Silly humans often gives some significance to lightning strikes. Either they mean something or they are just scary. But how does the animal kingdom respond to them?
inazuma ya he to mo omowanu hiki ga kao
not caring in the least
the toad's face
—Issa
As he often did, Issa is using one of his animal friends as the subject. I wonder also if he is referring to Bashō's haiku about not being enlightened.
稲妻にさとらぬ人の貴さよ
inazuma ni satoranu hito no tattosa yo
one who sees lightning
without becoming enlightened
how admirable!
(See my notes about this haiku)
Bashō was expressing some frustration at all the religious "experts" who would boast abut how enlightened they were in attempts to gain a following. Not so different from people today. No doubt Issa would have been running into these same types of people in his day, which was around 120 years after Bashō, and probably held the same frustrations. How admirable for the toad that it also doesn't claim to have become enlightened upon seeing that lightning strike!
The phrase that I translated as "not caring in the least" is literally "consider it less than a fart", a colorful colloquial expression for "couldn't care less".
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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon. |
That is, me! If you like this translation, feel free to use it. Just credit me. Also link here if you can. ↩