Cricket  by hakushima girl.

Kauniisti soittavat ja hyvää onnea tuovat sirkat ovat suosittuja koristekuvioita kankaissa ja käsitöissä. Sekä Japanissa että Kiinassa niitä on pidetty häkissä laululintujen tavoin soittelemassa iltasella hyönteisten yhteiskonsertissa kukin oman tyylinsä mukaan.

Genjin tarinan luvusta 38:

Genji paid one of his frequent visits. "What a clamor of insects you do have!" He joined her, very softly and solemnly, in the invocation to Amitabha.

None was brighter and clearer among the insects than the bell cricket, swinging into its song.

"They all have their good points, but Her Majesty seems to prefer the pine cricket. She sent some of her men a great distance to bring them in from the moors, but when she had them in her garden only a very few of them sang as sweetly for her as they had sung in the wilds. One would expect them to be as durable as pines, but in fact they seem to have short lives. They sing very happily off in forests and mountains where no one hears them, and that seems unsociable of them. These bell crickets of yours are so bright and cheerful."

"The autumn is a time of deprivation,
I have thought -- and yet have loved this cricket."
She spoke very softly and with a quiet, gentle elegance.

---

Genji suggested that the whole night be given over to admiring the bell cricket. He had just finished his second cup of wine, however, when a message came from the Reizei emperor.


Tälle sivulle on koottu japanilaisten sirittäjien ääninäytteitä:
http://mushinone.cool.ne.jp/English/ENGitiran.htm

Niitä soittamalla voi fiilistellä iltasella puutarhassa tai parvekkeella sakekupin kanssa kesän loppua japanilaiseen tyyliin.