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Page 23
[Footnote 46: _Namakusaki-kaze_ really means a wind having a "raw
stench;" but the smell of bait is suggested by the second line of the
poem. A literal rendering is not possible in this case; the art of the
composition being altogether suggestive.]
VIII. H��K�GAN�
Readers can find in my "Kott[=o]" a paper about the H��k�-Crabs,
which have on their upper shells various wrinklings that resemble the
outlines of an angry face. At Shimono-s�ki dried specimens of these
curious creatures are offered for sale.... The H��k�-Crabs are said to
be the transformed angry spirits of the H��k� warriors who perished at
Dan-no-ura.
Shiwo-hi ni wa
S��zoro� shit�,
H��k�gani
Ukiyo no sama we
Yoko ni niramitsu.
[_Marshaled (on the beach) at the ebb of the tide, the
H��k�-crabs obliquely glare at the apparition of this
miserable world._[47]]
[Footnote 47: _Hi_, the third syllable of the first line of the poem,
does duty for _hi_, signifying "ebb," and for _hikata_, "dry beach."
_S��zoro�_ is a noun signifying "battle-array"--in the sense of
the Roman term _acies_;--and _s��zoro� shit�_ means "drawn up in
battle-array."]
Saikai ni
Shizumi-nur�domo,
H��k�gani
K[=o]ra no iro mo
Yahari aka-hata.
[_Though (the H��k�) long ago sank and perished in the Western
Sea, the H��k�-crabs still display_ _upon their upper shells
the color of the Red Standard._[48]]
[Footnote 48: The ensign of the H��k�, or Ta�ra clan was red; while
that of their rivals, the Genji or Minamot[=o], was white.]
Mak�-ikusa
Munen to mun� ni
Hasami ken;--
Kao mo makka ni
Naru H��k�gani.
[_Because of the pain of defeat, claws have grown on their
breasts, I think;--even the faces of the H��k�-crabs have
become crimson (with anger and shame)._]
Mikata mina
Oshi-tsubusar�shi
H��k�gani
Ikon we mun� ni
Hasami mochik�ri.
[_All the (H��k�) party having been utterly crushed, claws
have grown upon the breasts of the H��k�-crabs because of the
resentment in their hearts._[49]]
[Footnote 49: The use of the word _hasami_ in the fifth line is a
very good example of _keny[=o]gen_. There is a noun _hasami_, meaning
the nippers of a crab, or a pair of scissors; and there is a verb
_hasami_, meaning to harbor, to cherish, or to entertain. (_Ikon wo
hasamu_ means "to harbor resentment against.") Reading the word only
in connection with those which follow it, we have the phrase _hasami
mochik�ri_, "got claws;" but, reading it with the words preceding,
we have the expression _ikon wo mun� ni hasami_, "resentment in their
breasts nourishing."]
IX. YANARI
Modern dictionaries ignore the uncanny significations of the word
_Yanari_,--only telling us that it means the sound of the shaking of
a house during an earthquake. But the word used to mean the noise of
the shaking of a house moved by a goblin; and the invisible shaker was
also called _Yanari_. When, without apparent cause, some house would
shudder and creak and groan in the night, folk used to suppose that it
was being shaken from without by supernatural malevolence.
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