In autumn, Spiders mysteriously appear, weaving delicate webs as the end of the year draws near.
Spiders, as Little Miss Muffet discovered, can be tiny yet frightening, startling us by dropping down unexpectedly. And yet, they are beautiful and solitary creatures, capable of creating intricate webs adorned with dew. Across cultures, spiders have symbolized wisdom and trickery, patience and death.
A Daddy longlegs may look scary, with impossibly long, delicate legs, but please, let it live.
蜘蛛何と音をなにと鳴く秋の風
Kumo nani to / ne o nani to naku / aki no kaze
O spider, tell me what sound do you make — autumn is passing?
秋の風 (aki no kaze) — literally, “autumn wind.” Not just a thing — autumn wind — but a world in transition, the passing of summer, the presence of autumn, the falling leaves, the approach of winter, a chill in the air, a quiet awareness that all living things are changing.
In late 1680, during the eighth year of the Enpō era, Bashō, then thirty-six or thirty-seven, moved to a simple hut across the Sumida River in Fukagawa, hoping to escape the bustle and noise of the city. Surely, while cleaning his new home, he came across a spiderweb or two. A disciple gave him a banana plant as a housewarming gift, and in time, the hut became known as Bashō-an (芭蕉庵), the Bashō Hut, or the Banana Plant Hut.
The name proved fitting for the poet himself.
Generations later, Masaoka Shiki (正岡 子規, 1867–1902), appears to have picked up this same theme.
蜘殺すあとの淋しき夜寒哉
Kumo korosu ato no sabishiki yosamu kana
After killing a spider, a loneliness follows, this chilly night!
…
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
“After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die.”
— Charlotte to Wilbur
Kumo korosu ato no sabishiki yosamu kana
