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Owarete mo,
Isoganu furi no
Chōcho kana!
[Ah, the butterfly! Even when chased, it never has the air of being in a hurry.]
Chō wa mina
Jiu-shichi-hachi no
Sugata kana!
[As for butterflies, they all have the appearance of being about seventeen or eighteen years old.]
Chō tobu ya—
Kono yo no urami
Naki yō ni!
How the butterfly sports,—just as if there were no enmity (or “envy”) in this world!]
Chō tobu ya
Kono yo ni nozomi
Nai yō ni!
[Ah, the butterfly!—it sports about as if it had nothing more to desire in this present state of existence.]
Nami no hana ni
Tomari kanetaru,
Kochō hana!
[Having found it difficult indeed to perch upon the (foam-) blossoms of the waves,—alas for the butterfly!]
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