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No two bigurasbi sing precisely in the same tone. 

 If you hear a dozen of them singing at once, you 

 will find that the timbre of each voice is recog 

 nizably different from every other. Certain notes 

 ring like silver, others vibrate like bronze ; and, 

 besides varieties of timbre suggesting bells of vari 

 ous weight and composition, there are even differ 

 ences in tone, that suggest different forms of bell. 



I have already said that the name bigurasbi 

 means " day-darkening," in the sense of twi 

 light, gloaming, dusk ; and there are many 

 Japanese verses containing plays on the word, 

 the poets affecting to believe, as in the following 

 example, that the crying of the insect hastens the 

 coming of darkness : 



Higurashi ya 1 

 Sute'te'oite'mo 

 Kururu hi wo. 



O Higurashi ! even if you let it alone, day darkens fast 

 enough ! 



This, intended to express a melancholy mood, 

 may seem to the Western reader far-fetched. 

 But another little poem referring to the effect 

 of the sound upon the conscience of an idler 

 will be appreciated by any one accustomed to hear 

 the bigurasbi. I may observe, in this connection, 



