Pity turtles, Me too !

in the long day


David English
in the long day they eat, they don't eat pond turtles

-Issa, 1812
50 years old, lived in Edo, leaving out on November tohis home village for dwelling eternally there.It needs more two year to getting his share of father's asset

sakuo Japanese
長き日を　食うや食わずや　池の亀
nagaki hi wo kuu ya kuwazu ya ike no kame

Issa Original
永の日を喰やくわずや池の亀
naga no hi wo kû ya kuwazu ya ike no kame

David comment
In a prescript for this haiku, Issa writes that he visited a pond at Shinobu, where he watched the turtles begging for handouts. It must be painful for them, he mused, to live so long in this "world of suffering";According to Jean Cholley, Issa sees himself in the hungry turtles;