84 Shadow! ngs 



that the first clear evening cry of the insect is 

 quite as startling as the sudden ringing of a 



bell: 



Higurashi ya I 



KyO no ke"tai wo 



Omou-toki. 



RIKEI. 



Already, O Higurashi. your call announces the evening I 

 Alas, for the passing day, with its duties left undone ! 



VI. " MlNMIN "-ZSMI. 



THE minmin-^emi begins to sing in the Period of 

 Greatest Heat. It is called " min-min " because 

 its note is thought to resemble the syllable 

 " min " repeated over and over again, slowly at 

 first, and very loudly; then more and more 

 quickly and softly, till the utterance dies away 

 in a sort of buzz: "min min min-min- 

 min-minminmin-di^lft" The sound is plain- 

 tive, and not unpleasing. It is often compared 

 to the sound of the voice of a priest chanting the 

 sutras. 



VII. TSUKU-TSUKU-BOSHI. 



ON the day immediately following the Festival 

 of the Dead, by the old Japanese calendar 1 



That is to say, upon the 16th day of the 7th month. 



