72 Shadowings 



"V. It does not make for itself any nest 

 to live in. This proves its frugality, thrift, 

 economy." 



We might compare this with the beautiful 

 address of Anacreon to the cicada, written 

 twenty-four hundred years ago: on more than 

 one point the Greek poet and the Chinese sage 

 are in perfect accord : 



" We deem thee happy, O Cicada, because, 

 having drunk, like a king, only a little dew, 

 thou dost chirrup on the tops of trees. For all 

 things whatsoever that thou seest in the fields 

 are thine, and whatsoever the seasons bring 

 forth. Yet art thou the friend of the tillers of 

 the land, from no one harmfully taking aught. 

 By mortals thou art held in honor as the pleas 

 ant harbinger of summer ; and the Muses love 

 thee. Phoebus himself loves thee, and has given 

 thee a shrill song. And old age does not con 

 sume thee. O thou gifted one, earth-born, 

 song-loving, free from pain, having flesh with 

 out blood, thou art nearly equal to the 

 Gods!" 1 



1 In this and other citations from the Greek anthology, 

 I have depended upon Surges' translation. 



