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Lightness of Dragon-flies
Tsubame yori
Tombo wa mono mo
Ugokasazu.
More lightly even than the swallow does the dragon-fly touch things without moving them.
Tombō ya,
Tori no fumarenu
Eda no saki.
O dragon-fly, you fetch on the tip of the spray where never a bird can tread!
Stupidity of Dragon-flies
Utsu-tsue no
Saki ni tomarishi
Tombo kana!
O dragon-fly! you light upon the end of the very stick with which one tries to strike yon down!
Tachi-kaeru
Tombō tomaru
Tsubute kana!
See! the dragon-fly returns to perch upon the pebble that was thrown at it!
註
