223Haiku 俳句
やれ打つな蠅が手をすり足をする
やれうつなはえがてをすりあしをするYare utsu na hae ga te o suri ashi o suru
“Don't swat it! The fly wrings its hands, wrings its feet.”
The meaning
Even the fly, seen up close, seems to beg. Issa pushes compassion to apparent absurdity — and precisely there it becomes unforgettable.
At the origin
The most famous of Issa's haiku of compassion.
The characters
- やれ yarehey, oh
- 打つ utsuswat
- な na(prohibition)
- 蠅
- が
- 手
- を
- すり
- 足
- を
- する
In practice
Before a gesture of irritation, look one second longer.
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 011 上手の手から水が漏れる Even skilled hands let water slip through.
- 028 出る杭は打たれる The stake that sticks out gets hammered down.
- 116 足るを知る Know what is enough.
- 255 手前味噌 Praising one's own miso.
- 293 秋の田のかりほの庵の苫をあらみ我が衣手は露にぬれつつ In the harvest-watch hut by the autumn fields, its rush roof loose, my sleeves grow wet with dew.