Tsuku-tsuku-uisu,
Tsuku-tsuku-uisu,
Tsuku-tsuku-uisu:--
Chi-i yara!
Chi-i yara!
Chi-i yara!
Chi-i, chi, chi, chi, chi, chiii.
But some say that the sound is _Tsukushi-koishi_. There is a legend
that in old times a man of Tsukushi (the ancient name of Kyushu)
fell sick and died while far away from home, and that the
ghost of him became an autumn cicada, which cries unceasingly,
_Tsukushi-koishi!--Tsukushi-koishi!_ ("I long for Tsukushi!--I want
to see Tsukushi!")
* * * * *
It is a curious fact that the earlier semi have the harshest and
simplest notes. The musical semi do not appear until summer; and the
_tsuku-tsuku-boshi_, having the most complex and melodious utterance of
all, is one of the latest to mature.