimushi
butterfly and dragonfly
are blown away...
fart bug
1822
.負さって蝶もぜん光寺参かな
obusatte chô mo zenkôji mairi kana
riding piggy-back
a butterfly too is a pilgrim...
Zenko Temple
Zenkô Temple (Zenkôji) is the major Pure Land temple in Issa's home province. Here, a butterfly rides the back of one of the temple visitors.
1822
.蝶とぶや石の上なる笠着物
chô tobu ya ishi no ue naru kasa kimono
a butterfly flits--
an umbrella-hat and kimono
on the rock
1822
.墨染の蝶もとぶ也秋の風
sumizome no chô mo tobu nari aki no kaze
a black butterfly
also flits by...
autumn wind
1823
.御座敷の隅からすみへ小てふ哉
o-zashiki no sumi kara sumi e ko chô kana
sitting room
from one corner to another...
little butterfly
1823
.籠の鳥蝶をうらやむ目つき哉
kago no tori chô wo urayamu metsuki kana
caged bird--
watching the butterfly
with envy
I like this translation found in a wonderful little children's book: "How sadly the bird in his cage/ Watches the butterflies"; Don't Tell the Scarecrow and Other Japanese Poems (New York: Scholastic Books, 1969), unpaginated. However, urayamu connotes envy, not sadness.
1823
.菓子盆やはしの先よりとぶ小てふ
kashi bon ya hashi no saki yori tobu ko chô
dessert tray--
from my chopstick's tip
a little butterfly flies
1823
.草の蝶何をすねるぞ小一日
kusa no chô naniwo suneru zo ko ichinichi
meadow butterfly
why are you sulking?
all day
The butterfly has been sulking "most of the day." Shinji Ogawa explains that the ko in front of ichi nichi ("one day") means "close to, but not exactly a whole day."
1823
.蝶とぶや児這ひつけばつけば又
chô tobu ya chigo hai-tsukeba tsukeba mata
the butterfly flits
when baby crawls
when baby crawls
A scene of repeated action: the butterfly flies, the baby crawls toward it, it flies, and so on.
1823
.蝶一ッ仲間ぬけしてすねるかよ
chô hitotsu nakama nukeshite suneru ka yo
one butterfly
apart from the crowd...
are you sulking?
1823
.ちりひじの山より上へ小てふかな
chirihiji no yama yori kami e ko chô kana
from the rubbish mountain
taking off...
little butterfly
Chirihiji can signify a mixture of dust and mud, or rubbish; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1070.
1823
.湯の中や首から首へとぶ小蝶
yu no naka ya kubi kara kubi e tobu ko chô
hot tub--
from head to head flitting
little butterfly
1824
.かんざしの蝶を誘ふやとぶ小蝶
kanzashi no chô wo sasou ya tobu ko chô
lured by the butterfly
hairpin...
little butterfly
A kanzashi is a hair ornament worn by ladies; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 425.
1824
.さをしかや蝶を振って又眠る
saoshika ya chô wo furutte mata nemuru
young buck--
shaking off the butterfly
then back to sleep
Or: "the butterflies."
1824
.塵の身のちりより軽き小てふ哉
chiri no mi no chiri yori karuki ko chô kana
a body of dust
lighter than dust...
little butterfly
Shinji Ogawa assisted with this translation.
1824
.ほっとして壁にすがるや夕小てふ
hotto shite kabe ni sugaru ya yû ko chô
clinging to the wall
with relief, evening's
little butterfly
1824
.早乙女におぶさって寝る小てふ哉
saotome ni obusatte neru ko chô kana
rice-planting girl--
on her back the butterfly
sleeps
1825
.蝶々を尻尾でなぶる小猫哉
chôchô wo shippo de naburu ko neko kana
teasing a butterfly
with his tail...
the kitten
1825
.過去のやくそくかよ袖に寝小てふ
kako no yakusoku ka yo sode ni neru ko chô
a previous life's bond?
little butterfly
on my sleeve, asleep
1825
.木の陰や蝶と休むも他生の縁
ki no kage ya chô to yasumu mo tashô no en
in tree shade
relaxing with a butterfly...
friends in a previous life
This haiku has the prescript, "Being guided on a mountain road by a young girl named Butterfly, when a sudden rain came pattering down." The "butterfly" is a little girl, not an insect. As the poet and his young guide wait out the rain, he feels that he and she must have a karmic connection from an earlier life.
1825
.つぐら子をこそぐり起す小てふ哉
tsugura ko wo kosoguri okosu ko chô kana
tickling the baby
in the basket awake...
little butterfly
A tsugura is a container of woven straw used to keep things warm. Here, it serves as a cradle. See Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1087.
1825
.つぐら子の鼻くそせせる小てふ哉
tsugura ko no hanakuso seseru ko chô kana
baby in a basket--
playing with her snot
a little butterfly
Or: "his snot."
A tsugura is a container of woven straw used to keep things warm.Here, it serves as a cradle; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1087.
1825
.湯の滝を上手に廻る小てふ哉
yu no taki wo jyôzu ni meguru ko chô kana
skillfully skirting
the hot tub waterfall...
little butterfly
Perhaps water is spilling over the edge of the tub. Or the bather (Issa?) douses himself--but in either case the butterfly skillfully avoids the downpour.
1826
.湯けぶりのふはふは蝶もふはり哉
yu keburi no fuwa-fuwa chô mo fuwari kana
hot tub steam
wafts softly, softly...
as does a butterfly