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发表于 2011-6-11 10:55:57
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英文版で~~~す。
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"Kuwagata Kuwaji Monogatari" (Tale of Kuwaji the stag beetle) by Michi Nakajima is a novel about the preciousness of life. The protagonist is a boy named Taro who loves bugs. In one scene, Taro's thoughts turn to an imaginary youngster in the Jomon Pottery Culture (c. 8000 B.C.-300 B.C.) "Perhaps he's wearing a loincloth of deer hide or something, and playing with a stag beetle just like this one I've got here," he says.
Insects appeared on our planet hundreds of millions of years ago, and have since formed a majority of all species of life. According to "Mushi no Bunkashi" (Chronicle of bug culture) by Masayasu Konishi, humans were born much later into the thriving "bug kingdom."
We got a glimpse of the kingdom last month when archaeologists announced that a perfectly preserved specimen of a sawtooth stag beetle, presumed to be 2,500 to 2,800 years old, had been unearthed from the ruins of a Jomon community in Nara Prefecture. The bug was encased in mud, which is believed to have saved it from decomposition. Its prominent "jaws" were no different from those of its present-day counterparts.
Taro's stag beetle, named Kuwaji, survived two winters. But mature sawtooth stag beetles are not expected to survive beyond their first summer. I wish I could ask this prehistoric creature--big and shiny black--which year it lived its short life in.
Japan's culture of fascination with bugs is a very old one. Courtiers of the Heian Period (794-1185) enjoyed bell crickets and fireflies. But for Jomon people who coexisted with all living beings, stag beetles were probably nothing more than bugs that pinched and caused them pain. The bugs probably served as children's toys, but were never sold in stores like they are today. A poem about stag beetles goes: "Stag beetles/ Dragging price tags at the store."
Whether human or insect, some are born under lucky stars and others are not. But one thing that's certain for all is that any era, during which just one species lords wantonly over the rest of creation, cannot last too long. This summer, bugs are flying around oblivious to radiation contamination. I feel ashamed. |
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