Note 12 — LAFCADIO HEARN (continued 3)

Tsuki ni murakumo, Hana ni wa arashi: Tokaku uki-yo wa Mama naranu.

This song especially refers to unhappy love, and contains the substance of two Buddhist proverbs: Tsuki ni murakumo, hana ni kazé (cloud-masses to the moon; wind to flowers); and Mama ni naranu wa uki-yo no narai (to be disappointed is the rule in this miserable world). "Uki-yo" (this fleeting or unhappy world) is one of the commonest Buddhist terms in use.