Readers can find in my "Kott[=o]" a paper about the Héïké-Crabs,
which have on their upper shells various wrinklings that resemble the
outlines of an angry face. At Shimono-séki dried specimens of these
curious creatures are offered for sale.... The Héïké-Crabs are said to
be the transformed angry spirits of the Héïké warriors who perished at
Dan-no-ura.
Shiwo-hi ni wa
Séïzoroë shité,
Héïkégani
Ukiyo no sama we
Yoko ni niramitsu.
[_Marshaled (on the beach) at the ebb of the tide, the
Héïké-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."
_Séïzoroë_ is a noun signifying "battle-array"--in the sense of
the Roman term _acies_;--and _séïzoroé shité_ means "drawn up in
battle-array."]
Saikai ni
Shizumi-nurédomo,
Héïkégani
K[=o]ra no iro mo
Yahari aka-hata.
[_Though (the Héïké) long ago sank and perished in the Western
Sea, the Héïké-crabs still display_ _upon their upper shells
the color of the Red Standard._[48]]
[Footnote 48: The ensign of the Héïké, or Taïra clan was red; while
that of their rivals, the Genji or Minamot[=o], was white.]
Maké-ikusa
Munen to muné ni
Hasami ken;--
Kao mo makka ni
Naru Héïkégani.
[_Because of the pain of defeat, claws have grown on their
breasts, I think;--even the faces of the Héïké-crabs have
become crimson (with anger and shame)._]
Mikata mina
Oshi-tsubusaréshi
Héïkégani
Ikon we muné ni
Hasami mochikéri.
[_All the (Héïké) party having been utterly crushed, claws
have grown upon the breasts of the Héïké-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
mochikéri_, "got claws;" but, reading it with the words preceding,
we have the expression _ikon wo muné ni hasami_, "resentment in their
breasts nourishing."]