Page:Insect Literature by Lafcadio Hearn.djvu/236

Rh general term for variegated woven stuffs; and the name tsukete-dan might be freely rendered as "The Wearer of the Many-Colored Robe."

I believe that in the foregoing list the only name requiring further explanation is the name Shōrai-tombo, or Shōryō-tombo, in its meaning of "the Dragon-fly of the Dead." Unlike the equally weird name Yūrei-tombo, or "Ghost Dragon-fly," the term Shōrai-tombo does not refer to the appearance of the insect, but to the strange belief that certain dragon-flies are ridden by the dead,—used as winged steeds. From the morning of the thirteenth to the midnight of the fifteenth day of the old seventh month,—the time ot the Festival of the Bon,—the dragon-flies are said to carry the Hotoke-Sama, the August Spirits of the Ancestors, who then revisit their former homes. Therefore during this Buddhist "All-Souls," children are forbidden to molest any dragon-flies,—especially dragon-flies that may then happen to enter the family dwelling. This supposed relation of dragon-flies to the supernatural world helps to explain an old folk saying, still current in some provinces, to the effect that the child who catches dragon-flies will never "obtain knowledge." Another curious belief 註